Eldritch Horror Theatre

Nimble, elegant, and devoid of a single wasted movement.

Su Gao did not swing her sword particularly fast. Coupled with the fact that her targets were light Feathers drifting in the wind, the scene carried a surreal beauty—one where interrupting her felt like a sin.

Monstrous sin or not, Fu Qian had no intention of causing trouble. He simply stood back and watched in appreciation.

Though she did not consider herself a swordswoman, Classmate Su Gao clearly possessed the pure, focused mind of a cultivator. She was charging forward undaunted, cutting a sharp contrast with Chief Yuan and his desire to slack off at every opportunity.

For an advisor, she was undoubtedly an ideal partner to support.

Even now, after a continuous process of elimination, she showed no hint of discouragement or fatigue. Instead, she continued to push her abilities to their limits, attempting to force a breakthrough.

The Feathers were soft and incredibly resilient, making them extremely difficult to cut while floating in the air.

But this did not hinder the Curved Sword at all. Wherever the blade passed, a Feather was split perfectly down its shaft. The sharp edge would then pivot, instantly slashing toward another Feather stirred up by her movements.

19...

29...59...

In the blink of an eye, this Silk Feather Chain Slash approached a three-digit combo, whipping up a unique storm around the deep pit.

It ended just as quickly. The Curved Sword came to a sudden, silent halt, with a half-severed Feather even left resting on its blade.

125.

”Seems like there’s a problem?”

Just as Fu Qian finished his final count, Su Gao looked back at him and softly sought confirmation.

”There is a problem.”

Fu Qian nodded. He stepped up beside her and reached out, plucking the half-severed Feather from the blade.

...

Of course, it wasn’t a trick of the eye. There was genuinely something strange about this Feather, which Su Gao had found using a method akin to divination.

As a professional who never hesitated to make a judgment, he was certain these items were completely devoid of transcendent properties.

The crux lay in its position.

If his earlier conversation with Su Gao had continued, it actually would have led to a very direct conclusion—

To evade the Meteor, the Prison Archangel felt its own stealth capabilities were insufficient, which was why it had come all this way to find an alternative sanctuary.

While this meant the location would undoubtedly be hard to find, one thing was certain: no matter how well-hidden, the spatial concept of this area still held meaning for that sanctuary.

Otherwise, why come ”here” specifically? And why would the Feathers burst out in this exact spot?

Overlapping spaces, Transcendence, simple illusions... no matter the method, any coordinate shifts occurring in this vast Underground carried the potential to interact with that place.

It was just that this interaction was hidden by a special method, making it difficult for even a High-Tier Transcendent to detect.

Of course, this conclusion was based on the fact that the Academy had not discovered it despite years of presence.

If the Academy had actually discovered something, it would be even simpler—they could just ask once they got out.

And she did not disappoint. Upon realizing this, Su Gao decisively came up with a method to test it, directly unleashing a set of seemingly random slashes.

Her goal was precisely to leverage the unique trait of her ability—Echo.

Regardless of the severity, it automatically mounted a defensive response against any negative element.

Take Nepheli’s mental parasitism last time, for example. Even while completely unaware of the intrusion, her body had still exhibited a trace of anomaly.

Or during the Nightmare Corridor, when she directly reverse-infiltrated the dreamscape...

Applied to the current situation, wherever Su Gao’s sword passed, if it swept through a critical coordinate, it would be equivalent to a negative effect—like a deflection—acting on her attack.

If Echo could react to that, their search would make a massive breakthrough.

To optimize the effect, she had even paired it with the physical act of slashing Feathers as an observation Anchor Point, adding another dimension to confirm whether there were any anomalies—a stroke of sheer intuition.

And now, her exploration had clearly yielded preliminary results.

The spot where the two of them now stood was still some distance from the deep pit. Directly in front of them was a square pillar embedded in the wall.

”I can only sense a very faint trace. It’s hard to describe, and it vanished almost immediately.

What was your impression, Professor Fu? Was it an illusion?”

Having earned his validation, Su Gao was now staring intently at the space in front of her, trying her hardest to recall the exact sensation.

”Hard to describe for me, too.”

Fu Qian shook his head honestly.

He was an outsider, after all. With Classmate Su Gao’s skills improving by the day, his grasp of such subtle nuances wasn’t necessarily any stronger than the person involved.

”But at least there wasn’t any violent reaction. You can lock onto this general area and try again.”

Fu Qian gestured forward with his chin.

”Does it matter if I cut it to pieces?”

Giving a slight nod, Su Gao accepted the sideline coaching. However, she still paused to confirm with the Academy representative.

”It doesn’t matter. It’s not a core load-bearing pillar, so you can tear it down.”

Having already observed the general structure on their way in, Fu Qian waved a hand, signaling her to do as she pleased.

Swish—

Almost before the words left his mouth, Classmate Su Gao struck without a second’s hesitation.

...

Was this... Platform Three-Quarters?

Despite her decisiveness, Su Gao was far less reckless than Professor Fu. Amid the flying rubble, she maintained a gradually expanding radius of destruction. By the time she finally stopped, the massive square pillar had not been completely demolished; instead, she had forcefully carved a hole right into it.

”I think I found it.”

After standing there for just a few seconds, Su Gao took another step forward and thrust her sword straight into the empty space before her.

Even in the dim lighting, Fu Qian could clearly confirm that the blade of the Curved Sword had turned as clear as water in that moment, taking on a unique, transcendent quality.

Hum—

In reality, there was no sound, but where the tip of the blade landed in that moment, the sight was truly extraordinary.

Though it was completely empty, that patch of space seemed to transform into taut strings, rapidly vibrating in a chain reaction under the disturbance.

The same applied to the gap in the center.

From the single point pierced by the sword tip, the vibrations rapidly spread outward. The breach expanded to roughly the area of two people embracing before seemingly reaching its limit, at which point it reversed and began to shrink.

But that was fine. For two High-Tier Transcendents, it was already enough.

”That should be it.”

Just as Fu Qian finished his assessment, Su Gao vaulted inside first.

What a dedicated employee!

Hardly surprised by this, Fu Qian marveled at her work ethic as he immediately followed, slipping effortlessly through the rapidly shrinking hole.

Thud—

It was as if a veil of dense Mist hung in the air, yet miraculously, the lighting was slightly brighter.

Amid a somewhat loud landing, Fu Qian had already stepped onto something tangible. It sounded more like wood than stone—and indeed, it was.

Glancing down, he could easily distinguish that the ground beneath his feet was made of interlocking dark wooden planks. Fu Qian suddenly found this place all the more interesting.

”Is this... a ship?”

Su Gao’s voice chimed in from beside him, carrying a hint of surprise as she surveyed their surroundings.