Starting with the titmouse, seventy-two transformations

Chapter 54 Deduction: Life is like taking the stage, death is like the curtain falling (Part 2)

Convex!
500 points of spiritual energy gone?!
Liu Sheng slammed his hand on the table and stood up, causing it to shatter with a loud crash.

Fan Shaoming, who was so frightened that he fell to the ground, trembled.

Help! This boy has gone mad again!

Liu Sheng glanced at him sideways, gritted his teeth, and said hatefully:

"What are you looking at?"

Haven't you ever seen someone get angry when a pop-up in a game asks for money?

"I didn't look, my eyes were closed!"

Fan Shaoming immediately closed his eyes, lowered his head, and behaved himself very obediently.

But then Liu Sheng's voice immediately rang in my ears, sinister and chilling:
"You don't dare look at me; it seems you have something to hide..."

"I……"

"Oh!"

Liu Sheng kicked him unconscious and punched him twice in the stomach before venting his frustration.

Cult scoundrels should be dealt with.

After venting his anger, he regained his composure.

The ink-wash light and shadow on the panel were still flickering. He looked back and discovered something new.

For example, during the deduction process, if the spiritual points are exhausted but the avatar is still alive, it will remain in the current state.

In other words, the transformation and upgrading of an incarnation can be divided into several stages, instead of either failing or succeeding as before.

"This may be because, after the spirits and monsters, each ascension to a higher level takes hundreds or even thousands of years."

Moreover, their self-preservation ability has been greatly improved, and they are no longer as vulnerable as ordinary beasts or alien species, where they would either live or die if they encountered danger..."

Liu Sheng pinched his nose, seemingly lost in thought.

The advantage of this is that although it cannot cause a qualitative change in the incarnation, such as from "spirit" to "demon", it can accumulate quantitative changes.

For example, which is more powerful, a Green Scale Serpent that has cultivated for a hundred years or a Green Scale Serpent that has cultivated for four hundred years?

Of course, he's cultivated for four hundred years!
"Then... continue!"

Liu Sheng took a deep breath and invested another 500 points of spiritual energy.

……

[In your fortieth year, after ten years in the human world, you have begun to pick up some human habits and preferences.]

Wealthy families keep cats and dogs as pets, so you have a human pet.

The daughter born to Green Pearl.

You named her "Blood Actress" because she was born covered in blood, a descendant of actors.

Green Pearl's skin has also become your collection.

You approached the head of the Liu family troupe and asked him to take care of Xue Ling.

He refused.

So you ate him, controlled his skin with silk threads, and became the "Master of the Liu Family Troupe."

...

In the forty-fifth year, you served as the "Master of the Liu Family Troupe" for five years without anyone noticing.

Even his elderly wife and children.

Your ability to manipulate your appearance is becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Xue Ling is eight years old. She has inherited Green Pearl's beauty and has a great talent for opera.

During this time, Ziyu became jealous and secretly had someone poison her.

So you ate her, and her body became a collectible.

You've taken on another role, "Ziyu".

That night, you controlled "Green Pearl" and "Purple Jade" to sing "The Peony Pavilion" on the stage.

Xue Ling came, kowtowed to you, and called you "Father".

father?
Can spiders be the fathers of humans?
interesting!】

...

In the fifty-first year, Xue Ling made her stage debut and became an instant sensation.

She became even more popular than her mother was back then, with invitations to perform piling up to the roof.

The Liu Family Troupe's shows were always packed, their popularity grew, and they quickly became a sensation across the country.

Many high-ranking officials and nobles even traveled from the capital just to see one of her performances.

No one knew that in the entire opera troupe, all the actors who could perform on stage were just empty shells, except for the blood-stained one.

You are proficient in all roles, from male to female, from painted-face to old-fashioned, and from playing musical instruments to singing and dancing.

Fun!

...

[In the fifty-fifth year, over the years, you have traveled all over the country with Xue Ling, making a great name for yourself in Baoxiang Kingdom.]

They are known as the "Number One Pear Class".

Every play you orchestrate earns thunderous applause.

The audience below was all dressed in brocade, with no one in white.

By chance, you heard about monsters becoming spirits.

It is said that after becoming a spirit, its lifespan increases dramatically and its combat power advances by leaps and bounds.

You want to become a spirit and go back to your lair for revenge!

[In the 56th year, in March.]

You received a letter from the Prefect of Guazhou, inviting the Liu Family Troupe to perform "The Peach Banquet" to celebrate his mother's birthday.

You met the governor's son; he was mature, steady, and gentle as jade.

Just like when I first met him at the Chang Le County Government eighteen years ago.

He is Bloodling's...

Biological father.

It is often said that life is like a play.

At that moment, it dawned on you.

