Zu An quickly turned to look, and his eyes lit up in excitement. If Mi Li looked graceful and seductive in her earlier court robes, wearing a man’s clothes made her look valiant and imposing. She seemed to embody the gallantry of a man, while retaining the tenderness of a woman.

“Woah, you look a little bit more charming than me, though you’re still lacking when it comes to true masculine aura. Overall, I’d say that you’re just a little beneath me. At least the girls on the streets will just barely notice your presence when you’re standing next to me,” remarked Zu An.

Mi Li was already starting to get used to his foul mouth by now. She shot him a glare and said, “About what happened earlier on…”

Before she could finish, Zu An had already jumped right in. “Hm? Did anything happen? I didn’t see or hear anything at all.”

The corners of Mi Li’s lips crept upwards, glad that Zu An had decided to feign ignorance. Heh, it seems he still has some tact after all. However, she quickly suppressed her smile, schooling her features into their usual imposing look.

“Ah right, big sis empress, you need to follow me right now to save Chuyan! I’m afraid that they won’t be able to hold on for much longer!” exclaimed Zu An.

Mi Li’s eyebrows shot up. “What did you call me?” 

“Big sis?” said Zu An, his voice slightly uncertain. “I mean, you seem to be just a teeny little bit older than me, so I can’t call you little sis… Or would you prefer me to call you ‘auntie’ or ‘grandma’?”

“Grandma…” Mi Li’s eyelids twitched, and her knuckles cracked audibly.

You have successfully trolled Mi Li for 256 Rage points!

She took a deep breath to calm herself down before remarking coldly, “Let’s go and save your wife.”

Zu An immediately looked upward, only to realize that every level of the seal was tens of meters high, and the walls were too smooth to provide any support. He might have managed to fall through each level to get here, but he had no way of getting back up. He could only turn to Mi Li sheepishly and say, “Big sis empress, I need your help.”

“Someone of your cultivation rank wouldn’t even have been qualified to serve me tea!” Mi Li said with a cold snort. Still, she grabbed him by his collar and flew all the way up to the top.

As he took in how deep the cavern really was, Zu An couldn’t help but wonder how Qiao Xueying had been able to get back out. However, he soon remembered those extendable vines of hers and figured that it wouldn’t have posed any problem to her whatsoever.

For a moment, Zu An wondered if he could feign acrophobia as an excuse to wrap his arms around Mi Li’s body. He’d only gotten a brief look earlier on, but her body was truly as incredible as one could imagine.

However, he quickly remembered the terrifying pressure he’d been subjected to earlier on and swiftly dispelled that thought. Safety comes first!

… 

After Qiao Xueying parted ways with Zu An, she headed all the way up to the topmost layer, where Chu Chuyan was still bound to the altar. She heaved a sigh of relief. Chu Chuyan was still alive. 

“Snow!” Chu Chuyan noticed the commotion and turned her head, only to see that Qiao Xueying was all by herself. Immediately, she asked anxiously, “Where’s Ah Zu? Did he…”

Just thinking about the terrible fate that might have befallen Zu An caused Chu Chuyan to choke up. Her eyes reddened.

Qiao Xueying sighed deeply. She sure is beautiful. She looks like a fairy even when she’s tearing up. It’s hard for me to resist her charms even though I’m a woman too.

“Miss Chu, didn’t you abhor him in the past? Why are you so concerned about him now?” asked Qiao Xueying. As she asked those questions, she couldn’t help but glance in the direction of the seal as she wondered how Zu An was faring at the moment.

Chu Chuyan was a little taken aback by how differently Qiao Xueying was addressing her, but she understood that there was no way she could countenance calling her ‘young miss’, since she was serving a different master. “He’s made such a huge sacrifice on my behalf. He could have escaped safely if he had chosen to abandon me.”

“Is that all there is to it?” asked Qiao Xueying as she sat down by the altar.

Chu Chuyan was stunned by Qiao Xueying’s question. Indeed. Am I really feeling so worried just because he saved my life earlier?

She thought about how Zu An had continued to hold onto her even while fighting with the zombie warriors, not hesitating to use his body to shield her multiple times. After that, he even chose to brave the dangers posed by the Soul Suppression Seal, all for the slim chance that she could be freed from the altar.

Most importantly of all, he had been willing to give up the Evanescent Lotus, a crucial ingredient he needed to cure his impotence, so as to bring her back from the brink of death… 

As she recalled the pained look on his face afterward, a smile unknowingly crept onto Chu Chuyan’s face. However, she quickly remembered that Qiao Xueying had returned without Zu An by her side, and snapped out of her reverie.

“Snow, where is he right now? Did something happen in the seal?” asked Chu Chuyan anxiously.

“Don’t worry, he’s fine. We managed to overcome all three of the seals together,” replied Qiao Xueying.

“You must be quite formidable, to be able to overcome those seals. I’ve really underestimated you all this while,” remarked Chu Chuyan with a sigh.

In her view, even though Zu An possessed all sorts of mysterious abilities, he was still no more than a third rank cultivator. Naturally, she believed that it was Qiao Xueying, with her higher cultivation rank, who had contributed more to their success.

Qiao Xueying sighed deeply and said, “Miss Chu, it looks like you really don’t understand him.”

Chu Chuyan blinked her eyes in confusion, not understanding the apparent emotion behind the other party’s words. “Snow, you seem to have changed. You used to detest Ah Zu a lot, and the two of you always argued over everything. But now… I can’t really put it in words, but your attitude toward him seems to have changed greatly.”

