Chapter 328: Fortune, Upon Which Misfortune Leans

After thousands of years, the birth of a new Immortal Mage ignited public opinion across the land.

What was even more shocking was that this Immortal Mage was the obscure Ninth Prince of the Yunhan Dynasty.

Soon, all sorts of intelligence began to circulate. A good-for-nothing had actually become an Immortal Mage?

It was simply too absurd. For a time, voices of doubt and even ridicule rose one after another.

They cursed the remnants of the Yunhan Dynasty, claiming they would stoop to any foolish trick to restore their nation.

It wasn't until an invisible force obliterated several First-Grade Mages who came looking for trouble above the Celestial Sea Capital that everyone realized it wasn't a lie—it was real.

And then, the Yunhan Dynasty was restored.

They didn't even have to lift a finger. Regions bowed their heads in submission, rebel armies scattered, and Warlords pledged allegiance.

Even Spirit Demons with ulterior motives proclaimed, "I am a demon of the Yunhan Dynasty! I was previously coerced."

The entire process was as smooth as flowing water. Aside from the common people who died, everything returned to its former state of peace and order.

Then, the Ninth Prince, Luo Geng, ascended the throne to become His Majesty the Emperor and decreed that the former Warlords report to the capital.

He also issued numerous policies targeting the Mage Families.

Naturally, this was not Luo Geng's doing, but the work of the Counselor, Prince Li Luo Yu.

The Mage Families complained endlessly but dared not disobey, at most resorting to some minor schemes in secret.

Opposing an Immortal Mage was simply an act of folly.

As for Emperor Luo Geng, who had only recently ascended the throne, he once again entered seclusion.

No one knew what he was doing.

It wasn't that no one tried to pry—it was that everyone who tried ended up dead.

Under the might of overwhelming force, all voices of dissent vanished.

Even the Mage Families dared not use their previously infallible weapon of public opinion.

Public opinion could, at most, condemn him, but Luo Geng would actually dare to kill them.

Qi Suian had paid some attention to the situation in the Yunhan Dynasty, but not too much.

He had now returned to Vermilion Town.

The town was remote and had been largely unaffected.

The Spiritual Root disease, on the other hand, had now spread to Sixth-Grade Mages.

The overall infection rate had also risen sharply.

However, because of major events like the emergence of the Immortal Mage and the new Emperor's ascension, it was once again swept under the rug.

'How can we let dissonant news spoil such good times?'

Furthermore, since the possession was swift and the "treatment" was remarkably easy, it didn't attract much attention.

Worse comes to worst, you just cut it off and it grows back. Thus, hardly anyone was concerned about the Spiritual Root disease.

Many even promoted it, claiming it was a sign of certain Spiritual Roots manifesting externally.

After all, with so many people, all sorts of strange phenomena were bound to appear.

After Qi Suian returned, he discovered that Yuan An no longer seemed to be serving in Vermilion Town.

He didn't know if the man was dead or had been promoted and transferred away.

There was just one problem: Vermilion Town no longer seemed to have a Mage overseeing it.

Most likely, the Yunhan Dynasty was too preoccupied with the affairs of its restoration to handle it.

Vermilion Town was just a small place, so it was bound to be overlooked.

Therefore, it being left vacant was to be expected.

After strolling around, Qi Suian planned to break the seal, slaughter the Spirit Demon to use as a Melting Furnace, and take the Immortal Spiritual Root.

"I have to say, this seal is quite sturdy."

"Most likely set by an Immortal Mage," Qi Suian concluded after a full inspection.

Qi Suian estimated the seal's strength. After some calculations, he determined he couldn't break it on his own.

'That makes it simple, then. I'll just use the Floating Cannons.'

'To this day, very few things can withstand a Dark Energy Beam from a Floating Cannon.'

"I need to find the core's location before I make a move."

Of course, Qi Suian already knew where the core was.

It was at the Zhuang Family's residence.

The Zhuang Family estate was now long dilapidated.

It had remained vacant, as no one dared to occupy it. After all, the entire family had mysteriously vanished.

No one would dare risk such a bizarre fate.

'What if I move in and disappear too?'

Thus, in Vermilion Town, the Zhuang residence had become a notoriously haunted house.

This, however, worked to Qi Suian's advantage. Otherwise, he would have had to go on a killing spree to clear the area.

'As for not clearing out Vermilion Town? No matter. When the seal breaks, there will likely be an energy shockwave.'

'Forget the people—the entire town won't survive.'

Qi Suian, of course, had no intention of saving anyone. A matter of this importance had to be kept secret.

In the Spirit Root World, the dead couldn't leak secrets for now. Besides, these dead would likely be vaporized, leaving no remains. Even if they wanted to leak secrets, they wouldn't have the means.

"Such a fine residence. What a pity."

"If only you'd been a little tougher, a little luckier, you wouldn't have had the misfortune of running into me."

"Otherwise, you could have continued being local tyrants, and the Zhuang Family wouldn't have... oh, right, the main branch of the Zhuang Family is gone too, it seems."

As Qi Suian spoke, he began maneuvering the Floating Cannons to select a position.

'That Spirit Demon is quite large. Once it's unsealed, the commotion definitely won't be small.'

'I just wonder if my actions will attract Luo Geng.'

