Dodging the massive tentacles that shot out from the Pillar of Flesh and Blood, Qi Suian casually tucked the black jade stone into his clothes.
"This thing... it’s actually self-aware???" Naturally, Qi Suian wasn’t on guard against the Pillar of Flesh and Blood, the life force of the Profound God.
Instead, he was wary of the Source of Profound Virus he had just acquired.
Anyone with eyes could see that the Pillar of Flesh and Blood was conscious; otherwise, why would it have attacked Qi Suian?
’But for a stone to be conscious too? That’s a huge problem.’
’Who knows if this thing is a trap.’
’For example, what if the Pillar of Flesh and Blood is the Profound God’s physical body, and the black jade stone is its soul? Then they could merge, swallow me whole, and bring about the Profound God’s complete resurrection.’
This wasn’t just some baseless speculation on Qi Suian’s part. In his previous life, his Zombie Dominator self might very well have been possessed by the Profound God in the later stages.
Otherwise, how could he have become so absurdly powerful?
The reasoning was simple. Since both the Watchman Morning Company and the Divine Prayer Association were likely destroyed by him, he must have obtained both the Source of Profound Virus and the Profound God’s life force.
Combined with his own Celestial Fate: Profound, it was difficult for Qi Suian not to consider the possibility of possession.
’A matching set, you say? If I could master it, it would certainly be a good thing, but I’m not arrogant enough to think I can control a god.’
’Even one that’s been split into three parts.’
"MOO~"
A bovine roar reverberated through the air. It didn’t originate from any vocal organs on the Pillar of Flesh and Blood, but from sonic waves generated by its vibrating flesh.
Qi Suian felt a distinct sense of discomfort as the sonic waves washed over him.
’My entire body feels like it’s full of countless fissures, constantly being battered by these sonic waves.’
"The Tai Sui God couldn’t block it? But doesn’t it have an expedition-grade ecological circulation system?"
’Normally, the ecological circulation system should only be affected after the Tai Sui God is destroyed. But this time, it pierced straight through two layers of protection.’
[The Tai Sui God’s evolution count is insufficient. The Expedition-Grade Ecological Circulation System is also not a shield or defense-type module.]
’I’d been treating the ecological circulation system as a protective layer, but it’s really just for internal life support, not for actual defense.’
’After all, Chunyu Hu saw right through it when he became a Corpse King.’
’So it’s not surprising that it’s being affected by the Pillar of Flesh and Blood now.’
"Activate the force field. Annihilate this thing," Qi Suian ordered without hesitation.
’This thing is no pushover, and I probably can’t control it.’
’My Profound Virus development might be flawed without this Pillar of Flesh and Blood...’
’...but that’s a problem for another day. If I don’t deal with this now, I’ll be the one to die in a few days when the Pillar of Flesh and Blood finishes developing.’
The AI responded at once. The Divine Purification Force Field activated, instantly enveloping the Pillar of Flesh and Blood.
"MOO!!!"
This time, the roar that vibrated from the Pillar of Flesh and Blood was tinged with pain.
"It... resisted." Qi Suian’s expression soured. The Divine Purification Force Field, which had been infallible against the Profound Virus, had been stymied by the Pillar of Flesh and Blood.
"Floating Cannons, follow up. Rapid fire."
’Since I’ve decided to eliminate this threat, I need to act decisively.’
Ten Floating Cannons fired their Dark Energy Beams at once. Under the combined assault of the beams and the Divine Purification Force Field, the Pillar of Flesh and Blood finally began to disintegrate.
But the effect wasn’t as good as he’d hoped; in fact, writhing tendrils of flesh were already beginning to fill the disintegrating areas.
"It doesn’t just have resistance, it can regenerate..."
Only then did Qi Suian understand the true value of the Pillar of Flesh and Blood’s three traits.
He was certain that its ability to survive the assault from the Floating Cannons and the force field was absolutely due to its third trait: Divinity.
Otherwise, an ordinary zombie would have been utterly powerless to resist.
Combined with its other two traits, Undying and Indestructible, it had no issues with regeneration speed or self-preservation.
’If those first two traits were talents, they’d be SSS-rank at a minimum. Divinity is probably X-rank.’
’After all, a Regressor’s SSS-rank talent was merely called Indestructible Body.’
’I’m screwed. I can’t beat this thing.’ Qi Suian watched as the Pillar of Flesh and Blood’s resistance rapidly increased under the sustained assault. ’It also has some kind of adaptive evolution ability.’
Qi Suian’s expression was grim. As for running, where could he even go?
The world was vast, true, but the Pillar of Flesh and Blood’s growth was anything but slow. According to the AI’s projections, if left unchecked, it could envelop the entire planet within a month.
At that point, all he could do was wait to die.
So if he couldn’t kill it in its initial stages, it would be nearly impossible once it had fully developed.
This must be why his Celestial Fate: Profound weakens the Zombie Lords.
If you can deal with it early on, it’s a great opportunity. If you can’t, it becomes a catastrophe. A classic case of fortune and disaster being two sides of the same coin.
’From the looks of it, the Celestial Fate, the Source, and the Life Force—these three are not on good terms.’
’Celestial Fate is an independent entity that covets both the Source and the Life Force. There’s a ninety percent chance it’s on my side.’
’The Life Force is at the top of the food chain; the Source is no match for it, which is why the Source is radiating an emotion akin to fear.’
He was tempted to gamble on his Celestial Fate: Profound, to see if it could devour both of them.
But this talent was too ethereal and elusive. Even though it was fully active now, he had no way to control it consciously. He could only benefit from it passively.
’With my meager abilities, how could I even dare to mess with an X-rank talent? I can’t even fully analyze an S-rank one.’
His Celestial Fate: Profound was, in a way, on the same level as the Pillar of Flesh and Blood. The Source of Profound Virus, on the other hand, was merely S-rank and naturally couldn’t compare.
For a moment, Qi Suian was overcome with a sense of powerlessness.
’The enemy’s hacks are even more broken than mine. How am I supposed to fight this?’
[Recommendation: Significantly increase the Tai Sui God’s evolution count and enhance the Divine Purification Force Field via new modules. There is a probability of success.]
"How much is ’significantly’, and what exactly is the ’probability of success’?" Qi Suian asked.
[Preliminary estimate: A minimum of 10 evolutions is required, for a thirty percent probability of success.]
"..." When Qi Suian saw the number 10, he knew he couldn’t count on the Tai Sui God.
’He’d have to acquire the armor value for ten evolutions, and that’s assuming the cost doesn’t increase exponentially again.’
’He had no idea how many zombies he’d have to burn to get enough armor value for ten evolutions. Especially since with each evolution, the required armor value stayed the same, but the resources needed to generate it increased.’
’After all, the armor value was just a progress bar; the actual enhancements were to the module slots. Therefore, the more modules he had, the more resources were required. The cost wasn’t based on the armor value.’
’And he had to accomplish all of that within a month just for a thirty percent chance of winning. It was completely overwhelming.’