Zu An fell silent for a while. The emperor was indeed different from other people. 

He had believed that the testimony he provided for the secret dungeon trip with the crown prince was already incredibly convincing, as he had mixed in only a few lies, but the emperor didn’t trust anyone. As long as he bore suspicion against a person, he didn’t need any reason or proof to conclude that that person had schemed against him. Additionally, he would rather mistakenly kill someone than mistakenly let them go.

In the end, it was because Zu An wasn’t part of the imperial family himself, nor had he been born into a great clan. That was why he had misjudged the emperor’s way of thinking.

When the emperor noticed Zu An becoming quiet, he said with a smile, “There’s no need for you to worry. Since I’ve already spoken about this matter with you, that means that I won’t look further into it. Instead, it can serve as proof of my sincerity in this cooperation.”

He couldn't figure out how the incredibly weak Zu An had ended up killing his soul fragment, but since Zu An had been able to do so while he was countless ranks lower, then the current Zu An, who was now far more powerful, had to have something that could threaten the Ghost King. Cooperating would not only allow him to defeat that powerful Ghost King, but also let him take the chance to draw out more of Zu An’s trump cards. That way, he would have more preparations in the future.

Zu An sneered inwardly. This guy is making it sound as if he’s so honest and sincere, but I’d be an idiot to believe him.

Perhaps the emperor would work with him now while the Ghost King was there to pressure them, but once he got an opportunity, he would definitely settle things then. However, with the Ghost King still posing a threat, the two of them were at a disadvantage, so there was no need for them to fight to the death then.

As such, Zu An replied with a smile, “What is your majesty saying? I’m a subject of the court to begin with. Of course I’ll fight on the same front as your majesty.”

“The marquis is highly principled, as expected,” Zhao Han said with a sneer. The two of them reached an agreement just like that, with each harboring their own ulterior motives.

“Your majesty just faced the Ghost King. Was your respected self able to come up with any methods of dealing with him?” Zu An asked.

Zhao Han’s expression grew dark when he recalled that humiliating battle. He said, “His Demonic Voice of the Ghost King greatly counteracts my primordial spirit. But if I don’t release my primordial spirit, I can’t bring out my greatest strength. One other thing is that I destroyed a great deal of the black mist and skulls, but it didn’t seem to have done anything to him.”

Zu An replied, “He has immunity against physical and elemental attacks, so he’s a very difficult opponent.”

“How can he be that incomprehensible?” Zhao Han replied with a frown. “Where did you obtain this information from?”

Zu An didn’t hide his source and told Zhao Han about his interrogation of the ghost generals. Zhao Han remarked with a nod, “Those ghost generals were his subordinates and had low cultivation, so they might have been glorifying their leader and exaggerating things.”

“I actually don’t believe that he’s truly immune to all physical and elemental attacks,” Zu An said gravely. “But judging from your majesty’s battle against him, that seems to indeed be the case, no?”

Zhao Han thought back to what had happened and said, “That’s correct. At first, my attacks seemed to be useless against him, and he did seem immune against physical and elemental attacks. That’s why I thought about sending out my primordial spirit to deal with him. How could I have anticipated that his Demonic Voice of the Ghost King’s soul-sucking would be so formidable?” He paused for a moment before continuing, “But the world has its own laws regarding all things. The natural laws prohibit the creation of an undefeatable being. He definitely has a weakness; it’s just that we haven’t found it yet.”

Zu An nodded inwardly. As expected of the most powerful expert; Zhao Han immediately saw the crux of the issue.

Jing Teng said weakly, “I seem to have remembered something. In the past, the immortal ruler left behind a method for dealing with the Ghost King.”

“What is it?” Zhao Han asked, his eyes lighting up. As expected, my decision was correct this time!

Apart from Zu An, who was unfathomable even to him, the other reason he had formed the alliance was this mysterious woman. She was closely related to the great tomb, and whether or not he would find the ultimate immortal opportunity could hinge on her.

Qiu Honglei sighed in relief and asked, “What kind of method is it? Hurry and tell us.”

At the very least, they didn’t need to fight against Zhao Han anymore. Ah Zu had also gotten a small reprieve too. She thought, It would be great if Zhao Han and the Ghost King killed each other…

Jing Teng replied, “The method is next to the immortal ruler’s remains, and it’s in…” She looked around the area, then pointed toward a dark corridor and continued, “In that direction.”

Then, she led the way, and Zu An’s group quickly followed along. He asked curiously, “Doesn’t everyone say the immortal ruler ascended already? Why would there still be remains?”

Zhao Han immediately felt his pulse quicken. It would be troublesome if that immortal ruler hadn’t actually ascended and had just died, but his disciples had made up a story.

Jing Teng shook her head and said, “I don’t know what exactly is going on. The remains might not be his real body, or it might even just be a monument to someone buried elsewhere.”

The group couldn't really figure anything out at the moment either, so they could only go to that place first and examine it for now.

