Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Sand Jiao Scale Pattern Shell

Qi Suian quickly seized control of the small town of Liebo Mansion through brute force.

Anyone who defied him died. There were no flowery political compromises or social niceties.

If anyone dared to gather and cause trouble, regardless of whether they were the instigator or simply incited, a single Ghost Energy Storm would ensure they were utterly obliterated.

After enough people died, the rest were naturally afraid. They soon discovered that as long as they didn’t cause any trouble and obediently went about their lives as before, Qi Suian would leave them alone.

Furthermore, since Qi Suian had wiped out the entire upper echelon and a significant number of people had died, coupled with the AI’s fair distribution, the survivors noticed a difference by the very next day.

The most immediate change was that their ration distribution was far better than before.

Qi Suian, of course, couldn’t let the test subjects he was "raising" starve. After all, he still needed them for his experiments.

[Tai Sui God evolution complete. You have obtained a new module slot. Next evolution requires armor value to reach 17.]

The AI’s timely reminder prompted Qi Suian to pause his work. He took the Sand Worm’s chitinous shell and installed it directly as a material module.

[SSS-Rank Sand Jiao Scale Pattern Shell]

A brand-new SSS-rank material module was born.

The Tai Sui God’s body changed, though not by much. This was because the Sand Jiao Scale Pattern Shell fused with the artificial crystal-vein alloy and Qi Suian’s own flesh and bone.

Thus, the only change was an improvement in its ability to resist high temperatures and provide heat insulation.

With this new material module, the Tai Sui God’s expedition-grade ecological cycler was naturally augmented, and a refreshing coolness instantly set in.

’Sand Jiao is the ancient name for Sand Worm.’

’Biological material modules really are quite good.’ Qi Suian was very satisfied. He then commanded, "Cancel the ecological cycler’s temperature protection for me. Just protect the Tai Sui God."

He needed the module to protect the Tai Sui God; the thing was too fragile.

As for Qi Suian himself, he needed the high temperatures to further strengthen his fire resistance through his own powerful adaptive abilities.

It was also a way to promote the evolution of the Profound Virus.

So, unless the temperature became unsurvivable, he didn’t need protection.

The AI naturally complied.

The coolness quickly vanished, and the intense heat returned.

Qi Suian then turned his gaze to the test subject before him.

’No wonder Chang Shaoyong’s hair was already white in his middle years. The Power of the Limit squeezes the cells, and in the end, burns them outright.’

’That’s why it drastically reduces one’s lifespan. The higher the degree of the Power of the Limit, the shorter one lives.’

’If one reaches a hundred-degree Power of the Limit, living to fifty would be considered a long life.’

The reason for the age of fifty was that it was impossible to go from activation to a hundred-degree Power of the Limit in just a few days. It took at least twenty years.

Moreover, it wasn’t a case of "the earlier, the better" for activating the Power of the Limit. The body needed to be sufficiently robust, meaning it could only be done after one had fully developed.

Otherwise, there was a risk of death—a risk that increased the younger one was. At the same time, their potential would also be lower.

Activating the Power of the Limit only after full development was a prerequisite for reaching a hundred degrees.

This was why the scions of major factions all began their training at the age of twenty.

As for those without money or power, most would activate it prematurely. This resulted in a low ceiling for their power, and their lifespans... weren’t long either.

For those without money or power, even getting enough to eat was a problem. With all sorts of side effects and hidden injuries piling up, they were lucky to even live to thirty.

The scions didn’t have to worry about such things, but once they achieved a high degree of the Power of the Limit, their lifespans began to drop as well.

"A bunch of short-lived wretches," Qi Suian cursed. ’The "limit" in Power of the Limit is certainly the real deal.’

’I thought it was a path to becoming Extraordinary, but it turns out the more you train, the faster you die.’

Of course, one had to consider the practical reality of their situation. Without the Power of the Limit, the natives wouldn’t be worrying about how long they had to live, but rather when they would go extinct.

’But it’s not all bad news. At least, it doesn’t affect me much.’

Qi Suian had never been afraid of death to begin with. After entering his "state," his average survival time was half an hour.

Activating the Power of the Limit at least measured one’s remaining lifespan in years. Qi Suian’s was measured in minutes.

’The main issue is that they’re going about it the wrong way. Burning normal cells is simply a path to ruin.’

’But what if the target for burning and squeezing was cancer cells instead?’

’As long as you provide enough nutrients, it shouldn’t affect one’s lifespan.’ 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Qi Suian’s idea was simple: modify the fuel source.

The Power of the Limit worked by burning and squeezing cells to gain a permanent boost in attributes.

You only have a finite number of cells. If you squeeze them and then burn them away, how could you possibly live long?

’The problem now is... where am I supposed to find cancer cells?’

Let alone the Profound Virus, he didn’t have any to begin with. Now, with the Profound Virus acting as his immune system, there was no way any atypical cells could exist.

So, if he wanted them, he’d have to create them himself.

’The cancer cells are secondary. I also need the genes from the natives’ cells—the ones used for squeezing and burning—to modify the cancer cells.’

’Otherwise, even if I had cancer cells, I’d just be staring at them helplessly.’

The natives were able to use the Power of the Limit to squeeze and burn cells because they had evolved that ability. Qi Suian wasn’t a native, so how could he possess it?

