Chapter 326: Prince Li of Yunhan Has Sent You a Party Invitation

"It was you. You're the one who obtained the Immortal Spiritual Root, aren't you?" Shen Han's gaze fell on the strange man not far away.

He had a vaguely humanoid shape and was followed by a bizarre metal contraption, seemingly some kind of precious artifact.

The man used no magic, showed no effects from a Taoist Scripture, and possessed only an unmatched physical strength.

No matter what technique he employed, the other man could simply tear through it with a head-on charge.

It was as if he were invincible.

Even though he was a first-rank Mage, the head of a renowned Mage Family, he had no idea how to deal with this person.

He had taken a single punch just now, and the left half of his body had been completely shattered.

Though he had recovered now, some kind of power still lingered, coiled within his wounds.

That was why Shen Han had immediately thought of the Immortal Spiritual Root.

There had been widespread rumors about it before, but all investigations had come up empty.

He never imagined that the moment he found a clue would also be the moment of his death.

However, the man gave no reply, instead launching another attack without hesitation.

Shen Han, already in poor condition, had his head blown apart on the spot.

Fortunately, he wasn't dead. For a first-rank Mage, vital spots like the head and heart were no longer fatal.

As long as his divine soul wasn't completely destroyed, he could survive even if only a tiny fragment remained.

Unfortunately, he was given no chance to recover.

By the time he came to his senses, Qi Suian had already stuffed him into the Melting Furnace.

"These first-rank Mages really are crazy enough for this so-called Immortal Spiritual Root," Qi Suian muttered.

Shen Han wasn't the first first-rank Mage he'd killed since leaving home. In any case, after taking two punches from Qi Suian, every single one of them had more or less the same idea: that Qi Suian possessed an Immortal Spiritual Root.

It never even occurred to them that Qi Suian might be walking a different Extraordinary path.

'But I guess that's a limitation of the era.'

'If I hadn't found the source of the Spiritual Root disease, I wouldn't dare be too reckless. I can only carry out simple massacres for now.'

'Otherwise, I'd definitely have to see what it's like to play the villain for a while.'

Qi Suian knew he wasn't invincible yet. On the surface, first-rank Mages were the strongest, but who knew what lurked in the shadows.

If he got arrogant and thought he was unbeatable, only for some enemy to descend from the heavens the very next day and slap him in the face, wouldn't his face be swollen from the humiliation?

'Still, these first-rank Mages really focus on vertical progression.'

'If they were survivors, they'd probably be decked out in derivative talents and skills.'

"A pity. They chose the wrong path. The Spiritual Root is no good thing," Qi Suian muttered.

He then began to confiscate all the Shen Family's assets and personnel.

Anything that might be useful was temporarily kept. Anything that looked useless was stuffed directly into the Melting Furnace.

With Qi Suian's power combined with the Tai Sui God's plundering techniques, it wasn't long before the Shen Family, this great Mage Family, was completely emptied out.

It was a good thing the current Qi Suian wasn't as crazy as he used to be. Otherwise, forget the house; he would have dug up the very foundations for fuel.

The main reason was that these things just didn't produce much value when burned. After all, they weren't Extraordinary Items. The time cost of throwing them into the Melting Furnace was higher than the evolutionary energy they produced.

It was a losing trade, so Qi Suian decided against using them as fuel.

Instead, Qi Suian had Fei eat them.

Fei, now fused with the Mad Cathedral, was a behemoth, and any items it consumed were directly converted into evolutionary energy.

While its efficiency couldn't compare to the Tai Sui God's "growth trifecta," it was another channel nonetheless.

So, he let it eat these large, low-yield objects.

It wasn't a normal living being anyway, and it had no self-awareness, so it wasn't like he was mistreating it.

Only after the entire Shen Family estate was razed to the ground did Qi Suian nod in satisfaction.

"Next up, I'll go to…" Qi Suian slipped back into the Tai Sui God and had the AI take control of their movement.

Qi Suian's own strength was indeed greater than the Tai Sui God's, but he couldn't compete with its functionality.

Especially when it came to speed, the Tai Sui God was much faster than Qi Suian.

Plus, the thing had navigation. He didn't have to worry about getting lost.

So really, Qi Suian was only better than the Tai Sui God at fighting.

[Suspected first-rank Mage approaching. Suggesting we stuff them into the Melting Furnace before departing.]

The AI prompted.

Hearing this, Qi Suian's eyes narrowed.

"Here for me?" Qi Suian was practically a walking disaster.

Who would dare approach him?

[Objective unknown. Possibility: the Shen Family.]

"Oh, right. I'm the visitor here." Qi Suian had subconsciously started treating this place as his own territory. "Perfect. A visitor with ill intentions."

Qi Suian cracked a savage grin.

'Since you've come all this way, you might as well take a seat in the Melting Furnace.'

"Find a place to hide. I'll hit him with something nasty when the time comes," Qi Suian said.

He was certainly stronger than his opponent, but an ambush, a one-hit kill—what's not to love about that?

Qi Suian preferred to end battles as quickly as possible with overwhelming force, rather than putting on some expert's airs.

Enemy dead, battle over. That was the result Qi Suian sought. It didn't matter if it wasn't stylish, as long as it was effective.

