Chapter 189: Chapter 189: The Last Fuel of the Cold Winter: Red Blood Dragon
"Just as I thought. It has no physical form, just a stream of cold energy akin to a current of air."
Qi Suian spotted the Red Blood Dragon from a distance. To be honest, the creature no longer had anything to do with the color red, blood, or even dragons.
It could really just be called a current of cold energy.
However, through some unique means, it had achieved a state of existence similar to a living organism.
If it weren’t so powerful, Qi Suian would definitely have chosen to capture it alive for research instead of trying to kill it.
Unfortunately, his fists weren’t big enough for that kind of work. Killing it was the only option.
Qi Suian’s arrival naturally caught the Red Blood Dragon’s attention.
The creature immediately manipulated the vibrations in the air by controlling the cold energy, communicating with Qi Suian.
"Human, your power is immense. I invite you to become the King of Humans, and I, as the King of Beasts, shall rule this world alongside you," the Red Blood Dragon said, making an empty promise right from the start.
Qi Suian was left speechless.
Even if Qi Suian didn’t know the Red Blood Dragon’s true nature... he still wouldn’t have been fooled.
’This thing is nothing but trouble. What kind of sane person opens their mouth and immediately invites you to rule the world together?’
"AI, begin the partitioning strategy. Let’s try to fleece it for more before it flies into a rage." Qi Suian had no intention of talking to the Red Blood Dragon and instead directly ordered the AI to have the Tai Sui God make its move.
Having received its instructions, the AI immediately replied to the Red Blood Dragon to lull it into a false sense of security.
The manner of its reply was perfectly calculated, causing the Red Blood Dragon to relax its guard as it began to ponder how it could get the Taiyin Red Blood Stone back from Qi Suian.
But this thought had barely formed for two seconds before a sharp pain shot through it.
Although it was now in a state akin to a current of cold energy, it was ultimately still a living organism and thus possessed a sense of pain it shouldn’t have had.
When it looked, it saw that the Tai Sui God had lopped off a huge chunk of "flesh" from its tail section.
This cost it nearly a tenth of its body.
Just as it was about to try and retrieve the severed part of its body, it was shocked to find that the piece had simply vanished, taken by some unknown means.
"Damn you! How dare you!!!" the Red Blood Dragon roared, but the last thread of its sanity held taut.
The reason deep within told it to hold back. ’They’re just trying to provoke you, to make you abandon your original plan and let all your previous efforts go to waste.’
It was only because of this last shred of reason that it didn’t act rashly.
The AI continued its attempts to deceive it, but this time, the Red Blood Dragon didn’t believe a word. It began to defend itself rigorously to avoid losing another part of its body.
Its airtight defense proved quite effective, blocking the Tai Sui God’s "flesh-slicing" attempts many times.
However, after so many attempts, slip-ups were inevitable, and the Tai Sui God would manage to slice off another piece.
Fortunately, because of its defenses, it never lost much at a time.
But it couldn’t withstand the constant, predatory attacks. If it couldn’t find a solution, there was a good chance it would be worn down and killed.
Especially since the Tai Sui God seemed completely tireless.
While the Red Blood Dragon wasn’t a conventional lifeform and didn’t experience "fatigue" in the same way...
...it did consume Spirit and energy. Having to constantly be on guard against the Tai Sui God while also devouring the entire planet’s cold energy was by no means an easy task.
Especially since the amount of cold energy it needed to consume would only increase over time.
It didn’t devour a consistent amount from the start, but rather went from easy to difficult. Otherwise, if it had tried to devour one-thirtieth of the planet’s cold energy in a single day at the beginning, it would have simply burst.
In essence, it was a gradual process.
"Who in the hell are you?! I have no grievance or enmity with you, so why must you oppose me!!!" the Red Blood Dragon roared.
Qi Suian paid it no mind. It was just a powerless tantrum.
"At the current rate, how much longer until we can stuff the whole thing into the Melting Furnace?" Qi Suian asked.
This was crucial, as it concerned his subsequent plans.
[Preliminary estimate is twenty-four hours. It will not exceed thirty-six hours at most.]
With the AI’s estimate, Qi Suian focused on cultivating the Seven Elements Refining Technique. At his current pace, he could reach Seventh-Layer Perfection in about ten more days at most.
This was all thanks to the accelerated growth from his +6 enhanced Celestial Fate: Profound, combined with the growth buff from the Source of Profound Darkness: Viral Tide. That was the only reason Qi Suian’s efficiency was so high.
Otherwise, under normal circumstances, reaching perfection would be a matter of patient work and nutrient supply; even cultivating twenty-four hours a day would require at least three months.
But now, the time required had been drastically reduced.
[Actually, you don’t have to kill the Red Blood Dragon. You could try to seal it back into the Taiyin Red Blood Stone. There’s a high probability it would become an item on par with the Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus.]
[It might even gain a special effect similar to the Treasure Map of the Lost.]
The AI was suggesting they could squeeze the Red Blood Dragon dry, spare its life, and stuff it into the Taiyin Red Blood Stone to replenish it.
"It’s useless. The Taiyin Red Blood Stone will never be a Treasure Map of the Lost."
"Getting rid of it is what’s important to me." Qi Suian didn’t want a second consciousness inside the Tai Sui God. The AI was a module, naturally controlled by the Tai Sui God’s permissions.
