Chapter 850: Walking the Starlight, A Grand Departure

[Audience Expectation +4]

[Current Expectation: 38%]

In truth, Chen Ling hadn't been certain from the start.

He only knew that a trace of Lord Heavenly Pivot's consciousness was hidden within the star cluster, but he didn't know if this consciousness possessed the ability to think, if it could be awakened... nor did he know if what he did in the Era Archive would truly affect the real world.

But pushed to such a desperate situation, Chen Ling had no other choice; he had to gamble.

Now it seemed he had won the bet.

What happened in the Era Archive did indeed affect the real world, though he hadn't yet figured out exactly how... but regardless, the most critical hurdle for now had been cleared.

Chen Ling turned slowly, his gaze sweeping over the deathly silent Heavenly Pivot Realm below and the countless pairs of confused and bewildered eyes.

The hazy starlight paved a magnificent and grand road. Seeing this, Chen Ling seemed to realize something, a look of understanding dawning in his eyes...

"Walking the red carpet, huh..."

Chen Ling clearly remembered that the condition for this performance was [To walk a grand and perfect 'red carpet' under the gaze of the masses]... Now it seemed that both the "gaze of the masses" and the "red carpet" were satisfied; it only remained to be seen if it could be considered "grand and perfect."

Chen Ling asked himself: this journey to the Heavenly Star Position had allowed him to accumulate enough expectation, complete his rebirth, and even unlock his own domain—he had no regrets... but he wasn't the only one walking this red carpet.

Chen Ling turned back to look at Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian, suddenly asking:

"Do you two have any regrets?"

Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian: ???

"Heart, what do you mean by that?" Sun Bumian exclaimed, clutching himself, "You aren't planning to kill us to silence us, are you?!"

“？”

Chen Ling was speechless. "I'm being serious."

Jian Changsheng looked down at the sword scabbard in his hand, and after a moment of silence, he gripped it tightly. "I don't have any regrets... in fact, it's so perfect that I'm starting to wonder if I'm dreaming."

Seeing this scene, Chen Ling suddenly felt a lingering fear...

He realized that if he hadn't acted on impulse and followed his heart to bring Jian Changsheng back to reclaim the Heavenly Star Position, they would have been fleeing in disgrace rather than making a perfect exit... If that had happened, the performance would have failed, and who knew when he would find another opportunity for a "red carpet" under the "gaze of the masses."

By helping Jian Changsheng reclaim the Heavenly Star Position, Chen Ling had, invisibly, fulfilled the conditions for his own performance.

"What about you? Do you have any regrets?" Chen Ling turned to Sun Bumian.

"I do! I have so many regrets!"

Chen Ling's heart skipped a beat.

Sun Bumian spoke with deep heartache,

"I only joined the competition for the Heavenly Star Position to scrape by into the final few spots and win the million-dollar prize... but then that Kongwang showed up, I got exposed, and the prize money went down the drain!

The thirty-dollar registration fee I paid! All for nothing!!!"

Chen Ling: ...

"Is that it?" Jian Changsheng, having recovered, regained a bit of his usual snarky attitude. He gave a disdainful click of his tongue and pointed at Chen Ling.

"Do you have any idea who this guy is? Huh?

The Twilight Society's financier, everyone's cash cow! He can earn hundreds of millions just by stepping out the door; everyone's salary in the Twilight Society comes from him... This is a real golden thigh! Isn't that worth way more than a million-dollar prize?"

Hearing this, Sun Bumian looked at Chen Ling in surprise, his eyes lighting up behind his small round sunglasses.

"Heart, can you reimburse me for that million-dollar prize then?"

Under normal circumstances, Chen Ling would have rolled his eyes and walked away... but thinking about how the performance condition was "perfect," he decided to agree for the sake of safety.

"Tch, what are you thinking? I've been hanging out with Heart for so long, and I've never seen him..."

Before Jian Changsheng could finish, Chen Ling suddenly spoke:

"Sure, but I don't have the cash on me right now. It'll have to be in installments."

Jian Changsheng: ?!

Jian Changsheng stared at Chen Ling with wide eyes, his gaze filled with shock and unfamiliarity.

"That's great! Next time I want to eat king crab too!!" Sun Bumian grinned, his furrowed brows relaxing.

"No... aren't we still being hunted? Is it really appropriate to be discussing what to eat so leisurely on someone else's turf??" Jian Changsheng couldn't help but speak up, pointing toward the Old District, "The killing intent over there is almost solid, you know!"

"With Lord Heavenly Pivot paving the way for us, what does it matter if they break free from the secret treasure?" Chen Ling said calmly. "We haven't done anything wrong, so there's no need to leave in a panic like stray dogs."

"Then we..."

"Hold your heads high, gentlemen."

Chen Ling stepped on the brilliant starlight beneath his feet, adjusted the collar and sleeves of his opera robe, and like a VIP attending a grand event, stepped onto the vibrant red carpet under the gaze of the masses with effortless grace!

He walked forward with steady, composed steps.

"Today, we shall, in front of everyone from the five great realms..."

"Walk the starlight, and make a grand exit."

Snap—!

Chen Ling snapped his fingers.

The next moment, millions of playing cards scattered from the magnificent star path, falling over the Heavenly Pivot Realm like a drifting snowstorm...

Like colorful ribbons blooming beside a red carpet, dreamlike and illusory.

The bewildered citizens on the streets watched as the playing cards submerged the city, red and black faces intertwined, countless "6"s appearing like omnipresent nightmares, dancing around them.

[Heart 6], [Spade 6], [Diamond 6].

Bang—!!

Several explosions echoed from within the Old District.

As the effects of the Dao Foundation secret treasure faded, the five realm representatives broke free from their wooden chairs almost simultaneously, the fragments of the chairs scattering across the ground amidst the explosions.

They looked at the city filled with playing cards and the three figures leaving gracefully on the star path, their expressions incredibly ugly!

"Are we still pursuing?" asked a high-ranking official from the Heavenly Tower.

"How? Can you pierce through Lord Heavenly Pivot's star cluster?"

"...So we just watch them leave? And do nothing?!"

"Attacking now won't pierce the star cluster, it will only make us look even more pathetic... Forget it, let them go."

The Master of the Heavenly Tower shook his head helplessly, looking as if he had aged a dozen years, his eyes filled with deep exhaustion...

The representatives all knew clearly in their hearts,

After this, the credibility of the five great realms' authorities would likely plummet.

"The already faint and weak human fortune has been stripped of another thread by the Twilight Society..." The Heavenly Tower Master looked at the remaining six Heavenly Star Positions, his eyes bitter as he muttered to himself,

"Could it be that this time, Heaven truly intends to destroy humanity?"