Mi Li was completely speechless. She harrumphed in annoyance. âSheâs nothing but a vixen after all. She still seduces men by instinct even if she doesnât have a soul!â
Daji seemed as if she hadnât heard anything and continued to kneel like that in front of Zu An, her gorgeous eyes staring pitifully at him.
Mi Li looked at Zu An with an ambiguous smile. âHow much longer are you going to make her maintain that stance? Should I leave and let the two of you have your fun first?â
Zu Anâs face heated up. He quickly calmed himself down and sent the two Ki Condensation Pills into Dajiâs mouth. However, he didnât know if it was intentional or not, but her tongue seemed to have touched his fingers when she took the pills.
Zu An felt his blood begin to boil. However, he wasnât some inexperienced kid, so he quickly calmed himself down. He took out the four dragon scales that he had already prepared beforehand, asking, âWhat do I do with this? Do I have to make her eat them too?â
Raising Dajiâs Fox Charm from the first to second level needed two Ki Condensation Pills, four dragon scales, and ten thousand silver. He really didnât understand why silver was needed. Who was he even paying here?
âHow should I know?â Mi Li snorted. She turned around in a somewhat rigid manner. She thought to herself, This fellaâs zodiac sign is definitely a donkey, and that girl is just a good-for-nothing slut.
Zu An checked the system. It didnât explain the exact process.
Daji slowly stood up. Her beautiful snow-white cheeks seemed to become a bit more rosy after swallowing the two pills, making her appear even more stunning. She took the four dragon scales from Zu An, and then she placed the scales north, south, east, and west of her. Then, she reached out toward Zu An with her fair, jade-like palm, looking at him with her pitiful eyes again.
Mi Li frowned. Did this woman really not have a soul? Her eyes looked very much alive! There was no difference from an ordinary person at all! But she had checked Dajiâs body before, and she couldnât sense any soul inside.
Zu An realized what was happening and took out a ten thousand silver note, asking, âIs this what you want?â However, Daji didnât take it, and continued to stare at him.
Mi Li said, âI think she needs ten thousand silver taels and not a silver note. Silver is probably the medium for some kind of mysterious power, or maybe itâs the energy source she needs to begin with.â Her cultivation was profound, after all, and she had read extensively in the past. She quickly reached that conclusion.
Zu An realized what she was saying as well. He took out ten thousand silver taels from his Brilliant Glass Beadâs storage. He had the treasure he had taken from the red dragonâs nest, and there were also all of the goods he had been awarded in the imperial palace. Ten thousand silver taels werenât too difficult to bring out.
Sure enough, Daji took the silver taels when he brought them out. She arranged the silver in a ring around her, and then sat down at the very center. They could sense the aura of the Ki Condensation Pills coming out of her body. Then, streaks of light swirled about. Four dragon scales lit up, and then the outer ring of silver also started to shine.
âIs this a ripple of ki, or something else?â Zu An asked Mi Li out of curiosity. He could sense a strange aura. It wasnât quite like ki, but it wasnât primordial energy either.
Mi Li shook her head. âThis is probably a type of cultivation we donât understand. Sigh, the universe is so great; there are too many things that are worth exploring.â A zealous look appeared in her eyes as she spoke.
Zu An had almost forgotten that this woman was also a bookworm! After all, anyone who could read through the Qin royal familyâs entire library was definitely not messing around.
The silver around Daji slowly disappeared, and it was hard to describe how it was vanishing. It didnât disappear instantly, nor did it dissolve bit by bit. It was as if it were disappearing without anyoneâs notice. It was the same for the dragon scales.
Eventually, everything disappeared. There were rings of smoke around Daji, as if her entire body were immersed in mist. The smoke quickly lessened, in the end seemingly merging into Daji. Her eyes had already opened.
Zu An was startled. He could already sense the improvement in Dajiâs skill.
Fox Charm, level two. It allowed her to temporarily control a target of the same cultivation level.
âI hope this is enough.â Zu An was a bit nervous. This wasnât a videogame where he could see Ma Anâs exact cultivation. He had to guess.
Mi Li said, âDonât worry, their cultivation was about the same, and Ma An was already almost controlled before, so I donât believe their cultivation levels are too different. Iâm sure Dajiâs skill will work now.â
Zu An became more confident when he heard the assurance in her voice. He dragged Ma An over and undid his seal. Then, he poured a bucket of cold water over him.
