Chapter 561: Not, Just in Time

Mi Li: "..."Mi Li's rage value +1024!"You scoundrel, are you looking for death?!" she roared, flying into a rage. She somehow produced a ruler-like object and repeatedly struck him on the head. "Call me 'big brother'! Call me 'big brother'! I'll make you call me 'big brother'!"

Zu An, his head covered in lumps, scrambled away, shielding his head. This woman was truly ruthless. And why could a soul entity inflict physical damage? It made no sense!

"A'Zu, what’s wrong?" Pei Mianman asked, rushing over to check on him. She had seen him muttering to himself, looking dazed, and then suddenly clutching his head in pain. "Could it be a side effect of the *Taotie Devouring Heaven Art*?"

"It's nothing, just a minor issue," Zu An chuckled awkwardly. Mi Li, having thoroughly beaten him, seemed to have vented much of her anger. Seeing Pei Mianman approach, she retreated back into the Tai’a Sword, becoming completely silent once more.

"That’s good, you scared me to death," Pei Mianman said, patting her chest, which jiggled with the motion.

After comforting her for a few moments, Zu An suddenly noticed two strange bird patterns within his body. His heart stirred. In the past, each time he broke through a major rank, a strange bird would be activated—be it the Great Wind, Hundred Chirps, or Blue Teal—and each had played a significant role. He wondered what new ability would awaken this time.

The fifth-grade magic array had formed the image of a phoenix. This phoenix was entirely white, like a spirit from ice and snow, and beside it, two small characters carved in seal script read: "Snow Phoenix!"

Truly beautiful!

Zu An was full of admiration. To be honest, the previous strange birds weren't very attractive, but this Snow Phoenix was extraordinarily beautiful. If he could bring it out as a pet, he wondered how many girls would have stars in their eyes.

Especially since Chu Chuyan practiced ice-element techniques, this ability was truly a perfect match for her. It was a pity he couldn't gift it to anyone.

He made a casual gesture, and a phoenix cry echoed. Immediately, a Snow Phoenix flew out, and as expected, wherever it passed, ice and snow covered the ground.

"This bird is so beautiful!" Pei Mianman exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "And it has an extreme cold effect; its power shouldn't be underestimated."

"It's an ability my cultivation technique awakened at a certain level," Zu An explained, not hiding anything from her, and briefly told her about it.

"You really have too many strange abilities; I'm starting to get jealous," Pei Mianman said, though her face was full of smiles. "The only pity is that you're not an ice-element ability awakened, otherwise, this move's power would be even greater."

Zu An's heart stirred. Before this, he had merely summoned these strange birds for use and had never considered that they could be combined with their corresponding elements.

No wonder he had always felt that Blue Teal's ability wasn't very impressive, only sensing an affinity for water elements. So these strange birds needed to be used with their corresponding elemental abilities to maximize their power!

He wanted to try it out, but none of these strange birds were fire-elemental. After all, he could only use fire-element abilities with the help of Daji now.

What about the other strange bird?

Zu An eagerly looked toward the sixth-layer magic array. The strange bird pattern formed by the sixth-layer array resembled a peacock, with magnificent plumage, exceptionally long pointed tail feathers, and numerous reddish-yellow and white eye-shaped markings on its wings.

Next to it, in small seal script, its name was noted: Azure Luan!

Zu An was curious: what would this bird be used for?

He then summoned it. As soon as the azure figure materialized, it cried out to the sky: "Life and death are trifles; if you disagree, fight!"

It looked as if it wanted to challenge the heavens.

Zu An: "???"

This bird can talk?

Zu An tried to communicate with it, but unfortunately, it seemed incapable of speech beyond repeating those few words.

However, as it cried out, its entire form gradually transformed into a massive sword, plummeting directly from the sky. Even from a distance, one could feel the incredibly sharp sword qi emanating from it.

With a crash, where the massive sword landed, a gigantic crater several basketball courts wide was formed.

All the original flora and fauna within the huge crater were reduced to dust, with no trace of life remaining. Deep, fine lines were everywhere, as if the area had been scraped by sword qi.

Zu An's body swayed slightly, and a sense of weakness washed over him. Clearly, he couldn't use this move multiple times.

Fortunately, its power was immense enough to serve as a trump card.

Pei Mianman was utterly astonished, her mouth agape as if an egg could fit inside. "If you were a metal-element cultivator, imagine how many times more powerful this move would be! Your strength is increasing far too quickly."

Having learned the *Taotie Devouring Heaven Art*, absorbed the Mosquito Daoist's cultivation, and now gained these two skills, Zu An felt an exhilarating sense of having "upgraded his weaponry."

He wrapped his arm around Pei Mianman, saying, "Manman, you're so clever! I hadn't even thought about using my own elemental abilities to activate them."

Pei Mianman's face flushed slightly. She thought to herself, *It's not that useful anyway, since he seems to have awakened fire-element abilities now...*

Just as she was about to speak, she was firmly kissed.

With a soft moan, her body instantly softened, and she embraced him, passionately responding to his kiss.

"Ahem, ahem..."

At that moment, a light cough came from nearby. Both of them instinctively turned their heads and saw several people standing not far away.

The man in front was middle-aged, with extremely pale skin, a dark red robe, and phoenix eyes that gleamed like lightning. An air of gloom and coldness surrounded him, though at this moment, his gaze held a hint of strangeness compared to usual.

It was the Grand Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard—Zhu Xie Chixin!

However, both of their attentions were not on him at all, but on a woman in white, as pure as snow, standing beside him.

The woman stood quietly. As a gentle breeze blew, her skirt fluttered and her dark hair danced. She was like a snow lotus blooming on a ten-thousand-year-old glacier, pure and ethereal.

