Eldritch Horror Theatre

A single mushroom shouldn’t have been this toxic.

The effects were only this profound because he had actively cooperated in getting ”poisoned.”

Using Insight was the equivalent of taking the initiative to savor and decipher it.

If he had just stuffed it into his mouth like ordinary food, he wouldn’t have felt much even if he ate a whole plate.

Walking through the silent night, Fu Qian summarized his findings while reaching out to stroke the air, as if playing with black cotton candy.

I knew black-hearted cotton was a real thing.

He had to admit, the sensation was incredibly bizarre. No wonder some people wanted to try it again after recovering from their first dose.

But they forgot one serious problem: the price of this bizarre experience was steep.

Ordinary people had to worry about nerve damage. As for the not-so-ordinary King of the Abandoned Prison, he had to worry about damaging his surroundings.

Although he had deliberately chosen a remote path, the Academy was already close at hand.Sshk!

At a certain point, Fu Qian’s footsteps were hindered by something.

The resistance wasn’t strong, but it came in layers—was it really black-hearted cotton?

Fu Qian didn’t stop. He maintained a steady pace, even as the resistance grew stronger.

It was like walking into a wad of cotton. As he moved, the darkness before him was pushed forward, eventually pushing back with an exponentially increasing repulsive force.

...

Can I not even think carelessly now, let alone speak?

This overly fitting change inevitably made him sigh.

However, considering his relationship with the Fungal Emperor, this unfriendliness wasn’t surprising at all.

From the beginning, Fu Qian had only been curious about how it would be unfriendly.

Even if the other party were willing to let bygones be bygones, he still would have provoked it.

But the current situation... on the one hand, it differed slightly from Yuhun’s situation back then, and on the other, it was actually quite close to what he had just imagined—

He had actively ”poisoned” himself through Insight, which right now functioned similarly to self-inflicted damage powered by the Tyrant’s strength.

This explained, to some extent, why thinking of cotton had actually manifested cotton.

Very eerie and very troublesome. Not to mention, he had just been reminiscing about the sword saints. Would they also pop out to catch up with him?

Sshk!

An eerie sound and a tremor erupted right in front of him. The thick darkness seemed to be cleaved down the middle, tumbling like crashing waves in that instant.

Not bad. As expected of a victor on the sword path, skipping the pointless foreplay.

It happened suddenly but wasn’t exactly shocking. At that moment, Professor Fu lamented his own jinxing mouth, not even bothering to dodge.

Thud!

On the contrary, amidst his praise for this decisive and ruthless approach, the King of the Abandoned Prison threw a nearly synchronous counter-punch.

What a coincidence. This seat’s flaw is also being excessively decisive.

In the desolate night, an unadorned punch devoid of wreathing flames landed squarely on its target.

...

Good swordplay!

With all offense and no defense, the world is mine.

Clearly, both sides adhered to a similar philosophy, and ultimately, both achieved results.

What cleaved the darkness was indeed a sword, which even pierced straight through the Tyrant’s chest.

He could only say it was truly worthy of being the absolute pinnacle of the sword path pursued by the Sword Comprehension Institute. Even facing the Complete-Form Tyrant, it didn’t fail to break his defense; he could even clearly feel the damage it dealt to his origin.

Unfortunately, while its lethality hadn’t lagged behind, their Health Bars simply could not be mentioned in the same breath.

Along with his lavish praise, the black-hearted cotton, the ambusher inside it, and even the ambusher’s weapon... all of it completely shattered in that instant.

Perhaps because they had adopted the format of a civil duel, his opponent’s luck wasn’t too good this time.

Damage Transfer, which had succeeded more than once before, failed to activate immediately, causing the enemy to suffer a devastating blow.

And beneath the terrifying impact came a peculiar tactile sensation. If Fu Qian had to describe it in words, it felt like punching a three-dimensional painting.

He hadn’t pierced through the darkness to hit a target. Instead, all these elements tore apart simultaneously, as if they were drawn on a single flat plane.

Of course, even so, Fu Qian still accurately locked onto the assailant’s position. A finger abruptly elongated, shooting out in pursuit.

Sshk!

This time, Damage Transfer clearly activated successfully. A bloody hole appeared on Fu Qian’s body instead, while the assailant’s figure began disappearing in a fragmented posture—

Roar!

As if I’d let you off that easily. The already fully charged Gospel Shockwave followed up instantly. Fu Qian even specifically opted for a 360-degree indiscriminate attack.

The brave wins when meeting on a narrow path.

Facts proved that when you betrayed this principle, the God of Civil Duels would also abandon you.

In that moment, the fleeing Mushroom Sword Saint failed once again to successfully activate Damage Transfer.

The final result was that, along with the surrounding night and even the starlight, it was instantly shattered into even smaller pieces as the storm tore through it.

The resulting scene bore a striking resemblance to what he had seen after tearing the world apart with his bare hands last time, except the breach was much larger—

Countless fungal threads connected heaven and earth, and every concept found a more realistic interpretation in their quivering.

Mysterious and abstract, yet nothing was indescribable anymore—Fu Qian didn’t stop walking, genuinely stepping right into the breach.

Come. Since you are no longer indescribable, then describe it all to me.

...

Given that he was currently in a poisoned state, logically speaking, detoxification was the only fundamental solution.

If he didn’t do that, then no matter how sharp the ensuing clashes were, they could almost be considered a battle of wits and courage against himself, which would only drive the poison deeper—but deeper was exactly what he wanted.

Staying true to one’s original aspiration—this was a point he always emphasized.

The root cause of him still wandering outside so late had always been the accident Professor Rob discovered.

Professor Ah Kai had gone missing, and it was suspected to be related to a mushroom-related Miracle test.

So, although the mushrooms tasted good, to Fu Qian, their side effects were actually more important.

To adopt the fungi’s perspective and peek at the reality of the world.

The most ideal situation would be to finally have a heart-to-heart chat with the Fungal Emperor, whom he hadn’t met face-to-face last time. On the one hand, he could learn more about Rob’s project; on the other, he could confirm the likely reason for Ah Kai’s disappearance.

It was said that in ancient times, Priestesses would swallow hallucinogenic herbs and then try to glean wisdom from a Deity.

For Fu Qian, there was actually no fundamental difference in the nature of his current actions.

Of course, there were minor differences. For instance, during his peeking, he couldn’t promise to guarantee the Deity’s safety.

...

Stepping behind the canvas felt incredibly unique, as if he had truly walked into the backstage of the world.

Even more bizarrely, he still knew he was walking through the Academy, except that distance and direction were all expressed in highly abstract concepts.

Of course, this wasn’t a problem. The abstract had always been Expert Fu’s field of expertise.

Crack!

At a certain moment, Fu Qian threw out another unadorned punch.

The instant his fist swung out, it seemed to stretch into a long whip, yet it still landed solidly on the target.

And although even the sound effects were abstract, Fu Qian still leaned toward believing, based on the tactile feedback, that he had hit a female creature.

Female Sword Saint?