Chapter 173: The Seal of the Earth

At that moment, a colossal sword suddenly struck towards her. From a distance, the whistling sound of wind and thunder could already be heard. Given its momentum, not to mention her frail body, even a bronze figure would likely lose limbs if struck.

Qiao Xueying instinctively tried to dodge, but with no foothold in mid-air, she couldn't maneuver or evade. Watching the sword grow larger and larger in her vision, she sighed softly and resignedly closed her eyes.

She had no desire to live anyway, so dying like this wouldn't be so bad. Her only concern was whether Zu An could break this seal and rescue the young mistress.

For some reason, the thought of Zu An made her angry. She was dying because of him, and she wondered whether he would feel even a trace of guilt if he ever thought of her again.

But remembering his lazy demeanor, Qiao Xueying dismissed the thought. How could that guy possibly feel guilty about her?

"You must be cursing me again." Just then, a teasing voice reached her ears, and she felt herself enveloped in a warm embrace.

She quickly opened her eyes and found Zu An looking at her with a faint smile. She was stunned.

But she immediately recognized the danger before them and quickly pointed behind him, stammering, "The sword... the sword..."

She was too flustered and anxious to form a complete sentence.

A dark gleam flashed in Zu An's hand. The Fateful Dagger had already severed her hair, and then he shifted several feet horizontally through the air, narrowly evading the sword.

The colossal sword, grazing her nose, stirred up a gust of wind. Qiao Xueying's beautiful hair scattered across her face. She gazed, somewhat dazed, at the man holding her, her heart pounding wildly.

"What is this feeling?" she wondered. "Why am I blushing? Why is my heart beating so fast? And for *him*...?" Qiao Xueying's mind was in a turmoil.

"I've saved your life again," Zu An said with a smile. "Now we're even, right?"

Qiao Xueying's face flushed, her mouth slightly agape, but no words came out.

"Is your heart racing right now? Do you feel an unprecedented sensation?" Zu An continued.

"So what if it is?" Qiao Xueying regretted her words the moment they left her lips. How could she admit that? This guy would probably get smug.

To her surprise, Zu An said, "Don't mistake this for love. This is a normal physiological phenomenon, academically known as the 'suspension bridge effect.' When someone crosses a suspension bridge feeling nervous, their heart rate will involuntarily quicken. If they happen to meet another person at that moment, they might misinterpret the quickened heartbeat, which is caused by the anxiety of the situation, as a romantic attraction to the other person, leading to the development of feelings of love."

Qiao Xueying was speechless.

She finally snapped back to reality and, mortified, pushed him away. "Me, fall in love with you? I'd fall in love with pigs, dogs, even zombies, before I'd ever fall in love with someone like you!"

Rage points from Qiao Xueying +111!

Zu An looked dumbfounded. "You say that, but why is the rage value so low?" he muttered. "Don't worry, I wouldn't like a girl with such a cruel heart and venomous tongue like you anyway."

Without another moment's delay, he charged towards the bronze figures, dagger in hand.

These enormous bronze figures had "ropes" tied between their feet. Of course, Zu An wasn't planning to trip them using Qiao Xueying; with their immense strength, relying on her might rip off her head before they even stumbled.

Ultimately, the goal was simply to use Qiao Xueying's hair to entangle all the bronze figures, making their own strength trip each other up.

Because their movements were uncoordinated, pulling in all directions, the first one quickly toppled. This naturally led to the others falling one by one. If these were human opponents, they would simply sever the hair wrapped around their feet with a single sword stroke. Given their immense strength and those gleaming colossal swords, Qiao Xueying's hair, no matter how resilient, wouldn't hold.

But these bronze figures clearly lacked intelligence; they kept kicking their feet frantically but couldn't shake off the hair wrapped around their legs.

Zu An seized this opportunity, rushed directly to the nearest bronze figure, and plunged his dagger into its brow.

At such close range, he felt the immense size of the bronze figures even more keenly. Looking at their massive heads and their eyes so close, he inwardly trembled. If that girl Xue'er had guessed wrong, he wouldn't even know what killed him.

Pffft!

His dagger had already pierced the bronze figure's forehead!

The bronze figure was enormous, and the dagger itself was short, feeling like a toothpick jabbed into a person.

Zu An's unease intensified. He immediately withdrew the dagger and retreated swiftly, fearing the bronze figure's impending counterattack.

To his surprise, as his dagger pierced it, the sharp gleam in the bronze figure's eyes gradually faded and finally vanished, leaving it a lifeless bronze statue once more.

Zu An rejoiced; it worked! He quickly activated Sunflower Phantasm, appearing before other bronze figures without a moment's pause: a stab, a pull, then on to the next...

His speed was incredible. In a matter of breaths, he had incapacitated eleven bronze figures. But as he moved to strike the twelfth, that bronze figure let out a tiger-like roar, somehow broke free from the hair wrapped around its legs, and, scrambling to its feet, swung a palm at him.

Zu An quickly shifted his weight, instantly altered his trajectory, and dodged back several yards. He was already in a weakened state; not only would a direct hit be fatal, but even being grazed by the palm's wind could instantly kill him, so he dared not risk it.

