Mi Li’s eyes turned steely. “He prepared a trump card?” 

“It was because of his fondness for his previous ties with you that he chose to seal you away instead of killing you…” said Zhang Han.

Before he could finish his words, Mi Li interjected with a sneer, “As if he could have really killed me!”

“Indeed, His Majesty was unable to kill you at the start. However, he eventually found something that could. However, since you were already sealed away, he entrusted the item to me, in case a mishap occurred. I never thought that the day would come when I would actually have to use it!” replied Zhang Han.

“I’d love to see what you have that could kill me!” sneered Mi Li, dismissing his threats.

“Have you ever heard of the ‘Red Tears of Lady Xiang’?”

“Red Tears of Lady Xiang?” Mi Li frowned. She had no impression of this at all.

“It’s only natural that you don’t, for this is something that happened only after you were sealed away.” Zhang Han began reminiscing about the past. “Once, while His Majesty was traveling, he encountered a gale at the Mount Xiang Shrine, and was unable to cross the river. So, His Majesty asked the high priest what kind of god ‘Lady Xiang’ was, to which the high priest replied that she was ‘Yao’s daughter’ and ‘Shun’s wife’[1], and that she was buried here.

“His Majesty was extremely angry at ‘Lady Xiang’, believing that she was intentionally acting against him. So, he ordered his men to chop down all of the trees on Mount Xiang.

“All of a sudden, a red droplet suddenly fell from the sky and swiftly dyed the ground around Mount Xiang red. All of the soldiers who came into contact with the red ground disintegrated into dust. That single incident killed over half of His Majesty’s imperial guards, and even His Majesty himself almost lost his life. It was later speculated that the red droplet was a symbol of Lady Xiang’s rage, divine retribution toward those who had disrespected her.

“His Majesty ordered the high priest to lead a group of cultivators into Mount Xiang and extract three droplets of the lethal poison from it. The poison became known as the ‘Red Tears of Lady Xiang’. His Majesty has used one himself, and he entrusted the other two to me in case you ever broke free of your seal.”

Mi Li sneered in response. “You make it sound so incredible, but I don’t believe that any poison in the world would be that miraculous.”

Zhang Han sighed deeply before glancing in the direction of the lake, saying, “The battle of Zhangwu was a resounding defeat that resulted in the death of two hundred thousand Qin soldiers. However, I’m sure you know that those soldiers were the elites of our Qin Dynasty. There were many experts amongst them, and they couldn’t possibly have been defeated so easily, even if they had laid down their arms.”

A jolt of astonishment ran through Mi Li’s heart, and she blurted out, “You used that poison against them?”

“Indeed,” replied Zhang Han with a nod. His voice was quivering with fear. “It was just a droplet. A single droplet, and two hundred thousand elite soldiers of the Qin Dynasty were reduced to dust.”

Mi Li’s face darkened. She raised her right hand, but suddenly noticed a small drop of red liquid on her palm. A thin thread of red was spreading up from the base of the red droplet all the way to her elbow, and it was still streaming upward.

“Scram!” bellowed Mi Li coldly.

A powerful aura gushed outward as she channeled her ki toward the thin stream of red, hoping to force it out of her body. At her cultivation rank, most poisons were no threat to her.

Swiftly, though, her forehead creased in a deep frown. The stream of red seemed awfully thin, but its advance was inexorable. Her ki swiftly dissipated when confronted by the poison, and it was all she could do just to barely slow the spread of the poison.

“It’s no use. ‘Red Tears of Lady Xiang’ is a poison which is deadly even to Earth Immortals. How could you possibly be able to withstand it?” 

Zhang Han’s voice carried no joy, just fear and nostalgia. Clearly, the poison reminded him of the past, causing guilt and other strong emotions to well up within him. 

Meanwhile, the other three watching the commotion were stunned. Just a moment ago, Mi Li had made an awe-inspiring entrance and subdued Zhang Han with ease… who could have expected such a sudden and dramatic turnaround?

Zu An knew that they would be easy pickings for Zhang Han if Mi Li were to lose her life. There was no way he could accept this outcome after everything he had done to free Mi Li. “Sever your hand and stop the spread of the poison!” he cried out immediately.

“The ‘Red Tears of Lady Xiang’ wouldn’t have been able to kill an Earth Immortal if it could be dealt with that easily. From the moment she was afflicted with the poison, it had already spread through her entire body. Severing her hand right now would accomplish absolutely nothing.”

Mi Li turned to look at Zu An in surprise. “You don’t wish for my death?”

“How could I possibly wish for your death, big sis empress? Even if we were to look at this from a purely aesthetic point of view, you are far more pleasing to look at, compared to Zhang Han over there.”

Chu Chuyan and Qiao Xueying exchanged glances. That fellow sure is brazen. Where in the world does he find the courage to tease that powerful female zombie?

In their eyes, a normal human couldn’t possibly have lived this long, so they both assumed that Mi Li was a zombie, just like Zhang Han and the others, albeit a beautiful one.

Zhang Han was also left speechless. Wait a moment. Did he just indirectly say that I’m ugly?!

You have successfully trolled Zhang Han for 444 Rage points!

“You’re asking for it!”

Black mist swirled around Zhang Han as he charged toward Zu An. He might have lost his hands, but the difference in their cultivation ranks was absolute. It would have been easy enough for him to kill Zu An even if he’d lost his legs along with his hands.

