Chapter 167: Chapter 167: The Dispute Between the Cold Energy Monsters and Survivors Turns Out to Have Been Fulfilled Through Me, the Transgressor

News of the nations’ Extraordinary Beings failing to vanquish the violator quickly spread throughout the survivor community via the Doomsday Game’s chat channels.

It certainly had an impact, but it didn’t have much to do with Qi Suian.

He basically killed any survivor he came across. There were few other ways he treated them.

And because the Tai Sui God possessed a reconnaissance network, once he encountered someone, they almost never escaped.

Qi Suian’s business was bullying the weak, striking first while his opponents were still developing.

As for drawing his blade against the strong? He was neither strong himself nor some heaven-defying, earth-shattering protagonist, so he naturally wasn’t bound by such conventions.

He himself was still just barely surviving. Given the choice between grandstanding in public and a sneak attack, assassination, or poisoning, he’d choose the latter every time.

It might not satisfy his vanity, but as long as it satisfied his need for fuel, that was enough.

In this regard, Qi Suian was exceptionally down-to-earth.

Besides, other people could grow stronger through battle, achieving breakthroughs mid-fight and even getting sudden power-ups. Qi Suian had no such ability at all.

So what was the point of all that fighting and killing? If he could one-shot an enemy, he would. If not, he’d just have to rely on his protagonist aura to survive. There was no need to draw his blade against the strong, because a genuine powerhouse could truly one-shot him.

In the last two Doomsday Worlds, if Qi Suian hadn’t run fast enough, he really would have been one-shotted.

With such a massive power gap, it would probably take a protagonist from a high-energy world to pull off a comeback kill with their protagonist aura and a sudden power-up.

For a protagonist like Qi Suian, with his low-quality protagonist aura, there was truly no way to survive such an encounter.

They were called "the strong" for a reason—it meant they had overwhelmingly crushing power over you. Otherwise, what kind of "strong" person would you be challenging? Someone just a little bit more powerful than you?

That’s not called a strong person; that’s called fighting above your level.

Qi Suian could, of course, manage to kill opponents above his level. Otherwise, all the suffering he had endured and the protagonist aura he possessed would be a complete waste.

"Why is it taking so long this time? Hasn’t it come up yet?" Qi Suian muttered, staring at the calm, frozen surface of the sea.

He was currently lying in wait for the Celestial Spirit Venerable. According to the data evaluated by the AI, it should have already surfaced for air if nothing unexpected had happened.

But now, there was no change at all, which made Qi Suian worry about the Celestial Spirit Venerable’s safety.

As the fuel he had his eyes on, it could only die by his hands, not anyone else’s.

[Target has been severely wounded twice and has not yet fully recovered. There will be a margin of error in its movement efficiency.]

The AI gave Qi Suian an explanation. It wasn’t that the timing was off, but that the Celestial Spirit Venerable was swimming too slowly.

The core of a Cold Energy Monster—even for a Beast King-class one—if torn out, would result in grievous injury and near death.

The Celestial Spirit Venerable was Venerable-class, which was the only reason Qi Suian could harvest it repeatedly. A normal-class Cold Energy Monster would have died instantly if its core was destroyed.

However, even if a Venerable-class being could be harvested repeatedly, doing it too many times would inevitably affect its main body, and could even lead to death.

"Alright, that does make sense." Qi Suian made a comparison. If his own heart were to be ripped out, then he recovered, only for it to be ripped out again, there would definitely be some damage and injury involved.

To say there would be no effect would be a lie.

Not to mention, a Cold Energy Monster’s core was even more important to it than Qi Suian’s heart was to him.

Qi Suian wouldn’t necessarily die without a heart, but the same couldn’t be said for a Cold Energy Monster.

"There it is," Qi Suian said suddenly, noticing a ripple on the surface of the sea ice.

The next moment, a gigantic, bizarre whale broke through the surface of the sea ice, spouting a massive column of water.

It seemed that because its core had been ripped out by the Tai Sui God the last time it surfaced for air, it was being particularly cautious this time.

Not only was its surfacing more powerful, but it was also more efficient.

Unfortunately, the Tai Sui God had long been lying in wait. Before the great whale, the Celestial Spirit Venerable, could submerge again, the Tai Sui God had already pierced into its body.

An intense pain instantly spread through every fiber of the Celestial Spirit Venerable’s flesh.

The Tai Sui God attacked using the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force, doubly enhanced by the True Martial Jade Vein Lotus and the Glutton’s Greedy Banquet. The effect was terrifyingly strong.

Especially the latter, which dealt true damage that was not only high but also evenly distributed.

To the Celestial Spirit Venerable, it felt as if countless sharp mouths were tearing at all of its flesh.

The Glutton’s Greedy Banquet originated from the Banquet Fare within Qi Suian’s Banquet ability, which inherently possessed effects similar to plundering and devouring.

To be precise, for Qi Suian, it was a life-steal effect. After evolving, instead of returning health, the life-steal effect remained on the enemy as damage.

This was what caused the Celestial Spirit Venerable to experience such a unique sensation.

The Celestial Spirit Venerable struggled ceaselessly due to the pain.

Over the past few days, it had actually tried to use its core to evolve some form of protection against this.

In the end, however, there was simply too little time, and it had little to no effect.

Especially now that the Tai Sui God was already deep inside its body, tearing its core apart.

