Mi Li looked down at his sword and said, “I’ll stay in the Tai’e Sword for the time being.”

Zu An was surprised. “The Tai’e Sword can house people as well?”

Mi Li rolled her eyes and said, “Divine weapons with the Tai’e Sword contain a pocket of space within them. Fortunately, the sword spirit has been greatly depleted. If not, it wouldn’t be easy for me to slip in easily.”

“The sword spirit has been greatly depleted?” Zu An was perplexed.

Mi Li looked at Zu An as if he were stating the obvious. “The Tai’e Sword’s spirit suffered a heavy blow in a previous battle,” she explained. “Ever since that day, Ying Zheng never used the sword ever again. However, he thought it a huge waste to abandon it, so he chose to use it as the formation core for the Soul Suppression Seal, using it to supply energy to the formation. Its energy has been extracted over thousands of years, and now, the Tai’e Sword is more weakened than ever. If this wasn’t the case, someone of your caliber couldn’t possibly hope to wield it. The moment you touched it, its sword ki would have torn you to shreds!”

Zu An nodded, fully understanding the situation. 

Mi Li had hinted at the great strength within the Tai’e Sword several times throughout their encounter, but he hadn’t noticed anything particularly outstanding about it while he was holding it. If its sword spirit had already been depleted right from the start, it could be considered a ‘dead sword’ that only retained a small portion of its true powers. There was probably nothing noteworthy about it at the moment, other than its sharp edge and resilient blade.

“Have your wife let go of the blade first,” said Mi Li, looking on helplessly as the sword repeatedly moved in and out of her chest. She dared not to let her guard down, in case she dropped dead the next moment.

“Chuyan, you can let go of the blade now. Everything is under control,” said Zu An hurriedly.

Chu Chuyan hesitated for a moment before finally releasing her grip.

Mi Li began murmuring a series of obscure chants before her silhouette began rising out of Chu Chuyan’s body. It seeped into the Tai’e Sword, which caused the sword to reverberate lightly.

Zu An could somehow sense that the sword was now a little different compared to before, but he couldn’t really put his finger on what it was.

Meanwhile, Chu Chuyan’s body suddenly went limp and collapsed to the side. Shocked, Zu An rushed forward to support her. “What’s wrong?”

“She just hasn’t regained full control of her body yet, since I was the dominant one earlier. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine in a bit,” replied Mi Li.

“Hm? Why does your voice sound so feeble?” asked Zu An curiously.

“What else do you expect? A normal human’s soul would dissipate as soon as it leaves its body, and I’ve just left two bodies in a row. Isn’t it obvious that this would cause me severe damage?” replied Mi Li hatefully. 

Clearly, she was holding a grudge against him because of this.

You have successfully trolled Mi Li for 233 Rage points!

Zu An chuckled sheepishly, and wisely chose not to incur her wrath at a time like this. He turned his attention back to the beauty in his arms and asked, “Honey, how are you feeling?”

Chu Chuyan’s eyes slowly fluttered open. She stared at him for a moment before her cheeks suddenly turned red, spurring her to push him away. Then, she awkwardly walked over to Qiao Xueying’s side to help her up.

Zu An stared at her in silence.

Why is she suddenly acting so distant? She was so concerned about me earlier on, while Mi Li was in her body.

“Stop acting all lovey-dovey over there. Hurry up and purify those vengeful spirits! Once all two hundred thousand of them burst out of the lake, all of us will be doomed!” reminded Mi Li.

“All right!” replied Zu An decisively as he made his way toward the lake.

Barely a few steps later, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He hesitantly turned around and asked, “So, about that… how do I purify those vengeful spirits again?”

Mi Li was too stunned to speak.

Chu Chuyan and Qiao Xueying also looked at him in bewilderment. His great confidence persuaded Mi Li to leave Chuyan’s body earlier, but judging from what he was saying now… 

“You don’t know the art of purification?” Mi Li asked in disbelief, having finally grasped what was going on.

“I was supposed to learn it, but Ying Zheng’s soul dissipated before he could teach me that…” replied Zu An sheepishly.

Mi Li almost lost her mind.

You have successfully trolled Mi Li for 1024 Rage points!

She was on the edge of actually exploding from anger. How could she have been fooled by him into willingly inflicting such grievous damage to her own soul?!

“I’m going to mince you up!”

With a violent vibration, the Tai’e Sword tore itself out of Zu An’s hands and began chasing him around, attempting to hack off his head.

Both Chu Chuyan and Qiao Xueying stared at the scene, utterly stupefied.

They finally understood why he had chosen to accept Mi Li’s condition despite the risks. It turned out that it was just bravado.

He sure is a schemer. He doesn’t even bat an eyelid when spouting such a blatant lie!

Meanwhile, Zu An was frantically scurrying around like a mouse and yelling, “We’ve already signed the Life-and-Death Contract, so our fates are linked to one another now! If you kill me, you’re going to die as well!”

The Tai’e Sword finally paused in mid-air, but it continued to vibrate intensely, clearly conveying Mi Li’s overflowing rage. If it had been possible, she would have chopped Zu An into a thousand pieces in a heartbeat, but the contract left her with no choice but to swallow her grievances.

You have successfully trolled Mi Li for 1024 Rage points!

“Should we leave the area? We need to make it past this crisis first. You can always settle the score with me later on,” suggested Zu An.

Mi Li remained silent for a while, clearly still seething with anger.

It took a long time before she finally calmed down. “ Leave? Those evil spirits have already seen all of you and locked onto your auras. Even if you run to the ends of the world, they would still track you down and kill you. You’ll have to settle the matter right now.”

“But I don’t know the art of purification!” cried Zu An bitterly.

