Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 45: The Contention
What is Ambergris?
Fu Qian's question made Ji Liushuang freeze on the spot.
"Of course I know what Ambergris is, but I don't understand what you mean..."
Ji Liushuang murmured in reply.
Fu Qian didn't expect her to understand anyway.
An indigestible foreign object isn't true Ambergris just because it gets enveloped. Only after being spat out by the whale, and undergoing centuries of washing and soaking in seawater, does it become a true treasure.
The most crucial point here is that the foreign object gets spat out.
Since the Furnace's barrier couldn't be broken, the solution was to let it spit him out as a foreign object.
Perhaps this was a way to escape this desperate situation.
But if the Furnace is compared to a whale, to be spat out, not only must one be an indigestible foreign object, but one must also be large enough.
Fu Qian highly suspected that Feng Yunhong had been doing exactly this for all these years.
Devouring later Beyonders bit by bit, continuously accumulating himself as a foreign object, causing the Furnace's indigestion to grow increasingly severe.
Until one day, he broke past that limit...
"Not understanding isn't a problem. As the old saying goes, weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival; arrogance is. Just don't do things you don't understand."
Fu Qian winked at Ji Liushuang.
"You will help us, won't you?"
Unable to grasp the meaning of Fu Qian's words right away, Ji Liushuang swallowed and spoke quickly.
"Although you seem somewhat out of place among everyone, I know you aren't a bad person.
If there is a way to escape, please, you must tell me. I am willing to pay any price."
Fu Qian looked at Ji Liushuang's serious face, then at the other five people.
Besides Ji Liushuang, no one else even dared to make eye contact with him, although it was obvious they were all perking up their ears to listen.
"Sorry, but you aren't getting out."
Fu Qian ruthlessly shattered everyone's hopes.
"Because you are too weak."
"Also, maybe I'm not a bad person, but I am a Tasker."
Smiling at Ji Liushuang, Fu Qian leaped up, jumping directly into the center of the blood pool, the very spot where Feng Yunhong had originally stood.
The blood in the center of the pool swarmed him almost instantly.
Fu Qian clearly felt his body being frantically scoured by the blood, trying to enter his body and assimilate him.
"How about this?"
Without hesitation, Fu Qian thrust his right hand into the blood pool.
The wound from his missing pinky instantly became a conduit. Through it, the blood stream surged madly into his body.
"You dare!"
A frenzied howl rang out across the area, and a figure stood up in the blood pool.
Calling it a person was actually a beautification. To be precise, it was nothing but a humanoid monster with a torso and limbs; even its facial features were completely blank.
"Do you know what you are doing?!"
It was surprisingly Feng Yunhong's voice.
"Of course I know. Otherwise, why would I be doing it with so much enthusiasm?"
Fu Qian responded cheekily, and under the horrified gazes of Ji Liushuang and the others, he grabbed and violently ripped off his entire right arm.
The speed of the blood rushing in instantly multiplied.
In a flash, he felt his body swell, stretched taut by the surging blood vitality.
"Stop!"
Feng Yunhong's voice grew more frantic.
"Do you have any idea how many years I've prepared for this?!"
"Seems you're very aware of your situation?"
Fu Qian confirmed his guess.
As expected, this guy had thought of the exact same method.
Turning himself into an indigestible object too difficult to contain, thus forcing the Furnace to actively reject him.
"I will never let you ruin decades of my hard work!"
Seeing that Fu Qian not only didn't stop but doubled down, Feng Yunhong, out of desperation, also began to accelerate his absorption.
But obviously, the self-destruction just now had caused him massive trauma, and he was still in the middle of recovery.
As soon as his absorption sped up, his body immediately showed signs of instability; he almost couldn't maintain his humanoid form and was forced to slow down again.
Even so, relying on years of accumulation and familiarity, his absorption speed still far exceeded Fu Qian's.
His body gradually began to take shape; internal organs, muscles, and various details appeared.
After confirming that Fu Qian posed no real threat to him, Feng Yunhong breathed a sigh of relief.
"You overestimating fool. I let you get away earlier, but I didn't expect you to walk right back into the trap."
He stared fixedly at Fu Qian.
"Soon, I'll personally send you on your way, and make you experience the most extreme agony."
Hmph!
Faced with Feng Yunhong's threat, Fu Qian snorted, completely unmoved.
"You just reminded me. Shouldn't I strike first to gain the upper hand?"
Fu Qian stepped forward step by step, walking right up in front of Feng Yunhong.
His entire body had no skin; his muscle fibers were clearly visible, and even his internal organs could be seen.
He had already absorbed most of the blood in the pool, and Feng Yunhong's figure looked even taller than before.
"You dare!"
Amidst Feng Yunhong's furious roar, Fu Qian continued forward another step. Allowing the opponent to grab his neck, he used his fingers as a blade, leaving a deep gash on the other's body.
However, the next moment, blood poured out from the wound, and it rapidly healed at a visible rate.
"Don't waste your effort."
Feng Yunhong laughed manically.
"Even though it's inconvenient for me to move right now, as long as I stand in this blood pool, I absolutely will not die.
No matter what damage I take, it will be rapidly repaired."
"Is that so? Then what about this?"
Fu Qian blinked. His hand plunged through the yet-to-be-fully-healed wound, and he activated Visceral Critical Strike.
The blood pool beneath their feet trembled violently, and Feng Yunhong's scream of agony echoed everywhere.
As Fu Qian pulled his hand out, a turbulent stream of blood gushed from the gaping wound on his body.
"Stop it right now!"
Without even skin, theoretically, his entire body was an open wound. It was practically the perfect target for a kidney-strike!
Turning a deaf ear to Feng Yunhong's agonizing screams, Fu Qian dug his hand in again.
The six people on the shore were dumbfounded at this point.
Just now, when they saw Fu Qian jump directly into the blood pool, the group thought he had gone mad and was committing suicide.
However, looking at it now, he was actually fully prepared, totally setting the pace to kill Feng Yunhong.
As they watched Fu Qian use terrifying attacks to make Feng Yunhong let out scream after scream, a figure suddenly dashed to the edge of the pool.
"Huang Zhaoyan!"
The group looked at the person who suddenly rushed forward in great shock.
"Idiots."
Huang Zhaoyan sneered at the group and jumped down without hesitation.
This guy wants a piece of the pie!
The insulted group instantly caught on, understanding Huang Zhaoyan's intentions.
Absorbing the blood in the center of the pool could clearly enhance one's power, and Feng Yunhong and Fu Qian were fighting so intensely over it that they had no time to care about anything else.
Huang Zhaoyan wanted to get in on the action.
Although dangerous, in a place like this, every extra bit of strength meant an extra bit of guarantee for survival. Thinking about it, it was worth it.
As for calling everyone idiots, the reason was also simple.
If they just let the two of them continue, no matter who won in the end, what awaited their group would be the fate of lambs to the slaughter.
For a moment, a commotion broke out among the crowd, and several figures leaped up, charging towards the middle of the blood pool.
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