Chapter 753: Fantasy Manifestation

“Ah!” Yun Yuqing cried out in alarm, spitting blood as she fell to the side. She looked at him with an expression of disbelief. “A’Zu, what are you doing?”

Zu An did not reply. Instead, he stared at the figure in dragon robes on the rooftop.

The Emperor chuckled, saying, “Husband and wife are like birds of the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly their separate ways. It’s a pity it’s too late for you to kill her now to show your loyalty to Us. Die!”

As he spoke, the enormous palm was already less than ten feet from Zu An's head. The distant pressure was so immense that it forcibly pressed a palm print into the ground beneath Zu An’s feet. Yet, Zu An remained standing proudly in place.

Zu An lowered his head and muttered to himself in a low voice, “This imposing aura, this oppressive feeling, it truly resembles the Emperor. It seems his power did leave an indelible impression on my mind.”

“However…” He suddenly looked up, his gaze burning as he looked at the man in dragon robes on the rooftop. “After what happened that night, you will always be a loser in front of me.”

As he spoke, he raised his hand forward, saying, “Let there be light!”

At that moment, the sky seemed to respond to him. The somewhat gloomy clouds parted, and a beam of golden light streamed down from the clouds, dispelling the surrounding gloom.

It then enveloped the Emperor. The Emperor suddenly began to smoke, and visible flames erupted from his dragon robes. Soon, his entire body was engulfed in flames, and he let out a series of piercing screams.

The terrifying giant palm that had been in mid-air vanished into thin air, and the dreadful pressure disappeared without a trace.

Amidst the screams, the Emperor was ultimately reduced to a pile of ashes.

A mocking smile appeared on Zu An’s face. “In my own world of consciousness, I am naturally a god. Who could possibly be stronger than me?”

Yun Yuqing, standing nearby, stared wide-eyed in horror. “This is impossible…”

As soon as her words fell, the surrounding scenery twisted. There was no Emperor, no Zhu Xiechixin, and the Xiu Yi Envoys who had been lying all over the ground were nowhere to be seen.

Only the corpses of the previously fallen assassins remained. Wait, they were actually fighting Yun Yuqing.

And the face of the “Yun Yuqing” who had just been struck aside and was spitting blood also distorted. A mysterious cloak, golden hair—who else could it be but Jia Sili!

Zu An sighed. Jia Sili really hadn't died. His sword thrust to her throat earlier had already been an illusion.

Wait a moment, when exactly had he fallen into her illusion? He had been on guard from the very beginning, and even Baiming hadn't given any warning.

His gaze fell upon the red thread bell on her ankle. Ah, he realized that the bell had been ringing continuously since their fight began. That must have been how he unknowingly fell prey to it.

Jia Sili stared intently at Zu An. “How exactly did you realize that world was fake? I thought I hadn’t revealed a single flaw.”

Zu An sighed. “From the very beginning, I found it strange. I always felt that the timing of Zhu Xiechixin and his people appearing was too coincidental. They emerged just as we finished fighting, as if they had been ambushing here the whole time. You have to understand, this is the outskirts. Even if the commotion of our battle alerted people in the capital, the City Defense Army would be the first to arrive, not the Xiu Yi Envoys.”

It’s important to remember that he had been investigating this case himself, and he possessed the most intelligence. Even he hadn’t anticipated an ambush by these people. How could Zhu Xiechixin and his group have reacted faster?

“And that’s how you determined it was fake?” Jia Sili looked incredulous.

Zu An said indifferently, “Also, the Emperor. His appearance was too abrupt.”

Theoretically, the Emperor needed his help to frame Prince Qi, so he wouldn't immediately try to kill him upon meeting. Unless he knew about Zu An's affair with the Empress, but how could that be possible? He wasn’t an omniscient and omnipotent god.

Of course, there was an even more important reason that made him certain: he hadn't received any rage points from beginning to end.

Although the opponent could simulate incredibly realistic illusions, they couldn't simulate the soul fluctuations of each individual.

“Now that your questions are answered, you can rest in peace.” Zu An didn't want to be a villain who died because he talked too much. He had been waiting for an opportunity, and he immediately seized the moment the opponent was momentarily distracted after hearing his answer and charged forward.

