[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-308":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269954,4431,"Chapter 308","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-308",308,"\u003Cp>It turned out that, when it came to bards, Li En’s talent was practically zero.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Generally speaking, becoming a bard requires training in a series of skills including singing and poetry, and after becoming a bard, one’s voice undergoes a “qualitative transformation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sound—or vibration, or echo—is the source of a bard’s power. With your tone-deafness and pitch inaccuracies, you could never become a bard from the start.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only after truly encountering this supernatural profession did Li En realize the minimum Soul Synchronization Rate had a reason: even with the Hero Soul’s enhancement, he had absolutely no talent in this area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even spellcasting relies on the power of ‘echo’? That makes no sense at all—why should playing an instrument or singing summon supernatural power?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bards are spellcasters too, but unlike sorcerers who draw on bloodline, wizards who rely on knowledge, or warlocks who borrow power, their spellcasting is profoundly “illogical.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though they possess a slight amount of magic, it is extremely thin and utterly insufficient to sustain High-Hour spells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In their own understanding, their spellcasting depends on an “echo,” a rule rooted in the world’s fundamental layer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In their own view, at the world’s creation, countless natural phenomena and supernatural rules existed; bards merely attempt to “reproduce” them, simulating spell effects through the “echoes” of those natural phenomena.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This magic? It’s not magic at all!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En couldn’t understand it, but he was deeply shaken—how could they summon supernatural power with so little magic, just by singing strange melodies and uttering odd syllables?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, this sounds oddly similar to Dragon Tongue magic…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En fell into deep thought; he simply could not comprehend this logic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why could bards, with no Dragon Vein or supernatural bloodline, summon magical effects merely by hitting specific tones with a trace of magic?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who decided this? That doesn’t make sense.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could there, in some hidden way, truly be a “server” that delivers results when specific codes are input? Then wouldn’t the wizard’s lifelong study be utterly absurd?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stop researching—it won’t yield anything. The fact is, they can cast spells, and that’s enough.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why bards’ songs work, why they possess spellcasting ability—so many spellcasters have studied this, spawning numerous theories and academic schools; even many great wizards tried becoming bards themselves. But they all ruined themselves without ever finding the reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as it works, that’s all that matters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li En couldn’t do it—that was a fundamental difference in talent; this was not a path he could walk. Perhaps this was also the root reason why this “Reincarnation Card” should never have been in the pool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Looks like I messed up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En said calmly; he had finally understood why he couldn’t resonate with this Hero Soul—some Hero Souls were simply too incompatible from the start, and this one had endured too much longevity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That might mean the changes wrought by the River of Time, or that its personality was no longer human.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En tried to follow this deity’s doctrine, using the newly acquired cantrips and circus tricks to bring laughter to children and audiences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To his surprise, he was quite good at it—each performance drew crowds and generous tips—but the “god” gave no response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tried reenacting the “Yu-Gi-Oh!” legacy, playing cards and chess with others, yet still received no response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He performed good deeds, fulfilling the doctrine of “one good deed per day,” yet still received no feedback—as if the god didn’t exist at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li En knew something was watching him, waiting for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I have no idea what it wants.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the countdown of his possession time, Li En felt an inexplicable calmness—as if he could accept missing this opportunity. He realized: perhaps this “detachment” was the true essence of this Hero Soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Appetite, drive, even the desire to fight—all are clearly declining.” Li En didn’t know whether this was a common ailment of long-lived beings or a unique trait of this Hero Soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In result, he felt his emotions thinning, becoming overly calm—but he developed a stronger craving and curiosity for “knowledge” and “memory.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He simply wanted to silently observe this city, perceiving everything happening within it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En faintly sensed that perhaps this Hero Soul was observing this era through his eyes—he seemed to have no intention of interfering, only watching in silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tch, just watching a show? Hero Soul, do you really want nothing at all?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En tried researching this Hero Soul’s past record, attempting to reconstruct his desires—but the information gaps were vast, and all his blind trials failed outright.\u003C\u002Fp>",756,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","486a0a584021dfb196d9f9d7bca02d3c40474f932f6aeed40cd2650260b4b580","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-309","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-307",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]