Eldritch Horror Theatre

His situation was something of an anomaly. There couldn’t be that many self-created Divine Paths, right?

Fu Qian always maintained a clear sense of self-awareness; he never treated his own experiences as the norm.

Calamity Knight, Pale Prophet... even relying on the Warehouse, he had been given more than one opportunity in the past to step onto a predetermined path to godhood.

So in this regard, his judgment aligned with the mainstream view of this world—

which was that the vast majority of transcendents still climbed an existing Divine Path, especially those with innate extraordinary abilities like Wen Li.

According to the Fruit and Sugar theory, the peak of the cultivation route taken by the Sword Comprehension Institute should be the extracted ”sugar”—a concept similar to the sword path.

The ”fruits” might deform or mix flavors as they competed with one another, but they should still occupy the apex of another category.

Eve, who had once used Wen Li as a Cocoon; Virgo La Nina, who nurtured the Holy Infant; and whatever had originally been inside Bernard and Loretta, ready to replace them... these could seemingly all be grouped into this category—the special case of ”supernatural architecture” coming to life.

And for the latter three, he was almost entirely certain they corresponded to higher-tier powers.

Consequently, watching the rapidly advancing Eldest Miss Wen, Fu Qian did not consider her an exception.So what kind of ”fruit” would Wen Li correspond to?

This was actually one of his hidden motives for suggesting she accept the invitation in the first place.

Even if she learned nothing, the Linghui Courtyard—acting like a bird startled by the twang of a bow after their recent accident—would likely immediately rule out any connection between her and the Divine Path of Excellency Stomach.

Their subsequent determination to pour resources into training her proved they didn’t think Wen Li’s abilities had much to do with Ecstasy.

”The Academy previously had a major scientific research accident. The source involved the activation of desires. But don’t worry, by comparison, it should be different from your kind of activation.”

Seeing the fear in Ji Liushuang’s heart gradually subside, Fu Qian explained to Wen Li why the test subject had reacted so strongly.

”Activated desires...”

Although he phrased it lightly, the ever-cautious Wen Li clearly didn’t see it that way. Her face paled as she muttered to herself.

For someone with Professor Fu’s style to call it a major scientific research accident, the danger involved was truly unimaginable. And if it was genuinely proven to be connected—

”Continue. The harvest you showed the Linghui mentors shouldn’t be this, right?”

Her worries were quickly interrupted, however. Fu Qian gestured for the demonstration to continue, seemingly certain she had more to show.

”Yes... because this one is truly quite special, I haven’t mentioned it to the mentors yet.”

Sure enough, Wen Li gave a slight nod.

...

Now this was a reasonable way to operate.

Fu Qian wasn’t surprised in the least.

Given Wen Li’s cautious nature, her prior vigilance, and his own warnings, she wouldn’t rush to reveal any overly unusual advancement harvests before confirming they were risk-free.

But at the same time, facing a group of hopeful Linghui mentors, she couldn’t possibly get away with showing them nothing at all. So there had to be something else interesting—and it really was interesting.

While he praised her inwardly, Wen Li had already extended a hand, just like the time he had used the four diagnostic methods of looking, smelling, questioning, and pulse-feeling on her after her last advancement.

In the blink of an eye, a peculiar change appeared on it.

Small, seemingly familiar scales rapidly covered her exposed skin. She didn’t even need to cut open a wound beforehand to stimulate them.

Their shape hadn’t changed much from last time, and the distorted outlines of human faces could still be seen within their reflections, though they were now more abstract and mysterious.

But that was just the surface. Something fundamental had changed.

Without her even moving much, a brilliant light seemed to flow across her skin.

And those human face reflections on every small scale actually seemed to be interacting with one another.

Stretching and shrinking, swelling and deforming—it was as if joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness were surging and transmitting among them.

”It’s like all my emotions are projected onto them and drawn in. Any movement I make can affect me, but there’s no trace of that activation...

”Also, even so, just looking at them gives me a strong sense of discomfort.”

At this point, Ji Liushuang continued to show astonishing professionalism, sharing her observational thoughts.

”Thanks for the hard work. That’s because of the Mythical Form.”

Giving a slight nod, Fu Qian gestured for his assistant to close her eyes and rest while explaining the reason for her reaction.

...

Wen Li had indeed brought out a harvest with real weight to it.

With Classmate Liushuang’s Rank, looking directly at something like this was still too much for her to bear.

Seeing his assistant obediently shut her eyes, Fu Qian turned his head back to examine this unreasonable sight once more.

As everyone knew, the Mythical Form was considered an advanced technique among High-Tier Transcendents. Even many authentic Demigod Realm experts struggled to achieve it. Yet it turned out to be the entry-level harvest for the person in front of him?

Its completion ratio wasn’t even low.

He could see it stretching almost all the way from her fingertips to the corresponding side of her neck.

Of course, if he really tried to make sense of it, it wasn’t impossible to find a reason.

When he killed Eve, she had displayed a similar non-humanoid form. There was reason to suspect that ”supernatural architecture activators” like Wen Li had an easier time in this regard.

Moreover, Wen Li’s Mythical Form wasn’t just a change of skin.

Her exposed hand had not only become more slender, but a thin webbing could even be seen between her five fingers.

Continuing upward, her entire arm bulged in a way her sleeve couldn’t hide. Just looking at the outline, one could sense the explosive power contained within, as if a part of an ancient behemoth were manifesting on it—a chameleon?

It was absolutely not an irresponsible association.

No matter how he looked at it, this half of Wen Li’s body that had transformed into a Mythical Form greatly made up for her lack of close-combat methods. Becoming a melee mage was just around the corner.

It was just that the contour of her arm and fingers, coupled with the rhinestone-like outer skin, naturally made Fu Qian think of a creature that wasn’t exactly domineering.

It really did look a bit like one, especially when it moved.

It didn’t change color to match the environment in the ordinary sense; rather, the continuous interaction of those ”human faces” stirred up Emotional Ripples. They truly looked like a different kind of flowing color, one that never ceased.

”It can indeed tug at the emotions of those who look at it.”

Seeing Fu Qian looking intently, Wen Li naturally raised her hand and moved it. As the brilliant light flowed, she agreed with Classmate Liushuang’s earlier assessment.

”In addition to that, there is another special effect. Even if it isn’t being looked at, it will forcibly tear at the target’s emotions when an attack lands.”

She quickly followed up with an even more astonishing statement.

”I can’t quite understand it myself, but during previous tests, massive amounts of different emotions would be poured into the target along with the damage caused...

”Excellency Vielle’s assessment was that even the majority of those in the Demigod Realm would suffer a huge impact if hit continuously.”