Chapter 471: Magic Power, Tragically Castrated Twice

"Magic Power is a bio-energy created from the combination of external energy and Spirit."

"It possesses extreme plasticity and transformative effects."

"Unfortunately, it only works under specific conditions and in particular environments."

"Through shaping and transformation, it can ultimately form Magic with different attributes and effects."

"Its drawback is that it requires incantations, hand gestures, and the flow of Magic Power to be constructed."

"Furthermore, it is only suitable for these survivors from the Magic World. Once Magic Power leaves a Mage, it dissipates and evaporates."

Qi Suian looked at the research report in his hand with an expression of regret.

Before the Ghost World, this would have been incomparably useful to Qi Suian; he would have moved heaven and earth to learn Magic.

But now, it was really of no great use to him.

Qi Suian didn't even need to perform further dissections to understand the principles and operational logic of Magic.

As his power grew, his abilities of observation, perception, and the like had all strengthened.

Unless an Extraordinary system introduced by the Apocalypse Game allowed for dual attributes to break past 10 points, there was no longer any research difficulty for Qi Suian.

But that was simply impossible. It was the Apocalypse Game's bottom line.

The Apocalypse Game could only control things up to SSS-rank and 9 points in dual attributes. Anything higher was beyond its scope.

Otherwise, why would the first batch of survivors have had such a difficult time raising their attributes?

Without Qi Suian, even if the entire first batch of survivors had died, the next ones brought in would have faced the same difficult start.

Extraordinary power would never have appeared.

From this, one could see that the Apocalypse Game's upper limit was indeed not high, nor was it particularly impressive.

It was in no way comparable to those powerful Main Deity Spaces or Reincarnation Paradises.

However, this was good news for Qi Suian. If it had been one of those powerful entities, a violator like him would have been toast long ago.

He wouldn't even have had the chance to become a violator before he was deader than dead.

So, the Apocalypse Game being weak was a good thing for Qi Suian.

"Still, there has been some progress. The Holy Sanctuary level means 9 points in the Spirit attribute. Their physique is a bit lacking, but that can be compensated for." Qi Suian said, thoughtfully stitching up the Elemental Master's wounds as he watched him.

He could have researched them without dissection, but since they were already here, Qi Suian couldn't just stand and watch. He had to get to the heart of the matter.

Otherwise, wouldn't he be wasting their good intentions of being forced to be his guests?

"Judging by the changes in the Magic Power data, there should be a path beyond the Holy Sanctuary, but it's been castrated."

"Twice, in fact."

"The first time was due to environmental factors, so it wasn't a clean job."

"That was a natural disaster. Even if something remained, it wouldn't be enough to support their advancement, at most giving them a glimmer of unattainable hope."

"The second castration was much cleaner. The Apocalypse Game must have been the one to do it."

"From that point on, it became impossible to break through to the realm above the Holy Sanctuary."

"If someone actually managed to break through, wouldn't that create another me?"

"So, to prevent such a situation from occurring, the problem was solved at its very root."

"And it was a very clean solution, even fixing the shoddy work from before." Qi Suian wasn't too surprised.

The Apocalypse Game was never a good thing to begin with. It wasn't some special institution for cultivating peerless powerhouses or Supreme Venerables.

It was an invader and a plunderer. To the Apocalypse Game, survivors weren't important; they were just a group of expendable tools.

Growth and potential didn't matter. Even life and death didn't matter. If they died, it could just get a new batch.

"The potential and upper limit of Magic Power aren't low, but after being tampered with twice, it's completely crippled."

"Unless some heaven-sent prodigy appears, it basically has no future." Qi Suian was deeply regretful about this.

He then stitched up the Prophet, put both of them on nutrient drips, and injected them with a series of drugs, including regeneration and recovery potions.

He still needed these two to act as cannon fodder for him, so he definitely had to let them recover.

Qi Suian had physically erased their memories, so as long as their bodies recovered, they wouldn't remember what had happened in between.

Moreover, Qi Suian had kept them fully anesthetized during his research, so they had not a shred of consciousness.

Otherwise, there would certainly be aftereffects.

With Qi Suian's brutal methods, it would be impossible for them not to be left with psychological scars.

"Its vertical development was limited, but its horizontal development is truly impressive," Qi Suian couldn't help but praise. "But that has nothing to do with the system itself; it's born from human creativity."

It was nothing more than carving out a niche under severe limitations—truly an act of desperation.

"They all have 9-point attributes, but because of the number and quality of passives, talents, and so on derived from the Extraordinary system, their power levels are completely different."

"If it were those other 9-point attribute individuals from before, they wouldn't necessarily have been a match for the three Holy Sanctuary Mages."

"Even though Magic requires hand gestures and incantations, they have talents and passives that can significantly mitigate these drawbacks."