With the Tai Sui God's help, Qi Suian quickly found a blind spot perfect for an ambush. Combined with the shielding module, there was no way the other party's divine soul could detect him.

Soon, a person dressed in unusual clothing flew past in the sky.

A minute later, he flew back and landed on the ruins of the Shen estate, a look of bewilderment on his face.

He was a first-rank Mage; his memory was bound to be excellent. There was no way he had gone to the wrong place.

"The Shen Family… was wiped out?" He truly hadn't expected something like this to happen.

This was a renowned Mage Family, presided over by a first-rank Mage, yet they were annihilated so quietly. It seemed not a single living soul had escaped.

Then, a fierce wind howled by his ear, and he hastily dodged.

He was horrified that he'd only noticed the enemy's attack when it was already upon him.

THUD!

Awkwardly, he failed to dodge and took the punch head-on. Fortunately, the magic, artifacts, and Taoist Scripture he wore were all primarily defensive.

The punch didn't shatter his skull, but the immense force sent him flying backward, his body carving a long trench into the ground.

"Wait! I am Luo Yu, Prince Li of the Yunhan Dynasty! Please…" He shouted before he even had a chance to get up.

But Qi Suian completely ignored him. 'This guy feels really solid,' he thought. This was the first first-rank Mage who could still speak after taking one of his punches.

'Besides, so what if his grandmother is Prince Li? What the hell does that have to do with me?'

'It's not *my* grandmother, after all.'

So he went over and smashed three more punches into the man's head.

His head was caved in, but he still wasn't knocked out.

And he was already recovering rapidly.

Apparently, this man's high, middle, and low-grade Spiritual Roots were all geared toward defense, life, and recovery.

That was what produced this level of resilience.

This extreme stat allocation meant his strength and agility were far inferior to other Mages of the same rank.

But damn, he was tough.

The previous head of the Shen Family had lost all ability to resist after just two punches.

Yet this man before him could still speak.

Qi Suian held back, suspecting this was due to some special fortune.

"Alright, then. Tell me about your grandmother, Prince Li Luo Yu," Qi Suian said.

Luo Yu's head was ringing. He was durable, but that didn't mean he could ignore damage.

He still sustained the injuries; he just withstood them better and recovered faster.

"My grandmother… er, *I* am Prince Li Luo Yu." Luo Yu unconsciously went along with Qi Suian's words before quickly correcting himself.

Apparently, Qi Suian had misheard.

Qi Suian was also slightly embarrassed. He really had misheard.

But it didn't matter. His skin was thick enough that his embarrassment didn't show.

"Fine. If you have something to say, say it now."

"If I'm not satisfied, I'll beat you to death," Qi Suian stated bluntly.

Four punches hadn't killed Luo Yu, but that didn't mean Qi Suian couldn't.

He could just hammer the man into a meat paste. Never mind killing him; he could turn him into ostrich meatballs if he wanted.

"If Your Excellency is willing to help restore the Yunhan Dynasty, we are willing to offer an Immortal Spiritual Root as a reward," Luo Yu answered, concise and to the point.

He had come looking for Shen Han, the head of the Shen Family.

He was trying to win over the renowned Mage Families to conspire to restore his dynasty.

"Huh?" Qi Suian was a bit dumbfounded. Where did another Immortal Spiritual Root come from?

"To be able to destroy the Shen Family, and so quietly at that, Your Excellency must be the senior who possesses the Immortal Spiritual Root," Luo Yu continued.

"Although you already possess one Immortal Spiritual Root, the ancient texts state that 'three gives birth to all things.' If you wish to become an Immortal, you will need two more."

"The Yunhan Royal Family has another Immortal Spiritual Root. If you help restore the Yunhan Dynasty, it can be given to you as a gift."

"And don't think that you can just kill us and take it for yourself. The location of this item is a secret that no one knows."

Hearing this, Qi Suian swallowed the words already on the tip of his tongue—'You fool, if I kill you all, it's all mine'—and then realized a problem.

"If no one knows where it is, how are you going to give it to me?" Qi Suian asked.

"It is stored within a Spiritual Artifact and can only be revealed using the divine soul of a Royal Mage as a catalyst," Luo Yu replied without concealment.

"Your calculations are really something," Qi Suian said, speechless. "This is too much trouble. I'd rather just beat you to death."

Qi Suian mused. Restoring a dynasty, some Spiritual Artifact… it was a good opportunity, but… it was complicated.

And there were too many variables in the middle. Too much could go wrong.

For Qi Suian, there wasn't much difference between one Immortal Spiritual Root and two.

He wasn't going to transplant it into himself; he was just using it as a specimen.

Luo Yu's expression changed. He really hadn't expected Qi Suian to be completely unwilling to even think about it.

"Wait! We can discuss this! Everything is negotiable!" he said hurriedly when he saw Qi Suian raise his hand.

He couldn't die. If he, a first-rank Mage, were to die, the Yunhan Dynasty would be completely without hope of restoration.

If this were any other first-rank Mage, he would have been confident and unafraid.

But the man before him was already a 'Half-Step Immortal.' He could genuinely kill him.

"Then let's negotiate. I hope you think before you speak this time. Don't keep trying to manipulate me," Qi Suian said coldly.