Eldritch Horror Theatre

Naya's defensive posture was a blatant display of her suspicion regarding Fu Qian's character.

Fu Qian naturally noticed, but he didn't mind in the slightest. Instead, his thoughts drifted to what she had just said.

"Speaking of which, why did you just happen to be in the area in the middle of the night?"

Uh...

The rapid shift in topic clearly caught Naya slightly off guard.

Faced with Fu Qian's question, she froze for a moment, a trace of hesitation crossing her face.

"Drinking?"

Before she could even phrase an answer, Fu Qian caught the faint scent clinging to her. Combined with her demeanor, he quickly deduced the truth.

"It's after hours. It's perfectly normal for an adult to have a drink, isn't it?"

"There's no problem with it, of course. I'm just a little curious—for a transcendent with a metabolism far exceeding an ordinary person's, does alcohol actually do anything?"

"It seems you haven't dabbled much in this area. I'll take you out to experience it next time."

Naya flashed a sweet smile in response, but a second later, her expression turned icy.

"But sorry, there's no way I'm letting you crack jokes and banter your way out of this today. You're coming back to the Academy with me right now!"

"I'll be completely honest: my entire night out was ruined because of you, and I am in a truly foul mood right now..."

By the end of her sentence, she was practically grinding her teeth.

"My mood is pretty good, though."

Unfortunately, Fu Qian had zero self-awareness about the trouble he was stirring up.

After delivering that highly punchable line with total sincerity, he climbed into Naya's car under her death glare.

"Let me emphasize something. First, my current condition absolutely does not count as drunk driving. Second, after we get back, do not bring up the drinking again."

Naya stated this with utter seriousness as she started the car.

"Is it really that serious?"

"The Academy prohibits drinking. As an instructor, I shouldn't set a bad example for the students."

"That counts as a bad example? By that standard, shouldn't the lunatics in the Apocalypse Branch all be humanely destroyed by now? The things they do are way worse than drinking."

Fu Qian frowned at her, struggling to understand the logic.

During his last mission, if nothing else, those research maniacs from the Apocalypse Branch had left a deep impression on him.

In their pursuit of unlocking the secrets of transcendent power, the modifications those people performed on their own bodies were far more extreme than merely having a drink!

Fu Qian could still vaguely remember how they looked while studying a demigod's corpse—it was a mix of fanatical fervor and sheer depravity. They had used every method imaginable; they were one step away from licking it.

"Don't forget, you're one of those lunatics too."

Naya reminded him coldly.

That, he really couldn't refute.

Fu Qian thought about it for a moment before shifting his focus to another issue.

"Has there been any interesting news at the Academy lately?"

"You mean the news?"

Naya pondered as she drove.

"I wouldn't call it all that interesting... After his clash with you last time, Li Weixuan from the Sword Comprehension Institute quickly went into seclusion again. He only reappeared a week ago. Unfortunately, he's still a hair's breadth away from the Demigod Realm and failed to take that final step."

Li Weixuan?

Fu Qian naturally recalled their fight.

Back then, to destroy the corrupted sword heart, he had forcefully beaten the man out of the Demigod Realm and back to his original state.

The second time, guided by the sword heart, the man had ended his seclusion early to deal with him, ultimately falling short by a single basket of earth.

Going by Naya's words, after the Containment of the sword heart, Li Weixuan must have sensed something and attempted to enter seclusion again, though he unfortunately still hadn't succeeded.

One could only say that his path of the demigod was truly fraught with obstacles.

"For the Sword Comprehension Institute, this is indeed no small blow."

Unaware of how much Fu Qian was reflecting on, Naya continued speaking in a conversational tone.

"But it's not all bad news for them. During this year's Sword Pavilion opening day, even though only one student comprehended sword intent, it was later confirmed to be the exceedingly rare Lucent Sword Heart. It was a massive boost to their morale."

"It just goes to show that the Sword Comprehension Institute is truly at the height of its power. A tiny setback isn't enough to affect their overall momentum."

But the reality behind this "height of power" wasn't so simple.

And that momentum was highly likely to change. After all, the sword heart was dead, and sword intent was no longer running a crazy discount promotion.

It was entirely unknown whether anyone in the Sword Comprehension Institute would even manage to comprehend sword intent next year. Classmate Ji Liushuang's Lucent Sword Heart was likely going to become a lost legend.

Naturally, Fu Qian wasn't going to mention any of this to Naya.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing, and it concerns you. Because of what happened last time, Jia Yi is no longer the Yuan Consortium's regional head here."

Naya glanced back at Fu Qian.

"I assume you could have guessed that?"

He had, indeed.

As early as when he saw Jia Yi at the ball, Fu Qian had pretty much figured that out.

And he wasn't the least bit surprised by the man's fate.

He had made the judgment last time: the Yuan Consortium likely wasn't willing to casually forge a grudge with the Academy, but finding a scapegoat to vent their anger on was perfectly normal.

Even if Jia Yi hadn't actually done anything wrong himself.

At the same time, Jia Yi wouldn't have the nerve to hold a grudge against the Yuan Clan or the Academy. Secretly pinning the blame on Fu Qian instead was just as normal.

Therefore, the stunt the man had pulled just now was entirely understandable.

"Is there anything else besides that?"

Fu Qian nodded and continued to ask.

"As for other things... I don't think so. There was a minor incident over at the Apocalypse Branch, but those guys cause accidents every day, so that probably doesn't count as news to you."

Was that really it?

Hearing Naya's answer, Fu Qian fell into deep thought.

He obviously wasn't gossiping out of sheer boredom.

The reason he cared so much about the Academy's recent situation was because he harbored a lingering suspicion.

That Attendant of Ecstasy was very likely connected to the Academy.

This judgment was, of course, a baseless guess, but it was built upon his past experiences.

After all, a group of transcendents madly pursuing advancement was already highly prone to inflicting collateral damage and influencing their surroundings.

Unfortunately, according to Naya, there wasn't any noteworthy news—at least, not yet.

...

"Where are we going?"

Naya drove the car as swift as wind and lightning. As they talked, the surrounding scenery gradually grew familiar; they had already entered the Academy's territory.

And very soon, Fu Qian noticed that they weren't heading toward the Apocalypse Branch.

"I'm not taking you back, that's for sure."

Naya scoffed, pulling over to the side and stopping the car.

"I'm not giving you any chance to slip away before the hearing. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain myself when the time comes."

Motioning for Fu Qian to get out, she pointed at the building in front of them.

"You're staying at my place today. I'm keeping an eye on you."

"You're questioning my character."

Fu Qian expressed deep dissatisfaction with this.

"Exactly!"

As a veteran of the jianghu, Naya huffed without an ounce of politeness.

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