Qi Suian spotted the survivor who had just escaped, but before he had a chance to ask anything, he sensed a dark shadow beneath the ice.

"A whale? Even bigger than the one we saw last time?" Qi Suian didn’t descend, instead moving even farther away.

Its sheer size was daunting.

"Are you confident you can kill it without the Floating Cannons?" Qi Suian asked.

[Assuming the target does not flee, there is a seventy percent probability of a kill and a ten percent probability of live capture.]

"I suspect it’s interested in the fleeing survivor. Let’s not make a move just yet. Once it’s out of the water, it should be even weaker."

Qi Suian understood that since it hadn’t attacked immediately, it must desire something.

Whether it was the cruel game of a cat toying with a mouse for its own amusement or a scheme for some other gain, it meant the creature would soon make its move.

The moment Qi Suian finished speaking, the ice shattered. A behemoth blocked their path, its bizarre eyes glinting with human-like mockery.

"You’re a fast little thing, aren’t you?"

"Hand over the secret to your resurrection, and I’ll grant you a swift death," a deep voice boomed.

It was a colossal, whale-like Cold Energy Monster. Most of its body remained beneath the ice; the part that was exposed was merely the tip of the iceberg.

"Attack! Even if we can’t capture it, we’re taking a huge chunk of its flesh." After seeing its size, Qi Suian knew capturing it alive would be incredibly difficult.

’Its dual attributes are probably only at the Venerable level, but its body is just too massive. Dragging it out of the water will be nearly impossible.’

’One moment of carelessness, and it’ll get away.’

’But if we aim for just a piece of it instead of a live capture, that’s a much better option.’

[Locking on to weak point. Target... the core.]

The AI accepted Qi Suian’s command and optimized it.

On a Cold Energy Monster, the part with the highest fuel value was undoubtedly its core.

It was their Extraordinary Source.

Now, aided by its Martial Dao intuition and will, the Tai Sui God had made immense progress in sensory enhancement and weak point analysis.

The Wind Master aviation system engaged, accelerating. Combined with the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force and the True Martial Jade Vein Lotus, the Tai Sui God became a black shadow, smashing into the behemoth’s body like a meteor.

It tore through layer after layer of flesh, shattering bone with a powerful fist until it reached the core.

The entire process was incredibly fast. The creature only reacted when the Tai Sui God began to rip the core out with its bare hands.

It let out a piercing shriek of agony and immediately began to sink back into the water.

Based on its reaction speed, Qi Suian was certain of one thing: its earlier feat of annihilating a thousand people in under a minute must have been an overloaded ability.

That meant it was currently weakened, its overall strength cut by at least half.

This explained the Tai Sui God’s high efficiency.

RRRIP!

The Tai Sui God ripped out the human-head-sized core, and in that instant, blood gushed forth.

"The core is much larger than the Celestial Traveler Venerable’s, but the quality is about the same."

"Looks like it really is one of the Twelve Venerables." As Qi Suian spoke, the Tai Sui God stored the Venerable-level Cold Energy Monster’s core in its Subspace Pocket.

Then it forcibly tore open the wound, which had already begun to regenerate.

Luckily, the Tai Sui God moved quickly. In that brief moment, the Cold Energy Monster had already dragged it down an unknown depth.

If it had been any later—if they had dived several thousand meters deep—the Tai Sui God wouldn’t have been able to withstand the pressure with only the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force, as it lacked specialized modules for deep diving and pressure resistance.

’So if the creature was determined to escape, there was no stopping it. Getting the core was already a fantastic outcome.’

’The Celestial Traveler Venerable had been afflicted with numerous debuffs, which was why it was captured alive. This one, at most, was only weakened.’

[Locator camouflaged and successfully hidden.]

After the Tai Sui God broke free, the AI immediately relayed this message, leaving Qi Suian momentarily stunned.

Then he instantly understood what the AI was implying.

’So the plan is to treat it like a renewable resource, waiting for it to recover before harvesting it again.’

’Although a regenerated core won’t be as good as the original, its quality won’t be that much lower.’

"So, a sustainable cycle... I was originally thinking of just killing the remaining Venerables, but getting more fuel later on would have been a hassle."

"This is much better. It’s not an infinite supply, but it provides a steady stream for the short term." Qi Suian had to admit, the AI was much smarter.

It considered every aspect in far more detail than he did.

He had only thought of slicing off a piece of meat and killing it later when he was stronger. The AI, on the other hand, went straight into farming.

[This was only possible because you installed the signal module. The satellite and communication modules alone would not have been sufficient for precise tracking.]

The AI credited the success directly to Qi Suian, but he wouldn’t take it; he knew who was truly responsible.

’It’s not like I did it. Besides, I only installed those modules because the AI suggested it.’

"Don’t bother with the flattery; it won’t work on me," Qi Suian said casually. "So, what if it stays thousands of meters deep? What’s our plan then?"

"We can’t just keep luring it to the surface. It might work once or twice, but it’s not going to fall for the same trick over and over."

The creature possessed intelligence on par with a human; it won’t be fooled repeatedly.

