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Chapter 1216: Farewell, Nanchao!
Perhaps Zu An’s words sounded too strange, as Mo Xi only became more vigilant as she looked at him.
But she was soon stunned, sensing that the Ki Fruit had turned into a warm stream that flowed through her body. Afterward, her strength increased a bit. Even though it wasn’t that great an increase, it was still significant enough. After that discovery, the way she looked at Zu An eased up a bit.
Zu An then pointed in the direction she had been running toward and said, “You must have seen some Snakemen and Lizardmen on the way. You should understand that you’re no longer in your world.”
Mo Xi also looked a bit perplexed when she heard what he said. She had indeed noticed those things while running away; she just hadn’t had much time to think about it in detail.
“Do you know why you ended up forming a contract with me?” Zu An asked, doing his best to sound a bit more approachable.
He really had no choice. The woman before him could actually break free from their soul contract! If she left at this point, he really would lose her. Forget about her latent potential, just the fact that she came from the same Earth as him made him feel a sense of intimacy toward her.
Mo Xi stared rigidly at Zu An, as if waiting for an answer. Zu An said, “It’s because we come from the same place. Because we share that connection I was able to successfully summon you, forming this soul contract. Apart from you, she’s also from the same hometown as us.”
Even though that was what he said, these two were clearly much more formidable than the versions in his world’s history. They were almost like versions of Daji and Mo Xi from an alternate timeline.
He was also on his guard. If Mo Xi dared to bring out that scissor-like thing again, he would immediately recall Daji to prevent Mo Xi from severing his spiritual connection with her too.
“She’s named Daji. She’s the empress of the Shang Dynasty’s last generation,” Zu An said, introducing Daji. He then pointed at Mo Xi and said to Daji, “You should have heard of her as well. She’s the Xia Dynasty’s last empress, Mo Xi.”
The Xia Dynasty had come before the Shang Dynasty, so it was natural for Daji to have heard of Mo Xi. There was a hint of shock on her small face. She sized up the other woman curiously.
Mo Xi obviously didn’t know Daji, who had existed several centuries later. But when she heard the words ‘Shang Dynasty’, a trace of hatred appeared in her eyes. Back then, she had been betrayed precisely by the Shang Dynasty’s people!
Sensing the strong hostility in her eyes, Zu An jumped in fright and quickly explained, “What happened back then had nothing to do with her. The two of you are actually quite similar. Both of you are from faraway lands, so there’s no reason for you to harm each other.”
He gave her a rough recount of Daji’s history. Of course, he used the Investiture of the Gods’ version[1], saying that Daji was acting under the orders of Nuwa to bring calamity and chaos to the Shang Dynasty and punish King Zhou of Shang. However, even though she completed her mission in the end, she was instead tossed aside and abandoned…
Daji blinked as she listened to the entire story, looking somewhat confused. Why did all of this sound unfamiliar, and yet somewhat familiar as well? Were these really her experiences?
When Mo Xi heard Daji’s story, sure enough, her expression eased a bit. Zu An struck while the iron was hot, saying, “Daji and I have already been contracted for a long time. I’ve helped her, and she’s helped me as well. You can tell from her current situation that I didn’t harm her, so why don’t you work with me? I’ll help you increase your strength and find your soul.”
“Those from Earth wouldn’t trick others from Earth!”
But inwardly, he was actually cursing. What the heck is with this damn system? I finally summoned a valkyrie, yet I still have to use so much effort pampering her? Hmph, Daji is still better in the end.
Mo Xi hesitated. She clearly didn’t know what Earth meant, but she still nodded; it was hard to determine whether it was because she had really been moved by his words, or she had been convinced by Daji’s example.
However, Zu An felt embarrassed. Even though Mo Xi had agreed, he couldn't read her abilities the way he could Daji’s, let alone converse with her through the soul. He remarked, “You cannot speak, and you’ve severed our contract. Communicating from now on really will be difficult…” He couldn't help but ask her if she could write or communicate in some other way.
Just then, the illusory pair of scissors appeared in Mo Xi’s hands again. Zu An quickly stood in front of Daji. However, Mo Xi gave him a curious look, and the ‘scissors’ flashed back and forth a few times in the air, as if they were repairing something.
