Chapter 170: Chapter 170: Eve of the Great Curtain, Everyone Wants to Be the Victor

In the end, Tiger Roar Daoist didn’t say a word. Qi Suian dismantled him into bits and pieces for study before tossing him, core and all, into the Melting Furnace as fuel.

As for using his core to find others of his kind? ’What a hassle.’ With the AI now possessing detailed data on Tiger Roar Daoist, the reconnaissance network would have no trouble finding them.

Even without any prior data, it had spotted the anomaly in him at first glance. The task would be even easier now.

"I thought that aside from the Venerable-level Cold Energy Monsters, I’d never find such high-quality fuel on this planet," Qi Suian remarked with a sigh.

’It’s true what they say: an old timer is a real treasure.’ Given how ancient he was, he was certainly a treasure indeed.

"There probably aren’t many of them, though. A pity."

"Still, this should be the end for this group of ’third-type humans.’"

"Even if I hadn’t managed to wipe out the third batch of players, they’d still have to leave the Cold Winter World eventually. They would have had no chance to rise to power."

Qi Suian was certain of one thing. The moment the entity behind the scenes assimilated a player and turned them into one of its avatars, the Doomsday Game would register that player as "dead."

It was similar to his own situation back then. If he had become a zombie, he would have ceased to be a Violator.

A Violator, in essence, is a derivative status for a player who enjoys the game’s privileges without its obligations, all while disrupting the established order.

However, Qi Suian had managed to hang on by a thread back then and made a smooth transition. The result was that even though he was no longer fully human, he was still classified as a Violator rather than being abandoned by the system.

’It was such a golden opportunity. If the Doomsday Game had just refused to acknowledge my status, we could have had a clean break.’

’The Doomsday Game could go about its business in the various Doomsday Worlds, and I could take the Tai Sui God to find a habitable planet somewhere in the universe. We could go our separate ways. Wouldn’t that have been great?’

’But no, it had to drag me along. Now look at us. Everyone’s miserable.’

Then again, Qi Suian had only himself to blame. The procedure he underwent had been brutal, but the process itself had been perfectly stable. That was why the Doomsday Game’s rules determined that he was still operating within normal parameters.

If he had gambled on a desperate, near-death rebirth, he wouldn’t be Qi Suian. He rarely took reckless chances when his own life was at stake.

"The enemy is likely aware of the players and the Doomsday Game. I could tell that from Tiger Roar Daoist’s attitude and tone, but they don’t seem to know much."

"And they haven’t realized the gravity of the situation."

"AI, what do you think the objective of this ’third type’ of human is?" Qi Suian asked.

[Perhaps it’s to extend their lifespans. Dragon Roar Daoist’s final letter expressed a similar unwillingness to die.]

"That’s the reason this ’third type’ has survived for so long, but it can’t be their sole objective. They must be carrying out a mission for the entity behind them."

"They’ve lived this long, and they even have cores. Surely they can survive a period of Cold Energy decline." Qi Suian refused to believe their objective was that simple.

The AI couldn’t offer a definitive theory. It simply had too little data to work with.

In the end, they had no choice but to shelve the topic for the time being.

"By my calculations, the ten remaining Venerable-level Cold Energy Monsters should all be awake by now."

"The next step is to lock onto their positions as quickly as possible." Qi Suian checked the time. It had been about half a month since Celestial Spirit Venerable first contacted the other Venerables.

[Barring any surprises, you won’t need to rush to find them. They will inevitably gather, consolidate all the Cold Energy Monsters under their command, and seek a decisive battle with the players.]

[All you need to consider is how to kill them and turn them into fuel.]

"How to kill them isn’t my concern. The Tai Sui God is far better at that than I am." Qi Suian realized his role was to wait, not to search.

In the eyes of the Venerable-level Cold Energy Monsters, a Violator like Qi Suian was just another one of the players.

So, even if the world’s nations tried to explain the situation, the monsters wouldn’t listen.

"Can we locate them beforehand? If all ten of them really gather, I’m afraid even the Tai Sui God won’t be able to win," Qi Suian said.

In principle, a Venerable has 7.5 in dual attributes, making the Tai Sui God completely outmatched.

But the Tai Sui God wielded the Floating Cannons, which were the exception to that principle. Thus, the Venerable-level Cold Energy Monsters didn’t get to dictate the rules.

Of course, Qi Suian’s goal wasn’t to simply kill them but to burn them as fuel, so he couldn’t use the Floating Cannons. Unless he couldn’t help himself, that is.

[You should have more faith in your protagonist halo instead of asking me.]

[Without sufficient coordination, the Tai Sui God and I are indeed no match for a Venerable. When the time comes, you’ll either have to take action personally or resort to saturation bombing.]

That was right. From the AI’s perspective, Qi Suian was perfectly capable of killing enemies far above his own level. With his current stats, combined with his protagonist halo, he had a seventy percent chance of winning even without any preparation.

The only condition was that he’d have to fight with the resolve to face death.

’But that’s not realistic. If I had to do that, what would be the point of having the Tai Sui God?’

