Chapter 164: Choice

"What are you staring blankly for? Quickly use the light in your hand!" The mysterious woman's scolding voice echoed in his ears, clearly displeased with his current stupor.

Zu An snapped out of his trance and immediately shined the flashlight on the terracotta warriors.

The terracotta warriors who were about to charge were struck by the strong light from his hand, and their vibrant colors visibly faded. The previously menacing group of terracotta warriors immediately turned and ran.

A few even stumbled and fell because they ran too fast.

The stark contrast in their behavior was quite amusing.

The terracotta warriors who had just jumped out scrambled back into their pits, while those behind them, preparing to emerge, quickly pulled their legs back.

Moments ago, they had all uniformly turned their heads to look at him; now, they uniformly turned their heads away again, each one acting as if they had seen nothing and heard nothing.

The blue flames flickering in their eyes quickly faded, and one by one, they reverted to their lifeless pottery warrior forms.

"It seems that bullying the weak and fearing the strong is the nature of all creatures," Zu An thought as he shined the flashlight around. The pottery figures showed no reaction.

However, the rage points received in the system backend never stopped.

Rage points from Terracotta Warriors +6, +6, +6, +6...

Zu An thought to himself, 'If I weren't in a hurry to save Chu Chuyan, I'd certainly stay here and drain you of all your rage points.'

Seeing that the pottery figures had stopped moving, he quickly picked up Chu Chuyan and ran all the way to the edge of the pond.

Only upon getting closer could he see clearly: the surface of the water was covered with many lotus leaves, almost completely obscuring the water. The faint emerald glow he had seen from a distance emanated from them.

These lotus leaves were different from ordinary ones. They were entirely emerald green, with a shimmering light flowing across their surfaces. More than lotus leaves, they resembled pieces of jade standing in the water.

The strangest thing was that while there were many lotus leaves, there was only one flower. In the very center of the pond, innumerable lotus leaves surrounded a small and exquisite lotus flower.

In this lightless underground palace, such a pure and beautiful lotus bloomed. The lotus was entirely snow-white, each petal more tender and verdant than a young girl's finger. In the center of the white petals was a streak of bright yellow stamens, emitting a mysterious light like a star in the sky.

Zu An's heart brightened. This must be the spiritual medicine the mysterious woman mentioned that could save Chu Chuyan. Just as he was about to go pick it, he suddenly froze, because he found that the lotus flower before his eyes had vanished into thin air, leaving only the pond full of emerald green lotus leaves.

Could there be someone else? Someone whose cultivation was so high he couldn't see their form, who had just gotten there first?

He quickly turned around and looked everywhere, but all he saw, aside from the orderly terracotta warriors, was nothing else.

A chill ran through him. Could he only watch as Chu Chuyan perished?

"What are you doing? Isn't that lotus flower right where it was?" As if sensing his despair, the mysterious woman's voice sounded again.

Zu An was startled and quickly looked back. He was astonished to find that the lotus flower was indeed in its original spot.

"What's going on?" Zu An couldn't help but rub his eyes, and found that the lotus flower had indeed vanished into thin air again. This time, he didn't look away, but stared intently at the spot.

Sure enough, after a few seconds, the lotus flower reappeared!

Clearly, this lotus flower existed in a mysterious way between heaven and earth, appearing and disappearing, as if present yet absent.

Suddenly, he recalled something Ji Dengtu had once told him. His expression changed, and he asked, somewhat bitterly, "Is this lotus flower called the 'Traceless Mirage Lotus'?"

The mysterious female voice sounded again: "That's right, it is indeed called the 'Traceless Mirage Lotus.'"

Zu An's breathing quickened. He never imagined that the very thing he had longed for was right before his eyes. However, he still couldn't quite believe it: "I heard that the Traceless Mirage Lotus blooms only once every thousand years, and its flowering period lasts only a few hours. How long has this flower been open?"

His voice trembled, as if he feared the lotus would suddenly wither the next second.

"While the Traceless Mirage Lotus does indeed take a long time to bloom, it's not necessarily a thousand years. Furthermore, this particular flower is a bit special, so you don't need to worry about it wilting," the woman's voice replied.

"It won't wilt? How is that possible?" Zu An was stunned, as this went completely against common sense.

"The environment in which this flower formed is unique, and coupled with some other reasons, it's not like typical 'Traceless Mirage Lotuses,' " the woman's voice paused. "Do you want to discuss these things slowly with me, or do you want to save your companion first? I can feel her life force fading; in sixty breaths at most, she will be completely gone."

"Are there any other Traceless Mirage Lotuses here?" Zu An asked hurriedly.

"Others? The Traceless Mirage Lotus is extremely rare in this world. Encountering even this one means your ancestors are smiling upon you. Do you expect to find several?" The woman scoffed. "However, rest assured, this one is enough to save her. And if her elemental meridians recover in the future, it could even directly help her advance an entire major cultivation realm."

"It can't even restore her elemental meridians?" Zu An was startled. He never expected such a powerful spiritual medicine could only save her life, leaving her crippled afterward. For a proud woman like Chu Chuyan, that would probably be worse than death.

"Hmph, this woman must have used a forbidden art far beyond her capacity, which led to this state. Since it's a heaven-defying forbidden art, how could there be no price to pay?" the woman said indifferently.

Zu An's expression changed several times. If it were any other rare and precious treasure, no matter how miraculous, he wouldn't have any greedy thoughts. He would definitely use it to save Chu Chuyan.

