Chapter 1851: Reunion
Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue’s thoughts were both running wild. They felt more and more admiration for Zu An and no longer looked at him like a junior. Instead, he was a real, mighty man whom even they admired. They looked at his side profile and thought, He really is handsome.
As they continued to stare at him, each of them suddenly noticed that the other woman was looking at him the same way.
Why is the stone cold woman (witch) looking at him like that? Don’t tell me she likes him? How is that possible?!
The two women quickly rejected that suspicion. They had been enemies for so many years and understood each other’s personalities best. They really couldn't imagine how someone like that would like this guy.
Fortunately, the voices in the distance got rid of their embarra.s.sment. Judging from their tone, it seemed they hadn’t dared to approach earlier when they saw the tribulation lightning, but now that the lightning had dispersed, they had decided to come and see what was going on.
Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen both panicked. They knew that there would definitely be a mix of good and bad people in this kind of situation. Many of them no doubt had some intention of picking up the spoils. For example, if the tribulation was a failure, they would try to see if they could pick up some of the cultivator’s magic artifacts, weapons, and other things.
Furthermore, the women both understood what kinds of appearances they had. There had never been a lack of rash individuals when they wandered the world. They had previously not needed to fear any others due to their cultivation. However, both of them had practically been completely sucked dry by Zu An and couldn't recover in time at all. Forget about fighting, they couldn't even move. If some bad people saw them, it wasn’t too hard to imagine what would happen.
They were busy panicking when they saw Zu An suddenly sit up. He wrapped his hands around their waists, picked them up, then flew into the distant forest.
Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue were stunned, exclaiming, “You were pretending before?!”
The two women had displeased expressions. Zu An was clearly vigorous and healthy, and yet he had taken advantage of the two of them by lying in place.
Zu An said awkwardly, “It’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. I was worried that the two of you would be in danger, so I barely managed to recover a bit of strength in a moment of desperation!”
“Hah!”
“Hmph!”
Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue stood on the same front for the first time ever.
Fortunately, both of them didn’t really care too much about that. Yan Xuehen quickly said, “Hurry and find Zhao Han’s Human Emperor Seal. It would be bad if those people picked it up.”
“That’s right. It’s your spoil of war that you earned with such difficulty, so how can you let others get their hands on it?!” Yun Jianyue added, her eyes widening.
Zhao Han had been blasted into ashes by that lightning whip, and many of his treasures were also destroyed. However, that Human Emperor Seal was a deity-grade weapon, so there was no way it would be destroyed by tribulation lightning.
Zu An felt warm inside. These two really did think for his sake. He didn’t waste any more time and silently sensed the surrounding auras.
“I found it!”
He reached out in a certain direction, and a strand of clear light flew back. It was the Sun Slaying Arrow, which wasn’t a single-use item. The battlefield was under his control, so he could naturally take it back. Then, he reached out in another direction, and a golden light flew toward him. It was quite large, but when it reached his hand, it gradually shrank, becoming a rather exquisite jade seal. As it floated in his palm, the ruler’s seal flowed with brilliant color. It was very clearly an extraordinary item.
Yan Xuehen said with a frown, “This Human Emperor Seal is a hot potato. If you take it out, everyone will know you killed Zhao Han. Cleaning up after this will be pretty troublesome.”
Zhao Han was the Great Zhou Dynasty’s emperor, after all. He was already like a guardian deity in their eyes. If they found out that Zu An had killed him, the court definitely wouldn’t leave the matter be. The people would likely also holler for his head. At that point, there would be nowhere left for him to remain in the world.
“Why are you stressing out over things like that? At worst, he’ll just join our Holy Sect. If our people found out you killed the emperor, not only would they not hate you, they’d even see you as a great hero. I could even step aside and give you the position of sect leader if you want, and I’m sure all of them would be fine with that,” Yun Jianyue said with a big smile. Now that Zhao Han was dead, her mood had become much better.
Yan Xuehen was alarmed. She quickly said to Zu An, “You’re not allowed to go to the Devil Sect!”
If that happened, they really would become sworn enemies.
Before Zu An even got a chance to reply, Yun Jianyue retorted, “Stone cold woman, does he need your thoughtless remarks when making his decision? Who even are you to him?”
“I am his…” Yan Xuehen almost blurted out something, but when she looked into Yun Jianyue’s eyes, she felt a bit of guilt. She quickly changed what she was going to say. “I am his wife’s master. Don’t tell me that I cannot lecture him at all?”
“Tsk, you were acting so self-confident and righteous that I almost thought you were his wife.” Yun Jianyue harrumphed. “Besides, what wife? They already divorced. My disciple has affinity with him, so I think she would be the best candidate for the main wife.”
“Shameless!” Yan Xuehen snapped, curling her lips.
