Chapter 331: A New Job for the Failed Appendage

"It’s done." Qi Suian looked at the slightly greenish reagent in his hand.

This was the new Abyssal Virus, a genetic weapon specifically targeting Spiritual Roots. Once a Spiritual Root was infected, it would first cause lethargy, followed by pathological changes.

Within seventy-two hours, the infected would either lie dormant and continue to mutate, or they would turn into walking corpses.

As for the transmission methods, for now, there were only three: respiratory, digestive, and contact transmission.

Qi Suian couldn’t manage anything more complex. At his current stage, he was still something of a specialist.

He had allocated more points to survival and combat—it was all for the sake of staying alive, after all—but he simply didn’t have enough energy to study other fields in depth.

That’s why he couldn’t achieve something like conceptual transmission.

Fortunately, this genetic weapon not only targeted Spiritual Roots but could also, to some extent, affect human genetic diseases.

Therefore, it could be cross-infected between humans and the Spirit Root Race. As long as one side was infected, it could be transmitted to the other.

Because the Spirit Root World had reverted to a feudal imperial system, transportation remained primitive.

This was why Qi Suian chose seventy-two hours. However, once it spread to the fifth generation, the time frame would drop drastically.

As for whether this action would offend the Spider God?

Maybe, but Qi Suian had no other choice.

If he did nothing, his fate was to be a sacrifice in the Spirit Root Race’s vassal transformation ritual—a certain death.

But if he wiped out the Spirit Root Race, there was a chance the Spider God wouldn’t care about such a trivial matter.

The former offered no hope of survival, while the latter at least offered a chance to live. Naturally, Qi Suian had to take the gamble.

’Next is spreading it. I need to spread it from multiple points, and I have to choose the right people.’

Qi Suian’s targets were, of course, the Mages.

Specifically, the members of Mage Families responsible for external communications and outreach.

These individuals traveled frequently for business and were highly mobile.

With their help, he could achieve his objectives.

Traveling merchants and caravan guards among the common folk would also work, but they moved too slowly.

The Spiritual Root-targeting genetic weapon in Qi Suian’s possession would reach its final effect within seventy-two hours, but that didn’t mean there would be no issues in the interim.

The symptoms during this period were trivial for Mages, but not necessarily for ordinary people.

A simple fever or cold could be fatal to a commoner.

This wasn’t a world of modern cities. Productivity, medical technology, and the like were all underdeveloped.

Simply put, few commoners could afford medical treatment. Their lot was to endure minor ailments and die from major ones.

With the help of his cerebral AI, Qi Suian quickly selected the first batch of candidates.

Then, of course, he began to spread it.

Thanks to his considerable personal strength, the dissemination process was extremely fast.

And the entire process was silent and undetected.

The only ones capable of detecting Qi Suian now were first-rank Mages specializing in reconnaissance or perception, and Luo Geng, the protagonist who existed outside normal parameters.

It was impossible for anyone else to notice Qi Suian.

Unfortunately, the Apocalypse Game had brought him to this world too late. If he had been earlier, he might have been able to intercept some of Luo Geng’s major opportunities.

He might not have been in such a hurry then.

The simplest example was the red dot on the Treasure Map of the Lost. If he had obtained it first, he probably could have indirectly sabotaged the Spirit Root Race’s vassal transformation ritual without needing to lift a finger.

Qi Suian took two days to complete the initial deployment for the first wave.

As for the second wave, he would have to plan it after the first was complete.

Qi Suian needed the corresponding data from the first wave to proceed.

Afterward, he left the monitoring to his cerebral AI via satellite projection and began the work of artificially creating an Immortal Spiritual Root.

The raw material was the failed appendage.

He had preserved this section of the appendage perfectly; it looked as if it had just been severed from his own body.

A failure it might be, but it was still a piece of his own flesh. It still had value.

’The Spirit Root Race is, in essence, a form of Extraordinary evolution, created when a major class of parasites underwent conceptual contamination.’

’That’s what led to all the parasites in this world becoming the unique species known as Spirit Root Worms.’

’But their fundamental nature hasn’t changed; it’s still based on parasitism.’

’Setting aside how they even know their origin is the Spider God for a moment...’

’...their current behavior is effectively shifting their parasitic host from humans to that Unnamable One.’

’A fine idea, but their execution is rather pathetic.’

Qi Suian continuously modified the appendage in his hands. Its precursor was a treasured artifact that served as a template, and that artifact was an external manifestation of a Middle-Grade Spiritual Root.

Simply put, the appendage was roughly equivalent to a Middle-Grade Spiritual Root.

What he had to do, then, was very simple: change the type of Spiritual Root, upgrading it from Middle-Grade to Immortal.

That’s right. In Qi Suian’s eyes, the so-called "grades" were merely the different races to which the Spiritual Roots belonged.

Though the parasites were numerous, they were divided into four varieties. The Upper, Middle, and Lower grades corresponded to Essence, Qi, and Spirit, respectively, while the Immortal Spiritual Root was a special category, like a ruler or royalty.

Qi Suian didn’t have an Immortal Spiritual Root to experiment on, but he had the relevant data in his mind.

