Chapter 875: No one escapes

The suddenness and swiftness of these events left He Li and his group, despite being on the opposing side, clapping in admiration. Zu An was truly formidable; his every move was unpredictable.

He even found himself hoping the emperor would be killed by this attack, which would finally free them all.

However, the black streak suddenly stopped, firmly held between two fingers.

Zhao Ruizhi sneered, "I noticed your strange dagger long ago. All those maneuvers you just made were meant to confuse me and conceal this attack, weren't they?"

The dark dagger gave him a sense of dread. He immediately realized it was extremely dangerous, potentially lethal.

Although he couldn't understand why a dagger would pose such a threat to him, he wasn't foolish enough to risk his life.

As expected, Zu An's elaborate tricks were all aimed at finding an opportunity to injure him with that dagger.

He firmly gripped the dagger, and at that moment, he felt as if he had crushed his opponent's intelligence, a wave of superiority washing over him.

To his surprise, he saw no shock, frustration, regret, or despair on Zu An's face, but rather a peculiar smile.

A sudden alarm surged in his heart. He quickly punched Zu An away and simultaneously dodged to the side, but unfortunately, he was a step too late.

A gash appeared on his chest, not from the dark dagger, but from another strangely shaped flying dagger.

Seeing the blood-stained flying dagger still in Zu An's other hand nearby, Zhao Ruizhi frowned. He couldn't understand why such a small flying dagger could penetrate his defenses.

Zu An lay on the ground for a while before slowly getting up, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Yet, his face was full of smiles: "Didn't expect that, did you? I wanted to stab you with the poisoned dagger; you knew I wanted to do that, and I knew you knew I wanted to do that, so all those previous moves were just to cover this one attack... You thought I was on the fifth floor, but I was actually in the stratosphere."

Just a second ago, Zhao Ruizhi had felt he was rubbing his opponent's intelligence into the ground, but now, realizing he had been played, he was instantly filled with rage. Still, he forced himself to try and save face: "Hmph, you put in all that effort just to scratch me with that little knife? It's like children playing house!"

Zu An sighed, "Didn't you notice anything unusual?"

"What could be unusual about m—" Zhao Ruizhi's words cut off midway as his expression suddenly changed. He felt an intense pain, not the excruciating, labor-like pain he'd felt in his stomach earlier, but a piercing agony originating from his very soul.

His soul began to violently convulse, making his head ache as if it would explode.

Because the suppression was gone, the "Ice Heart Snow Soul" poison in his hand and the "Stare-and-Get-Pregnant" poison in his stomach simultaneously flared up. Even with Zhao Ruizhi's astonishing willpower, he couldn't help but cry out in agony, collapsing to the ground and convulsing in pain.

Bi Linglong, who had just arrived beside Zu An, helped him sit up. "Are you alright, Ah Zu?" she asked.

"I'll live," Zu An said, shakily wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. He kept his eyes fixed on Zhao Ruizhi while circulating the Primordial Chaos Scripture to heal his body. It was now a race against time; whoever recovered first would secure victory.

The flying dagger he had just used was the Immortal Slaying Flying Dagger, a treasure Shi Kun had stolen from his home and attempted to use against him in the Eastern Palace.

This dagger appeared unremarkable on the surface, but it was incredibly vicious, capable of injuring one's very soul.

Unfortunately, this set of Immortal Slaying Flying Daggers was clearly incomplete and couldn't unleash its full power; otherwise, that single strike might have directly annihilated the emperor's soul.

It had been a desperate move just now. Since Zhao Ruizhi had seen the "poisoned dagger" before, and Zu An clearly intended to use it for an assassination, the emperor would undoubtedly be prepared. Thus, Zu An had no choice but to use the "poisoned dagger" as a feint to cover the Immortal Slaying Flying Dagger's attack. Fortunately, everything went smoothly.

"What happened to him?" Bi Linglong had never seen the exalted emperor in such a pathetic state, and she was utterly horrified.

Zhao Ruizhi was on the ground, clutching his head in agony, his body alternating between emitting golden light and the icy aura of the Ice Heart Snow Soul.

"Don't ask so many questions," Zu An urged. "Go kill him now. He should be incapacitated for a while."

Bi Linglong's face went pale. The emperor's power was deeply ingrained in the very bones of everyone in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Her first reaction to Zu An's demand was fear and dread.

However, seeing Zu An's current severe injuries and his valiant fight, her rationality quickly took over. Gritting her teeth, she picked up a fallen weapon nearby and walked directly towards Zhao Ruizhi.

