Chapter 1898: Cross-Dressing Big Shot and Vanishing Shadows

Bi Linglong's expression instantly became very peculiar. "Are you alright?"

If the place hadn't been so open, and if the palace maids and eunuchs hadn't been able to see their actions, she would have wanted to touch his forehead to see if he had a fever.

"I just want to know what answer you'd give," Zu An said seriously.

For a moment, Bi Linglong felt that something was off with how the day was unfolding. "Both you and my father are master cultivators. If we fell into water, why would we need saving?"

"Assume we had no cultivation and couldn't swim either. If no one saved us, we'd simply drown," Zu An added.

"Are you serious?" Bi Linglong stared into his eyes.

Zu An nodded. "Serious."

Bi Linglong fell silent, then after a while, she replied, "Although I don't know why you'd ask such a foolish question, I'll still answer you. In that situation, I would save my father. You have many female confidantes who would save you; it wouldn't be my turn."

Zu An was speechless. This woman truly is formidable; her words actually made him feel guilty.

He had to change his approach. "If one day I were to take you to wander the world, would you be willing to elope with me?"

Bi Linglong was startled. "Why would we elope? The Emperor is gone now, and no one in the capital can control us. Once I become Empress, the entire country will be under our control. No one will be able to stop us from doing anything. When that time comes, we can live together freely; who would dare to say a word? Isn't it good to share the pinnacle of power in the capital? Why would we wander the martial world?"

Hearing her answer, Zu An fell silent. In truth, this was to be expected.

From a young age, Bi Linglong had been educated to revitalize her family and reach the pinnacle of power. She was a strong-willed woman to her core, possessing an inexplicable fascination with power. Now, with her dream just one step away, how could she possibly give it up?

"What's wrong with you today? Why are you asking all these strange questions?" Bi Linglong looked at him with some concern.

"Nothing, just asking around," Zu An smiled. He had already found answers to some questions and didn't need to ask further.

"Oh, right. The trouble with Prince Jin should be over now, but in the future, can you please not be so impulsive? Killing a prince in the street—I don't know where you get such nerve!" Bi Linglong glared at him fiercely. This time, she was almost scared to death.

Zu An glanced at her chest and smiled. "My courage has always been considerable."

Bi Linglong's face flushed, though it was unclear what she was thinking. "Peh! How vulgar!"

She quickly composed herself. "By the way, someone must have been secretly instigating Prince Jin to deal with you this time. Speaking of which, Prince Jin was used as a tool without even realizing it, leaving only Princess Jin behind. She's a pitiful woman, so please don't make things difficult for her."

Zu An was speechless. "Am I really such a vicious person?"

"Of course I know you're not! But when the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigates Prince Jin, don't make it hard for her."

"Alright," Zu An replied. He was actually quite curious about Princess Jin, to think she could get Bi Linglong to plead on her behalf.

Given their identities, they couldn't publicly spend too much time together. After chatting for a while, Bi Linglong had to get up and leave.

Watching her graceful figure depart, Zu An sighed softly. He took out two storage bags from his embrace. These belonged to Old Man Mi and Wei Dan from back then. According to the old servant of the Libationer, the two had been involved in assassinating the former imperial family's bloodline.

Zu An didn't fully believe his words. Although what he said was reasonable, the matter was too significant, so he still needed to verify it. Their personal storage bags should contain their most important belongings. He wondered if there would be any records of those events from back then inside. If the information inside revealed that those past events had no connection to Bi Qi, then it would be a joyous outcome. If there truly was a connection, it wouldn't be too late to make plans then.

Unfortunately, these storage bags were sealed with restrictions, making it virtually impossible to force them open. The only hope was Mo Xi's skill, "Farewell to Nanchao." However, "Farewell to Nanchao" could only be activated under specific conditions, so it seemed he would first need to raise Mo Xi's level.

He turned and returned to the private courtyard of Golden Card Eleven within the palace. After ensuring no one was around, he summoned the keyboard system and tallied his accumulated Rage points, which surprisingly totaled 564,000.

Just as he was about to draw, he suddenly had an idea. He took out copper coins and performed a divination for himself. The trigram indicated great fortune. He couldn't help but chuckle. After learning divination, he could now avoid drawing at times of bad luck.

He started the draw, and the cursor spun rapidly across the keyboard. He was used to seeing "Thank you for participating" at the start, but to his surprise, the cursor stopped on the letter "L" in the first round. Zu An's spirits lifted. He hadn't expected such a good start. He focused his gaze, wanting to know what he had drawn this time.

