On the way to Changlou Temple, Qi Suian began examining the Qi Cultivation Methods.

The overall structure was largely similar, and its principles weren’t as esoteric as those of Ancient Martial Techniques.

To him, it seemed to be a process of absorbing cold energy through respiration, then using the primary organ responsible for this absorption to perform targeted enhancements on the body.

Take Pan Xuan, whom he had previously dissected. His cold-energy organ was his brain, and the unique nature of his Qi Cultivation Method allowed him to fuel his Blood Rage ability with anger.

Different Qi Cultivation Methods resulted in the formation of different cold-energy organs, and that was the core principle.

After looking through them, he found that the vast majority of cold-energy organs were either the brain or the heart; other body parts were rare.

After all, both organs were core, vital parts of the human body and were naturally well-protected, making them suitable in every respect.

Qi Cultivation Methods didn’t have so-called "realms," nor did they involve things like Spirit, idealism, or reliance on enlightenment.

It simply came down to aptitude, resources, and diligent effort.

Therefore, this made factional support and even one’s personal status extremely important.

’Without the backing of a powerful faction, where would you get the massive amount of resources you need?’

’Without status, how could you mobilize an entire faction to serve you?’

’And what about the idea that strength gets you the other two? If you don’t have faction support or status to begin with, how are you supposed to get the resources on your own?’

’It’s as unrealistic as an intern with no connections working their way up to become a major shareholder in a company.’

’No matter how well an employee performs, how many of them actually end up becoming the boss?’

So, in Qi Suian’s opinion, these so-called Qi Cultivation Methods were never designed to provide an upward path for the lower class.

Even if someone stumbled upon a Qi Cultivation Method by chance, they would find it nearly impossible to make any progress.

"It’s a shame. These Qi Cultivation Methods aren’t very useful to me." After finishing his review, Qi Suian could only hope that the legendary, top-tier Taiyin Refining Technique from the Ancient Times would offer him some valuable insights.

Otherwise, he would have to find another path to continue growing stronger in the Cold Winter World.

He felt a sense of helplessness about this; not every Extraordinary system could be of use to him.

The Extraordinary system built on cold energy was too reliant on its environment. Since he had to constantly travel between worlds, this system was of pitifully little value to him.

’Even if I could gain immense power, what’s the point if I’m reset to my original state after switching worlds?’

If he lacked a certain Extraordinary energy or organ, he could modify himself to create it. But if the Extraordinary system itself was fundamentally flawed, he had no choice but to discard it.

After finishing with the Qi Cultivation Methods, Qi Suian pulled up the intelligence file on Changlou Temple.

This was information the AI had previously downloaded from the web.

Qi Suian gave it a cursory glance. There wasn’t much substance to it.

It was just a small Daoist temple. There were only a couple of news articles about it. Aside from appearing in subsidy announcements from the Temple Administration Bureau, one story mentioned a Changlou Temple disciple performing a heroic deed.

However, the writer didn’t go into detail about the disciple, focusing instead on the person who was rescued. Clearly, the rescued individual was someone of high status.

They were just taking the opportunity to get some public exposure.

And that was all the information there was.

This was to be expected. According to intelligence from the Fei Kingdom, it was just a tiny, palm-sized temple to begin with.

How could a place like that get any online traffic or exposure? It was struggling to even survive, relying on subsidies. To properly investigate it, a personal visit was necessary.

[Destination reached. Commencing landing...]

The AI’s notification interrupted Qi Suian’s reading.

’Now that I’m here, there’s no point in reading the files. An on-site investigation is better.’

’Besides, this information isn’t even complete.’

"Well, would you look at that. The roof’s been blown clean off." The moment Qi Suian landed, he saw a vast, snow-covered landscape. The most eye-catching feature, naturally, was the temple’s roof, which had vanished at some unknown time.

This was to be expected. The winter apocalypse brought not only freezing temperatures but also terrifying blizzards.

The temple was old and there had been no money for repairs, so it wasn’t surprising that it had been utterly destroyed under such conditions.

With the roof gone, the temple’s interior was completely filled with snow.

Fortunately, the temple wasn’t large, and Qi Suian began clearing the snow.

During the cleanup, he dug out a corpse that had been frozen to death.

The deceased was an old Daoist, curled up on a bed in the temple’s living quarters. It looked as though he had frozen to death in his sleep.

He was evidently too poor to own any electronic devices, so he never received the Yan Kingdom’s announcement.

’As for the apocalypse game? It certainly wouldn’t go out of its way to warn a survivor.’

’It was a relatively peaceful way to go. At least his passing wasn’t painful.’ 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Qi Suian quickly finished clearing out the entire temple. There was no one else here.

’From the looks of it, even without the winter apocalypse, Changlou Temple’s line would have ended with this generation.’

After some searching, he found a few Taoist Scriptures. From them, Qi Suian learned that the deity worshipped at Changlou Temple was named the Taiyin Celestial Monarch.

The name immediately made Qi Suian think of the Taiyin Refining Technique. It was just too much of a coincidence.

However, despite searching the entire Changlou Temple and even having the AI use its reconnaissance network to assist, he couldn’t find the Taiyin Refining Technique.

