Eldritch Horror Theatre

"An interesting item. Though small, it is a condensation of fallacy."

Master Yuhun didn't seem to question Fu Qian's overly confident reply. Instead, his gaze fell on the paper cup in Fu Qian's hand, and he openly appraised it.

"A very smart choice. Among all the outsiders I have met, you are undoubtedly the most impressive."

His praise was entirely blunt, delivered so naturally it almost sounded like self-flattery.

"I thought you'd call me an inner demon," Fu Qian replied without a shred of modesty, genuinely curious about the other party's choice of words.

Blood and Wine and Blood. The item in his hand was, of course, no ordinary disposable paper cup.

He had pulled it from the Warehouse specifically to deal with this exact situation.

For a combatant relying on idealism, feeding him some indigestible "filth" would undoubtedly slow his advance.

Judging by Master Yuhun's reaction, the man frankly admitted that it had indeed caused him trouble.

What truly intrigued him was the term "outsider."

Knowing the concept wasn't strange, but why use such colloquial language? Why not something like, "You vile inner demons, I shall slaughter you all today!"?

Was this the true confidence that came from absolute backing?

Anyone else facing such an opponent would be sweating bullets, but Fu Qian only felt relieved—he had definitely found the right guy. This person really knew a lot.

And it was obvious he had shown himself specifically to share it.

...

Like filth before the light, or scoundrels in the halls of justice, a stark self-awareness surfaced in Fu Qian's mind the moment Master Yuhun appeared.

The immediate result was that the slight affinity he had built with the Academy during his walk was entirely wiped out, throwing his progress into rapid reverse.

His opponent's presence only made things worse.

He was using his prior advantage to suppress Fu Qian head-on, completely eliminating any chance for him to rest and recover.

At the same time, just sitting there face-to-face would be awkward. He was definitely maximizing this time to engage in some conversational therapy.

Slaying inner demons through "self-dialogue"—what a classic move.

Therefore, whatever insights he had gleaned over his long years of meditation, he was bound to share them.

"Word games are meaningless. Knowing what the term refers to is enough."

"Besides, language itself is a crude fallacy. It only brings distortion."

As expected, Master Yuhun was quite chatty. He sat in a very relaxed posture as he spoke, completely unconcerned about getting smashed to pieces.

"I've learned something," Fu Qian said. "Speaking of which, I should thank you. I benefited from Your Excellency's philosophy not too long ago."

Seeing his opponent act so informally left Fu Qian completely satisfied.

For a moment, he was readily accepting good advice and even offered a specific word of thanks.

He wasn't just spouting nonsense. In the previous Realm of Bliss mission, the reason he could ultimately stand tall and smash Excellency Eckhart's head in with a single hammer strike was precisely because he had borrowed this philosophy to resonate with the High Heavens.

"The Realm of Bliss? Actually, I realized this point there back in the day as well... and grew even more aware of my own foolishness from Eckhart."

Flashing a highly charismatic smile, Master Yuhun didn't stand on ceremony either, casually dropping two shocking names.

...

"You can sense things at any time?"

The amount of information in those words was massive.

Knowing about the Realm of Bliss was one thing, and having been there wasn't strange either.

But to accurately know that he had drawn upon his philosophy while inside?

Furthermore, there was Eckhart—a name Fu Qian had spent a tremendous amount of effort compelling the Warehouse to dig up.

This psychological warfare was truly no joke. If it were anyone else, this single strike might have driven them completely mad.

Fu Qian's reaction, however, was to offer a sympathetic word of condolence.

It was for no other reason than the fact that, despite how bizarre it seemed, he had a similar experience to draw upon—

To have every thought known. In his original world, he had been annoyed to death by similar constant mental pings.

While this wasn't as obvious in the Bookstore World, "Master Yuhun" was a combatant capable of digesting a Deity's legacy. His abilities were uniquely special.

So rather than doubting himself after a single exchange, Fu Qian chose to use himself as a mirror for reference.

Even so, thinking deeply about that kind of situation was still a bit terrifying.

Not just for opponents like him, but even for Master Yuhun himself. Enduring that kind of long-term torment would force anyone to embrace idealism.

"Yes. Haven't you been looking for me?"

While Fu Qian was marveling at this, Master Yuhun naturally nodded again, confirming his statement.

"And now you have found me."

...

That really was hard to refute.

From this master's perspective, this gathering of winds and clouds playing out before them could undoubtedly be interpreted as a mutual convergence.

Taking it a step further, it was the bond between the true self and the inner demon.

And under the twin premises that all things were born of idealism and that language was inherently crude, any motive or reason used to argue against it would clearly crumble at a single blow.

In short, the other party's thought processes were utterly flawless, having reached the pinnacle of enlightenment.

"True, there are many things I'd like to ask."

Fully immersing himself in his opponent's mindset, Fu Qian's answer was completely honest.

"But you don't believe it."

Master Yuhun cast a glance his way and stated his conclusion in a flat tone.

"Right, I don't."

Such piercing golden eyes were not surprising. Their deathmatch was a constant tug-of-war.

Even though his condition was going from bad to worse due to Master Yuhun's presence, there hadn't been any massive plummet just yet. That alone was enough to prove the stubbornness of his thoughts.

"You indeed shouldn't believe it. That makes my choosing you all the more meaningful."

Master Yuhun's response carried a strong sense of 'now this is finally worth my effort.'

"Straying from your original heart and losing yourself to demonic obsessions has always been a process of self-persuasion. You naturally have ample reasons, and they are propped up by 'reality'."

As he offered this backhanded praise, he casually rolled the snow tree leaf between his fingers.

Its emerald green remained, refusing to turn white, but in a mere instant, it took on an unusual, blinding brilliance.

It was as if the sunlight reflecting off it had set it ablaze, causing it to emit its own heat and light.

Was this the truth behind it turning white in the snow? The higher entity symbolized by the snow tree seemed to possess a special kind of affinity authority.

Observing this astonishing sight, Fu Qian instead thought of the scene that Classmate Liushuang had unfortunately missed.

"But does a fundamentally solid foundation truly exist? One strong enough for you to call 'real'... If you keep digging, won't you eventually uncover fragility and chaos?"

And it was far from over. Under the leaf's glow, changes were also occurring in Master Yuhun.

Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two...

It was like riding an elevator. In the blink of an eye, Fu Qian sensed that the person standing before him was now a Melia of the exact same Rank as himself.

"For example, the boundary between the mortal and the Transcendent Tier, or between God and man—on what basis do you judge that?"

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