Chapter 885: Who Is Number One?
“Alright, I’ve already told you everything about the past, so you can at least die knowing the truth. It’s now time to start the final ritual.” Xu Fu had already revealed this past he was greatly pleased with. He already felt enough satisfaction from their expressions of shock. It was now time to take care of important business.
Bi Linglong grabbed Zu An’s hand and held it tightly. Her body was shaking slightly. Even though she had already mentally prepared herself for death, her body’s instincts refused to listen.
Zu An patted her hand to console her. Then, he looked toward Xu Fu and asked, “What do you need us to do during this ritual?”
Bi Linglong felt admiration. There were many men who were cocky and arrogant normally, but lost their heads during true moments of crisis. But Zu An was different. Whether he faced the emperor or Xu Fu, he remained perfectly composed. On top of it all, it wasn’t a feigned calm, but rather true calm. It was as if no concept of life and death existed in his mind.
“It’s rare to find such a calm sacrifice as you.” Xu Fu was also surprised. “Naturally, I need to dissolve you into this pool of blood and collect your pure yin and yang essences. Then, together with the power of the five elements. I’ll obtain eternal life.”
Zu An suddenly felt a bit embarrassed and said, “But I’m not a virgin.”
Bi Linglong was confused. Mi Li was speechless.
This guy’s train of thought really jumps everywhere! The two of them stared blankly for a while before realizing what had happened. They both scoffed inwardly.
Xu Fu was also stunned. A moment later, he roared with laughter. “Haha! That’s not a problem at all. The pure yang body is different from the pure yin body; remaining a virgin isn’t important. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have targeted Ying Zheng in the past.”
“Why doesn’t the pure yang body have to be a sexless virgin?” Zu An was rather upset. If it had been in his past world, such a theory would be downvoted to hell by female netizens on the forums.
“Sexless virgin…” Xu Fu’s eyelids twitched. Is this person maybe not right in the head?
Mi Li and Bi Linglong remained unfazed. They were already used to the way Zu An talked.
Xu Fu said with a snort, “I’m not going to waste my time talking to you. The empress is the empress after all, so she needs to be respected. Let’s start with you first.” The blood pool beneath them surged as he spoke, and a tentacle made of blood encircled Zu An.
Zu An might have sounded as if he’d been talking mindlessly, but he had actually been getting ready. He used Grandgale to close the distance, then hacked out with his longsword.
Xu Fu’s body flickered, evading to the side. “Hm? So it was King Qin’s sword. You don’t have the right to use this sword. Just hand it over.” He grabbed the sword after speaking, and fiercely pulled it downward. A huge force rushed along the sword down to the hilt.
Zu An’s fingers ached with pain, finding it a bit hard to hold onto the sword. However, he had never planned to hold onto it. A pitch-black dagger quickly emerged in his hand. It stabbed toward the red tentacle at a tricky angle. He knew that with the other party’s cultivation, it would be hard for him to stab Xu Fu’s true body. However, it would have the same result if the Poisonous Prick stabbed any spot.
Xu Fu clearly didn’t expect the attack, but he cut off a part of his own tentacle regardless. He frowned as he brought that tentacle in front of himself. “Your combat senses are unexpectedly high.”
Zu An’s eyes widened. “Why are you still okay?”
Xu Fu smiled. His eyes shifted to the pitch-black dagger in Zu An’s hands. “I felt a strong threat of death just now. Others might die on the spot after being stabbed by this dagger, but I’m different. I’ve already abandoned my mortal form and am now one with this blood pool. Your dagger naturally doesn’t pose much of a threat to me.”
Zu An didn’t have time to feel annoyed. Instead, he summoned Snow Phoenix and used the Snowflake Sword. A layer of thin ice gradually formed over the blood pool. He didn’t stop afterward, either. He immediately summoned the Fire Phoenix to create a powerful fire and ice reaction. He wanted to see if he could make the pool of blood evaporate.
The pool of blood began to boil, but it didn’t show any sign of evaporating. Xu Fu laughed. “I used a secret method from the sea as the foundation, and used three thousand male and female virgins as well as so many Qin Palace experts. This pool of blood has long become impervious to water and fire, becoming imperishable. How can those tricks of yours possibly accomplish anything?”
