Chapter 843: Three Divine Mountains

Zu An naturally didn't realize her misunderstanding. After replying, he focused on absorbing the Primal Qi.

Most of the Primal Qi was used to withstand the "meteorites" constantly falling from above. However, this Qi was not without benefit; the continuous process refined his entire body. He clearly felt every inch of his skin becoming tougher, not with a rock-like hardness, but with a resilient elasticity.

After refining his skin, he began using the Primal Qi to temper his muscles, bones, blood vessels, internal organs, and more. He had a feeling that after this refining, his body would be several times stronger than before. Even if he stood there without activating any qi for defense, it would be difficult for ordinary cultivators to harm him.

Zu An recalled the joke from Yun Jianyue's side: Grandmasters' bodies were unlike those of ordinary people, being so powerful that common men couldn't even get close to them. But now, Zu An was confident that his body's current strength would be more than sufficient not just against Grandmasters, but even against Earth Immortals. However, he immediately remembered that the Emperor seemed to be the only Earth Immortal in the world, which instantly made him feel nauseated.

Another half a month passed in this manner. Zu An had refined his body three times, back and forth. He had never felt so strong; it was as if every cell was bursting with explosive power.

Bi Linglong couldn't resist leaning over and gently touching his skin with her fingertips. "Why do I feel like you've gotten fairer?" she asked.

"Really?" Zu An was a little surprised. Was he destined to be a pretty boy?

"Definitely," Bi Linglong said with a touch of envy. "And your skin is translucent like jade, even better than a girl's."

Zu An realized that the constant regeneration of his body due to the recent refining must have made his skin fairer than usual.

"It feels a bit unfair for you to just touch me unilaterally," Zu An teased. "How about I touch you back to even the score?"

Bi Linglong spat lightly, her face flushed as she took a step back. "You pervert!" With that, she turned away and ignored him.

Zu An looked dejected. Why was it perfectly acceptable for her to touch him, but he became a pervert if he touched her?

Mi Li's cough was heard. "Stop flirting with the Crown Princess. What level have you reached in your *Primal Chaos Genesis Sutra*?"

"Actually, I reached the third layer of grand completion many days ago," Zu An replied. "Unfortunately, I don't have the latter half of the *Primal Chaos Genesis Sutra*, so I couldn't continue practicing. It felt like such a waste to let all that Primal Qi go unused, which is why I refined my body three more times."

"Three times grand completion?" Mi Li's eyes widened. She couldn't help but reach out and poke his skin. "Your fortune is truly incredible. Among all the Qin Kings throughout history, even the most brilliant talents only managed one grand completion at most. Once you truly master it, there's no telling how formidable your body will become."

Zu An gave a wry smile. "What choice did I have? Without the latter half of the scripture, I could only keep refining my body."

Mi Li shook her head. "In a sense, this has led to a unique cultivation method, unprecedented in history. I'm very curious to see what state you'll reach once you truly master the *Primal Chaos Genesis Sutra*."

"Unfortunately, I don't know where the latter half of the *Primal Chaos Genesis Sutra* is," Zu An said. "I doubt I'll ever find the mysterious Xi Quanqiu in my lifetime." The last time in the secret realm, a wisp of the Qin King's remnant soul told him to quickly find Xi Quanqiu to search for the latter half of the scripture. Unfortunately, despite his inquiries through various channels, even using the Embroidered Uniform Guard's intelligence network, he found no information and had to give up.

Mi Li's expression was a little strange. "Don't worry, you'll find it soon."

Zu An didn't notice the strangeness in her tone. He looked up. "Empress Teacher, have you noticed that there seem to be fewer 'meteorites' falling from the sky these past couple of days? And the chaotic elements between heaven and earth also seem to have stabilized significantly."

Mi Li nodded. "Hmm, it's likely that the new secret realm is about to fully reveal itself."

Zu An wasn't concerned about a new secret realm; instead, he was somewhat worried. "What if the elements of heaven and earth stabilize? Won't the Emperor be able to come directly and kill us?"

Mi Li replied, "Don't worry. The new laws of heaven and earth are different from before. He won't be able to come over that quickly."