"They only fell so quickly because they ran into me, someone who completely crushed them with attributes." Qi Suian had a very clear understanding of how he had managed to capture the Elemental Master and the Prophet alive.

He had simply bullied the weak with his superior strength. There was no skill involved.

'Time's up. You should send them back now.'

As the first ray of sunlight touched the island, the Profound Mechanism Wind King arrived to rush him.

It had probably timed its arrival perfectly, afraid that Qi Suian would kill them.

The Profound Mechanism Wind King was well aware of Qi Suian's attitude toward this group of survivors.

He had previously declared his intent to kill them all, only to be overruled by the Profound Mechanism Wind King.

"Alright, alright, stop rushing me," Qi Suian replied impatiently.

His attitude toward the Profound Mechanism Wind King was getting worse and worse, and he was no longer bothering to hide it.

That was just how Qi Suian was. If you were valuable and willing to put on a show with him, he'd play along.

But if you were unwilling to cooperate and insisted on doing your own thing, then Qi Suian would have no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

Of course, this only applied when their strengths were equal or he was stronger. When faced with someone more powerful, he would still obediently act like a polite and caring person.

With the acquisition of the five modules previously, Qi Suian had obtained a vast amount of rule data and knowledge from the World Core, which he converted into personal strength with extreme efficiency.

This caused Qi Suian's power to advance by leaps and bounds once again.

He had always been like this: acquire knowledge, convert it into power, and repeat the cycle.

For Qi Suian, knowledge truly was power.

According to Qi Suian's current estimates, if he were to fight the Profound Mechanism Wind King now, he would have about a 40% chance of winning and a 60% chance of a draw.

The Profound Mechanism Wind King didn't care about Qi Suian's attitude. It only cared about what he did.

From the moment Qi Suian began restoring the Elemental Master and the Prophet, it said nothing more.

After bundling up the two, Qi Suian got up and prepared to leave.

"Just these three? You're sending them to assassinate the Thunder God. Not only is it a suicide mission, but it's also almost guaranteed to fail."

"What are you trying to achieve?" Qi Suian asked casually.

He felt that the Profound Mechanism Wind King hadn't told him the whole story and was holding something back.

At first, he thought there might be a chance of success, but now that his research was complete and he had drawn his conclusions, he understood it was a lost cause.

If even Qi Suian could see it, how could the Profound Mechanism Wind King not?

'I want to know who will come out on top: the Thunder God or the Apocalypse Game,' the Profound Mechanism Wind King relayed to Qi Suian.

"Then what about me? What am I supposed to clean up... Oh, to stop them from running away, right?" Qi Suian didn't get it at first, but now that he thought about it, he realized he was the enforcer.

If they dared to retreat, Qi Suian would force them forward. If that didn't work, he would kill them to eliminate future trouble.

No wonder it wanted someone like him, who had explicitly stated his desire to kill the survivors, to be the backstop.

'Yes. The reason I didn't tell you before was to avoid creating any openings that the Holy Sanctuary Mages might detect.'

'Their strength may not be great, but they are very experienced.' The Profound Mechanism Wind King naturally knew what their strengths were.

"Killing with a borrowed knife, tsk," Qi Suian remarked.

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

When Great Arcanist Georg returned at dawn with Carl, weary from their travels, he discovered that Elemental Master Nieren and the Prophet Edwin had disappeared.

Normally, as the survivors' main base, they should have at least one Holy Sanctuary Mage standing guard.

Furthermore, he hadn't received any urgent messages during his absence.

After all, the Apocalypse Game's chat channel was far more convenient than magical transmissions.

Therefore, theoretically, it was impossible for them to have left without saying goodbye.

The most likely possibility, then, was that something had happened.

"Something happened?" Carl immediately sensed that something was wrong, especially after seeing the Great Arcanist's expression.

"Yes. The Elemental Master and the Prophet, two Holy Sanctuary Mages, have disappeared," the Great Arcanist did not hide the fact.

Since Carl was here, it wouldn't be difficult for someone of his strength to notice.

"It couldn't be the Thunder God, could it?" Carl quickly locked onto a suspect.

As for adversaries, besides the other Wind Kings, there was only the Thunder God.

The other Wind Kings were being held at bay by their superior, the Profound Mechanism Wind King, and besides, they were all plotting against the Thunder God.

The timing was just too coincidental; Carl couldn't help but think so.

"I'm not sure. But whoever did it left no traces. It's just... never mind. I'll go ask the patrol first." The Great Arcanist had no leads either.

Fortunately, not everything had to rely on Magic.

Of course, the main reason was that Magic had revealed no traces this time, so all he could do was ask around.

If that failed, his only option would be to seek out the Profound Mechanism Wind King.

The one most affected by this matter wasn't them, the survivors, but the cornered Profound Mechanism Wind King.

Whether it was the Thunder God or the other Wind Kings who made the move, it was a major blow to the Profound Mechanism Wind King.