Just then, a massive sword swung downwards, right towards Qiao Xueying. Even before it came close, she could hear the thundering crescendo of the descending blade as it approached. The sheer force of it was so great that it could probably amputate a limb from one of those copper giants. Goodness knew what it would do to her own frail body.

Qiao Xueying’s first instinct was to dodge, but she was in midair, and there was nothing around to use to redirect herself. It was impossible for her to evade the sword. Seeing the sword growing bigger and bigger before her eyes, she sighed softly and closed her eyes, resigning herself to fate.

She was already tired of living anyway, so it didn’t seem too bad for her to die just like that. Her only regret was that she would be unable to see the breaking of three seals through and save the young miss. Will Zu An be able to do it alone?

The thought of Zu An made rage explode within her head. 

It’s all because of him that I’m facing imminent death! Will he even feel the slightest twinge of guilt for my fate when he thinks about this in the future? Hah, I doubt it. What could that man possibly know of guilt?

“I bet you’re cursing me right now.” 

A teasing voice suddenly sounded right beside her, and Qiao Xueying felt herself falling into a warm embrace. Her eyes flew open, and she was surprised to see Zu An staring back at her.

However, she quickly snapped out of her daze. She pointed right behind him and exclaimed, “Sword! Sword…!” 

She was so panicked that she couldn’t even construct a proper sentence.

A black shadow flickered through the air, and her hair was suddenly severed. Zu An instantly pulled her several meters away, and she just about managed to avoid the falling sword.

The impact of the massive sword landing several inches away from her sent out a tremendous shockwave. Qiao Xueying’s hair was plastered messily all over her face. She stared at the man holding on to her in a daze, her heart inexplicably thumping faster.

What’s with this feeling? Why is my face turning red? Why is my heart beating so quickly? Why am I reacting to this fellow in this way… Qiao Xueying’s mind was an utter mess.

“I saved your life again. That makes us even now, right?” said Zu An with a smile.

Qiao Xueying’s face reddened. She opened her mouth, but no words were forthcoming.

“Are you feeling your heart beating rapidly? Do you feel an emotion you’ve never felt before engulfing your body?” Zu An suddenly dropped this question.

“S-so what if that’s the case!” Qiao Xueying felt the words tumble out of her mouth, and instantly regretted them. How could I admit to it? Damn it, this fellow is going to act all smug about it now!

Unexpectedly, Zu An replied, “You shouldn’t think that you’re in love with me just because of that. This is a perfectly normal occurrence. Using professional jargon, it’s called the ‘Suspension Bridge Effect’. It’s perfectly normal for your heart to beat fast when crossing a dangerous suspension bridge, and if you coincidentally meet with another person then, you would naturally mistake your physical reactions as a sign of affection for that person. But no, that’s not love.” 

Qiao Xueying just blinked.

That long speech was more than enough to make her snap out of her unusual state of mind. “Hah, of course! I would fall in love with a pig, a dog, or even a zombie before I’ll ever fall in love with a guy like you!”

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 111 Rage points!

Zu An was speechless. Your words don’t seem that credible, given the small amount of Rage points you’re supplying me with. “Don’t worry, I won’t fall in love with a venomous little lass like you either.”

Despite their bickering, Zu An’s attention was still on the battle. Without any hesitation, he charged toward the copper giants, Poisonous Prick in hand.

The copper giants had been tied together using the ‘rope’, and of course, Zu An didn’t expect Qiao Xueying to be able to make them fall over with her own strength. Instead, he tied the legs of those copper giants together, hoping that their own strength would be enough to trip each other over.

Since their movements weren’t coordinated, each one heading in a different direction, it didn’t take long for the first copper giant to trip over and fall. Like a set of dominos, more and more copper giants fell to the ground.

Had the copper giants been normal humans, they would have tried to sever the hair wrapped around their ankles. With their astounding strength, it was likely that they would have been able to rip through Qiao Xueying’s resilient hair with ease. 

Unfortunately, they were clearly lacking in intelligence. They simply flailed their legs about in a futile manner, unable to free themselves from the hair wrapped around their legs, even up to the very last moment.

Zu An made use of this opportunity to run to the nearest copper giant, stabbing the Poisonous Prick into the center of their forehead.

Up close, he could sense more concretely than ever just how huge and powerful these copper giants were. He couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated by their massive heads and large eyeballs. If Snow is wrong about this, I might really meet my end here.

*Puchi!*

His dagger stabbed right into the copper giant’s forehead. Due to the size of the giant’s head and the short blade of the dagger, it somehow looked more like a toothpick being poked into someone’s head.

His uneasiness about the whole situation growing by the second, he quickly retrieved his dagger and backed away, afraid that the copper giant would retaliate.

To his surprise, the glint in the copper giant’s eyes gradually dimmed, before vanishing altogether. It had reverted back to a lifeless copper statue.

Delighted to see the effectiveness of this technique, Zu An quickly used the Sunflower Phantasm to rush at the next copper giant. He plunged his dagger into the center of its forehead and retracted it before jumping to the next target… 

He was extremely efficient about this. In just a few seconds, he had already eliminated eleven of the copper giants. However, just as he was about to deal with the twelfth one, the final remaining copper giant suddenly let out a furious roar, having successfully struggled free of the hair binding its leg. It clambered back up to its feet and smacked its palm down at Zu An.

Seeing this sudden unexpected development, Zu An quickly changed direction, retreating several meters away. The force of the palm strike was so great that even the shockwave might have been enough to end his life. He wasn’t about to take this risk, not when he was already injured.

