"Looks like this is good news. It’s five Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters, so not all of them came."

"Let’s just kill them," Qi Suian said softly. "First, we need to find a way to lure one out. Otherwise, with all five of them together, they’ll be hard to kill."

We could manage two. Killing three would be impossible, let alone five.

Both Qi Suian and the Tai Sui God would be at a disadvantage, no match for them.

"We should be able to use the Mutated Zombies to separate them, right?" Qi Suian asked the AI directly.

[The plan is feasible, but its execution will lead to heavy losses among the Mutated Zombies. This may affect the subsequent recovery plan.]

"It’s fine. The Mutated Zombies are just cannon fodder. As long as they serve their purpose, it doesn’t matter if they die."

Qi Suian didn’t care in the slightest. Compared to Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters, the Mutated Zombies had barely any fuel value.

Trading all thirteen thousand of these Mutated Zombies for the five Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters would still be a net gain.

The AI had only hesitated because Qi Suian previously mentioned recovering them, which prompted the warning.

Otherwise, the AI certainly knew which was more valuable.

Unfortunately, due to the limits of Qi Suian’s and the Tai Sui God’s power, there was no perfect solution that could save both. That’s why the AI left the choice to Qi Suian.

Qi Suian didn’t get bogged down in minor losses and chose to sacrifice the Mutated Zombies.

"Begin the separation. We’ll kill the Celestial Charm Venerable first." Qi Suian’s gaze immediately locked onto the Celestial Charm Venerable, which resembled a giant butterfly.

Don’t let the "Charm" in its name fool you into thinking it relies on Illusion Techniques or bewitchment to get by.

That thing is brutally ferocious. Its mouthparts are incredibly sharp and powerful. In a single bite, it can swallow a person whole—skin, bones, and all.

Not to mention its potent, corrosive venom. It doesn’t even take a second to devour a person; once they’re in its stomach, they’re completely dissolved.

Furthermore, its other limbs and wings are either razor-sharp and incredibly tough, or coated in toxic powder and lined with barbs. It’s a bona fide killing machine.

The "Charm" is just a flattering name given by humans. It’s not actually beautiful—quite the opposite, it’s exceptionally hideous.

You can’t judge a Cold Energy Monster by human standards of beauty.

What humans find beautiful, a Cold Energy Monster might not.

It’s like a Ragdoll cat—to other cats, they’re just fat, ugly homebodies.

But in the eyes of humans, they’re a perfect fit for their aesthetic.

Under the AI’s control, the Mutated Zombies unknowingly split the five Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters across five separate battlefields.

The monsters hadn’t realized this was a deliberate act by the AI; they just assumed they had split up due to their own individual choices during the fight.

Once a safe distance was established, the AI had the Tai Sui God charge straight in.

"A sneak attack?!" The Celestial Charm Venerable instantly sensed the Tai Sui God’s approach and its ferociously violent attack.

It immediately put up a defense and counter-attacked.

During the last siege, every participating Cold Energy Monster, regardless of whether they were Venerable or Beast King-grade, had tasted the terror of the SSS-grade ability module, Glutton’s Feast.

However, its defense was as useless as before. Its counter-attack, on the other hand, successfully blocked the Tai Sui God’s follow-up assault.

Just then, the other four Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters realized Qi Suian’s true plan.

They immediately turned back to help, hoping to avoid being picked off one by one by Qi Suian.

It was a good idea, but Qi Suian had anticipated this. His plan already accounted for them trying to regroup and rescue their comrade.

Under the AI’s control, the Mutated Zombies held them back at any cost, making it utterly impossible for them to break away and provide aid.

[According to data model projections, the Mutated Zombies can only hold them off for ten minutes at most. You must finish this fight within that time.]

"Two minutes per Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monster... that’s no easy task." Liquefied brain matter streamed from Qi Suian’s nose. He wiped it away casually and chugged a bottle of high-concentration death potion.

Then, he frantically poured the Feast energy from his body into the Tai Sui God, giving it a temporary boost.

The overload caused blood to seep from his skin, and parts of it cracked open, revealing the mangled tissue and blood within.

He had barely finished speaking when his eyes exploded, clearly unable to withstand such an immense overload.

"Cough... I’ve done my part. The rest is up to you." A torrent of blood surged from Qi Suian’s mouth and nose, but he forced himself to swallow it back down.

’Waste not, want not. If I swallow it, my stomach can digest it and reabsorb some of it.’

’Even with some loss, it’s much better than just spitting it out.’

[If you maintain your current output of Feast energy to the Tai Sui God, with the Mutated Zombies’ support, the mission will be completed within ten minutes.]

As the AI finished speaking, the Tai Sui God had already smashed the Celestial Charm Venerable’s bloated abdomen, splattering a mass of organs and fluid.

The Celestial Charm Venerable was critically wounded. Before it could even begin to recover, several pairs of its hideous, membranous wings were ripped off.