“Who are you calling shameless?” Yun Jianyue retorted in annoyance.
…
As he watched the two fight, Zu An felt as if his head would explode. He quickly shushed them. “Be quiet, someone is coming.” He put the Human Emperor’s Seal away to prevent its aura from leaking out. Even though it was a hot potato, it was formidable. He naturally couldn't let anyone else have it.
Figures rushed over one after another. There were elders and youngsters, and they all had different outfits. They were clearly not of the same faction.
“A terrifying lightning tribulation took place here after all,” an elder remarked as he looked at the mountains that had been scorched black; he clearly looked like someone who occupied a high position. His voice trembled a bit.
Tribulation was something that had only existed in legends. They had never expected to come into contact with something like that so closely.
“I never could have expected that someone could really face tribulation. I wonder which senior it was,” another middle-aged man in blue added. Judging from his bearing, he was clearly a sect master.
“Recently, we first experienced the opening of a great tomb, and then someone faced tribulation. More and more abnormalities are taking place. This world might not be peaceful anymore,” another middle-aged man with a jade-like countenance said with a sigh. According to his tone, it seemed as if they all knew each other.
Just then, another, more sinister voice added, “Judging from the looks of things, he must have failed the tribulation. Apart from Immortal Ruler Baopu in the past, when have we ever seen someone succeed in the past few millennia?” He was a shriveled and ugly elder. There was a sinister energy emanating from his entire body. It was clear that he didn’t cultivate any orthodox method from a single glance.
“Sir Blood Spirit, please watch your words. Every single being who can bring down tribulation is a pioneer among our seniors. They have proven that there is still a path ahead. Even if they have failed, they have shown the way, so they are worthy of our respect,” the blue-clad middle-aged man said seriously.
“Tsk, you speak in such a high-sounding way, but don’t you still covet the treasures they left behind? You all can sigh and lament all you want, but I’m going to search for them first. The spoils belong to those destined for them!” The shriveled ugly elder harrumphed, and his figure flickered. He began to search the area. This lightning tribulation covered a range of dozens of li, so finding a magic artifact in the area wasn’t that easy.
The blue-clad middle-aged man’s expression changed a bit. He cupped his hands toward the others and began searching in a different direction.
With these two taking the lead, for fear of others finding the treasure before them, the others moved out as well.
…
Zu An’s group of three actually saw some familiar faces among the group. One was a tall and handsome young man, and another was a sweet looking young lady. When the two stood together, they drew the attention of everyone around them. The pair was none other than Heavenly Sorrow Sect’s representative disciple Zhi Yin and his junior sister Zhao Xiaodie.
There was another man next to them. He could be considered handsome by normal standards, but he had the spotlight stolen from him when he stood next to them. He was Mount Luofu’s representative disciple, Luo Dongjiang.
As luck would have it, their group headed in the direction of Zu An’s group. They chatted with each other as they looked for magic artifacts.
“I wonder where the other martial brothers and sisters are. We were mysteriously trapped in this secret dungeon and have no idea when we’ll be able to leave,” Zhao Xiaodie grumbled. It was clear that she still hadn’t heard news of her father King Qi. Even though she was worried, there was no grief visible on her face.
“Exactly. We were looking for the others, but we only managed to find each other. I wonder where the rest of them went,” Zhi Yin said, looking vexed.
Luo Dongjiang remarked with a mocking tone, “Brother Zhi Yin probably wishes to find G.o.ddess Chu the most, right?”
Zhi Yin’s face turned red. He said, “Brother Luo, please do not joke around. I was only wondering whether the entrance of the secret dungeon would only appear after we gathered everyone. I am not searching for anyone in particular.”
He reflexively gave Zhao Xiaodie a look. He knew she liked him and was worried that she would get upset because of this. However, to his surprise, her expression was completely calm.
“But senior sister Peng was trapped in that great tomb. Doesn’t that mean we’ll never be able to leave?” Zhao Xiaodie asked worriedly.
Zhi Yin was stunned, but he quickly replied, “That was just my suspicion. It might not be true.”
“That great tomb was so scary. Not even Miss Peng with her cultivation was able to escape,” Luo Dongjiang said, still feeling lingering fear.
Their party once again sighed, remembering how dangerous that great tomb had been.
Zu An’s group exchanged a look. Emptiness Isle’s Peng Wuyan actually hadn’t managed to get out? That woman really was unlucky. Previously, she had been replaced by Qiu Honglei in the compet.i.tion; later, she had finally managed to enter this secret dungeon, and yet ended up losing her life for it.
The group members were chatting with each other when they heard someone muttering, “Hm? That’s strange. There was clearly a streak of golden light that flew in this direction. Why can’t I find it?”
The shriveled, ugly Elder Blood Spirit flew over. He gave their party a displeased look and asked, “Did you get to it before me?”