Zu An could possibly have dodged the attack with his movement skill, but what would happen to Qiao Xueying and Chu Chuyan behind him if he were to do that? With that in mind, he chose to grit his teeth and attempt to fend off the attack with the Tai’e Sword.

Off to the side, Mi Li waved her sleeves, and the Tai’e Sword suddenly flew out of Zu An’s hands and pierced straight into Zhang Han’s chest as swiftly as a bolt of lightning. The impact knocked Zhang Han back, all the way to the opposite end of the underground hall, pinning him against the wall.

Zhang Han lowered his head to look at the Tai’e Sword. Disbelief filled his face for a moment, which was swiftly replaced with resignation. He murmured feebly, “This is fine as well. It’s good that it’s all over. I’ve already been tortured for several thousand years. It’s about time for me to return to the earth…”

His voice gradually grew softer and softer, and his head finally hung limp. He had breathed his last.

Zu An flashed a thumbs-up at Mi Li and said, “Woah, you were actually able to kill that powerful Zhang Han in a single blow! Big sis empress, my respect for you gushes forth like the relentless tides of the river…”

“Stop your nonsense!” Mi Li cut off his mindless flattery. “How could it be that easy to kill him? He has simply given up on himself.”

Her words made Zu An look towards Zhang Han, and all of a sudden, he felt some sympathy for the deceased general.

He was the general who had stepped up during the Qin Dynasty’s time of crisis, and turned the tables on the rebels. Many believed that he would be the savior who would breathe life back into the dying Qin Dynasty, but he’d ended up surrendering to the enemy after a humiliating defeat. As if that wasn’t enough, he’d even plotted the deaths of their final ranks of elite soldiers, all two hundred thousand of them.

He had fallen from his lofty status as a hero to being branded as a criminal in an instant. The sheer guilt of it must have gnawed away at his heart over the millenia.

His desire to live pushed him to continue existing in such a wretched state till this day. Most likely, Zu An’s impersonation of Ying Zheng, the return of Mi Li, and the vengeance of the two hundred thousand evil spirits had all dredged up unwanted memories of the past, which he had been trying to ignore to this day. All of this must have finally crushed his heart and compelled him to choose death.

Zhang Han’s body swiftly began to disintegrate with the wind. Perhaps it had heard his final words, and was granting him peace.

With his death, the black ropes binding Chu Chuyan finally disappeared as well. Zu An quickly pulled her down from the altar and exclaimed, “Honey, are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” Chu Chuyan was still unable to move properly because of her devastated ki meridians, and she could only collapse feebly into his embrace. A trace of redness suffused her cheeks.

Noticing how limp her body was, Zu An quickly moved her over to Qiao Xueying’s side before rushing over to Mi Li. “Big sis empress, are you okay?”

“You just want to ask me how your little wife can be saved, no?” Mi Li saw through his intentions right away, and snorted coldly.

Zu An smiled sheepishly and said, “I’m also concerned for you too. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

He leaned in closer, intending to assess the situation with her arm.

However, Mi Li waved her hand and pushed him away, blocking off his view. “How could such mere poison hope to faze me?” she uttered coldly.

“That’s good, that’s good.” Zu An heaved a sigh of relief. “Big sis empress, can you fulfill your promise and tell me how to heal my wife?”

Mi Li’s gaze flicked between Zu An and Chu Chuyan for a moment, as her expression flickered a little. She seemed to be making an extremely difficult decision.

Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. “What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

In the end, though, Mi Li simply shook her head, favoring him with a bizarre gaze.

Chu Chuyan spoke up in a feeble voice. “The collapse of my ki meridians cannot be solved that simply. Don’t make things difficult for her. Don’t worry, I promise you that I won’t try to end my life in the future.”

After all that Zu An and Qiao Xueying had gone through to try to save her life, she wasn’t about to undermine their sacrifices by ending her own life, even if she found it meaningless to carry on.

Mi Li sniffed coldly. “There’s no need to use such tricks on me. Saving you is no big deal for me. I’m just contemplating something else.”

Zu An was overjoyed to hear that. “Big sis empress, please enlighten us!”

A glimmer of hope welled up within Chu Chuyan’s eyes as well. Despite her nonchalant words, she had been known as a prodigy, even from a young age. There was no way she would be content with living as a cripple for the rest of her life.

Meanwhile, Qiao Xueying was intrigued by Mi Li’s words. Based on her knowledge, there was nothing in the world that could restore ki meridians which had been destroyed. She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of method Mi Li was intending to use.

“Didn’t you learn the Primordial Origin Sutra? Primordial ki is the purest ki in the world, born during the inception of the world. Aside from using it to temper your own body, you can also use it to heal the injuries of others,” said Mi Li.

Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. “Wait a moment… how did you know that I’ve learned the Primordial Origin Sutra?”

“Do you think it would escape my notice that Ying Zheng sealed off the Primordial Origin Sutra in the Tai’e Sword? Hmph! Even if I didn’t know that, I could tell as much from the moment I saw you. A body that has been tempered by primordial ki is vastly different from that of an ordinary human.”

“I see!” Overjoyed, Zu An quickly made his way over to Chu Chuyan, hoping to infuse his primordial ki into her body to heal her.

However, Mi Li quickly interrupted him. “Infusing the primordial ki into another person’s body won’t work as well as it did with yours. It will only just barely grant her her mobility back and help her become self-sufficient. She won’t regain her ability to cultivate.”

Zu An’s face paled. “That’s different from what you said!”

“Why are you panicking?” Mi Li glared at him before continuing. “Not too long ago, I learned something else that should make it easy for her to recover fully.”