Zhao Ruizhi, however, let out a cold snort: "He Li, kill them."

"Yes!" He Li instinctively rushed forward, confronting Bi Linglong. He was at the peak of the ninth rank, while Bi Linglong was only at the sixth, and already gravely weakened from using a forbidden technique. The disparity was immense; almost instantly, Bi Linglong spat blood and was sent flying backward.

Had Bi Linglong not been so beautiful, He Li, as a man, might not have instinctively held back his strength, and she would likely be dead already.

After severely wounding Bi Linglong, He Li instinctively moved to kill Zu An.

At that moment, Zu An roared, "He Li, has your brain been cultivated into your rear end?"

He Li was furious. "Normally, I can't do anything about your arrogance, but to speak to me like that now? You're practically courting death!"

Rage from He Li +444 +444 +444...

"I am indeed severely wounded and can't move right now," Zu An said quickly, "but isn't the emperor also incapacitated? If you don't seize this chance to kill him, won't you be doomed once he recovers?"

He Li instinctively started to retort, but then he paused, thinking, *What he said makes so much sense, I can't even argue with it?*

He knew he was Prince Qi's man and had only been taken in by the emperor because he could still serve as cannon fodder in this strange secret realm. But having learned so many of the emperor's secrets, including the scandalous fact that he had been cuckolded, He Li realized that even if he were truly the emperor's confidant, he would likely be silenced afterward.

At this thought, he unconsciously turned around, staring fixedly at Zhao Ruizhi.

Zhao Ruizhi's face darkened. "He Li, Zu An is always spewing nonsense. You're not going to be fooled by him, are you?"

He Li chuckled. "Zu An is nothing, and he certainly can't fool me. It's just that what he said isn't entirely without reason. Your Majesty, will you truly let me off after this?"

"You are Prince Qi's confidant," Zhao Ruizhi quickly retorted, his voice steady, possessing an inexplicable gravitas and persuasiveness. "By defecting to me, you can serve as an undercover agent against Prince Qi, which would be of immense benefit to me. Why would I kill you?"

He Li considered this and found it logical, beginning to hesitate.

At this moment, Bi Linglong shakily got up and said weakly, "You know about him possessing the Crown Prince and all his disgraceful acts in this secret realm. How could he possibly let you go just like that?"

He Li suddenly realized his folly. How could he have almost believed the emperor's words? Yet, unwilling to concede, he glared at Bi Linglong. "Do you think I don't understand such simple truths? Why do you need to tell me?"

Then, he gripped his blade and slowly advanced towards Zhao Ruizhi. Although the emperor appeared gravely injured, the lingering aura of a formidable tiger still intimidated him, making him feel a slight tremor of apprehension.

Zhao Ruizhi frowned slightly and immediately said, "If you don't believe me, I can swear a Heavenly Dao oath that I will never harm you."

Hearing this, He Li hesitated. If his life were guaranteed, then clinging to the emperor, a powerful patron, would clearly be the best choice.

Zu An couldn't help but laugh. "Go ahead and bluff. The elemental energy here is chaotic; it's impossible to make a Heavenly Dao oath."

Hearing this, He Li flushed with embarrassment and anger. He had almost been fooled by the emperor again.

Noticing He Li's fierce gaze, Zhao Ruizhi coldly stated, "Think carefully. If you attack me, this is merely a wisp of a soul clone. If it dies, it dies. My main body is still alive. After you leave this secret realm, do you dare face my thunderous wrath?"

He Li's face turned pale. Yes, even if he killed the emperor before him, it would only be annihilating a soul clone. The invincible emperor would still remain, and He Li would surely die without a trace.

Involuntarily, he turned around, his blade now pointed at Zu An.

Zu An looked speechless. "I call you an idiot, and you still don't believe it. This secret realm isolates itself from the outside. As long as you kill him before it reopens, the emperor's main body outside won't have any idea what happened in here."

He Li's heart stirred; so that's how it was. His understanding of souls and such was indeed insufficient. Had it not been for Mi Li's reminder, Zu An himself wouldn't have known this.

Zhao Ruizhi's expression changed. He clearly hadn't expected Zu An to know so much. It seemed this fellow had intended to kill him from the very beginning.

Just as he was about to speak and try to regain control, He Li roared, "All of you, shut up! You're blabbering so much you're giving me a headache! Stop arguing! How about I just kill all of you instead?"