Eldritch Horror Theatre

An interesting and bold idea.

Even within the Academy, the chain of contempt and prejudice between the various courtyards was glaringly obvious.

Very few people would be willing to accept that such a close relationship existed between the two.

"Are you saying the Miracle Potion originally had no effect, but it worked because Kisaragi Kana's talent supplemented it?"

Many things were obscured by nothing more than a thin veil. After a brief moment of thought, Su Gao quickly caught on.

"But she clearly advanced to the Transcendent Tier using her cultivation talent."

"And she did indeed master the ability to resurrect from the dead earlier on, even though she showed no transcendent traits during that period."

Fu Qian blinked.

"Could her cultivation talent have harmonized with the Transcendent Potion? Even if it wasn't enough to fully transform her into a transcendent, she might still have received a fragmented gift?"

Although Su Gao had faintly realized this under Fu Qian's guidance, she still couldn't hide her shock.

"Speaking of which, even though you always use a sword, it fundamentally doesn't have much to do with the sword path, right?"

Fu Qian continued a moment later.

"Right."

Su Gao nodded.

"I really haven't poured as much energy into comprehending and practicing it as they have. To me, it's just a technique."

"Based on my understanding of the sword path, the concept of cultivation can almost be considered a process of merging with the Dao. It involves purifying and tempering a certain concept to its absolute limit, ultimately receiving feedback from it."

Fu Qian spoke with the air of a grandmaster.

"Not long ago, I realized that the word 'Dao' is too easily misunderstood. If we replace it with Kisaragi Kana's talent, it might be much easier to grasp."

"For Kisaragi Kana, her process of merging with the Dao involved the conquest and manipulation of the opposite sex, making them obsess over her. Or, put simply, charm."

Mm.

Su Gao had clearly noticed Kisaragi Kana's behavior toward Fu Qian.

Although it was extremely charming, at its core, it was filled with animalistic instinct.

Because of that, she completely understood why Fu Qian had been so rude to Kisaragi Kana.

In Fu Qian's eyes, she was nothing more than an animal driven purely by desire.

"And doesn't the word 'charm' make it easier to associate with the concept of 'authority'?"

Seeing that she was keeping up with his train of thought, Fu Qian continued.

"Are you saying that certain authorities belonging to the Deities were extracted and turned into paths similar to the sword path?"

Su Gao's eyes lit up.

"And the void Nepheli mentioned was caused by this?"

"Correct."

Fu Qian nodded.

"It's an imperfect analogy, but for innate ability users like us, the path to becoming a God is like pieces of fruit. Each fruit has a different way to be eaten, corresponding to various complex rituals. When you finally take a bite, it's a mixture of different flavors—sour, sweet, astringent... These concepts combine to form the fruit's name, like an Apple."

"However, one day, the sugar inside the Apple was extracted in an incomprehensible way. This directly impacted the core of the Apple's existence, because it was no longer complete."

"To maintain its sense of self, the Apple had to find various ways to replace the missing sugar. The simplest method was to steal it from other fruits, instantly altering the flavors of many other fruits."

"Meanwhile, the lost sugar became incredibly pure in flavor, perfect for those who only like sweets..."

Although Fu Qian's bad habit of making wild analogies was hard to break, Su Gao's comprehension skills were clearly up to the task. She immediately muttered to herself.

"It's a very interesting thought, but I have no way to verify it right now. Can I ask others about it, or do I need to keep it a secret?"

"Keep it a secret."

Fu Qian's tone was firm as he pointed to his head.

"Got it. Knowing about it might bring about bad things."

"In the transcendent world, Spirit and Flesh Chaos."

"I understand."

Su Gao nodded, solemnly making the promise.

...

The idea he had shared with Su Gao was indeed a hypothesis Fu Qian had formed by piecing together all the available information.

If it was true, it meant he had gained a much deeper understanding of the fundamental nature of power in this world.

Even deeper than Nepheli, who had worked so hard to prepare her experiments.

But at the same time, a question arose—who did it?

What kind of entity was powerful enough to forcibly tear the sugar out of the fruit?

Those were stable Deities in full control of their authorities.

For some reason, it felt like a layer of gloom had settled over the world.

...

"Is this the place?"

It was already the next day when they got out of the car. Despite not having been back for many years, Su Gao was clearly still familiar with the roads.

Under her lead, it didn't take long for the two of them to reach the edge of a Dense Forest.

They really turned it into a tourist area?

Seeing the pedestrians—not a huge crowd, but scattered in twos and threes, strolling about in full tourist mode—Fu Qian couldn't help but marvel. Ye Island really dared to turn anything into entertainment.

Even the "application" mentioned in the files he had reviewed beforehand only required filling out some basic information at a makeshift entrance.

"There weren't this many people the last time I came here."

Su Gao also looked overwhelmed by the feeling that the seas had changed into mulberry fields, as if she had to buy a ticket just to return to her own home.

However, since it was so simple, she clearly had no intention of pulling rank and went over to register.

For a professional hunter, fake identity information was something they could produce out of thin air.

The same went for Fu Qian, a professional task runner.

As the two of them smoothly entered the legendary forbidden zone, they could see that the aura of decay in this once-corrupted land had completely vanished.

The only things left behind were the massive trees with bizarre shapes that faintly resembled human limbs, along with all sorts of extremely crude hiding spots.

Of course, no one was going to tell the tourists the true origin of these things.

Fu Qian watched with his own eyes as two teenagers, not even twenty years old, tied folded paper stars to a half-burnt tree that bore the faint silhouette of half a human face.

And there were already many similar items hanging from the tree.

Fu Qian turned his head to look at Su Gao. She clearly hadn't expected to see this either, and was currently staring blankly at Grandpa Ai Lei's remains.

"This is the Grandpa Ai Lei I mentioned. The last few times I came, he could barely recognize me anymore."

Su Gao's voice was devoid of emotion.

"He might not necessarily mind seeing this."

Fu Qian said casually, shifting his gaze away from the jagged burls on the tree to examine the barely-standing structures behind it.

"Do you want to go in and take a look?"

...Mm.

Watching Su Gao step forward and open the rickety door, Fu Qian didn't follow her.

Some situations didn't need an outsider present.

As he stood next to Grandpa Ai Lei, his gaze locked onto a certain Small Island in the distance.

Deep below it lay a mysterious excavation site.

...

"What's wrong?"

Su Gao didn't stay inside for long, returning the way she came shortly after. Since her eyes were fixed intently on him, Fu Qian couldn't help but ask.

"Thank you."

Hm?

Her face showed no trace of sadness, revealing a bright smile instead.

"My vacation is over."

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