Afterward, Zu An felt his soul tremble. He discovered that his soul contract with Mo Xi had been established again. He could directly give her orders, as well as sense her emotions and some simple thoughts. He exclaimed with wide eyes, “That thing can even repair severed connections?”
Mo Xi looked up. Her previously dejected expression was replaced with one of pride. Meanwhile, Zu An began to read through her abilities. Because of the soul contract, nothing was withheld from him.
Shi Spear Arts: In ancient times, there was a powerful spear art that belonged to the Shi State. The Shi State is Mo Xi’s homeland; their warriors were well known for their skill with the spear. Their army was able to fend off the full force of the Great Xia Dynasty’s national power for several years…
When he saw the introduction, Zu An thought to himself, no wonder Mo Xi looked like a war maiden. Her temperament had been acquired from the battlefield, after all! But ever since ancient times, spear users had always met misfortune. No wonder she was always being betrayed by others.
Right, that little girl Murong Qinghe is a bit similar to her in temperament. I should let the two of them spar with each other using spears if there’s a chance.
But at the moment, those spear arts weren’t all that important. Zu An was a walking tank himself, so there was no way he would let Mo Xi fight on the front lines. He continued reading.
Celestial Jade Terrace: In the past, the last emperor of the Xia Dynasty doted on Mo Xi greatly, building her a stunning jade terrace. Mo Xi liked to stay in this jade terrace, and created a special technique within it. There is a chance that she can assist another in using a skill again. The Celestial Jade Terrace can only be used once before going on cooldown.
Zu An was delighted when he saw the skill. This thing is great! After all, even though he had many skills, many of them had cooldown periods and couldn't be used repeatedly.
The most obvious one was Grandgale. Even though being able to move instantaneously was formidable, it consumed quite a bit of energy too. As his cultivation rose, that flaw instead no longer became an issue.
However, there was another fatal flaw, which was that he couldn't use Grandgale twice in a row. There were always a few seconds between each use of Grandgale. Even though the interval wasn’t that large, between the truly strong, that difference could be lethal.
If he had Mo Xi’s help, wouldn’t he be able to use any skill as much as he wanted? After all, apart from Grandgale, there were still many other skills that would also benefit from such a thing.
Zu An thought to himself that the most important thing now would be the limitation of the ‘Celestial Jade Terrace’ itself. It mentioned that there was a chance of it succeeding, so how high was that chance?
Ever since he had wandered near the brink of the gates of hell by using the Star Shattering Imprint, he had become a bit apprehensive toward things with only a chance of activating. Furthermore, the skill stated that the Celestial Jade Terrace could only activate once every so often. How long was its cooldown period?
The system is becoming more and more unreliable! Looks like I’ll have to just test things out later.
Then, he saw Mo Xi’s final skill.
Farewell, Nanchao!: After the Xia Dynasty was destroyed, Mo Xi was exiled to a place called Nanchao. This was also where Xia Jie was banished. Out of shame, as well as the wrath Mo Xi felt toward the Shang Dynasty’s betrayal, she completely severed her unfortunate life, thus cutting off her past…
When this skill is used, it can sever all kinds of contracts and agreements, even eternal oaths, bringing about endless betrayal and remorse!
Zu An’s eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the description of the last skill.
1. King Zhou visited the temple of the ancient Chinese goddess Nüwa to offer incense and pray. As he was doing so, there came a gust of wind which flipped up the cover on Nüwa’s statue. He noticed that the statue of the goddess was very attractive. The lewd king spouted blasphemy before the statue, saying, "It'd be good if I could marry Her." He wrote poems on the walls to express his lust for the goddess. He offended Nüwa unknowingly, and Nüwa foretold that King Zhou was destined to be the last ruler of the Shang dynasty. The goddess sent the thousand year old vixen spirit, nine-headed pheasant spirit, and jade pipa spirit to torture King Zhou, because she was very angry when she saw that King Zhou could still enjoy himself for 28 years. The king became obsessed with the spirits, who disguised themselves as beautiful women, and started to neglect state affairs and rule with cruelty. The people suffered under his tyranny and eventually joined Ji Fa to rise up and overthrow him.