News of Longjing City’s annihilation at the hands of the Iron Armor Man spread far and wide, as if on wings.
This was, of course, fueled by the Eternal United States and the Xuan Empire, who were content to watch the tigers fight from their mountainside perch.
Yet Fan Fengfei remained unfazed, continuing to do as she pleased.
Qi Suian also made no move, simply remaining where he was.
Although this attempt failed, it didn’t stop the two nations from hunting down the remaining survivors.
This caused the number of survivors to plummet into the triple digits.
Moreover, these survivors had scattered and gone into hiding after learning what happened to Longjing City.
The numbers had mostly stabilized by this point.
At this point, the survivor faction was on the losing side. Though they hadn’t officially withdrawn from the war, they were reduced to sewer rats who didn’t dare show their faces.
Their only hope was for an anomaly like Qi Suian to emerge from their ranks, or for Fan Fengfei to return to her senses.
Qi Suian had a rough understanding of the overall situation. Through his satellite projection, he could grasp the general trend of events.
However, he could only get a glimpse of the big picture; any finer details were beyond his view.
The satellite projection wasn’t omnipotent. The damn thing required a sufficient amount of armor value to sustain.
Just because it was usable now didn’t mean all its functions had been fully unlocked.
Right now, Qi Suian’s focus wasn’t on the war or the grand scheme of things, but on his own Quenching Method.
’I succeeded...’ Qi Suian thought, looking at the piece of tough, black, scaled skin in his hand.
He had combined Dragon Whale Hide, the Dragon Whale Five Techniques, and the Dragon Whale Bloodline, then infected them with the Abyssal Virus, turning it all into an implantable Divine Will evolution program.
He just needed to implant it into his flesh. The Abyssal Virus in his body would absorb it, allowing Qi Suian to bypass the cultivation process of the Quenching Method and directly strengthen his physique and Spirit.
As for the Divine Will itself, one would be formed as well—a brand-new Divine Will that inherited the characteristics of the Dragon Whale and combined them with the Abyssal Virus.
It would be complete from the moment of its creation, unlike the Dragon Whale Sect’s method, which required combining all five Quenching Methods.
Its power would depend on Qi Suian’s own strength, which was to be expected.
After all, it was just a projected evolution of his Spirit, not something created from nothing.
’Its name will be... nah, forget it. This one is an all-in-one process, so I can’t be bothered to name it.’ Qi Suian mused, deciding not to name this stage of his Extraordinary power.
A name was just a label, anyway.
He implanted the Divine Will evolution program directly into his body. Since he had tailor-made it for himself, there was no rejection.
It began to be absorbed immediately, and his Spirit started to dissipate within his body.
It passed through his physical form and emerged into the air before rapidly coalescing.
This was Qi Suian’s Divine Will being born. For now, it was only a nascent form.
But that was fine. The Divine Will would be fully formed in three minutes at most.
At the same time, the Tai Sui God began to transmit Martial Dao will into Qi Suian—the will of the Evil Dragon and Evil Tiger.
This wasn’t for destruction, but to enhance the intensity of the Divine Will.
Simultaneously, his Feast ability began to supply a steady stream of Feast energy as fuel.
Reinforcement itself required consumption, and as the universal energy source for both Qi Suian and the Tai Sui God, Feast energy was indispensable.
His Spirit solidified, taking on a monstrous form.
"According to the fourth volume of the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, the *Dongshan Scripture*, the fourth eastern classic..." Qi Suian recited slowly. "Two hundred li further east is Tai Mountain, rich in gold, jade, and zhen wood. A beast dwells there, shaped like an ox with a white head, a single eye, and the tail of a snake. Its name is Fei. Where it passes through water, the water dries up; where it passes over grass, the grass withers. Its appearance foretells a great plague upon the world."
As his voice faded, a fierce beast materialized. It had the form of an ox, but its head was white, it possessed a single eye, and its tail was like that of a snake.
This was the fierce beast Fei. According to the legends, wherever it passed, water would evaporate and grass would wither, leaving only desolation in its wake.
Furthermore, the appearance of the Fei was always accompanied by the cataclysm of a world-sweeping plague.
Qi Suian had chosen the fierce beast Fei from the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* to be his Divine Will.
The Divine Will Fei abruptly opened its single eye, and the Abyssal Virus instantly began to radiate from it.
The Abyssal Virus it radiated was completely different from the plague and disease series of modules on the Tai Sui God. This was an agent of pure, frenzied slaughter.
Any living thing in the vicinity, including microorganisms, would be killed by the Divine Will Fei, unless it was a mutation created by the Abyssal Virus or under Qi Suian’s direct control.
It left no trace of life in its wake.
Of course, there was a prerequisite: Qi Suian had to be strong enough. If the Fei encountered a life form stronger than him, the effect would gradually diminish. After all, how could it kill something if it couldn’t even breach its defenses?
The Fei lacked the imposing might of the Dragon Whale, but it functioned like an aura. As long as the Fei was present, a slaughter-type Abyssal Virus would automatically attack all life within its range.
Qi Suian could theoretically control it, but he simply didn’t have the mental energy to spare.
The number of microorganisms in a single cubic meter was astronomical; he could only ignore them.
In addition, the Fei could be controlled for combat.
It was like having an extra beast-type summon, only it was mindless and required his control.
