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Mi Li lowered her head to look at his sword and said, “I’ll stay in the Tai’e Sword for the time being.”
Zu An was surprised. “The Tai’e Sword could house people too?”
Mi Li rolled her eyes and said, “Divine weapons with the Tai’e Sword contain a pocket of space within them. It’s fortunate that the sword spirit has been greatly depleted, or else it wouldn’t be easy for me to slip in easily.”
“The sword spirit has been greatly depleted?” Zu An was perplexed by those words.
Mi Li looked at Zu An as if he was asking the obvious as she explained, “The Tai’e Sword’s spirit suffered a heavy blow in a battle back then, and ever since then, Ying Zheng had never used the sword ever again. However, he felt that it would be a huge waste to abandon it, so he chose to use it as the Soul Suppression Seal’s formation core, using it to supply energy to the formation. Over thousands of years of having its energy extracted, the Tai’e Sword is far more weakened than ever. Otherwise, someone of your caliber couldn’t possibly hope to wield it. The moment you got into contact with it, you would have already been torn into shreds by its sword ki!”
Zu An nodded in realization.
Mi Li had hinted at the great strength the Tai’e Sword wielded several times throughout their encounter, but he hadn’t noticed anything particularly outstanding about it while holding it in his hand. If its sword spirit was already depleted right from the start, it would be more of like a ‘dead sword’ that only retained a small portion of its true powers. Other than its sharp edge and resilient blade, there was probably nothing really noteworthy to it at the moment.
“Have your wife let go of the blade first,” said Mi Li as she watched helplessly as the sword stabbed in and out of her chest repetitively. She dared not to let her guard down at all, or else she might just drop dead in the next moment.
“Chuyan, you can let go of the blade now. Everything is under control,” said Zu An hurriedly.
Chu Chuyan hesitated for a moment before finally releasing her grip.
Mi Li began murmuring a series of obscure chants before her silhouette began rising out of Chu Chuyan’s body before seeping into the Tai’e Sword, which caused the sword to reverberate lightly.
Zu An could somehow sense that the sword had become a little different from before, but he couldn’t really put his finger on how it was different.
Meanwhile, Chu Chuyan’s body suddenly fell limp and collapsed to the side. Astonished, Zu An rushed forward to support her, “What’s wrong?”
“She just hasn’t regained full control of her body yet since I was on the dominant side earlier. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine soon,” replied Mi Li.
“Hm? Why does your voice sound so feeble?” asked Zu An curiously.
“What else do you expect? A normal human’s soul would dissipate as soon as it leaves its body, and I’ve already left two bodies in a row now. Isn’t it obvious that I’m going to suffer tremendous damage from that?” replied Mi Li hatefully.
Clearly, she was holding a grudge toward him for that.
You have successfully trolled Mi Li for +233 Rage!
Zu An chuckled sheepishly as he wisely chose not to incur her ire at a time like this. He turned his attention back to the beauty in his arms and asked, “Honey, how are you feeling?”
Chu Chuyan’s eyes slowly fluttered open. She stared at him for a moment before her cheeks suddenly turned red, which spurred her to push him away. Then, she awkwardly walked over to Qiao Xueying’s side to help her up.
“…” Zu An.
Why is she suddenly acting so distant? She was still so concerned about me while Mi Li was in her body.
“Stop acting all lovey-dovey over there now. Hurry up and purify those vengeful spirits! Otherwise, once all 200,000 of them rushes out of the lake, all of us will be doomed!” reminded Mi Li.
“Alright!” replied Zu An decisively as he made his way toward the lake.
But barely a few steps later, his footsteps suddenly halted. He hesitantly turned around and asked, “So, about that… how do I purify those vengeful spirits again?”
“???” Mi Li.
Chu Chuyan and Qiao Xueying also looked at him in bewilderment. It was the latter’s great confidence that persuaded Mi Li to leave earlier, but judging from what he was saying now…
“You don’t know the art of purification?” Mi Li finally grasped what was going on and asked in disbelief.
Zu An shyly replied, “I was supposed to learn it, but Ying Zheng’s soul dissipated before he could teach me that…”
“!!!” Mi Li.
You have successfully trolled Mi Li for +1024!
She was really on the verge of exploding from anger. How could she have been fooled by him into willingly inflicting such grievous damage to her soul?!
“I’m going to mince you up!”
The Tai’e Sword reverberated sharply as it flew out of Zu An’s hands and began chasing him around, attempting to hack off his neck.
“…” Chu Chuyan.
“…” Qiao Xueying.
They finally understood why he had chosen to accept Mi Li’s condition despite the risks. It turned out that it was just bravado.
He sure is scheming. He doesn’t even bat an eyelid when he makes such a blatant lie!
Meanwhile, Zu An was frantically scurrying around like a mouse as he shouted, “We already signed the Life-and-Death Contract, so our fates are linked to one another now! If you kill me, you’re going to die too!”
Upon hearing those words, the Tai’e Sword finally paused in mid-air. That being said, it continued to convey Mi Li’s overflowing rage through its intense vibration. If it was possible, she would indubitably slice Zu An down into a thousand pieces right away, but the contract left her with no choice but to swallow down her grievances.
You have successfully trolled Mi Li for +1024 Rage!
“Shall we leave this place first? We should tide across this crisis first. You can always settle the score with me later on,” suggested Zu An.
“…” Mi Li.
It took a long time before she finally calmed down. “ Leave? Those evil spirits have already seen all of you and locked onto your auras. Even if you run to the ends of the world, they’ll still track you down and kill you. You’ll have to resolve the problem right now.”
