Chapter 538: Immersion

"Hoo..."

"Failed again."

Chen Ling stood unsteadily on the reef, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Senior Brother said the key is to use 'conviction' to resonate with the spirit at that very moment... So, the posture and angle of the strike don't matter at all. Senior Brother must have just swiped his hand casually at the time."

"Deliberately imitating the 'form' only distracts me. Conviction hasn't gathered; it would be better to abandon everything and focus entirely on comprehending conviction..."

"Then the question is, how to generate a conviction strong enough to resonate with the spirit in that instant?"

Chen Ling’s brain worked at high speed. He looked down at his bright red opera robe, and a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Opera Path Conviction... Could it be that the key is in the 'Opera'?"

Chen Ling’s eyes brightened slightly. He should have thought of it sooner; Ning Ruyu had already said the key to conviction lies in "immersion." This means everything should have been completed during a performance; the opera is the foundation of everything.

Do I need to immerse myself in a character to make conviction resonate with the Opera God Path?

Chen Ling suddenly remembered that when he first arrived at Ugly Peak and was chased by the Clown, Second Senior Sister Luan Mei seemed to be singing while immersing herself in the character, and then she suppressed the Clown... If his understanding was correct, was that also a form of 【Parting the Heavens with a Wave of the Sleeve】?

The waves in the distance were approaching, leaving Chen Ling little time to think. A flash of brilliance crossed his eyes; he decided to try it first.

The vast amount of opera he had learned over the past few months flashed through Chen Ling’s mind, and he finally locked onto the lyrics Luan Mei had used.

On the black reef, the figure in the bright red opera robe slowly raised his hand, took a stance, glared at the incoming waves, and took a deep breath...

The next moment, a highly penetrating singing voice echoed in the air:

"The barbarian king and his clowns are not worth discussing; with one sword, I can block a million troops!!"

These lyrics were from "Mu Guiying Takes Command," considered the most aggressive lines in Dan-role singing. Chen Ling remembered that when Luan Mei sang it, she might have changed the lyrics to "blade" instead of "sword" to better evoke resonance. However, Chen Ling’s hands were empty, so he used the original "sword," but he joined his hands into a sword-finger gesture and swung it forcefully toward the front.

Boom—!!

The bright red opera robe was mercilessly swallowed by the waves again.

"He really did comprehend it," Ning Ruyu said with a gratified smile.

"Pity, the sense of conviction from the immersion is still not enough," Luan Mei shook her head helplessly. "Junior Brother can sing, but he hasn't been exposed to opera for long, and he doesn't know much about Mu Guiying in the script... At this level, he can't generate resonance."

"This might be the trickiest part; it depends on how Junior Brother solves it."

As they discussed, a hand reached out from the seawater again, supporting the disheveled red figure as he stood up.

Chen Ling wiped the seawater from his face and let out a long breath, his expression ugly.

"No... I can't feel the resonance."

"Change the character?"

Chen Ling felt his general direction was correct. After a moment of thought, he changed his stance on the reef and stared at the next wave approaching.

"...Flags fluttering in the wind, horns roaring in the dust, I shall destroy them in a single battle!"

This time, Chen Ling sang "The Carriage of the Slippery Slope," which his Senior Brother had sung, while recalling his Senior Brother’s charm at the time, trying to immerse himself in it.

A wave rolled over, and the bright red opera robe disappeared from the reef again.

A few seconds later, a disheveled figure climbed up again, gritting his teeth and speaking again:

"The green-edged sword shines bright!!" (Note 1)

Bang—

Chen Ling was sent flying again.

After trying four or five times in a row, Chen Ling still hadn't succeeded. His mind gradually calmed down, and he muttered to himself:

"Is it because I don't know enough about opera? Or can't generate a sense of conviction... Wait, if I just need to immerse myself in a character, is there no need to obsess over these few lyrics? What if I try playing a different character?"

Chen Ling recalled the performance segments that had left the deepest impression on him and that he understood the best... Finally, an image surfaced in his mind.

"Maybe... this segment?"

Chen Ling stood firm on the reef, looking at the twenty-fourth towering wave roaring toward him, a flash of complexity in his eyes.

He slowly closed his eyes.

His vision was pitch black, but as his thoughts gradually traced back, a scene he would never forget in his life slowly emerged around him.

Heavy snow.

A residence.

A blood-stained stage.

He wore the bright red opera robe, walking slowly from the room filled with broken corpses into the goose-feather snow.

Three terrified figures sat in the snow. As he approached, they desperately tried to retreat, but their legs seemed to have no strength, and their whole bodies were trembling.

Chen Ling couldn't see himself, but he knew what he should look like... A "Dan-role" face paint, with apricot-like red makeup and hook-like eyebrows, was pasted on his face. It was Chen Yan’s face.

He was immersing himself in Chen Yan!

Anger, killing intent, despair, struggle... Familiar feelings surged into Chen Ling’s heart. The bright red sleeve lifted gently, and a highly penetrating opera voice echoed over the residence.

"The little nun is twenty-eight, in the prime of youth, her hair shaved by her master.

Every day, burning incense and changing water in the Buddha hall,

Seeing young men playing under the mountain gate..."

Chen Yan was immersing himself in "Si Fan," and Chen Ling was immersing himself in Chen Yan.

At this moment, Chen Ling’s and Chen Yan’s figures gradually merged, and Chen Ling’s consciousness began to blur... It was his body that had performed all of this, and all the emotions and convictions were perfectly preserved. Without any obstacles, without any delay, Chen Ling easily immersed himself in it.

The melodious and desolate lyrics seemed to lack any killing intent, yet the emotions contained within were enough to lower the surrounding temperature rapidly. Chen Ling and Chen Yan—or rather, the spirit of "Si Fan"—overlapped, and an indescribable, ethereal sense of conviction surged into his heart!

The bright red opera robe walked slowly among the black reef cluster. He closed his eyes, his wide sleeves rustling in the wind.

"This is..." A flash of shock appeared in Wenren You’s eyes.

"Such strong resonance... Did he capture the Opera Path Conviction? Who is he immersing himself in?!" Luan Mei’s expression was equally surprised. As fellow Opera God Path practitioners, they could all feel the change in Chen Ling’s aura.

Ning Ruyu didn't speak. He stared intently at the bright red opera robe actively approaching the waves, seemingly feeling nervous for Chen Ling.

The next moment, Chen Ling moved.

"He looks at me, I look at him..."

Chen Ling’s eyes opened slowly. In his pupils, a flickering radiance lit up like stars, and an indescribable aura surged out instantly!

He raised his hand subconsciously, swiping lightly toward the giant wave that blotted out the sky.

"He and I, I and him, both of us are deeply attached."

Boom—!!!

A thunderous roar exploded from the center of the wave. Snow-white spray splashed into the air, like a torrential rain submerging the red figure!

……

……

Note 1: Selected from the Peking Opera "Shanhaiguan."