Eldritch Horror Theatre

The transcendent and scientific research were, to a certain extent, largely incompatible concepts.

The former required reverence, while the latter inherently demanded a willingness to court death.

Gratifyingly, many Academy instructors possessed quite an aptitude in this regard. To sum it up: they courted massive death without batting an eye.

Take Professor Ah Kai, who might have just been napping a moment ago. Right before he slept, he had actually cultivated a little something nearby.

The Seed of Death was planted just a short distance from the Benevolent Curse Institute. He wasn't the least bit worried about the other professors beating him to death once they found out.

Of course, it wasn't as if there were zero security measures. A bright green cloth strip had been strung in a circle in this remote corner, fencing in a stone pillar and a bunch of other random clutter.

It was just that a setup so reminiscent of a crime scene actually had the opposite effect: it made people who originally had no interest suddenly want to duck inside for a look.

"The Benevolent Curse Institute is usually very quiet. Even fewer people come this deep into the back."

Having clearly realized the issue on their way over, Professor Ah Kai proactively explained this before Fu Qian could comment, looking slightly embarrassed.

Tearing the strip away with a casual flick of his hand, Professor Ah Kai gestured for Fu Qian to step closer and take a look.

"It's been about an hour now."

...

It was indeed slow.

Though there were no flashy visual effects, Fu Qian could still sense the anomaly within without needing to step any closer.

Of course, he didn't decline Professor Ah Kai's invitation. He walked right up to the stone pillar and rapped his knuckles against it.

Rustle...

Almost as thick as a bucket, this stone pillar—which bore the deep weathering of time and could practically be considered an antique—didn't collapse in the next moment.

However, fine stone powder cascaded down one side of it like dandruff. The shedding was so torrential that a perfect arched cavity was quickly hollowed out of the stone.

This was a segment of that sphere—the boundary of the Seed of Death.

Relying on this mark, even if someone couldn't sense anything at all, they could roughly determine the center and radius of the sphere with a bit of basic geometry.

Professor Ah Kai really hadn't been making excuses for himself. To only expand this much in an hour meant it was moving at roughly a snail's pace.

Though this snail was obviously highly toxic.

A decay that eroded everything—the unique shape hollowed into the stone pillar thoroughly demonstrated this.

The untouched sections looked like they could stand for at least another century, while the interior of the sphere had been directly reduced to dust.

And it wasn't the only thing affected.

Other items within the radius shared the same fate. Metal rusted, grass and weeds withered, and even a patch of fur nestled in the corner completely lost its luster.

As that cascade of stone powder hit the ground, it triggered a chain reaction. Under that minute vibration, all of those objects lost their outlines and crumbled into dust as well.

Even though the impact was infinitesimally small.

Yet, even in this state of decay, there wasn't the slightest stench of rotting corpses.

It really did give off a very similar feeling to Brother Huo. Their previous discussions about its identity as a miraculous creature—and even its origins—seemed to be undergoing further validation.

"The extra effect you mentioned has to be experienced through physical contact?"

Though he had taken the lead, this was ultimately Professor Ah Kai's project. Fu Qian didn't rudely dive straight in, but instead gave a slight nod to confirm first.

"Yes. Its form of existence is highly stable. As it stands, there's absolutely no need to worry about causing any disturbances."

Professor Ah Kai explained straightforwardly, feeling deeply respected by such excellent academic etiquette.

"However, its Rank is quite high. It's best to proceed gradually, step by step."

"Understood."

Nodding, Fu Qian slowly reached a single finger into the "sphere."

...

Courting death was always solely in the pursuit of truth.

Even though his own level was an entire Rank higher than what Professor Ah Kai imagined, Fu Qian had zero interest in violating experimental protocols.

Before even beginning this step-by-step process, he had gone out of his way to roll up the sleeves of his newly bought clothes.

No materialized impact arrived.

Entering the sphere, which was completely invisible to the naked eye, met absolutely no resistance.

Yet, through his perception, Fu Qian could clearly sense that the portion of flesh and blood entering the sphere was plunging toward death at an astonishing speed.

And that wasn't even the only change.

"Do you feel it?"

Keeping his eyes glued to this spot, Professor Ah Kai couldn't help but ask excitedly.

"That is the purest emotion, branded directly into the depths of the soul—fear. That is the true essence of this Miracle. The death-like decay effect is merely a byproduct."

"And it's completely different from the latter. As long as you leave the affected area, the decay effect quickly subsides. But this fear is different. It feels as if it has fused directly with your soul, requiring a much longer time to dissipate."

As he spoke, Ah Kai raised his arm, displaying his left pinky finger.

Sure enough, the first knuckle and the rest of the finger were in two completely different states.

The former was dull as a dead branch, while the latter remained ruddy and smooth.

Clearly, this man possessed a genuine scientific spirit. After successfully activating the Miracle, he hadn't been satisfied with simply testing it on inanimate objects.

And the conclusions he had drawn, it had to be said, were highly logical and clear.

Nodding slightly, Fu Qian reached his hand further in, all the way to his rolled-up sleeve, feeling the steadily compounding discomfort.

"How long ago did you do that?"

At the same time, he motioned toward Ah Kai's hand.

"About eight hours. It happened when I successfully activated it for the first time. I only kept it in there for ten seconds."

Ah Kai clearly wasn't too surprised that Professor Fu could tell the damage to his hand was far older than an hour. He rubbed the withered segment of his finger as he spoke.

"And even now, I'm still fighting the fear churning in my heart... Does Professor Fu feel anything special?"

Obviously, having a demigod help test the effects was a golden opportunity for him, so he was paying extremely close attention to Fu Qian's reaction.

"Your conclusion is reasonable to a certain extent. This shock to the will is indeed the core."

Fu Qian didn't keep him in suspense. He withdrew his hand the next moment, examining his corpse-like skin.

"However, the relationship between fear and decay might not be a matter of primary and secondary effects brought about by a Miracle, but rather cause and effect."

Clenching his fist, Fu Qian listened to his joints pop and creak, then shook his head.

"Decay doesn't appear directly. Its driving source is the fear of decay."

"I don't know what the Benevolent Curse Institute's most precise definition of a Miracle is, but to me, the essence of this Miracle is like a person who, out of their fear of death, finally ends up scaring themselves to death."

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