“But I don’t know the art of purification!” cried Zu An bitterly.
“Once you cultivate the Primordial Origin Sutra to the second rank, you’ll be able to purify any malevolent beings with your primordial ki,” replied Mi Li.
“Second rank?” Zu An was put in a spot. “But I’m only at the first rank at the moment.”
“You’ve been channeling the Primordial Origin Sutra all this while in order to heal your injuries, so I reckon that you should be on the verge of a breakthrough now. Try channeling it again to heal your wounds,” said Mi Li with a cold harrumph.
“Alright.” Zu An began channeling the Primordial Origin Sutra, and soon, he felt his wounds recovering swiftly.
It was then that the Tai’e Sword suddenly let out a metallic reverberation and pierced right toward his body. Zu An focusing his attention on recovering his wounds, so there was no way he could cope with the unexpected attack.
Qiao Xueying and Chu Chuyan also didn’t expect Mi Li to suddenly make a move here, so it was too late for them to stop her. They could only watch helplessly as the Tai’e Sword pierced right into Zu An’s body.
“What are you doing?!” hollered the two women. Chu Chuyan even began making her way forward to deal with Mi Li.
“This is necessary to raise the speed of his breakthrough. Those terracotta soldiers are already at their limit,” replied Mi Li coldly.
Qiao Xueying and Chu Chuyan quickly turned their heads over, only to see that the terracotta soldiers were swiftly getting overwhelmed by the evil spirits coming out from the lake.
“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. I won’t go too far as to take his life,” replied Mi Li as she stabbed the blade yet into another part of Zu An’s body.
“…” Chu Chuyan.
“…” Qiao Xueying.
Zu An took in a sharp breath as he asked, “Are you sure you aren’t making use of this opportunity to get even with me?”
“So what if I am? Do you how huge of a loss you have caused me? Just man up and bear with it!” replied Mi Li gleefully. She did feel a bit better after stabbing Zu An a few times.
“…” Zu An.
Wow, I didn’t think that she would admit to it so frankly.
Knowing that the situation was dire, he could only continue channeling the Primordial Origin Sutra and pray that he would make a breakthrough as soon as possible.
Some time later, he suddenly jolted as he felt his body growing lighter than ever. He found himself entering a profound state of consciousness, reminiscent of the moment right before his transmigration.
It was a dark and silent place, nothing to be seen, heard, or felt at all. No matter how he tried to widen his eyes, there was simply nothing at all.
A while later, a brilliant light suddenly glared from the distance. He couldn’t even begin to describe how bright that light was. He previously thought that the sun was the greatest source of light for the world, but it was nothing compared to what he was witnessing at this very moment.
The light swiftly spread all around, and soon, the world he was in was no longer dark anymore.
He tried to perceive his surroundings carefully as the light had already reached his surroundings, but before he could see anything, he had already been jolted awake.
That earlier sight… is that the inception of the world?
Zu An was stunned. He felt that the surrounding air felt far more refreshingly sweet than it ever had. Nourishing primordial ki began gushing in his direction. If he had only been able to sense a small amount of primordial ki in his surroundings no matter how he searched in the past, right now, he no longer had to exert any effort at all. Primordial ki was automatically drawn to him, allowing him to absorb it at a far faster speed than before.
Chu Chuyan and Qiao Xueying saw his severe wounds recovering at a rate visible to the eye.
“Hm, I didn’t expect you to make a breakthrough so quickly. I haven’t had my fun yet,” remarked Mi Li regretfully.
“…” Zu An.
“Hurry up and tell me how to purify those evil spirits!” said Zu An with a darkened face.
“Channel your primordial ki into the Tai’e Sword and slash at those evil spirits. That would be enough to purify them,” replied Mi Li.
Qiao Xueying immediately asked, “But the battle over there is so intense. Given his cultivation, even the slightest shockwave could easily take his life!”
She was indeed putting light of Zu An’s strength, but everyone could tell that she was saying those words out of concern.
Against that, Mi Li calmly replied, “He’s holding the Sword of Kingship; those terracotta soldiers will know better than to attack him. As for those evil spirits, the second rank primordial ki is their natural nemesis. They won’t be able to pose a threat to him.”
Qiao Xueying’s worries were finally put to ease.
Chu Chuyan, on the other hand, had thought things out even deeper. “But there are over 200,00 evil spirits here. If he stabs them one by one, there won’t be an end to it.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t take too long,” replied Mi Li.
Zu An had another question to ask, “The primordial ki in this underground palace is much more concentrated than anywhere else, but there’s still a limit to it. On top of that, my rate of absorption is limited too. I don’t think that my stamina will be enough to purify all 200,000 evil spirits.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Those evil spirits harness a certain amount of primordial ki in their bodies, so you’ll be able to continue healing up throughout the battle,” replied Mi Li. “Besides, your body is far more resilient than you think. Your current injuries would have been enough to kill any other cultivators ten times over.”
Zu An nodded in response, though he knew that he was only able to hang on due to the Heiress’ Ball of Delight. Looking at the time, its effects should be running out very soon. He still remembered the agony he went through once the effects died out after he was struck by the Wailing Whip, and he had no intention of going through that once more. He was determined to heal up as much as possible before then.
So, with the Tai’e Sword in hand, he made his way over toward the lake. Perhaps it was due to them sensing the presence of the Tai’e Sword, the terracotta soldiers opened up a pathway for him, allowing him to quickly arrive at the frontlines.
The sudden presence of a living being immediately spurred the aggression of the evil spirits. As if sharks catching onto the scent of blood, they began charging toward him with shrill shrieks.