Following the AI’s suggestions for breaking their psychological defenses—making an example of one to warn the others—he selected the one with the weakest mental fortitude for interrogation.

It didn’t take long to uncover quite a few clues.

They had indeed been sent to support the various nations, but because they had fallen behind the times, they unexpectedly ended up under house arrest.

However, another piece of intelligence was uncovered: if the situation became untenable, they were to retrieve a certain item.

Qi Suian had a rough idea of its location and suspected it was the source of the Cold Energy.

However, only Dragon Roar Daoist knew its exact location and what the item truly was.

But Dragon Roar Daoist had long since been thrown into the Melting Furnace, reduced to nothing more than armor value.

But that didn’t matter. A general location was enough; he trusted the Tai Sui God’s reconnaissance network.

Once the last of the Type-Threes was tossed into the Melting Furnace, Taiyin Celestial Monarch was likely the only old relic left who had lived through multiple eras.

According to the interrogation, they had sent everyone except Tiger Roar Daoist.

And Tiger Roar Daoist had already died long ago.

With the help of this group’s high-quality cores, the Tai Sui God’s progress naturally surged forward.

Just a moment ago, the Tai Sui God’s armor value had successfully reached 36 points, completing its evolution.

With a new module slot available, Qi Suian followed his plan and installed the repaired Red Keel.

Best case, it would be an ability module. A step down would be a material module. But either way, the boost to the Tai Sui God would be significant.

[SSS·Taiyin Red Blood Dragon]

The good news was, it wasn’t an ability module, nor was it a material module.

Instead, it was a special module, similar to the True Martial Jade Vein Lotus, and its effects weren’t much different.

It endowed the Tai Sui God with the Taiyin Refining Technique, a Qi Cultivation Method.

However, this wasn’t the version Qi Suian had acquired. It was a complete, nine-level version that synergized with the "Glutton’s Feast" ability.

It was much like the reinforcing relationship between the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force and the True Martial Jade Vein Lotus.

Of course, it didn’t just synergize with the "Glutton’s Feast" ability; it also coordinated with the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force and the True Martial Jade Vein Lotus.

’Something’s still missing. Otherwise, these four modules would be perfectly synergistic.’

’It must be the source of the Cold Energy,’ Qi Suian realized suddenly.

The Red Keel couldn’t compare to the Jade Vein Lotus. Even though the Lotus’s quality had dropped, it was still the source of an Ancient Martial Technique.

Not to mention, the Lotus had originally been SSS-rank, whereas the Red Keel was A-rank at best.

It was only the Tai Sui God’s special properties that bridged the gap.

Therefore, to get the four modules to perform at their best, he needed the source of the Cold Energy.

Qi Suian estimated it would likely be an energy-type module.

’If I could just add a tiger-form component, it might further amplify the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force. That, in turn, would feed back into the system, creating a virtuous cycle.’

Qi Suian muttered to himself but quickly put the thought aside.

Something like that came down to luck. It would be great to find it, but it was no big deal if he didn’t.

’Looks like I’m the one dragging my feet again.’

’Next... I’ll hold off on getting that item for now. First, I need to take care of these survivors.’

’Killing Dragon Roar Daoist really pushed them over the edge.’

Qi Suian glanced at the swarm of enemies on his reconnaissance network.

To rescue Dragon Roar Daoist, the high-level survivors from the various nations had pulled troops directly from the front lines against the Cold Energy Monsters, causing the front to collapse bit by bit.

Fortunately, the Ice Continent was large enough to let them keep retreating for a while longer.

Naturally, this decision aroused discontent among the low and mid-level survivors.

But the leadership stubbornly pushed ahead, completely ignoring the pleas of the lower-ranking survivors.

They couldn’t even be bothered to manage public opinion anymore, so fixated were they on achieving their goals.

Qi Suian was very curious to see how they would shatter once they learned the truth behind their so-called method of survival.

The Type-Threes had indeed retained their self-awareness, but only because the assimilating entity had held back, leaving half of their original cores intact.

This didn’t mean complete assimilation was impossible. If the entity so desired, the other half of the core—the high-quality part that wasn’t theirs—could instantly devour their own low-quality core.

One could easily imagine the outcome.

WHOOSH~

The roar of a fighter jet tore across the sky, but before it could drop its payload, Qi Suian was already gone.

He plunged directly into the survivor army and began frantically stuffing people into the Melting Furnace.

He could have used the Floating Cannons for mass slaughter, but that was pointless to Qi Suian.

Using them as fuel, however—that was how he could profit.

Unfortunately, these low and mid-level survivors didn’t provide much fuel value. They were less than scraps.

Still, every little bit counted. Valuable targets like Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters or the Type-Threes were rare, and besides, he had already wiped out the latter.

Besides, since they were delivering themselves to his doorstep, Qi Suian was happy to take as many as he could get.

Taking every single one was, of course, unrealistic.

"Violator! Hand over Dragon Roar Daoist and the others, surrender all your equipment, and we will let you leave with your life!" Zhongling shouted at Qi Suian, having personally come to the battlefield under the protection of several powerful items and personnel.

