Chapter 528: Snake Swallowing Elephant Plan

Having dealt with the doomsday game, Qi Suian returned to the laboratory from before.

He was preparing to risk a little to win a lot. He wouldn’t just devour this broken Spirit Master World for sustenance; he planned to consume the four invading worlds as well.

A classic case of a snake swallowing an elephant.

If he failed, the worst that could happen was he’d take a bite and run. But if he succeeded... well, that would be a different story entirely. It would be a meteoric rise.

The risks were immense. Even if the four worlds were merely operating according to their own rules, making them less flexible than he was, they were still complete worlds.

Even if Qi Suian devoured the Spirit Master World, it would only be like growing from an infant into a strapping man. He would still be facing four other strapping men. It would merely shift the odds from a disadvantage to an even match; it wouldn’t be a guaranteed steamroll.

Therefore, he needed a little help.

And that help, naturally, came in the form of the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao.

"What in the hell did you do? Why are four worlds invading us at once?" the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao demanded the moment Qi Suian arrived.

After repeated psychological and spiritual torment, the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao was extremely agitated.

It wanted to remain calm, but not long after its remnant body had been devoured, it had to face continental compression and a multi-world invasion. It was impossible to keep its composure.

"It’s just a small problem. I can handle it, don’t you worry," Qi Suian said dismissively. "Worst case, the world gets destroyed. With my power, it’s no trouble at all for me to just leave."

Those two sentences alone were enough to send the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao into a rage.

’It’s no trouble for you to just leave, but I can’t!’

It had become a Celestial Dao, bound inextricably to this world. Even if it wanted to escape, it couldn’t. It could only share the world’s fate—to live or die together.

As the four worlds devoured its own, it felt every single violation as if it were happening to its own body. The feeling of being slowly sliced apart with a dull knife was simply unbearable.

Especially now, restrained by Qi Suian, it was powerless to intervene in the cosmos. All it could do was watch helplessly as it was tortured.

"Let me go! I will go support the cosmos and repel these four worlds, no matter the cost!" the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao roared without hesitation. "If this world falls, you won’t gain anything either!"

There was no point in reasoning with Qi Suian; one could only appeal to his self-interest.

"Repel them?" Qi Suian slowly began his preparations, looking anything but rushed. "You think those four worlds are people? You think you can just beat them until they’re hurt and scared, and they’ll call it a day?"

After all, things had already reached this point. Panicking was useless. Heck, grabbing a bite to eat was a higher priority than getting anxious.

"Worlds aren’t people. They don’t have complex thoughts."

"Take you, for instance. Can you make this world flee?" Qi Suian asked. "Even as the Celestial Dao, you can’t completely interfere with the world’s fundamental operations."

"So, you have absolutely no way of repelling them."

"Fortunately, I do have a solution. I just need a little cooperation from you."

Qi Suian was a world himself; of course he knew how worlds ticked.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao didn’t question him, because what he said was true.

’I am the Celestial Dao, not the world itself. I’m more like an administrator than a true controller.’

It could interfere with and change things within the world, no problem, and it could even exert an indirect influence externally.

But direct control? That was beyond its power.

A Celestial Dao is part of a world, a management system born from the culmination of its operational logic.

At least, that was the case for the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao. The nature of other worlds’ Celestial Daos was unknown.

Qi Suian only knew this in such detail because he had studied it.

For instance, the will of the Ghost World had also merged itself with the Dao, but Qi Suian wasn’t clear on the specific details of its situation.

He was certain, however, that it was different from the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao.

Different worlds naturally meant different circumstances.

"Cooperate? How do you want me to cooperate?" the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao asked, its voice now calm.

"Simple. You want to save this world, don’t you? All it will take is a small, insignificant sacrifice."

"Don’t worry, it won’t kill you. After all, as long as you’re willing to cooperate, we’re practically allies," Qi Suian said.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao’s understanding of Qi Suian’s true character was still rather shallow.

It knew Qi Suian was no good person, but it had yet to realize just how deep his depravity ran—just how low his bottom line was.

"Fine," the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao said calmly. "Release me as a show of good faith, and we’ll join forces."

’At a time like this, he shouldn’t be thinking about infighting, much less backstabbing me.’

’And as for Qi Suian’s claim that leaving would be ’no trouble at all’? That has to be a bluff.’

’An invasion by four united worlds would surely seal off every possible escape route.’

’If it were really that easy, why would he stick around and ask for my cooperation? He must be in over his head and just putting on a brave face to save his own skin.’

