Chapter 1879: A Disciple, Not a Pawn

"I know the other me is your mortal enemy, I know I almost killed you!"

"But me, I clearly haven't done anything!"

"Why, for so many years, can you not look at me properly even once?!"

"What did I do wrong???"

Li Laide’s roar grew more frantic. Under the agitation of his God of Theft demigod power, sharp buzzing sounds exploded from the surrounding air, and his British-style coat was torn to shreds by the aftermath of his own aura.

The white silk shirt fluttered in the wind, and Li Laide had no intention of stopping. As Chen Ling approached, the distance between them was already less than a hundred meters.

Chen Ling took a step, and suddenly, he and Li Laide blurred simultaneously.

His bright red theatrical robes gradually turned into a white silk shirt, his eyes began to turn blue bit by bit, and his features became as three-dimensional as a Western mixed-race...

And the original Li Laide’s shirt began to dye a vermilion red, and an aura of world-destruction began to spread from his body...

He was stealing 【Existence】.

At this moment,

Even Chen Ling couldn't hide his astonishment.

Li Laide could actually steal and swap their existences? It wasn't even like Zuo Lun yesterday, simply swapping memories through shooting... What Li Laide was doing was swapping their bodies, thoughts, and even abilities with each other.

This was a theft technique that shouldn't exist in this world. Perhaps only the near-dimension-ascending, complete "King of Silver" that Chen Ling saw in the Akashic Tower back then could achieve this step... Had Li Laide actually touched the threshold of this perverted ability now?

"To you, what exactly am I?"

"A pawn? A tool? A toy of bad taste used to take revenge on the me from the previous world? Or just a dog you raised loosely, to be summoned and dismissed at will??"

Red and blue pulled, intertwined, and merged within a mere ten meters.

The existence of both figures began to blur.

Just as the power of the God of Theft was about to reach its limit,

A flash of scarlet flickered silently from Chen Ling’s body.

【Cut】.

Hum—!!

In an instant, the power of the God of Theft that filled the entire space was forcibly negated. Pieces of red paper surged out from nothingness like broken snow, swirling around the two like a storm!

The power of world-destruction, which seemed capable of burning through the heavens and earth, broke through Li Laide’s strongest theft technique, and a terrifying aura capable of crushing everything rushed straight at his face!

It was a fair-skinned palm.

The palm pierced through the red paper and broken snow, rapidly enlarging in Li Laide’s pupils... At this moment, he seemed to give up resistance completely, and his deep blue eyes closed silently.

But the pain that followed did not appear.

On the contrary,

That fair-skinned palm gently patted his shoulder.

Li Laide was stunned... He opened his eyes and saw Chen Ling standing in front of him, watching him with a complex gaze.

Li Laide couldn't describe what kind of look that was. Pity? Guilt? Regret? Sympathy? He couldn't say...

But for some reason, he always felt that in the reflection of Chen Ling’s eyes, there was not only him, but also his former self.

Chen Ling was silent for a long time, his lips parted slightly:

"Whether you want to be called the King of Fire-Tampering or the King of Silver... whatever you want to do, you can go do it."

"But I hope you know, from the moment you took me as your master..."

"To me,"

"You are a disciple, not a pawn."

As the words fell, Chen Ling patted Li Laide’s shoulder again... He didn't say anything more, but his hand was very heavy, so heavy that it seemed to carry a regret that spanned two eras.

Then, he passed by Li Laide and disappeared directly into the Ancient Treasury of the Play Path.

Woo—

The cold wind swirled in the desolate Gray World.

The sky full of red paper continued to dance in the air... Li Laide stood blankly in place, like a silent sculpture.

……

Ancient Treasury of the Play Path.

Chen Ling’s figure was outlined from the curtain of nothingness.

As his feet touched the ground, his figure swayed, and he almost fell headlong to the ground...

Chen Ling took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the dizziness and fatigue in his mind. A few strands of black hair had already turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Chen Ling had just cut off a portion of his life force to give to the Four Lords, which was exactly when he was at his weakest. Then he was entangled by Li Laide and went through a great battle, which almost completely hollowed him out.

The ability Li Laide unleashed at the end was truly astonishing; even Chen Ling had to expend a great deal of effort to forcibly negate it in time... Setting aside emotions, the facts proved that Chen Ling’s cultivation of Li Laide in this world was quite successful.

Curtains of space were outlined around him. Chen Ling was startled, and seeing his own haggard self in the glass reflection, a flash of complexity crossed his eyes.

His weary body took another step forward, and his figure disappeared from the spot before Ning Ruyu and the others returned.

Half a second later.

Ning Ruyu and the others walked out of the nothingness.

"...Where’s the little junior brother?" The End-Role looked around, not seeing Chen Ling’s shadow on the grassland, and asked in confusion.

"His aura isn't here. He must have gone to the ancestral hall or other disc worlds again."

"He left too quickly... didn't he say a word to us?"

"The Red Star is coming soon, the little junior brother must be very anxious too."

"Sigh, I don't know if he can come to eat with us today."

"The little junior brother... he’s okay, right?"

"The little junior brother is already the strongest in this world now, and he fought the grand-nephew very easily just now... he’ll be fine."

"That’s good."

“……”

Chen Ling did not hear the conversation of Ning Ruyu and the others.

At this time, he had already arrived at the other side of the Ancient Treasury of the Play Path, stumbling through the dark and silent Shennongjia forest, and the lights of the camp in the distance gradually drew closer.

Chen Ling did not go to find the Seven Lords immediately, but sat down gently on a chair by the campfire in the camp.

Creak—

His weary body slowly pressed onto the chair.

In the tent in the distance, the Seven Lords’ discussion had not ended; they were still saying things that were hard to understand... and their discussion had already been going on for three days and three nights.

A breeze blew through the dim forest, and the rustling sound of leaves rubbing against each other was continuous. The campfire illuminated Chen Ling’s pale face. He just sat there quietly, with a faint weariness between his brows.

No one knew what this actor, who stood at the very peak of the Sixth Generation world, was thinking at this moment, or perhaps he wasn't thinking about anything at all. He was just curled up alone by the isolated campfire, taking a brief breath.

Crackle.

The sound of the campfire burning was quiet and sleep-inducing.

Chen Ling’s eyelids closed involuntarily, and he fell into a deep sleep just like that, sitting on the chair... The figure of the actor in red seemed to merge with this silence.

I don't know how much time passed,

The discussion and arguments in the tent gradually disappeared.

One figure after another walked out of the tent. They saw the weary figure in theatrical robes sleeping in the center of the camp and froze in place simultaneously.