Chapter 164: Choice

"What are you standing there for? Use the light!" The mysterious woman's voice, chiding him as before, rang in his ears. She was clearly displeased with his dazed state.

Only then did Zu An snap out of his trance, aiming the flashlight at the terracotta warriors. The warriors, about to charge, visibly lost their vibrant colors when illuminated by the powerful beam from his hand. The previously menacing group immediately turned and fled. A few even stumbled and fell because they were running too fast. The stark contrast in their behavior was almost comical.

The warriors that had just emerged scrambled back into their pits, while those preparing to come out behind them quickly retracted their legs. Just moments ago, they had all uniformly turned to look at him; now they uniformly turned their heads away, as if they had seen or heard nothing. The blue flames emanating from their eyes quickly receded, and they all returned to their lifeless pottery forms.

"It seems bullying the weak and fearing the strong is the nature of all living things," Zu An mused. He shone the flashlight around, but the terracotta figures showed no reaction. Yet, the "Rage points" he was receiving in the background continued without interruption.

Rage points from Terracotta Warriors: 6666...

Zu An thought, *If I weren't in such a hurry to save Chu Chuyan, I'd stand here and milk you all dry.*

Seeing that the terracotta figures had stopped moving, he rushed to the edge of the pond, still holding Chu Chuyan. Only upon getting closer did he see that the water was covered with lotus leaves, almost completely obscuring the surface. The ethereal green glow he had seen from afar emanated from them. These lotus leaves were unlike ordinary ones; they were entirely emerald green, with a luminous glow flowing across their surfaces. Rather than leaves, they resembled chunks of jade standing in the water.

Most strangely, despite the abundance of leaves, there was only one flower. In the very center of the pond, countless lotus leaves clustered around a small, exquisite lotus blossom. In this sunless underground palace, such a sacred and beautiful lotus bloomed. Its petals were pure white, each one more delicate and tender than a maiden's finger. A bright yellow stamen in the center of the white petals emitted a mysterious light, like a star in the heavens.

Zu An's heart lifted; this must be the spiritual medicine the mysterious woman had mentioned, capable of saving Chu Chuyan. He was about to go and pick it when he suddenly froze, realizing the lotus flower before him had vanished into thin air, leaving only the emerald lotus leaves covering the pond.

*Was there someone else?* he wondered. *Someone whose cultivation was so profound I couldn't perceive them, who had gotten here first?* He quickly turned and looked around, but everywhere he looked, there was nothing but neatly arranged terracotta warriors. A chill ran through him. *Was he doomed to watch Chu Chuyan wither and die?*

"What are you doing? Isn't the lotus right where it was?" As if sensing his despair, the mysterious woman's voice rang out again.

Zu An paused, then quickly looked back, only to find the lotus flower indeed in its original spot. "What's going on?" Zu An couldn't help but rub his eyes. He saw that the lotus had vanished into thin air again. This time, he didn't look away, but stared fixedly at the spot. Sure enough, after a few seconds, the lotus flower reappeared! Clearly, this lotus existed in a miraculous way, intermittently visible, seeming to flicker in and out of existence.

Suddenly, he remembered something Ji Dengtu had once told him. His expression changed, and he asked with a touch of bitterness, "Is this lotus called the 'Traceless Illusion Lotus'?"

The mysterious female voice replied, "That's right, it is indeed called the 'Traceless Illusion Lotus'."

Zu An's breathing quickened. He never imagined the very thing he had longed for would be right before his eyes. Still, he couldn't quite believe it: "I heard the Traceless Illusion Lotus blooms only once every thousand years, and its flowering period lasts only a few hours. How long has this one been open?" His voice trembled, as if fearing the lotus might suddenly wither the next second.

"While the Traceless Illusion Lotus does take a long time to bloom, it's not a full thousand years. Moreover, this particular flower is special; you don't need to worry about it wilting," the woman's voice replied.

"It won't wilt? How is that possible?" Zu An was stunned; this defied common sense.

"This flower formed in a unique environment, combined with other reasons, which makes it unlike typical 'Traceless Illusion Lotuses'," the woman's voice paused. "Do you want to discuss this slowly with me, or do you want to save your companion first? I can feel her life force fading; in sixty breaths at most, she will be completely gone."

"Are there other Traceless Illusion Lotuses here?" Zu An quickly asked.

"Others? The Traceless Illusion Lotus is exceedingly rare in this world; finding even one means you've stumbled upon an incredible fortune. You want more?" the woman scoffed. "But rest assured, this single one is enough to save her. Should her elemental meridians recover in the future, it could even directly advance her by a major cultivation realm."

"It can't even restore her elemental meridians?" Zu An was taken aback. He hadn't expected such a potent spiritual medicine could only save her life, leaving her an invalid. For a proud woman like Chu Chuyan, that would probably be worse than death.

"Hmph, this woman must have used a forbidden technique far beyond her capacity to end up like this. Since it's a Heaven-defying forbidden technique, how could there be no cost?" the woman said indifferently.

Zu An's expression flickered. If it were any other rare and wondrous treasure, no matter how miraculous, he would not have the slightest greedy thought; he would undoubtedly use it to save Chu Chuyan. But this was the Traceless Illusion Lotus—the very one he had desperately sought! As a man, having his vital essence sealed, the agony of being incomplete, was something no one could endure.

