Chapter 370: Toxic Nova, a Skill Book from the Ghost World

’A Skill Book? And it’s not from the Doomsday Game. What’s its origin?’

Qi Suian stared at the item he’d just found, a strange expression on his face.

[Poison Nova]

[Quality: Excellent Grade]

[Class Restriction: Highly Poisonous Mage]

[Required Level: LV 90]

[Prerequisite Skills: Poison Tempering LV 10, Poison Burst LV 5]

’This is from a completely different system than the Doomsday Game, isn’t it?’

’It has class restrictions, a required level, and even prerequisite skills...’

Qi Suian was sure of one thing: even Survivors wouldn’t be able to use this.

The three conditions on the stat panel were simply impossible to meet.

’What in the world is going on with the Ghost World? How can it have all this random stuff in it?’

’But this isn’t all bad news. It seems there’s a difference between Skill Books from the Ghost World and those from the Doomsday Game.’

As he thought this, Qi Suian opened the book. The rules within were unleashed, and a torrent of knowledge flooded his mind.

’Damn it, just as I thought. I can’t use it.’

After receiving the knowledge, Qi Suian discovered quite a few problems. First, he didn’t have the power of the Highly Poisonous Mage class, so he couldn’t activate it.

Second, he was missing the prerequisite skills, Poison Tempering and Poison Burst. This meant he had no foundational or intermediate knowledge, jumping straight to the high-level concepts of Poison Nova.

It was like trying to learn math by starting directly with advanced calculus, without any foundation.

As for the required level, that restriction had no effect on Qi Suian.

’So-called "Poison Nova" is really about corrupting the air around the caster.’

’You pollute the air and then spray toxins in all directions, forming a virulent, ring-shaped poison cloud that explodes.’

’A pity. I don’t have the right kind of poison power or the prerequisite knowledge.’

’The poison power isn’t a huge issue. I have my Profound Virus that could act as a substitute. I’d just need to resolve the difference between a toxin and a virus.’

’The prerequisite knowledge is a lot more troublesome. I’d have to figure it out on my own.’

As for finding the Skill Books for Poison Tempering and Poison Burst in the Truth Layer, honestly, it would be easier to just go ask the World Will for them.

Perhaps it would be generous enough to give him the entire set of Skill Books for the Highly Poisonous Mage class.

’I’ll shelve this for now.’ Qi Suian had too much on his plate and had no intention of researching it.

He hadn’t even finished learning the Ghost Control Technique; he had no mental energy to spare for deducing the foundational data of Poison Nova.

He had the energy mechanics from the Low-level Poison Element Attachment Magic to thank for even getting this far. Even though it came from a different world, it was still a method of energy manipulation.

It could serve as a reference, allowing him to learn by analogy.

’This kind of unsystematic Extraordinary knowledge is the hardest to make practical.’

Qi Suian wasn’t a fan of such scattered pieces of Extraordinary knowledge. He much preferred a systematic Extraordinary framework.

They either lacked a foundation, the right environment, or, failing that, any frame of reference, forcing you to fumble your way forward one step at a time.

He had indeed figured out the principle behind Poison Nova, but only in broad strokes.

It was equivalent to knowing the mass-energy equivalence formula E=mc², and then being asked to build a nuclear bomb by hand based on that knowledge alone.

Everything in between had to be done by himself, with no equipment, knowledge, resources, or anything else provided.

It was the same situation with the Low-level Poison Element Attachment Magic back then. It was ninety percent luck and ten percent effort that allowed him to modify it into the Profound Elemental Attachment Technique.

Now, the Poison Nova he had obtained was the same kind of situation.

So naturally, Qi Suian couldn’t possibly choose to stop his research on the Twin Soul Seed: Double Lotus and the Ghost Control Technique to go research an ability that might not yield results for who knows how long.

As for why not just give it to the Tai Sui God as a module? It was just like with the Low-level Poison Element Attachment Magic: in the Tai Sui God, it was just a single module, but in Qi Suian’s hands, it could give birth to a large number of modules.

’Corruption, pollution... no matter how I look at this, it doesn’t seem very orthodox.’

’It’s probably some kind of Evil Dao thing.’ Qi Suian realized that most of the abilities he possessed were rather unconventional.

From the Evil Ancient Martial Technique at the very beginning to this Poison Nova now, he felt like he’d been heading down a crooked path the whole time.

’In principle, aren’t protagonists supposed to be the righteous, handsome, and dashing type?’

’So where did I go wrong? I’m all about viruses, zombies, and the Evil Dao.’

Qi Suian reflected on himself, but for a moment, he couldn’t pinpoint the reason.

[Because you are taking shortcuts. This is a necessary price.]

[The realm that Ancient Martial Artists cannot break through in a lifetime, you broke through in an instant.]

[The limit that troubles Cold Energy Users, for you it was only a matter of days.]

[And...]

The AI gave Qi Suian a lengthy explanation, stating that he relied entirely on the Evil Dao to get stronger. The fact that he still had a human form was a testament to his inhuman nature.

If he were still human, there’s no telling what he would have turned into.