In a few short moments, the copper giant had managed to get back on its feet. Despite its lack of intelligence, it still felt a surge of anger as it looked around at its fallen comrades.

You have successfully trolled First Emperor’s Copper Giant Number One for 9… 9… 9… 

As expected of the number one giant. The boss of the group is indeed much harder to deal with.

Zu An retreated to Qiao Xueying’s side. He couldn’t help but notice that her long hair had been chopped so short that it was barely touching her ears. He chuckled a little and remarked, “Say, wouldn’t it be interesting if my hand had slipped earlier and chopped off all of your hair?”

“Considering that you saved me earlier, I won’t hold this one against you,” Qiao Xueying said with an angry sniff. She patted her hair softly, and her short hair swiftly grew out, even forming a ponytail on its own.

Zu An was dumbfounded. He couldn’t resist touching her newly-grown ponytail, remarking, “Oh? I didn’t think that you could do such a thing. It must be convenient not to have to comb your hair every morning.”

Qiao Xueying shot a piercing glare at Zu An and snatched her ponytail back. “Don’t you know that a man and a woman should keep some distance between each other?”

Zu An was amused by her remark. “We’ve had far more intimate interactions than this in the past. Why are you suddenly bringing up the notion of distance?”

Qiao Xueying’s eyebrows shot up. “How dare you still mention that!”

Zu An burst into laughter. “All right, let’s talk about serious matters. I need you to extend your hair again. I’ll tie that big fellow up.”

The earlier length of hair had been scattered all over the place due to the copper giant’s struggles, rendering it useless to Zu An.

Qiao Xueying was troubled by the request. “That wouldn’t do. I’ve exerted myself too much today, so I won’t be able to regrow it for a while.”

Earlier on, in the underground palace, she had cut off a huge chunk of her hair because it had been stained in bat’s blood, and another huge chunk of it had just been severed here. On top of that, she had been exerting herself all along, so there was no way to replenish her lost energy. 

Zu An looked at the copper giant charging toward them with a contemplative frown. “What do we do then?” 

“Why are you blanking out? Hurry up and dodge! We’ll look for a solution later!” exclaimed Qiao Xueying.

To her surprise, Zu An shook his head and replied, “Chuyan won’t be able to wait that long. I need to take care of it right now.”

Qiao Xueying rolled her eyes. “Quit bragging! If you can really take care of it right away, I’ll adopt your… surname…” 

Before she could finish her words, Zu An suddenly vanished. The next moment, he appeared right in front of the copper giant’s forehead. He plunged the black dagger in his hand straight into the center of its forehead.

The copper giant’s movements grew jerky at the sudden attack, and the light in its eyes gradually faded. Its inertia caused its body to topple forward.

Zu An quickly pulled out his dagger, then pushed off with his legs against the copper giant’s head and leaped backward. The copper giant crashed heavily onto the ground, throwing a cloud of dust into the air.

Qiao Xueying’s face reddened slightly as she witnessed this grand sight. Why does this fellow suddenly look a little more charming?

“What did you say earlier?” asked Zu An as he made his way back to her side.

“N-nothing.” Qiao Xueying was relieved that he had moved too quickly to hear what she had said. She would have been placed in an awkward position otherwise. “How did you manage to do it?”

While his movement skill was formidable, it at least still left behind traces for others to track his movements. However, this attack of his had been so swift, it almost looked as if he had teleported right in front of the copper giant in an instant. 

“Curious?” asked Zu An as he leaned in toward her.

Qiao Xueying leaned backward unnaturally as she nodded her head. “Yeah.”

“Call me big brother, and I’ll let you in on the secret,” replied Zu An cheerfully. 

He had used Grandgale’s power earlier. Due to the earlier advancement in his cultivation, he had just enough ki to use it thrice a day.

This skill was perfect for fleeing, dodging, and assassination, but his cultivation was simply too low, and it was only useful for dealing with dumb oafs such as these copper giants. If he tried using it on other high-ranking cultivators who possessed inhuman reflexes and all sorts of elemental abilities, the chances of a successful assassination would have been much lower.

Qiao Xueying simply ignored him, her attention focused elsewhere. “We should have cleared the Human Seal, right?” 

Right after she said those words, the twelve copper giants vanished in a burst of light. The two of them were once more wrapped in the feeling of weightlessness as their surroundings blurred. Before they knew it, they were already back at the underground palace.

It was then that Qiao Xueying noticed that their hands were linked together, and she quickly shook his hand off.

Zu An shrugged casually, thinking nothing of it.

“Hm? I never thought that you would be able to clear the Human Seal,” said Mi Li’s voice. Her excitement carried through in her tone of voice, as if she was finally seeing a ray of hope.

Barely after those words were spoken, the sealing formation beneath them suddenly opened up, causing them to fall to a deeper level beneath. 

Zu An noticed that there was another similar sealing formation on this deeper level, and he figured that it was the Earth Seal.

“The Earth Seal will be harder than the Human Seal. Do you want to take a rest before entering?” asked Mi Li.

Zu An shook his head and replied, “There’s no need for that.”

Chu Chuyan was still waiting for him outside. They had to make haste.

Qiao Xueying shared the same thought. The two of them stood on the Earth Seal, not saying a single word. Mysteriously, the two of them instinctively reached out in unison to hold each other’s hands.

The same feeling of weightlessness assaulted them. When they opened their eyes once more, they realized that they were shrouded in darkness. 

A frown formed on Zu An’s face as he remarked doubtfully, “Why are we still in the underground palace?”