At that moment, Zhao Ruizhi on another floating island glanced over. He hesitated, not acting impulsively. Clearly, with his cultivation, he also sensed that the current laws of heaven and earth were not as calm as they appeared. His previous repeated failed attempts had made him lose face, making him seem like he was only capable of impotent rage. Therefore, his next move would require absolute certainty. Thinking about this made him want to laugh. It had been years since he'd felt this way. With his cultivation and status, what undertaking had ever lacked his complete assurance? Even the flourishing King Qi was, to him, completely within his control. Yet, this Zu An had managed to slip through his grasp several times. *But no matter how gleefully you jump now, you'll suffer just as terribly later,* he thought.

Just then, a rumbling sound suddenly came from above. The entire landmass slowly began to descend. The people from King Qi's mansion all turned pale, their eyes filled with despair. Even Zhao Ruizhi, who always appeared to have everything under control, changed his expression. Although his cultivation was high, he couldn't possibly support this entire landmass, could he? Although a significant portion of this landmass had crumbled and fallen over the past half-month, it was still an entire continent. If it directly descended, he would be crushed into a pulp, let alone an Earth Immortal—even a True Immortal would suffer the same fate.

As the massive, dark landmass drew closer, Bi Linglong instinctively moved closer to Zu An, as if only his presence could bring a touch of warmth to her cold, despairing heart. Though Zu An was also very nervous, he still held her hand to comfort her. Bi Linglong's body trembled. Normally, she would have discreetly pulled her hand away, but at this moment, she clasped her fingers tightly with his, unwilling to let go.

"Empress Sister, is there anything we can do? Are we truly doomed to die here?" Zu An frantically called out to Mi Li in his mind.

"Why are you panicking? Just keep watching," Mi Li scoffed, looking up at the landmass above. A trace of sorrow flickered across her beautiful face.

Zu An felt a little confused. He had a persistent feeling that her reactions had been strange ever since they entered this secret realm.

"It stopped! It stopped!" Cheers erupted from the distance among the people of King Qi's mansion. The landmass had halted its descent hundreds of feet above their heads. Even Zhao Ruizhi let out a long sigh of relief.

Just then, cracking sounds came from above. Everyone quickly looked up and saw several massive, visible cracks appearing across the entire landmass. The cracks grew larger and larger, until the entire landmass split into three distinct pieces. Other scattered rocks, soil, trees, and miscellaneous debris rained down, and Zu An and the others began a new round of defending their floating island.

However, this time the falling debris didn't last long. Soon, beams of light shone down from above, dispelling the gloom of the past few days. A gentle breeze swept through, slowly dispersing the massive dust clouds caused by the previous collapse. Everyone looked up to see three exceptionally large floating islands appear before their eyes. Each of these floating islands was many times larger than the one Zhao Ruizhi and his group were on. Rather than mere islands, they were more like continents floating in the air.

"I think I see blue sky!""Sunshine, I see sunshine!"...After nearly half a month of desperate struggle, the people from King Qi's mansion had narrowly escaped death and were now crying tears of joy.

"What is that? Is that a celestial palace?" Just then, someone suddenly pointed diagonally upwards and exclaimed. It turned out that their floating island had previously been directly beneath the large landmass. Now that the landmass had split into three, their location was precisely in the middle of these three large floating islands, allowing them to see the scenery on them.

On these three enormous floating islands, there were ornate railings and painted beams, with towering palaces that appeared to be constructed from gold, silver, and precious jade. Everyone had originally assumed that the area above, previously deep within the landmass, would be filled with magma and toxic gases. Instead, they found lush green mountains and clear waters, densely covered with flowers, and trees laden with tempting, colorful fruits. Various birds and beasts seemed to inhabit the islands, all completely white. Combined with the mist shrouding the mountains, the three floating islands appeared truly ethereal.

Zhao Ruizhi's expression became unprecedentedly agitated. He muttered to himself, "Could these be the three divine mountains mentioned in ancient texts? 'Seafarers speak of Penglai, yet its misty waves are hard to find...' I finally understand the meaning of these words! Hahaha, immortality is truly possible!" His eyes gleamed with excitement at the thought.

On the other side, Zu An couldn't help but ask Mi Li, "Did you know this would happen all along?"

"I didn't know; I only speculated." Mi Li withdrew her gaze and leaned casually against a nearby tree, appearing particularly forlorn.