The Red Blood Dragon was not. Nor did the Taiyin Red Blood Stone possess the same kind of restrictive power as the Skin of Wisdomlessness, which could wear down a consciousness.
Keeping it around would more likely be a liability than a help.
Besides, he didn’t need it. Even if the Red Blood Dragon returned to the Taiyin Red Blood Stone, at most it would just increase the evolutionary growth ceiling of Trait 1 and the growth of the Yin-attribute Divine Techniques of Trait 2.
The same effect could be achieved once the Taiyin Red Blood Stone evolved into an SSS-rank module anyway.
More importantly, the remnants of the Red Blood Dragon were one of the true sources of fuel value. Qi Suian would rather let the Tai Sui God evolve than choose the Red Blood Dragon.
After all, he could have unlimited modules in the future, but the resources needed to evolve the Tai Sui God were astronomical. Given the opportunity to evolve it, he would definitely take it.
It’s not like he couldn’t find a similar replacement module later on.
"The Red Blood Dragon is no pushover. It’s lived for a long time. If we really subdued it for our own use, what if it backstabs us one day?"
"After all, we’re using violence to force it to work for us, and we’re not even paying it."
"All work and no reward? In two or three months, it’d be brimming with resentment, plotting how to flay me alive."
After Qi Suian had analyzed the downsides for the AI from various angles, the AI, having already been rejected, had no intention of persuading him further.
However, it listened quietly to Qi Suian’s explanation without offering any rebuttal.
After all, the decision-making power, the right to choose, and all related authority rested in Qi Suian’s hands. It was just an assistant; it could offer suggestions, but it couldn’t make decisions for him.
That was beyond its authority.
Meanwhile, due to the Tai Sui God’s actions, the Red Blood Dragon’s final thread of sanity had completely snapped.
It understood that if it continued to defend so conservatively, the only outcome it would face was death.
Thus, it abandoned its original plan without hesitation. Dragging its ravaged body, it hurtled toward the Tai Sui God, wrapped in a massive amount of cold energy.
Its speed and power were immense, appearing utterly dominant.
If the AI hadn’t reacted quickly enough to have the Tai Sui God graze past the Red Blood Dragon, a direct hit would have been devastating.
"It actually gave up. And from the looks of it, the intelligence-lowering effect must have kicked in." Qi Suian was rather surprised as he watched the Red Blood Dragon deviate from its original course.
Making such a choice was understandable. One path was a slow death; the other was a chance to start over.
At least with the latter, it could still survive. It might even eliminate a hidden danger by killing Qi Suian.
The Red Blood Dragon was incredibly fast. It wheeled around again, churning the clouds in the sky and throwing them into complete disarray.
"Can you handle it? I’ll have the Protagonist’s Halo give you a hand," Qi Suian said, watching the Tai Sui God make one narrow escape after another, all while managing to slice off another piece of flesh from the Red Blood Dragon.
[Of course. Thank you for your help, and for the help of the Protagonist’s Halo.]
The AI didn’t understand the concept of being polite, especially when their interests were at stake.
"Protagonist’s Halo, give the Tai Sui God and the AI a hand. Turn the Red Blood Dragon into fuel." Qi Suian’s instructions were simple and clear.
As for how it would take effect, Qi Suian had no idea.
But watching the Tai Sui God’s consistently perilous maneuvers, he could tell the AI had a very good grasp of the situation.
Although the Red Blood Dragon seemed to have the upper hand, forcing the Tai Sui God into a steady retreat, the truth was that with every dodge, the Tai Sui God managed to take a piece of the Red Blood Dragon’s energy-flesh and toss it into the Melting Furnace.
This was truly dancing on a knife’s edge. A single mistake, and even if it didn’t suffer a critical blow, it would lose the strength to continue dealing with the Red Blood Dragon.
The Red Blood Dragon could afford to make a few mistakes, but the Tai Sui God had only one chance to fail.
It was a good thing the AI controlling the Tai Sui God wasn’t a conventional lifeform. Otherwise, if its mental state affected its actions, it would have been completely screwed.
Humans have their advantages, and AIs have theirs. Qi Suian would naturally use whichever was best for the job.
HUFF... HUFF... The Red Blood Dragon’s ragged breathing echoed out. After a while, it too realized how slippery the Tai Sui God was.
On top of that, its strength was waning from having pieces of itself constantly sliced away.
It knew it couldn’t continue this stalemate any longer.
It had to retreat and find a place to recover, or it would be worn down and killed sooner or later.
To put it bluntly: it couldn’t win, and it was time to run.
The AI immediately detected its intention and began to intercept.
But it was a step too late. The Red Blood Dragon had already fled.
"Our previous actions wounded it pretty badly; its speed has dropped quite a bit." Qi Suian watched the Red Blood Dragon’s fleeing form, not at all worried it would escape.
The Tai Sui God’s Wind Master aviation system was a notch faster than it.
Otherwise, how could the Tai Sui God have dodged the Red Blood Dragon’s attacks every single time?
It was all because this module gave it an advantage.
This was all thanks to the transformation and spatial-folding modules. Without them, the AI couldn’t have adjusted the Tai Sui God’s size, weight, and form, nor could it have unleashed the full potential of the Wind Master aviation system.
"If it hadn’t run and had continued to fight the Tai Sui God head-on, it might have had a chance to live. Now, all that’s left is a slow death," Qi Suian said.