Watching this, the remaining four Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters grew frantic. Even if they couldn’t save the Celestial Charm Venerable, they knew they couldn’t afford to stay separated.

Otherwise, they really would be picked off one by one.

The sheer combat power the Tai Sui God was unleashing was especially terrifying.

"Save me! Quick, save me!!!" The Celestial Charm Venerable shrieked, pleading for help.

Unfortunately, they were pinned down and couldn’t come to its aid.

In the end, they could only watch as the Tai Sui God twisted off the Celestial Charm Venerable’s head and ripped out its core.

Its entire body then vanished from the Tai Sui God’s hands.

Qi Suian had, of course, thrown it into the Melting Furnace to be used as fuel.

What else would he do with it? This had been Qi Suian’s true goal all along.

With that done, the Tai Sui God immediately raced toward the next target.

There were eight minutes left. The Tai Sui God had to finish within the time limit.

If the time ran out, Qi Suian would die, and the entire tempo of the battle would be ruined.

The Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters would likely escape.

The reason was simple: the AI controlled the Mutated Zombies through Qi Suian.

When Qi Suian died and underwent "death reforging," the AI would lose control of the Mutated Zombies. At that moment, all the zombies would freeze on the spot, becoming dazed and unresponsive.

That brief window of time would be more than enough for the Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters to escape.

Even though the Celestial Charm Venerable was dead, to the Tai Sui God, there was little difference between facing four or five Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters grouped together.

Either way, it couldn’t win. One more or one less made no difference.

Qi Suian and the AI’s next target was the Celestial Barbarian Venerable, which resembled a white elephant. It was renowned for its strength and incredibly powerful physique.

"Excellent timing!" The Celestial Barbarian Venerable charged forward to meet the attack.

It could tell from the Tai Sui God’s urgency that it must have activated some kind of timed ability.

’The only reason it killed the Celestial Charm Venerable so easily was because the Celestial Charm Venerable wasn’t a close-combat specialist like I am.’

’That’s why it couldn’t stall for time. If it were me, I could at least hold out until the other Venerables arrived.’

But the moment it actually took a blow from the Tai Sui God, that confidence vanished into thin air.

Its opponent’s attacks not only ignored defenses but also ravaged it with a variety of strange forces, all while precisely striking its weak points.

Combined with the immense force and a storm-like barrage of attacks, while it wasn’t critically injured on the spot like the Celestial Charm Venerable, it only managed to hold on for a minute and thirty seconds before its core was ripped out.

Flesh and bone were torn out along with it. The agony instantly robbed it of the strength to stand.

Before it could muster another defense or counter-attack, the Tai Sui God kicked it while it was down and finished it off.

"That’s the second one!" Qi Suian rasped after the Celestial Barbarian Venerable was tossed into the Melting Furnace.

Nearly four minutes had passed. Qi Suian was still holding on, but his condition was rapidly deteriorating.

The AI gave no response, simply continuing to control the Tai Sui God as it selected the next Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monster to hunt.

With the help of Qi Suian and his plot armor, the plan proceeded with remarkable smoothness.

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

"Celestial Charm is dead? This fast?" the Celestial Dragon Venerable spoke.

The Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters were all connected, so they could naturally sense when one of their own died.

"The Transgressor has gotten stronger again. To think it could kill a Venerable while being besieged by five of us," the Celestial Patrol Venerable said in a low voice.

The way things were unfolding had completely surpassed their expectations.

Logically, their opponent shouldn’t be this powerful. After all, they had besieged it before.

When we all attacked together, our opponent could only defend passively. With only half our numbers, even if we couldn’t crush them completely, we should have at least been able to pin them down.

But what happens instead? One of them is already dead.

Before the other Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters could say anything, the Celestial Dragon Venerable spoke again. "Celestial Barbarian is dead, too."

"How long has it been? By those survivors’ measure of time... one kill every two minutes?"

Suddenly, the Celestial Dragon Venerable’s sense of urgency intensified.

"Talk is useless. We need to get stronger, and fast. Otherwise, we’ll be next," the Celestial Might Venerable said coldly.

’At the same time, it felt a flicker of relief. Thankfully, it hadn’t drawn the short straw to intercept the Transgressor.’

’Otherwise, it might have been the one left for dead.’

After so many years of fearing nothing in heaven or on earth, it finally felt that long-forgotten sensation of dread once more.

"Celestial Might is right. Celestial Charm and Celestial Barbarian have bought us time with their lives. We can’t let their sacrifice be in vain," the Celestial Dragon Venerable said, rationalizing the situation.

Of course, this "buying time with their lives" was certainly not by choice.

They were simply unable to escape. Otherwise, the moment they saw things going south, they would have retreated immediately rather than sacrificing their lives to stall.

This was just further proof of the Transgressor’s power. They would have to become even stronger before they could enact any further plans.