Chapter 69: Defying the World

Mutated troll bloodline.

This was Xuan’s enhancement. It did not grant him transcendent wisdom, nor did it bring supreme strength, or any strange and bizarre abilities.

What it possessed was a cellular vitality that could be considered unique at this tier.

It was precisely this cellular vitality that supported the vast majority of Xuan’s wild antics and even allowed him to negate the vast majority of "fatal strikes."

Naturally, Qian Gu had his own selfish motives in choosing this enhancement for him.

Rumors had it that this fellow Xuan had genuinely read the script, only to have his memories sealed; he needed to die once to retrieve that script and embark on the path where "everything is part of Xuan’s plan."

After all, Qian Gu was a transmigrator and did not belong in the original script.

To avoid stirring up unnecessary complications, Qian Gu’s choice was much simpler: he directly stuffed Xuan with the troll bloodline that the original character had always yearmed for, maximizing his survivability.

You need to die and resurrect to get the script?

Then simply don't die.

Someone pulled out a scroll and tore it apart. An invisible fluctuation diffused outward, lingering around everyone present.

With this, the interference against mental detection was complete.

Although it could not block the scanning of the India Team's mental-ability users, it would generate misleading data. The opponent's scan would not capture the true location or formation of the China Team. This way, formulating tactics would be much more flexible, allowing them to lead the enemy around by the nose.

"Xuan, I still don't quite understand."

Zheng Zha exhibited the fine student trait of asking whenever he didn't know: "Why are the India Team no longer a threat?"

"Because of their intensity."

It was not Xuan, but Zhan Lan who spoke.

She said: "The enhancement tier and combat power of the India Team can basically be discerned from their two attacks. Neither can be considered high. With Qian Gu not taking action, our current group alone is enough to defeat, or even completely annihilate them.

"Calculated this way, the strength of the India Team is evidently far lower than ours."

Zheng Zha nodded.

Indeed, that was the case. He felt it had been quite easy when he killed that muscular giant.

After all, a pure muscle brute who didn't prepare any energy circulation, when facing his self-created skill, was practically stripped bare with zero defenses. Not an ounce of his immense strength could be unleashed before he was simply corroded to death within it.

"So, just because their strength is low?" Zheng Zha looked thoughtful. "Then who is our primary enemy?"

"Death."

……

"Death."

Inside the morgue, Qian Gu smiled softly, uttering an ancient moniker.

"You could call me that."

The mortician’s voice was faint, resembling the lingering breath of a human before death.

"Not a god who brings death, but a god who perceives death?" Qian Gu chuckled lightly. "That's actually quite interesting. According to your logic, the one who decides death is this very world, then?"

"Indeed so."

The mortician made no attempt to conceal it: "Just like the five people you saved, their deaths were destined long ago. No matter how one drags it out, it merely delays Death's footsteps slightly, yet it cannot completely postpone Death itself."

"We are no exception either. Is that what you want to say?"

Qian Gu clicked his tongue: "If that's really the case, what about the people from the India Team? Shouldn't they be dead as well? Don't think I don't know what's happening outside; I am crystal clear about it."

"Heh."

The mortician smiled faintly: "They, naturally, will also die—just after you all."

Quite interesting.

This fellow certainly used people and then cast them aside with practiced ease!

However...

"This is truly infuriating."

The lights dimmed.

Qian Gu spread his broad dragon wings. The power of the Chronal Dragon condensed upon them, and his personal timeline derailed from reality.

"Inevitable death? I don't believe it!"

Final Destination was practically the most unsolvable horror movie; this was a point that needed to be repeatedly emphasized, and Qian Gu had always kept it in mind.

Yet!

If he were simply to roll over and give up on resisting just because of that, choosing to walk a path already familiar and nearly identical to the original work, wouldn't his transmigration have been in vain?

And how could he have the confidence to resist one mortal crisis after another in the future, or navigate nodes where a single wrong step meant eternal damnation?

Resist!

Either start now, or never start at all.

In a trance, Qian Gu’s pupils dilated, gradually becoming vacant. The mastery rate of dragon power within his mind surged rapidly, and the power dormant in his bloodline was awakening step by step. Fine dragon scales began to multiply beneath his robes, covering every inch of his delicate skin.

"What you are opposing is not a fire, nor an air crash."

The mortician looked at Qian Gu, who was gradually transforming into a dragon-man, his eyes narrowing slightly: "What you must oppose is this world."

Roar—

Responding to the mortician was a resounding dragon roar, followed by dragon breath.

Chronal Dragon Breath.

The Time-Exiling Cone!

Qian Gu’s breath attack directly struck the mortician. The space-time current rippled, and the mortician’s expression shifted slightly as he felt his entire being seemingly detach, severing his connection with that great consciousness.

Even the surrounding space was shifting.

This is...

"Spatial movement? No! It is not!"

It was not spatial movement.

The mortician raised his head and looked at the panting Qian Gu: "This is a temporal exile!"

Leaving behind only these final words, the mortician vanished.

He vanished from the current temporal node. At this very moment, across the entire world, this mortician who bore the name of "Death" could no longer be found, as if he had evaporated into thin air.

"Hoo—"

Qian Gu let out a long breath. The dragon power in his mind was left with almost mere traces.

The dragon scales on his body slowly receded, and his dragon wings folded back.

He mentally estimated the breath attack he had just unleashed and arrived at a result.

'24 hours, is it?'

Compared to when he had first acquired this skill, it had grown too much—from a mere 3 seconds to a full 24 hours now.

For the next 24 hours, the mortician would remain exiled, and only after 24 hours would he return from the exiled temporal point, equivalent to an irreversible "time travel."

Of course, these weren't actually all that mattered; Qian Gu was paying closer attention to his current state.

'Did I just unlock the genetic lock?'

Qian Gu didn't quite know whether to laugh or feel helpless.

To think he would only unlock the genetic lock now—it could be considered rather slow. If it had been any slower, he would have been ready to seek out the T-virus to force an external unlock.

Fortunately, a sufficiently high-tier enhancement could also assist in opening the genetic lock.

And the opening of the genetic lock, in turn, would support and reinforce a sufficiently high-tier enhancement.

They complemented each other; it was truly a mutual reinforcement.

After unlocking the genetic lock, Qian Gu could distinctly perceive his mastery over the enhancement itself. The power of the AA-tier advanced warlock constitution was excavated, and the experiences dormant within his bloodline continuously surfaced, allowing him to rapidly grasp and even learn how to cast "Dragon Scale Protection."

Of course, these were still relatively intangible. The most crucial aspect was the enhancement of his computational and analytical faculties.

Upon entering the genetic lock state, Qian Gu’s greatest change was the multiplication of his computing and analytical power. Under that level of enhancement, he could compress spell-casting times below the 3rd ring to an exaggerated speed, infinitely approaching instantaneous casting.

Beyond that, even more vital was his heightened ability to decipher runes.