“Why would you covet immortality so strongly if you were already truly imperishable?” Zu An refused to give up and attacked again. Unfortunately, the difference in their strength was too great. He was quickly slammed into the ground. But he had the ability to recover quickly. He charged again, and was thrown down again. The cycle repeated itself again and again.
Bi Linglong ran over when she saw Zu An being slammed into the ground again and again, his body drenched in blood. However, a tentacle snatched her off the ground and smashed her into the ground too. Just that impact alone almost killed her. She couldn't even crawl back onto her feet. The monster’s cultivation was too great, to the point that she didn’t even have the qualifications to fight him.
Her eyes began brimming with tears as she watched Zu An’s bitter, yet futile struggle. “Ah Zu, just stop! We can’t win! I’ll die together with you, we don’t have to suffer anymore…” she said through sobs.
Zu An coughed out a mouthful of blood and grunted. His expression was firm. “Bodies can be beaten down, but wills cannot. How can I give up without seeing this to the end?”
Mi Li fell silent when she saw the scene. She recalled their first meeting. Back then, Zu An had also been beaten into a blood-soaked figure, but he had never yielded. He had continued to fight…
Xu Fu nodded in admiration. “You have quite the spine, kid. You also seem to have cultivated the Qin Imperial Clan’s Primordial Origin Sutra. This body of yours isn’t bad. After refining it a bit, it’ll have the qualifications to become my new body.”
Zu An was speechless. What the hell? It would be one thing if those pretty girls wanted my body, but why do these old monsters all want a piece of me? What the hell did I do to deserve this?!
Mi Li suddenly spoke up. “Ah Zu, you should rest for a bit. You can’t win against him like this, so let me fight against him.”
Zu An was shocked. “You can move again?”
Mi Li didn’t reply and instead said, “Take that girl with you and leave. Run as fast as you can.” Then, her body no longer flickered like before, and instead became much brighter. Her aura also surged powerfully.
Zu An thought that she had already broken free from the restrictions. But before he could feel happy for her, Xu Fu said, “You want to self-destruct and take me down with you? Unfortunately, you’re under the control of my formation! Even if you self-destruct, it won’t do much to me. Instead, your yin energy will be absorbed by this formation even faster!”
Mi Li said, “It’s hard to say if something really will happen without giving it a try first. I learned that from the kid.” She gave Zu An a look after saying so. There was a smiling expression in her eyes.
Zu An was alarmed. He knew that Mi Li had already decided to give up her life here, and judging from what Xu Fu said, it didn’t seem as if it would do much. He quickly ran over and stopped her. “Master, don’t be rash! I still have a way!”
“You have a way?” Mi Li frowned. The two of them had known each other for a long time, so she already knew about all of Zu An’s abilities. What could he possibly bring out here?
“Trust me.” Zu An held her hand and looked at her with a firm expression.
Mi Li was stunned. For some reason, his tone had a mysterious persuasive quality to it. As such, she temporarily withdrew her intent to die. Her figure stabilized as well.
Xu Fu roared with laughter. “You have a solution? What kind of solution could you possibly have? Hahaha, the young really do love to shoot their mouths off, even when they’re about to die.”
Zu An ignored him. He looked at Mi Li and asked, “Who is the strongest person in your memories?”
Mi Li didn’t hesitate for a second. She instinctively replied, “Ying Zheng, of course.”
Zu An nodded. Then, he looked at Xu Fu. “What about you? Who do you think is number one?”
Xu Fu harrumphed. “It was indeed Ying Zheng back then. But now, I fear that it’s me.”
Mi Li snickered. She felt he was just talking big.
“Fine then.” Zu An stood up straight. His body released a sort of strange loftiness. Then, he used the skill Keyboard Come[1].
A dignified voice echoed through the entire place. “I am Ying Zheng!”
1. Skill description: As a keyboard warrior, ‘Keyboard, come!’ is your most important skill. Whenever you are unjustly wronged, shout ‘Keyboard, come!’ loud and proud! Make sure your voice is full of spirit. Let the people know what it means to speak things into existence! Once the skill is activated, all the words you speak will become reality. Special note: The use of this ability consumes soul force, so please refrain from excessive boasting. The more intensely you boast, the greater the backlash, which will hit you an hour later. Your soul will suffer an intense shock. ☜