Eldritch Horror Theatre

What was this guy saying?

After witnessing the bizarre exchange between Fu Qian and Ji Liushuang, the onlookers were startled once again by his words.

Was there something wrong with his head? Setting aside his unhinged conversation with Ji Liushuang...

Faced with a murderous Li Weixuan, he didn’t just refuse to run—he actually threatened to kill the man on the spot?

”Interesting. I didn’t expect to meet an opponent of your caliber on my first day out of seclusion.”

”For someone like you to infiltrate the Academy, your target must be more than just the Sword Comprehension Institute, isn’t it?”

Li Weixuan couldn’t make sense of Fu Qian and Ji Liushuang’s conversation either, but he certainly wasn’t intimidated.

”That move of yours just now was quite interesting, though it seems you can’t sustain it. You must have paid some sort of price to unleash it.”

”Take a guess.”

Fu Qian twitched his brows at the question and returned a cryptic smile.”You are under no obligation to tell me.”

Li Weixuan scoffed, holding up three fingers.

”It makes no difference either way. I will finish you in three swords!”

”Then I’ll be waiting.”

Fu Qian rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath. A second later, a barrage of crackling pops echoed from inside his body.

Blood surged, muscles bulged, and his frame rapidly expanded.

Amidst terrified stares, Fu Qian shifted into his Giant Form, just as he had when facing the crocodile monster.

In this state, his size and strength skyrocketed. The price was that his sanity would be battered by a maddening bloodlust; staying in it too long made it easy to lose SAN value.

But that didn’t matter. His SAN value was still in the triple digits, and he had already burned a fair amount on Mythical Form anyway—a little more wouldn’t hurt.

Aside from himself, no one understood the true meaning behind his conversation with Ji Liushuang—not even Ji Liushuang herself.

From beginning to end, his target had always been that invisible ”It.”

Although his previous probing had essentially confirmed the entity’s existence, as a conceptual creature, it remained incredibly difficult to grasp.

The reason he had sought out Ji Liushuang to talk was that, out of all the individuals making up the Swarm, she was the most unique.

She possessed a Lucent Sword Heart, making her mental clarity absolute.

After thinking it over, he realized that if ”It” wanted to communicate directly with someone, Ji Liushuang was the most likely conduit.

Therefore, Fu Qian had been trying to converse with ”It.”

The results proved him right. When Ji Liushuang’s mind was stimulated and her personal consciousness weakened to its absolute limit, ”Its” will truly surfaced to a greater degree.

Of course, judging by the only two replies he received, his ”blasphemous” act of observing it was already considered an unforgivable sin. There was absolutely no chance of reconciliation.

But that was fine. He had never intended to reconcile anyway.

The most valuable takeaway from that exchange was confirming ”Its” existence. The other was ”Its” description regarding the comprehension of sword intent: no matter how you plead, your voice will be forsaken.

This practically admitted that the comprehension of sword intent was indeed manipulated by ”It.”

And this was exactly what Fu Qian had wanted to confirm.

...

Now that he knew what he needed to know, it was time to try physical destruction!

Having completed his transformation, Fu Qian locked onto Li Weixuan with a smile.

Unlike a fraud like old man Chen Xing, Li Weixuan was a genuine Demigod!

Theoretically, although this was only one realm above Tier 4, they were fundamentally different in nature.

So he really had to think carefully about how to send this guy on his way.

In the next moment, Fu Qian slowly raised his right hand. Countless tentacles exploded from his arm, twisting into a hideous dragon that lunged at Li Weixuan.

His self-created restricted-level skill: Biochemical Demonic Arm.

In his Giant Form, the power of this strike was boosted by far more than just a single level.

”Hmph!”

Faced with this terrifying attack, Li Weixuan showed no fear. A fierce burst of sword qi erupted, colliding violently with the strike.

”Very strong, but compared to before, it is a tier lower. Are you really unable to keep it up?”

After dozens of consecutive deafening clashes, Li Weixuan stood proud, completely spotless.

”Then take my first sword!”

Before his voice faded, Li Weixuan leveled his longsword and slowly thrust it forward, as if he were holding up an entire mountain.

Fu Qian had seen this move before.

Back when they tried to break the barrier in the Furnace, this man had used it once. Its power was deeply impressive.

And now that he had reached the Demigod Realm, it was bound to be even more terrifying.

Bring it on!

SAN Value -1!

Facing Li Weixuan’s attack, Fu Qian activated his Mythical Form once again.

Boom!

Under the combined buffs of his Giant Form and Mythical Form, a Biochemical Demonic Arm several times larger than before violently shot out.

”What?!”

This sudden, explosive increase in attack power undoubtedly caught Li Weixuan off guard.

Instantly losing his casual demeanor, he decisively parried with his longsword while rapidly retreating.

Even with such a quick response, a long gash was torn across his body, sending blood spraying into the air.

Despite his injury, Li Weixuan’s movements didn’t pause for a fraction of a second. The moment he landed, his figure flickered repeatedly, dodging Fu Qian’s follow-up attacks.

”How insidious!”

Finding an opening to force Fu Qian back with a slash, Li Weixuan steadied himself and looked down at the wound on his waist.

”If this were before my seclusion, I truly wouldn’t have been confident in beating you. What a pity... I am different now. Ascending to a Demigod brings more than just a change in strength.”

Li Weixuan revealed a smile.

”If I’m not mistaken, you have some other method that only works in close combat. That is your real killing move, isn’t it?”

”What makes you say that?”

Fu Qian’s expression remained entirely unchanged.

”Because I can sense it. You seem very eager to tangle in close quarters.”

Li Weixuan looked at ease.

”This is the combat intuition born from a sword path entering the divine. That attack just now was terrifying, but it was not your final trump card.”

”You are a formidable character, but unfortunately, I am not a rigid man. In light of this, I have decided to drop the three-sword limit.”

”From now until your death, do not even dream of touching me once.”

This Demigod really was hard to kill. He could actually sense his intent to use Visceral Attack?

Facing the composed Li Weixuan, Fu Qian blinked.

”Then let me try.”

Worthy of his status as a Demigod, Li Weixuan truly followed through on his words.

No matter what attack Fu Qian launched, Li Weixuan repelled it all with sword qi, fighting while retreating to firmly suppress his opponent at a set distance.

Even activating Mythical Form only gave Fu Qian Demigod Grade lethality. Against a Demigod completely focused on kiting him, taking him down quickly was almost impossible.

At the same time, his defense was a whole tier lower than Li Weixuan’s. Under the man’s occasional counterattacks, numerous gashes soon appeared across his body.

It looked as though he had entered the rhythm of a slow death, yet Fu Qian showed absolutely no intention of giving up, continuing his methodical pursuit.

Sword light wove into a net. As Li Weixuan forced Fu Qian back for the fourth time, the latter raised his left hand, transforming it into several tentacles that stabbed forward like lightning.

With a cold snort, sword qi crisscrossed the air.

While maintaining his distance, Li Weixuan casually shredded a few of the tentacles.

This kind of harassing attack wouldn’t cause any real damage even if it hit... Wait!

In the next moment, Li Weixuan suddenly sensed that something was completely wrong.

Looking down, a slender, grotesque arm was pressed squarely against his waist.