Chapter 244: The Cursed Psalm of Plague and Disease

The sight of the dead skeleton moving made Qi Suian’s eye twitch.

But it was fine. It was just a skeleton, nothing to worry about.

It wasn’t like he’d never seen one before. He’d just dismantled another one not too long ago.

So the Tai Sui God acted decisively, first yanking off the skeleton’s head, then its right arm, before conveniently pocketing the Sacred Artifact Qi Suian needed: the *Disease Chapter*.

The whole process was as smooth as flowing water. Even the Priest who called itself the King of the Forest was left stunned.

"My people..."

"CRUNCH..."

The unlucky creature seemed to be calling for backup, but before it could finish, the Tai Sui God tucked the head under its arm and crushed it into smithereens.

The fragments wobbled, attempting to reform, while the headless body fumbled about.

Clearly, it wasn’t dead yet.

To ensure his own safety, Qi Suian ordered the Floating Cannons to blast its body to dust.

Having lost its body, the head’s wobbling slowed, and after five seconds, it stopped moving completely.

’So it’s true. Interrupt the casting animation and the enemy’s spell will fail.’

’Does that mean when other protagonists show off, it’s actually their protagonist halo casting a skill?’ Qi Suian had suddenly realized a blind spot in his understanding.

’Then why... oh, right. I can just give direct orders.’

Qi Suian realized he really wasn’t a typical protagonist.

Just as he had that thought, the Tai Sui God staggered. Fortunately, it could fly, so it didn’t fall over.

The cause for this was not the Pyramid collapsing, but the fact that all the skeletons were suddenly melting.

Like snow in high heat.

’So these skeletons were only held together because of the so-called King of the Forest and the *Disease Chapter*.’

Meanwhile, Qi Suian was reading the report his AI had instantly generated.

The skeletons had melted, but they had released a host of diseases. This meant that even if one managed to kill the native King of the Forest and obtain the *Disease Chapter*, escaping the Pyramid alive would be impossible.

This was clearly a measure the natives had put in place to ensure the *Disease Chapter* would forever remain within their sacred palace.

An ordinary person would have no way of taking it.

The drawback was also obvious: it only worked once.

And it would likely be a long time before a second attempt could be made.

The diseases would linger inside the Pyramid for a very long time, and with no ventilation, they had no way of dissipating to the outside.

Unfortunately for them, they ran into Qi Suian. Otherwise, the *Disease Chapter* would never have been lost.

’Only A-rank? I thought it would be S-rank.’

Qi Suian was surprised, but he quickly realized that A-rank was normal.

The *Disease Chapter* was part of the *Ode to Apocalypse*, and the *Ode to Apocalypse* was merely a poetic imitation of the *Book of Revelation*.

The gap between the three was enormous.

Qi Suian estimated that the complete *Ode to Apocalypse*, with all its Chapters gathered, would be SSS-rank. A single Chapter, not yet part of the complete set, would naturally be far less powerful.

[Poem of Apocalypse · *Disease Chapter*]

[Quality: A]

[Trait 1: Ode to the White Horse of Pestilence]

[Trait 2: Crown of Disease]

There were only two traits, and their effects were unclear.

No matter. As long as it was useful to him, that’s all that mattered to Qi Suian.

He left the Pyramid first, only then installing it as a module into the Tai Sui God.

For Qi Suian, an A-rank module was the best and most suitable option.

The quality was high, yet it hadn’t reached the qualitative leap of an S-rank item.

[SSS · Cursed Psalm of Plague and Disease]

In that instant, Qi Suian felt as if his entire being was being scoured by endless plagues and diseases.

The Profound Virus and various afflictions within his body felt as though they’d been deified, brimming with immense power.

Qi Suian checked his physical data. It was just an illusion.

’Good news: I can use this module to fully integrate my Profound Virus with my other afflictions, and I can strengthen the Profound Virus by devouring other pathogens.’

’Bad news: it’s now even more troublesome to cure the afflictions plaguing my body.’

’Even better news: the sicker I get, the stronger I become.’

’The best news of all: the Tai Sui God has become a walking disaster. With the Cursed Psalm and the Radiation Crystal, I refuse to believe anyone can beat me.’

For Qi Suian, there was no bad news, only good news.

Unfortunately, since the Psalm module was a special type, few other modules could form combinations or create linked effects with it.

But that was fine. It was already plenty strong.

The next step was simple: find more compatible Sacred Artifacts for new combinations.

He would make the Tai Sui God, his walking disaster, even more terrifying.

’The restrictions on the Profound Virus... are gone.’ Qi Suian suddenly realized one of the virus’s former limitations was gone. Its ability to create zombies now worked in the Sacred Artifact World.

Normally, because of the differences between worlds, its zombie-infection effect was extremely limited. Against powerful individuals, it was basically as effective as a common cold and couldn’t actually turn them into zombies.

But here in the Sacred Artifact World, the Cursed Psalm of Plague and Disease module directly enhanced the Profound Virus’s infectivity and lethality.

This was not only due to the buff from this world’s native Sacred Artifact rules, but also because of the enhancement from the Cursed Psalm of Plague and Disease.