’I can’t be too late. Judging by the depth of the snow, I’m definitely the first one to arrive.’ Qi Suian quickly fixed his gaze on the statue of the Taiyin Celestial Monarch.

"If I’m not mistaken, it must be inside you."

Qi Suian sized up the statue of the Taiyin Celestial Monarch.

Judging from its facial features and attire, the Taiyin Celestial Monarch was male.

His overall appearance was elegant and unrestrained, his expression held a hint of defiance, and he seemed to look down upon all of creation.

"AI, focus your scan on the statue’s interior. See if there’s anything inside," Qi Suian said.

[The material of the statue is too dense and possesses certain...]

Qi Suian understood immediately. The reconnaissance network couldn’t effectively scan its interior.

"So you’re saying this statue was cast from a single, uniform material?" Qi Suian instantly realized that this was something valuable.

’It must be some kind of special alloy.’

[Affirmative. Recommend acquiring a sample for future material module candidacy.]

the AI added.

"Alright, we’ll grab a piece on our way out."

"But for now," Qi Suian said, "let’s just cut the statue open and see what’s inside."

If the reconnaissance network had been able to scan it, Qi Suian wouldn’t have needed to go to all this trouble. But as things stood, he had no other choice.

Of course, if the Taiyin Refining Technique wasn’t inside the statue either, Qi Suian would have no choice but to resort to a Ghost Energy Storm to scour the area.

’If I can’t have it, I won’t let the Taiyin Refining Technique fall into anyone else’s hands. I’ll just raze this entire place to the ground.’

All the natives of the Cold Winter World were survivors, and every last one of them belonged to an opposing faction.

He would naturally weaken them whenever he could. Even if it meant the Taiyin Refining Technique was lost to time, Qi Suian didn’t care.

Even if he couldn’t obtain it, weakening his enemies was its own form of enhancement.

The statue was quickly being cut apart. However, upon reaching its chest, just as the first incision was made, a thick, foul stench billowed out from the opening.

Qi Suian didn’t smell it himself, but the AI gave him a report.

"The stench of rot... Don’t tell me they used a living person for the consecration filling," Qi Suian said.

Some statues require a "consecration filling," and the items used can vary.

Some use auspicious items like gemstones, scripture scrolls, medicinal pills, or even grain. These are the orthodox methods.

Others are far more cruel, using children or, to be blunt, the internal organs of someone born at a specific, auspicious time.

Under the AI’s control, the Tai Sui God carefully pried open the statue’s chest cavity. Inside was a curled-up, desiccated corpse that reeked of decay.

The time of death was unknown for now. Once it was removed, the skeletal structure indicated that the deceased was likely a female.

Based on the AI’s reconstructions and comparisons, there was a high probability that the female mummy was the daughter of the Taiyin Celestial Monarch.

He couldn’t understand why she would have been sealed inside the chest of the Taiyin Celestial Monarch’s statue.

[Analysis complete. No signs of a struggle...]

After scanning the mummy, the AI came to a conclusion: she had not been sealed inside while alive, but was placed there after death.

Qi Suian didn’t care how she died, or why she had been placed inside the statue’s chest.

He only wanted to know if there was any trace of the Taiyin Refining Technique.

"AI, did you find what I’m looking for?" Qi Suian asked.

[Foreign object detected within the mummy’s thoracic cavity. Retrieving now...]

[Special modifications detected on the dorsal skin. Collecting data now...]

Unlike the statue, the mummy had no shielding properties, so its secrets were laid bare before the reconnaissance network.

Seeing this, Qi Suian breathed a sigh of relief. A reward of any kind was good; his only fear had been finding nothing at all.

What was retrieved from the mummy’s abdomen was a set of bamboo slips. The script was completely different from modern writing, but fortunately, Qi Suian’s language and translation modules quickly deciphered the text.

It was the very thing he was looking for: the Taiyin Refining Technique.

"I thought this was from a Xuanmen Orthodox Sect of the Ancient Times, but now it seems they weren’t so benevolent," Qi Suian muttered.

[The Ancient Times you refer to may not align with the moral standards of your modern society.]

’Qi Suian considered this. It was indeed strange for him to judge ancient people by modern standards.’

Meanwhile, Qi Suian watched as the Tai Sui God carefully peeled the skin from the mummy’s back, piece by piece, and meticulously restored it.

On it were densely packed characters, each as small as a gnat.

As he examined it closely, Qi Suian’s expression turned peculiar.

"This is also the Taiyin Refining Technique?"

Qi Suian quickly set aside the bamboo-slip version and compared it to the one on the human skin, discovering a difference.

The former was the main text; the latter was a set of annotations.

The main text alone was indeed that of a Xuanmen Orthodox Sect. However, when cultivated with the annotations from the human skin, it instantly transformed into a vicious Demon Dao technique.

It was as if they were two entirely different Cultivation Techniques.

"These so-called annotations... they’re more like the complete version." Qi Suian’s eyes narrowed. While the standard version was powerful, the "complete" version added three advantages.

It required no aptitude, was not dependent on resources, and offered much faster growth.

The only drawback was its bloodiness and cruelty. Anyone who truly practiced it would have to be a character on the level of an arch-demon.

"So, what caused the annotations to twist the original text into this?"