On the virtual screen before him, a line of text appeared: "Congratulations! You've drawn the skill 'Cross-Dressing Master'!"

Zu An: "???" This name sounds ominous, no matter how you look at it.

Skill Description: "There once was a handsome man with a strange eccentricity: he loved to wear skirts and dress as a woman. At first, his disguises were crude, and he quickly became an outcast, reviled by everyone. But Heaven rewards perseverance. One day, his cross-dressing skills perfected, and after transforming into a woman, no one could ever see through his disguise again. Moreover, he became the most beautiful woman in the world, beloved by countless men."

"He toyed with all the men in the world, until one day, he fell in love with a man. That was the beginning of his tragedy..."

"Later, his true identity was exposed. The men who learned the truth were enraged to the extreme, and they ultimately tied him to a burning stake and burned him alive."

Risk Warning: Cross-dressing comes with risks. Cross-dressing is fun for a while, and staying dressed is a constant delight!

Zu An was speechless. What kind of warning was that? It felt like none of these skills were normal. He continued reading, praying in his heart, "Please don't make me cross-dress, please don't make me cross-dress."

Skill Introduction: "This skill can only be cast by males. After activation, the user transforms into a woman. Beauty increases by 100 times, and charm increases by 100 times, but all other abilities are lost until the skill is deactivated."

"Beauty is your weapon. As long as you are not too ugly to begin with, activating this skill will make you the most beautiful woman in the world. There's no need for combat; countless men will be willing to go through fire and water for you."

Friendly Tip 1: Do not look into a mirror easily after activating this skill, as you may easily fall in love with yourself.

Friendly Tip 2: Do not become infatuated with the pleasure of cross-dressing. If used for too long, your willpower will be affected, and you will subtly become accustomed to being a woman, no longer wishing to be a man.

Upon reading all these descriptions, Zu An was utterly stunned. He nearly dropped the copper coins in his hand. *This* was the great fortune predicted by divination? This ridiculous skill actually turns him into a woman, and the crucial part is that he loses all other abilities. Such a massive restriction—this is insane! More importantly, what normal man would want to cross-dress? No, this isn't just cross-dressing; his entire body transforms into a woman's. Even if beauty and charm increase by 100 times, what's the point? How perverse!

Zu An continued the draw with a dark expression, seeing "Congratulations! You've drawn a Vitality Fruit!" and "Thank you for participating!" flashing alternately on the screen. He was still a bit dazed. It wasn't until the cursor stopped on the 'C' key that his mood finally improved.

"Congratulations! You've drawn the skill 'Shift and Replace'!"

Skill Introduction: Within the range of your divine sense, you can swap positions with any perceived creature or object.

Zu An instinctively continued to look down, but there was nothing more below. He was accustomed to all sorts of tricky skills, having long accepted their stringent usage conditions and strange pitfalls. Today, a normal skill felt somewhat unfamiliar to him. The key was that this skill had no negative effects, was simple to use, and its power was immense. It was practically a divine skill! Although he possessed a teleportation skill, it had a cooldown period. "Shift and Replace" did not, and in some situations, it was far more useful than teleportation. Thinking of this, a smile involuntarily appeared on his face. It seemed the divination technique from the *Baopuzi True Scripture* was indeed accurate; his draw had truly brought great fortune.

When he finally calculated, he had a total of 610 Vitality Fruits, which was also a much higher probability than usual.

He summoned Mo Xi, and soon, the enchanting Xia Dynasty concubine with honeyed skin and a voluptuous figure, clad in a strapless mini-dress, appeared before him. Upon seeing him, Mo Xi immediately extended her small hand, asking for Vitality Fruits to eat. Clearly, she had developed a taste for them.

Zu An released all his previous stock, stuffing them into her mouth all at once. There was so much that Mo Xi even choked midway. Zu An gently patted her back, waiting for her to catch her breath before continuing to feed her. Perhaps due to the frequent feeding, Mo Xi's favorability toward him had clearly increased, and she no longer resisted such moderate physical contact.

He had previously had 424 Vitality Fruits remaining. Adding the 610 from this draw, she rose from the peak of the fifth rank all the way to the seventh rank. However, reaching the peak of the seventh rank required 1,200 Vitality Fruits, and the peak of the eighth rank needed 1,800. The higher the rank, the more difficult it became. At this rate of accumulating Vitality Fruits, it would be difficult to remove the restrictions on the two storage bags anytime soon.

He suddenly had an idea. The *Baopuzi True Scripture* contained alchemy methods. He could refine Core Condensing Pills to replace Vitality Fruits and help Mo Xi level up.