At that moment, a dark figure attacked from the side. Zu An saw that it was one of the assassins who had died earlier, evidently controlled into a corpse puppet by that hermaphrodite.

He casually waved a palm, intending to blast the corpse puppet away, not wanting it to delay his main objective.

However, the moment his palm made contact, he immediately felt something was wrong. He instantly teleported several tens of feet to the side.

With a bang, the corpse puppet suddenly exploded. Countless dark green corpse fluid splattered everywhere, and a foul, putrid stench spread outwards.

Zu An felt a wave of nausea and revulsion. Damn it, it was even fouler than fermented herring from his previous life.

The green grass on the ground that was touched by the corpse fluid instantly withered and turned black. Even the soil sizzled and emitted wisps of white smoke, clearly indicating that every drop was highly toxic.

“Can’t you do something less disgusting every time?” At that moment, Jia Sili’s disgusted voice also came from the side. She had immediately seized the opportunity to flash away and dodge when the opponent created a slight opening, and thus hadn't been splattered by the widespread corpse fluid. However, she was tightly pinching her nose, clearly unable to stand the pungent smell herself.

“Hmph, I just saved your life,” Shu Shuhao’s eerie voice came. He leaped to Jia Sili’s side like a zombie, forming a pincer-like defensive position with her.

The corpse puppets under his control were also spread around. Yun Yuqing also seized the chance to catch her breath and hurried to Zu An’s side. Her face was covered in fine sweat, and her cheeks were flushed, clearly indicating that the recent battle had not been easy for her.

Although she possessed considerable cultivation, she had expended a great deal of energy fighting the Golden and Silver Rings masters earlier. Now, Shu Shuhao’s cultivation was no less than hers, and his methods involved disgusting corpse puppets. As a woman, she naturally felt some fear towards such things, which further weakened her combat effectiveness by several tenths.

Zu An subtly shielded her at his side, then held his sword horizontally in front of him, his muscles tensed, like a lion poised to strike.

At this moment, Jia Sili giggled sweetly. “Oh, brother, let’s not fight anymore. How about we shake hands and call it a truce?”

“Just now it was ‘little brother,’ and now it’s ‘elder brother’?” Zu An sneered, “Why should I make peace with you?”

“Big sister just experienced little brother’s prowess, so naturally, I wouldn’t dare call you small anymore,” Jia Sili’s voice was utterly seductive, causing Yun Yuqing nearby to frown deeply. “As for why we should make peace, it’s because we both have a common enemy. Why should we fight to the death?”

“Common enemy?” Zu An snorted, “Who has a common enemy with you?”

Jia Sili chuckled. “Brother, don’t deceive yourself. Your hostility towards the Emperor in the illusion just now was completely unconcealable. And it seems you did something very wrong to him. Although big sister doesn’t know what that incident was, it will definitely make the Emperor kill you.”

Zu An’s expression shifted slightly. This woman truly was trouble.

Sensing his killing intent, Jia Sili remained unfazed. She pointed at the corpses of the Golden and Silver Rings people nearby. “Brother, don’t be hasty. Please hear what your little sister has to say. You must have overheard the conversation I had with those people just now. When the Great Zhou Emperor invaded our Nanjia land back then, he caused countless of our people to die tragically. We have never forgotten this blood feud. However, the current Emperor is too powerful for any of us to deal with alone. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We don’t want to waste any potential force that could resist the Emperor.”

Zu An said blandly, “That’s your wishful thinking. I don’t need to form alliances with anyone. On the contrary, I’d feel more at ease after killing you.”

The starkly contrasting Shu Shuhao snorted coldly. “Brat, you’ve got quite the big mouth.”

Jia Sili also laughed, shaking like a blooming branch in the wind. “Brother, you might be misunderstanding something. I genuinely want to cooperate with you, not because I’m at my wits’ end and seeking to beg for mercy.”

She snapped her fingers. Behind her, shining rings of light suddenly appeared in the air, followed by semi-transparent weapons extending from within them, aiming at both of them.

“As a Spirit Master, besides the mind illusions I just used on you, I have another ability: fantasy materialization. I can materialize anything I imagine in my mind. If we truly fight, it’s still unknown who will emerge victorious.”

***

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