Chapter 187: Unexpected

Zu An released the rope and jumped down from mid-air. "You seem quite impatient, Your Majesty."

Mi Li's expression darkened. "Are you taking advantage of me?"

"Oh, no, no," Zu An replied, in excellent spirits. "By the way, I've removed the sword. Can you move now?"

"Use the Tai'e sword to break the shackles on my hands and feet..." Mi Li suddenly gasped, her gaze falling below his abdomen. Her face immediately flushed crimson. "How dare you harbor such filthy thoughts about me!"

Rage points from Mi Li: 678!

Zu An immediately felt awkward, quickly backing away a few steps and turning his body sideways. "My apologies, something just happened. I didn't mean to do that."

Mi Li's heaving chest gradually calmed. Knowing she still needed him to rescue her, she didn't want to completely ruin their relationship. She changed the subject: "What just happened? And how did you break the Heavenly Seal?"

In her eyes, the Human Seal and Earth Seal were insignificant, but she had heard legends of the Heavenly Seal. Qin Shihuang had once proudly boasted that no one could break it, even mentioning it was unrelated to one's cultivation level.

Zu An was taken aback. It seemed she misunderstood his "just happened" to refer to the Heavenly Seal. Remembering the dragon-robed man in the Tai'e sword telling him to kill her, he decided it was best not to mention that for now.

So, he followed her lead and replied, "At that time, we arrived at a village in Dong Commandery, and suddenly a meteorite fell from the sky..."

After briefly recounting the process, Zu An couldn't help but ask, "There's one thing I haven't figured out. Since this seal was set by Qin Shihuang, why would the key to breaking it involve saving Chen Sheng's life? Chen Sheng later led the uprising that overthrew the Qin Dynasty. No matter how you look at it, Qin Shihuang couldn't possibly have allowed him to live, let alone use him as the key to breaking the formation."

Mi Li, however, let out a long sigh. "I finally understand why Qin Shihuang was so confident that no one could break the Heavenly Seal. He designed it using the fate of the Qin Dynasty. Unfortunately, the Heavenly Seal was created by him intercepting a segment of the river of time. After that, the rules of the sealed world evolved naturally through heavenly mechanisms and could not be altered by human will."

"As for your question about Chen Sheng, that represents the will of heaven. Historically, the Qin Dynasty was overthrown by the righteous army led by Chen Sheng, so he naturally could not die. Since the Heavenly Seal represents the fate of the Qin state, breaking it naturally required starting with the downfall of Qin. I imagine Qin Shihuang never anticipated this."

"It's ironic that your momentary kindness actually saved yourself. For the cruel and bloodthirsty Qin Shihuang, that's a huge mockery, ha ha ha."

Hearing her slightly crazed laughter, Zu An couldn't help but ask, "Do you hate him that much?"

Mi Li snorted coldly. "That's none of your concern."

Zu An looked dejected. This woman certainly had a strange temper.

"However, I must admit, you truly are blessed with deep fortune. Despite your low cultivation, you managed to make it all the way to the deepest part of the underground palace and even break the Soul-Suppressing Seal. It seems all of this is the will of heaven," Mi Li remarked sincerely.

"Doesn't that prove we're fated by heaven?" Zu An said with a grin.

"You've flirted with me repeatedly. Do you really have a death wish?" Mi Li's expression turned cold.

Rage points from Mi Li: 345!

Zu An, however, didn't care in the slightest. "Anyway, you signed a contract, so you can't hurt me. What's wrong with me being a little casual when talking to you? As a former Empress, you were probably always high and mighty and never had any friends, did you?"

Mi Li was speechless. This guy really knew how to take advantage. She snorted coldly, "I don't need friends!"

"Humans are social animals; how can they not need friends?" Zu An said as he returned to the crystal coffin, using the Tai'e sword to sever the shackles on her hands and feet. "Meeting is fate. Let's be friends."

The moment the shackles on her hands and feet were released, Mi Li sprang from the crystal coffin, landing gracefully on a nearby stone statue. She said coldly, "If you babble on any more, do you believe I'll cut out your tongue?"

Zu An turned his head, grinning at her. "I don't believe you!"

Now standing lightly on her toes atop the statue, Mi Li appeared even taller and more graceful, like a stunning beauty stepped out of a painting, adding a touch of brightness to the cold, gloomy cavern.

"Ignorant junior!" Mi Li's brows furrowed. She slowly floated into the air, her robes stirring without a breeze, and a powerful, overwhelming aura spread out.

Zu An's breath caught instantly. In that moment, he felt an incredibly powerful pressure coming from all directions.

This pressure was immeasurably more potent than the previous pressure from the Tai'e sword!

Had he not just undergone body tempering with Primordial Chaos Qi, effectively transforming him, and had the Tai'e sword not shared most of the burden, he might have been forced to his knees in that very instant.

Even so, Zu An felt he couldn't hold on much longer. He wanted to say something, but under the immense pressure, he couldn't even open his mouth, let alone speak.

