Eldritch Horror Theatre

Yes, Fu Qian was looking directly at Toolman A Fei.

He was also the only flesh-and-blood body in this place so far.

However, the name Fu Qian called out wasn't the nickname the man had gone by throughout their battles, but a much more familiar one.

Exactly—it was Li He, the fourth Dean of the Academy, Li Weixuan's grandfather, and the very man Excellency Ji Ning disdained.

He didn't recognize him by his face or voice, of course. When this person first appeared, he had already been mutilated beyond recognition, barely maintaining a human form.

But one couldn't forget that every special guest was someone who had once left their mark on the Inverted Lake.

And along the way, "A Fei" had already proven his independence.

The most dazzling aspect of which was undoubtedly his talent in the sword path.

In just a short span of bloody battles, his weapons had changed in sequence from a Serrated Blade to a Rapier, and then to a Greatsword. Toward the end, he didn't even need to pluck leaves or flowers to use as weapons; with no sword in hand but a sword heart, he forged a lethal weapon out of thin air to strike down his foes.

And among those connected to the Ash Sea who were skilled in sword path cultivation, Fu Qian only knew one by name.

It was Old Man Li He, who had retired early and ignored the Academy's affairs, leaving the Dean's position vacant for many years.

Furthermore, based on Cass's account, while Li He hadn't participated in the initial exploration operation, he had rushed to the scene almost immediately after the accident occurred.

The subsequent cleanup was entirely handled by him. He strictly forbade any further private investigations and demanded absolute secrecy from the professors.

In short, the probability that Li He had been here and interacted with the anomaly to some extent was extremely high.

These details alone were enough to make someone immediately think of him upon encountering a sword path genius in this place.

Not to mention another famous quote that Fu Qian remembered just as clearly.

[I have witnessed many of the indescribable; flesh and blood underwent Sublimation through transcendent carving, and humanity collapsed into fireworks in the dark night...]

It was exactly what Old Man Li He had said when making his vow to kill after Excellency Ji Ning perished during the mission related to the Laria Family and Ehm Palace.

Fu Qian had even plagiarized it himself after returning to the Academy, just to give a pointer to Li He's descendant.

But as the saying went: "on first listen, one understands not the tune's true meaning."

Although he could feel that complete enlightenment in the old man's words back then, the lack of details had prevented him from forming too many associations.

Now, drawing the target before shooting the arrow, and substituting in the experiences of the Ash Sea and the scene before him, didn't it seem rather fitting?

Witnessing many of the indescribable, Sublimation through the carving of flesh and blood... If that person had been fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the true face of the Crystal Blessing, then merely expressing such a lament would already be considered composed.

In short, the more he considered it, the more everything echoed back and forth, forming a seamless, closed loop.

Although, in the face of a certain absolute contradiction, it seemed so powerless—Old Man Li He was only at the Demigod Realm.

Having retired early in his prime, he certainly looked to have a good complexion, but at best, he was only slightly stronger than the current Li Weixuan.

According to Excellency Rom, a character with an insufficient Rank wasn't capable of leaving a mark in the "script."

This meant that for "A Fei"—who had been active for so long and even had a role in the fourth and fifth acts—that background actually wasn't solid enough.

Not to mention that after A Fei finally killed the Lord of Intellect, he himself had already surpassed the Demigod Realm.

In comparison, the idea that there was another sword path expert on the exploration team actually seemed more logical—

Hmm...

Yet, the moment this series of thoughts flashed through his mind, "A Fei"—who should have already achieved complete unity of man and sword and severed all mortal ties—actually reacted for the first time.

He didn't say anything; he merely turned around slowly, looking exactly as if he were checking to see who had called his name.

Though in truth, he wasn't really "looking" at the Tyrant. It was more like he was examining himself, and even the invisible sharp blade in his hand dissipated along with the motion.

...

Truly impressive.

As expected of the former head of our Academy; he was far stronger than a certain Old Man Feng.

If one were to still force the interpretation that a certain sword path expert on the exploration team was simply very familiar with Li He, it would be too far-fetched.

For Fu Qian, this not only confirmed to a certain extent that he had indeed been insubordinate—ruthlessly driving a retired senior to act as his toolman the entire way—but it also neatly resolved the previously mentioned issue of an insufficient Rank.

Who said his Rank was insufficient?

He remembered clearly that after the old man made his vow to kill, he had ascended straight to Tier 2 without batting an eye. At the time, Fu Qian had even lamented that this bunch of cultivators were truly unreasonable.

What, that was only in the Record of Recollection? It wasn't true history at all?

That wasn't a problem; this was exactly where things matched up perfectly.

Why did the old man level up so unreasonably?

Fu Qian was never one to marvel blindly. The moment he had made that lament, he had naturally pondered the reason.

It was true that those cultivators didn't need to bother with ritual materials in the usual sense, but ascending merely through complete enlightenment was still a bit too much of a stretch.

But what if he reversed his thinking and compared it to his own performance at the time?

Leveraging his understanding of the essence of the Record of Recollection, he had guided everyone's consensus, rapidly skyrocketing from below the Demigod Realm all the way to Tier 2. Wasn't that even more absurd?

Exactly. Rather than believing the old man had an epiphany in the heat of battle, wasn't it possible that he was actually in the same situation as Fu Qian—simply returning to a state he had once existed in?

Just like right now.

...

Every anomaly had its reason; logic wasn't just empty talk.

Although, Fu Qian didn't think that Old Man Li He was like him and Yuhun—specializing in the skills of keeping a low profile and usually playing the pig to eat the tiger.

He was more inclined to believe that when they met, Li He truly was just at the Demigod Realm, but had simply been much higher than that in the past.

But how was this achieved? Crystals.

The answer appeared almost simultaneously.

The reason the exploration team believed it had a certain blessing effect was because the crystal could complete a transcendent form, and even bring about Sublimation.

If Li He truly had touched upon certain essences of the crystal as previously theorized, then what were the chances he could emerge completely untainted?

And since even Claudora could directly gain divinity from it, what was so impossible about an original demigod—a sword path expert with a limitless future—taking another step, or a step and a half forward, and thereby touching the True Intent of the Sword Dao?

Although he appeared to have rejected it.

The process and his struggles remained unknown, but Old Man Li He seemed to have actually used his sword to sever his immortal destiny, rejecting a temptation that was unspeakably alluring to any transcendent.

He had even seemingly destroyed his own foundation because of it, rendering himself unable to take another step forward for the rest of his life...

[All of this didn't make me feel ashamed of my own insignificance; instead, it made me cherish certain things that aren't quite so lofty, even persistences that are fallacies in themselves.]

And once he accepted this premise, he could feel an even greater ironclad resolve in another sentence the old man had said back then.

"Well met."

Amid his lament, even though the other party paid him no further mind, Fu Qian still offered a word of greeting before lowering his head to write down the title for the third act.

[Those who gaze into the Shadow will eventually become a part of the Shadow.]

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