Eldritch Horror Theatre

The vitality I'm contributing... could this be a life-leeching aura?

Given A Wei's straightforward behavior earlier, Fu Qian figured the chances of him bluffing right now were slim.

In fact, following that solemn declaration, Fu Qian could clearly sense a dual transformation in the entity, spanning from his outward appearance to his very essence.

In the blink of an eye, those elegant, slender white feathers had branched out and multiplied, growing thick and lush.

Unlike their original state—where they seemed embedded in the surface of his skin like decorative tattoos—these were now genuine feathers.

The feathers rapidly covered more than half of A Wei's body, making his entire figure appear a size larger.

The uncovered areas quickly turned pale, visibly transforming into real flesh and blood.

Furthermore, his face elongated bizarrely. At a glance, it looked as though he were wearing a Bird-Beak Mask.

As this form materialized before his eyes, Fu Qian felt the rate at which his life force was draining surge several times over.

A Wei's voice, however, remained unchanged.

"As a Demigod, you should know that prying into the transcendent world often comes with a price."

"Since you refuse to make a small contribution and become a diner, you can only serve as the ingredients."

"I am very reluctant to do this, because it is simply too much of a waste."

"Are you sure? Why do I get the feeling you're quite enjoying sucking me dry?"

Fu Qian glanced at his own hand.

Even with his formidable constitution, his skin was rapidly losing its luster.

Just in the time it took to speak those fifteen words, he had likely lost thirty years of power.

"This is its inherent attribute. My active will plays no part in it."

Given this setup that clearly granted him infinite sustain, A Wei didn't seem to be in any rush, even going so far as to defend himself.

"You, on the other hand, are surprisingly calm. Could it be you think you won't die?"

"Of course. Did you really think you could fool me that easily?"

Fu Qian snorted and pointed at Jiang En, who was off to the side.

"If that's the inherent attribute of the Skin Tempering Realm, how is this guy perfectly fine? I don't see the slightest sign of his life force running dry."

"Although those guys calling it the Flaying Realm is stupid enough, your claim is just too outrageous..."

A Wei subconsciously retorted.

"As for Jiang En, it's very simple. I just used a little trick to help him bypass the effects. After all, he counts as a rare and delicious ingredient."

"After you die, he will become one of us, returning to the outside world as a true genius."

A true genius...

Fu Qian looked thoughtful. For Jiang En to advance to the Mid Tier at his age was undoubtedly excellent, but to call him a genius...

"Could it be that the ritual doesn't just promote him to Tier 6?"

"Of course it's more than that. It's even more than the one he gave up."

A Wei let out a burst of laughter.

"Although that rigid classification method no longer suits us... I am absolutely certain that as long as he completes the current ritual, it will be enough for him to become a Tier 4 Transcendent—provided he doesn't share it."

He can actually skip tiers?

If it's Tier 4, that puts him on the same level as the Old Man hosting the event. No wonder this group was so attentive.

A Wei had undoubtedly brought up a rather novel concept, leaving Fu Qian briefly lost in thought.

"Are you actually not in a hurry?"

Seeing that his opponent was not only earnestly discussing the issue with him but had even fallen into deep contemplation right there, A Wei finally lost his patience.

"You know I'm saying all this to deliberately stall for time, right? With every passing minute, your condition worsens."

"You can't possibly be thinking of dragging this out for half an hour so that bunch of trash outside can save you, can you?"

"What do you know? To hear the Dao in the morning and die content in the evening."

Fu Qian gave a cold snort and stood with his hands behind his back.

"Trading secrets I'd be interested in for a slight increase in your win rate—did you think I couldn't see through your little scheme? The fact that I didn't point it out means I agreed to the trade."

"Win rate for information. I think it's a very worthwhile trade."

This guy is genuinely out of his fucking mind...

The sheer candor of Fu Qian's response deeply shocked A Wei, while simultaneously reinforcing a certain conviction within him.

"So? Do you have any takeaways after listening to all that? Want to summarize?"

Since the other party was cooperating to such a degree, A Wei no longer hid his intention to stall for time and asked Fu Qian to provide his reflections.

"I could spout them off the top of my head... 'Today, I had an open and honest exchange with A Wei, and I benefited greatly from the process.'"

Unexpectedly, in the very next moment, the man actually began speaking in a deadpan, cadenced tone.

"But looking back on the whole experience, there is still an unmistakable sense of disappointment—"

"Disappointed by what?"

From the very first word, A Wei seemed to be enduring a severe mental shock. Reaching this point, he finally couldn't hold back.

"It's very rude to interrupt."

Even from behind his mask, Fu Qian clearly conveyed his dissatisfaction.

"However, seeing how sincere your question is... the disappointment stems from a simple fact: you are not actually a Divine Emissary."

...

Facing the somewhat stunned A Wei, Fu Qian shook his head.

"For a moment there, I thought I was facing an existence of a higher status. That was until your so-called true form Descended, leaving me thoroughly disappointed."

"There is no fundamental gap between you and me. The only reason you exerted such oppressive pressure was that you were relying on the shared power of some High-Tier Existence, such as this..."

Fu Qian gestured at their surroundings.

"This miraculous, domain-like existence—I might have a hard time resisting its negative effects, but this power doesn't belong to you."

"Of course, you have a certain level of authority that allows you to control it to an extent."

"Just like you said yourself: using a little trick to shelter that future genius."

The guy had been probing him all along... with an inexplicable arrogance.

As Fu Qian spoke, A Wei's emotional state was going from bad to worse.

"You really have learned quite a lot..."

In the next moment, his voice sounded as though it were being squeezed through gritted teeth.

"Ah! So it's true?"

Unexpectedly, the other party's response carried a tone of surprise.

"It's a bad habit I picked up in school. I always just spout nonsense for my reflections. Did you just admit to it?"

There was half-truth in those words.

His opponent's projection from earlier had been far too ethereal. Now that his true body had Descended, there were indeed more detailed sensations to be felt.

It felt as if that earlier Rank suppression wasn't entirely consistent with A Wei. Fu Qian guessed it might have originated from the gaze of 'It'.

But that was merely a guess.

Ding!

After a brief silence, Fu Qian was answered by a peculiar, soft chime.

The sound originated from the target of his mockery: a crescent-shaped Curved Sword had appeared in the hands of the Demigod A Wei.

It wasn't overly long, but upon the elegant, razor-sharp blade rested a rich, impenetrable blood-red hue.

"It doesn't matter. You can keep throwing out wild guesses now on how to use what you've learned."

The bone-chilling tone strongly reflected the speaker's foul mood.

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