In that short time, the bronze figure had already staggered back to its feet. Gazing at its eleven fallen companions, despite its limited intelligence, it felt a surge of rage and involuntarily let out a roar to the sky.

Rage points from First Emperor Bronze Figure One +9+9+9...

Looking at the "one" character formed by the patterns on its head, he mused, it truly is the leader. It's clearly not as easy to deal with as its counterparts.

Zu An retreated to Qiao Xueying's side. Seeing her beautiful long hair reduced to an ear-length bob, he couldn't help but chuckle. "You know, if my hand had slipped just now and I'd accidentally shaved your head bald, that would've been hilarious."

"Since you just saved me, I won't argue with you," Qiao Xueying snorted. She lightly flicked her hair, and her medium-short hair grew another section, even automatically forming into exquisite little braids.

Zu An stared in amazement and couldn't help but touch her braids. "Oh, it has this ability? You won't even need to comb your hair every day!"

Qiao Xueying glared at him exasperatedly and pulled her hair from his grasp. "Don't you know that men and women should maintain proper distance?"

Zu An chuckled. "We just pulled and hugged, and we've had far more intimate contact before. What 'distance' are you talking about now?"

Qiao Xueying's eyebrows shot up. "How dare you bring that up!"

Zu An laughed heartily. "Alright, alright, let's get serious. Grow me another section of hair; I'll go tie up that last one." The previous hair had been torn to shreds by the enormous bronze figures and couldn't be used again.

Qiao Xueying looked troubled. "No, I've overexerted myself today; I can't regrow it in such a short time."

Earlier, when she encountered the vampire bats, she had cut off a large portion of her hair because she disliked the bat blood on it, and just now she cut off another large section. Combined with continuous fighting, the energy drain was so significant that she couldn't recover it quickly.

"What now?" Gazing at the enormous bronze figure charging towards them, Zu An fell into deep thought.

Qiao Xueying's expression shifted slightly. "What are you standing there for? Move! We'll find another way."

Zu An shook his head. "Chu Chuyan probably can't wait that long. Watch me finish it off with one move."

Qiao Xueying rolled her eyes. "Now is not the time for empty boasts! If you can take it down in one hit, I'll take your... name..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Zu An instantly vanished from his spot. The next second, he reappeared on the bronze figure's forehead, his dagger already plunged into the pattern between its brows.

The charging bronze figure instantly froze. Its once gleaming eyes immediately dulled, and its entire body toppled forward due to inertia.

Zu An lightly pushed off with his toes, leapt back just in time, and retracted the dagger into his sleeve. Accompanied by the heavy thud of the bronze figure hitting the ground, a cloud of dust billowed behind him.

Qiao Xueying's face flushed. How did he suddenly look kind of handsome?

"What did you just say?" Zu An was already back by her side.

"N-nothing." Qiao Xueying secretly felt relieved that he'd acted so quickly and hadn't heard what she'd mumbled. Otherwise, how awkward would that be? "How did you do that just now?"

Although his previous use of Sunflower Phantasm was fast, it still left an afterimage. But that last move, it truly felt like teleportation.

"Want to know?" Zu An leaned closer to her.

Qiao Xueying leaned back somewhat uncomfortably. "Y-yes~"

"Call me 'Big Brother,' and I'll tell you," Zu An said with a grin. That last move was him activating the 'Great Wind' ability. It had been upgraded earlier, and now he could barely use it three times a day.

This skill is a divine art for escape, evasion, and assassination. It's just that his current cultivation level is too low; it's still useful against unintelligent foes like the bronze figures, but against high-level cultivators, the success rate of a surprise assassination using this is far too low.

Such individuals have vital energy to protect them and various elemental abilities they can activate at will. Their defensive and evasive capabilities are far superior to these dim-witted giants.

Zu An simply acknowledged this without pressing further. He was concerned about something else now. "The Human Seal should be considered broken now, right?"

No sooner had he spoken than the twelve bronze figures dissolved into golden specks of light and vanished. Then they both felt a sensation of weightlessness, followed by a blur, and the next second they were back inside the underground palace.

Only then did Qiao Xueying notice that their hands were involuntarily clasped together. She quickly pulled her hand away in alarm.

Zu An, however, didn't mind. Holding hands was a precaution to prevent being teleported to different locations. But who grabbed whose hand first just now?

"Oh, I didn't expect you to actually break the Human Seal." Mi Li's voice echoed in their ears once more. Her tone held a hint of excitement, as if she had finally glimpsed the dawn of freedom.

The moment she finished speaking, the Human Seal formation beneath their feet suddenly opened, and they both fell together to the next level.

Noticing another nearly identical sealing formation before them, Zu An knew this must be the Earth Seal.

"The Earth Seal should be harder than the Human Seal," Mi Li asked. "Do you want to rest before proceeding?"

Zu An shook his head. "No need. Chu Chuyan was still waiting for him, and he had to make every second count."

Qiao Xueying shared the same sentiment. Together, they stepped onto the Earth Seal. Neither spoke, but their hands instinctively found each other.

A familiar sensation of weightlessness swept over them. When they opened their eyes and saw the dim surroundings, they couldn't help but wonder, "Why are we still in the underground palace?"