Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Something similar?"

Though treated, the wounds on Kamakura Ki's body remained a gruesome sight.

When Fu Qian's meaning dawned on the group, their imaginations involuntarily ran away with them, prompting a sudden urge to vomit.

"Are you saying this entire pool is made up of chopped-up believers? Just because of an oddly shaped hand?"

At this point, even Chang Mo could not help but object.

It was completely absurd!

Besides, even if it were true, shouldn't it be a pool of blood?

"This thing clearly mimics things. Why couldn't it be that a believer touched it once and was simply remembered?"

"Like I said, it's just a baseless guess."

"Mainly, these Ruins are absurdly huge. They could easily hold quite a few people, so it felt like a possibility."

So you need a lot of people to fill up such a massive pool, is that it? Couldn't you imagine a normal human scenario?

Now it wasn't just Chang Mo—the entire group was roaring in their minds.

"As for why they would end up in this state, maybe it's the result of countless cycles?"

Fu Qian remained seemingly oblivious, continuing his own line of speculation.

"Whatever their state, for them to last thousands of years until now, it's hard to rule out the influence of a Deity's blessing."

"Maybe just staying in these Ruins provides an inherent healing effect over time. They get chopped up, then continuously cycle through reconstruction, gradually being purified and undergoing Sublimation?"

"What we just saw might have merely been a glimpse of one such cycle."

"So this is your real reason for coming here?"

The scenario Fu Qian described sparked boundless imagination and intense skepticism, making the group instinctively reject the grotesque mental image.

Right at that moment, Guan Jingzheng suddenly realized something.

The moment his words left his mouth, everyone was stunned.

The group abruptly remembered that this demigod had never been a part of the original investigation team.

Not only had his appearance been shrouded in mystery, but his motives were an enigma. Yet after being discovered, he had been perfectly willing to cooperate with them...

No one would believe he didn't have an ulterior motive.

Just how much did he know about this place?

For a moment, this aura of mystery sent the credibility of Fu Qian's words skyrocketing, imposing immense psychological pressure on the rest of them.

"Impossible!"

Unsurprisingly, the first to crack under this pressure were the members of the Professional Tomb Guardian Clan.

Kamakura Ki completely forgot that the man standing before him was a demigod and instinctively roared.

"The Tomb Guardian Revelation is indeed the Kamakura Family's public claim, but the Severing Divine Seal stems fundamentally from the cultivation insights of our ancestors, regardless of whether it's truly a sword path!"

"Now you're claiming that it actually originates from a Divine Entity from the Mythological Era—one without even a face or form. Isn't that a little too absurd?"

"You were the ones who called it a blessing."

Seeing Kamakura Ki's utter refusal to accept this potential fate, Fu Qian merely smiled.

His earlier words were, fundamentally, just a baseless guess.

Like he said before, across a span of thousands of years with no relevant records, anyone could guess whatever they wanted.

He had intentionally framed it in such a horrifying way partly because he genuinely believed it was possible.

After all, as someone who had personally ended an ancient Deity, Fu Qian was much more open-minded regarding the Divine Entities of that era. He knew a few might still be active.

On the other hand, it was a deliberate provocation.

The second goal of his recent test—to once again observe the Kamakura Family's Cursed Swordsmanship—had not been completely fruitless.

The most striking feature of Kamakura Ki's performance was how standardized it was.

Despite appearing utterly brutal, the sword path was rigidly precise. There was not a single difference between his execution and that of his junior, Kamakura Keiji.

It was to the point that while watching him earlier, a bizarre thought had surfaced in Fu Qian's mind: rather than a sword path, this meat-cleaving routine looked more like a ritual.

With immensely standardized movements and distinctly exaggerated postures, the user didn't even need to strike the opponent after completing the sequence; the target's flesh would tear open on its own.

It was inexplicably similar to the legendary concept of a spirit dance.

Through such wholehearted devotion, pious believers would establish a connection with their worshipped Deity, receiving a blessing or bringing down Chastisement upon their enemies.

Though the idea was highly abstract, as a swordsman, he had always prioritized seeing through the surface to grasp the essence.

Thus, when the thought emerged, Fu Qian didn't instinctively reject it. Instead, he quickly mentally simulated the concept and found it to be an unexpectedly perfect fit.

This also fully explained why the Sword of Curses was so vicious that not even demigods were immune to it.

Fundamentally, Kamakura Keiji's flailing motions merely provided a set of coordinates. The entity actually hacking at him was something akin to a superior Divine Entity.

It was just that this Divine Entity seemed a bit unreliable, chopping up the supplicant right alongside the enemy.

...

"That is merely a metaphorical expression of willpower."

After being silenced for a long time by Fu Qian's retort, Kamakura Ki struggled internally before countering with all his might.

"Our ancestors took the initiative to become Tombkeepers only to align themselves with that willpower."

"The Kamakura Family doesn't even know the true name of this Divine Entity. If you were a Deity, would you bestow a blessing upon such followers?"

Well said. That was precisely what made it so puzzling.

Seeing Kamakura Ki defend his clan so desperately, showing no signs of lying, Fu Qian nodded inwardly.

If the Kamakura Family's sword path was truly a ritual, then simultaneously hacking the supplicant clearly meant the ritual had gone wrong.

The most straightforward reason he could think of was that the superior power tied to the ritual had gone mad, no longer distinguishing friend from foe.

That actually aligned perfectly with his impression of ancient Divine Entities.

But there was a timeline issue. If the entity had been mad from the start, why was the Kamakura Family only facing problems now?

Their Cursed Swordsmanship had seemingly held a fearsome reputation for centuries, slaughtering who knew how many heroes and masters.

If the entity had only recently gone mad, what had caused it?

It was truly hard to imagine.

Given this, Fu Qian decided it was better to first consider the possibility of a flaw in the ritual process itself.

Unfortunately, he wasn't familiar enough with the Kamakura Family's sword path to spot any glaring anomalies just yet.

The reason Fu Qian had deliberately framed his words to be so horrifying was to provoke Kamakura Ki, forcing him to dig up strong arguments for reference.

And the counterargument Kamakura Ki found was undeniably solid.

A Divine Entity willing to bestow a blessing upon believers who didn't even know its name... that was a bit too indiscriminately loving.

In fact, even Cass and the rest of the Academy group seemed to agree with that point.

"Let's take some samples and head back for now."

Seeing everyone fall deep into thought because of Kamakura Ki's words, Cass—who was equally puzzled—finally broke the silence.

To him, the scene they just witnessed proved that the essence of the Kamakura Family's sword path did indeed stem from some superior power, which was already a significant harvest.

Even if they couldn't be entirely certain how it worked just yet.

These Ruins were clearly hiding many ancient secrets.

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