Chapter 1100: Teacher Ye

Teacher Ye

Chen Ling was slightly taken aback.

The light in his eyes dimmed uncontrollably, and he lowered his head, falling into silence.

The reason why Chen Ling back then had the courage to face the Red Dust Domain alone was because he knew he had the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path backing him up; the former Chen Ling could presumptuously have Lu Xun clear the way for him because his comrades and brothers were right beside him, his future was boundless, and he was full of mettle... but what about now?

Now, he was nothing more than a homeless stray child. Everything that once served as his confidence had already left him.

Catching the change in Chen Ling's gaze, Teacher Ye paused for a moment before speaking again:

"Mister Chen, actually I can understand you... No one in this world can have smooth sailing forever, no one can advance triumphantly forever. There are peaks, and there will be valleys. And it's precisely because of the valleys that people will climb towards higher peaks.

Your situation, Zhao Yi has already sent a letter in advance to tell me. No matter what confusion you have, or what plans you have for the future, you can treat the Integration Faction as a safe haven. You can stay as long as you want, and when you've thought things through, we won't stop you if you want to leave...

In short, I hope you treat this place like your own home, just like everyone else, rather than a so-called 'organization'."

"... Thank you."

"Right." Teacher Ye suddenly thought of something, asking somewhat doubtfully, "According to the time Zhao Yi sent me the letter, you guys should have arrived half a day ago... Was there something that delayed you?"

"En, we ran into Storm Island on the way."

Hearing the words "Storm Island", Teacher Ye's eyes suddenly narrowed.

"Thought Calamity huh... En... Let me guess, did you look it in the eyes?"

Chen Ling was taken aback. "How did you know?"

"It most likely perceived your Aura, which is why it approached." Teacher Ye answered calmly, "The Thought Calamity is a Calamity hidden within thoughts, having no physical body in the physical sense. Therefore, among all the World-Ending Calamities, it is the most low-key one... but at the same time, it is related to all World-Ending Calamities.

The Scarlet Sovereign of the Ghost Mockery Abyss disappeared for so long, and then suddenly appeared in the depths of the Gray World. After it perceived it, it would naturally curiously come over to look at you...

But rest assured, the relationship between the Thought Calamity and the Calamity of Mockery isn't as bad as the relationship between the Cessation Calamity and the Calamity of Mockery. It probably won't directly provoke you. But you should also pay attention in the future, don't think about it when there's nothing going on. After all, as long as you think about it, it will sense it, and even directly intervene in your mind."

This paragraph of words from Teacher Ye directly left Chen Ling stunned in place...

He couldn't help but ask:

"Teacher Ye, you... have a lot of research on World-Ending Calamities?"

Teacher Ye's words seemed to indicate that he had already researched these several World-Ending Calamities very thoroughly, even knowing that the Calamity of Mockery and the Cessation Calamity had a bad relationship. In Chen Ling's eyes, this unremarkable teacher was already shrouded in a layer of mystery.

"Me?" Teacher Ye smiled slightly. "Not really a lot of research... However, I should be the earliest person in the world to start researching them, and also the one with the longest research time... Their abilities, territories, and offspring, I have researched them all. Among humanity, there probably isn't anyone who understands them better than I do.

In the early years, to let other researchers better understand the characteristics of the several World-Ending Calamities, I even summarized a footnote for each of them.

What was the footnote I wrote for the Thought Calamity back then... Oh, I remember now, [The isolated island nightmare of the slumbering storm, the bizarre ghost at the end of thoughts]."

Chen Ling opened his mouth wide in shock.

"Those footnotes... were actually written by you? Then their names, and the names of their territories..."

"I came up with them all." Teacher Ye used the teacup lid to gently scrape the froth on the surface of the tea water, a touch of reminiscing flashing in his eyes. "They are all matters of the past... Now, the Human Domains have probably already delisted my name. Those young scholars probably don't even know of the existence of a person like me."

Chen Ling's thoughts flashed rapidly.

The leader of the Integration Faction was a research expert on World-Ending Calamities. This piece of news made him somewhat excited... After all, his purpose in coming to the Integration Faction was to better control the Calamity of Mockery. Originally, he only held a slight amount of hope for the Integration Faction, but now seeing Teacher Ye, this hope grew ever stronger.

"Teacher Ye, to be honest..." Chen Ling got straight to the point. "I came to the Integration Faction hoping to borrow your power to control the Calamity of Mockery."

Teacher Ye wasn't surprised by Chen Ling's goal. He rubbed his chin with one hand, falling into deep thought,

"Control the Calamity of Mockery huh... This isn't easy. To be honest, if it was someone from our Integration Faction who had this thought, I would directly tell them to give up on this idea, but you... you are different."

"Why am I different?"

"The Calamity of Mockery is not 'a single Calamity' as people think. It is an aggregate of Calamities possessing self-awareness and self-pursuits. It's like a nest of ants, the ant queen is the brain issuing commands, and the other ants are its blood vessels and limbs. You can view a nest of ants as a cluster composed of hundreds of individual ants, or you can change your perspective and view them as a complete individual, an individual possessing thoughts and absolute actionability.

The power of the Calamity of Mockery is the most powerful among all World-Ending Calamities. If not for its 'cluster' nature often bringing about the self-devouring and mutual slaughter of the individuals within the cluster, it might have already unified all Calamity territories and become the true king of Calamities... Therefore, for anyone to want to control even a tiny shred of the Calamity of Mockery's power, it is a delusion.

But you are different... Because you yourself are one of the individuals that make up the 'Calamity of Mockery'... aren't you?"

Teacher Ye's gaze stared into Chen Ling's eyes. This single sentence directly made Chen Ling's mind shake wildly!

The people of the world might know that Chen Ling is the Calamity of Mockery, but the fact that he was one of the Audience members, a part of the Calamity of Mockery, was still a secret... Other than himself and the Red King, no one should know. Yet Teacher Ye only looked at him once and saw through Chen Ling's true nature.

"How... did you see through it?" Chen Ling found it inconceivable.

"As I said, no one can control the power of the Calamity of Mockery... but you did it. The only possibility is that you are one of the 'Calamity of Mockery' individuals who was born with self-awareness." Teacher Ye paused for a moment,

"As for how you were born with consciousness, I cannot understand. In my view, this is an absolute impossibility... but you just happened to do it. So, I have always wanted to meet you."

Chen Ling fell into silence.

Chen Ling was very clear in his heart that this wasn't something he did, but something the Red King did...

"So, do I have hope of controlling the Calamity of Mockery?" Chen Ling asked.

Teacher Ye thought for a long time, nodding uncertainly,

"Perhaps there is... we can try."