Chapter 1913: "Hidden" and "Round"

Chen Ling took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

Ding—ding—ding...

As he focused his mind, the lights above the auditorium gradually dimmed.

Darkness enveloped the theater, and the whispering audience quickly quieted down. They sat still in their seats, eyes fixed on the vermilion figure of the actor in the spotlight, their faces filled with curiosity and anticipation.

[Audience Anticipation +3]

[Current Anticipation: 3%]

The audience anticipation broke through the 100% barrier and jumped back to the starting point.

But this time, the audience did not lose control. Or rather, as the malicious audience was replaced by the current one, the rules on this stage had changed...

What this change was, Chen Ling could only vaguely sense the outline, but as the anticipation value became 3%, a strange power began to rise within him!

"This is..."

Chen Ling muttered to himself.

In a daze, Chen Ling saw a twisted divine path extending from beneath his feet, leading straight to the sky... The dark red star that had been at the end of the divine path had now turned into a glazed vermilion!

At this moment, Chen Ling stood at the pinnacle of this divine path, and this vermilion star was within arm's reach.

Chen Ling seemed to sense something and looked down...

A line of text appeared silently on the steps.

[We are watching you].

Seeing this line, Chen Ling froze... then, a faint smile appeared.

At this moment, Chen Ling no longer felt the horror and fear he had felt the first time he saw this sentence; instead, there was an inexplicable sense of relief and peace. Behind him, there were still countless gazes watching, but those gazes no longer held malice.

Chen Ling shifted his gaze from the "greeting" on the steps to the vermilion star in the sky.

The dark red star that had symbolized the power of "negation" had disappeared;

the ability represented by this vermilion star now was...

Chen Ling reached out to grasp the star.

A breeze swept across the top of the twisted divine path, causing the bright red theatrical robe to flutter. The moment Chen Ling's fingertip touched the vermilion star, a red ripple, like flickering film static, swept out in all directions!

Wum—!!!

Chen Ling's pupils shone as brightly as stars.

Thump—thump...

His once-empty heart now felt filled by some power, beginning to beat in a fixed rhythm. A dull, heavy sound echoed, like the heartbeat of the earth, like the pulse of the deep sky!

In Chen Ling's pupils, the story line of the world was like an EKG, fluctuating rapidly with the power beating in his chest!

An aura extremely compatible with him filled his soul.

Although the Chen Ling of the past had stepped onto the twisted divine path step by step and mastered the complete power of the Mocking Disaster, in the end, that power had evolved based on the existence of the Mocking Disaster...

The power of negation was indeed powerful, but it didn't fit Chen Ling's own characteristics. He was like a swordsman wielding an awkward steel blade left behind by a soldier from a previous dynasty; although he could exert terrifying destructive power, it still felt unnatural.

But at this very moment, the figures filling the auditorium no longer held malice...

They were all there for Chen Ling.

No longer negation, no longer chaotic disorder, their "recognition" was rooted in the Red Star's wish power, growing wildly, and finally giving birth to an ability that belonged uniquely to Chen Ling...

"The power of creation... no, should I say, the power of a [Director]..." Chen Ling muttered to himself, feeling the ability beating in his chest.

"It's somewhat similar to Fate-Weaving, but it's more than a level higher than Fate-Weaving..."

Fate-Weaving could guide the direction of events within a reasonable range through a script.

Its limitation was that it could only influence events in the near future, such as things happening within a day or two, and if the characters in the script or their ranks were too high, Fate-Weaving would fail... In the end, it was still too fragile.

But the ability Chen Ling now possessed could be rooted in the [Present] while simultaneously directing the [Past] and the [Future].

On the [Past] level, Chen Ling could insert a "plot" out of thin air into any historical event related to himself. As long as this "plot" did not directly conflict with the events of that time, the "plot" would exist reasonably and would have already occurred.

On the [Future] level, Chen Ling could write a "inevitably occurring plot" out of thin air at any time in the future. All events from now until the "inevitably occurring plot" would be favorable to it and would ultimately lead to its completion.

Feeling these two concept-level super abilities, even Chen Ling was shocked beyond measure.

Simply put,

"Chen Ling's exposition of the past, whether it truly happened or not, has already happened";

"Chen Ling's outlook on the future, whether it can truly be achieved or not, will inevitably be attained."

This was no longer in the realm of divine paths or world-ending abilities... After Chen Ling had crazily assimilated the audience and plundered the Red Star's power, he had crossed the limits of this world and touched the threshold of a "Tenth Stage" that didn't exist...

This was the true authority of the God of Theater.

Chen Ling stood at the end of the twisted divine path and slowly raised his hands. The two distinct authorities of past and present swirled on his left and right hands like profound Yin-Yang fish.

Chen Ling felt the "heartbeat" in his chest that could influence the story line of the world. He first looked at his left hand and spoke softly:

"Fabricating the past, laying down foreshadowing—all history, whether it happened or not, will be favorable to me at this moment... This ability shall be called 'Hidden'."

Then, his gaze shifted to his right hand:

"Fixing the future, setting the coordinates of time and space—no matter how difficult and bumpy the process, it will circle back to the predetermined ending... This ability shall be called 'Round'."

However, Chen Ling could sense that although he had obtained the authority of "Hidden" and "Round," the upper limit of this power, besides his own mental strength, was also related to the audience's anticipation value.

The higher the audience's anticipation, the more detailed the foreshadowing he could hide, and the stronger and clearer the future he could round back...

But if the predetermined ending he wanted to round back was too outrageous, Chen Ling wouldn't be able to activate it. For example, if he wanted to write "Ten million people on Earth simultaneously ascend to the demigod stage at this moment," he would probably be completely drained the moment he wrote the first character.

"Whether it's 'Hidden' or 'Round,' to activate it, one must use symbols as the carrier of the ability... to intersperse the past and fix the future." Chen Ling raised his fingertip, looking at the void before him, as if thinking about something.

In the end, he carved two symbols into the void.

「」

The moment these two symbols took shape, Chen Ling's ability seemed to have a concrete place to reside. The authority of the God of Theater beat rapidly in his heart, emitting a dull, heavy sound.

Thump—thump—thump...

……

……

Countdown to the finale: 4 days