At this moment, Mi Li stood in mid-air with her hands behind her back, her eyes filled with indifference and a haughty aloofness that kept others at a distance. She said coldly, "You? And you wish to be this Empress's friend?"

Zu An bit his lip until it nearly bled. The Primordial Chaos Genesis Scripture circulated rapidly, helping him resist the unparalleled pressure. He could even feel his joints creaking, as if they might collapse at any moment.

"You have some backbone, but unfortunately, you're too weak." Mi Li's expression turned cold, and she was about to increase the pressure when she suddenly felt a chill throughout her body. She looked down in confusion, then froze.

Zu An was desperately resisting her pressure when it suddenly vanished.

Because his pride kept him from bowing his head, he witnessed everything that had just happened.

Even when faced with the terrifying pressure, he had endured without injury. But the sight before him made his nose feel warm. He quickly covered it, preventing a gush of nosebleed.

Mi Li's clothes had inexplicably burst open, turning into scattered fragments that drifted away with the wind, revealing her perfectly exquisite body.

Sometimes one had to lament the unfairness of heaven, whose favor was clearly bestowed far more generously on some than on others. Her porcelain-like body floated in the air, every line a masterpiece of nature's artistry, her milky skin radiating a soft, crystalline glow like jade.

"Ah!" Mi Li finally snapped back to reality. Her perpetually aloof and majestic face showed a hint of girlish panic for the first time. She scrambled behind the stone statue, shrieking, "Cover your eyes! Don't look!"

Zu An obediently covered his eyes with both hands, though the gaps between his fingers were rather wide. Seeing her panicked attempt to hide, a strange smile appeared on his lips. "I told you this was a heaven-sent destiny! The moment the heavens saw you bullying me, they started warning you."

"Shut up! Do you believe I'll really kill you?" Mi Li, hidden behind the statue, waved her hand around her body. A black mist began to swirl upwards from her long legs, finally forming a black robe that enveloped her.

However, she knew full well that this was merely formed from primal qi; it wasn't actual clothing that offered true security.

The thought that she had been seen completely naked by him almost made her faint from anger.

Rage points from Mi Li: 999!

Zu An couldn't help but retort, "I've heard that Qin Dynasty laws were strict: every product, be it a weapon or a brick, bore the craftsman's name, and they were held accountable if anything went wrong. Because of this, it was widely rumored that your things were of good quality. But now, it seems they're just so-so."

"Nonsense! Even the best quality clothes would disintegrate after thousands of years!" Mi Li secretly lamented her own foolishness, forgetting such a basic detail. She blamed that annoying guy for making her so eager to deal with him that she overlooked it.

Rage points from Mi Li: 813!

Seeing a string of rage points pop up on his system interface, Zu An's heart ached immediately.

Oh no, it's all wasted!

He remembered the vow he made to save Qiao Xueying: drawing "Believe in Brother Chun" came at the cost of getting nothing for three subsequent draws.

Of course, he had kept an eye out, planning to make a single draw whenever he got some rage points, to exhaust those three vow-bound draws. But he hadn't had a chance since earlier, and now seeing Mi Li's rage points pouring in, his heart naturally ached.

"Do you have any spare clothes?" Mi Li's voice sounded at that moment.

Zu An paused, then chuckled. "Yes, but they're my clothes, if you don't mind..."

"Throw them over!" He was interrupted before he could finish.

Zu An took out a change of clothes from his pack and threw it over. He had brought a spare outfit because he expected to be in the secret realm for about 10 days.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh. Other protagonists in stories always had spatial rings, yet he had to carry a travel bag—it felt so undignified.

A fair arm reached out from behind the statue, caught the clothes, and quickly retracted. "Turn around! If you dare to glance this way, I'll risk tearing up our agreement and gouge out your eyes!"

"It's not like I haven't seen it before..." Zu An muttered.

"What did you say?!"

Mi Li felt she was about to lose control of the primal power within her.

Rage points from Mi Li: 684!

"Nothing!" Feeling that she was on the verge of exploding, Zu An quickly turned around. Anyway, earning more rage points now would just be a waste, so it wasn't worth the risk.

Rustling sounds of dressing came from behind the statue. Zu An seized the opportunity and quickly started his lottery draws.

Counting his accumulated 7434 rage points, Zu An was somewhat impressed with himself. It hadn't been long since his last draw, and he was practically a walking rage point harvester.

He could draw 74 times in total. Zu An wondered if it could really be so unlucky that he wouldn't get anything even once.

Anxiously, he pressed the "Start Draw" button.

As expected, what appeared before him was "Thank you for participating"... "Thank you for participating"...

Up to the 74th draw, he literally drew nothing, not even a single Primordial Qi Fruit!

Was it really that effective?

Zu An swallowed hard, thinking to himself that he should never make reckless vows again. Being a scoundrel in this world carried risks.

"Alright!"

At that moment, Mi Li's cold voice came from behind him. Clearly, she had recovered from her recent embarrassment.