Eldritch Horror Theatre

The academic atmosphere here was as rich as expected. He hadn’t even been here a full day, yet he had already reaped numerous gains.

Beneath the bright midday sun of the Academy, Fu Qian stood up in the laboratory and gave a satisfied stretch.

Who would have thought that today’s routine check-in would result in running into the former Dean of the Academy? They had even shared a cordial discussion on the sword path, bloodlines, mental torment, and various other subjects.

But beyond all that, and even beyond the final fragment of the Record of Recollection, there was another incredibly precious harvest: Excellency Rom’s demonstration.

At the end of the story in Luyi’s Record of Recollection, that omnipresent erosion—or rather, the Order of Blood—would clearly stem from the royal family’s newborn offspring.

Everything Luyi had done up to that point had been to guide events toward that exact outcome.

But there was a problem. The power of the Order of Blood that appeared at the very beginning of the tale, the pressure that forced everyone to keep exploring, undoubtedly came from Rom, who had been standing behind him.

In essence, Rom had displayed an authority under ”His” control, but by the end of the story, that same authority would belong to another higher entity.

This glaring overlap felt like a possible manifestation of the Fruit and Sugar Theory he had discussed with Su Gao.

For an academic researcher, nothing was more gratifying than finding hard evidence to back up a hypothesis.He wasn’t sure how Rom and the Origin Council collaborated. However, judging from the previous incident in Dunis, Rom had even tried to possess the crippled God of Clamor; it was hard to imagine his own condition was much better.

In summary, this not only partially proved the Fruit and Sugar Theory, but it also suggested Rom was likely a living fossil of the transcendent world’s chaotic nature. If Fu Qian ever got the chance to chat with him again, it would undoubtedly enrich his own theories.

Now he had yet another reason to engage in friendly exchanges with the Origin Council.

Of course, that was a long-term plan. Right now, he had more immediate matters to attend to.

Fu Qian looked up.

It was a pity his sole employee wasn’t present; he would have to do the work himself.

...

With a leisurely gait, Fu Qian climbed the stairs step by step, inspecting the changes on each floor of the laboratory.

Unfortunately, he soon realized he had almost no recollection of what the place had originally looked like.

Given his chronic absenteeism, he probably knew less about the place than Professor Lisa did.

Even so, Fu Qian easily picked out the personal space Classmate Liushuang had set up for herself.

As for the aesthetic, he could only say it was far too plain for a young person.

Clearly, despite occupying a mansion-tier laboratory, she had no intention of indulging in a life of luxury.

Personal preferences aside, he resolved to divert some funds to improve her living conditions another day.

This was one of the Academy’s top-tier laboratories, after all. Employee welfare was a matter of public image; he couldn’t afford to be sloppy about it.

”Let me think... how does this thing work again?”

Amid his silent musings, Fu Qian quickly reached the amber Spire. He muttered to himself as he stared at a dial set into its side.

Searching his memory didn’t take long. A moment later, he reached out, grabbed the dial’s hand, and twisted it backward.

The instant he let go, the world before him plunged into sudden darkness.

Indeed, what Fu Qian was doing right now was emulating Classmate Liushuang’s Technique of Inverting Black and White.

While this natural darkness wouldn’t hinder his vision in the slightest, the atmosphere felt completely different.

Especially considering what he was about to do.

Retracing his steps, Fu Qian sat back down in his chair. After a brief check, he snapped his fingers.

A split second later, a brilliant, crystalline beam of moonlight tore through the shadows and crashed into him.

...

The tranquility following a bout of hard work occasionally brought a hint of aimless drift.

Especially since he had just experienced the fleeting passage of time.

Back when he used the Moonlight Railgun to grant Old Man Li some enlightenment, Fu Qian had wondered exactly what kind of majesty the old man was witnessing.

Given his packed schedule lately, he hadn’t found the time to personally experience this harvest from his Insight since acquiring it.

While assuming the identity of a Moon Apostle returning from ancient times might not leave a lasting impression on Old Man Li’s group, it wouldn’t be hard for his formidable reputation to spread through the Origin Council via Brother Luyi.

To ensure that his reputation was grounded in reality, a makeup lesson was in order.

The moonlight in the dark grew ever more brilliant and dazzling, but the actual physical impact wasn’t that intense.

Even Old Man Li had merely looked a bit disheveled when struck by it; for Fu Qian, enduring the beam was naturally even easier.

But he didn’t waste the process. With every cascading beam of light, he meticulously felt the accumulation of its power.

Soon enough, the sluggish sensation of Dislocation he had experienced within the Ancient Reminiscence washed over him once more.

At a certain point, Fu Qian felt his vision abruptly brighten.

A massive full moon abruptly materialized, almost instantly dominating his entire field of vision.

Peering past it into the distance, he could see a profound azure curtain of stars serving as its backdrop.

Yet the more he looked, the more he could feel its terrifying, oppressive force.

It was indeed an obscenely high Rank and symbol of power, but it seemed the issue was no longer a matter of resolution.

The legendary ancient glory of the Progenitor of the Blood Clan... didn’t even contain the slightest trace of Excellency Annalise?

No wonder Old Man Li hadn’t been the slightest bit suspicious about the mismatched facial features.

To him, all he had witnessed at the time was this sheer sublimity.

Combined with the fact that the Progenitor of the Blood Clan was indeed symbolized by the moon, it formed a perfect synergy with his fabricated story.

’Not bad at all!’

Fu Qian praised silently.

If it weren’t for this effect, it would have been incredibly difficult to achieve such a high degree of credibility with a seasoned veteran of the jianghu like Old Man Li.

Of course, this wasn’t his only sensation. There was another, far more direct feeling: warmth.

Although the silver light was crisp and cold, bathed in the glow of this colossal entity, Fu Qian actually felt a distinct trace of warmth—just like the time he had crawled out of his hospital bed and stepped into the courtyard where a werewolf was prostrating.

Indeed, the very second the full moon descended, it keenly awakened a specific sensation buried deep within his memory.

He was absolutely certain that this wasn’t his first time witnessing the scene before him.

”Go take a look. Tonight’s moon is also exceptionally warm.”

The words of the scythe-wielding Attending Physician still echoed clearly in his ears.

So during his First Glimpse of the Dream Realm, the catalyst that gave him his first point of inspiration was actually the symbol of the Progenitor of the Blood Clan?

The problem was that the Abyss Notes had already proven that Annalise had fallen long ago.

Furthermore, the Red Moon he encountered later had indeed addressed him as ’child.’

The relationship between the two, the Red Moon’s unique state, and even the Dark Moon far away in foreign lands... there was clearly something profoundly complicated behind the concept of the moon.

The full moon dispersed soundlessly, yet Fu Qian continued to marvel at it.

His earlier assessment of the Academy’s academic atmosphere was no exaggeration at all.

Standing face-to-face with the ancient majesty of the Progenitor of the Blood Clan, his harvest was far greater than Old Man Li’s.