Free Web NovelChapter 147: Chapter 147: Celestial Pillar Mountain, Dragon Ridge Lake
After several days of experiments, Qi Suian was also quite exhausted.
This was mainly to avoid accidentally killing King Zhen Ao during the various experiments.
"It’s not a bloodline, more like a benign mutation passed down from its ancestors." Qi Suian very conscientiously stitched up King Zhen Ao’s body.
In the beginning, King Zhen Ao would wail, beg for mercy, and hurl insults. Later on, it probably just went numb, or perhaps it simply ran out of energy.
And so, Qi Suian finally had some peace and quiet.
Still, there were gains. It allowed Qi Suian to optimize and perfect the embryonic host used to carry abilities, which in turn significantly increased the success rate of loading the Blood Sacrifice ability.
Although King Zhen Ao was of mixed blood, it was still an Innate Beast King. Even if it was at the bottom of that rank, its overall strength was still mid-tier among Beast Kings.
"Further experiments will be put on hold for now."
"Next, you’ll lead me to the Celestial Traveler Venerable. After that, I’ll let you go. What do you think of this deal?" Qi Suian said, finally looking at King Zhen Ao after cleaning his tools and tidying up.
By this point, King Zhen Ao had lost all of its fighting spirit.
Upon hearing that Qi Suian was willing to let it go, a spark of life finally returned to it.
"Fine!" It didn’t ask a stupid question like whether he was telling the truth. During its days as a test subject, it had come to understand one thing.
The initiative had never been in its claws from the very beginning. Everything depended on Qi Suian’s whim.
It could also tell that Qi Suian seemed to be exploring something, but his methods were just exceptionally cruel.
King Zhen Ao had seen not only its fellow Cold Energy Monsters, but also human Cultivators. The man was a complete madman.
It was also furious, wondering which bastard had revealed its lair to this lunatic, leading it to such a miserable fate.
If it got out of this alive, it would definitely find that bastard and make them taste every bit of the suffering it had endured these past days.
"If you had just agreed earlier, you wouldn’t have had to suffer like this." Qi Suian shook his head. "Why must you do things the hard way?"
King Zhen Ao remained silent in response to Qi Suian’s words.
It merely cursed Qi Suian inwardly for his shamelessness.
"Tell me, where is the Celestial Traveler Venerable hibernating?" Qi Suian asked directly.
"At the bottom of Longling Lake on Celestial Pillar Mountain," King Zhen Ao said softly.
It wasn’t that it wanted to give up the information so easily, but after being experimented on for so long, it was already incredibly weak. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Even if it survived, it would take years of recuperation to recover.
Qi Suian had his smart-brain search for Celestial Pillar Mountain and Longling Lake on the map.
And what do you know, it actually found them.
This mountain was no ordinary one; it was the tallest on the planet.
However, it couldn’t find Longling Lake.
"Where is Longling Lake?" Qi Suian asked directly.
"It’s at the very peak of Celestial Pillar Mountain. There’s a large lake there."
"But it’s buried under years of accumulated snow and ice. An ordinary person wouldn’t even know if they were walking on soil or an ice sheet."
"And though I call it a lake, it’s actually an abyss. It’s a thousand meters deep."
"The place where the Celestial Traveler Venerable resides is at the bottom of this Dragon Ridge Abyss."
"You’ll never be able to get in," King Zhen Ao said, its tone flat.
Qi Suian paid its words no mind, instead examining the data on Celestial Pillar Mountain.
The rock face elevation was a little over nine thousand meters. As for the details of Longling Lake, he wasn’t going to worry about that for now.
He didn’t necessarily have to go into the water, or even get to the shore of Longling Lake. He could calculate the corresponding location and use the Floating Cannons to bore a tunnel and drain the water.
It was a lot more trouble, but you couldn’t put a price on safety.
Anything that could withstand the pressure at a depth of a thousand meters must have a high constitution stat.
Of course, it could also be due to its physical structure.
But either way, a rapid drop in pressure would still cause it significant damage.
Qi Suian had two objectives. The primary one was to extract the creature’s core. The secondary one was to capture it alive.
If he could use a Venerable-rank Cold Energy Monster as a test subject, Qi Suian’s gains would certainly be even greater.
But that would require the right opportunity; otherwise, the chances of a live capture were slim.
Although the upper limit of the Extraordinary system in this world wasn’t very high, this was still a monster capable of slaughtering half a city.
Qi Suian could do it because of the Tai Sui God, but the Venerable could do it through sheer power.
Qi Suian wouldn’t let his guard down. He wouldn’t get arrogant and underestimate others just because he had Floating Cannons.
He wasn’t the only one who had fortuitous encounters, nor was he the only one with good luck.
Who knew when some peerless expert might just pop out of a forgotten corner of the world?
That’s why he always acted with caution.
Even when he was on a killing spree, he was still cautious.
"You’ve become much more obedient. In that case, come with me."
"I’ll let you go after I’ve confirmed the Celestial Traveler Venerable’s location." As he spoke, Qi Suian grabbed King Zhen Ao and injected it with a Concentrated Nutrient Solution.
After a moment’s thought, he also injected it with stimulants, a Forced Needle, and other drugs to keep it from dying on the way.
Celestial Pillar Mountain wasn’t close. Even flying there with the Tai Sui God would take some time.
