Chapter 325: The Death Adaptation Method for a Permanent Abyssal Form

"It's about time. It should be coming out now," Qi Suian said, feeling the fleshy lump that had swelled up on the back of his neck.

The moment the words left his mouth, a ferocious, black, monstrous insect covered in keratinous scales burst forth.

However, only its front half emerged; the rear half remained connected to the back of Qi Suian's neck.

Qi Suian had modeled it after a flexible tentacle combined with the external features of a death worm to create a new appendage.

'Limp, and with no extra control nerves...'

'A failure.' Qi Suian reached out and grabbed the black insect dangling behind him.

As for whether this thing was useful... well, swinging it around to smash people wasn't out of the question.

But in a real practical application, it was just trash. Besides smashing or whipping people, it was truly useless.

Qi Suian cut it right off.

'Didn't get the appendage. A shame.'

'Still, this thing has its uses.' After a moment's thought, Qi Suian came up with a way to recycle the failure.

It was, after all, an artifact nurtured by his Spiritual Root, and it was his own flesh and blood.

With a few modifications and the use of the Profound Elemental Attachment Technique, it could easily be crafted into a weapon.

Alternatively, it could be used as a vessel for his Profound Form and then serve as a module, which would also be a way to conserve resources.

He could even use it without modification. Once the Tai Sui God had a free module slot, he could just shove it in. He just didn't know what it would turn into...

'Victory and defeat are a soldier's constant companions. Better luck next time, hero.' Qi Suian sealed it up and tossed it directly into his Subspace Pocket.

He didn't need the artifact from the Middle-Grade Spiritual Root anyway. As long as the attributes were added, it wasn't a total loss—just a malformed product.

After all, it had been modified from a Spiritual Root and assimilated by the Profound Virus, so naturally, it couldn't be identical to the original version.

Qi Suian could only guarantee the results of what he had planned. As for side projects like this, it was best if he succeeded, but there was no great loss if he failed.

Besides, he'd even gotten a piece of material out of it for free.

After taking care of that, Qi Suian moved on to the next phase of his plan.

This was to perfect the Top-Grade Spiritual Root stage of his Profound Form.

The research was actually already complete. After all, Qi Suian had data from both his Low-Grade and Middle-Grade Spiritual Root stages, plus the full cooperation of Hu Hong, a first-rank Mage.

How could his efficiency possibly be slow with all that?

So, it had actually been completed yesterday. He had just been worried that installing it might affect the hatching of his appendage.

If he had known it was going to fail, Qi Suian would have dug it out yesterday instead of waiting until today.

The installation process itself was no problem. This upgrade patch was primarily focused on maximizing the utilization and absorption rates after transformation.

At the same time, it would enhance the form's duration and intensity, which was the main point.

This was accomplished by utilizing the abilities granted by the Top-Grade Spiritual Root's Taoist Scripture, namely borrowing the power of heaven and earth and communicating with nature.

Of course, Qi Suian couldn't use those kinds of abilities himself—his species was incompatible. Instead, he did it by connecting to the Tai Sui God's Supernova Strong Nuclear Reactor.

Otherwise, where was he supposed to borrow power from out of thin air?

Others could borrow from the world, but as an invader, the world would have to be willing to lend him that power in the first place.

That was why Qi Suian had set his sights on the Tai Sui God's energy.

'No techniques, no artifacts, and no Taoist Scripture.'

'Not even Spiritual Power or a spiritual soul.'

'I've really torn the Spiritual Root system to pieces, throwing out all the useless dregs.'

If the humans of the Spirit Root World had any Extraordinary path other than that of a Mage, they would never mistake Qi Suian for one.

Their Extraordinary powers were monolithic; Qi Suian had none of them, yet his base attributes were already on par with a first-rank Mage.

'The complete Profound Form only lasts for five minutes, but it's not like there isn't a solution.'

'I can use the enhancement effect of my "protagonist's halo"—Super Adaptability—to gradually acclimate to the strain and eventually make the Profound Form permanent.'

'However, that will require a long time and a sufficient number of deaths.'

'Furthermore, it will be somewhat weakened, unable to maintain its complete form. After all, this is adaptation, not evolution.'

Qi Suian began calculating his own data and his plan to turn the Profound Form from an active skill into a passive one.

Losing the complete form meant the black keratinous armor would be gone, and the fangs and claws would devolve.

Essentially, this was making the Profound Form adapt to Qi Suian, rather than Qi Suian adapting to the Profound Form.

It was equivalent to losing the appearance suited for slaughter, but keeping the bonus attributes.

Qi Suian didn't mind. Looking human would make it easier to blend in.

'The downside is that it will require a massive intake of nutrients.'

'Essentially, it uses nutrients as a substitute to offset the consumption from the constant state of overload.'

'My Feast Energy definitely won't be enough, so I'll have to put it on the Tai Sui God's tab.'

As he continued his notes, Qi Suian also discovered a shortcoming.

Namely, he lacked a transformative energy-producing organ.

Something like a Dantian or a Qi Sea. Cultivators and martial artists had their own Magical Power or True Qi, which served as a constantly replenishing resource.

