Chapter 184: Is the Actor's End to Become the Stage Itself?

No flesh flying, no energy exploding.

Those silhouettes that were just alive are right before his eyes…

Shattered into debris!

In Su Ming's Eye of Truth, the tiny golden star disc is almost igniting!

He saw it!

Countless fragments, Rules, even lingering obsessions…

Are collapsing and coalescing!

Reassembling barbarically in a way he cannot comprehend!

Light and darkness intertwine!

The boundary between reality and illusion is utterly blurred!

When all the dust settles.

Ten brand‑new creations, each of a different form and emitting a faint glow…

Finally take the stage!

They are not merely new statues.

But also…

"Altar!"

Su Ming's breathing quickens.

Ten living, extraordinary beings whose power is at least Epic‑level at the start.

Right before him, they turned into ten altars with bizarre auras?!

Absurd!

Utterly preposterous!

Yet beneath this extreme absurdity and shock…

A trace of inexplicable sorrow still wells up in Su Ming's heart.

Western Shu Ruffians…

This group that stirs the clouds, treats all beings as toys, the ultra‑cool fun‑seekers…

They're gone!

Su Ming suddenly understood.

These guys don't live to find fun.

Their very existence is a "fun" offered to higher beings!

Including their awe‑inspiring finale, which is not death.

But to turn themselves…

Also become the stage scenery, becoming props for another grand play.

"Is the Actor's end to become the stage itself?"

In Su Ming's mind flashes the first meeting with Wu Lian Nan, that distant bowing figure, a self‑mocking smile.

"Heh…"

That fleeting thread of compassion was swiftly strangled by him.

Sorrowful?!

Pity?!

In this era of man devouring man, it is the most luxurious yet the most useless thing.

He steadies his mind, slowly exhales a breath of foul Qi, and steps forward.

In his eyes, only cold reason remains!

And that unabashed greed and yearning for opportunity!

The Actor has concluded.

Now it's his turn, the Audience, to sit at the table and feast!

"Now that it has come to this, let me… grant you one final dignity and the greatest worth!"

Su Ming walked to the altar nearest to him.

Transformed from Wu Lian Nan.

It is an ultra‑simple black monolithic pedestal.

Like a black hole, it devours all surrounding light.

And at the very center of the pedestal is set a mask.

Pure white, smooth, without facial features.

Yet beneath the mask, a subtle curve is deliberately lifted upward.

As if…

A stroke of utmost mockery and sorrowful grin!

Su Ming takes a deep breath, discarding all stray thoughts, focusing his mind.

Eye of Truth, activate!

Altar Number: 1111

Connection Signpost: Zhutian Drama Workshop

Karma Overview: Laugh at tears, then know all beings suffer! Perform false as true, then understand the world is like a play! Clown takes the stage, laughing and cursing, only to pierce the emperor's new clothes! Clown's curtain falls, solitary, only wishing to exchange for a moment of Real comfort! Seek a stage that no longer needs an Actor! Seek a gift that lets the Audience empathize!

…

【1111】!

Su Ming looked at the number, his body couldn't help but tremble slightly.

It came!

It finally came!

He had previously had a vague suspicion.

But the clues were too few to dare a conclusion!

Yet now…

The facts are now laid out naked before him.

Jiangcheng, in that stench‑filled Garbage Alley, the altar that connects the signpost 【Theatre of Sorrow】 is numbered 【4444】!

On the night before Mid‑Autumn, that abandoned open‑air Theatre, the three altars 【Sheng】, 【Dan】, 【Clown (Opera Role)】 were numbered 【1001】, 【1003】, 【1004】 respectively!

"So that's how it is…"

Su Ming's eyes flickered, countless clues wildly linked in his mind.

"Is the numbering system… like this?"

【1111】 is the main signpost of the Great Plane called 【Zhutian Drama Workshop】, the main base!

And 【1001】, 【1003】, 【1004】 are subordinate minor signposts under 【1111】!

Whole and part!

Does this mean…

Are the numbers 【2222】 and 【3333】 also two same‑level, same‑type main signposts?

For example, does 【2222】 connect to a comedy stage?

【3333】 perhaps connects to a mime, dance drama, spoken drama, and so on!

The more Su Ming thought, the faster his heart raced.

If this hypothesis holds, then extrapolating further…

【1111】, 【2222】, 【3333】, 【4444】 represent planes of different theatrical civilizations.

And are they also subordinate to an even grander, higher‑level signpost?

For example… a sequence numbered 【10】, 【20】, 【30】?

【10: Road of Drama】?

【20: Road of War】?

【30: Road of Technology】?

"Hiss…"

Su Ming suppressed the shock in his heart and stopped overthinking.

He knows one!

Number 【40】!

【Crimson Throne】!

"My little‑match‑eating buddy… are there also many minor signposts below?!"

"If only I could get some SAN‑boosting items, or swap my brain for one like a Chancellor's!"

He now feels even more certain that inviting those three top strategists would be flawless!

"Alas!"

Su Ming sighed and refocused his attention on the altar before him, transformed by the faceless man.

The demands in 【Karma Overview】…

Deviously intricate to the point of hair‑raising!

"A familiar taste…"

Su Ming murmured softly, his gaze flickering uncertainly.

"The solace of 【Reality】…"

"A play that no longer needs actors…"

"A gift that lets the audience empathize deeply…"

Su Ming stood with his hands behind his back, slowly pacing around the black altar that devoured light.

The 【Clown (Opera Role)】 role has always held low status in the opera world.

It even carries the character 【Clown】!

Because the characters they play are mostly vulgar, serving as comic relief.

They are the fringe pieces that cannot take the stage.

But…

He knows better than anyone that this is precisely what makes the 【Clown (Opera Role)】 role most terrifying.

Because they dwell on the margins, they see most clearly and live most genuinely.

They speak truth through madness, and pierce hypocrisy with grotesque laughter.

They are the only ones in the whole play who remain sober from start to finish.

Because ever…

No one has ever flattered them or bowed to them!

So, any form of performance before them is like wielding an axe at a master's door, or brandishing a great sword before Guan Gong.

"Offer a sacrifice of a genuine history?"

"Not enough!"

History is merely a script written by the victors!

【Clown】……has seen too much.

"To sacrifice an object brimming with true emotion?"

"Not enough!"

Emotion itself will also fade and distort over time, becoming no longer pure.

In the clown's eyes, all is illusion.

"Then……"

"What exactly is absolute truth?"

Su Ming stopped, lifted his head, and gazed at the theatre's black dome.

He thought of his parents.

He thought of the play he had sung in that abandoned theatre, titled Orphan's Hate.

That emotion was real.

That loneliness was also real.

But even so, when he drew the score with his blood……

He was still playing a vengeful painted-face role!

Still……

It was a performance!

"There are actually many answers and solutions!"

Su Ming murmured softly.

He could again reveal his true feelings, just as before.

He could also speak of this land that bears the joys and sorrows of countless beings, which is also sufficiently real.

But he……

He was unwilling to settle!

These merrymakers erected the stage so grand, even sacrificing themselves.

If he were to casually give a passing-grade answer……

Not very respectful!

"So……"

Su Ming's gaze fell once again upon that pure white mask, upon that arc of ridicule.

"Since all truth can be deconstructed into performance……"

"Then, can it be reversed?"