'His spatial abilities are certainly convenient, especially after his immortalization.'

Luo Geng might not know about the situation in Vermilion Town, but he had definitely obtained the Yunhan Dynasty's Immortal Spiritual Root. Even if he hadn't fully refined it and had only completed the symbiosis, he could still use it.

But things had already come to this. Despite his worries, Qi Suian wouldn't back down.

"Maximum power."

After he spoke those two words, the Floating Cannons began to charge.

Once the dark energy had gathered to its peak, it was fired.

The Dark Energy Beam pierced straight through the ground, plunging deep underground until it reached the seal.

The instant the seal came into contact with the Dark Energy Beam, it was disintegrated.

At the same time, the Spirit Demon within the seal sensed the breach and its eyes snapped open.

The Spiritual Power in its body began to surge, and its soul flared.

Its massive body struggled to rise. As the seal shattered, the pressure binding it lessened.

'Who would use such a brutish method?' The Spirit Demon, Zimeng, blinked its compound eyes, a look of confusion on its face.

It had the form of a giant purple spider, wreathed in a dream-like mist.

Within its body resided a space-type Immortal Spiritual Root named Endless Universe, as well as high, mid, and low-grade Spiritual Roots of the dream and illusion types.

However, this Immortal Spiritual Root was not its own; it had been forcibly transplanted into its body, and it could not be fully utilized.

To a certain extent, not only did it fail to be a boon, but it actually interfered with its original Spiritual Root abilities.

'I can be sure that the one taking action is definitely not the person who captured and sealed me back then.'

'A good opportunity!' Before it could think any further, Zimeng sensed the seal completely shattering and unhesitatingly activated the power of the space-type Immortal Spiritual Root, Endless Universe.

It instantly escaped the sealed space.

Simultaneously, the sealed space collapsed, creating a terrifying shockwave that erupted from below.

The entire town of Vermilion Town was instantly engulfed, generating intense spatial fluctuations.

'It's out. As expected, it's a space-type Immortal Spiritual Root.'

A voice emerged beside Zimeng's ear. It turned its head to look, only to see a black-armored fist the size of a clay pot rapidly expanding in its vision.

Fortunately, it was no ordinary Spirit Demon. It immediately stretched the space, simultaneously forming multiple spatial barriers as it attempted to flee.

The effect was quite good; it did indeed dodge the punch. However, it suffered numerous wounds from being cut by space itself.

After all, the Immortal Spiritual Root, Endless Universe, was not its own but a foreign parasite. Even if it could force its use, it couldn't unleash its full power.

However, before it could celebrate for long, it discovered its enemy had broken through all the spatial defenses and closed the distance in an instant.

It couldn't activate the Immortal Spiritual Root, Endless Universe, again so quickly, so it could only rely on its own illusion and dream-type Spiritual Roots.

"Form Swap..."

BANG!

Did it really think it could clash with Qi Suian without an Immortal Spiritual Root?

Zimeng's spider head was smashed to pieces, and the resulting blast tore apart most of its thorax.

It wasn't dead, but it was close.

Just as Qi Suian was about to deliver the killing blow, a sense of foreboding washed over him. Without hesitation, he yanked the half-demolished Zimeng to his side and retreated several steps.

Where he had been standing, a hand tore through space, grabbing at empty air.

Qi Suian, of course, recognized the hand. It belonged to none other than the Emperor of the Yunhan Dynasty, Luo Geng.

'He was drawn here by the spatial fluctuations, just as I expected.'

After all, since he also possessed a space-type Immortal Spiritual Root, sensing it wouldn't be difficult.

"Hand over the Immortal Spiritual Root, and this matter will be dropped."

"My ambition is ascension."

"After I depart, the Yunhan Dynasty is yours to do with as you please," Luo Geng's cold voice transmitted.

'It seems he's at a critical point in his refinement and can't free himself completely.'

Seeing this, Qi Suian violently tore the Immortal Spiritual Root from the Spirit Demon Zimeng's body.

He tossed it over casually. The hand caught the Immortal Spiritual Root, slowly smoothed out the wrinkles in space, and then retreated back into the spatial rift, vanishing without a trace.

"You... How could you hand over the Immortal Spiritual Root!!!" The recovering Zimeng's expression was one of shock. It couldn't comprehend why Qi Suian would give away something so precious.

'Shouldn't he have kept it for himself?'

Qi Suian, however, just chuckled. "Blessings and curses are intertwined."

Before he saw the Immortal Spiritual Root, Qi Suian naturally wanted it.

But after seeing it, he no longer did.

For no other reason than the so-called Immortal Spiritual Root was the very source of the Spiritual Root disease.

That was why the Spiritual Root disease had erupted so bizarrely.

It wasn't spreading through conventional means at all, but directly through spatial abilities.

And the anchor point, naturally, was the hereditary illness within everyone's bodies.

Of course, if that were the only problem, Qi Suian wouldn't have given it away.

The real reason was that the Immortal Spiritual Root's consciousness was extremely active, and it possessed a will of its own.

This meant the Immortal Spiritual Root was, in fact, a unique kind of sentient being, capable of using its own abilities directly.

In some respects, the Immortal Spiritual Root's power was even greater than his own.

Therefore, even if it had fallen into his hands, he had no confidence he could control it.