’That’s true in principle, but I’m the one who makes the principles now.’ Qi Suian acknowledged the AI’s point but dismissed the idea of following a righteous path.

The Evil Dao shortcuts made him stronger so quickly. He had progressed by leaps and bounds in such a short time, while normal cultivation had bottlenecks and took forever.

’I’ve basically paid to win with my own life force, so of course things should be different for me.’

"Never mind that. I believe today is the seventh day, isn’t it?" Qi Suian suddenly spoke up.

The Doomsday Game used him as an anchor point once every seven days.

[Yes. According to calculations, in about half an hour, there is an extremely high probability that the Doomsday Game will drag you into the Truth Layer.]

Before, he wouldn’t have cared. He had the Ghost Control Technique, so entering and exiting the Truth Layer was no longer as troublesome as before; he could do it entirely with his own skills.

But this time was different. He and the World Will had already agreed to set a trap for the Doomsday Game together.

So things would definitely be different.

’Half an hour, huh... Alright. I’ll get my things in order, then I’ll notify Emperor Zhiyue.’

Notifying Emperor Zhiyue was, naturally, so he could have the Emperor dispatch Royal Shadow Guards to go with him.

If he could pull Survivors from the Truth Layer into the physical world, it would be a major boon.

The only problem was that Survivors might not be able to adapt. During the previous Ghost City incident, a Survivor had died the moment they materialized.

He didn’t know if it was the World Will’s doing or some contingency left behind by the Doomsday Game.

Qi Suian planned to try again. Success would be great news, as he wouldn’t have to extract the Yang Qi structure every time.

It didn’t matter if he failed. The main purpose this time was to cooperate with the Ghost World’s World Will anyway. Everything else was a side issue.

’Tsk. I just wonder when Emperor Zhiyue will deliver the ten ghosts he promised.’

’It seems this is a major undertaking for them.’ Qi Suian had expected to get them the very next day, but they still hadn’t arrived.

They were unlikely to renege on the deal. After all, Qi Suian had authored the "Supreme Pure Yang Sword Qi," a technique for creating a Yang Qi Blade, and its value was too high for them to break their promise.

If they did, it would be a classic case of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Emperor Zhiyue wasn’t that short-sighted.

-----------------

Su Huayun frowned, staring at the selection countdown on his Doomsday Game panel.

The fourth survival trial was about to begin. The first three had been near-total wipes, and the Doomsday Game had already eliminated more than half of his planet’s population.

The population was already on the verge of collapse.

The people around him prayed in low voices, hoping not to be chosen.

As the countdown hit zero, a new countdown appeared on Su Huayun’s panel.

At the same time, the people around him who weren’t chosen let out cheers of joy.

He had been chosen.

At that moment, Su Huayun’s heart was filled with gloom.

He might be worried about the overall crisis, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be chosen to face it head-on.

For him, this was not a good thing at all.

The difficulty of each survival trial was increasing. In the first and second, at least some Survivors made it back alive. Last time, not a single Survivor returned.

That alone was enough to prove the difficulty.

With no Veterans, it meant that no one had much practical knowledge about so-called survival.

The high difficulty, lack of guides, and information disparity meant they were likely facing another global-scale extermination event.

But he couldn’t worry about that now. The countdown ended, and his entire body simply vanished.

He then found himself in a dark space. He could vaguely see something flowing in the darkness, as if he were sitting in a moving vehicle.

[Special talent detected. Awakening in progress...]

A prompt from the Doomsday Game suddenly appeared before his eyes. The next moment, a tingling numbness spread over his body.

A brand-new talent appeared before him.

[Special S-Rank Talent: Deceiver (Upgradeable)]

[Trait 1: Deceive Gods]

[Trait 2: Real Illusion]

[Trait 3: Fate Reversal]

[Trait 4: Situation Control]

[Trait 5: Death Rewind]

’What a powerful talent.’ Su Huayun hadn’t expected to awaken a special S-Rank talent, let alone one that was upgradeable.

With this, he now had two talents, greatly increasing his chances of survival.

[Special talent detected. Your identity: Survivor has been officially changed to: Law Enforcer]

[You have received a mandatory mission: Kill the Violator]

[Mandatory Mission: Kill the Violator ***]

[Reward: Awaken an SSS-Rank Talent]

Then, another brand-new mandatory mission was issued. It had no time limit and no penalty for failure, only a reward.

This didn’t seem like a good thing to Su Huayun. The terms were completely unbalanced.

When they only tell you the good parts and not the bad, the task itself is the bad part.

But he had no power to refuse. Before he could even react, it was all over.

’First, I have to survive.’ He looked at the five traits granted by his Deceiver talent; each one was absurdly powerful.

So he had to adapt as quickly as possible and figure out how to use them before arriving in the Survival Area.

Powerful also meant that he couldn’t use it perfectly right from the start.

On the other hand, his D-rank talent, Pollution Resistance, worked automatically without him needing to think about it.

But, of course, their effects were worlds apart. It couldn’t hold a candle to his Deceiver talent.

Su Huayun didn’t look down on it, though. After all, Pollution Resistance had its uses. Without this talent, he wouldn’t have been able to survive in the Survival Area at all.