Chapter 99: Chapter 99: The 100-Year-Old Broadcast from the Northernmost State Mantle Sanctuary

"And that’s a wrap!"

After plundering the settlement, Qi Suian naturally took his leave.

His life then fell into a tedious routine: hunting Desolate Beasts, researching the Blood Moon Organization, and cultivating his force. Simultaneously, he worked on modifying three Evil Dao and one semi-Evil Dao Ancient Martial Technique, hoping to use them as a foundation to create a technique of his very own.

And if he had any spare time, he’d practice Ancient Martial combat forms to keep himself busy.

Then, he discovered a new use for the Xin Yi Fist.

He could use it to enhance his ability: Spirit Enhancement.

Ever since leaving the Profound World, this ability of his had been stuck at A-rank.

The force generated by Xin Yi Fist was distinct from ordinary force, so Qi Suian used its unique properties to perform a structural deconstruction.

He then optimized and improved his own Pineal Gland, causing his Spirit Enhancement ability, which had already reached its limit, to start improving once again.

It was a success, but Qi Suian stopped the process.

’The optimized Pineal Gland structure is fine. The problem is me...’

’My two attributes must reach at least 3 points, and I must personally achieve the Dan Jin stage. Otherwise, I won’t be able to bear the upgraded Spirit Enhancement ability.’

’If all goes as planned, the ability will advance to S-rank.’

’The boost to my Spirit attribute would far exceed the strength of my physique, leading to an imbalance.’

’Insufficient strength would mean certain death.’ Qi Suian quickly deduced from the data.

’In that case, if I continue to extrapolate the principles of Dan Jin, Gang Jin, and Jie Jin from the foundation of Xin Yi Fist and extract their structures...’

’Wouldn’t that mean Spirit Enhancement could reach SSS-rank?’

Qi Suian realized that the first three stages of Ancient Martial Techniques focused on the physique, while the last three were more metaphysical, placing them in the domain of the Spirit attribute.

’Alright, it’s probably not that simple.’ Qi Suian mused. ’If reaching SSS-rank were so easy, it wouldn’t be so rare.’

Xin Yi Fist was unique; it focused not on the physical body but on the "heart and mind’s intent," which is why it was related to the Spirit attribute, allowing Qi Suian to successfully adapt its structure.

He probably wouldn’t be able to make any breakthroughs beyond that.

’It would be nice if my research on the Blood Moon Organization samples was progressing this well.’

Compared to the Spirit Enhancement ability, Qi Suian was more concerned about his own series of virus-related talents.

He had a way forward, but no means to achieve it.

He could indeed improve his virus talents over time by absorbing the Source of Profound Darkness: Viral Frenzy talent.

But as for the time it would take... Qi Suian didn’t even want to think about how long it would be.

So he was still more reliant on the Blood Moon Organization samples.

’Whatever. The Blood Moon Organization samples can’t be rushed. I should focus on the strength I have now.’

He researched it every day. It wasn’t that there was no progress, just that it was rather limited.

So Qi Suian came up with another idea: kill the protagonist of the Ancient Martial World. After strengthening his own "protagonist halo," perhaps he could make rapid progress with the help of luck.

Unfortunately, after wandering for so long, the SSS-rank module, the Treasure Map of the Lost, hadn’t shown a red dot again.

Apparently, the only opportunity worthy of this module’s attention was likely the protagonist himself.

After all, not even the Xin Yi Fist had appeared on the map.

So instead of a treasure map, it was more like a protagonist locator.

There were pros and cons, he supposed.

The pro was that if something appeared on the map, it meant he had to go all out.

The con was also obvious: Qi Suian would miss out on opportunities that weren’t protagonist-level.

Fortunately, his current behavior pattern rarely missed anything, since he was either killing or on his way to kill.

As for what he was killing, that was another story.

[Weak signal detected. Translating...]

The AI’s prompt appeared in Qi Suian’s mind.

This came as a surprise to Qi Suian.

Communications were severely hampered in the Polar Day World.

In any case, since his arrival, Qi Suian had never seen the Tai Sui God receive any signal or information.

The decryption was slow. Without a corresponding module, even a powerful AI needed time, especially when encountering this world’s signals for the first time.

The fact that it could translate it at all was a testament to the AI’s power. Normally, signals from a different world would be impossible to parse.

[Translation complete. It is a broadcast announcement.]

[Now playing for you...]

[International Calendar... Horizon Realm stalled... The sun began to expand, producing abnormal radiation contamination... Atmosphere has been... Temperatures rising sharply, environment no longer suit... Please proceed to the Northernmost State Mantle Sanctuary as soon as possible, located at...]

The choppy broadcast sounded ancient and decrepit, with large portions completely unintelligible.

Still, Qi Suian managed to learn some things about the Polar Day World.

And the "Horizon Realm" must be the Earth Plane Planet he was on.

Alright, using "planet" to describe a Horizon Realm did feel a bit off.

But it was precisely because the Horizon Realm had stopped rotating that the Polar Day phenomenon occurred.

Moreover, the world standing still shouldn’t have caused high temperatures on its own. The sun’s expansion and radiation had destroyed the atmosphere, causing temperatures to skyrocket. This was also how the Desolate Beasts came to be.

