The notion that she could have actually fallen for a mere ant left Mi Li feeling utterly frenzied.

Taking advantage of her moment of self-doubt, Zu An drove the Primordial Origin Sutra in order to heal his wounds. His body was indeed much more resilient, now that it had been tempered by the primordial ki. 

In the past, the sword ki within such a powerful blow would have burst open his chest right away, and whatever organs in his chest would have been reduced to mincemeat.

Now, though, there was only a deep, gaping wound in his chest. It was undoubtedly still a fatal wound, but it was still healing at a visible rate.

It hadn’t been easy for him to pull the sword out of his chest. The sound of the sword scraping against his ribcage was enough to cause him to wonder idly about how frightened he would be if such a thing had happened to him in his previous life.

At the same time, he wondered if Chu Chuyan’s sword might have been infected with tetanus—that would be utterly horrible. However, considering his current constitution, he reckoned that it would be hard for such a disease to cripple him significantly.

“W-what are you doing?!” Qiao Xueying’s shocked voice rang out, not too far away. She had rushed over to take a look upon hearing the commotion.

The sight that greeted her was truly frightening. She saw Zu An sliding down the cavern wall, leaving a trail of blood behind him. She could vaguely see him holding onto a familiar-looking sword, its blade covered in blood.

Isn’t that Chu Chuyan’s Snowflower Sword?

Qiao Xueying quickly rushed over to support Zu An’s limp form. Up close, she could see just how terrifying his wounds were. She instinctively reached into her robe to grab a bottle of medicine to treat him, but she belatedly realized that she had already used all of it in the earlier battle.

“Miss Chu, are you out of your mind?!” Qiao Xueying glared at ‘Chu Chuyan’ in anger. “I know that it might be hard for you to accept what had happened earlier on, but all of it was done in order to save you. There’s no need for such an extreme reaction!”

Zu An was surprised to see Qiao Xueying standing up for him. He flashed a helpless smile. “The one who tried to save me earlier on is now trying to kill me, and the one who tried to kill me earlier is saving me. This world sure is a funny place.”

Qiao Xueying directed a sharp glare at Zu An. “How can you be in the mood for jokes after suffering such a severe injury?”

“I’m still alive, aren’t I?” Zu An could feel the softness of her body, which made it hard for him to associate her with the woman who had been trying to kill him all this while.

Qiao Xueying was stunned. All this while, she had thought of Zu An as a despicable man who was afraid of death, but he seemed surprisingly calm in the face of his demise. In comparison, another person she knew, who had always maintained a refined appearance, had let his ugly side show when confronted with death.

Mi Li looked at the two of them, and a mocking smile crept on her lips. “I didn’t think that someone as lowly as you would be fancied by so many women.”

Pricked by those words, Qiao Xueying immediately pushed Zu An to the side and exclaimed, “Who fancies this fellow?!”

Zu An, on the other hand, seemed gleeful at the way things were turning out. He shrugged casually and said, “What can I do? I’m handsome and cultured. No woman who has gotten to know me has been able to resist my charms. Big sis empress, perhaps you’ve fallen in love with me as well. Why else would you say such jealous words?”

Qiao Xueying’s mouth fell open, and Mi Li recoiled in horror.

You have successfully trolled Mi Li for 513 Rage points!

“You’re courting death!”

Mi Li waved her sleeves, and a sword tens of meters long burst forth.

“Be careful!” Zu An cried out, already prepared to dodge. He grabbed Qiao Xueying tightly and rolled several times across the floor, managing to dodge that attack.

The sword had gouged a deep gash in the ground, stretching from where Mi Li was standing all the way to the wall where the two of them had been leaning just a moment ago. It seemed as though the world had been severed into two.

Qiao Xueying was flabbergasted. “T-this…”

She could hardly believe what she was seeing. She had been by Chu Chuyan's side for a long time, and was more aware than anyone else just how talented the young miss was. There was no way she could be this powerful!

Zu An quickly explained, “Be careful! She isn’t Chuyan anymore. She’s been possessed by Mi Li!”

“What?!” Shocked by this revelation, Qiao Xueying quickly turned to look at Chu Chuyan. That would explain why the other party was behaving so unusually. “Did Miss Chu…”

Zu An quickly shook his head and replied, “Chuyan is still okay, but her soul has been suppressed for the time being, which has caused her to lose control of her body.”

Mi Li placed her hands behind her back and assessed Zu An with interest. “Despite your low level of cultivation, your eyes are quite sharp.”

“Of course! You have yet to see my true capabilities. In time, you’ll come to understand just how vast my knowledge is. I can even let you have a taste of the ‘secret arts’ of the Japanese masters!”

“Japanese? What is that?” Mi Li was perplexed by Zu An’s words, but she wasn’t that interested in them either. “Given your limited set of skills, I doubt that you possess any secret art that would impress me.”

She paused for a moment before asking, “There’s one thing I’m curious about, though. How did you know my name right from the start?”