With the low temperatures and blizzards along the way, what if King Zhen Ao didn’t make it?
If he just tossed its corpse into the Melting Furnace, how would Qi Suian verify whether the information it gave him was true or not?
He might have plot armor to back him up, but he couldn’t rely on luck all the time.
If he could handle something himself, he shouldn’t always wait for his plot armor to kick in.
Luck should be saved for when it truly mattered.
With the help of these nutrient solutions and drugs, King Zhen Ao felt its weakness gradually receding.
The strength that it should have originally possessed was also returning.
This wasn’t an illusion, but it was more like a boost gained by overdrawing its potential.
The days of experiments had already left King Zhen Ao almost completely hollowed out. Now, it was little more than an empty shell with few reserves left.
That single shot of nutrient solution was nowhere near enough to make up for the deficit.
So, the strength it felt was actually an illusion created by its body being squeezed dry once again.
If one had to find a similar description, it would be the final flare of a dying candle.
Qi Suian didn’t expect it to live long. Once he confirmed that the Celestial Traveler Venerable was truly in Longling Lake on Celestial Pillar Mountain, he planned to toss it into the Melting Furnace as fuel.
The quality of King Zhen Ao, while not enough to raise the Tai Sui God’s armor value directly to 28, would get it pretty close.
After all, it was a mainstay among Extraordinary Creatures. Its combustion efficiency was bound to be excellent.
As for how much armor value the Celestial Traveler Venerable was worth, Qi Suian wasn’t sure. He’d have to meet it to find out.
After arranging the "final flare" package for King Zhen Ao, he set off with it in tow.
Along the way, Qi Suian discovered that he had indeed underestimated a Beast King-rank Cold Energy Monster.
After they left, the symptoms of its "final flare" began to subside, and its body actually started to absorb cold energy from the environment to recover.
The winter apocalypse didn’t seem to affect King Zhen Ao. On the contrary, it felt like a fish in water.
Of course, the recovery wasn’t very effective. At best, it was barely clinging to life.
Barring any accidents, King Zhen Ao wouldn’t be dying anytime soon.
This was good news for Qi Suian.
The more King Zhen Ao recovered, the better it would burn when it was time to put it in the Melting Furnace.
Time passed slowly. Soon, Qi Suian saw the enormous Celestial Pillar Mountain. At an altitude of nine thousand meters, and flying through the sky, he naturally had a clear view.
He landed directly on the highest peak, in the area King Zhen Ao had described as Longling Lake.
Using his reconnaissance network, he did indeed find Longling Lake, hidden beneath a thick layer of ice and snow.
Never mind ordinary people; even the Cold Energy Monsters living in the vicinity didn’t know about it.
After a careful inspection and scientific calculations, the smart-brain’s conclusions didn’t differ much from King Zhen Ao’s intelligence.
"Since we’ve arrived, shouldn’t you fulfill your promise?" King Zhen Ao finally interjected after Qi Suian had been running around for a while and finally stopped.
"I could, but are you sure?" Qi Suian said casually. "I took a look just now. The entire Celestial Pillar Mountain is divided into seven sections."
"Each section is the territory of an Innate Beast King. The one we’re in now is ruled by a Beast King whose strength is likely no less than yours."
"Without your claws and mandibles, I doubt you’d make it down the mountain alive."
Qi Suian wasn’t being entirely truthful. His reconnaissance network couldn’t cover the entire Celestial Pillar Mountain.
Only the last sentence was true.
"I no longer have anything of value to offer in exchange for you taking me down the mountain." King Zhen Ao knew that Qi Suian was just seeing if he could squeeze any more value out of it.
"We’ve been enemies. If you go down the mountain, you’ll just be a free meal for some other beast. You might as well be a meal for me." As he spoke, Qi Suian grabbed King Zhen Ao.
Seeing this, King Zhen Ao, completely unable to resist, started cursing, "Damn you! You’re going back on your word!!!"
Before the words even faded, Qi Suian stuffed King Zhen Ao directly into the Melting Furnace.
Although it wasn’t instantly incinerated, King Zhen Ao still struggled for a few minutes in the Melting Furnace before it finally died.
"Its stats were high, but its life force wasn’t very tenacious."
"It seems to be a deficiency in its template, talents, and skills."
Qi Suian realized that stats were just the foundation. To make better use of them, many other factors needed to work in concert.
It was like that special zombie from before. Its overall stats were inferior to King Zhen Ao’s, but it was much more durable in the furnace.
Of course, it could also be that the Tai Sui God hadn’t evolved as much back then, so the Melting Furnace was less effective.
But it didn’t matter. Once something became fuel in the Melting Furnace, the result was always evolution energy. There was no hierarchy of quality in the end.
"Next is to deal with the threats on Celestial Pillar Mountain," Qi Suian said quietly.
The threats of Celestial Pillar Mountain were, of course, the Beast King-rank Cold Energy Monsters that Qi Suian had just mentioned to King Zhen Ao.
His plan would create a huge disturbance and would inevitably attract Cold Energy Monsters. Therefore, he had to eliminate all potential threats to avoid being interrupted.
After all, his target was one of the twelve strongest Cold Energy Monsters.
If someone said it wouldn’t be difficult, not even Qi Suian himself would believe it.
