Despite what he said, Zhao Han was still shocked inwardly. The finger he had just struck out with should have left Zu An in a terrible state, and yet this kid hadn’t broken down on the spot, only spitting out a bit of blood?

Inwardly, Zu An was once again glad that his body, which had been tempered countless times by the Primordial Origin Sutra, had become incomparably tough. Together with Jing Teng’s help, which reduced the power of the finger a bit, he had still been able to successfully block it in the end.

Frustratingly, though, the finger contained some form of spatial destructive power. It continued to corrode his blood vessels, stopping his inner ki from repairing his body. It was to the extent that it seemed as if it would just keep spreading further into his body.

If any other cultivator had been struck by Zhao Han’s finger, even a master rank cultivator’s body would already have turned into a clump of blood. A grandmaster would also be gradually broken down by the power of spatial collapse, ultimately becoming a cripple. No wonder Zhao Han hadn’t continued attacking; he already viewed Zu An as a cripple.

But how could Zhao Han possibly know just how many miraculous skills Zu An had? He realized something and used the Heaven Devouring Sutra. With the power of the Kun Peng supporting him, he began to absorb the destructive power in his body.

The strand of destructive power was indeed domineering. It sensed that it was being challenged and immediately attacked with even greater ferocity, to try to completely overwhelm Zu An on the spot.

Unfortunately, whether it was the Heaven Devouring Sutra or the Kun Peng skill, both were unrivaled mysterious techniques. When the two skills mixed together, they resulted in even greater devouring power. The destructive power quickly noticed that something wasn’t right and tried to break free. Unfortunately, how could it possibly stop the vortex that resembled a black hole? Soon after, it was completely devoured and processed into pure energy.

Zu An sensed that his experience bar had grown a bit. It was an even greater result than when he absorbed the two ghost generals. Zhao Han was indeed formidable! With a mere sliver of his internal energy, he had already left Zu An seriously injured.

As such, Zhao Han found Zu An’s attitude extremely laughable. His own destructive power carried the properties of his profound understanding of space. Let alone Zu An, not even the two grandmasters would be able to get rid of it. He was already certain that Zu An had become a cripple, and yet the brat still dared to speak to him like that.

He didn’t feel like wasting any words on a dead person, however, and looked straight at Jing Teng. He said, “I’ve already shown mercy, so you should express some sincerity too, right? Otherwise…” He didn’t continue, because his threat was already completely clear.

After some hesitation, Jing Teng was about to give him a bit of information to appease him while helping Zu An keep him in check.

Zhao Han’s eyes narrowed and he asked, “Zu An, do you really believe that I won’t kill you?”

Zu An smiled and said, “I’ll just tell them one thing. Once I’m done, I won’t stop you from asking her anything you want to know. I’m already seriously injured right now, so don’t tell me you believe that we can still do anything to you.”

Zhao Han frowned, but he didn’t say anything and tacitly agreed to Zu An’s proposal. Inwardly, he thought, You fool! Do you really think I won’t be able to hear what you’re saying when you’re this close?

Even if they conversed through voice transmission, with his comprehension of spatial laws, if he intentionally listened in, he would be able to hear everything clearly. This was the perfect opportunity to see if they were up to anything else, especially if Jing Teng decided to tell Zu An any of her secrets.

Qiu Honglei and Wei Suo began moving toward Zu An, who waved his hand to gesture for the whole group to move even closer. They thought that he was trying to hide information from the emperor and moved closer out of curiosity to hear what he wanted to say.

“Once I shout to run, everyone run in that direction…” Zu An said quietly.

In the distance, Zhao Han had a mocking expression. And here he was thinking that this guy had some incredible scheme. That was it?

Even Qiu Honglei was a bit puzzled. The emperor’s cultivation was incredibly high, so how could they possibly get away?

Suddenly, Zu An roared, “Run!”

In that instant, he grabbed Wei Suo and threw him at Zhao Han. Wei Suo was caught off guard, his entire body spinning like a thrown weapon.

Zu An grabbed Qiu Honglei with one hand and Jing Teng with the other, then ran for his life.

“What a shameless bastard. You actually want to use your friend’s life to stall for time?” Zhao Han said mockingly. A palm struck Wei Suo’s body, strong enough to blast him into mincemeat. It wouldn’t even use up the slightest bit of time.

Even Jing Teng frowned. She was grateful that Zu An hadn’t betrayed her, and that he had even stood in front of her to protect her. But to do so, he had betrayed someone else. Even though Wei Suo’s appearance was a bit wretched, and both his words and conduct were rather annoying, he was still Zu An’s friend in the end. Still, Zu An had actually sold out his friend without any hesitation to flee for his life?

Qiu Honglei was also confused. But after being with Zu An for a long time, she trusted his character. She knew there was definitely some other intent hidden behind his actions.

