Zu An frowned. âWhat do you mean?â
Lu Sheng shook his head. âThe mysteries of heaven mustnât be revealed. There are many things youâll naturally understand when itâs time.â
âI hate people like you who love to blueball others.â Zu An clenched his fist. âSince you can predict the future, can you guess whether or not Iâll beat you up?â
Lu Shengâs face froze. He chuckled in embarrassment and said, âYou donât need to be angry. If you help me with this matter, Iâll reward you with the Book.â
Mi Liâs expression grew serious when she heard him mention the Book. It was apparent that she knew of its value.
Zu An sneered. âDonât you know that youâll only seem even more suspicious if you immediately present a great offer?â Ever since Old Mi had tried to possess him, he had developed strong feelings of caution against baseless good intentions. He couldnât help but feel that this person was trying to scam him.
Lu Sheng was quite shocked that Zu An was unfazed. âPerhaps you arenât aware of the Bookâs power?â
âSo what if it can foretell the future? You still couldnât change your own fate, and you could only hide here all these years with a fragment of your soul,â Zu An said calmly. âBesides, I donât trust in completely unreasonable good intentions.â
Lu Sheng was stunned. After a momentary pause, he sighed. âYour worldview is different, as expected. I relied too much on the Book in the past, so I sank into absolute despair when I learned of my fate. I didnât even have the courage to change it. You are the destined one after all. This book will definitely be much more useful in your hands than in mine.â He pointed forward, and a streak of golden light landed on Zu Anâs forehead.
Zu An was alarmed. He quickly backed up and touched his own forehead. âWhat did you do to me?â
Unfortunately, nothing happened no matter how he rubbed his forehead. He was alarmed. After all, he had already experienced the Primordial Origin Sutraâs body tempering three times. His body should have already become incredibly tough and invulnerable against ordinary blades and swords. Why wasnât he able to defend against the golden light at all?
âDonât worry, I merely placed the Book into your sea of consciousness. It wonât bring you any harm,â Lu Sheng said weakly. His eyes werenât even as bright as before, as if his body had become weak.
Mi Li was surprised. âThe Book isnât actually a book?â
Lu Sheng shook his head. âOf course not. The book I gave his majesty was nothing but a diversionary tactic. This is the Bookâs original form. Thatâs the reason why, thankfully, it didnât end up in that personâs hands during the great disaster.â
âThat person?â Mi Li asked with a pensive expression.
Zu An quickly examined himself. Sure enough, he saw that there was a small golden book in his sea of consciousness. There was an ancient and grand aura coming from it; it was the feeling of dao. He didnât feel happy at all, and instead looked at Mi Li. âMaster, am I really okay?â
Mi Li replied, âDonât worry, this is an opportunity for you. Brat, your luck really is pretty good.â
Zu An finally felt relief when he heard her say those words. However, he still said with a pitiful expression, âMaster, Iâm dirty nowâ¦â He felt as if someone had put something inside of him, that his mind had now taken the shape of someone else. It really didnât feel great.
Mi Li was speechless. She exclaimed, âGet lost!â
Lu Sheng looked at her in shock. âSo the destined one was your highnessâ disciple!â
âHmph, heâs just a naughty brat I picked up because he kept begging me. I could only barely agree to take him in.â Mi Li raised her chin high, her attitude as prideful as could be.
Zu An was speechless. Who the hell begged whom? But he still let her show off a bit before her own minister.
âLooks like the Book really didnât deceive me. With your highnessâ help, I believe that my cherished desire should be fulfilled,â Lu Sheng said, his body gradually growing dim. He began to scatter into the wind at a visible rate.
Mi Li fell silent when she saw Lu Sheng fade, a look of sorrow filling her eyes. Seeing her former acquaintances disappear one after another made her once again experience the inexorable power of time.
â¦
The group continued through the palace. Mi Li remained silent the entire time. Bi Linglong asked Zu An out of concern, âAre you alright? That book or something went inside of youâ¦â
Zu An shook his head. âI donât feel anything strange right now, but I have no idea what it can be used for. He didnât even give me a basic introduction.â He had tried several times, but regardless of whether it was normal ki or primordial ki, he couldnât do anything to that small golden book.
Bi Linglong was worried. âThat person foresaw that a great calamity was coming. I canât help but feel like what weâre about to face will be extremely terrifying.â
Zu An laughed. âThe scarier the better. Donât forget that we still have a terrifying emperor on our tail. How can we hope to survive if the danger ends up being too weak?â
Mi Li nodded. âKid, even though youâre a little perverted and greedy, your nature is optimistic. Little girl, even though youâre smart, youâre far beneath him in this aspect.â
Bi Linglong didnât get annoyed, and instead smiled. âI couldnât compare to him in the first place.â If it had been a month earlier, her prideful self would never have admitted to that. But now, she instead voiced her sincere respect.
âHmph, women.â Mi Li snorted in contempt.
âWe should be approaching the water element next, right? You knew everyone in those other rooms. Do you have any guesses as to who the one in that room is?â Zu An asked.
âI donât. I have a rough idea of who was involved back then, but I donât recall any of them being related to the water element.â Mi Li shook her head.
âCould it be Xu Fu?â Zu An asked out of curiosity.
Mi Li supported her chin with her hand. âItâs not entirely impossible. Xu Fu spent a great deal of time out at sea.â However, five forked paths suddenly appeared before her. She stopped, her eyes filled with puzzlement.
âWhatâs wrong? Which path should we take?â Zu An asked curiously.
Mi Li said, âAccording to my analysis of the Five Elements Formation, all five of these paths are a possibility.â
Bi Linglong picked up a rock and threw it along one of the paths. A flurry of arrows quickly flew out from within. âIt looks like only one of these paths is real, while the others are traps.â
Mi Li said, âIndeed. Unfortunately, those with traps might not be fake, and the one without traps might very well be the real path of death.â
While the two of them were deep in thought, Zu An suddenly realized something. He pointed at the path second from the left and exclaimed, âItâs this one!â
âHow do you know?â Bi Linglong asked, confused. That path was the one she had just thrown the rock down, and yet many traps had immediately activated. Even Mi Li was surprised. She looked at Zu An and waited for him to explain himself.
âThe Book told me.â Zu An rubbed his head. âI donât know why, but the scene of the second path suddenly appeared in my head.â
âThen itâs that path.â Mi Li was the first to walk forward, as if she completely trusted the Book. Zu An almost warned her to be careful, but her cultivation was higher than his own. If there really was something, she should be able to deal with it.
They ran into some traps along the way, but Zu An and Mi Li dealt with them easily. After the first bit of danger, the rest of the path was smooth sailing. The group arrived in front of another large door. It was covered in orderly rows of golden knobs, making it look exceptionally grand.
âHuh?â Mi Li exclaimed.
âWhat is it?â Zu An thought there was something wrong when he heard Mi Liâs voice. He observed the surroundings vigilantly.
Mi Li only continued to stare at the gate silently. Bi Linglong said from off to the side, âThere are nine rows of nine, totaling up to eighty-one knobs in total. Nine symbolizes the unsurpassed emperor, and only the ruler himself has the right to use this symbol. All others who rashly use this symbol will have their entire clans eradicated in punishment.â As someone from the royal family, she was sensitive to such things.
Zu An was shocked. He looked toward Mi Li. âMaster, is that true? Is this where Ying Zheng is buried?â