In the darkness, a spiritual force stirred within him.

If you understand in your heart what a "good show" is, you can become a spirit!
But what makes a good show?
From the moment you began manipulating the body of the Liu family troupe leader, you acted out a "show" for sixteen years without anyone noticing anything amiss.

From all corners of the country, rave reviews…

Isn't this the best part yet?
You have a vague feeling that the opportunity to become a spirit should lie with Xue Ling.

So she told you about what happened back then. She begged you to play along with her until the end of this charade, and then she would go with you to seek your own destiny.

On the night of the birthday banquet, the governor's residence was filled with people in red and purple robes.

The old lady was eighty-nine years old, with silver hair and beard, but showed no signs of aging.

When Xue Ling took the stage, her flowing sleeves rose and fell gracefully, drawing cheers from the audience.

But then she removed her head and face, took off her makeup, and brought up the old story from back then.

There was an uproar.

You manipulate the skin, Green Pearl's skin and light gauze tread the waves, coquettishly complaining and weeping with the governor's son.

That night, flames soared into the sky above the governor's mansion, illuminating the southeast for the entire night.

Four generations of the same family perished in the fire.

The once-famous Liu Family Troupe has also turned to ashes.

But you haven't become a spirit.

This is a grand spectacle, but not a good one!

...

In the sixtieth year, Xue Ling awoke from her silk cocoon.

That year, in her quest for revenge, she suffered broken bones all over her body and can no longer perform.

She said, "Father, I have repaid Mother's karmic debt. In the second half of my life, I will definitely help you find your destiny, no matter how much suffering or hardship I endure."

So you spun silk into thread, mended her body, and reconnected her bones, allowing her to stand up again—

Performing opera!

...

In the seventieth year, you took her on a journey through the world, killing many actors and stealing the secrets of various operas, earning you a notorious reputation.

But the time wasn't right.

...

[In the eighty-fourth year, after more than twenty years of busy work, all efforts were in vain.]

You always feel that this opportunity is nearby, but you just can't find it.

Xue Ling vomited blood.

She was already critically injured and on the verge of death when she sought revenge against the governor, and it was you who used spider silk to help her keep her alive.

Even the slightest movement is like having your bones ground down and your tendons pulled out, causing you to suffer torment and pain day and night.

You grew increasingly anxious, worried that the opportunity would be lost once she died.

She comforted you, saying she wouldn't give up until she helped you find an opportunity.

...

In the ninety-fourth year, the opportunity still had not arrived.

Xue Ling is dying.

Her internal organs were rotting, and her black hair had turned completely white.

Most of the time, she was talking nonsense, shouting things like "Mom, I'm cold" and "Dad, hold me."

But as soon as the drums sound, she rallies—

Performing opera!

Just to help you find your opportunity.

You feel that this opportunity is right within reach, but you just can't find it.

Where exactly is this thing?

...

[In the ninety-eighth year, in the dead of winter, heavy snow fell.]

You have returned to White Tiger Town.

Blood Spirit is still alive, but also dead.

Her flesh and internal organs were gone, leaving only a skeleton.

You used the evil magic you stole to forcibly extend her life by three years.

Finally, the oil ran out and the lamp went out.

But the opportunity still hasn't been found.

You don't know why you brought her back here; it was just a pure intuition—

The opportunity lies here!

The White Tiger Ridge in the distance remains the same, but the grand mansion of yesteryear...

Only ruins remain.

At night, Xue Ling, who had been unconscious, suddenly woke up and said she wanted to sing an opera for you.

She smeared chalk on it, skulls wore heads and faces, and bones were draped in theatrical costumes. On the ruins, she performed a play for you.

The sound was like tearing silk.

Father!

Mo Shu'er's body was covered in wounds, and the icicles were frozen with blood from the swaddling clothes.

I still remember when I first learned to walk on the carpet, you held my hand and taught me how to tie an orchid knot.

New snow always buries old sins, and broken souls kneel and shatter on the nine-tiered steps.

The Yellow Springs bear the marks of three lifetimes' tears, to be etched upon the soul in the next life—

Snowflakes at her temples!
As she sang, two streams of bloody tears streamed down her face, and her voice grew fainter…

died.

In an instant, a flash of inspiration struck you, and a surge of brilliant ideas welled up within you.

You suddenly realize, it was all due to chance...

That was her life.

Sixty years, a cycle of sixty years.

Life is like taking the stage, death is like the curtain falling.

From witnessing her birth to seeing her die.

It has a beginning and an end.

Fang Wei...

What a show!

This chapter contains a foreshadowing about Xue Ling; did you all notice it (it's related to Journey to the West)? Feel free to discuss in the comments section.
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(End of this chapter)