As his equipment, the Tai Sui God was meant to compensate for his own shortcomings. If he were omnipotent, there would be no need to develop the Tai Sui God as a support unit.

"Me?" Qi Suian considered the possibility, then promptly abandoned it. "Forget it. My combat experience and fighting skills are mediocre at best."

"Venerable-level Cold Energy Monsters have all clawed their way up from the bottom. They’re absolute masters of combat. I’m no match for them."

"I’d have to pay a steep price to win, and that’s a certainty." The whole reason he had the Tai Sui God was because he didn’t want to pay that price.

[Correct. Which is why you should trust your protagonist halo. It has never failed you before.]

"It won’t fail me, but I’m afraid it might not be strong enough to handle this." Qi Suian sighed. A protagonist halo was great for stomping small fry, but it was useless when the power gap was too immense.

For instance, if some powerhouse decided to cross the river of time to erase him, or shattered the entire world with a single strike, his protagonist halo wouldn’t be able to save him.

"Especially since the original protagonist of the Cold Winter World is still alive, I’m not feeling very confident." This was true even though Qi Suian knew his own Celestial Fate: Profound was already enhanced to +5.

But a home-field advantage was equivalent to having an entire world on your side. At best, his own protagonist halo could only achieve a stalemate, not a decisive victory.

This was probably the most troublesome player-protagonist he had ever encountered.

Otherwise, with the help of his protagonist halo, he would have run into them long ago.

Yet to this day, there hadn’t been a single trace of them. This meant their own protection was extremely effective.

In all likelihood, Qi Suian couldn’t expect to find them before they had finished ’leveling up’.

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"Celestial Spirit... Tian Xing... both dead?" In the gloomy depths of the ocean, a colossal, dragon-like crustacean unfurled its body.

Though not as immense as Celestial Spirit Venerable, it was still several meters long.

It was Celestial Dragon Venerable, one of the ten surviving Venerables, and also the father of King Zhen Ao.

"Damn it! Humans! Mere servants! How dare they slay a Venerable?"

Upon receiving the follow-up message, Celestial Dragon Venerable erupted in fury.

"They even dared to occupy the Ancestral Court! Celestial Spirit was a disgrace, getting driven out by mere humans and even dying at their hands."

"What are these cannons and Iron Armor Men? They can’t even pierce our hides and carapaces! How could he lose to something like that?"

Celestial Dragon Venerable cursed aloud, but inwardly, he was on high alert.

’Celestial Spirit Venerable’s death at least made some noise,’ he thought. ’But the death of Celestial Traveler Venerable, that Blood Heart Worm, was completely silent. No information at all.’

That alone was enough to tell him that some earth-shattering change had occurred in the outside world. He just didn’t know what it was yet.

"I must contact the other nine surviving Venerables. I fear I cannot handle this matter alone."

"Humans may be frail, but they’ve never possessed the ability to occupy the Ancestral Court. There must be something more to this."

’Neither the death of a fellow Venerable nor the occupation of the Ancestral Court can be explained away by luck. This has to be a matter of pure, hard power.’

He had lived for too many years to believe luck could accomplish such feats.

’What good is luck when you’re smashed into pulp?’

Therefore, he decisively chose to group up.

As fellow Venerables, their relationships were quite harmonious. There was little in the way of backstabbing or intrigue.

After all, while they possessed intelligence on par with humans, they were not human. Their ways of thinking were fundamentally different.

-----------------

"Excellent, excellent. I never expected that a trip to Celestial Pillar Mountain would allow you to break through your bottleneck so smoothly." The Taiyin Celestial Monarch looked at Tang Qing with great satisfaction.

’He was truly destined to become my nourishment,’ he thought.

Every time he released the `Taiyin Refining Technique` into the world, even deliberately "losing" manuscripts, his harvests were always exceptionally bountiful.

The chosen ones of several eras had all been devoured by him.

The `Taiyin Refining Technique` had no flaws, nor did it contain any hidden dangers or traps. It was, genuinely, a top-tier Qi Cultivation Method.

Otherwise, how could it possibly fool their innate ability to sense danger and seek fortune?

His methods were never hidden within the `Taiyin Refining Technique` itself.

"This is all thanks to your guidance, Master. I could not have progressed so quickly otherwise." Tang Qing immediately gave all the credit to the Taiyin Celestial Monarch.

"It has nothing to do with me. Your own aptitude is excellent," the Taiyin Celestial Monarch said in a deep voice. "I know why you’ve returned. You want the sixth level of the `Taiyin Refining Technique`."

"For various reasons, the first five levels were scattered to the winds. Since you’ve already learned them, so be it."

"But the sixth level is different. I must put you through some trials before I can pass it on to you. It is my life’s work, after all. I must see if you are truly ready to graduate."

Tang Qing agreed at once. "Please give me your instructions, Master!"

Hearing Tang Qing’s decisive reply, the corners of the Taiyin Celestial Monarch’s mouth curved into a subtle arc.

Every generation of the "chosen ones" had answered in exactly the same way. And their fates had all been exactly the same.

But the Taiyin Celestial Monarch overlooked one crucial detail: Tang Qing was now a player, and his allegiance belonged to the Doomsday Game.