Returning to Heaven and Earth
"No..."
"No!! How is this possible?!!"
Maintaining the massive Alchemy Array, Brand watched with his own eyes as the millions of souls about to be condensed and refined began to break free from the control of his alchemy, his eyes widening in disbelief!
As a possessor of the Path of the Witch God, Brand understood human souls better than anyone. Souls are illusory; to some extent, they are things from another dimension. Without special methods, it's impossible for the human eye to even see them.
No matter how powerful a person was in life, their soul after death does not possess power. Therefore, Brand's alchemy essentially manipulated souls through pain, forcing them to aggregate and distort themselves...
But now, these souls actually broke free from his control??
The absurdity of this in Brand's eyes was like bacon about to be thrown into a pot suddenly resurrecting, then growing wings and flying out the window!
"The pain of the souls was purified... Damn it! Is it that ballad? What the hell is that thing?!"
The souls that had originally begun to scatter and disappear were frozen once more at this moment, sometimes calm, sometimes distorting, as if there were two giant hands wrestling across space in that invisible void!
Crack—
Red lightning flashed continuously, completely illuminating the souls beneath the sky. All the survivors in the Main City who saw this scene subconsciously held their breath...
Then, their gazes landed on that Red-Clad Performer ascending to the sky.
Chen Ling's gaze was very calm.
He used [Cloud Steps] to ascend to the clouds; he used [True Word] to broadcast his voice across the entire city; he used the [Requiem Ballad] to soothe the pain of all souls, breaking the shackles of alchemy for them, returning them to heaven and earth.
Of the four basic secret techniques he learned in the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path, he had already used three at this moment... But Chen Ling's foundation was more than just this.
This was Chen Ling's first time singing the [Requiem Ballad] in actual combat, but the moment he opened his mouth and sang the first verse, it was as if he had comprehended something. The weeping clouds in reality resonated with the words in the ballad, and a familiar feeling surged into Chen Ling's heart!
Chen Ling took a deep breath. In his mind, the scene from the Aurora Domain surfaced, where Second Senior Sister Luan Mei sang the [Requiem Ballad], soothing the millions of wronged souls who froze to death...
He brushed his red sleeves, and his figure gradually overlapped with the Second Senior Sister of that time. Two completely different timbres rang out from his throat simultaneously!
"'Crying Child', "
"'Please gently close your eyes'..."
[Sleeve-Hand Pushing Heaven]!
Although Chen Ling didn't use a substantive attack, under the enhancement of this secret technique, his mental strength at this moment had already reached an unprecedented peak, and the resonance of his soul reached the extreme. Just in terms of the [Requiem Ballad], he was already not in the slightest bit weaker than the four Senior Brothers and Sisters: Male Lead, Female Lead, Painted Face Role, and Secondary Male Role!
The instant these two verses of the ballad rang out, all the imprisoned souls beneath the clouds were as if the shackles in the void were shattered by a single sword strike, thoroughly transcending from the mortal world!
Buzz—!!
The wrestling in the void ended with the shattering of the Alchemy Array;
In the next moment, the ocean formed by millions of souls gathered together, under the reflection of the sky full of red lightning afterimages, surged towards the Great Crimson Theatrical Robe. From afar, it looked like a magnificent and massive ocean current swallowing Chen Ling within!
Woo woo woo woo—
Countless souls brushed past Chen Ling, causing that Great Crimson Theatrical Robe to flutter loudly.
With the help of the red lightning, Chen Ling could see faces filled with tears, casting grateful gazes towards him. They were ordinary people who were burned to death, chopped to pieces, and buried alive in this war; they were mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters, and also the myriad living beings.
Among them, Chen Ling also saw several acquaintances: the reluctant Yang Muquan, the abstractly expressive Second Hall, and even the Witchcraft Association member who was sat to death by the Shadow Toad's butt during the chaotic melee earlier...
Their expressions were all different, but following the torrent of souls, they brushed past him like a gust of wind, ultimately dissipating without a trace.
At the very back of the sea of souls, Chen Ling saw a familiar figure.
It was a young girl wearing an elegant long dress. She carried a small Leather Suitcase with both hands in front of her, trotting over as if somewhat cramped...
Perhaps because she was a soul, Chen Ling couldn't see her face clearly. Only occasionally when red lightning flashed across could he vaguely see a trace of a familiar shadow.
She didn't brush directly past Chen Ling like the other souls, but gently stopped her steps.
Chen Ling didn't know if she was speaking, only that in those short few seconds, time seemed to pass very slowly... The young girl raised her translucent jade hand and reached towards Chen Ling's wrist, gently rubbing that blood-stained golden bracelet.
Chen Ling didn't dodge, just quietly looked at where the young girl's eyes were. After a long silence, he sang softly:
"'When dusk falls in the darkest era', "
"'I will promise you the morning glow and blue sky'."
Hearing the last two verses of the ballad, the young girl's figure trembled slightly.
The corners of her mouth curled up, as if she was smiling... Then she lifted her flowing skirt with both hands and bowed deeply to Chen Ling, as if thanking him, as if saying goodbye.
Then, she gently stepped forward. A gust of wind brushed past Chen Ling's cheek like a gentle palm, disappearing without a trace...
Bang—!!
The moment the last wisp of the wind of souls drifted away, the already tottering Fourth Wall around Chen Ling finally let out a crisp popping sound, thoroughly collapsing into nothingness!
In this instant, long-lost emotions swept frantically into Chen Ling's mind like a tide!
In a daze, he saw the people despairing and breaking down amidst the flames of war. He saw the Fire Rain surging over like the apocalypse in anger. He saw someone resolutely returning to the Red Dust without hesitation. He saw someone slaughtering in a sea of blood. He saw someone fighting a bloody battle carrying their ancestors' banner... All those things he had once failed to understand, had once coldly looked on as a bystander, all returned with the surging of the wind of souls.
Those emotions were like a torrent after a dam collapsed, overlapping together, impacting Chen Ling's mind...
When he snapped back to reality once more, his face was already covered in tears.
The gentle breeze slowly stopped...
Two million agonizing souls finally returned to heaven and earth.
The blood-red lightning no longer lit up, and the Alchemy Array amidst the clouds had also disappeared. Beneath the dead silent dark clouds, only a single Great Crimson Theatrical Robe stood solitary.
But in the next moment, the wind rolled and clouds surged!!
An 8th-rank Oppressive Aura suppressed down across the sky like a mountain range, carrying monstrous anger and killing intent, accompanied by a blood-red lightning bolt that smashed down with a bang in the void in front of Chen Ling!
Brand's eyes were full of bloodshot. He clenched his fists tightly, his gaze towards Chen Ling wishing he could swallow him alive!!
"Are you... courting death???"