âWho, what?!â Ma Anâs consciousness wasnât too clear right after he woke up. However, the weakness he felt from his body made him gradually recall what had happened. He did his best to remain calm. âYou should just give up; you wonât obtain any useful information from my mouth! But if you let me go, I guess I can just let bygones be bygones. Iâll just let todayâs matter go.â
âDo you think Iâm an idiot, or are you an idiot? Do you really think Iâll believe something like that?â Zu An rolled his eyes.
âIf you donât believe me, then I can use a secret acupuncture method that will make me forget about the things that happened today. Thatâs why there wonât be any danger for you.â Ma An quickly said. His instinct to survive was making him exert himself like this one last time.
âThereâs no need to go through all that trouble.â Zu An waved his hands and gestured for Daji to come over.
Ma An harrumphed when he saw the gorgeous woman. âYou still want to use her against me? Forget itâ¦â Suddenly, he was stunned halfway through his sentence. The only thing left in his world were her beautiful eyes, her every frown and smile.
âIt succeeded!â Mi Li said excitedly when she saw Ma An. With her experience, she was able to tell that his will had been completely controlled.
Zu An sighed in relief. He quickly asked who the one behind Ma An was.
Ma An shook his head somewhat rigidly. âIt isnât King Qi; itâs master.â
âWho is your master?â Zu An frowned. Why had Ma An called him master?
âMaster is from the Shadow Group,â Ma An instinctively replied.
âShadow Group!â Zu An was alarmed. This wasnât the first time he had heard that name. Back then, Qiao Xueying had also mentioned this organization. For the sake of saving her clansmen, she had joined the Shadow Group, and he had also faced their assassins in the past himself. He only knew that this was one of the worldâs most mysterious organizations.
âWho is the master of the Shadow Group?â Zu An immediately asked.
âI donât know.â Ma Anâs eyes were expressionless. âThe Shadow Groupâs master has never revealed his true appearance to others; he has always been shrouded within a dark mist. No one in this world knows his true identity.â
Zu An frowned. âThen what else do you know about him?â
Ma An replied, âMy guess is that he might be someone in the imperial palace.â
âSomeone in the imperial palace?â Zu An had only been asking about the master out of curiosity, and didnât care that much about who he was. After all, no matter how mysterious he was, he was only the boss of an assassin organization. He didnât have much of an influence on the court.
Yet now, when he heard the other party might actually be someone from the imperial palace, he immediately felt a chill run down his back. He had spent this recent period in the imperial palace after all, yet he didnât sense anyone who could be the master of the Shadow Group.
What was even more appalling was that the imperial palace was the emperorâs domain. The Shadow Group had actually managed to hide in the palace under the emperorâs very eyes?
That meant that one possibility was that the master of the Shadow Group was someone working for the emperor. But if this was the case, why would they accept the mission to assassinate Zu An? Back then, the emperor had been waiting for Zu Anâs Phoenix Nirvana Sutra, so the chances of the two of them being on the same side werenât too great.
This meant that there could only be one possibility, which was that the Shadow Groupâs master had a different status that allowed him to stay in the imperial palace properly. Only then could he avoid drawing the emperorâs suspicion.
But who was this person? Eunuch Wen? Zhuxie Chixin? The Empress? Eunuch Lu? Guo Zhi? What about the crown princess, or Concubine Bai? Or maybe it was a plain palace maid or guard?
Faces appeared in Zu Anâs mind one after another. It was to the extent that even the ordinary Piao Duandiao and Jiao Sigun appeared in his head.
Zu An felt goosebumps. He knew that if there really was this sort of powerful figure in the palace with him, then that expert might have his eyes on him 24/7. None of his movements would escape noticeâ¦
It was one thing if his identity as Golden Token Eleven were exposed. But he had helped Qiao Xueying and Hong Qiulei leave, and then he had saved Yun Jianyue; furthermore, he had even spent a night with the empress⦠Even one of these deeds was enough to have him killed many times over. If the other party knew about these things, then they would have him by the throat. Wouldnât his life or death be completely decided by that personâs whims?