The Rule-Breaker of the Doomsday Game

Emperor Zhiyue quickly made good on his promise. Once Qi Suian had his resources and laboratory, he didn’t emerge again.

The Crown Prince visited him twice during this period, but Qi Suian turned him away both times, claiming to be too busy.

He was immersed in a sea of knowledge; he had no time to bother with such matters.

So he ignored all subsequent attempts to visit as well.

’As I thought, the soul seed the World Will gave me is a ghost seed.’

’Although the Ghost Control Technique isn’t what I imagined—a method for creating ghosts—its understanding of them is indeed far deeper than my own.’

’The Royal Shadow Guards, for instance, are, to some extent, already a fusion of human and ghost.’

’But their fusion is unique. It’s a spiritual melding that uses a ghost ability, similar to a mental brand, to warp the Royal Shadow Guards’ minds.’

’This makes them unconditionally loyal to the Ziyue Dynasty and humanity itself.’

’However, because of this very ability, if the melding goes too far, the effect reverses, and they swing from one extreme to the other.’

’This is the process by which a Royal Shadow Guard becomes one of the Ghost People.’

’This means that from the very beginning, Royal Shadow Guards are treated as disposable. The individuals who are modified have no chance of surviving more than a year before they are eliminated.’

’Unless they can complete the transformation before being eliminated, there’s no way for them to survive.’

Qi Suian recorded large amounts of data in his notes for future reference.

’The Royal Family’s research on ghosts has even reached the level of human nature. The Longevity Dew is one of its fruits.’

’It’s just that they lack Yang energy, so their research into the human nature of ghosts has significant gaps.’

’Once they obtain a large amount of Yang energy from the survivors, their research on ghosts will likely enter a period of explosive growth.’

According to the contents of the Ghost Control Technique, the Royal Family’s research into ghosts had actually been in gradual decline over the past century, nearly reaching a point of stagnation.

They had hit a technological bottleneck that they were unable to break through.

’Life really does find a way. The Zhiyue People are something else. A bunch of ordinary people managed to research a mountain of data on ghosts just by studying them.’

’They’ve even begun to touch upon some of the fundamental rules, but unfortunately, due to their technological bottleneck, their work is still too rudimentary.’

Qi Suian wasn’t about to complain, though. No need to be picky about something he got for free.

He then took out the Twin Soul Seed: Double Lotus and began his analysis.

With his prior experience researching holy relics, combined with the Ghost Control Technique, numerous ideas were already forming in his mind.

’First, the Profound Virus is still the foundation.’

’That can’t change.’

’The problem is, the Profound Virus probably isn’t qualified to assimilate this soul seed.’

As Qi Suian delved deeper into his analysis, he discovered that the soul seed required a specific corresponding format to operate, a format he did not recognize.

Therefore, he had no confidence he could crack it.

’So I’ll need my protagonist’s plot armor to help out,’ Qi Suian mused, stroking his chin.

The soul seed was a tough nut to crack—like a stubborn, prickly hedgehog. To get a hold of it, you had to find a way to flip it over.

Otherwise, there was no way to get it done.

"AI, what do you think would happen if I installed this soul seed directly into a module slot?" Qi Suian considered giving it a try.

[I would not recommend that. It might produce impressive results, but it is, after all, a ghost seed.]

The AI, naturally, voiced its opposition.

’It was just putting it nicely. The reality was that the Tai Sui God didn’t need such high-quality feed; anything it assimilated became an SSS-rank module anyway.’

’It would be an absolute waste.’

But it knew Qi Suian wouldn’t listen if it said that directly, which is why it mentioned the potential risks instead.

Hearing this, Qi Suian conceded the point and glanced at the Tai Sui God’s armor value.

At some point, it had reached 125 points and completed another evolution.

The AI figured he was busy and hadn’t reminded him, since it wasn’t a particularly urgent matter at the moment.

"I’ll install a module for the Tai Sui God now," Qi Suian said. Now that he’d noticed, he wasn’t going to let it wait.

[I advise against installing it for now. It would be better to wait until you’ve obtained a camouflage or mimicry module from the World Will.]

[According to my calculations, due to the ghost fuel used previously, there isn’t enough remaining evolutionary energy for the Tai Sui God to evolve twice more.]

Each evolution meant its resource requirements would increase.

"Don’t worry. We still have those ten ghosts the Ziyue Dynasty is getting for us. Even accounting for some degradation, two more evolutions won’t be a problem."

Qi Suian was confident enough to proceed with the installation.

What if the Ziyue Dynasty went back on their word? It didn’t matter. With the complete Ghost Control Technique, it would just be a little more troublesome for Qi Suian to enter the Truth Layer.

Besides, the Doomsday Game would continue to pull him into the Truth Layer, so there would be plenty of other opportunities.

[You should understand that a World Will exists in this world, and ghosts are a set of rules derived from It. You need to be cautious.]

Qi Suian knew that without the AI’s reminder.

"I know," Qi Suian retorted. "But given its power, would we even have the strength to resist if it decided to act against us, regardless of what we do?"

If the World Will of the Ghost World really decided to discard him after he’d served his purpose, Qi Suian would have no power to resist.