Qi Suian had nothing of the sort. His Feast Energy could act as a substitute, but there was a difference. An energy organ produces energy, whereas the Feast Energy produced by his Feast ability was essentially more like honey—a type of resource.

It could be converted into the energy he needed or used to supplement nutrients, but it couldn't be used directly.

To put it bluntly, it was like nutrients he'd created through photosynthesis.

As for the Profound Virus, it did have energy-like properties, but it was more than just energy, and it certainly wasn't an energy-producing organ.

'There's no good Extraordinary system to use as a reference.' He couldn't just invent one out of thin air; he was incapable of creating something completely outside his area of knowledge.

If anyone was to blame, it had to be the Doomsday Game. It couldn't possibly be his own fault.

It wasn't as if he could control which type of Doomsday World he was sent to.

It wasn't that he couldn't try to jury-rig something based on his own Extraordinary system, but the results would be poor and wouldn't meet his expectations.

Not only would it be a waste of research time and offer little help, but if a better Extraordinary system came along later, he would just have to cut it out all over again.

It was far too much trouble. He was better off just using the Tai Sui God for the time being.

"Smart-brain, estimate how long it will take for me to make the Profound Form a permanent state," Qi Suian asked.

He provided the data, and the smart-brain calculated it instantly.

If it were Qi Suian doing the calculation, it would have taken him at least ten minutes.

[Based on data calculations, the estimated time required is ten years. However, your "protagonist's halo" possesses a rapid growth effect, which will significantly shorten this period.]

[A precise timeframe cannot be accurately estimated.]

"So, what, knock off a zero? Ten months?" Qi Suian muttered, calculating further. 'Too long. Half a month.'

Taking the data the smart-brain had provided, he ran the calculation again himself, arriving at the "half a month" result in just fifteen seconds.

Calculating with data versus calculating from scratch were two completely different speeds.

It was as if the smart-brain had given him the answer, and Qi Suian just had to add the final touch to get the result.

'It's just that the number of deaths might be a little high.'

'On average, I'll have to die once every five minutes, for at least five straight days.'

'After that, my survival time will start to increase steadily.'

The Super Adaptability would naturally need sufficient time to take effect and complete the adaptation process.

'After half a month, my metabolism will increase dramatically, and my own energy consumption will also see a massive spike.'

'But the Profound Form will be completely solidified as a permanent power.'

'I just don't know if it will convert from bonus attributes to base attributes.'

'If it can convert, then breaking through from 9 attribute points to 10, or even 11, would be possible.'

As he said this, Qi Suian suddenly froze, as if he had just remembered something.

'Wait, the Spirit Demon under Vermilion Town... it has an Immortal Spiritual Root!!!' A flash of inspiration struck Qi Suian.

He knew that first-rank Mages were still capped at 9 base attribute points. Therefore, based on his data, the sealed Spirit Demon under Vermilion Town had to have 11 base attribute points—not bonus attributes gained from talents or skills.

Therefore, by comparison, the Spiritual Root inside that Spirit Demon had to be the very Immortal Spiritual Root that all the first-rank Mages were desperately searching for!

'My protagonist's halo is no joke. This is a truly massive opportunity.'

'And the Doomsday Game is really living up to its name, too, always dropping me right on the boss's doorstep.'

An opportunity and a boss weren't mutually exclusive, after all.

If Qi Suian could kill this Immortal-grade Spirit Demon, he could obtain the Immortal Spiritual Root, and that thing was bound to be incredibly valuable.

If he studied it properly, Qi Suian could easily break through his current limits.

'Not only is there an Immortal Spiritual Root, but a Spirit Demon that big, stuffed into the Melting Furnace, could evolve the Tai Sui God at least once.'

Qi Suian glanced at the fuel in the Tai Sui God's Melting Furnace. At most, it could provide for two more evolutions.

The "one evolution" he was referring to was the amount of fuel required for the Tai Sui God's evolution *after* those next two.

'It's a shame there's only one Immortal Spiritual Root. If there were another ninety-nine...'

'...I'd shove them all directly into the Melting Furnace.'

Everything in the world was a matter of suitability. For the Low, Middle, and Top-Grade Spiritual Roots, it was a case of Qi Suian using his superior power to bully the weak.

The Immortal Spiritual Root, however, was a case of a snake swallowing an elephant. He might manage one, but ninety-nine would make him burst.

Qi Suian was very self-aware.

'Going around in circles, only to end up back at Vermilion Town.' Qi Suian was dead set on getting that Immortal Spiritual Root.

Besides, in his current state, he wasn't afraid of that Spirit Demon anymore.

After all, he had his five minutes of being a "true man."

'No, wait. First, I'll go raid a few Mage Families. Even if it's just mosquito legs, it's still meat.'

'I'll also make the Profound Form permanent while I'm at it. The more prepared I am, the higher my chances of victory.'

There were definitely risks, of course. For example, someone else could get there first, or the Spirit Demon could break its seal.

For Qi Suian, however, as long as he was strong enough, any problem could be solved.

If someone got there first, he'd just take it from them. If the demon broke its seal, he'd just beat it into submission.

Only the weak needed to hesitate and worry about consequences.

Qi Suian wasn't invincible yet, but when it came to certain things, he was still capable of refusing to choose and simply taking it all.