Chapter 337: Nerfing the Boss Right Off the Bat, Professional

"Luo Yu, you take the lead. The rest of you, follow him and charge in."

"I’ll bring up the rear."

Not far from the secret chamber where Luo Geng was in seclusion, Qi Suian laid out the plan, simple and clear.

The others definitely had objections. Wasn’t this obviously making them cannon fodder?

Yet, no one dared to voice them. The last person who questioned him wasn’t killed—he was healed—but he was bruised so badly the marks wouldn’t fade anytime soon.

This meant that it would be no trouble at all for Qi Suian to kill them.

"Everyone, rest assured. I’ll scout the path. There won’t be any problems." Of course, Luo Yu didn’t want to take the lead, but among everyone present, he stood to gain the most.

If he refused, forget Qi Suian—the other first-rank Mages would force him to do it.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and smooth things over.

With his assurance, the remaining men could only chime in with a few words of agreement.

What else could they do? Qi Suian was forcing them; they had no choice in the matter.

If they had known they would be forced to be cannon fodder here, they would have feigned ignorance.

But hindsight is 20/20, and now they were miserably forced to face an Immortal Mage.

As for doing this for the sake of the Human Race and all the people in the world?

They would do it on their own terms, not because their lives were being threatened.

It was a completely different kind of treatment, which was why they felt so aggrieved.

If Qi Suian had begged them, persuading them with righteous duty, they would have naturally put on a show of facing death with magnanimity.

A nice thought, but Qi Suian couldn’t be bothered. It was too much trouble.

They were just cannon fodder for scouting. Why the need for so much drama?

Qi Suian’s personal charisma was nowhere near as formidable as his personal might; he simply couldn’t pull something like that off.

Luo Yu was the first to arrive at the secret chamber’s door. He spoke, "Your Majesty, this servant, on my southern tour, happened upon a clue to an Immortal Spiritual Root."

"Thinking that Your Majesty is still short one Immortal Spiritual Root, I have come specially to report it."

He came up with a pretext, hoping to trick him into opening the door.

This secret chamber door was naturally no ordinary object; it was, after all, exclusively for the Royal Family’s use.

"No need. It is best not to bite off more than one can chew." A voice of refusal came from within the chamber.

There were only three Immortal Spiritual Roots left in the world, and all of them were here. What other Immortal Spiritual Root could there be?

Any so-called clue was either outdated or a rumor.

Luo Yu’s heart couldn’t help but sink. He tried again, "Your Majesty, you only have two Immortal Spiritual Roots in your possession. Ascension requires three."

"This servant’s power was insufficient to confirm it. I need you to investigate with the power of an Immortal Mage."

He knew the entity controlling the Immortal Spiritual Roots would be on high alert.

"No need. Withdraw." This time, the voice was even more resolute.

Seeing this, Luo Yu could only glance back at Qi Suian.

Qi Suian had already expected this. The person inside was in the middle of a possession; why would they come out at a time like this?

They had to be extremely careful to avoid any unforeseen complications.

Qi Suian signaled for Luo Yu to clear a path, then molded the polyform energy in his hand into a spear.

He aimed, gathered power, and threw.

The Polyform Energy Spear pierced straight through the secret chamber’s door, followed by a violent explosion.

The entire process was incredibly fast. Before they could react, the secret chamber door and its frame were blown to smithereens.

At the same time, this revealed the chaotic spatial barriers and expansions haphazardly arranged within the chamber.

Deep inside, a bloated, dark figure could be seen.

"HOW DARE YOU!!!" A furious roar echoed out, and the dark shadow shot forward, penetrating the spatial barriers to arrive at the entrance in an instant.

The figure that appeared had the handsome and dashing appearance of Luo Geng, completely unlike the bloated dark shadow.

However, no one was blind. If one person saw it, it could be an illusion. But if everyone saw it, there was definitely a problem.

"Fifth Uncle, are you planning a rebellion?" Luo Geng’s tone was chilling. The killing intent in his eyes, combined with the oppressive aura of an Immortal Mage’s power, made everyone’s breath catch in their throats.

Luo Yu didn’t answer. Instead, he attacked at once.

Using his burly physique and his own advantages, he rammed straight into Luo Geng.

To everyone’s astonishment, Luo Yu actually managed to hit Luo Geng, the Immortal Mage, and even sent him stumbling back.

In that instant, the four words "all show, no substance" flashed through the minds of the first-rank Mages present.

"He’s bluffing! This is our chance, attack now!" Qi Suian saw it too and shouted this immediately.

But before Qi Suian had even finished shouting, everyone else had already made their move.

Whether or not Luo Geng had truly been possessed by the Immortal Spiritual Root, to the Mage Families, a living Luo Geng was an obstacle.

Now that there was a chance to kill him, whether for the greater good or for themselves, they had to give it their all.

After seeing Luo Geng stumble, they each unleashed one lethal move after another.

Qi Suian, however, didn’t move. Instead, he found a suitable position to launch a sneak attack.

He did this for no other reason than that there was nothing wrong with his eyesight.

