Each Displaying Their Divine Prowess
Awakened Lion, Path of the Actor, not from any Domain, proactively seeking out the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path... This Sun Bumian is indeed very mysterious.
Fortunately, the higher-ups of the Dusk Society are Chen Ling's senior brothers and Senior Sister. As long as he writes a letter back to ask, he should be able to get the answer.
"No matter what his background is, I just find him an eyesore!" Jian Changsheng bit fiercely into the Candied Haws, as if what he was chewing wasn't soft sugar, but Sun Bumian's head. "He is also going to compete for the [Heaven-Reaching Star Position], right... When the time comes, I must find him to properly settle accounts."
Speaking of the [Heaven-Reaching Star Position], 9 of Spades took out two pieces of paper from his pocket and handed them to the two separately.
"By the way, you guys fill this out."
"What is this?"
"Application forms, I just brought them back on my way... After you finish filling them out, hand them in directly in a while. The deadline should be today."
Jian Changsheng took the application form. After glancing at the contents on it, just as he was about to put pen to paper, he suddenly seemed to remember something, and guiltily stole a glance at Chen Ling beside him...
"What?"
"Are you participating?"
Chen Ling hesitated for a moment, and nodded. "Participating, what's wrong?"
To be honest, Chen Ling had some interest in this [Heaven-Reaching Star Position], but not much... After all, he didn't lack money, and status didn't matter. As for the depths of the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path, he had already been there, and he didn't believe others had the ability to go deep into it. What could truly attract him were actually special items containing a Divine Path Foundation like the "Guernica", as well as a corner of humanity's destiny.
But considering the group of "Audience" inside his body who constantly needed a sense of expectation, Chen Ling still chose to participate. After all, in Tianshu Domain, there didn't seem to be a better source of Expectation Value than this [Heaven-Reaching Star Position].
So, him participating in the competition for the [Heaven-Reaching Star Position] wasn't because he really wanted this position, but purely out of wanting to find some amusement.
Earning Audience Expectation Value was his primary goal!
While speaking, Chen Ling wrote the two characters "Lin Yan" in the name column. This was his most commonly used alias.
Seeing this scene, Jian Changsheng silently withdrew his gaze. After coughing lightly twice, he spoke, "It's nothing... I'm just asking. Anyway, I feel like all kinds of people are participating in this competition, so we still have to be a bit more careful. Safety first~"
Chen Ling glanced at the three characters "Jian Wubing" that Jian Changsheng wrote down without any defenses, and similarly withdrew his gaze as if nothing happened.
"Yeah... you too."
[Audience Expectation Value +2]
[Current Expectation Value: 51%]
After the two wrote down their names, each with their own ulterior motives, they continued to fill out downwards.
"Do the following information all have to be filled in truthfully?" Chen Ling pointed at the [Path] column below. "I don't even know the name of my own Path... How should this be filled?"
"Just write whatever." 9 of Spades spoke calmly. "There are as many Divine Path paths in the world as stars. It's impossible for the organizers to verify them one by one. The application form is just going through the motions. The main thing is still to see the performance when the time comes."
"Then I still have to randomly make one up..."
"Let me help you write it!"
Jian Changsheng suddenly became energetic, directly taking the application form from Chen Ling's hand. "Path of the Actor, how about the [Rest Assured Brother] path??"
"... I suddenly remembered, I still haven't settled accounts with you for the king crab just now."
"Just joking, just joking." Jian Changsheng patted his own chest. "Don't worry, I will definitely make up a good one for you!"
After speaking, he took the application form to a corner alone. After pondering for a moment, he blocked it with his hand and secretly wrote something.
He thought Chen Ling couldn't see at this distance, little knowing that with a sweeping glance, Chen Ling clearly saw the contents on it:
—— Path of the Actor, [Inhumane] path.
Chen Ling: ...
Chen Ling silently rolled his eyes in his heart, but on the surface pretended not to see.
When Jian Changsheng finished filling it out, he chuckled and directly handed the two forms together to 9 of Spades. "Then we'll trouble Senior."
"Let me see if there are any errors or omissions..." Chen Ling reached out to grab a corner of the two pieces of paper.
But the next moment, he was pulled back two steps by Jian Changsheng, the latter speaking confidently:
"No errors or omissions, I've checked them all for you... Besides, not many people will seriously look at this application form anyway."
Jian Changsheng didn't notice at all that the moment Chen Ling's fingertips touched the application form, the large characters "Path of the Soldier, [Asura] path" on Jian Changsheng's form also quietly changed, covered by another line of characters.
Seeing this, Chen Ling also said no more, quietly sitting down before the tea table.
"Alright, then let's go... The office isn't far from here."
After speaking, 9 of Spades took Chen Ling and the other out the door.
...
The three crossed several streets and arrived at the office of Tianshu Domain. Seemingly to cooperate with this joint operation of the Five Great Realms, the office already had a dedicated counter responsible for handling matters of the Trial of Stars.
"Hello, we are here to hand in the application forms." 9 of Spades handed the two application forms to the counter.
"Are the persons themselves here? Need to verify the age."
"They are both here."
Under 9 of Spades' gesture, Jian Changsheng and Chen Ling stepped forward one after another. After the office staff confirmed that neither of them was over twenty-five years old, they stamped the application forms, and then issued a manual to each of them.
"Remember to look over the contents on it carefully... The trial starts tomorrow, be prepared."
After speaking, the office staff stacked the two forms together and placed them aside.
"You two go back first, I still have some matters in a while." 9 of Spades said to the two in a low voice.
Chen Ling and Jian Changsheng exchanged a glance, neither asking more. After all, as a senior, 9 of Spades should have a mysterious mission in Tianshu Domain. The two directly walked back along the street.
Wait until the two walked far away, 9 of Spades took a deep breath, silently pulled out an application form from his chest, and walked back to the counter.
"Hello, there's still one more here." 9 of Spades handed over the application form expressionlessly.
The office staff took the application form. "Where is the person himself?"
"I am."
He glanced at 9 of Spades, his expression somewhat subtle. "You? How old are you this year?"
"I am 18 this year." 9 of Spades, whose temples were somewhat white, said with a straight face.
"... Anyone over twenty-five cannot participate. You are almost forty, right?" The office staff waved his hand impatiently. "Go, go, go. At your age, you still want to join the fun."
9 of Spades: ...
9 of Spades silently took back his application form, turned around alone and walked to the door, raising his head forty-five degrees to look up at the azure sky... After an unknown amount of time, he let out a long sigh full of bitterness.
"As expected, if you are not from the Path of the Actor, it's very hard to sneak in..."
"I wonder how those other guys from the Dusk Society are doing... There are a few who look young, they should still have a chance. And a few who can manually reduce their age... and a few true young geniuses."
"Everyone, let's each display our divine prowess."