’What is the Six Celestial Ancient Qi planning?’ Qi Suian thought as he headed toward the capital of the Xuan Empire. The way was completely clear, with no flight restrictions of any kind.
In fact, no one tried to stop him; instead, they threw the gates wide open for him.
Clearly, someone was deliberately guiding him.
The prime suspect was, without a doubt, the Six Celestial Ancient Qi.
Qi Suian had already confirmed that Destructive Sacred Objects possessed self-awareness, thanks to his experience with the Holy Mother.
The same was true even for Apocalypse, which was hell-bent on destruction.
Upon reaching the capital of the Xuan Empire, the Holy Mother hesitated. She watched Qi Suian disappear into the distance before finally stepping into the city herself.
Qi Suian hadn’t intended to go any further. Since the Holy Mother had stopped, there was no reason to press on.
’All I need to do is run out the clock.’
But then she followed him, and the look on Qi Suian’s face darkened.
The Six Celestial Ancient Qi had indeed intimidated the Holy Mother.
’But the intimidation isn’t strong enough. They’re both Destructive Sacred Objects, so there shouldn’t be a huge power gap... right?’
Well, Qi Suian couldn’t be certain. If the Holy Mother had followed immediately without any hesitation, that would have been true.
But her hesitation implied that she might not be a match for the Six Celestial Ancient Qi.
’Otherwise, what was there to hesitate about?’
However, Qi Suian’s value was simply too great, so the Holy Mother ultimately chose to ignore the Six Celestial Ancient Qi.
This was all just Qi Suian’s speculation, though; he didn’t know the exact details.
Still, the fact that she hesitated was good news for Qi Suian.
’This is like drinking poison to quench my thirst,’ Qi Suian thought with a sense of resignation.
At this point, all he could do was keep gambling.
’Every limited-time event for a new world pass is a gamble with my life.’
’If I keep gambling like this, I’m bound to fail eventually.’ Qi Suian didn’t want to think about it, but the Doomsday World was just too difficult. He had no other choice.
"His Majesty has been awaiting you in the palace. Please, enter and speak with him."
At the entrance to the Imperial Palace, a Sword-carrying Guard spoke up as soon as Qi Suian arrived.
If the Guard hadn’t spoken, Qi Suian would have barged straight inside.
To avoid being rebirthed as a god by the Holy Mother, Qi Suian couldn’t afford to care about proprieties.
Qi Suian said nothing and strode directly into the Imperial Palace.
The Holy Mother, however, was stopped outside.
"His Majesty has given an order: he will not see you." The Sword-carrying Guard drew the longsword from his waist.
Normally, the Holy Mother would have ignored him.
However, the rules of the Six Celestial Ancient Qi held sway over the Imperial Palace.
As the Master of Ghosts, its exercise of imperial authority was absolute—its words were law.
The Holy Mother was forced to remain outside the palace gates.
However, the crimson light radiating from her body began to intensify as if she intended to break through this restriction.
A massive phantom of a Ghost God materialized above the Imperial Palace and cast its gaze downward.
The crimson light around the Holy Mother was extinguished in an instant.
Numerous cracks then appeared all over the Holy Mother’s body, and her once-crimson form turned deathly pale.
But as if rebounding from rock bottom, she began to counter the Ghost God’s phantom.
"God... loves all His people."
With that, the Holy Mother began to pray in a low voice as her abdomen swelled rapidly.
An even more terrifying pressure emanated from the Holy Mother’s abdomen.
The Holy Mother had given up on Qi Suian as the descended god, the Holy Son of the trinity.
And who was his replacement? Li Yao, of course—the one fused within Fan Fengfei’s body.
Although Li Yao "hadn’t been" a god and wasn’t the ideal choice like Qi Suian, the bloodline flowing through his veins was far from ordinary.
With the blood of a True Dragon and a Divine Whale, he was more than sufficient to be a descended god.
The main reason was that the Holy Mother no longer had a chance to capture Qi Suian for her "gestation," so she had no choice but to give up on him.
Qi Suian was unaware of this. He only sensed a sacred and powerful aura being reborn outside the palace gates.
Continuing forward, he soon reached his destination within the Imperial Palace.
There was no grand hall, only a colossal Ghost God seated atop the ancestral temple of the Xuan Empire’s Royal Family.
The Ghost God’s form was humanoid but not quite human, and it looked down upon Qi Suian from its great height.
"Outsider, I saved your life. How do you intend to repay me?" the Six Celestial Ancient Qi - Master of Ghosts spoke.
Its voice boomed like a great bell, the sound waves forming visible ripples that spread through the air.
Qi Suian glanced at the countdown for the limited-time event, "God Loves All People." There were still two hours left.
’This is going to kill me.’
’This thing is asking me for payment, but what could I possibly give it that would be satisfying?’
Even if he could, Qi Suian wasn’t willing to.
"I am but a poor man. If Your Majesty is willing, I can sing a hymn in your honor," Qi Suian said tentatively.
The Master of Ghosts looked at Qi Suian with a mocking expression.
"Your stinginess astounds me," the Master of Ghosts said softly.
Then it ignored him, its gaze shifting to the palace gates outside.
Qi Suian stood obediently to the side, not daring to utter a word.
’It’s a good thing its attention isn’t on me.’
"Where is your hymn? Why the silence?" the Master of Ghosts suddenly asked.
Upon hearing this, Qi Suian immediately and obediently began to sing its praises.
At the same time, the sound of prayers from outside the palace gates drifted in, accompanied by the cry of an infant.
