The Rule-Breaker of the Doomsday Game

"The Ancient Martial Technique of the Qiushui Merchant Family is the *Qiushui Sword*."

Qi Suian watched the Tai Sui God toss bodies into the Melting Furnace while he flipped through the new Ancient Martial Technique he had just acquired.

As for the heroine of this Ancient Martial World, she was the first one into the Melting Furnace.

And her boon, of course, was now this Ancient Martial Sword Manual in Qi Suian’s hands.

After flipping through it for a bit, he realized it wasn’t very useful. This *Qiushui Sword* was indeed stronger than *Swallow Wing Fist*, but the difference was limited.

Compared to the three Evil Dao Ancient Martial Techniques Qi Suian possessed, it was far too inferior.

’Could there be a hidden secret?’ Qi Suian had the AI scan it.

And what do you know, the scan actually turned up something interesting.

"Holy shit, this trope is so cliché."

Qi Suian scoffed. When the contents of the *Qiushui Sword* were rearranged, they formed a completely different manual.

It was titled *Detailed Explanation of Sword Intent*.

It wasn’t some wicked Cultivation Technique, but rather one used to refine Sword Intent.

He knew about Sword Intent. It was something about how, at the Danjin realm, if your obsessive psychosis was related to swords, your Spirit would develop a sword-shaped mutation.

Then, through this Cultivation Technique, you could exacerbate your psychosis, making your spiritual mutation even more powerful.

It also pointed the way to a higher-level stage of this mental illness.

Of course, besides Sword Intent, there were also Fist Intent, Saber Intent, and other related obsessive psychoses. There was also a pure Martial Intent, which was simply an obsession with Ancient Martial Arts in general, rather than mutating in a specific direction.

So, those Ancient Martial Artists in the Ancient Martial World who were stuck at the Peak of Huajin were actually just too mentally sound.

To them, martial arts were just a tool, not something more important than their own lives. They weren’t people truly devoted to the martial way.

Their minds were relatively normal, but it was precisely this normality that prevented them from breaking through to the Danjin realm.

This *Detailed Explanation of Sword Intent* began with a tutorial on how to develop an obsessive psychosis in order to break through to the Danjin realm.

After reading it, Qi Suian was utterly astounded.

’No kidding, if this thing falls into the hands of someone who knows its value, it’s basically a guaranteed ticket to becoming a Danjin Grandmaster.’

’And if it fell into the hands of a swordsman, it could even serve as a catalyst for breaking through to the Jiejin realm.’

’A perfected Sword Intent can increase the success rate of a breakthrough by at least thirty percent.’

After all, the Danjin, Gangjin, and Jiejin realms were all primarily based on the idealism of the Spirit, and this *Detailed Explanation of Sword Intent* was a godsend for Ancient Martial Artists who used swords.

However, to Qi Suian, this thing was completely useless.

Mentally and psychologically speaking, he did have plenty of issues from dying so many times.

The problem was, his issues had nothing to do with swords. For this to fall into his hands was a complete waste.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out this was the Ancient Martial Protagonist’s destined boon. Why else would it be sword-related?

Of every ten martial arts protagonists, six use a sword, three use a saber, and the last one is probably a master of both.

As for other weapons, they were negligible.

’It’s useless to me, but I can use it with Xin Yi Fist as a reference for the Danjin realm.’

Qi Suian put it away.

It didn’t matter if he couldn’t use it, as long as it didn’t fall into enemy hands.

"AI, search again. See if any fish slipped through the net," Qi Suian said.

Since they’d already committed murder and arson, they had to clean up properly to avoid leaving any loose ends that could cause trouble later.

The reconnaissance network once again conducted a carpet search.

After detecting no issues, it launched a saturation strike using the Floating Cannons’ Ghost Energy Storm.

Only after the process was complete did it report back.

[Clean-up complete.]

"Alright, let’s head to the next heroine’s location."

Qi Suian now held two-sevenths of the protagonist’s halo.

If that heroine hadn’t run off, there would probably be four-sevenths left.

If nothing unexpected happened, they had most likely gathered around the Ancient Martial Protagonist.

The Tai Sui God soared into the sky and quickly arrived at the previously recorded location.

However, what awaited him was not the thriving camp of an Ancient Martial Family, but a ruin engulfed in flames.

"This... counts as her getting away, right?" Qi Suian wasn’t entirely sure.

Apparently, while he was dealing with the heroine from the Qiushui Merchant Family, this Ancient Martial Family had suffered a fatal blow.

The heroine herself was surely fine, but because of this, she had escaped Qi Suian.

Even if her departure was forced, for it to be such a coincidence, it had to be the work of her protagonist’s halo.

"AI, can you find any traces? Was it Desolate Beasts or a fight between Ancient Martial Families?"

As for the natives, Qi Suian truly looked down on them; with their level of strength, they couldn’t possibly have done this.

[Detecting...]

[Detection complete. Based on the remaining traces, initiate tracking?]

"Not yet. Wipe this place clean first. I don’t want them pulling a ’hiding in plain sight’ on us," Qi Suian said calmly.

What if the enemy predicted my prediction? What if I gave chase and they managed to survive here?