At first glance, it seemed Luo Geng had stumbled. The real reason was that the Spiritual Root inside him had not yet completed the possession and only controlled most of the body.

Furthermore, Luo Geng’s own consciousness was still struggling within, which was why there had been such a momentary lapse.

In reality, his power was still that of an Immortal Mage; he just couldn’t fully wield it.

All the attacks landed on ’Luo Geng’, but aside from damaging his clothes, they left no injuries whatsoever.

"Interesting. Where did you learn the truth?" ’Luo Geng’s’ voice was chilling, and his handsome face began to change.

His skin started to swell, as if bloated with water.

A closer look revealed that the Spiritual Root was stretching the skin from within, even secreting some kind of substance.

Not only did Qi Suian recognize these secretions, but any Mage who had broken through to the middle ranks would recognize them too.

It was Spiritual Power.

Then, ’Luo Geng’s’ gaze fell upon Qi Suian, who was preparing a sneak attack.

A Spatial Slash was casually flicked out, instantly carving a long, thin rift in space.

Qi Suian dodged it with ease.

"It was you, wasn’t it?"

"After all, you’re the strongest one in this group."

’Luo Geng’s’ bloated body passed through the spatial rift and appeared before Qi Suian in an instant.

In that moment, spatial pressure erupted, and Qi Suian was instantly crushed into a meat patty.

"The power you wield is merely a gift from my race." ’Luo Geng’ no longer looked at the meat patty, but turned to the other first-rank Mages. "And you dare to use the power of my race against me?"

"You’re simply cour—"

Before he could finish, a sharp pain shot through his lower back.

Then, with a RIPPING sound, the intense pain was accompanied by a tearing sensation that made him turn his head.

He saw the meat patty on the ground extend two disproportionately long arms, plunge them into his waist, and rip out his two kidneys.

SPLAT...

It then crushed them into a pulp right in front of his face.

"BASTARD, YOU..." This enraged ’Luo Geng’ so much that he cursed out loud.

But before he could finish, Qi Suian’s two long arms exploded into a mist of blood before his eyes.

He was confused for a moment. ’I didn’t even do anything. Why did they explode?’

But he quickly understood that Qi Suian had done this himself.

It was for no other reason than that the blood mist seemed to come alive, transforming into a swarm of tiny, greedy, and savage insects that surged toward him.

They were completely indiscriminate, latching onto any spot they could find and biting down.

Even though the body he controlled was that of an Immortal Mage and these tiny bugs couldn’t even break his skin, it didn’t make the experience any less unsettling.

"DIE!"

’Luo Geng’ was on the verge of a mental breakdown. He used spatial turbulence to shred all the Fiber Worms to pieces.

Apparently, the protagonist halos on Qi Suian and Luo Geng had begun to take effect, nerfing ’Luo Geng’s’ intelligence.

Otherwise, if his intelligence were intact, even if he couldn’t fully control the body and had the real Luo Geng hindering him, the power gap would still be insurmountable.

"Today, none of you will leave this place alive."

’Luo Geng’ started talking more. At the same time, as he prepared to attack Qi Suian, the group of first-rank Mages began to move.

At this moment, they set aside their self-interest and prejudices and began to work together.

They did this for a simple reason: no one wanted to die here, nor did they want their descendants to be raised like livestock by these things, reduced to slaves.

Their power was inferior to Qi Suian’s, which was precisely why Qi Suian could not be allowed to die.

If he died, they would truly have no chance of victory.

So, their goal wasn’t to injure ’Luo Geng’, but to stall him and give Qi Suian time to recover.

’Luo Geng’ switched targets. Shattered space instantly engulfed Luo Yu. When it cleared, he had been reduced to a scattered pile of minced flesh.

He couldn’t be any more dead.

The remaining first-rank Mages were terrified.

He could kill a first-rank Mage in a single move without even having full control of his body. If he gained full control...

...there would truly be no chance of a comeback.

Qi Suian now understood why his protagonist halo had nerfed his opponent’s intelligence.

It was because this was the enemy’s period of weakness. If they missed this window, there would be no other chance.

That was why he wasn’t even given time to improve his own talents—time was truly of the essence.

Qi Suian reverted to his human form. He knew his goal wasn’t to kill the enemy.

Instead, he had to find a way to separate Luo Geng from the Spiritual Root to completely strip the enemy of its Immortal Mage status.

Its greatest weakness was that it hadn’t fully refined the Immortal Spiritual Root and completed the possession.

If it had, it wouldn’t be Qi Suian leading a siege against it; it would be the other way around, with the enemy killing them all in one move.

But this required Luo Geng’s cooperation. Otherwise, Qi Suian couldn’t do it alone.

’So, I need to let Luo Geng regain some control of his body.’ Qi Suian’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately summoned the Tai Sui God.

Things had come to this. He had no choice but to go all out.

The Barbaric Celestial Calamity Fierce Beast module on the Tai Sui God could fuse Fei, the Mad Cathedral, and the Tai Sui God itself, and in doing so, enhance Qi Suian.

He had thought of using it before but never had the time. Now was the perfect opportunity to try it.