In another world, without the buff from the former, the latter would still strengthen the Profound Virus’s infectivity, but it would remain largely useless against powerful beings.

’But neither the world’s buff nor the module’s enhancement amplified the "individual power" aspect of my Profound Virus. Instead, they boosted the functions of the virus itself.’

’It’s like it restored all the developmental paths I’d previously abandoned and brought them up to par with the Profound Virus’s current level.’

’This is great news. It means I only need to focus on the growth path I want for the Profound Virus, and the Cursed Psalm of Plague and Disease will automatically bring all the other paths up to speed.’

’So the true nature of this module isn’t enhancement, but... completion.’

’I’m really lucky. If I had originally gone down the infection and zombie path, I would have gotten a boost, but I definitely wouldn’t have this "have it all" option.’

Qi Suian couldn’t help but smile. This was truly good luck. He had made the right choice at the beginning, and success had been building on success ever since.

His protagonist halo deserved a large part of the credit.

’Two module slots left. So, what’s next...’ Qi Suian mulled over whether he should use another module.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus, for instance.

If that virus became an SSS-rank module, combined with the Cursed Psalm of Plague and Disease, the Natural Radiation Crystal, and his Profound Virus, he could easily create a massive zombie army.

However, he quickly vetoed the idea.

The reason was simple: he could create them, but he couldn’t control so many.

The priority now was to find a Sacred Artifact that could control plagues and diseases.

Otherwise, having them die off in droves would be a huge hassle.

With uncontrollable power, like his Floating Cannons instantly killing everything, how was Qi Suian supposed to grow?

With the ability to control them, he could do more than just fight and kill. Qi Suian could also conduct further research on the Profound Virus within his own body.

This would allow his long-stagnant virus talent to finally evolve.

’I’ll shelve that for now. It’s not like I’m lacking in damage output.’

’First, I need to get out of this rainforest. I still have to gather intel on the other survivors.’

’Then I’ll figure out my long-term plans.’ Qi Suian knew that the current Doomsday World’s Extraordinary system was based on Sacred Artifacts.

However, he didn’t know what kind of Extraordinary system the other survivors used.

Naturally, he wanted it all. Why would he settle for just the Sacred Artifact system?

’I also need to collect all kinds of Sacred Artifacts.’ When he acquired the *Disease Chapter*, Qi Suian understood that Sacred Artifacts were undoubtedly excellent fuel.

He wasn’t sure about the quality, though. He would have to acquire a few and burn them first to determine their value.

The only problem was that Sacred Artifacts weren’t so easy to obtain.

The Xuan Empire and the Eternal United States were formidable powers, and what’s more, a terrifying concept known as ’War’ loomed over everything.

Qi Suian had already felt the terror of ’War’ from the *Book of Revelation*.

He himself had even been subtly influenced by it.

A simple example was his impulse to use the Human Immunodeficiency Virus as a module to create a zombie army.

With a zombie army, the next logical step would be to kill, kill, kill.

But then what? It offered no real benefit to Qi Suian, which is why his protagonist halo managed to pull him back from the brink.

Furthermore, zombies weren’t people; they couldn’t effectively secure benefits for Qi Suian.

Slaughter was easy, but what about the aftermath? What Qi Suian needed were Extraordinary systems and sufficient fuel.

War might satisfy the need for the latter, but it would bog him down in a quagmire, leaving Qi Suian with no time to research the former.

War doesn’t require wisdom; it only demands battle and death. Benefits are a luxury reserved for the living.

As the dead, zombies certainly couldn’t acquire any.

Especially since these zombies lacked self-awareness and depended entirely on Qi Suian’s control. Even if he didn’t actively control them, the AI would have to use him as a relay.

In that case, Qi Suian would be under immense strain, and his AI would be forced to divert a massive amount of its processing power.

The result would be getting trapped in a never-ending war.

If you walk a dark road long enough, you’re bound to meet a ghost. There’s no such thing as an ever-victorious general.

Once caught in the vortex of war, even with a +6 enhanced protagonist halo granting high-speed growth, Qi Suian wouldn’t be able to leverage his advantages to develop quickly.

And then, death would be the obvious outcome.

His own enhanced protagonist halo might even be taken by the protagonist of the survivors, or stolen by the protagonist of the Sacred Artifact World.

Those two protagonists had powerful backers. Qi Suian, on the other hand, was just a thorn in their side, relying solely on his +7 enhanced protagonist halo to survive.

’I can’t go down the path of war... okay, that’s not realistic. I can only be more cautious.’

’So, protagonist halo, you’d better put in some extra work. I’m counting on you to carry me through this.’

’If things get too bad, just lower my intelligence so I can break free from war’s influence.’ Qi Suian didn’t count on his AI; it would likely be affected as well.

He could only rely on his X-rank protagonist halo, Celestial Fate: Profound.

If even his protagonist halo couldn’t withstand it, then there was no hope for Qi Suian.

In Qi Suian’s eyes, the ’War’ from the Destructive Sacred Object, the *Book of Revelation*, was a conceptual rule.