Chapter 40 The Distorted Opera Divine Path

Cinnabar glass pendants fell one by one onto the snow, their divine radiance flowing like brilliant stars scattered on earth.

"This is..." Chen Ling froze.

"Brother, do you know... that red star represents 'opera'." Chen Yan raised his head, gazing at the divine path gradually retreating in the sky, and slowly said, "Since the day I started self-studying drama, I would occasionally sense its presence... It wanted to take me away, but I didn't want to go.

Every time it moved away, I would keep a piece of its fragment. I thought that when I'd saved enough, maybe I could take you and our parents to the place it guides, to see what lies at the end of 'opera'...

Unfortunately, I only managed to save thirty-six pieces in the end."

"Now... I can't go anymore."

Chen Yan smiled helplessly. He slowly picked up all the cinnabar glass pieces and forcefully threw them at the retreating divine path in the sky!

The next moment, countless divine rays burst from these fragments of the divine path, rapidly intertwining in mid-air to reform a misty divine path like a ribbon, chasing after the retreating one!

"Brother, you must live on... Will you go see what's at the end of the opera path for me?"

The two sections of the divine path collided in mid-air, and brilliant divine light illuminated the sky!

The "Opera Divine Path" was reconnected;

The cinnabar star in the sky never expected its divine path could be forcibly retained. Its divine radiance trembled in mid-air, as if trying to pull it back...

At the other end of the divine path, the young Chen Yan stood quietly. Although his body looked thin and frail, in terms of talent on the "Opera Path", he was so powerful, detached, and as steady as Mount Tai.

He firmly nailed the starting point of the opera divine path right in front of Chen Ling!

The divine path had abandoned Chen Ling,

But Chen Yan had not;

"What's happening?!"

Outside the courtyard, the shadowy man and Chu Muyun both looked at the sky in astonishment. Beneath the cinnabar star, a broken path was being rapidly repaired!

"Why is the opera divine path fixed?!"

"Did it choose Chen Ling? How is that possible?!"

Even the always calm and wise Chu Muyun couldn't help but widen his eyes. The two of them carefully scanned around Chen Ling in the center of the courtyard but found nothing unusual... In their vision, there was nothing to see.

"Wait... something's not right!"

"What's not right?"

"That opera divine path is abnormal. It's been distorted... I've never seen a divine path like this before."

"What happens if one walks on a distorted divine path?"

"If a road's signs are tampered with, who knows where its final destination will be? Heaven? Or... hell?"

"You mean..."

"Hurry and stop him!! He must never set foot on that distorted divine path!!"

Two figures rushed rapidly toward the courtyard!

Chen Ling stared blankly at Chen Yan standing on the opera divine path. He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but his figure seemed to be fading little by little...

"Ayan... Ayan!"

Chen Ling's pupils constricted. Somehow finding strength from nowhere, he forcefully pulled his shoulder out of the skeleton cage bit by bit. The sharp bone tips tore through his flesh and blood, and scarlet blood dripped from his arm to the ground, quickly pooling into a puddle of blood.

He gritted his teeth tightly but couldn't help crying out in pain. After more than ten seconds, he finally broke free from the cage and stumbled toward Chen Yan!

"Ayan!" He reached out to grab Chen Yan but could only pass through the void lightly...

Before, he had always been able to touch Chen Yan.

"Brother, I really have to go this time." A pure and gentle smile unique to teenagers appeared on Chen Yan's face. "This path is different from other opera divine paths... It will make your life tortuous and full of hardships, but maybe it can help you break free from those things."

"Where are you going?" Chen Ling's face was deathly pale from heavy blood loss.

"Back to where I belong... and at the same time, become the cornerstone of your divine path."

Chen Yan took a step back, fully revealing the divine path before Chen Ling's eyes. His figure had almost faded away, leaving only a voice lingering in Chen Ling's ears.

"Walk this path, and the world will belong to you, brother."

"Chen Ling!! Stop now! That path can't be walked!!"

Chu Muyun's voice rang out urgently, but Chen Ling seemed not to hear. Dressed in a bright red opera robe, he stood at the starting point of the divine path, slowly lifting his right foot, then...

Stepping onto it.

Dong——!!

The moment his foot landed, the ribbon-like illusory divine path instantly solidified, resembling a blood-red staircase ascending to the sky. The next instant, this heavenly staircase rapidly shrank beneath Chen Ling's feet, finally vanishing into nothingness...

The distorted divine path seemed to have disappeared, or perhaps...

It had already settled beneath Chen Ling's feet.

By the time Chu Muyun and the shadowed man reached the scene, only Chen Ling remained, head bowed, standing in place.

"Chen Ling, didn't you hear me calling you just now?" Chu Muyun frowned and stepped forward, about to say more, when he suddenly froze.

"What's wrong?" the shadowed man asked.

Chu Muyun's voice sounded again.

The shadowed man startled, turning to look at Chu Muyun, only to find the latter hadn't spoken at all...

"What's going on?" Then his own voice echoed from ahead.

Both men stared forward.

A bone-chilling wind swept across the snow. The youth in the red opera robe, facing away from them, twisted his neck eerily backward...

"Chen Ling, didn't you hear me calling you just now?"

"What's wrong?"

"Chen Ling, didn't you hear me calling you just now?"

"What's wrong?"

"Chen Ling, I just called you..."

Chu Muyun's and the shadowed man's voices alternated from Chen Ling's throat. Meanwhile, his face continuously switched between the two men's features...

Yes, switched.

Chen Ling's face was like a calendar with tear-away masks. With each word, he transformed into the corresponding person. The next sentence would tear off a "mask," revealing another face. Eyes, stubble, moles, voices—every detail was perfectly replicated. Watching their own faces flicker across Chen Ling's features, both men felt a creeping horror.

"W-what's happening to him?" the shadowed man stammered.

"Ordinarily, treading the divine path means ascending to the 'First Tier,' and each tier grants a corresponding path skill... His condition should be caused by the Opera Divine Path's First Tier skill."

"The first skill of the Opera Path is face-changing?"

"Club Seven told me most first-tier Opera Path awakenings manifest as [Thousand Faces], an extension of a performer's basic disguise ability... Sounds a lot like what's happening to Chen Ling now."

"Then why does he seem unconscious?"

"His divine path is distorted, so his awakened skill is likely warped too... He's probably suffering a backlash from his own ability."

"I see... No wonder he kept mimicking us earlier."

"But he's stopped now..." Chu Muyun frowned at Chen Ling, who had suddenly fallen silent. "I have a bad feeling..."

Before the shadowed man could ask, Chen Ling looked up again...

A layer of skin peeled away from his face.