So he had no choice.

And since he had no intention of giving up, he could only brace himself and press forward.

He didn’t need to worry about the future; the present was what mattered.

Without waiting for the AI’s response, Qi Suian took out an elemental material and installed it directly into one of the Tai Sui God’s module slots.

[SSS-Rank: Artificial Elemental Solid Matter]

This material module didn’t increase his armor value at all. Instead, it increased his elemental affinity and resistance.

The former governed things like energy ductility and stability, while the latter enhanced his corresponding tolerances.

Combined with the temporary resistance boost and adaptation from the Nirvana Insect Cocoon, it resulted in much greater survivability.

Of course, it also enhanced various energy-based technologies and electronics-related modules.

The Wind Master flight system, for example, now had sufficient elemental tolerance to handle a higher overload threshold and greater burst intensity.

The AI was another example. With the addition of the new material, its operational efficiency improved, and its heat dissipation problems were greatly reduced.

’Next is the anti-elemental defense module.’

It might seem like he was just stacking redundant systems, but in reality, all these actions were to ensure the Tai Sui God had enough survivability in all sorts of extremely harsh environments.

The elements available through Qi Suian’s Profound Elemental Attachment Technique were comprehensive. As long as the situation wasn’t completely outlandish—like being thrown into a black hole—it could handle it.

’I’ll just have to wait for the next one,’ Qi Suian thought with some regret.

If he had an anti-elemental defense module, his other defensive and shield modules would definitely see another boost.

Unfortunately, he was out of module slots.

Fortunately, the modules were almost all passive, with only a few requiring active triggering. Otherwise, with so many of them, Qi Suian wouldn’t have known how to use them all.

A person’s energy is finite, and Qi Suian’s was mostly consumed by his studies and research in his quest to become stronger. As a result, he wasn’t particularly familiar with the practical application of his modules.

"Sir, His Highness the Crown Prince is here to see you," a young attendant announced from outside Qi Suian’s laboratory, having come once again to seek an audience.

Qi Suian’s first, impatient impulse was to send him away again.

But he swallowed the words before they could escape his lips.

’He’s come three times now. Could he be here to deliver some kind of opportunity to my doorstep?’

’Why else would he be so persistent?’ Qi Suian muttered. ’I might as well just meet with him. It’ll save him the trouble of coming back to bother me again.’

Previously, Qi Suian had assumed the Crown Prince was merely trying to recruit him—after all, that much was public knowledge.

But to be turned away twice and still return a third time showed genuine sincerity.

Coupled with his own plot armor, this was starting to feel a lot like a Treasure-Bringing Child showing up.

"Please escort His Highness the Crown Prince to the drawing room and entertain him well. I will be there shortly," Qi Suian replied, finally giving an affirmative answer.

As for why he wasn’t going immediately... well, of course, he had to clean up his laboratory first.

It was filled with his extremely precious equipment and samples. He certainly couldn’t just leave them lying around; he had to keep them on his person.

If some accident were to happen while he was away, it would be a real mess to deal with.

Qi Suian would truly go on a killing spree to retrieve his belongings.

To prevent such a thing from happening, he had to secure his things himself. He certainly wasn’t going to trust others not to get any funny ideas.

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

"Your Highness, the man is far too arrogant! To think he would only send a servant to receive you," an aide at his side said indignantly.

"Especially after being turned away twice already. Taking it all together, it’s a clear show of disrespect."

"If they were ordinary people, it wouldn’t matter. But this was the Crown Prince visiting in person. Even if he didn’t want to accept the offer of recruitment, he shouldn’t have shown such an attitude."

"Even Nangong Yuan had personally welcomed you with the utmost respect."

"Enough. It’s not unusual for talented individuals to have a few quirks. He isn’t from the Celestial Capital, so it’s only natural he might be ignorant of certain points of etiquette," the Crown Prince said, defending Qi Suian.

"Everyone is different. Besides, since I’m the one trying to recruit him, it’s fine for me to take a more humble stance."

The aide fell silent upon hearing this. He couldn’t understand what sort of Magic Power this man possessed that could make the Crown Prince lower himself time and time again.

"But... what if he’s merely strange, with no actual talent?" the aide said, resigned.

"And how does our judgment compare to His Majesty’s?" the Crown Prince said with a smile. "His Majesty, the Emperor, has acknowledged this man’s talent. If I were to deny it..."

"...it would only mean my own judgment is lacking, that I am incapable of recognizing a true genius."

The aide felt a strange sense of déjà vu regarding the Crown Prince’s attitude, but he couldn’t quite find the right words to describe it.

Even if he could, it wouldn’t be appropriate to say them aloud.

"The Crown Prince speaks truly." The aide could only offer a tactful response, which was his polite way of saying, ’Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.’

What else could he do? Their respective statuses were not equal. He couldn’t persuade the Crown Prince, nor could he resort to forceful methods. He could only go along with it.

The Crown Prince, meanwhile, sat in his seat and waited quietly for Qi Suian’s arrival, without a hint of complaint, perfectly embodying the image of a ruler desperate for talent.

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