Eldritch Horror Theatre

Sure enough, the villains were the hardworking ones!

Moving silently through the Academy, Fu Qian soon arrived at the filthy den from earlier that day.

It took little effort to lock onto a familiar aura, and its location was surprisingly down below.

Professor Yi’an really was working hard on overtime!

Thanks to his low profile along the way, he hadn’t triggered any alarms. The Academy was perfectly peaceful at night.

Recalling the route he had taken earlier that day, Fu Qian stepped directly into the building.

”Apologies, but non-instructors of this courtyard are not permitted below—”

With a single slap, Fu Qian sent the pompous guard flying into the wall. Without pausing for even half a second, he crossed straight past the boundary that barred visitors.

A breath later, he arrived before the wide metal doors.

”Who is it?”A familiar voice called out from inside. The commotion had clearly alerted the person behind the doors.

Unfortunately, his only answer was a violently kicked-in door.

With that kick, the view ahead abruptly opened up.

It was still the familiar Laboratory, though this time it wasn’t packed with perverts; there was only one.

Watching Yi’an transform into a mollusk-like state to burrow back into his clothes, Fu Qian tried his hardest not to think about what the man had just been doing.

He really was using lust to enter the Dao. His realm was far inferior to Brother Honma’s.

”So it is Professor Fu Qian.”

Quickly reverting to his human form, Yi’an turned around. His expression showed no hint of panic.

”Why have you come here so late?”

”You know me?”

”Of course. Your earlier conflict with Li Weixuan could only be described as completely domineering.”

So that was it. This guy had always been at odds with Li Weixuan, so it was only natural for him to keep an eye on anything involving the man.

”Excellent. Then I won’t need to introduce myself!”

Fu Qian raised his hand and took aim directly at Yi’an’s head.

The next moment, three Air Bullets strung together like a string of beads howled through the air.

”I come back!”

Yi’an had clearly been on highest alert. The moment an intense sense of crisis hit, he evaded instantly.

Even so, the final Air Bullet still struck his shoulder.

Blood splattered as a massive wound was torn open across Yi’an’s right arm.

”I don’t understand!”

Despite receiving such a heavy blow, Yi’an seemed completely oblivious to it. He simply stared at Fu Qian and demanded answers.

In fact, thin yellow-green threads were already spreading out from around the wound, quickly weaving into a net and rapidly stitching the flesh back together.

As expected, he was only a hair’s breadth away from the Demigod Realm. He could truly be called Tier 4 Peak Plus.

Seeing this familiar tissue, Fu Qian wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

Clearly, this guy’s progress had been incredibly fast; he was already on the verge of a breakthrough.

His previous attempt to strike the grass to startle the snake had merely forced Yi’an to advance his preparations.

But it didn’t matter. How did the saying go?

’If you aren’t absolutely a demigod, you are absolutely not a demigod!’

That missing sliver of progress had already sealed his fate.

”Wanting to die with clear answers is such a boring obsession. You aren’t that vulgar of a person, are you?”

As he spoke, Fu Qian’s right arm violently expanded and lengthened. His five fingers turned into spears, piercing straight through Yi’an’s forehead.

Hahaha!

Facing such a minor injury, Yi’an naturally didn’t fall. Instead, after a brief moment of shock, he let out a string of maniacal laughter.

At the same time, he flung out both arms, wrapping them around Fu Qian’s neck like snakes.

”Well said! Then you can go die—”

Unfortunately, the man only managed to spout half of his ruthless threat. Fu Qian’s fingers—still embedded in his forehead—expanded into black and red tentacles, instantly cleaving both his remaining words and his skull in half.

Meanwhile, facing those two seemingly boneless arms, Fu Qian didn’t even try to dodge, simply letting them wrap around his neck.

The next moment, dense Spikes erupted from his neck, instantly shredding the two arms that were trying to snap it.

Hahaha!

The blood-drenched arms rapidly shrank back, drooping lifelessly by his sides.

Even so, Yi’an’s laughter still sounded exceptionally vigorous.

”So you are in the Demigod Realm! No wonder you don’t even take Li Weixuan seriously.”

”But this is the Academy. In the exploration of transcendent power, Rank doesn’t mean everything.”

”You only know the how, not the why. I am fundamentally different from people like you who rely on luck! Look at your hand!”

”No need for the reminder. I already saw it.”

Fu Qian lazily raised his hand.

The fingers that had just pierced Yi’an’s skull were entirely coated in a layer of web-like fascia.

As the fascia eroded into the surrounding flesh, waves of chaotic desires crashed against his sanity like a tide.

Clearly, this Minotaur professor—so deeply endowed with the spirit of scientific research—had already mastered methods related to the Mythical Form.

”Did you realize that even you aren’t immune? This is a technique that truly touches the essence of divinity.”

Yi’an’s voice continued to echo.

”It will endlessly magnify your inner desires, rendering you forever unsatisfied.”

”Unless you can truly achieve a state devoid of all distracting thoughts.”

”Is that so?”

Fu Qian’s tone didn’t shift in the slightest. His other hand violently expanded once more, punching straight through Yi’an’s torso.

”Still playing little mind games at a time like this?”

”Were you hoping that after hearing your words, I’d chant ’form is emptiness, emptiness is form’ to calm myself down?”

”But in reality, the pursuit of having absolutely no desires is itself a desire, isn’t it? I just saw an example of that not too long ago.”

”If I really did as you hoped, I’m afraid I’d only fall into a vicious cycle.”

”Unfortunately, I just gave someone psychological counseling not long ago. I told her that self-denial is, fundamentally, an act of masturbation.”

”Right at this moment, I can fully confirm that my heart is filled with desire—the desire to crush you completely into dust.”

”Why don’t you give it a try? Let’s see if you can use this ’weakness’ to keep yourself alive.”

”...We can talk. I believe I have many things here that would be of use to you.”

After a brief silence, Yi’an’s tone finally shifted.

”You don’t understand. We have already talked enough.”

However, his proposal was rejected without the slightest hesitation.

The next moment, countless tentacles erupted from Fu Qian’s body.

”As for what I want to know, I will just test it myself.”

”Idiot, you have no idea what you’re doing!”

Under the devastating assault, Yi’an’s unwilling, miserable screams echoed through the room.

”You are destroying a discovery that could change the world!”

”I refuse to accept this—”

In the end, as Brother Yi’an’s body was once again pulverized into dust, his voice faded away, brimming with unfulfilled ambition.

[Current task completed. Containment of 2-095 successful.]

Just as I expected!

Listening to the prompt in his ear, Fu Qian looked down at his hands.

It was indeed a Demigod Grade method. Even though Yi’an was dead, the substance contaminating his hands was still teasing his desires, crashing against his sanity.

It was just a pity that Brother Yi’an—who wasn’t actually a demigod himself—couldn’t use this to leave behind a wisp of a remnant soul.

Speaking of which, this was the second demigod from the Academy he had snuffed out, wasn’t it?

He truly deserved the title of the Academy’s Destiny Plunderer.