In that instant, Zhao Han’s expression changed. He quickly dodged to one side. When they saw his movement, Li Changsheng and Xuan Bajing were bewildered. 

What is the emperor trying to avoid? Even if there is some kind of gunpowder or poison hidden in that guy’s body, it shouldn’t be able to wound him at all!

Just then, however, a blast of extremely thick black mist surged from Wei Suo’s body. Within that mist were countless strange, screaming skulls. As the mist appeared, the entire space was immediately filled with extremely cold and sinister energy. Countless skulls flew out from the black mist, then rushed at Zhao Han to bite and tear at him.

Golden light surged from Zhao Han’s body. He thrust his finger out continuously, crushing the incoming skulls to pieces. Previously, he had attacked rather nonchalantly, as he treated Wei Suo as nothing more than an ant. How could he have known that he was actually facing such a terrifying opponent?

Now that he had lost the initiative, in the end, he wasn’t able to block everything. Several skulls struck his body, infecting it with black energy. Fortunately for him, he had reacted quickly and evaded previously, thus creating enough distance between them to escape.

He quickly used some special techniques. His body surged with golden light, and all of the black energy that invaded his body was completely eliminated. Even so, he still coughed out a mouthful of blood. The attack had clearly left him with injuries.

Xuan Bajing and Li Changsheng were horrified. Just what kind of being was this? Its attacks were actually able to wound Zhao Han! They had already used all sorts of schemes on Violet Mountain, and yet countless attacks from the most powerful cultivators in the world had been unable to leave Zhao Han in such a state.

“Ghost King?” Zhao Han exclaimed with an ugly expression. He stared at the opponent. That appearance, that power… Who else could have such a thing apart from the Ghost King?

The black mist and the skulls gathered into a giant ghost face. It didn’t respond to Zhao Han’s words; instead, it looked in Zu An’s direction and wondered, “Just how did he find out who I was?”

Qiu Honglei raised her brows in delight, thinking, Ah Zu isn’t that kind of person after all! But is this the Ghost King? He’s so ugly. When she recalled how he had followed them this entire time, she immediately shuddered in fear.

Jing Teng’s eyes widened as she looked at the Ghost King. She had never expected that legendary being to be hiding right by their side! Even so, she let out a sigh of relief despite the sheer terror of the situation.

She thought, Zu An didn’t betray his friend… Sigh, Qiu Honglei trusted him unconditionally earlier, and yet I doubted him. I’m still inferior to her in that regard… Hm? Wait, why am I comparing myself to her? At the same time, she was curious as to just how Zu An had known about the Ghost King.

Sensing that he had already been targeted by the Ghost King’s terrifying energy, Zu An couldn't continue to run either, for fear that he would draw the Ghost King’s ire. If that happened, all of his efforts would have been for nothing. Instead, he said with a sigh, “Actually, it wasn’t too difficult. I understand Wei Suo’s nature the best. He’s just like his name, completely vulgar all the way down to his bones. I couldn't sense that recently, so even though you did your best to act like him, it was still different from how he really is.”

Jing Teng and Qiu Honglei both nodded. Wei Suo was someone who even fantasized about doing it with a female ghost, and drooled whenever he saw beauties. His personality and behavior really were wretched. And yet, as of late, he seemed to have become more and more normal. They had thought that it was because he had been around them for a long time, and thus developed some immunity to beauty.

It’s still Ah Zu who’s the most meticulous in thought. He immediately noticed that something was off.

“It was only because of this that you knew I was impersonating him?” the Ghost King replied, clearly dissatisfied. “You were that sure of it and used him as a shield? What if you made a mistake? Wouldn’t you have killed your friend?”

“Of course, that wasn’t all,” Zu An said as he looked at the ghost face made out of black mist and skulls. He wondered just what kind of creature it was while replying, “Wei Suo is someone who’s incredibly greedy for life and afraid of death. I don’t mean that as an insult, but that’s just how he is. His first reaction when he faces danger is to run. And yet earlier, when we were outside the great tomb and encountered so many terrifying people, when I told him to leave first, he righteously said that he would stay with us and face all troubles together.”

He shook his head and continued, “In that situation, the real Wei Suo would have acted faster than anyone, and he would also have advised me not to take any risks. If he couldn't convince me, he would run away first, and he would honorably claim that it was to avoid dragging me down with him.” When he recalled his friend’s nature, Zu An couldn't help but smile.

“That is still too far-fetched,” the Ghost King said, shaking his head.

“The greatest proof was that when we entered the great tomb, he almost fell because of the fleeing crowd. I noticed that he was pretending to fall, but his movement skill was extremely profound. He managed to avoid some lethal wounds intentionally or otherwise.” Zu An paused for a moment before continuing, “So when I saved him, I held his wrist. Then, I discovered that he actually didn’t have a pulse!”