On her beautiful, flawless face, there was now a faint, ambiguous smile as she looked at the two of them.

Although the other woman's gaze was incredibly cold, Pei Mianman felt as if she had been burned. She instantly pushed the man away from her embrace, stepped back a few paces, and said, somewhat guiltily, "Chu... Chuyan."

A hint of playful amusement appeared on Chu Chuyan's face. "Am I interrupting something?"

Zu An really wanted to imitate Little Li Flying Dagger and say, "No, you've come at just the right time," then open his arms for a hug from both of them.

He hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided against trying such a suicidal idea.

Pei Mianman felt extremely dejected at this moment. Chu Chuyan had already divorced him, so why was she still acting like someone with a guilty conscience?

Just as she was about to say something, she saw Chu Chuyan approaching, and the courage she had just mustered instantly vanished.

Seeing her face flushed red, Zu An realized that as a man, he shouldn't hide behind her at this moment. "I..."

Before he could explain, a fragrant breeze enveloped him, and Chu Chuyan had already thrown herself into his arms.

Zu An was stunned. Chu Chuyan, whether it was due to her cultivation of the Snowflake Divine Sword or her natural temperament, had always been reserved, showing little emotion. This was the first time he had seen her so agitated, and so openly affectionate in public.

"A'Zu, I'm just glad you two are safe," Chu Chuyan said, her body trembling slightly as she held him tightly, as if afraid he might disappear.

Pity welled up in Zu An's heart, and he embraced her just as tightly.

They had been newly married, but then something happened at home, forcing them to live apart. Only now had they finally reunited.

The two embraced, oblivious to their surroundings, much to the chagrin of the warriors watching nearby.

Those men, having been with Chu Chuyan these past days, had long been captivated by her unparalleled grace.

Although they knew she had been married, when someone was this beautiful, what did it matter if she had been married before?

Besides, everyone in the world now knew that the Chu clan had annulled the marriage contract with that live-in son-in-law, and she was single again.

Even knowing that such a fairy-like figure was beyond their reach, their male instincts still led many to flock around her, trying to win her favor.

Especially during Zu An's disappearance, many outwardly offered comfort but secretly rejoiced.

Who knew that guy would actually come back!

But it didn't matter if he returned. He was wanted by the Emperor, so he was clearly doomed.

And he was embracing another woman in plain sight, with Miss Chu herself witnessing it.

*Hmph, Miss Chu must have seen this scumbag's true nature. From now on, she won't have to worry about him anymore, and then we'll have a chance.*

But what was this? Where was the promised 'shura field' (scene of conflict)?

At the very least, she should go up and slap that scumbag a few times, right?

Or at least teach that homewrecker a good lesson!

*Oh, wait, this 'homewrecker' is actually really beautiful, not inferior to Miss Chu at all. And her breasts are really big...*

*Hmm, no wonder Zu An.*

Seeing the rage values continuously appearing in the background, Zu An couldn't help but chuckle. These guys were "giving gifts" as soon as he met them!

Zhu Xie Chixin coughed, clearly uncomfortable with the public display of affection. "Where is the Mosquito Daoist?"

Chu Chuyan quickly sent a voice transmission: "We learned you were being hunted by the Mosquito Daoist and pursued you all this way. We saw you both fall into the secret realm and disappear. We couldn't enter, so we waited nearby. Just now, we felt the elemental energy erupting from this direction, and that's why we hurried over."

Zu An gave her a thankful look before replying to Zhu Xie Chixin, "The Mosquito Daoist just ran off."

"Ran off? She didn't kill you?" Zhu Xie Chixin asked, his face full of suspicion, clearly disbelieving. "And what about these signs of a struggle around here?"

Zu An naturally didn't want to expose his trump cards. Pei Mianman, sensing his thoughts, said, "Two mysterious experts came and repelled the Mosquito Daoist, then left just before you arrived."

"Mysterious experts?" Zhu Xie Chixin examined the traces around them. One of the experts seemed to be a metal-element sword cultivator, and the other an ice-element one. "What are their origins? Why did they save you?"

Pei Mianman shook her head. "We don't know. We didn't even have time to ask their identities."

As she spoke, she subtly winked at Zu An, thoroughly muddying the waters and leaving Zhu Xie Chixin to slowly ponder over the mysterious experts.

As expected, Zhu Xie Chixin fell into deep thought, countless conjectures surfacing in his mind, but he dismissed them all one by one. His head felt like it would explode, yet he couldn't figure it out.

"First, take the wanted criminal back," Zhu Xie Chixin decided. He would slowly have the Embroidered Uniform Guard's intelligence network investigate these matters once they returned, to see which other factions were getting involved.

Zu An had no intention of escaping anyway, so he cooperated fully and followed them.

Chu Chuyan, meanwhile, walked over to Pei Mianman and said with a smile, "Manman, don't you have anything to tell me?"

Pei Mianman steeled her heart and decided to lay all her cards on the table. "Chuyan, A'Zu and I have become true husband and wife in the secret realm."

Since Chu Chuyan and Zu An were already divorced anyway, she might as well seize the opportunity to solidify her relationship, lest she feel inferior to Chu Chuyan in the future.

"True husband and wife?" Chu Chuyan looked her up and down with some doubt. "But you're clearly still a virgin?"

Pei Mianman: "???"

She finally realized now that even though she and Zu An had been husband and wife for two lifetimes, and he had experienced intimacy in all its forms with her...

...they had entered that trial in their soul forms. Therefore, in the real world, her body was still a virgin.

Pei Mianman's face instantly turned crimson. She was overcome with both shame and anger: *That scoundrel, he wants to take my virginity three times!*

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There's only one chapter today. There might be some fluctuations in the next few days as I'm still organizing the plot for the upcoming sections.