He knew that encountering the Traceless Illusion Lotus this time was an incredibly stroke of luck. If he missed this opportunity, finding another one would likely be impossible. His only hope then would be to one day cultivate to the Grandmaster realm and break the seal with his own power. He was a cultivator now and understood how difficult it was to reach the Grandmaster realm. Would it take fifty years or a hundred? By then, he'd be an old man just regaining his abilities – what good would that do? Moreover, reaching that level wasn't guaranteed simply by putting in time; he might never achieve the Grandmaster realm in his lifetime, never recovering his virility.

And what was the point of saving Chu Chuyan with this medicine if it couldn't fully heal her, leaving her a cripple? Even if she were grateful to him, how long would that gratitude last? If, in the future, she met another man who was a better match in every way and stirred her heart, where would he stand? He wouldn't even be able to compete then, as he couldn't fulfill a husband's duties. Having seen too many bizarre cases online in his previous life, he was acutely aware that such a possibility existed. He might act noble now, but would he truly not regret it if he later saw her with another man?

Gazing at the exceptionally pale, closed-eyed Chu Chuyan in his arms, Zu An gritted his teeth. He gently set her aside, then, with a light push off his toes, leaped across the pond to pluck the Traceless Illusion Lotus from its center.

Meanwhile, after Zu An left, Shi Kun and Qiao Xueying found themselves surrounded by long-sword-wielding zombies. The long-sword zombies were incredibly frustrated by Zu An. However, the terrifying light he wielded instinctively kept them from seeking revenge. Instead, they unleashed all their pent-up anger and resentment on the remaining two. In their eyes, these humans had entered together and were clearly accomplices. This, in turn, made things difficult for Shi Kun and Qiao Xueying. They felt that all the enemies they faced—whether long-sword zombies, spear-wielding ones, or even the weakest axe-wielding zombies—were considerably stronger than before. Both were already at their limits, and in this situation, they found themselves in constant peril.

Shi Kun was in the middle of cursing Zu An to death when he heard Qiao Xueying say, "Young Master, it's not safe to stay here for long. We should return to the surface first."

Shi Kun fell silent. Leaving like this was truly frustrating; he had lost so many subordinates and even used his valuable life-saving trump cards, yet he still couldn't get Chu Chuyan. However, he also knew there was no point in staying. They couldn't even handle these zombie warriors in front of them, let alone delve deeper into the underground palace to pursue. And they didn't have the light that terrified the zombies. This thought caused Shi Kun a pang of frustration. *Damn it,* he fumed, *why does that Zu An guy have so many bizarre gadgets?*

Rage points from Shi Kun: 345!

"Alright, let's get out of here first. We'll guard the tomb entrance; they can't stay in there forever." Shi Kun snorted. He had made up his mind: not only would he snatch Chu Chuyan, but he'd also seize all the treasures Zu An possessed. *Only children make choices. I'll take it all!*

The two fought and retreated. Just as they were about to return to the previous passage, a terrifying pressure suddenly rose throughout the entire room. Shi Kun and Qiao Xueying's expressions drastically changed. Without hesitation, they turned and channeled all their elemental energy, ready to bolt outside. However, their elemental energy seemed to disobey them; they were rooted to the spot, unable to move.

A black mist rose out of nowhere in the center of the room. Immediately afterward, a black-armored general slowly emerged from the mist on horseback. Seeing its appearance, the long-sword soldiers, spearmen, archers, and axe-wielding soldiers all ceased their attacks and knelt on the spot, bowing to it. Qiao Xueying's heart pounded. The aura of this creature was even more terrifying than the Devouring Kun her young master had previously unleashed. And seeing all the zombie warriors kneeling to it proved that it could fully command these lower-ranked warriors. From any perspective, the two of them were no match for it.

The black-armored general glanced at the two and, surprisingly, spoke human words: "Hmm, why did two such weak individuals make you so fearful just now?" Its voice was incredibly hoarse and terrifying, like a demon from the deepest hell. The zombie warriors gestured wildly, their mouths opening and closing incessantly, emitting strange sounds. However, their intelligence was clearly insufficient to allow them to speak.

The black-armored general, however, tilted its head and listened, murmuring, "There were two others, emitting terrifying light from their hands..." It scanned the room and noticed Shi Kun's Fourth Rank subordinate, who had just been impaled to the wall by a spear. With a gesture, it drew the corpse into its hand. "Though dead, this flesh and blood shouldn't go to waste." No sooner had it spoken than the corpse began to shrivel and desiccate at an alarming rate. Within a few breaths, it was reduced to a soccer-ball-sized mass of what looked like mixed flesh and bone fragments.

"The taste of fresh blood is so alluring." The black-armored general tossed the "meatball" aside, letting out a groan of extreme satisfaction, as if it hadn't felt such pleasure in a long time.

Shi Kun swallowed hard. *Too terrifying! This creature actually devours flesh and blood. Am I, Young Master, going to perish in this godforsaken place? If I had known this, I shouldn't have impulsively used the Devouring Kun earlier. Now I don't even have the strength to fight.* At this thought, he once again cursed Zu An, the culprit, to hell.

Rage points from Shi Kun: 777!

The black-armored general turned its head, its gaze falling upon the two. "You two, who shall I enjoy first?"