There was no way Zu An would reveal the existence of the Keyboard to her, so he replied, “Didn’t I tell you that I’m Ying Zheng reincarnated? From the moment I heard your voice, your name was the first thing that came into my mind.”

“Like hell I’d believe that!” Mi Li huffed angrily. With a furious wave of her sleeves, she sent another burst of sword ki toward Zu An.

“Be careful!” Qiao Xueying immediately pulled Zu An to the side in order to dodge the attack.

No one could have predicted that Zu An would try to pull her in the opposite direction to evade the attack. The two of them counteracted each other, causing their bodies to crash back into one another with a jolt, both of them remaining exactly where they had been before.

Zu An’s mouth fell open, as did Qiao Xueying’s.

More surprising than this, though, the burst of sword ki suddenly split into two, diverging away from the two of them. It seemed like Mi Li had learned from her previous lesson, and had directed her attack at the most likely places that they could have dodged. This unexpected coincidence caused them to remain rooted to the spot, thus dodging Mi Li’s sure-kill attack.

It was now Mi Li’s turn to be utterly dumbfounded.

Zu An burst into laughter. He looked at the woman in his arms and remarked, “Wow, we even managed to dodge such an attack. It seems you really are my lucky star.”

Qiao Xueying quickly shoved him away before glaring at him, her face completely red.

“Please consider our circumstances! Why the hell are you acting like a coy young lady at a time like this?” Zu An said, confounded by her behavior. “Besides, I didn’t feel anything from that airplane runway of yours! If anything, I could only feel your ribcage jabbing at me. You’re nothing compared to big sis empress!”

Those words made him feel a little guilty. It was true that Qiao Xueying had a slender frame, but she wasn’t so small that she could really be considered flat. At the very least, her chest was bigger than Chu Huanzhao’s.

Qiao Xueying glared at him silently.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 325 Rage points!

She had no idea what an airplane runway was, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out what Zu An was driving at. Naturally, no woman liked having her body criticized, regardless of whether they were well-endowed or not.

Mi Li thought about everything that had happened while she had been recuperating from her wounds. It was true that this wasn’t her body, but still, she had experienced it all from a first-person perspective… 

As if that wasn’t enough, Zu An was now bragging about it to another person.

You have successfully trolled Mi Li for 404 Rage points!

“I’ve never seen anyone as hateful as you before. Since you want to die so desperately, I’ll grant you your wish!”

Right after she said those words, a black circle suddenly formed in front of her, containing an incalculable number of swords formed from ki. Then, like bullets from a machine gun, the swords shot toward the two of them with frightening momentum.

“Holy shit!” Zu An’s eyes nearly popped out. The entire area was filled with sword ki, and there was nowhere for them to hide!

It wasn’t his first time seeing flying swords. Back in the Clans Tournament, Yuan Wendong had used his metal elemental powers to control multiple swords at once, and Shi Kun had wielded wind blades as well. However, those were nothing in comparison to what he was facing at this very moment. The sheer pressure exerted by those swords was enough to leave him in despair.

This woman really intends to end my life!

“Be careful!”

Qiao Xueying quickly rushed in front of him, her hair growing rapidly and forming a thorny shrub in an instant. At the same time, countless green leaves gathered to form a barrier before them.

The blades stabbed right into the shrub, gradually whitting it down. It grew thinner and thinner before finally disintegrating. The sword ki chewed through the green leaves barrier, which lasted for the span of three breaths before collapsing as well.

Determination flashed across Qiao Xueying’s eyes as she pushed Zu An away, steeling herself as she allowed herself to be pierced through by the swords.

“Snow!” shouted Zu An.

The ravaging sword ki tore Qiao Xueying into countless pieces right before his eyes.

“You actually killed her!” Zu An’s eyes reddened in fury as he directed a hateful glare at Mi Li.

“Why are you screaming? She isn’t dead yet!” Mi Li said with a snort as she looked to the side.

Tens of meters away, Qiao Xueying’s body gradually appeared, although her face was now pale.

It was then that Zu An remembered that she had a life-saving skill named ‘Moon’s Reflection’ or something like that. She had used it to deal with the Poisonous Prick before.

“Are you all right?”

Zu An rushed forward to inspect her body.

“Don’t touch me!” Qiao Xueying swatted his hands away coldly.

“It’s good that you’re fine, it’s good that you’re fine.” Zu An breathed a sigh of relief.

“We might be okay for now, but it doesn’t look like it’ll stay that way for long.”

Qiao Xueying had a horrible expression on her face. She felt as though a lifetime’s worth of bad luck had suddenly assaulted her all at once. She had first been betrayed by Shi Kun, after which she had used her most precious skill, Half Life’s Fate. Now, she had squandered her second use of Moon’s Reflection, a skill which she could only use three times in her whole life!

Just what in the world did I owe this fellow my previous life?!

Mi Li looked at her with interest. “So, that’s the secret art of the Elf Tribe, Moon’s Reflection. Judging from the skills you’ve used thus far, you must be a wood elf.”

Zu An was stunned. He assessed Qiao Xueying closely and asked, “You’re an elf?”