After their conversation, Yuan An sincerely invited Qi Suian to be a guest in Vermilion Town.
Qi Suian didn't refuse. It was a rare invitation; otherwise, if he truly wanted to accomplish something here, he'd have to resort to a massacre.
It was clear the other man had misunderstood him.
Through some subtle probing, Qi Suian learned that Yuan An saw him as a Fifth-Grade Mage.
In reality, he had no such parasite in his body, which meant he wasn't even a Ninth-Grade Mage.
As for Yuan An, he still had some doubts about the questions Qi Suian had asked him, but they vanished the moment he saw Qi Suian summon a Fei as a mount.
He simply chalked it up to Qi Suian testing him.
Qi Suian had the Fei retract all of its lethal Abyssal Virus, making it behave more like a conventional summon.
He then used it as a mount, since he had to carry Yuan An down the mountain.
As for the tiger's flesh and blood, Qi Suian didn't let it go to waste, tossing it all into the Melting Furnace.
Upon arriving in Vermilion Town, they drew many curious stares.
In Qi Suian's eyes, the dynasty's territory seemed to be in a state similar to the end of a great dynasty giving way to an era of warlords.
The feudal dynasty was collapsing, and Warlords everywhere were stirring restlessly.
In short, it was a mess.
A small, peaceful place like Vermilion Town was truly a rare sight.
It had likely remained trouble-free due to being both poor and remote.
And then... the AI Brain dropped a bombshell on Qi Suian.
Beneath Vermilion Town, it had detected a high-energy signature in a dormant state.
'That sounds like a contradiction. If it's dormant, how is it still giving off a high-energy signature?'
'This doomsday game really hasn't changed a bit, dropping me right into a boss zone,' Qi Suian thought, already used to it.
It was as if the game itself would feel unwell if it didn't drop him in some perilous region.
'It's dormant and can still put out a high-energy signature. Just how powerful would it be if it recovered?'
Qi Suian's first thought was, of course, to covet it. What else could it be?
After comparing the data, however, Qi Suian temporarily gave up on the idea.
It had, at minimum, 11 points in two of its attributes.
Qi Suian was definitely no match for it.
It might seem like just a two-point difference, but attribute scaling was exponential.
Those two points, especially since they marked the transition from single to double digits, were enough to get Qi Suian killed on the spot.
However, there were probably no more than three such high-energy lifeforms in existence.
So as long as Qi Suian didn't go poking the beast, he wouldn't have to worry about it waking up.
The doomsday game might want him dead, but his protagonist halo was always keeping him alive.
His preliminary estimate was that it was a sealed Spirit Demon. Its strength was unknown, but for now, he'd guess it was comparable to a First-Grade Mage.
Qi Suian went straight for the highest possible estimate.
As for whether ranks existed above First-Grade Mage?
Qi Suian didn't know, and it didn't matter. He could always adjust his assessment once he learned more.
For now, Qi Suian was focused on how to use the Spirit Root system to make himself stronger.
The key conflict was this: once a Spirit Root was removed, a person's own Extraordinary power would disappear.
'So what if the Spirit Root is a parasite? A virus can survive in my body, so why not a parasite?'
He wasn't the type to prioritize appearances over actual power.
'Worst case, I can just infect and assimilate it with the Abyssal Virus, turning the parasite into a viral version.'
Thus, what Qi Suian was thinking about was how to turn a rental car into his own private vehicle.
A public bus was out of the question; although the Spirit Root was resilient, it couldn't withstand that much abuse.
So, for now, it was only at the rental car level.
"If I may be so bold, Sir, where do you plan to travel next?" Yuan An asked, only after leading Qi Suian to a fine residence and serving him good tea.
"I have no specific destination. I merely came down from the mountains to travel the world."
"I just never imagined the world would have fallen into such chaos," Qi Suian said nonchalantly.
'That part was true, anyway. But first, he needed to obtain a complete Mage legacy.'
He was certain that the Spirit Root system was something special.
Yuan An did possess a Mage legacy, but because his master had died so suddenly, the lineage that should have extended to the Seventh Grade now only went as far as the Eighth.
Furthermore, it was an incomplete Eighth-Grade legacy, which was why Yuan An had been stuck at the Ninth Grade, unable to refine a second Spirit Root.
One Spirit Root per grade.
For the three grades from Ninth to Seventh, one could refine three Lower-Grade Spirit Roots.
A legacy involved more than just refining Spirit Roots; if the Spirit Roots were from a single lineage and combined in the correct order, a unique marvel would manifest.
This could compensate for any lack of compatibility with the Spirit Roots.
So, in the end, one person could possess three of each: Lower, Middle, and Upper-Grade Spirit Roots.
"The Yunhan Dynasty is in a precarious state right now. If you are so inclined, Sir, you could travel to the Celestial Sea Capital. You may find what you need there."
"A great edifice is about to collapse; it is the perfect time for a man of your talents to make his mark."
"Although the Yunhan Dynasty has weakened, it is still beyond compare for those pretender kings and rebel armies," Yuan An said, recommending that Qi Suian travel to the Court's Imperial Capital.
The moment Qi Suian heard this, he lost all interest in the idea.
'You just said yourself that the world is in turmoil, and you still want me to go there? That's just a death wish.'
Especially after learning that a high-energy lifeform was sealed beneath Vermilion Town, he understood that the Extraordinary power ceiling in this world was by no means low.