The method he used to locate the heroines of the Ancient Martial World was by tracking the boons locked on by the Treasure Map of the Lost, not the heroines themselves.

So, once the protagonist-level boon carried by a heroine was taken, the treasure map module could no longer locate her.

This would directly save the heroine.

And there was no need to worry about the item being lost. When the protagonist of the Ancient Martial World arrived, he would surely clash with whoever took it and get it back.

This would kill two birds with one stone.

That’s why Qi Suian chose to sterilize the area first. If no one was there, it would still be cleaning up potential future problems.

All the Floating Cannons attacked at once. The camp, the flames—everything disintegrated under the Ghost Energy Storm.

After the clean-up, he conducted another search. Once he confirmed nothing was left, he finally followed the trail.

"That’s a small loss, sigh." Qi Suian sighed. If this hadn’t happened, burning this group of Ancient Martial Artists would have yielded a good amount of evolutionary energy.

Because he was out under the sun, the Ashes of the Sun in a Bottle hadn’t activated. Without the Ashen Bandage Man as fuel, Qi Suian was missing a day’s worth of fixed income.

This made Qi Suian feel a bit wistful.

’I hope the boon on the next heroine is actually useful, not more of this random junk.’

Qi Suian was just talking. These things were meant for the Ancient Martial Protagonist, so of course they would be suited to him.

They couldn’t possibly be suited for an outsider like Qi Suian, right?

That’s why his target had always been the protagonist’s halo. The boons were just a hit-or-miss bonus.

It was great if he got something useful, but it didn’t matter much if he didn’t.

[Abnormal temperature increase of 0.1 degrees detected.]

The AI suddenly displayed this notification.

"What’s going on? Why the abnormal increase? Find the source." Qi Suian hadn’t felt his body temperature rise at all.

It was mainly because the change was too minuscule to be perceptible.

After all, with his body full of ailments, a 0.1-degree temperature increase was no big deal. However, he was inside an expedition-grade ecological circulation device, so his personal data rarely fluctuated.

This made every change extremely obvious in the AI’s monitoring.

[You are currently absorbing solar energy. Preliminary suspicion: an effect of the Ashes of the Sun in a Bottle. The full effect is currently unknown.]

Hearing this, Qi Suian’s eyes narrowed. He hadn’t been in direct contact with the sun, and he was protected by two SSS-grade modules: the Sand Jiao Scale Pattern Shell and the Black Dark Energy Crystal.

"Calculate my total sun exposure time since I acquired the Ashes of the Sun in a Bottle. Has it reached twenty-four hours?" Qi Suian naturally accepted the AI’s hypothesis.

[Confirmation complete. Twenty-four hours have been reached. The cause can be confirmed as related to the Ashes of the Sun in a Bottle.]

’So, avoiding the sun gets me hunted by the Ashen Bandage Man, but sun exposure raises my body temperature.’

’This thing is a curse.’

Qi Suian wasn’t too concerned about a 0.1-degree rise, but it was clear that this thing wouldn’t stop there. The temperature would keep rising higher and higher.

If it reached a certain threshold, even Qi Suian wouldn’t be able to handle it.

"Deactivate. See if recovery is possible." When in doubt, Qi Suian’s solution was simple: reset.

Deactivation, death, reconstruction. Qi Suian was successfully revived.

[Temperature returned to normal. The recent abnormal temperature increase can be classified as a clearable abnormal status, not a permanent increase to your body temperature.]

’Looks like the Ashes of the Sun in a Bottle isn’t D-grade, and it’s not useless either.’

’Instead, the Doomsday Game failed to detect its true quality and effects.’

It was, after all, a relic that had once been able to restrain the sun. To say it had no hidden depths would be a lie. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

’Or is the Doomsday Game deliberately screwing with me?’ Qi Suian suddenly realized. ’I’m not one of its "survivors," so the game could easily feed me false information.’

Even if the information wasn’t false, it could be superficial, not complete.

If Qi Suian made a misjudgment and died because of it, it would be a joyous, unexpected gift for the Doomsday Game.

So, it wasn’t impossible that it was trying to trap him.

’Looks like I need to filter and be wary of any information from the Doomsday Game.’

’If it’s really trying to kill me, then the Doomsday Game has leveled up significantly. Before, it just tried to have the survivors kill me. Now it knows how to exploit the rules.’

’Still sucks, though.’

Qi Suian didn’t have to rely on the Doomsday Game’s information and data. With just him, the Tai Sui God, and the AI, the three of them could go on a rampage.

As for needing to intuitively perceive his own physical condition? That wasn’t a problem either. The AI was no slouch.

[Your evaluation is biased. The Doomsday Game is perhaps only unable to erase you directly due to the rules. You should maintain your vigilance and sense of crisis.]

The AI issued a reminder. After all, this was an entity that could pull people from an entire world to serve as survivors and transport them across dimensions.

It would be wrong to say it had no power.

Qi Suian couldn’t afford to be arrogant. After all, he was facing an enemy that commanded an entire world, unlike a weakling such as himself.

"I know, I know. The Doomsday Game sucks, and I’m even weaker than it is." Qi Suian had a very clear understanding of his own position. He could curse it all he wanted, but he never actually underestimated it.