The Master of Ghosts made its move.
Qi Suian understood. With the birth of the Holy Son, the god had also descended.
At this moment, the Destructive Sacred Object known as "God Loves All People" had officially entered the stage.
Fortunately, the Six Celestial Ancient Qi - Master of Ghosts was powerful enough. The massive Ghost God’s body used its own "concept" to confront and attempt to erase "God Loves All People."
Qi Suian felt like every passing second was an eternity.
Hordes of ghostly creatures, formed from armored soldiers, transformed into the power of the Six Celestial Ancient Qi to suppress "God Loves All People."
WHOOOO—Suddenly, the sound of a horn echoed.
At first, Qi Suian thought it was just a military bugle, but he soon realized the sound wasn’t coming from the ghostly creatures under the command of the Six Celestial Ancient Qi.
On the horizon, a massive swarm of Angels surged forward. The Angel at their head sounded a horn as they advanced.
The Four Horsemen led countless of the dead forward, joining forces with the ghostly creatures in battle.
’The world is too small. Two Destructive Sacred Objects have already divided the spoils, and there’s no room for a third to cut in.’
’So, whether it was the natural and man-made disasters or the domain of the Ghost Kingdom, it was all just setting the stage.’
’But... can they really succeed?’ Qi Suian had his doubts.
’If one Destructive Sacred Object could truly be destroyed by another, then Apocalypse and the Six Celestial Ancient Qi wouldn’t co-exist. Only one of them would have survived.’
’If they can’t eliminate it, the final result will likely be a new division of the spoils, and the world will once again plunge into chaotic warfare.’
Having calmed down, Qi Suian deduced that if the Emperor of the Xuan Empire was the Six Celestial Ancient Qi, then by the same logic, the King of the Eternal United States had to be Apocalypse.
Considering their collective actions, Qi Suian realized that the chances of survival in this world were practically nil.
He glanced at the survivor count and was somewhat surprised.
’There are still over a hundred people left? The quality of this batch of survivors is really high.’
Just as Qi Suian was thinking this, he saw the red light from outside the palace gates approaching him.
’She broke through... Wait, you’re already whole, so what do you want with me now? What the fuck?’
As the red light drew nearer, he saw the Holy Mother approaching him.
"The Holy Son, the Holy Father, and the Holy Spirit must be a trinity."
The Holy Mother said this the moment she saw Qi Suian.
As for the Holy Son she had birthed and the Holy Spirit acting as the god, they were outside, fighting against the Six Celestial Ancient Qi and Apocalypse.
A one-on-two fight was a losing battle, but their opponent was a special case.
After all, it had been made from a protagonist-level survivor.
"Huh???" Qi Suian turned and fled. "Are you nuts?"
"Since I can’t be the son, you want me to step in and be the father to your son?"
How could he not understand what the Holy Mother was getting at?
If he couldn’t be the Holy Son, then he would be the Holy Father. After all, Qi Suian was too valuable to waste.
That’s why even after birthing the Holy Son and Holy Spirit, the Holy Mother was braving the pressure just to capture Qi Suian.
You had to admit, the Holy Mother’s judgment was truly one-of-a-kind.
If she actually managed to make Qi Suian the Holy Father of her trinity, she would very likely inherit his +9 Fortified Protagonist’s Halo and his Tai Sui God.
With those two boons, the Six Celestial Ancient Qi and Apocalypse would be completely outmatched.
The Holy Mother relentlessly pursued Qi Suian. However, since most of her conceptual power now resided in the Holy Son and the Holy Spirit, her own strength was greatly diminished.
"Bombard her with missiles!" Qi Suian ordered viciously.
His Floating Cannons had self-destructed earlier and hadn’t recovered yet.
Qi Suian had also used his intercontinental missiles on Longjing City, and they were still a long way from being available again.
Fortunately, his strategic missile weapons system still had plenty of other missiles.
Even if they couldn’t kill the Holy Mother, they could at least slow her down.
’Aren’t they always saying time flies in the blink of an eye? Then why are these last two hours so damn hard to get through?’
Missiles flew through the air and struck the Holy Mother, only to be annihilated by her crimson light.
"God has said, nothing in this world shall cause harm..." The Holy Mother’s prayer drifted directly into Qi Suian’s ears.
Qi Suian couldn’t tell if that was an activation condition for a skill or if she was just spouting nonsense to pressure him.
But that didn’t stop him from running toward the Six Celestial Ancient Qi’s location.
Unlike Apocalypse, which lacked a physical form, the Six Celestial Ancient Qi was that very Ghost God.
So, if he could just lure the Holy Mother over there, the Six Celestial Ancient Qi would undoubtedly deal with her.
"AI, Apocalypse’s main forces are currently tied up with ’God Loves All People.’ Do you think we can use this opportunity to escape into space?"
Qi Suian would never entrust his life to others.
If escape was an option, the farther the better.
Preferably, off this chaotic planet entirely.
[The blockade in the current area is too severe. A suitable opportunity is required.]
’So that’s a no,’ he thought. ’The AI was just being tactful.’
"Fine, we’ll wait for an opportunity!" Qi Suian understood, but he wasn’t about to give up. "Protagonist’s Halo, we need a chance to escape this hell and survive."
"I’m counting on you."
He might be able to run and jump for now, but as the battle between the Destructive Sacred Objects raged on, the safe zones were shrinking.
In another half-hour at most, Qi Suian would be dragged into the fighting.