“Once you cultivate the Primordial Origin Sutra to the second rank, you’ll be able to purify any malevolent beings with your primordial ki,” replied Mi Li.

“Second rank?” Zu An found himself in a spot of bother. “But I’m only at the first rank at the moment.”

“You’ve been channeling the Primordial Origin Sutra all this while in order to heal your injuries, so I reckon you should be on the verge of a breakthrough now. Try channeling it again to heal your wounds,” said Mi Li with a cold snort.

“All right.” Zu An began channeling the Primordial Origin Sutra, and soon enough, he felt his wounds beginning to swiftly heal.

Unexpectedly, with a violent metallic hum, the Tai’e Sword suddenly flew towards Zu An and pierced straight into his body. Zu An was focusing his attention on healing his wounds, so there was no way he could cope with this unexpected attack.

Neither Qiao Xueying nor Chu Chuyan had expected Mi Li to suddenly make a move, so they were too late to stop her. They could only watch helplessly as the Tai’e Sword pierced Zu An.

“What are you doing?!” the two women cried out in unison. Chu Chuyan even stepped forward, clearly in an attempt to deal with Mi Li.

“This is necessary to raise the speed at which he can attain his breakthrough. Those terracotta soldiers are already at their limit,” replied Mi Li coldly.

Qiao Xueying and Chu Chuyan quickly turned to look, only to see that the terracotta soldiers were swiftly being overwhelmed by the evil spirits coming out from the lake. 

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. I won’t go far enough to kill him,” replied Mi Li as she stabbed the blade yet into another part of Zu An’s body.

Chu Chuyan and Qiao Xueying looked on in anguished silence.

Zu An took in a sharp breath and asked, “Are you sure you aren’t making use of this opportunity to get even with me?”

“So what if I am? Do you know how great a loss you’ve caused me to suffer? Just man up and bear with it!” replied Mi Li gleefully. She had to admit that stabbing Zu An a few times had lifted her mood slightly.

Zu An was at a loss for words.

Wow, I didn’t think that she would admit to it so frankly.

However, he knew that the situation was dire, so he focused on channeling the Primordial Origin Sutra, praying that he could make a breakthrough as soon as possible.

A while later, a sudden jolt ran through his body, and he felt himself growing lighter than ever. He found himself entering a profound state of consciousness, reminiscent of the moment right before his transmigration. 

It was a dark and silent place, in which nothing could be seen, heard, or felt at all. No matter how wide he tried to force his eyes open, there was simply nothing to see at all. 

A moment later, a brilliant light suddenly burst forth in the distance. He couldn’t even begin to describe how bright that light was. He’d thought all along that the sun was the greatest source of light for the world, but it was nothing compared to what he was witnessing at this very moment. 

The light swiftly spread out, and soon, the world he was in was no longer dark anymore. 

He tried to carefully observe his surroundings as the light reached him, but before he could catch a glimpse of anything, he had already been jolted awake.

That earlier sight… Was that the inception of the world?

Zu An was stunned. The surrounding air felt far more refreshingly sweet than ever before. Vast quantities of nourishing primordial ki began flowing towards him. Previously, he had only been able to sense a small amount of primordial ki in his surroundings, no matter how he stretched out his senses. Right now, though, he no longer needed to exert any ounce of effort. Primordial ki was automatically drawn to him, allowing him to absorb it at a much more rapid rate.

Chu Chuyan and Qiao Xueying saw his severe wounds healing at a rate clearly visible to the naked eye.

“Hm, I didn’t expect you to make a breakthrough so quickly. I haven’t had my fun yet,” remarked Mi Li regretfully. 

Zu An was too incensed to offer a retort.

“Hurry up and tell me how to purify those evil spirits!” Zu An demanded instead, his face as dark as a thundercloud. 

“Channel your primordial ki into the Tai’e Sword and slash at those evil spirits. That would be enough to purify them,” replied Mi Li.

Qiao Xueying immediately spoke up. “But the battle over there is so intense. Given his cultivation, even the slightest shockwave could easily take his life!”

She was clearly belittling Zu An’s strength, but everyone could tell that she was speaking out of concern for him.

Mi Li replied calmly, “He’s holding the Sword of Kingship; those terracotta soldiers will know better than to attack him. As for those evil spirits, second-rank primordial ki is their natural nemesis. They won’t pose a threat to him.”

Qiao Xueying’s worries were finally put to rest.

Chu Chuyan, on the other hand, had considered the situation at a deeper level. “There are over two hundred thousand evil spirits here. If he slashes them one by one, there will be no end to it.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t take too long,” replied Mi Li.

Zu An had yet another question. “The primordial ki in this underground palace is much more concentrated than anywhere else, but there’s still a limit to it. On top of that, my rate of absorption is limited as well. I don’t think I have enough stamina to purify all two hundred thousand spirits.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Those evil spirits harness a certain amount of primordial ki in their bodies, so you’ll be able to continue healing throughout the battle,” replied Mi Li. “Besides, your body is far more resilient than you think. The current injuries you’ve sustained would have been enough to kill any other cultivators ten times over.”

Zu An nodded in reply, though he knew that he’d only been able to hang on due to the Heiress’ Ball of Delights. Considering the length of time that had already elapsed, its effects should be running out very soon. He still remembered the agony he’d suffered once the effects wore off previously, after he’d been struck by the Wailing Whip, and he had no intention of going through that once more. He was determined to heal as much as possible before that.

So, with the Tai’e Sword in hand, he made his way over toward the lake. Perhaps because they sensed the presence of the Tai’e Sword, the terracotta soldiers quickly opened a pathway within their ranks for him, allowing him to quickly reach the frontlines.

The sudden presence of a living being immediately spurred the aggression of the evil spirits. They began lunging toward him with shrill shrieks, like sharks drawn to the scent of blood.