As for where he got that equipment? It was all extorted from those beneath him, of course.

Qi Suian was rendered speechless. ’So they’re after the Tai Sui God,’ he thought.

"Are they... rushing to hand-deliver me a golden opportunity?" A smile spread across Qi Suian’s face.

Honestly, he hadn’t expected the man to show up in person, let alone decked out in equipment.

Whether it was rewards from the Doomsday Game or indigenous items acknowledged by it, they were all extremely valuable.

Even low-quality items were far from ordinary.

Most importantly, they would be perfectly suited for use as modules.

Thus, Qi Suian switched targets without a moment’s hesitation, carving a path of destruction straight toward Zhongling.

Zhongling perceived Qi Suian’s intent and hastily ordered, "Quick, send troops to intercept him! We’re transferring to the safe zone!"

He was no stranger to Qi Suian’s brutality. He had only dared to provoke him before because everyone was present and Qi Suian hadn’t seemed intent on a massacre.

But this was different. Qi Suian was genuinely out for his blood. If he didn’t run now, staying put was a death sentence.

In reality, Zhongling was overthinking it. Qi Suian merely wanted to rob him of his equipment.

He couldn’t bring himself to actually kill the man.

Qi Suian’s own attacks on the survivors were, at best, a one-off blow. Barring some unforeseen event, it was impossible for him to wipe them all out.

These "masterminds," on the other hand? Their harm to the survivor cause was like continuous, high-value true damage. They were constantly digging a deeper grave for their own people.

Of the total contribution to the survivors’ decline, Qi Suian could only claim about twenty percent. The other eighty percent was all thanks to the efforts of Zhongling and his cohort.

Qi Suian didn’t deny that his protagonist’s halo might have had some intelligence-lowering side effects, but at the end of the day, they were the ones making the decisions.

"Hurry, fall back! The Violator is catching up!" Zhongling glanced back, his heart sinking as he saw that the gap between him and Qi Suian wasn’t widening, but shrinking.

Between the True Martial Jade Vein Lotus and the newly acquired Taiyin Red Blood Dragon, the Tai Sui God had received a comprehensive upgrade. With the Wind Master aviation system on top of that, not even a fighter jet could match its speed.

If the Tai Sui God hadn’t been stopping to grab survivors and stuff them into the Melting Furnace, it would have caught its prey long ago.

He was taking a slow and steady approach precisely because he knew his target couldn’t escape.

"Speaker Zhong, you’re supposed to be the survivors’ leader. Isn’t it a bit undignified to be running away like this?"

"And didn’t you say you wanted my armor? I’ve personally delivered it. Why don’t you dare take it now?" Qi Suian’s voice drifted into Zhongling’s ears.

The moment Zhongling turned toward the voice, his blood ran cold. Qi Suian was less than ten meters away.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Qi Suian was already upon him. The speed was simply terrifying.

"Since you’re already here, what’s the big hurry to leave?"

As Qi Suian spoke, the Tai Sui God ripped through the outer armor of Zhongling’s vehicle and shattered its engine with a single punch.

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

"The humans suddenly redeployed their forces. They say they’re going to hunt down some ’Violator.’ What are your thoughts?" the Celestial Dragon Venerable asked in confusion.

Their own advance had been going far too smoothly; it felt surreal.

"I know a little about it. It involves something called the Doomsday Game. Apparently, there are rich rewards for killing the Violator, and on top of that, he’s the one who abducted Dragon Roar Daoist and his people."

"That’s what enraged the human leadership. They’re so desperate to kill him that they’re willing to give up the Ice Continent," the Celestial Might Venerable, who resembled a Winged Tiger, said slowly.

The explanation was brief. It didn’t know the full details, either; they were admittedly weak on intelligence, focused more on slaughter.

As long as the enemy died, intel was irrelevant.

After all, the Cold Energy Monsters’ offensive strategy was simply to overwhelm their enemies with vast numbers and superior strength.

"Do you think the humans could have discovered that object?" the Celestial Dragon Venerable asked abruptly.

"Impossible. It’s a sacred relic of our people. Even if the humans found it, they wouldn’t be able to take it," the Celestial Might Venerable replied hesitantly, shaking its head.

"This whole situation is too bizarre, especially the deaths of Tian Xing and Celestial Spirit. We must be prepared for any eventuality," the hawk-like Celestial Patrol Venerable countered, disagreeing with Celestial Might.

"Better to be safe than sorry. Dragon Roar Daoist’s group never cared about the humans’ fate before. Their sudden intervention means something is afoot." The Celestial Dragon Venerable agreed with Celestial Patrol. "Then we will do whatever it takes to reclaim the Ancestral Court as quickly as possible."

"As for these humans, we’ll slaughter as many as we can."

"And if we can’t kill them all, we drive them out. We absolutely cannot allow them to remain in the Ancestral Court."

"Especially that Violator. One look tells you he’s trouble. We’re still unsure about Tian Xing, but we can confirm that Celestial Spirit died by his hand."

"Therefore, he must die," the Celestial Dragon Venerable concluded, finalizing the general plan.