[Cetaceans are not fish. They are marine mammals.]

[This means it must surface to breathe. Even as a Cold Energy Monster, it still retains this biological need.]

[It cannot survive indefinitely underwater and must surface periodically. As an Extraordinary Life form, this interval is simply much longer.]

[Therefore, by analyzing the environmental parameters detected by the locator, we can accurately calculate when it will need to surface to breathe.]

[We don’t need to lure it out. We simply need to strike when it surfaces for air.]

"I know that, but it’ll catch on if it happens too many times." Qi Suian was well aware of cetacean biology; even at the Venerable level, the creature couldn’t escape its natural limitations.

[Rest assured, there won’t be a ’too many times.’ Based on our analysis of the core, we can harvest it one more time. On the third encounter, we will convert the entire creature into fuel.]

[After that, the quality of its core would drop significantly, making further harvesting inefficient.]

The AI had it all calculated. After two harvests, the cost-to-benefit ratio would become unfavorable. Only by converting the entire creature to fuel would the yield meet expectations.

It was a true masterclass in maximizing resource utilization.

"As expected of an AI. You’re far better at resource management than I am." Qi Suian conceded.

"Does that mean we can use this same method on the other ten Venerables?"

"If we succeed, couldn’t that give the Tai Sui God one or two more evolutions?" ’The AI’s brain really is something else,’ Qi Suian thought.

’Thinking back, my past methods were far too short-sighted.’

’Then again,’ he mused, ’in the last two worlds, there really weren’t many fuel sources with regenerative capabilities.’

’And I didn’t have the power to implement a farming strategy like this back then, either.’

[Theoretically, it is feasible. However, practical application will vary. After all, not all Venerables are this cumbersome.]

The AI gave a pragmatic response.

"True. The Celestial Traveler Venerable was extremely fast; this method probably wouldn’t work on it." Qi Suian’s idea was good, but it had to be grounded in reality.

It would be impossible unless his own power grew immensely.

"Let’s sneak over to the Ice Continent’s Outer Ring. We’ll keep our distance and just scavenge some corpses for fuel."

Qi Suian didn’t plan on using the whale Venerable’s core just yet. He wanted to take it back and study it first, hoping for a potential breakthrough.

Once it was no longer useful, he’d toss it into the Melting Furnace.

That’s why he was thinking of heading to the battlefield to scavenge some fuel.

Given the situation, there were probably plenty of leftovers. He didn’t need much; a single lap around the outer ring should suffice.

It wouldn’t be much, but that was fine. He had come all this way; if he didn’t grab something extra to make the trip worthwhile—aside from the Venerable Core—he’d be leaving empty-handed.

The AI, of course, had no objections. It fully activated its reconnaissance network, then used combat techniques from the Myriad Phenomena Thousand Truths Hundred Refinement Skill within the True Martial Jade Vein Lotus, combined with the Wind Master aviation system, to fly right through.

Its fuel-scavenging efficiency was astonishingly high.

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

Tang Qing felt more and more that something was wrong, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

To be cautious, he held back from breaking through to the fifth level of the Taiyin Refining Technique. Instead, he pretended he had hit a bottleneck and was unable to advance.

The Taiyin Celestial Monarch was undeniably good to him, but this kindness felt unsettling.

The feeling of being fattened like a pig for slaughter grew stronger, especially after he "hit his bottleneck." The Monarch, uncharacteristically, showered him with vast resources to help him break through as quickly as possible.

Because of this, he decided to leave. He would go to Celestial Pillar Mountain to achieve his breakthrough and, while he was at it, obtain the Red Dragon Pearl. That way, he could leap directly from the fourth level to the sixth.

So, he went to the Taiyin Celestial Monarch to ask for leave, using the excuse that since hard cultivation wasn’t yielding a breakthrough, he wanted to go out and gain some worldly experience, which might do the trick.

Hearing this, the Taiyin Celestial Monarch’s first instinct was to refuse, but he couldn’t think of a good reason.

Tang Qing’s resolve was especially firm; forcing him to stay would likely backfire.

"Very well. If you wish to go, then go."

"However, I’ve made many enemies over the years. It won’t be safe for you to venture down the mountain alone."

"Why don’t you wait a day or two? My good friend, the Dragon Roar Daoist, can come and act as your Guardian." These words from the Taiyin Celestial Monarch were, of course, a lie.

As a man of destiny, Tang Qing had a knack for turning peril into fortune.

The real purpose was to keep an eye on him, to prevent the "cooked duck from flying away"—to ensure his prize didn’t escape.

Tang Qing wanted to refuse, but he saw the look on the Taiyin Celestial Monarch’s face and knew this was the man’s final offer.

"Then I thank you, Master. But I must ask, will this be too much of a bother for Senior Dragon Roar?" Tang Qing asked, probing.

"No trouble at all. He’s always wandering all over the place anyway, just as you will be. You can just treat it as traveling together," the Taiyin Celestial Monarch said with a wide smile, his expression screaming, ’You’ve struck a great bargain.’