Master is Behind You
"The protagonist... of the story?"
"Everyone is the protagonist of their own life." Master thought for a moment, and still added a sentence, "The difference between you and us is that your life has an Audience."
"But I'd rather not have this Audience." Chen Ling frowned. "They mess everything up."
"Everything has two sides... Having an Audience isn't always a bad thing."
"But I don't think they can do any good."
Master looked at Chen Ling, smiled, and remained noncommittal.
Chen Ling looked at Master, always feeling like there was something hidden in his eyes, mysterious and unfathomable... Then, as if thinking of something, he suddenly asked:
"Master, are you in the Red Dust right now?"
"That is to say... the current Red Dust has actually gathered four Demigod Tier beings?"
"Four? Hahaha..." Master chuckled softly twice, not answering directly. "In short, although Your Master is here, I have no intention of getting involved..."
"Because of the Dusk Society's neutrality?"
"Not entirely. The Dusk Society's neutrality is also relative, not absolute... Just like your action this time, to some extent, can also represent the Dusk Society's stance." Master paused for a moment.
"Your Master doesn't make a move because the protagonist of this grand play isn't Your Master..."
"Then who is it?"
"It's you, Old Six."
"Me?" Chen Ling gave a wry smile. "I'm just a Third Tier Path of the Actor practitioner, where do I have the qualifications to participate in a war of this scale... Releasing the Calamities of the Ghost Mockery Abyss and disrupting the battlefield is already the limit of what I can do... I can't even save the life of an Ordinary Person."
"The protagonist of a grand play always has to make their appearance last." Master disapproved.
"Moreover, you are underestimating yourself too much... You are Your Master's disciple, someone from the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path. Perhaps you didn't take it to heart, but actually, what you can do is far more than you imagine."
"... Such as?"
"Don't ask Your Master, ask yourself... Did you spend all those days in the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path in vain?"
Chen Ling was stunned. His brows constantly furrowed tightly, seemingly pondering the deep meaning in Master's words...
Whoosh—
A gentle breeze brushed across the grassland, the world was tranquil.
Chen Ling could hear the fluttering sound of colored flags coming from the distance behind him. That was the direction of the Home of Old Six... He subconsciously turned to look back, but the grassland was already completely empty.
Time ticked away minute by minute. Chen Ling stared blankly at this scene, letting the gentle breeze brush past his cheeks, also gradually smoothing out that tired and restless heart.
"Do you want to go back?" Master asked.
"Go back where?"
"Go back to the Home of Old Six, go back into the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path." Master spoke calmly. "Your First Senior Brother has always wanted you to go back. At least after going back, you won't have to be involved in a quagmire like the Red Dust Domain... At least Your Master can guarantee that even if the outside world is turned upside down, the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path will always be safe."
"... Always safe..."
Chen Ling took a deep look at the direction where the Home of Old Six originally was. He couldn't help but recall the half a year he spent there in his mind... Nostalgia and reluctance surfaced in his eyes, but as a meteor streaked across the night sky, his gaze also quickly recovered its calmness.
When leaving the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path, Chen Ling had already prepared himself to face crisis and death. Before setting off, he knew that coming to the Red Dust Domain this time wouldn't be easy or peaceful. Ultimately, he chose this himself... If he were allowed to choose again, he would still make the same choice.
"Thank First Senior Brother for me, but I can no longer turn back." Chen Ling shook his head. He took a deep breath and slowly stood up from the ground.
"Are you going to leave after resting for just this short while?"
"I roughly understand your guidance... I want to go back as soon as possible."
Seeing this, Master's brows rose slightly, but he didn't speak to urge him to stay again, but nodded:
"Alright."
As his voice fell, the Optical Disc in Master's hand flew up into the air, gradually unfolding in the void. That world filled with a Demigod's Aura and flames of war pulled Chen Ling back into it bit by bit.
Right at this moment, Master spoke again:
"Old Six."
"... What is it, Master?" Chen Ling, whose body was already halfway pulled into the world, suddenly turned back when he heard this.
"Actually, by pulling you in this time, Your Master wanted to tell you something..." Master pointed at Chen Ling's head and spoke with a smile,
"You don't need to be constrained by your current shackles. In this play, you can perform freely... Even if you cause a monstrous mess, there's no need to panic."
"This time, Master is behind you."
Chen Ling was stunned.
He opened his mouth, wanting to ask something more, but the folded world was like a tide, swallowing him up...
...
The distant starry sky and grassland were like unreachable dreamlike stars, drifting further and further away from Chen Ling. That Oppressive Aura of life and death locked onto his figure once more, causing all his hairs to stand on end!
The Audience roared, the giant dragon bellowed;
Chen Ling snapped back to reality. He was still standing on the Toad's back, and the distant dragon breath sprayed out in the next moment, flying straight towards him!
Seeing this, Chen Ling felt a shock in his heart!
Even though he was pulled away by Master just now, when he came back, it would still start from the original time?!
At first, Chen Ling thought he had dodged the dragon breath by relying on Master, but in reality, he hadn't... However, Chen Ling didn't panic too much. Since Master still put him back, it meant this was absolutely not a certain-death situation!
Sure enough, the moment the dragon breath sprayed out, a jade hand that obscured the sky and sun hung down from the sky, directly crossing dimensions, and grabbed the Cessation Calamity's neck!
Then it forcefully lifted upwards!
Boom—!!
The dragon breath capable of destroying all civilization almost grazed the Red Dust Main City as it was lifted, spraying straight towards the sky, without harming the distant Chen Ling or the other areas of the Red Dust Main City in the slightest!
It was Lord of the Red Dust Su Zhiwei, who was tracking Lord of Wuji while simultaneously looking down at the battlefield in the red flower, her eyes full of anger.
Having its dragon breath pulled away by Su Zhiwei, the Dust Dragon naturally wouldn't remain inactive. It forcefully flapped its giant skeletal wings, and a hurricane surged out from its body. Relying on its unparalleled power and tough bones, it directly broke free from Su Zhiwei's palm, simultaneously tearing it into blood-red like a meat grinder!
Even Su Zhiwei, one of the Nine Monarchs at her peak state, couldn't suppress a World-Ending Calamity also at its peak state.
The Cessation Calamity's massive body spun in the air. Those Wind Tunnel eyes stared at the injured Su Zhiwei. It opened its giant mouth, and an Oppressive Aura that seemed capable of blowing away heaven and earth, accompanied by a dragon's roar, rumbled loudly!!
The massive dragon wings flapped once more. Its body rode the wind and actually directly tore the boundary of the dimension, flying out from the red flower into the Gray World where Su Zhiwei was located!
Feeling the incoming World-Ending aura, for the first time, a solemn expression surfaced on Su Zhiwei's face...
One Nine Monarch at half status, one World-Ending Calamity at peak status;
She could only fight one against two...