Therefore, Qi Suian needed to modify the cancer cells to grant them a similar ability before he could proceed.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to succeed.

’Beyond that, I’ll need to control the cancer cells, but that shouldn’t be a problem.’

’The tricky part is figuring out how to get the modified cancer cells to survive in my body.’

The situation inside Qi Suian’s body could only be described as a chaotic free-for-all.

He’d never had cancer, but the Profound Virus and its complications were no pushovers. They would never allow cancer cells to run rampant in his body.

The sicknesses other people got were just sicknesses. The sicknesses Qi Suian had were also sicknesses, but they weren’t *just* sicknesses—they were also part of his immune system. It was truly absurd.

But since the Profound Virus originated from a cosmic god, it all became much more plausible.

You don’t talk science with a god. You talk theology.

’Unless... I perform the modification and implantation directly within my own body, then use my super-adaptability to forcibly adapt to and control them.’

’There really isn’t any other good solution.’

The cancer cells would naturally be a part of Qi Suian, so they too would benefit from the boost of his super-adaptability.

’The overall efficiency probably won’t be as good as the orthodox Power of the Limit, though. Mine is a knock-off version, so it’s normal for it to be a bit weaker.’

They burned cells from their entire bodies. Qi Suian would only be burning cancer cells. Of course it wouldn’t be as good.

’But no matter how much weaker it is, it should still be able to get my two main attributes to 2 points.’

The Power of the Limit could allow a native to reach 2.5 points in their two main attributes, but Qi Suian’s cancer-fueled version definitely wouldn’t have such a high ceiling.

Of course, for Qi Suian, this cancer-fueled Power of the Limit could become a component of his ’burst mode.’

He estimated that while in his burst mode, although it wouldn’t double his stats, it could still raise them from 2 points to 3.

Logically, the burst mode should provide a 100% boost, but that was only under ideal circumstances. In reality, there were variations.

The simplest example of this was that as his attributes increased, the boosting effect would diminish.

Without incorporating this ’limit state,’ the boost would start to decline once all his attributes reached 2 points.

The reason was that attribute points didn’t increase linearly, but rather exponentially.

The higher the value, the higher the exponent. It was just like how Zombie Chunyu Hu could sink an entire island, even if he had to rely on the Source of Profound Virus and the Divine Spirit Container Technology.

But even that feat required sufficient base attributes as a foundation. Otherwise, it would be impossible to unleash that kind of power.

’The test subjects are all used up. I’ll have to find some more...’ Qi Suian took a look around, then used a Dark Energy Beam to disintegrate all the corpses.

’Time to pick a few more unlucky bastards.’

With that, Qi Suian stood up and left the laboratory.

He hadn’t been out for long when he saw the Vice Mansion Master waiting at the entrance.

The man was just an ordinary person who didn’t possess the Power of the Limit, which was why Qi Suian had promoted him to Vice Mansion Master to manage Liebo Mansion.

As for those who *did* possess the Power of the Limit, they had all become Qi Suian’s test subjects.

"What is it?" Qi Suian asked bluntly.

"Mansion Master, there’s news from the Jade Dragon Association."

"It’s confirmed that the Jade Dragon Association has been wiped out. They’ve now been renamed the Yanyi Cao Family."

"They’re a faction we’ve never seen before, and their strength cannot be underestimated."

"It’s said the Cao Family has an ancestor whose strength is immense," the Vice Mansion Master reported.

Qi Suian listened intently. ’That’s a strange name,’ he thought. ’It doesn’t sound like a native faction at all.’

’Could they be survivors?’

"Any other intelligence?" Qi Suian asked.

"The ’Power of the Limit’ they use is very strange. It doesn’t generate any heat, and they deny that it even is the Power of the Limit."

"Instead, they call it an Ancient Martial Technique. In fact, the ’Yanyi’ in ’Yanyi Cao Family’ comes from the name of their technique, the ’Yanyi Fist.’"

When Qi Suian heard this, an expression of "what the hell" slowly spread across his face. ’This doomsday game is really something else. This new batch of people actually came with their own Extraordinary legacies.’

’If they combine that with their innate talents, won’t they be even stronger?’

He suspected this change was made specifically to target him.

The head of the Jade Dragon Association had been on the same level as Chang Shaoyong, possessing a ninety-degree Power of the Limit.

Qi Suian had been able to take over Liebo Mansion so quickly through brute force because he had plot armor and the Tai Sui God on his side.

The fact that this other group could do the same so easily meant their strength was considerable.

"Wait a minute," Qi Suian said, noticing a key detail. "You’re saying they’re a faction, not just one person?"

"Correct. And they’re all from the same clan, calling themselves a family. There are quite a few of them, several hundred in fact."

"Every single one of them knows Yanyi Fist; they just differ in their level of skill," the Vice Mansion Master replied.

"I understand. Keep a close watch on the Yanyi Cao Family’s movements." Qi Suian understood now. He was likely in for some major trouble.

This batch of survivors wasn’t a group of lone wolves. They had combined the characteristics of an Ancient Martial Family, descending directly as a faction.

Fortunately, they were designated as a family-level faction. If they had come in as a national-level power, he would have been truly screwed.

Qi Suian wasn’t arrogant enough to believe he could take on an entire nation’s war machine by himself.

At least for now, he was not yet a one-man army capable of fighting a nation. However, he was still quite confident he could handle a so-called Ancient Martial Family.