After all, the AI Brain's criteria for classifying a "high-energy lifeform" were constantly changing.
The baseline for this classification was the combined strength of Qi Suian and the Tai Sui God, meaning any creature detected as a high-energy lifeform at this stage was, by definition, something Qi Suian couldn't currently defeat.
"I'm in no hurry. It's rare to come across an inhabited place. I should rest well," Qi Suian said, not eager to leave.
The reason was simple. He had found the danger, but he had yet to find the opportunity.
The Spirit Demon sealed in Vermilion Town was certainly not the opportunity Qi Suian was looking for.
He suspected that the Mage who sealed the Spirit Demon might have left behind some kind of legacy in the town, just waiting for a fated person to claim it.
Qi Suian considered his own protagonist halo to be quite potent, so that "fated person" had to be him.
It was just that finding it would take a bit of time.
He definitely didn't lack for luck. He was already here; how could he be missing that tiny bit of fortune?
He just needed time to wait for the right moment to present itself.
Hearing Qi Suian say this, Yuan An was inwardly delighted. He had, of course, been hoping Qi Suian would stay for a while.
After all, Qi Suian was a suspected "Fifth-Grade Mage," and he hoped to consult him on some matters of cultivation.
"It is an honor for Vermilion Town to host you, Sir."
"If you would not be offended, Sir, I can have a guest room prepared in my humble home for your stay," Yuan An immediately offered, trying to curry favor.
"No need. I'll just look around on my own," Qi Suian refused outright.
How could he not see what Yuan An was after? The problem was, he was an empty vessel on the topic; his entire knowledge of the Spirit Root system came from Yuan An himself.
What could he possibly teach him?
This left Yuan An a bit disappointed, but at least Qi Suian wasn't leaving.
So he pressed on, offering to hold a welcome feast for Qi Suian.
Qi Suian refused this as well. After a few perfunctory words, he simply left.
Qi Suian had no time to waste on pleasantries with Yuan An.
Instead, he found a secure location, set up a temporary laboratory, and took out the Spirit Root·Mountain Monarch Order to begin his dissection.
'There's a reason these Extraordinary Parasites are called Spirit Roots.'
'Their original parasitic traits have completely vanished, shifting to a symbiotic model.'
'Not only do they not harm their host, but they actually become a type of indirect Extraordinary organ.'
'They serve to channel energy, reinforce the host, and provide other enhancements.'
'So this external modification is actually beneficial to the human body.'
'If you can ignore their appearance, which doesn't conform to human aesthetics, you could see them as implantable equipment or a form of body modification.'
'It's just that the people of this Spirit Root World have changed their aesthetic standards out of necessity. People from another world would most likely find it unacceptable.'
'However, if one wanted an aesthetically pleasing option, they could try to find this world's protagonist. If he's a Transmigrator, he might have figured out a path to being both powerful and handsome.'
'He might not even need an Extraordinary Parasite as his source of Extraordinary power.'
As Qi Suian dissected the Spirit Root·Mountain Monarch Order, he muttered, "If the protagonist isn't a Transmigrator, then he's probably just going with the flow, choosing Spirit Roots based on strength rather than aesthetics."
The natives are likely accustomed to it; only an outsider would be repulsed.
As for Qi Suian, he was different. He certainly wouldn't be repulsed. After all, he barely even looked human himself anymore, so why would he care about such things?
"As for the three skills of the Mountain Monarch Order, their underlying principles are..." Qi Suian began his in-depth research, but without a host, the three skills were dormant.
He couldn't even activate them artificially, as the conditions weren't right.
Therefore, if Qi Suian wanted to study it, he would have to find a host for the Low-Grade Spirit Root·Mountain Monarch Order.
But... finding a host was not so easy.
After all, the issue of tissue rejection existed.
Generally, the original hosts of a Spirit Root were Spirit Demons, with a small number being human.
The original host was chosen by the Spirit Root's own instinct, so there was no rejection.
Humans who received this treatment were known as Innate Mages, and they could refine Spirit Roots more effectively.
This meant the rejection phenomenon would be much less severe.
Therefore, after a Spirit Root was removed from a Spirit Demon, transplanting it a second time—whether into a human, animal, or plant—would always cause rejection.
Even if Qi Suian transplanted the Mountain Monarch Order back onto a tiger, its original type of host, rejection would still occur, though it would be less severe than transplanting it into a human.
'No host, but that's fine. It's not like I'm a good person anyway.'
'I can just perform some destructive experiments,' Qi Suian thought, beginning his forced research.
And if it broke? It didn't matter. He could find other Spirit Roots to use for experiments in the future.
While Lower-Grade Spirit Roots weren't exactly commonplace, they weren't particularly rare, either.
Qi Suian had already guessed that the reason there were so few Spirit Demons in Vermilion Town was likely related to the one sealed beneath it.
Spirit Demons, having originated from plants and animals, had stronger instincts and thus avoided entering the area.
That was why only a small number of Spirit Demons were active in the vicinity.
Outside of Vermilion Town, however, Spirit Demons were not nearly so scarce.
He couldn't mistake this small sample for the whole picture.
The Yunhan Dynasty probably knew about this as well, which was why they had merely assigned a single Ninth-Grade Mage here as a token presence.
By managing the situation, suppressing information, and keeping the populace ignorant, they could better protect the seal.
Otherwise, if word got out, someone would inevitably covet the powerful Spirit Demon's Spirit Root and try to break the seal.