The intense agony made it thrash and roll unceasingly in the sea, trying to alleviate the pain.

But soon, it realized something was terribly wrong.

The enemy hadn’t left immediately after taking its core like the previous two times.

’He wants my life!’

This thought surfaced in the Celestial Spirit Venerable’s mind.

Otherwise, the enemy should have left after taking its core. But now, not only had it not left, it was still lingering.

And it was heading towards its brain.

In that instant, it felt fear.

It was one of the Twelve Venerables, a being that had lived from ancient times until now. How could it die at the hands of a human?

It remembered being a lofty, noble existence, but now it was about to die and rot in some nameless stretch of sea. How could it accept such a fate?

"No, you can’t kill me!"

"If you kill me, the other Venerables will not let you go!!"

"I have already awakened all the Venerables! They are on their way! Let me go, and you might still have a chance to live!!!"

The Celestial Spirit Venerable roared hysterically. While it was telling the truth, it concealed a small detail: the time.

It would be impossible for the other Venerables to arrive in less than ten days.

Furthermore, the other Venerables had a weak connection with it. When they noticed that its connection with the Celestial Traveler Venerable was also severed, they would definitely realize something had happened to them both.

The final outcome would be that they wouldn’t come, and would investigate later.

They wouldn’t just recklessly rush over to rescue it.

So, these words were just a bluff, a ploy to scare Qi Suian into leaving as quickly as possible.

At this moment, the Celestial Spirit Venerable was filled with regret. If it had known, it wouldn’t have expanded its body size back then. It used to be proud of its size, but now it had become a liability.

Qi Suian turned a deaf ear to the Celestial Spirit Venerable’s words. If he hadn’t intercepted its message transmission, he might have actually been fooled.

But even if he had been fooled, Qi Suian wouldn’t have let the Celestial Spirit Venerable go. Instead, he would have chosen to speed up.

The duck was already cooked and in the pot; it was impossible for him to give it up now.

If he let it get away, Qi Suian would have to continue the hunt, and he didn’t have that much free time.

Besides, if it managed to regroup with the other Venerables and they banded together, it would be much harder for Qi Suian to divide and conquer.

Naturally, he had to kill it now while it was isolated.

The Celestial Spirit Venerable’s struggles grew weaker and weaker, as large amounts of its flesh, bones, organs, and more were being gouged out by the Tai Sui God and thrown into the Melting Furnace as fuel.

With its bodily tissues being excavated, its life was naturally like a candle flickering in the wind.

"Human, your people will pay the price for this!!!" Seeing that its death was imminent, the Celestial Spirit Venerable issued a final curse.

At the same time, it used its weak connection with the other Venerables to transmit the situation directly.

Although they might not be able to find Qi Suian, the Iron Armor Man, there were plenty of other humans in the world.

Qi Suian might not be able to pay the price, but other humans could.

"You... despicable beast! In that case, I can’t let you live!!!" Qi Suian’s tone was one of utter exasperation and fury, and even the Tai Sui God’s efficiency increased by thirty percent.

’What a great guy... no, what a great whale.’

’So this is how my protagonist aura fulfilled my wish to weaken the survivors.’

Now, the Cold Energy Monsters would definitely fight the survivors to the death.

His demands weren’t high; he just needed to profit from their conflict.

[Incoming strike detected...]

[Special environmental circumstances. No interception will be attempted. Engaging defensive measures only.]

"I get it. The nations are bitter, so they’re firing missiles at me. And what a coincidence that the Celestial Spirit Venerable’s death scene is right here."

"Protagonist aura, you’ve really outdone yourself. This puts the nations in an impossible spot."

"There’s no way they can talk their way out of this."

Qi Suian really hadn’t expected such a coincidence.

But for a protagonist aura, many things were indeed accomplished through coincidence.

After all, it was a form of luck, at most mixed with a bit of indirect wish fulfillment.

As for the nations explaining that they were targeting Qi Suian, the violator, and not the Celestial Spirit Venerable?

They could say that, but did the Venerable-class Cold Energy Monsters have to believe them?

What gave them the right to be so audacious?

What’s more, the nations were occupying the Ice Continent, the Cold Beast Ancestral Court.

And then they claim that the deaths of two Venerable-class Cold Energy Monsters, Celestial Spirit and Celestial Traveler, had nothing to do with them?

No matter how you looked at it, this seemed more like a divide-and-conquer strategy, not a genuine misunderstanding.

Besides, both sides had a core conflict: the Ice Continent.

Even if they could negotiate, the key issue would be who controlled the Ice Continent.

The Cold Energy Monsters definitely wanted it; it was the foundation that allowed them to occupy their ecological niche for several eras.

For that very reason, the survivors would certainly not give it up. They also wanted this ecological niche for their own development.

Sharing was impossible. And with this latest catalyst, there was no possibility of negotiation at all.

The struggle for a living environment was inherently a life-or-death affair.

Coexistence was impossible. The high-level survivors of the nations had already carved up the benefits among themselves.

To ask them to spit out what they had already swallowed was simply unrealistic.

As for forcing others to spit it out? Anyone with that idea would first be carved up and eaten like meat themselves.

"It’s dead. Its life force was truly tenacious, almost half as strong as mine. If not for the existence of vital points, it might not even be dead now," Qi Suian said, looking at the motionless Celestial Spirit Venerable.