Eldritch Horror Theatre

"The Meria Flower Ball. That's its name."

Noticing Fu Qian's reaction, Yuan Shan made no attempt to deny it. She even pushed the bloodstained ball forward.

"My teacher gave it to me before I came back. I didn't expect to use it on my very first day."

Yuan Shan sighed deeply, her expression a portrait of the impermanence of worldly affairs.

"As I'm sure you just saw, it isn't easy to control, and its properties are dangerous."

"Once unbound, any divine target in the vicinity will drastically stimulate the flower ball's activity, turning it into something akin to a divine predator."

"It doesn't actually eat, of course. It simply revels in the process of destruction."

Her fingertips brushed over the sharp, bladed petals. Having just handled it in a similar manner, Yuan Shan still seemed to harbor a lingering dread of its ferocity.

"I can tell," Fu Qian said.

Judging from the sight of "Suffocation" striking His Excellency of the Laotian Pavilion earlier, the phantom of the Feather clearly represented the body taking damage. Therefore, its nearly tangible physical state should be akin to splattered blood.

Yet the flower ball had remained completely uninterested in it, allowing the Feather to fall right into his hands.

"If it remains unbound for over fifteen minutes without damaging a divine target, it turns on its user and makes them the hunted."

Yuan Shan continued her explanation, even pointing to the fresh wound on her hand.

"Even feeding it your own blood in the meantime won't change that. However—"

She stared straight at Fu Qian. The conversation had clearly reached its crux.

"If a target can continuously withstand its devastation for that duration, it's said they can awaken their inner potential and reap unpredictable benefits."

...

No matter how he listened to it, it still sounded like a tale of suffering.

Fu Qian had always been good at extracting the core point. He instantly stripped away the embellishments and summarized it: getting whipped consecutively for fifteen minutes would yield some uncertain benefit.

No wonder she had emphasized the painful process earlier.

For a moment, Fu Qian stared at those sharp, bloodstained, petal-like blades that had whipped an Angel until it shed its feathers. His brow furrowed tightly.

"You aren't just looking for an excuse to get revenge, are you? And who is Meria, anyway?"

No dodging or hiding, just allowing a transcendent item with sadistic tendencies to whip him for fifteen straight minutes.

Fortunately, she had asked him. If Yuan Shan had made this suggestion to anyone else, they probably would have already been considering a sudden betrayal.

Even as an expert in the flesh and blood domain, after a thrashing like that... he couldn't even imagine what kind of blooming, gory spectacle he would be left in.

"What do you mean, revenge? Is my credibility really that lacking?"

Chief Yuan looked completely unable to stomach such a grievance. Her tone instantly grew exasperated.

"As for Meria, I regret to say I asked the exact same question. My teacher told me not to ask..."

"Just a joke. I, Fang, have always admired the Chief's magnanimity."

Seeing the leader getting a little emotional, Fu Qian laughed, seamlessly switching his expression in a single second.

"Since that's the case, I'll accept the Old Man's suggestion. But regarding these unpredictable benefits... do we have a general frame of reference?"

His tone was casual, as if he were genuinely evaluating the prospect.

"Sorry, no."

Unfortunately, the only response he received was Chief Yuan's stiff rejection.

...

"My teacher held onto this item for a long time, but he never found a suitable target to use it on."

Without waiting for Fu Qian to respond, Yuan Shan quickly explained in the same tone.

"Its lethality is simply too great. Even a High-Tier Transcendent isn't guaranteed to survive it, and if the process falls short of fifteen minutes, it will have absolutely no effect. That's why I hesitated just now..."

"If your ability profile weren't such a perfect fit, I wouldn't have even brought it up."

'A perfect fit? You might as well just say I'm durable enough to take a beating.'

Listening to Chief Yuan, it seemed that even within the talent-filled ranks of the Night Watchers, no one had managed to awaken their inner potential through this thing in all these years.

For a moment, Fu Qian deeply felt the heavy weight of the Chief's high regard.

"But you don't have to rush into a decision. The current situation still isn't safe, and it's not the right time to risk our main Combat Power anyway. This offer remains on the table. You can come find me after you've thought it over."

While he was silently grumbling, Yuan Shan was already making her concluding remarks.

"No need. Let's start right now."

However, her words were instantly cut off by Fu Qian.

"...Are you sure?"

Now it was Yuan Shan's turn to be surprised.

Although she had witnessed this guy's inhuman demeanor many times before, wasn't this a little too decisive?

"I'm sure."

"But the situation right now is still somewhat dangerous..."

"When do you think it'll be any safer?"

...

That casual counter-question actually left Yuan Shan momentarily speechless.

Waiting until later to avoid the risk of lingering enemies was just a product of habitual thinking.

But considering that inherently hard-to-detect concealment, picking a random time later really might not be any safer than right now—right after their brief clash, while the enemy was busy dealing with the Meteor.

"All right. Right here, then?"

Having thought it through, Yuan Shan was also shockingly straightforward.

"As long as you aren't worried about dirtying the floor."

"Don't worry, I'm not."

Receiving a positive answer, Yuan Shan simply reached out, grabbed the flower ball, and walked out from behind her desk.

At the same time, a black curtain rapidly formed, completely enveloping the two of them within.

'Chief Yuan's ability really is convenient.'

Amid his admiration, Fu Qian glanced at his clothes. Confirming that they were already beyond recognition thanks to the Physical Black Dragon Wave from earlier, he sighed and abandoned the idea of taking them off.

"If it gets too hard to bear, you must tell me immediately. Once this starts, it will take a bit of effort to stop."

By now, the flower ball in front of him was slowly unfolding. Just as before, it grew increasingly active as its reach extended.

After tossing out that final warning, without even waiting for Fu Qian to acknowledge it, Chief Yuan gripped the soft whip and took a deep breath.

Crack!

Perhaps because her target was standing squarely in front of her this time, having essentially signed an informed consent form, Chief Yuan and the flower ball seemed far more in sync than before. The whip strike was executed with pure elegance.

The result was plainly obvious.

Not only was the sound crisp, but the strike cut deep into his flesh.

Fu Qian's Flesh and Blood Ascension-level body was forcefully ripped open. The sharp, bladed petals easily sliced through his skin, tearing away flesh and blood.

Due to the unique shape of the blades, the wound even displayed a distinct texture, offering up a certain morbid beauty—like a flower carved straight into meat.

Of course, these were merely superficial details. Fu Qian only admired it for a second before focusing on his internal state.

Amid the intense agony, an impulse actually began to sprout—his body involuntarily wanted to assume its Mythical Form, the King of the Abandoned Prison.

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