Chapter 971: A Gaze from Outside the World

The mask fit perfectly onto Chen Ling’s face.

At this moment, Chen Ling had changed back into his bright red theater robe. With the black and white mask on his face, his already vibrant and dangerous temperament was layered with a sense of mystery…

At the same time, Shen Nan removed the bells from his waist and handed them to Chen Ling along with the mysterious flag.

“Do these two things have any abilities?” Chen Ling asked in confusion.

“No, they are just props to accompany the Sacrificial Dance,” Shen Nan replied truthfully, “However, after you complete the divine descent, they will become part of the ritual, allowing you to wield the power more easily.”

Chen Ling nodded, and then, under the gaze of everyone, walked slowly into the drizzling rain.

——00:08:57。

Rainwater dripped onto the black and white Nuo mask. Chen Ling recalled Shen Nan’s movements from just a moment ago, shouldered the flag with one hand, and gently shook the bells with the other.

Jingle—

The bright red theater robe danced in the rain.

Light, fluid, eerie, and mysterious—Chen Ling perfectly replicated Shen Nan’s performance in both movement and pace, almost without a single error. Perhaps because the colors of the theater robe and the Nuo mask were different, Chen Ling’s dance gave off a more ethereal and spiritual feeling.

Lu Xun, Yang Xiao, and Su Zhiwei were all attracted by Chen Ling, and Shen Nan, on the side, had eyes shining like torches. While expectant, he also nervously clenched his fists…

The Nuo mask swayed in the rain. Accompanied by Chen Ling’s eerie dance steps, an inexplicable aura began to drift from his body.

A strange feeling rose in Chen Ling’s heart.

Just as Shen Nan said, the Sacrificial Dance was a way to communicate with “God.” It was similar to the four basic secret arts of the Theater Path Ancient Archive, blending the essence of Shamanism into the movements. But to truly complete the divine descent, the dance alone was not enough.

The next step is to communicate with the 'God' to transfer Yao's soul into the Nuo mask, bestowing a soul upon it.

"Yao." As Chen Ling danced, he silently recited Yao's name in his heart.

"Hmm."

A voice echoed from the depths of Chen Ling's heart, and a soul began to actively withdraw from his body, surging toward the mask on his face.

This was the first time Yao had appeared in the perception of others. The moment Shen Nan sensed it, a look of profound shock filled his pupils...

"What a powerful soul!"

Although Shen Nan had sensed Yao's presence on Chen Ling before, it was like looking at flowers through fog—unclear. He could only vaguely feel that it was a Witchcraft Divine Path... But when Yao truly revealed its complete soul, even Shen Nan, who was a [Nuo], was intimidated by the pressure of that soul.

He had never seen such a powerful soul.

When Yao was in the Tian-Shu Domain, it had devoured the soul power of dozens of prodigies captured by Kong Wang. Although it still lacked a physical body, in terms of soul strength alone, aside from a few special Divine Paths, almost no one could compare to it... Chen Ling and Shen Nan were no exceptions.

"A twisted Play Divine Path, and a terrifyingly powerful Witchcraft Divine Path soul... What kind of monster will be created when these two combine?" Shen Nan muttered to himself.

The scarlet sleeves of the theatrical robe danced in the rain like swimming snakes.

As Yao's soul temporarily resided within the Nuo mask, Chen Ling's God-Sacrifice Dance became increasingly powerful. A certain aura began to connect with the void, and Chen Ling began to guide this aura, establishing a connection between himself and Yao within the mask...

Under the power of the God-Sacrifice Dance, a thread seemed to be forming between Chen Ling and Yao. "Play" and "Witchcraft" began to slowly intertwine, and a hurricane slowly rose from beneath his feet!

Seeing this, Shen Nan's eyes shone with intense brightness!

Just then, an unexpected change occurred.

A strong burning sensation began to radiate from Chen Ling's collarbone. In the dark, an even stronger connection shattered the aura that Chen Ling and Yao were just about to establish!

Chen Ling looked down in astonishment, only to see a ghost-face mark on his collarbone glowing with intense purple light!

If the aura Chen Ling had just established was like an elusive spider silk, then the power erupting from his collarbone was like a chain, connecting him to Yao while simultaneously extending to the very end of the void...

"This is..." Chen Ling immediately recognized the source of this aura.

"The Land of Divine Sacrifice???"

Chen Ling clearly remembered the script stating that not long ago, the Red King had taken him to the deepest part of the Forbidden Sea, entered the belly of the Calamity of Taboo, and found a corner of the Ancient Witchcraft Treasury there—the Land of Divine Sacrifice, which stored all the "sacrificial rites" in the history of human civilization.

Borrowing the power of the Land of Divine Sacrifice, the Red King had awakened the Yao within Chen Ling, helping Chen Ling reclaim the stage from Chao. It was also at that time that an extremely close connection was forged between Chen Ling, Yao, and the Land of Divine Sacrifice...

The God-Sacrifice Dance that Shen Nan taught Chen Ling was a method of "sacrifice," a channel to communicate with 'God'... It was like giving Chen Ling a key to connect to a "network." But what he didn't know was that the core of the "network" was now in Chen Ling's hands.

Boom—!!!

The power of the "sacrifice" surged like a torrent, rushing out through the ghost-face mark on Chen Ling's collarbone. The Witchcraft Divine Path power contained within it was too strong, to the point that it completely exceeded the bearing limits of both Chen Ling and Yao.

The Nuo mask on Chen Ling's face shattered with a bang.

At the same time, an aura of the Land of Divine Sacrifice, reaching toward the sky, used the God-Sacrifice Dance as a carrier and erupted from Chen Ling's body like a pillar of fire, shooting into the clouds!!

"This... how is this possible?"

The Nuo mask in Shen Nan's hand trembled slightly, as if summoned by the aura of the Land of Divine Sacrifice. If not for Shen Nan gripping it tightly, it would likely have flown away on its own... He stared blankly at the scene before him, his face full of confusion.

He had envisioned Chen Ling failing and had even prepared words to comfort him, but the current situation was completely beyond his comprehension.

The aura of the Land of Divine Sacrifice used Chen Ling as a carrier, burning fiercely like a torch in the darkness.

Before Shen Nan could say anything, a gaze seemed to cross the barriers of the world, slowly locking onto this old cabin... As that gaze looked here, the people in the clearing saw it too.

It was a monotonous world.

There was no color there; the world was only black, white, and gray. Boundless seawater churned under lead-gray clouds, and countless eerie, monstrous incantations tumbled on the sea surface like a dance of demons, each one exuding a heart-stopping aura.

Beneath the sea, a terrifying, sky-covering shadow slowly rose. Hot, massive eyes like lanterns opened in the abyss, their gaze crossing the world's barrier to look at the universe where Chen Ling was, and then bit by bit, they locked onto Chen Ling in the Guan-Zhou clearing... or rather, onto the aura unique to the "Land of Divine Sacrifice" radiating from him.

Roar—!!

The giant shadow lurking in the abyss of the Forbidden Sea seemed enraged by the aura of the Land of Divine Sacrifice. The deafening roar nearly shattered the eardrums of Yang Xiao and the others...

Then, a monstrous tsunami began to churn on the sea, and the "world-ending" giant shadow moved its body, beginning to approach the direction of Earth.