"But about the Northernmost State Mantle Sanctuary... AI, what are your thoughts?" Qi Suian asked bluntly.

He really didn’t know where the Extreme North State was.

But he did know one thing: this Mantle Sanctuary very likely held the legacy of a former civilization.

Assuming the high temperatures hadn’t reduced it all to a pile of scrap.

[There is a 90% probability that your protagonist halo is guiding you.]

[It is recommended that you place "traveling to the Mantle Sanctuary" among your top three priorities.]

"My thoughts exactly. The problem is, where is the Extreme North State?" Qi Suian asked the crucial question.

How could he go if he didn’t know the location?

Relying on luck was an option, but what if his luck got lost?

’The post-apocalyptic natives definitely wouldn’t know. This was from a hundred years ago, how could they possibly know?’

’They’re all short-lived wretches. A hundred years is enough for three to five of their generations to pass.’

[You can begin a detailed search centered on your current location to gather sufficient clues.]

[However, this will be time-consuming and may conflict with your plans.]

Either spend time searching for a possibility or rely on luck to get there.

Either option carried a significant cost for Qi Suian.

"Relying on luck is unrealistic. Let’s start with a search—a grid search." Qi Suian had no intention of leaving things entirely to chance unless he was in a desperate situation.

It wouldn’t be too late to let luck take over when he truly had no other choice.

Otherwise, if he relied on luck and the AI for everything, he’d eventually become useless.

[Yes. Complying with your command.]

After replying, the AI began enhancing the reconnaissance network’s detection capabilities and formed a big data model from the various collected data.

Unfortunately, launching a satellite wasn’t possible at the moment; otherwise, things would be much simpler.

Qi Suian, meanwhile, waited quietly without taking any action, his mind still preoccupied with modifying and merging Ancient Martial Techniques.

Before long, the Tai Sui God retrieved the device that sent the signal and began to analyze it further.

[Device is too severely damaged to be effectively repaired.]

[Detailed address acquired, but unable to determine coordinates.]

[Original positioning method is unusable due to the Horizon Realm’s stasis. Current location cannot be confirmed.]

Qi Suian looked at the so-called detailed address, which was actually just a line of text recorded on a piece of paper.

"What about the satellite? If we launch the Eternal Morning Star, can we get a lock?" Qi Suian asked tentatively. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

’I have a satellite, and you’re telling me you can’t get a location? Isn’t that a bit pathetic?’

[The satellite can be launched, but it will be affected by the sun. There is a 90% probability it cannot be recovered.]

[This will result in the permanent loss of the Eternal Morning Star module.]

[This module has immense potential. Once the Tai Sui God has evolved a sufficient number of times, it will unlock satellite drone projections. At that time, satellite drones can be launched without risk.]

Seeing the AI’s explanation, Qi Suian immediately abandoned the idea of launching the satellite.

Even though the satellite was just an accessory for the reconnaissance network now, once he had satellite projections, their roles would be reversed.

"Forget it. We’ll take it slow. If it really comes down to it, I’ll just kill and interrogate my way there," Qi Suian muttered.

He wasn’t some cultured gentleman. He didn’t understand psychological tactics or using a mix of threats and rewards. For him, it was just kill, kill, kill. Saved him the trouble.

’A pity the sun is fixed in the sky. I can’t even tell north from south, east from west.’

[Even if you could, the method of determining direction on a spherical body is not applicable to the Horizon Realm.]

"Ah, that... makes a lot of sense."

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

"The Northernmost State Mantle Sanctuary?" Qin Sheng looked at the address in his hand. It was one of the rewards he had received from the Doomsday Game.

Unfortunately, it was just a name. At most, he knew the three words "Extreme North State," and nothing more.

’For the Doomsday Game to offer this as a reward... could it be that this sanctuary can withstand the high temperatures?’

Qin Sheng had, of course, noticed that the temperature was steadily rising.

Even ordinary people had noticed.

After all, the temperature had risen five or six degrees in such a short time. Even the most oblivious person would feel it.

"Then we have to find this sanctuary as soon as possible. Most of the survivors in our camp are ordinary people, not Ancient Martial Artists. If the temperature keeps rising, they won’t survive," Xue Pingjun said with concern.

"I know, but the Doomsday Game only gave me a name. There’s nothing more I can do," Qin Sheng said helplessly.

As for him and Xue Pingjun, there wasn’t much romance between them. Their relationship was more one of comradeship-in-arms.

Although they had a marriage contract, after experiencing the apocalypse, Qin Sheng had come to understand the preciousness of life more deeply.

They were both independent individuals. There was no need to be bound by a piece of paper, let alone such an absurd marriage contract.

"Perhaps it wasn’t the complete reward. After all, it’s only one of yours," Xue Pingjun said.

Qin Sheng agreed with this, but agreement was one thing. Where were they supposed to look?

As the two were talking, a survivor hurried in.

"Brother Qin, Sister Xue, there’s someone outside who claims to be from the Cold Pond Zuoqiu Family. He wants to see Brother Qin," the survivor said breathlessly upon arriving.

A cold glint flashed in Qin Sheng’s eyes. "The Cold Pool Saber, the Ancient Martial Zuoqiu Family."

"They’re not here on a friendly visit."

"Then let’s see them. Don’t want them saying we don’t know how to treat our guests."