Eldritch Horror Theatre

Once the crowd hastily cleared a space, Li Weixuan unhooked the Longsword at his waist.

A strike from a Peak Tier 4 Swordsman was no small matter.

A metallic chime rang out like a dragon's roar as the Longsword left its sheath.

There was no dazzling flash of light, and it was nowhere near as fast as lightning.

It was as if the tip of Li Weixuan's sword bore the weight of a towering mountain as he slowly pressed it against the barrier.

In that moment, everyone seemed to hear the heavens and earth rumble.

In the wake of the roar, sword energy erupted in all directions. A few people standing too close were even sent flying by the violent shockwave.

Everyone subconsciously looked toward the tip of his sword.

This...

This seemingly unstoppable strike had provoked absolutely no reaction.

How could this be!

Snap!

A series of sharp snaps rang out. Spiderweb fractures spread across the Longsword in Li Weixuan's hand before it shattered into fingernail-sized fragments.

The sheer might of the strike was something even the blade itself couldn't withstand.

Even an attack like that wasn't enough to break the barrier?

Were they going to be trapped here until they died?

Everyone exchanged glances, an uncontrollable despair rising in their hearts.

So it really didn't work!

Off to the side, Fu Qian sighed.

Though he had instinctively felt it wouldn't be that simple, it was still shocking to see such a terrifying strike fail to leave a single mark.

This all but proved that the barrier couldn't be broken with brute force. They needed to find another way.

Meanwhile, Li Weixuan stared blankly at the broken sword in his hand for a moment.

In all his years since he first set out, he had never encountered anything so bizarre.

"Try aiming higher!"

Someone in the team suddenly called out.

Right! They could still try aiming up!

That shout snapped many of them out of their daze. The barrier might not cover every direction; perhaps they could bypass it from above.

One of the team members was an Archer. He immediately unslung his bow, nocked an arrow, and took aim straight up.

Fu Qian stood aside, quietly observing changes. He chose not to tell them he had already tested that very theory with his Air Bullet.

It never hurt to let them try.

Snap!

Unsurprisingly, once the expensive arrow left the string, it shot upward at an angle before crashing headlong into an unseen barrier, snapping into several pieces.

...

The light quickly faded from the crowd's eyes.

The Archer froze for a second, then drew another arrow and fired in a different direction.

It still hit a wall.

Then another...

It wasn't until his quiver was completely empty that someone finally stepped forward and grabbed the Archer's trembling hand. The ground was already littered with splintered arrows.

Their only takeaway was the confirmation that the barrier curved upward from the perimeter, roughly forming a massive dome.

By now, Li Weixuan had gathered his wits.

This exploration trial could not continue.

Just as he was about to issue new orders, a crisp string of chimes suddenly rang out in the distance.

"Follow me."

The sudden sound startled everyone. Li Weixuan gave the curt command and sprinted out ahead of them.

That was an Arrow Bell, a tool exclusive to the Academy, designed specifically for students to call for help when facing danger outside.

There were still two other teams in the ruins!

Watching Li Weixuan's receding figure, the students quickly scrambled to keep up.

They couldn't get out, and there were bizarre monsters lurking inside. No matter how you looked at it, sticking close to Dean Li was their safest bet.

"Thank you!"

As she ran past Fu Qian, Ji Liushuang tilted her head and whispered her gratitude.

If it hadn't been for Fu Qian's reminder, no one would have realized the team was already trapped in a desperate situation.

Even though they still had no idea what to do, being prepared in advance was always better than nothing.

Fu Qian simply nodded without saying a word. He felt perfectly justified in accepting this word of thanks.

After all, he had just conveniently taken care of an assassin for her.

The others weren't quite as open-minded as Ji Liushuang. After all, most of them had held a grudge against Fu Qian earlier. Asking a group of twenty-somethings to swallow their pride and apologize or offer thanks right now was a bit of a stretch.

Fortunately, they had Li Weixuan's orders to focus on. The group kept their heads down and ran with all their might, subconsciously trying to put as much distance between themselves and Fu Qian as possible.

Much to their despair, they soon realized that no matter how fast they sprinted, Fu Qian was always right there, showing absolutely no signs of falling behind.

They had forgotten this guy was a Tier 6 Transcendent!

This harsh reality finally made the group realize this point. The guy was a genuine Mid Tier powerhouse now; they must have had a screw loose if they thought they could outrun him.

Luckily, the distance wasn't far, bringing a swift end to the awkward trek.

When the group arrived, they saw Li Weixuan looking like a descending god, using his bare hand as a blade to hurl dozens of sword-energy arcs from all directions at... a hand?

It was true. Li Weixuan's target was a gargantuan hand, its surface densely clustered with dozens of fingers.

Propelled by those countless digits, the monstrous palm scurried about with terrifying speed. Every single finger thrust like a spear, kicking up showers of crushed stone with every movement.

Li Weixuan's unstoppable sword energy almost instantly sheared off a clump of fingers, tearing gaping, grisly wounds into the monstrosity.

Taking such a heavy blow, the giant hand convulsed violently, yet not a single drop of blood spilled from the cuts.

Sensing how dangerous Li Weixuan was, the remaining fingers scuttled furiously across the ground, quickly dragging the hand into a pile of rubble and vanishing in the blink of an eye.

How disgusting!

The sheer appearance of that thing delivered a mental blow to nearly everyone present. It wasn't until Li Weixuan landed back on the ground that they finally snapped out of their shock.

The ones in danger were indeed another team. Sadly, they hadn't been as lucky as the first group. By the time Li Weixuan arrived, two team members had already lost their lives to that hand.

"Halt the operation. Everyone regroup, and send a signal for the remaining team to come over."

Given the situation, Li Weixuan's face was as hard as iron as he swiftly issued the orders.

The situation was spiraling further out of control. A routine exploration mission had actually resulted in casualties.

And that finger monster had only been heavily injured; it wasn't dead.

Of course, the most terrifying predicament was far beyond this—it was on the outside.

Li Weixuan immediately went to check on the wounded.

In that brief window, someone had already informed the ambushed team about their confinement.

The entire ruins were locked down by an impenetrable barrier?

The ambushed team's spirits, which had just begun to recover, instantly plummeted once more.

"We were taking a break when that hand suddenly lunged out. Senior Brother Wang was killed instantly. We did everything we could to fend it off and found an opening to fire the Arrow Bell..."

An injured girl quickly recounted the situation at the time.

"It wasn't a hand. To be accurate, you should call it an amalgamation of arms."

Fu Qian tossed something onto the ground.

It was one of the "fingers" Li Weixuan had severed. Some had tumbled down the cliff, while others were scattered on the ground. Fu Qian had gone over to observe them immediately, and he had noticed something interesting.

"Here, look closely at the tip."

Are you a psycho?!

The crowd froze for a second before they realized what he had thrown on the ground, all of them jumping in fright.

He had almost tossed that disgusting thing right onto them.

"It's an arm. Not a finger."

Ji Liushuang's face was as calm as still water. She nudged the mass apart, finally allowing the group to see it for what it truly was.

At the tip of what they had previously assumed was a giant finger, there were actually another five fingers!

These five fingers were the size of a normal human's, though they were shriveled up like chicken claws.

Gag!

Someone finally couldn't hold back and threw up.

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