Translator: Pika
Zu An had seen all kinds of dramas and movies regarding elves. They were supposed to be the most beautiful, graceful, and compassionate race out there in the world. Countless otakus had probably drooled over them in their homes.
“Is there anything wrong with that?” Qiao Xueying rolled her eyes.
“There’s no problem with it, just that... aren’t elves supposed to have pointed ears?” Zu An asked as he propped up the air covering her ears.
Qiao Xueying pushed his hands away with an awful look on her face.
It was Mi Li who answered his question, “She seems to be a half-elf. In other words, she’s a cross-breed between a human and an elf.”
Qiao Xueying’s face paled further. This matter had been a thorn in her heart for the longest time, and her head was often lowered in shame due to this.
Unexpectedly, Zu An suddenly burst into laughter and said, “Ah, so she’s multiracial! That’s good. Multiracial people tend to be the most beautiful, and they tend to inherit the strength and talents of both their parents.”
Qiao Xueying was taken aback by those words. All of those who learned of her identity would usually criticize her for her impure lineage. This was the first time she was hearing of the term ‘multiracial’, but somehow, it brought her great comfort.
“Thank you,” whispered Qiao Xueying softly. In so many years, he was the first one who hadn’t discriminated against her, even finding a reason to comfort her.
Zu An replied with a smile, “You need not thank me. Speaking of which, what do you think of me? Why don’t we make do with one another and bear a multiracial baby too? I bet our son will be the most handsome being in the world, and our daughter will have beauty rivaling even the goddesses!”
“...” Qiao Xueying.
Okay, I take back what I said earlier. It looks like his shamelessness is an incurable disease.
“If I remember correctly, the Elf Tribe’s Moon Reflection should allow them to teleport their bodies several kilometers away, serving both as a survival and escape mean. Yet, you’re still here... Is it for this shameless man?” asked Mi Li teasingly.
Zu An stared at Qiao Xueying in shock, and the latter immediately protested, “How could I be doing it for him? Of course it’s for Miss Chu, whom I’m indebted to! Hurry up and get out of her body right now, or else I’ll make sure to make things tough for you even at the expense of my own life!”
Mi Li burst into laughter in the face of Qiao Xueying’s threat, causing the underground cavern to tremor a little. A moment later, she finally reined in her smile and sneered, “You’re going to do that?”
Qiao Xueying’s face paled. Even from the earlier laughter, it was apparent that Mi Li was far stronger than her. She stood no chance at victory here.
“Don’t forget, I’m here too!” Zu An stepped forward and grabbed Qiao Xueying’s hand.
Perhaps she wasn’t paying any heed to it since they were already in the face of death, or that she had simply gotten used to it since they had been holding hands through the three trials, Qiao Xueying didn’t try to shake off Zu An’s hand this time around. Instead, the warmth imparted to her made her feel much more confident and assured.
“...” Mi Li.
You’re just a third rank cultivator. What can you possibly do here?
Zu An made use of this opportunity to console Qiao Xueying, saying, “You don’t need to be afraid. She has been greatly weakened due to her soul leaving her previous body. On top of that, the earlier poison seems to have afflicted her soul too. Given how potent it is, as long as we were to hold on, she might just end up succumbing first.”
One must know that Qiao Xueying’s shrub had been utterly obliterated by Zhang Han in an instant earlier on, but it was actually able to fend against Mi Li’s sword ki for quite a while. This hinted that Mi Li had become severely weakened.
Qiao Xueying’s spirits immediately perked up upon hearing that.
“There’s no need to whisper amongst yourselves; I can hear you loud and clear. You’re right, I’m indeed severely weakened at the moment. However, I still have more than enough strength to curb the two of you!” Mi Li harrumphed coldly.
With a wave of her sleeves, she sent another outburst of sword ki toward Zu An and Qiao Xueying.
Her sword ki was much less concentrated this time around, so Zu An and Qiao Xueying immediately took evasive measures. But halfway through, the sword ki suddenly converged into a crescent arc to strike down on Qiao Xueying.
With a cry of agony, Qiao Xueying spurted out a mouthful of blood and collapsed on the floor.
Mi Li had made sure to control her strength properly, inflicting severe wounds on Qiao Xueying while making sure not to go too far as to make the latter feel that her life was at risk, thus leaving her unwilling to resort to her final use of Moon’s Reflection lest she escaped from this cavern and divulged her secrets.
And just as she had predicted, Qiao Xueying indeed didn’t use her trump card.
I might not be able to kill her in a single move, but as long as I accumulate enough damage on her, it’s only a matter of time before she’s sent to hell!
By the time Qiao Xueying realized what Mi Li was up to, it was already too late. She couldn’t move at all, let alone channel her ki to activate Moon’s Reflection. She could only watch helplessly as a massive sword slashed in her direction.
But all of a sudden, a figure dashed forward and blocked the sword for her.
The sword slashed down on Zu An’s back, causing him to spurt a mouthful of blood. Qiao Xueying watched the man in front of her with a flabbergasted look on her face. For a long time, she wasn’t able to say anything at all.
“What deep feelings the two of you have for one another,” sneered Mi Li. “Since that’s the case, I’ll send the two of you off together!”
She slashed her sword once more, unleashing multiple streams of sword ki on Zu An all at once. She was intending to cut them down together and end this farce once and for all.
“Run!” exclaimed Qiao Xueying. She knew that Zu An wouldn’t be able to save her, and he would only end up getting sliced to pieces at this rate.
“How can I abandon you at a time like this?” Zu An wiped off the trail of blood on his lips and directed a cool smile toward her. However, he was definitely not as relaxed as he was appearing at the moment. He was desperately driving his primordial ki to protect his body, praying that the Heiress’ Ball of Delights would continue working its wonder.