"There’s no need for that. What if I let you go and you attack me on a whim?"

Qi Suian had no intention of letting it go. An attack would be a minor issue. He was more concerned about what would happen if the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao saw the situation was beyond saving and decided to bolt.

The being was indeed the Celestial Dao of the Spirit Master World, but that bond wasn’t unbreakable—especially since it had only ascended to the position recently.

If it was willing to pay the price—a grievous but non-fatal injury—it would be well worth it to save its own life.

The moment those words left Qi Suian’s mouth, however, a sense of foreboding washed over the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao.

It was certain Qi Suian had some other ulterior motive. It was about to demand an explanation, but before it could utter a word, Qi Suian closed the distance and made his move.

The attack was completely unexpected, and a searing pain erupted through the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao once more.

This time, the agony far surpassed anything it had previously experienced.

If before it was mere torture, this was different. This felt like it was changing its very essence.

"You... what in the hell are you doing?!" the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao demanded after a muffled grunt of pain.

"Four worlds... it’s a bit much for me to handle. So, I need a sufficiently powerful bomb to help me out."

"It won’t solve the problem outright, but a giant smoke bomb to obscure their vision would be enough for me to launch a sneak attack."

Qi Suian briefly outlined his plan.

"So... you chose... me... to become... this... bomb?!" the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao spat out, grinding its teeth.

"There’s really no one else, and you’re just too perfect for the part. If not you, then who?" Qi Suian replied, as if his reasoning was perfectly sound.

"Yourself!!!" the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao roared.

"I’m not an idiot. Why would I sacrifice myself to make your life better?" Qi Suian rolled his eyes. ’In your dreams.’

Sacrificing his life for a strange world, for beings he didn’t know, just so this unfamiliar place could have a better future?

That went against every fiber of his being.

"You’re the Celestial Dao. Of course you’re the more suitable candidate. For me to be the sacrifice? How improper would that be?"

"Besides, it’s not that I’m looking down on you, but with your pitiful level of strength, even if I sacrificed myself, do you really think you could pull it off?"

"You’re not even on my level. So you being the raw material for the bomb is perfectly reasonable," Qi Suian rambled on, explaining his logic to the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao.

He elevated it from personal reasons to grand principles, fudging together whatever justification was needed.

If it believed him, great. If not, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao could resist anyway.

It was already on the operating table, undergoing Qi Suian’s modifications. Reluctance was futile.

"You... you..." the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao stammered, but the words wouldn’t come out.

It wasn’t that Qi Suian’s words had left it speechless, but rather the modification process itself was interfering with its ability to form words.

Otherwise, for every sentence Qi Suian uttered, the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao would have fired back three retorts, if not ten.

As the modification progressed, Qi Suian estimated its progress and initiated the second phase of his plan.

Out in the cosmos, the fibrous entities that had devoured the Ginseng Fruit Tree’s remnant flesh began to replicate madly, forming an even more massive swarm.

Then, they began... to gnaw on the entire world.

Qi Suian, too, began to release the restrictions on his own body. An indescribable world started to instantaneously devour the one around it. Wherever he stood, the Spirit Master World was consumed, bit by bit.

To defeat four worlds, he first had to evolve from a nascent world into a complete one.

Only as an equal would he have a chance of winning.

Otherwise, with too great a power disparity, no amount of scheming would matter. It would be like being unable to even scratch their defenses while they could kill you instantly with a simple flick to the forehead.

So, naturally, the first thing he had to do was level himself up.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao noticed this immediately.

Enduring the agony, it roared, its eyes wide with fury. "What have you done?! What have you done to this world?!"

The shock of it seemed to even make its speech fluent again.

"You’re eating the world! Why are you doing this?! We were supposed to cooperate! Why did you betray my trust?!"

"Answer me, you bastard..." the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao demanded furiously, but received no reply from Qi Suian.

Qi Suian paid no mind to its words, instead accelerating both his consumption of the world and the modification of the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao.

"The sacrifice of one for the happiness of millions, you know?" Qi Suian finally replied when he had a spare moment.

’As for where the ’millions of families’ come from? With so many of those fibrous things, even if you counted ten as one family, ’millions’ would be an understatement.’

But by now, the Ginseng Fruit Tree·Celestial Dao had long since lost its humanoid form. Its very consciousness had been twisted and corrupted. It could hear his voice, but it could no longer comprehend the meaning of his words.

"Ah, I spoke too late. I’ll be sure to tell you sooner next time," Qi Suian said, his tone laced with mock regret. But it was fine. It’s the thought that counts.