Qiao Xueying’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly exclaimed, “You’re thinking too much into it! That fellow is still as hateful as ever to me!”

Just thinking about how that man had angered her time and time again over the last few days was more than enough for her to gnash her teeth in anger.

“Snow, you still haven’t told me where he is yet,” said Chu Chuyan with a frown. 

“He went to save that mysterious woman. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be seduced by her too.” From the sound of her voice, Qiao Xueying assumed that Mi Li had to be quite a beautiful woman.

“This powerful seal was used to seal that woman away, which means that she must be an incredibly dangerous individual. I really don’t know whether saving her is the right thing to do,” said Chu Chuyan, her voice tinged with worry.

Qiao Xueying was a little displeased by Chu Chuyan’s response. “Miss Chu, instead of worrying about the peace and prosperity of the whole of humankind, why don’t you worry a little more about that fellow first? It’s already approaching the time the both of us agreed upon, but he still isn’t out yet. I really don’t know whether he’s fallen afoul of danger.”

Chu Chuyan was a little stunned to hear those words. A contemplative look appeared on her face.

“What are the two of you talking about?”

A gust of sinister air buffeted them, causing the two women to turn their heads. At some point in time, the black-armored general had returned back to the altar.

They quickly glanced at the lake, only to see that its roiling surface had calmed. All of the evil spirits that had escaped earlier on had either been destroyed or resealed.

Qiao Xueying immediately leaped to her feet and stood in front of Chu Chuyan, protecting her. Her heart pounded uneasily. She was well aware that she would not be able to stop the black-armored general, due to the vast difference in their cultivation.

“Snow, go, quickly. You’re no match for him!” exclaimed Chu Chuyan.

“That won’t do! We went through so much in order to save you. How can we give up right now? Besides, I’ve already promised that fellow to protect you!” Qiao Xueying pursed her lips tightly together.

“Hm? Where’s the other man?” The black-armored general took a look around, but Zu An was nowhere to be seen.

Qiao Xueying was worried that Zu An hadn’t saved that mysterious woman yet—if so, luring the black-armored general down there would undo all their efforts—so she replied, “He has already left.”

“Left?” The black-armored general was stunned. “He thinks that he can escape my grasp after daring to impersonate the Founding Sovereign Emperor in my presence?”

Color drained from the faces of both Qiao Xueying and Chu Chuyan. The mysterious woman was right; Zhang Han had really seen through Zu An’s lies.

“Forget it. I’ll settle my score with him after I mend the seal.” The black-armored general looked at Qiao Xueying. “Do you intend to stop me?”

Without bothering to respond, Qiao Xueying raised her hand and summoned innumerable green leaves around her before flinging them at the black-armored general like razor blades. After consuming Zu An’s ‘Faith in Brother Spring’, she had regained at least half of her strength.

Faced with her attack, however, the black-armored general didn’t even bother to dodge. The green leaves simply withered as they entered the black fog shrouding him. 

Qiao Xueying clenched her fists tightly and began to grow her hair. This time around, however, she didn’t launch an attack. Instead, she created a bush of thorns around the altar, hoping to stall the black-armored general as long as possible.

“Scram!” Zhang Han manifested a spear in his hand and swept it horizontally, instantly splitting the thornbush in half.

Qiao Xueying had already mentally prepared herself for the worst, but even so, she hadn’t expected that her strongest defensive skill wouldn’t even be able to last a second in the face of the enemy.

She tried to dodge the attack, but she was just a split second too late. She, too, was struck squarely by the spear, the impact of the blow causing her body to fly across the air like a sandbag, her trajectory taking her towards one of the walls of the cavern.

Zhang Han had no intention of letting Qiao Xueying off just like that. With a tap of his heels, he flitted over to the place where Qiao Xueying was going to land, holding his spear at the ready. With a cold sneer, he said, “Since you’re the companion of that wretched fool who dared to impersonate His Majesty, I’ll send you on your way as well!”

Qiao Xueying knew that there was no way for her to escape. Left with no choice, she prepared herself to activate Moon’s Reflection in order to block this fatal attack, when a voice suddenly sounded from across the room. 

“Stop right there, or else I’ll bite my tongue and end my life right now!”

It was Chu Chuyan. She knew that her value as a tribute would be greatly reduced if she were dead, and she used this against Zhang Han.

Her efforts worked. Zhang Han paused for a moment before instantaneously returning to the altar. “Thank you for reminding me. I might have bound your limbs, but you’re still able to move your tongue.”

After saying those words, he tapped his finger on her chin and sealed off all of her movements.

“Forget it. There could be complications if I drag this out. I shall handle the tribute first.”

Zhang Han began to chant in some sort of obscure language. Black fog began to converge around the altar, flowing in from all around the cavern, causing the air to become as viscous as ink. Demons of all shapes of sizes seemed to be hidden within the black fog, slowly clawing their way toward Chu Chuyan.

No matter how mentally resilient Chu Chuyan was, she couldn’t help but feel creeped out by all those monsters. She wanted to flee, but the shackles on her arms prevented her from moving a muscle.

Qiao Xueying bit her lips and charged forward once more in an attempt to save Chu Chuyan.

“Since you’re courting death, I’ll allow you to die with her!” sneered Zhang Han.

A hand manifested from within the black fog. It rushed forth and clamped tightly down on Qiao Xueying, trapping her in place. Her strength seemed to fade in the presence of the black fog, leaving her helpless.

The hand moved, lifting her body up in an attempt to toss her into the roiling mass of black fog, when a severe voice suddenly echoed across the hall. “Audacious! How dare you hurt this Sovereign Emperor’s woman?”