Therefore, changing its variety wasn’t a difficult task.

In fact, once he figured it out, cloning ninety-nine copies would be no problem at all.

After all, his appendage was only *roughly* equivalent to a Middle-Grade Spiritual Root, not an exact match. It could serve as a substitute, but it wasn’t a true Spiritual Root.

The process wasn’t particularly difficult. In Qi Suian’s hands, the appendage quickly grew even more grotesque.

"This... I seem to have gone a little overboard with adjusting its form." Qi Suian stared at the appendage, which gave an occasional twitch.

’It used to look like a tentacle. How did it end up looking like a ball of yarn?’

’The data is correct. That means it must be because of the Middle-Grade Spiritual Root.’

Qi Suian quickly found the root cause. He had to thank the polymerization effect that occurred when he had used ninety-nine Middle-Grade Spiritual Roots to perfect his Abyssal Form.

’A substance composed of continuous and discontinuous filaments.’

’It’s a bit like natural fiber, and it has both cellulose and a protein structure in the form of a polyamide polymer?’

’So it looks like a Fiber Worm. I guess I’d have to add "viral" as a prefix.’

Looking at the results of his research, he determined it currently had the structure of a semi-Immortal Spiritual Root and would require subsequent transformation.

"So what are the benefits?" Qi Suian researched further. If he was going to implant it, there had to be some kind of enhancement.

This constituted the other half of the Immortal Spiritual Root’s structure.

He couldn’t just graft it onto himself without any benefits; that would be an utter waste of resources.

His goal was to induce a further qualitative transformation of his Abyssal Form, even turning all extra additions into base attributes, making them a part of his permanent power.

’That makes the next step much more difficult.’

Qi Suian’s thoughts raced, but he wasn’t quite sure what he needed.

He needed powerful base attributes, but that was a basic perk of the qualitative transformation. He wanted an additional bonus.

’Upgrade my Evolutionary Feast ability to SS-rank?’ Qi Suian found a target, then immediately abandoned it.

SS-rank was beyond his reach for now; he couldn’t modify it yet.

So, he had to switch to a different goal.

’I need to combine the characteristics of the Spiritual Root with my own.’

After careful consideration, an idea surfaced in Qi Suian’s mind.

’The Zombie Dominator’s Devour-Evolution.’

’That SSS-rank talent was once one of my potential evolutionary paths.’

’If I just take the "devour" structure and pair it with the Fiber Worm, couldn’t I create a black-hole-like effect?’

As for the "evolution" part? Devour-Evolution wasn’t actually a single effect, but two: Devour and Evolution.

The former is an ability similar to absorption or consumption. Without the "Evolution" component, it would just be like eating, and a low-grade version might not even allow for energy intake.

"Evolution" combined with "Devour" created a different effect: after consumption and absorption, it would analyze the ingested energy and evolve a corresponding structure.

That was the complete Devour-Evolution. Without one component, it would be S-rank at best.

Qi Suian only needed the "Devour" structure; he didn’t need the "Evolution" effect.

It would be an immense help, whether for energy intake or for offensive purposes.

As for evolution... to put it bluntly, what he was doing right now *was* artificial evolution. And because he could personally intervene, the results were far more powerful than what Devour-Evolution offered.

Devour-Evolution was more like a blunt instrument, consuming everything indiscriminately. Even with a protagonist’s plot armor, Qi Suian wasn’t willing to gamble on how it might affect his own growth.

Besides, he didn’t have the X-rank talent of a regressor, "Hyper-Dimensional Evolution." Without it, a pile of low-rank talents would be useless.

He could upgrade them himself, but too many talents would make his own physical structure overly complex.

One small change could affect the entire system, making even modifications and enhancements to his Extraordinary framework incredibly difficult. It would be a classic case of picking up a sesame seed only to lose the watermelon.

Moreover, there was another serious problem: the Apocalypse Game now was not the same one the regressors had experienced. Its difficulty and intensity were far greater.

Nine out of ten people with good talents were now powerhouses. It wasn’t like in the past, when the world’s level was lower, and you could get ahead easily.

’No, let’s be more direct. I’ll just send the Fiber Worms out to eat, and when they’re done, they can bring the spoils back to nourish me.’

’A structure similar to a hive mind.’ The more Qi Suian thought about it, the more he realized how troublesome it would be to act himself. He could just send the worms to devour everything clean.

’You know, there’s real potential here.’

’Especially since the Fiber Worm is essentially part of the Abyssal Form, it could also be installed as a module onto the Tai Sui God.’

’That way, I’d get an extra buff. Wouldn’t that be lovely?’

’I wouldn’t even have to worry about them falling behind me in the future. As long as the Tai Sui God continues to evolve, the Abyssal Form and the Fiber Worms can evolve with it.’

If Qi Suian could exploit a bug, he certainly wasn’t going to take the honest, hardworking route.

Normally, to improve further, he would have had to optimize and perfect a solution himself, then create and apply an upgrade patch to his own body.

"I just wonder how long I can exploit this bug," Qi Suian muttered. Due to its growth trap, the Tai Sui God’s evolutionary efficiency was steadily declining.