But this was the Traceless Mirage Lotus, the very Traceless Mirage Lotus he had desperately searched for!

As a man, having *that* sealed—the pain of not being a complete man—was unbearable for anyone.

He knew that encountering the Traceless Mirage Lotus this time was an incredible stroke of luck. If he missed this opportunity, finding another one would likely be impossible.

Then he could only hope to cultivate to the Grandmaster realm one day and break the seal with his own power.

He was already a cultivator now and knew how difficult it was to reach the Grandmaster realm. Would it take fifty years, or a hundred?

By then, he'd be an old man just regaining his abilities. What good would that do?

Furthermore, this wasn't something he could necessarily achieve just by putting in the time. It was possible he might never reach the Grandmaster realm in his entire life, and never recover his masculine abilities.

What's more, even if he used this medicine to save Chu Chuyan, it wouldn't allow her to fully recover. She would still be a cripple.

And even if she was very grateful to him then, how long would that gratitude last?

If she were to truly meet a man whose conditions were more suitable in all aspects, and she fell for him, how would he cope?

At that point, he wouldn't even be able to compete, because he couldn't fulfill a husband's duties.

In his previous life, he had seen too many bizarre cases online. He was soberly aware that such a possibility existed.

He might act noble now, but if he saw her with another man in the future, would he truly not regret it?

Looking at Chu Chuyan in his arms, her face exceptionally pale, her eyes tightly closed, Zu An gritted his teeth, gently placed her aside, and with a light push of his toes, leaped across the pond to pluck the Traceless Mirage Lotus from its center.

---

Meanwhile, after Zu An left, Shi Kun and Qiao Xueying found themselves surrounded by the longsword zombie warriors.

The longsword zombie warriors were extremely vexed by Zu An, but the terrifying light in his hand had instinctually prevented them from seeking revenge. They could only vent all their frustration and rage on the remaining two. In their eyes, these humans had entered together, so they were clearly accomplices.

This put Shi Kun and Qiao Xueying in a difficult situation. They felt that the opponents, whether longsword warriors, spearmen, or even the weakest axe zombies, were all significantly stronger than before.

Both were already at their limits, and in this situation, they were constantly in peril.

Shi Kun was in the middle of cursing Zu An to death when he heard Qiao Xueying say, "Young Master, this is not a place to stay long. We should return to the surface first."

Shi Kun fell silent. Leaving like this was truly unwilling for him. He had lost so many subordinates and even used his precious life-saving trump card, yet he still couldn't get Chu Chuyan.

But he also knew there was no point in staying here. They couldn't even handle these zombie warriors in front of them, let alone delve deeper into the palace to pursue.

And they didn't have the light that terrified the zombies.

Thinking of this, Shi Kun felt a pang of frustration. "Damn it, why did that Zu An guy have so many strange gadgets?"

Rage points from Shi Kun +345!

"Alright, let's go out first and guard the tomb entrance. They can't stay in there forever," Shi Kun grunted. He had made up his mind: when the time came, he would not only snatch Chu Chuyan, but also seize all the treasures on Zu An.

Only children make choices; I'll take them all!

The two fought and retreated, and just as they were about to return to the previous passageway, a terrifying pressure suddenly filled the entire room.

Shi Kun and Qiao Xueying's faces changed drastically. Without any hesitation, they turned and channeled all their elemental energy, ready to run out.

However, their elemental energy seemed to disobey them, and they were pinned to the spot, unable to move.

A black mist rose from thin air in the center of the room. Immediately after, a black-armored general slowly rode out from the black mist. Upon its appearance, the longsword warriors, spearmen, archers, and axe-wielding warriors all ceased their attacks and knelt on one knee in salute.

Qiao Xueying's heart pounded wildly. The aura of this figure before them was even more terrifying than the Gluttonous Leviathan her young master had previously summoned. Furthermore, seeing these zombie warriors kneel before it proved that it could fully command these lower-tier warriors. From any perspective, the two of them were no match for it.

The black-armored general glanced at the two of them and, to their surprise, spoke in human language: "Hmm, why did these two weaklings make you so fearful just now?"

Its voice was extremely hoarse and terrifying, like a demon from the deepest hell.

The zombie warriors frantically gestured and mimed, their mouths opening and closing incessantly, emitting strange sounds. However, their intelligence was clearly insufficient to allow them to speak.

The black-armored general listened intently, and muttered to itself, "There were two others, who emitted terrifying light from their hands..."

Its gaze swept around, noticing Shi Kun's Rank 4 subordinate who had just been pinned to the wall by a spear. With a wave of its hand, it drew the body into its grasp. "Though dead, this flesh and blood must not be wasted."

No sooner had it spoken than the corpse shriveled and withered at an alarming speed. In a few breaths, all that remained was a soccer-ball-sized sphere of what looked like a mixture of flesh and bone fragments.

"The taste of fresh blood is so enticing." The black-armored general tossed the 'flesh-ball' aside and let out a moan of extreme pleasure, as if it hadn't felt such satisfaction in a long time.

Shi Kun swallowed hard. This was too terrifying. This thing actually consumed flesh and blood. Was he, the young master, really going to perish in this godforsaken place?

If he had known this, he shouldn't have impulsively used the Gluttonous Leviathan earlier. Now he didn't even have the strength to fight.

Thinking of this, he inwardly cursed Zu An, the culprit, to death again.

Rage points from Shi Kun +777!

The black-armored general turned its head back, its gaze falling upon the two of them. "You two, whom shall I feast upon first?"

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