Chapter 346: A Solution

Soon, a thought struck Su Mu.

The First Red King was known as a Blasphemer because he plundered Divinity from various major sects. Su Mu had previously wondered how the First Red King managed to control all that Divinity, but after obtaining Supreme Heaven, the answer was obvious. It was all because of Supreme Heaven.

Since Supreme Heaven could absorb even Divinity, the First Red King had naturally used its wishes to wield those stolen powers.

Strictly speaking, the First Red King was a lot like him. Both were Blasphemers. The only difference was that the king had relied on Supreme Heaven to control his Divinity, while Su Mu used the dreamscape and the delicate balance between the Divinities themselves.

This realization sparked an idea. Since a direct assault wouldn't work, he could simply take the path of a Blasphemer.

He returned to the junkyard and found the Pope dressed in a crisp suit.

Clearly, the Pope never found the effort too troublesome. Even with time constantly resetting, the man insisted on dressing in full formal attire for every loop, an indirect reflection of his attitude toward the divine envoy.

"Lord Divine Envoy, you have arrived," the Pope said, bowing respectfully without a hint of impatience.

Su Mu skipped the pleasantries and cut straight to the point.

"How much do you know about the rules for making wishes to Supreme Heaven?"

A look of thought crossed the Pope's face. "I know almost all of them," he mused. "Over these past five years, I have studied Supreme Heaven thoroughly. Even though I am crippled, this endlessly looping day has allowed me to use all sorts of intel to easily gather resources from the city and make continuous wishes.

"It's just that the resources here are far too scarce. Even sacrificing the entire city wasn't enough to break the Shadow Divine Power. Still, the process gave me a deeper understanding of Supreme Heaven."

"Can anything be sacrificed to charge Supreme Heaven?"

The Pope shook his head. "Only things belonging to the user. For instance, your own power, life, or soul. If you wish to sacrifice someone else, you must ensure they cannot resist."

"In other words, if you wanted to sacrifice my power to Supreme Heaven, you would need my consent?"

"Correct. You must either volunteer, or... forgive my presumption, Lord Divine Envoy."

"Speak freely."

"Or I would have to subdue you, stripping you of your ability to resist, and then forcibly extract it with Supreme Heaven."

"So, even though the Shadow Divine Power is inside your body, you can't sacrifice it because it isn't a power you control?"

The Pope nodded. "Exactly."

Having grasped the rules of Supreme Heaven, Su Mu waved his hand. A mountain of treasure materialized out of thin air, filling the junkyard.

"Use these treasures to make a wish to Supreme Heaven. Transfer a portion of the Shadow Divine Power into my body."

The Pope froze, his expression changing drastically. "How can I do that? You are a divine envoy. How could I allow an evil god's power to defile you—"

"Do as I say."

Seeing Su Mu's absolute resolve, the Pope hesitated before finally complying.

"How much should I transfer, Lord Divine Envoy?"

"Start with one percent. We will take it slowly. I will use Primal Divinity to suppress the evil god's power."

"Understood."

The Pope extended his right hand—the one wearing the ring—and slowly rested it against the mountain of treasure. He activated Supreme Heaven. A dark golden radiance erupted from the ring. At the same time, the mound of treasures began to shrink, vanishing into thin air as Supreme Heaven devoured it.

Su Mu watched with interest. He wanted to understand how Supreme Heaven operated, but he couldn't see through its mechanisms at all. The power it unleashed seemed to transcend their current dimension, operating entirely on a higher, invisible plane that the naked eye could not perceive.

As the dark golden glow grew brighter, roughly a tenth of the treasure mountain vanished. Finally, the Shadow Divine Power within the Pope stirred.

Ink-black liquid began seeping constantly from beneath the Pope's skin. The moment it appeared, an indescribably eerie and ominous aura radiated outward, covering the entire city like a dark cloud.

The sky... darkened.

Gale-force winds tore through the city, and the earth trembled faintly. In a split second, every shadow—of the people, of the trees, and even of the towering buildings—began to writhe and contort.

Screams rang out one after another. Assuming an earthquake had struck, the city's residents began to flee in panic. The streets descended into chaos.

Su Mu furrowed his brows in astonishment. He had not expected that simply transferring the Shadow Divine Power would consume a tenth of the treasure trove.

The Pope seemed to notice his confusion and explained, "Lord Divine Envoy, transferring the divine power is not actually difficult. The challenge lies in extracting the Shadow Divine Power without harming me. My body is incredibly fragile now, and the slightest disturbance from the divine power would kill me, so it consumes more resources."

"Since you are crippled now, how did you manage to suppress the Shadow Divine Power from erupting until five o'clock?" Su Mu asked.

"I didn't suppress it. It was the Blasphemer. When the Shadow Divine Power began corroding him, he used Supreme Heaven to wish for its suppression. However, that suppression had a time limit; it could only hold until five o'clock. Later, I took his place, but the wish he made remained in effect."

Su Mu nodded and said no more. Under Supreme Heaven's influence, the Shadow Divine Power was already seeping out of the Pope's body drop by drop.

Suddenly, a few drops of ink-black liquid defied gravity and floated into the air before sinking directly into Su Mu's body.

The moment the Shadow Divine Power entered him, the Divinity of the Four Gods within Su Mu's soul reacted. As if its territory had been invaded, it continuously radiated divine brilliance to suppress the Shadow Divine Power.

The Pope's wish was only to transfer the Shadow Divine Power. As for how to suppress it once it arrived, that was entirely up to Su Mu.

Faced with a mere one percent of the Shadow Divine Power, the Divinity of the Four Gods suppressed it with ease. The ink-black Shadow Divine Power was continuously refined until it transformed into a faint wisp of Divinity, fully integrating into Su Mu's soul.

It worked!

A smile tugged at the corners of Su Mu's lips. He knew his solution had succeeded.

"Keep transferring."

"Understood, Lord Divine Envoy."

Like a fiercely loyal servant, the Pope meticulously transferred the Shadow Divine Power. As the mountain of treasures shrank, another one percent of the Shadow Divine Power flowed into Su Mu.

He suppressed and refined the Shadow Divine Power with practiced ease, causing the Shadow Divinity in his soul to grow a fraction stronger.

He could sense that this was not the limit of what his body could contain.

"Continue."

Under the effect of Supreme Heaven, the Shadow Divine Power continuously transferred until exactly a tenth of it had moved over. Only then did it stop.

Su Mu had reached the limit of the Shadow Divinity he could endure. If he absorbed any more, the Shadow Divinity would dominate, throwing the Divinity in his body out of balance and leaving him dead without a doubt.

At this, a troubled expression appeared on the Pope's face. "Lord Divine Envoy, we only transferred a tenth of the Shadow Divine Power, yet it consumed such a massive amount of treasure. How will we deal with the remaining nine-tenths? The treasures we have left, even if we include the two Primal Supreme Treasures, still won't be enough."