…

Even though the great tomb was dark, Qiu Honglei was a light element cultivator, and she even had a copy of the Empress Lantern. It lit the way as their party moved deeper in. However, compared to the previously relaxed and cheerful mood, the atmosphere was now extremely grave. After all, with someone as terrifying as Zhao Han with them, they could die at any time.

As if to ease the awkwardness, Zhao Han said, “This seems to be similar to Sect Master Yun’s Empress Lantern.”

Qiu Honglei voiced her agreement. “It isn’t the original; it’s an imitation someone in the clan made based on master’s lantern. It’s much weaker.”

“The Devil Sect seems to be full of talents. So even the Empress Lantern could be imitated,” Zhao Han remarked. His usual ruthlessness was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he seemed like a kind and benevolent senior. “I recall that your master also seemed to have entered the secret dungeon. Where is she?”

Qiu Honglei gave Zu An a look, then carefully replied, “We were separated. But if I’m not mistaken, she should have arrived at this great tomb too.” At the same time, she was really worried. It would be really bad if her master accidentally ran into the Ghost King.

Zhao Han nodded. He had considered flattering Yun Jianyue a bit; however, she had even charged into the Imperial Palace to assassinate him, and yet she was crushed by a single hand before even meeting him. Praising her would really be dishonest.

Zu An was able to guess his thoughts. However, after his big sis Yun experienced the Xia Dynasty secret dungeon, her cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds. She was much more formidable than in the past. Meanwhile, he asked, “Has your majesty met the libationer since then?”

Those two had been entangled with each other before they fell into the secret dungeon. They should have been next to each other when they woke up.

Zhao Han shook his head and said resentfully, “I haven’t seen him at all. Who knows where he ended up dying.”

If not for the libationer’s plot, why would he have been caught up in such a dangerous secret dungeon? Still, it was precisely because of the plot that he was able to come close to a immortal opportunity. He thought, The heavens are on my side after all!

Zu An began to think to himself. Normally, with the libationer’s cultivation, he shouldn’t have been completely quiet the whole time, and should have made a name for himself…

“What kind of relationship does this lady and Immortal Ruler Baopu really have? Why does she have such an understanding of this great tomb?” Zhao Han asked with feigned nonchalance. The reason he had taken the initiative to start a conversation was because he was most interested in Jing Teng.

“I was but a vine in the mountains back then. The immortal ruler was passing by and enlightened me in passing,” Jing Teng replied. There was no need to hide that. Afterward, she looked at Zu An and said, “Judging from the sound of things, you don’t seem to be people from this world.”

After some hesitation, Zu An said with a nod, “That’s right. We merely ended up getting caught in this secret dungeon by accident…”

He gave her a rough explanation of what a secret dungeon was.

“Secret dungeon?” Jing Teng replied, sounding quite baffled, but she quickly shook her head. “From my perspective, this world is the real one, and it might not be a secret dungeon like what you describe. Furthermore, from the perspective of people in this world, that world of yours might actually be the secret dungeon instead.”

The others were stunned. Normally, secret dungeons either lacked many signs of people, or were spatial fragments of ruined ancient eras. That was why people naturally thought their world was superior to the secret dungeons, thinking that they were just treasure troves containing incredible treasures and hidden inheritances. They had never treated secret dungeons as real worlds. In contrast, the concept was easier for Zu An to accept. After all, some of the secret dungeons he had gone to were like massive worlds of their own.

Zhao Han said seriously, “This kind of thing has almost never happened in history. Previously, secret dungeons were only ever empty, or at most populated with beasts. The amount of space in them was limited as well, so a world this large is unprecedented to me. The appearance of this kind of secret dungeon most likely represents a great transformation that is taking place in the world. Could it be that something is happening to our world that I’m not aware of…”

Zu An began to think to himself. Zhao Han was the world’s most powerful cultivator, as well as the human race’s emperor. If he said that it had never happened, then it hadn’t. But he had encountered it a few times recently, so that meant the world really was changing somewhat. Could it be just like the ‘spiritual essence revival’ referred to in webnovels?

“Are you going to leave this world eventually?” Jing Teng asked.

Zu An looked up and saw that she was looking right at him with her large and beautiful eyes. He suddenly felt a bit out of sorts for some reason, but he still said with a nod, “That’s right. Once we complete some tasks, we’ll return to our world.”

“Oh,” Jing Teng said. Even though she didn’t say anything more, the others could see the loneliness in her expression.

Zhao Han watched the scene unfold with the cool gaze of a bystander. Inwardly, he thought, Is this brat Zu An a human-shaped aphrodisiac or something? Why is he always picking up women wherever he goes? Letting him into the palace might have been a great mistake…

Qiu Honglei’s gaze wandered back and forth between Zu An and Jing Teng. She thought, Do you think I have it easy here? It’s completely impossible to prevent…Sect Master Yan, it’s not that I didn’t work hard, but these women are working too hard!

She was about to say something when Zu An suddenly noticed that something was off. He asked, “Does it feel as if it’s getting hotter and  hotter to you all?”