Chapter 1208: Stick Insect of the Sacred Night Capital (14)

"Is this the Miracle you mentioned?"

Stepping out of the unusually bright night was Yuan Shan's teacher, Henry Campbell.

Faced with his student's greeting, the old man remained silent, his expression grim.

Receiving no response, Yuan Shan frowned in dismay and turned to Fu Qian.

"Thanks for watching. Not bad, right?"

Fu Qian offered a theatrical bow to cap off the performance.

"It's far more than 'not bad'..."

Yuan Shan muttered, dazed.

Was his final magic trick actually the Great Summoning Technique?

Between the two bizarre displays and her teacher showing up to meet them, her sanity was teetering on the edge of collapse.

Unfortunately, her teacher clearly had no intention of clearing up the confusion.

"Fang Xun?"

A moment later, Old Man Henry—who had been staring at Fu Qian the entire time—finally spoke. His tone was unreadable.

"A pleasure, Old Man Henry."

Fu Qian stepped forward with a smile to return the greeting, leaving Yuan Shan stiffening behind him.

"How did you know? I didn't even..."

She swallowed the rest of her words, reluctant to point out the glaring anomaly.

She could already sense that her teacher's attitude was completely off, and this was no time to make things worse.

"Welcome to the Sacred Night Capital."

Henry seemed completely deaf to her slip. He gave a slight nod, offering a starkly passionless welcome.

"What do you think of it?"

'It seems this isn't the worst-case scenario after all!'

Fu Qian mused inwardly, looking up at the sky.

"It's brighter than I imagined. There's a bit of light pollution."

"That's just how it is here... The night is when the day truly begins."

Forcing a smile, Yuan Shan tried to inject herself into the eerie conversation and ease the tension.

She had imagined many scenarios for their meeting during the journey, but none had been as suffocating as this.

She couldn't understand it at all. The situation seemed to have instantly crossed a line, spiraling wildly out of control.

Light pollution...

Unfortunately, Chief Yuan's efforts had absolutely zero effect. A chilling smile spread across Henry's face.

"Compared to when?"

"Well..."

His question made Fu Qian pause in thought.

"Strictly speaking... just now."

"Heh... excellent!"

Old Man Henry nodded in approval, simultaneously taking a step forward.

With that single step, the night sky abruptly turned turbid.

The familiar Salted Fish Shop Halo shrouded their surroundings once more.

"Is it a little less bright now?"

"Teacher!"

Yuan Shan cried out in alarm. She never expected her teacher to attack without warning, right in the middle of the street.

"Stand back. This man is far more dangerous than you can imagine."

Henry finally acknowledged his student, offering a cold warning.

...

Though her mind was reeling with confusion, Yuan Shan was decisive and ruthless in her own right. She instantly obeyed her teacher's command and backed away.

Misunderstanding or not, she absolutely had to avoid getting caught in the crossfire of her teacher's attack.

If she ended up trapped and immobilized as well, she would be utterly useless in this dire situation.

Speaking of which, Fang Xun had been standing right beside her. If he hadn't taken those few steps forward to speak, she likely would have been caught in the halo's effect, too. Wait a minute—

Startled, Yuan Shan snapped her head around in disbelief.

Not only had this guy known her teacher would rush over, but he had also been fully aware of the hostile intent?

How could that be...

Amid her profound shock, the sight of him only doubled her bewilderment.

The change was that there was no change at all.

He hadn't done a thing. He merely stood there in silence.

Yet her teacher's ability didn't seem to be affecting him in the slightest.

"What the hell is that idiot Logan good for? Even after coming face-to-face with you, he somehow failed to see that you're Tier 2."

Henry, who had just warned her to step back, looked thoroughly displeased. He even resorted to insulting his injured colleague.

Tier 2?

Logan, of course, couldn't hear this, but Henry's pupil was badly shaken.

Yuan Shan was visibly questioning reality.

How was this possible... Had she actually employed a Divine Emissary as an operations advisor this entire time?

This was far too absurd!

"That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Given Old Man Logan's personality, if he had noticed anything, he would have ended up on the floor much faster."

Fu Qian stood there completely relaxed and unfazed, gesturing that they shouldn't judge the poor man too harshly.

He didn't bother offering a pointless denial, either.

Following his recent fusion, he was indeed a genuine Tier 2.

Yuan Shan might have been a bit slow on the uptake due to her psychological blind spots, but Old Man Henry, who had come here specifically for him, certainly wouldn't be—especially brimming with killing intent.

Of course, merely being Tier 2 wasn't enough to let him brush off the old man's attacks this easily.

After all, even in his previous 'immortal' state, the defiling effect had still manifested before he recovered from it.

The reason he was completely unaffected now was due to a fundamental transformation after achieving the state of False God.

Beyond the further reinforcement of his physical flesh and the retention of all three previous abilities, he had gained more than one new asset.

Chief among them was the Divine Skin Robe now wrapped around his body. Not only did it help anchor his sense of self, but it also granted him an incredible trait: immunity to distortion effects.

He could still be torn apart, burned, or harmed by various means, but his fundamental state of existence would never spiral out of control.

That was, unless the entity exerting the influence was of a higher Rank than the robe.

And clearly, Henry—without the direct blessing of Blazing Rainbow—did not qualify.

Of course, this only applied to his physical body; he still absorbed every ounce of mental devastation.

For Fu Qian, however, hiding mental strain was effortlessly easy.

And that was only one of his gains.

Beyond that, Fu Qian was acutely aware that since his advancement to False God, his Mythical Form had also changed.

Specifically, if he fully unleashed his Mythical Form, the image reflected in the minds of others would be the return of a true ancient Deity.

'Usurping a Divine Station and draping myself in a skin robe? My path to becoming a Deity truly is a bit unique,' he thought.

"So are you."

With these thoughts flashing through his mind, Fu Qian continued before a scowling Henry could respond.

"Mister Fang is remarkably confident... So, what method do you plan to use to make me end up like Logan?"

Goaded by the repeated provocations, Henry's expression went completely blank as he spoke slowly.

"What do you think?"

Fu Qian answered with an enigmatic smile.

"...What is this?"

Henry stared blankly for a second before his expression drastically changed. The darkness rapidly receded as he leaped backward.

Along with his movement, a sheen of Mercury rapidly seeped from his skin, completely enveloping him.

Judging by his expression, however, it didn't seem to be doing much good.

What else could it be?

Faced with Henry's horror, Fu Qian gave a cold snort.

Having profaned a Divine Station, how could he lack the corresponding authority?

It was arguably his most outrageous gain. Based on his innate understanding, he called it 'Calamity.'

Of course, the manifestation of this authority on Henry right now wasn't complicated at all. It simply magnified any damage exponentially.