Eldritch Horror Theatre

The gospel was only bestowed upon the wretched.

Your current state is certainly miserable enough. Let’s see if you can hold on until the gospel’s enlightenment.

After unleashing a Gospel Shockwave, Fu Qian silently observed Li Min’s reaction.

Although he had always used this skill’s side effect to blast people, Fu Qian had never forgotten that the true nature of Gospel Shockwave was to emulate a Deity’s authority for the universal salvation of all living beings.

Right now, Ms. Li Min was truly beset by internal and external perils.

On the one hand, there was the peculiar flame she could not digest.

On the other, there was a chaotic, complex corruption of an extremely high Rank.

Combined with a broken body that had forced a temporary surge of vitality after downing three tubes of Blood Dew, even the gods would struggle to save her.

In Fu Qian’s eyes, because that last fragile bit of balance had been shattered, she likely wouldn’t last more than a few hours—even though she was currently chatting with her friend in the cave.

If she wanted to survive, her only hope was to break through her Ren and Du meridians in this desperate situation and undergo a complete rebirth.Of course, that was a treatment reserved for children of destiny, not something one could easily hope for.

But encountering him while at death’s door—wasn’t that enough to make her a child of destiny?

...

When Heaven places great responsibility on a person, it first subjects them to severe physical hardship.

Right now, Li Min was visibly even more miserable than before.

After a single blast of the gospel, her body—which had barely maintained a human shape—was thoroughly destroyed by the massive accumulation of madness.

Unable to even maintain a kneeling posture, she lay sideways on the ground as the fine scales and horned spikes—which had slightly faded earlier—now grew wildly at an unprecedented speed.

At the same time, her limbs—hands and feet included—were rapidly twisting and degrading. In the blink of an eye, they all but vanished, replaced by swaying clusters of sea-anemone-like fleshy sprouts.

In less than half a minute, Li Min looked entirely like an ocean sunfish entangled with parasites.

And one that was sizzling on a hot iron griddle, at that.

With all restraints gone, the explosively erupting internal heat roasted her body, producing a variety of bizarre odors.

Even though she had completely lost control of her body and couldn’t manage a single physical twitch, Fu Qian could still sense the patient’s wailing and thrashing on the level of her will.

But one had to look on the bright side: at least she was still struggling.

What a pity!

Shifting his gaze away from Li Min, Fu Qian sighed.

Even though he had spread the cosmic gospel on its behalf, the Ash Sea didn’t seem to have any special reaction.

Guiding the two to choose this wish wasn’t because he was passionate about hanging the gourd to heal the world.

Since wildly lashing his tentacles earlier had drawn no response, Fu Qian had originally wanted to change his method of stimulation to declare his arrival.

Unfortunately, it still seemed to have no effect.

Outside, Rachel had silently turned around, staring stiffly at her friend on the ground.

Given her Rank, she clearly couldn’t perceive those wails, which undoubtedly made it even more agonizing for her.

”Actually, I think what your friend meant earlier was for you to take this opportunity to flee as far away as possible, unless she came looking for you again?”

Seeing this, Fu Qian asked with some curiosity.

”I won’t leave.”

Rachel didn’t look at him, and her voice didn’t even carry a trace of anger.

”She’s trying her hardest to survive, and I will do everything in my power to help her achieve that.”

”Even if this is just a game to you, as long as you don’t casually kill me, I’m staying right here to watch over her.”

”Understood.”

Fu Qian nodded slightly, his tone completely devoid of mockery.

”Then let’s wait and see.”

...

They didn’t have to wait long. A moment later, a blinding blue flame like starlight emerged on the deformed body on the ground, rapidly spreading outward.

A mutation of Transcendent Tier abilities had appeared?

At the very least, the form of the power felt different, and its Rank had even increased.

Fu Qian evaluated silently.

Of course, compared to the corruption covering her entire body, it still fell far short.

The spreading Frostfire barely managed to outline a human face within the flesh and blood before it quickly encountered stubborn resistance, finding it hard to sustain itself.

Not only that, but faintly, fish scales of the same color had even begun to grow on that face.

”Li Min!”

How Rachel managed to recognize her friend from that extremely abstract face was a mystery, but she was clearly on the verge of weeping tears of joy.

Popping champagne at halftime wasn’t a good habit.

Fu Qian shook his head inwardly and activated the Decree of Return once more.

With this assistance, the mutation on the face stopped spreading and even began to recede.

Very quickly, a head shaped like an ice sculpture—yet radiating intense heat—completely emerged from the flesh.

However, just as it attempted to continue outlining her form downward, the mud-like body began to tremble incessantly.

It had reached its load-bearing limit.

Sensing the wails from the utter collapse of flesh and blood, Fu Qian took a step forward and reached out toward that head.

”What are you doing?”

While Li Min remained in a dazed state mid-rebirth, Rachel was visibly startled.

Even though she didn’t quite understand what was happening, she had finally seen a glimmer of hope...

In her desperation, she completely forgot Li Min’s previous warnings and charged straight in to stop Fu Qian.

Yet while her shout was still echoing through the cave, a hand had already clamped around her neck.

And the Mental Shock she had unleashed with all her might seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever.

Amidst her despair, through her blurring vision, Rachel watched helplessly as his other hand grabbed that head and yanked it out like pulling a radish.

The next moment, he drew his hand back and, without hesitation, pressed the head against her body.

...

”How does it feel?”

A moment later, looking at the body slowly recovering from its convulsions, Fu Qian asked casually.

”Why did you do this?”

It felt as though all the heat in her body had been sucked away, yet her will seemed to be burning in an inextinguishable flame. Struggling to lift her head, Rachel asked the question in utter incomprehension.

”Don’t interrupt.”

Unfortunately, Fu Qian completely ignored her, looking instead toward one of her shoulders.

”Thank you.”

In the midst of her confusion, a voice actually rang out from there.

Rachel felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She abruptly looked down.

Her entire arm was completely unresponsive, and an ice-sculpture-like head was currently embedded in the flesh and blood there, with less than half of it exposed.

Li Min...

Even so, she still recognized her best friend.

”Although I can’t quite understand some of the changes, it’s obvious that I don’t have to worry about my body collapsing for the time being.”

Amidst the intense shock, the head expressed its thanks with a completely serious expression.

”You’re welcome. It’s what you deserve.”

Fu Qian waved a hand, gesturing for her not to mind it.

Although he had the idea of grafting her from the very beginning, it was still comforting that she could remain this lucid.

”What I’m more interested in is, aside from the changes in your own power, did the Ash Sea give you any different feeling after that transformation just now?”

”A special feeling from the Ash Sea?”

Li Min repeated in confusion.

”Sorry, I can’t feel anything for now. Wait—”

The next moment, she seemed to try to look outside, but limited by her current body structure, she was clearly powerless to do so.

”Has the rain... stopped?”