Chapter 3009: Bandaging the Heart

The concept of deities seemed to reveal even more complex details.

The Blasphemy Monarch probably never imagined how much enlightenment a few simple words could bring.

But at that moment, even though Fu Qian was still just guessing, several distinct mysteries seamlessly linked together and finally made sense.

That led to an interesting thought regarding the end of the Divine Path.

Cultivation aside, could the end of the traditional Godhood Sequence truly seat only one person?

Perhaps it did not strictly require the original occupant to "fall" in the traditional sense before a New God could ascend the throne.

If an entity's form of existence grew twisted by some special influence, would the divine seat automatically empty out?

The logic held up. After all, you would no longer fit the shape of this Divine Path.

The only two questions remaining were: first, what kind of power could cause such a transformation in form?

And second, after undergoing that transformation, why would they still retain abilities so similar to their original ones?

"Storm King?"

Amid his brainstorming, Fu Qian actually took the Blasphemy Monarch's advice and called out to the lump of mass. Unfortunately, not only did it fail to respond, its form did not even ripple.

"Just like the Dragon King, it seems this excellency is also a bit introverted?"

Given the situation, it was easy to suspect the Blasphemy Monarch was just spouting nonsense to stall for time.

After all, its earlier phrasing had been highly abstract—it had openly admitted it did not know, then suddenly provided a name anyway.

Yet, at that moment, Professor Fu fully demonstrated what trust meant. He would rather assume this entity was as brainless as the Dragon King than doubt the Blasphemy Monarch's intel.

"Indeed, but you had better be careful."

The Blasphemy Monarch's tone was already somewhat complicated. It slowly reminded Fu Qian that even a brainless entity possessed survival instincts.

"Thanks for the reminder. That's why I haven't been playing with fire."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Fu Qian gestured with his empty fingertips, signaling that he deserved some credit for maintaining this delicate balance.

"So how did you manage to drag such introverted characters out here?"

...

Silence filled the air for a moment. It seemed Fu Qian's question had touched upon a sensitive subject.

"Regrettably, I can only share that with you a little later."

After about a breath's time, the Blasphemy Monarch responded, unsurprisingly refusing to casually share its core methods.

Its meaning obviously wasn't that he just had to wait a short while, but rather exactly what it had said before: wait until "the victor has been decided," and then you will know what I know.

"Understandable."

After all, such methods involved its core competitiveness. As far as Fu Qian was concerned, the Blasphemy Monarch's choice was perfectly justifiable.

After letting out a light sigh of regret, he finally lowered his head to look at his own chest.

His body language made his intentions obvious: since that was the case, he needed to bandage himself up first.

Even though the opponent who had inflicted the wound was still glaring at him like a tiger eyeing its prey, and it looked like he was going to need quite a few bandages—

In the span of just a few sentences, the storm had already swallowed nearly half of his chest. The electrical arcs along its edges surged increasingly violently, showing no signs of fading.

As mentioned earlier, this hadn't been a simple piercing strike. It was as if a supernova had been lodged inside his body.

Left untreated, it would simply continue to annihilate everything in its path.

Even the underlying strength of the King of the Abandoned Prison could not neutralize it, and the destruction continued to expand. What was even more troublesome was that he could not even visually observe the supernova's existence.

Indeed, despite its continuous output of destructive force, the center of that storm was completely empty.

It was akin to a typhoon—the closer to the center of this destructive storm, the calmer it became. Ultimately, one could see straight through it to the space behind him without any obstruction, vividly demonstrating the true meaning of "inner emptiness."

"A smart choice."

Although taking advantage of an opponent's weakness was a traditional virtue, the Blasphemy Monarch seemed remarkably principled at that moment. It showed no intention of ordering the Storm King to interrupt Fu Qian, and even voiced its praise.

"So you aren't able to whip up another one?"

Without even lifting his head, Fu Qian carefully admired his literally open chest and casually asked the question.

"I indeed cannot. That is why I said you were very smart."

As if infected by Professor Fu's attitude, the Blasphemy Monarch's sharing also grew a bit more candid.

"Only one can exist at a time, and I cannot force my commands upon it too aggressively... Therefore, your decision to lock onto it without striking achieved this fragile balance."

"Guessing this isn't hard, but not just anyone would have the nerve to actually do it. Your current achievements are certainly no accident."

...Truly worthy of being the Blasphemy Monarch. In addition to corrupting minds with divine power, it even knew how to fire sugar-coated bullets.

As the saying goes, one good turn deserves another. Faced with such high praise from an ancient veteran, Fu Qian could not help but offer his own silent praise in return.

Many things could be completely understood without words.

From the moment he finished off the Dragon King to the Storm King's appearance, the interval had been exceedingly short.

If spawning entities was merely a matter of time, logic dictated that new, freshly minted higher entities should have already joined the siege.

But with only this single opponent maintaining the standoff, it was easy to deduce a numerical limit: the Blasphemy Monarch could not summon them endlessly.

That did not mean they were easy to deal with, however.

There might not be a siege, but the sheer efficiency of its spawning meant there would hardly be any breathing room.

The moment he killed one, a new one would immediately take its place.

It truly felt like the Blasphemy Monarch was playing on its home turf.

Inner demon against blasphemy—if they simply kept grinding it out like this, the situation looked highly unfavorable for the inner demon.

Fortunately, Professor Fu had always been good at finding joy in hardship. Even in this grim situation, he had managed to find a sliver of fortune. Given that only one could exist at a time, and that the higher entities acted mostly on animalistic instincts, would it be possible to force a stalemate through deterrence?

To test this, his actions were simple. After suffering the earlier sneak attack, his Calamity Eyes smoothly locked onto the Storm King, but he did not rush to charge up the attack.

The results ultimately proved quite favorable. The entity quietly coiled in place for a moment, like a snake waiting for its venom to claim its prey.

As for whether the venom would actually claim him?

Although His Excellency the Blasphemy Monarch had not said it aloud, Fu Qian had no doubt it was eagerly anticipating exactly that.

It was a pity. Between ultimate idealism and the Mechanical King of the Abandoned Prison, one simply could not comprehend just what degree of "neither the wind moves nor the banner moves" could be achieved when two such extremes collided.

Sizzle—

He did not make them wait long. In the very next moment, Fu Qian reached his hand straight into the lightning storm, grasping directly at its empty core.

"You..."

And amidst the Blasphemy Monarch's incredulous gasp, he slowly pulled his hand back out.

Lightning, storm, and scorching heat... turning all things to ash.

An unbelievable scene unfolded. Following his movement, that storm of pure destruction was actually dragged out bit by bit.

"An interesting method."

Not only that, but it did not even dissipate upon leaving its target.

Holding it up in his open palm, Fu Qian gazed at the gorgeous display, unable to hold back his own awe.