He was worried that the Heiress’ Ball of Delight wouldn’t be able to reassemble him if he were to be reduced into minced meat.
Pu pu pu!
All of the sword ki landed on Zu An’s body, causing his blood to splatter all over. Qiao Xueying’s eyes brimmed with tears as she watched the man before her was reduced to a bloodied mess. To her surprise, however, his body still remained mostly intact. It wasn’t sliced to pieces as she expected.
Mi Li also widened her eyes in astonishment as she began to doubt herself. Have I been weakened to the point where I can’t even defeat a third rank cultivator anymore?
Zu An could feel his body desperately trying to take in the surrounding primordial ki. He felt that this mausoleum was definitely built on a blessed land as the primordial ki lingering in the area was extremely concentrated, possibly accumulated over the span of over a thousand years. Otherwise, there was no way it would have been sufficient to fuel the recovery of his injuries.
Seeing that Zu An had spurted out yet another mouthful of blood, Qiao Xueying quickly rushed forward to wipe off the blood from his lips and asked worriedly, “Are you alright?”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Zu An put on the coolest smile he could think of as he replied. Given his nature, there was no way he wouldn’t exploit this opportunity to act cool.
Qiao Xueying’s lips also curled up into a helpless smile too. She used to hate his lackadaisical attitude, but it was somehow bringing her comfort now. No matter what kind of circumstance he’s in, he still remains so optimistic.
As his injuries recovered to a fair degree, Zu An shakily climbed back to his feet. He knew that it wouldn’t do for him to continue taking a beating from Mi Li.
No matter how powerful the Heiress’ Ball of Delights was, he wasn’t willing to gamble on its ability to keep him alive when he was torn into pieces. He would have to retaliate to stand any chance of getting out of this alive.
Sensing Zu An’s fighting will, Mi Li remarked, “Despite your low cultivation, your willpower is far stronger than I thought. I’m truly impressed here. It’s no wonder why you were able to break the Human, Earth, and Heaven Seal.”
“Hah, to think that you still remember those three seals! Is this how you repay someone who saved you from the prison you were in?” spat Zu An.
Mi Li sighed softly and said, “I wasn’t planning on taking your life either, but I didn’t expect to fall for the Red Tears of Lady Xiang. I had no choice but to use your wife’s body, and you did something unforgivable to me afterward. I can’t possibly keep you alive after everything that has happened.”
Her face began reddening, though it was hard to tell whether it was out of rage or embarrassment.
Zu An cried in indignance, “I was supposed to be getting steamy with my wife, but you snuck in on your own accord. How could you blame me for that?!”
“I let you take advantage of you; that’s more than enough to repay the debt of gratitude I owe to you for saving my life. Now, you should be able to die in peace!”
Mi Li was incredibly frustrated at the moment. She was the empress of the Great Qin Dynasty, the number one beauty of the Central Plains, a noble personage standing beneath only the Sovereign Emperor. Countless men would be willing to give their lives up just to have a whiff of her fragrance, but this fellow actually wasn’t content with taking advantage of her?
You have successfully trolled Mi Li for +999 Rage!
Zu An finally understood why Mi Li was so angry at him. It turned out that she couldn’t stand the notion of being taken advantage of!
He felt incredibly indignant about this. If he had really gotten on Mi Li’s body earlier, he could at least accept her attempts to kill him, but the one he was getting steamy with earlier was his wife!
This was a huge loss!
Zu An took in a deep breath and sneered coldly, “I’m someone who managed to clear the Human, Earth, and Heaven Seal. Did you think that I wouldn’t have any trump cards?”
“Oh? I would like to have a look for myself then,” replied Mi Li.
She was indeed curious as to see what secrets Zu An had in store. Till now, she found it hard to believe how someone as weak as him was able to pull off such a miracle.
Zu An’s body was trembling weakly, on the verge of collapsing over at any moment. Yet, he insisted on standing upright with his chest pumped out as he said, “Tai’e, since you have already acknowledged me as your master, stand by me as we subdue this demoness together! Show your glory to the world once more!”
He raised his hand up and bellowed, “Come, my sword!”
The Tai’e Sword was still pinned to the wall from Mi Li’s killing blow on Zhang Han earlier on.
Mi Li was shocked to hear those words. She knew just how powerful the Tai’e Sword was. If Zu An was really able to summon its prowess, she would be hard-pressed to deal with him in her current state.
She quickly gathered her ki in preparation to defend herself against the powerful Tai’e Sword, but soon, she found herself dumbfounded. The Tai’e Sword was still lodged into the wall, not moving at all.
This placed Zu An in an incredibly awkward position. Why does other people’s swords fly over as soon as they give the command whereas mine doesn’t do shit at all! Do I really not have a protagonist’s halo?
Unwilling to give up, he bellowed once more, “Come over, you stupid sword!”
He even tried to send a sliver of his ki over to draw the Tai’e Sword over, but unfortunately, he was only at the third rank. He wasn’t able to manifest his ki over long distances yet, so it dissipated barely after leaving his body.
Thus, the Tai’e Sword remained fixed on the wall.
Even with someone as brazen as Zu An, he still found himself utterly humiliated. “Goddamnit, come right now!”
Unfortunately, the Tai’e Sword still remained fixed on the wall, not budging at all. Even Qiao Xueying couldn’t bear the cringy sight anymore and covered her own face. This was simply too painful to watch!
“Hahaha! Are you intend to kill me with laughter since you aren’t able to do it with force?” Mi Li laughed fearlessly.
😉