Chapter 219: [End]

"Is this... Jian Changsheng?"

On the stage, Chen Ling looked at the figure holding the spear and fighting frantically in the sea of red behind the curtain, surprise surfacing in his eyes.

The Jian Changsheng before him was too different from the one in his memory, especially those black eyes and the chilling killing intent surging from him, which reminded Chen Ling of the giant black sword that had pierced the clouds in the Military Dao Ancient Treasury.

But why would such ancient and chilling killing intent appear on him?

Chen Ling knew something must have happened to Jian Changsheng; otherwise, he would have been dead beyond a doubt back at the Military Dao Ancient Treasury, as the performance condition had been [No Survivors]... In other words, the current Jian Changsheng was a case of resurrection from the dead.

Chen Ling kept an eye on everything happening behind the curtain while trying his best to expand the crack. The crack was now barely large enough to fit a palm, followed by the entire forearm, but it was still a distance away from passing through the curtain completely.

"You have to hold on a little longer..." Chen Ling looked at the blood-red figure, praying silently, and continued to move his palm with difficulty within the curtain.

In the red clouds, black-eyed Jian Changsheng seemed to find the endless red paper too annoying. He took a step into the air, causing the air to explode with a sharp sound!

Thump—!

A black domain rapidly expanded around him!

Killing intent and lightning intertwined within the domain, like two counter-rotating ultra-large millstones, tearing all the red paper attempting to rush into the domain into pieces. The moment this domain was propped up, a forbidden zone that could not be crossed appeared within the churning sea of red!

Black-eyed Jian Changsheng held the spear and walked through the air, the entire domain moving forward with his footsteps, tearing a gap in the sea of red!

The red sun pupil suspended high in the sky clearly reflected the image of black-eyed Jian Changsheng. The pupils contracted slightly, and it seemed possible to see faint red flames dancing within them... The next moment, a beam of scarlet light erupted from within!

The moment this light appeared, the surrounding sea of red immediately retreated, creating a space with a radius of over a hundred meters, as if unwilling to be stained by even a fraction of it. The light pointed directly at black-eyed Jian Changsheng, who was standing in the domain!

The veins on black-eyed Jian Changsheng's palm bulged, and he braced himself as if facing a formidable enemy. Dense lightning erupted from the spear shaft. With a powerful swing, the spear turned into black lightning and collided with the scarlet light!

Boom—!!

The moment they collided, a world-destroying arc-shaped shockwave spread wildly in the high sky. A few strands of the scarlet light torn apart by the spear swept onto the estate, instantly distorting everything they touched... The stone brick exterior walls suddenly turned into the exterior walls of a Western-style church, the babbling stream in the courtyard turned into the pitch-black River of the Underworld, and even the ginkgo trees standing by the roadside transformed into cartoon trees hanging with golden apples...

Those few strands of scarlet light seemed to distort reality and fantasy, connecting different performance acts and piecing together a chaotic world.

As the shockwave of the collision swept by, a subtle crack began to appear in the void above the Star Chamber of Commerce... It was as if an invisible giant cover, originally inverted over the Chamber of Commerce, was slowly appearing in everyone's field of vision.

And at this moment, a wisp of the red paper monster's aura slowly drifted out from that crack...

……

Beep—!

Beep—!!

Beep—!!!

In the core area of Aurora City, a harsh alarm suddenly sounded in an underground base. Red light flashed wildly in the corridors, and countless figures ran within.

"What's going on?! Where is the alarm coming from?!"

"It's Laboratory 0... Aurora-kun's vital signs are skyrocketing; it seems he's about to wake up!"

"Aurora-kun?? He's been asleep for over three hundred years. Why would he wake up all of a sudden?"

"His brain wave patterns suddenly became active just now, as if he were stimulated... He must have sensed something and has entered a state of alert."

"Alert? In this Aurora City, what else could make Aurora-kun alert??"

“……”

In the center of Laboratory 0, a massive transparent hibernation pod stood tall. Wrapped in pale blue unknown liquid, a slender figure with white hair was floating upside down within it.

Mist-like aurora flowed silently around him, and snow-white hair drifted soundlessly. He was like a specimen sealed in blue amber, quiet and mysterious.

And at this moment, the white-haired figure's eyelashes were trembling gently, and tiny bubbles drifted from his mouth and nose; it seemed he was about to wake up soon.

A group of researchers in white coats crowded outside the laboratory, watching this scene nervously.

"What should we do now? Should we let him wake up?"

"His time is running out. Once he wakes up, his body functions will recover, and his lifespan will only drain faster. Increase the drug dosage; we absolutely cannot let him wake up!"

"Increase the dosage again? But..."

"Aurora City is a ticking time bomb right now. If he wakes up, we'll have even less time to defuse it... No matter what, delay it first!"

"...Understood."

Large amounts of medicine were injected into the white-haired figure's body through needles. His skin took on an unhealthy pallor. As fewer and fewer bubbles floated up, the trembling eyelashes gradually became numb and returned to calm.

……

Star Chamber of Commerce.

"Sure enough, someone is deliberately hiding the aura here." Chu Muyun's eyes keenly captured the crack above the Chamber of Commerce, and understanding surfaced in his expression.

"It seems the reinforcements have arrived..."

Chu Muyun looked around, trying to find the location of the reinforcements, but in the current estate, apart from the few guards who were lucky enough to hide in corners and hadn't been eaten by buildings and trees, there were no other figures.

That shouldn't be... To be able to prop up such a large-scale domain and hide the aura fluctuations of the two monsters fighting, the reinforcements should be in this estate.

Chu Muyun possessed [Secret Pupil] and was quite confident in his observational abilities, but he searched for a long time without finding any existence suspected of being reinforcements... In the end, he turned his gaze back to the few guards hiding in the corner.

"Can't see me, can't see me, can't see me..."

"I don't want to die yet..."

"Damn it, is this a dream? How can even buildings and trees eat people!"

"The place we're hiding seems pretty good. Those architectural monsters walk back and forth, but they don't seem to see us..."

"Maybe we're just lucky."

“……”

These few guards were squatting next to a pavilion, their faces deathly pale. They had witnessed their companions being eaten by all sorts of strange things, but they had been squatting outdoors in the open and hadn't been attacked, which left them puzzled.

Just then, an inconspicuous figure among them slowly stood up...

It wasn't until this person stood up that everyone noticed his existence, as if they had subconsciously ignored him before. The guards looked at the figure who had stood up, puzzled, and asked:

"Hey... who are you? How come we haven't seen you before?"

"Strange, have you been squatting here with us the whole time? Why didn't we see you just now..."

"I didn't see you either."

The inconspicuous figure didn't answer. He just stared calmly at the subtle crack in the sky, his eyes narrowing slightly...

"It's time to end this..."

The next moment, his face began to change visibly. Faint blue patterns outlined it, as if weaving into a facial mask fitted onto his skin.

If Chen Ling were here, he would recognize the identity represented by the patterns on this person's face at a glance. When he studied traditional theatrical stages, he had seen this kind of mask... It was a role type that was gradually being forgotten.

Five Elements of Theater Dao—[Mo] (The Supporting Role).