Fortunately, while it hadn’t inherited the Dragon Whale’s might, it had inherited the Dragon Whale Bloodline’s high defense, powerful attacks, and rapid recovery.
Combined with its plague aura, it was truly impressive.
’I wonder if I can just stuff the Fei into the Tai Sui God and make it another module,’ Qi Suian thought.
’After all, this Divine Will can just grow back if I sever it. As long as I invest enough Spiritual Power, I can spawn a new Fei.’
’Unfortunately, since the Divine Will has a corresponding spiritual frequency, I can’t stack duplicates. Otherwise, I’d create an entire army of them.’
His was not a conventional Divine Will, after all. It was a directed evolution born from modification, with the focus still on himself, so it was bound to differ from a true Divine Will.
If it were exactly the same, he would have become a Divine Will Human.
’Then the Tai Sui God would have the Evil Dragon, the Evil Tiger, the Fierce Fei, and my Divine Will Fei—four summons in total. Even if they couldn’t swarm an enemy, they would make excellent meat shields.’
But that was just a thought. It was more likely that in the end, only the Fei would remain.
The Evil Dragon and Evil Tiger were themselves derived from multiple modules, and with the addition of the more powerful Fei, they would likely just be absorbed into it.
Then, because the Virus Bloodline Implant would detect that Qi Suian also had a Fei, it would simply merge the duplicates, granting Qi Suian the ability to strengthen his Divine Will.
The end result would just be a single, enhanced Divine Will Fei.
This was the high-probability outcome his AI Core had calculated.
But that was fine. As long as he got stronger, it was a win. Quantity had never been the key; quality was what mattered.
"Increase the input of Feast energy. I want to bring the Divine Will to completion within three days—no, within twenty-four hours."
"At any cost!"
For Qi Suian, all that was left was to gain experience. And as it happened, with his Feast energy and accelerated growth, experience was the one thing he didn’t lack.
As long as he could withstand the excruciating process, it would be simple.
Once he had finished his preparations, he unhesitatingly had the Fei devour Li Yao’s brain in a single gulp.
As the brain was pulverized, Li Yao, the protagonist of the survivors, was officially dead.
’I hope that day never comes for me,’ Qi Suian sincerely thought.
He could kill others, and others could kill him.
The next moment, the protagonist halo on his body swiftly devoured Li Yao’s.
[Enhancement +9: Divine Hidden Intentional Root]
The enhancement registered, and Qi Suian felt his consciousness continuously expanding. This ability seemed to strengthen attributes like his soul and Spirit.
The greatest change wasn’t in Qi Suian, but in the Fei. Its body swelled by a large margin, its features growing even more savage and ferocious. The Abyssal Virus it emitted was also enhanced.
Its offensive power grew stronger, and it gained the ability to self-replicate in the air.
’A natural-born genius of the Divine Will system, plus the Dragon Whale Bloodline... he had no weaknesses.’
’Not only was his potential immense, but his growth rate was also astonishingly fast.’
’A shame he never got the chance to fully develop. Otherwise, he would have been a formidable rival.’
Qi Suian then compared various data points and confirmed that it was a percentage-based passive effect.
The stronger he became, the stronger the amplification. Even if the Fei reached its own limits, as long as Qi Suian grew stronger, the Fei would receive a feedback loop of additional power.
’For me, it’s a numerical boost, but for the Fei, it’s a growth template.’
’This is great news. Just what I’d expect from a protagonist halo.’ Qi Suian couldn’t be more satisfied.
-----------------
"How can this be? The ’Divine Being on Earth’ status has vanished?" Fan Fengfei’s expression changed drastically.
She had gone to great lengths to fuse with Li Yao and obtain everything he possessed, including his Dragon Whale Bloodline.
It was a conceptual ability granted by the "Eternal Beloved." Even if it had only existed within Li Yao’s mind, it was undeniably something he had possessed.
And now, the "Divine Being on Earth" status she valued most had vanished without a trace.
"It was you, Iron Armor Man." Fan Fengfei’s first thought was of Qi Suian, the one who had taken Li Yao’s brain.
Besides him, she couldn’t think of anyone else who had been in contact with Li Yao.
"Damn you!" All her hard work had been for nothing, merely lining someone else’s pockets. How could she not be furious?
But she quickly calmed herself.
"I still have a chance. I still have a chance."
"As long as I can gather all the original sacred objects of the ’Eternal Beloved’ and assemble them into the Destructive Sacred Object..."
"I won’t need any ’Divine Being on Earth’ status."
"There’s only one piece left..."
"Even without the help of a Divine Being on Earth, I can become invincible!" Fan Fengfei’s face was a mask of insanity.
After obtaining a certain number of the "Eternal Beloved" series of sacred objects, she had come to understand that she was walking a forbidden path.
The process of collecting them was the process of becoming a god.
Once she succeeded, she would become the god of this world.
She simply didn’t realize that as she assembled more and more of the "Eternal" series’ original sacred objects, her mind was gradually becoming twisted.
Even her Divine Will had begun to show problems because of it.
Any discerning eye could see the change in her.
The entire process didn’t seem like she was ascending to godhood, but rather that she was becoming a part of the "Eternal Beloved" sacred object itself.
Yet she remained completely oblivious to her own transformation.
"Found you... the last sacred object of the ’Eternal Beloved’ series." Fan Fengfei crushed a Thousand Households from the Xuan Empire to death and forcibly ripped the puzzle-piece sacred object from his body.