Honestly, the power dynamics in that story are less about the 'slaying' and more about the 'becoming.' The initial premise makes you think it's a straightforward progression fantasy, but the deeper you get, the more you realize it's about the hollow feeling at the top. Lin Qiye isn't just fighting external deities; he's constantly battling the systems that created them, and the corrupting influence of the power he accumulates to do so. It becomes a messy, morally gray chess game where even his allies sometimes need to be checked.
I remember a specific arc where he had to temporarily align with a lesser god to undermine a greater one, and the narrative tension came from not knowing if he was being played or if he was the one doing the playing. The power struggle isn't linear. It spirals outward, pulling in mortal institutions, other ascended beings, and the very rules of reality. By the later chapters, the question shifts from 'can he win' to 'what will he have to sacrifice to keep his humanity intact while holding that much power?' The ending of the last published volume left that deliciously unresolved.