Chapter 190: Recovery Method

Mi Li’s phoenix eyes narrowed. "A trick up your sleeve?"

Zhang Han slowly said, "Back then, His Majesty initially considered your past relationship and merely sealed you away, without intending to kill you..."

Before he could finish, Mi Li interrupted him with a sneer. "As if he could have killed me even if he wanted to!"

Zhang Han replied, "Indeed, at first, His Majesty couldn't kill you and could only seal you. But later, he found something that could kill you. However, considering you were already sealed, he entrusted it to me for safekeeping, in case it was needed in the future. I never expected it would actually be used."

"I'd like to see what can kill me!" Mi Li scoffed, clearly not taking it seriously.

Zhang Han chuckled sinisterly. "Has Her Majesty ever heard of 'Xiangfei's Crimson Tears'?"

"Xiangfei's Crimson Tears?" Mi Li frowned, clearly having no recollection of it.

"Of course, Her Majesty wouldn't remember, because this happened after you were sealed," Zhang Han recounted, lost in thought. "Once, when the Emperor was on an inspection tour, he encountered a strong wind at Xiangshan Temple and could barely cross the river. The Emperor asked the High Priest, 'What kind of deity is Lord Xiang?' The High Priest replied, 'It is said to be the daughter of Yao and wife of Shun, buried here.'"

"The Emperor was furious with Lord Xiang, believing he was deliberately opposing him, so he ordered all the trees on Xiangshan Mountain to be cut down."

"Just then, a crimson droplet fell from the sky. The entire land of Xiangshan Mountain turned red at a visibly rapid pace. Any soldier who touched it instantly disintegrated into ash. That incident caused heavy casualties among the Emperor's personal guard, and the Emperor himself narrowly escaped harm. Afterwards, some said it was Lord Xiang's wrath, a divine punishment. The Emperor then dispatched the High Priest with a group of cultivators to extract three drops of potent poison from that red mountain, naming it 'Xiangfei's Crimson Tears.' The Emperor used one drop himself, and the remaining two were given to me for safekeeping, to prevent you from breaking through your seal."

Mi Li scoffed, "You're making it sound rather fantastical. I don't believe any poison could be that potent."

Zhang Han let out a long sigh, gazing towards the pond. "The Battle of Zhangyu was a failure back then, with two hundred thousand Qin soldiers buried alive. But the Qin army was the finest elite force in the world, filled with masters. Even if they laid down their weapons, they wouldn't have been so easily massacred."

Mi Li's heart stirred, and she blurted out, "Could it be that you also used this poison back then?"

"Yes," Zhang Han nodded, his voice still trembling. "Just one drop, only one drop of 'Xiangfei's Crimson Tears,' and two hundred thousand elite Qin soldiers, masters among them, were wiped out overnight. Two hundred thousand!"

Mi Li's expression suddenly changed. She raised her right hand and noticed a crimson tear-drop pattern on her palm, which she hadn't seen before. The lower part of the tear-drop suddenly extended into a thin red line, spreading up her arm.

"Get out!" she snapped, a surge of immense power abruptly radiating from her. A mass of black elemental energy then surged down from her shoulder, instantly enveloping the thin line, intending to expel it in one go.

At her level of cultivation, most poisons held no meaning for her.

However, she quickly frowned. Though the red line was thin, it was incredibly sharp and potent. Her surging elemental energy dissolved without a trace the moment it touched the line. Despite using all her might, she could only slightly slow its spread.

"It's useless. 'Xiangfei's Crimson Tears' is a true god's poison; it can kill even an Earth Immortal. How could you possibly resist it?" Zhang Han's voice lacked joy, instead holding an inexplicable sense of melancholy and fear. Clearly, using this poison brought back memories of the past, with overwhelming guilt and remorse flooding his mind. The three onlookers, who had been watching the spectacle, were stunned. They had seen Mi Li appear with overwhelming power, easily defeating Zhang Han, only for the situation to take a shocking turn?

Zu An pondered that while Mi Li was formidable, Zhang Han seemed even more terrifying to him. Therefore, he found this outcome difficult to accept and hastily said, "Quickly cut off your hand to prevent the poison from reaching your heart!"

Zhang Han snorted coldly. "If 'Xiangfei's Crimson Tears' were that easy to counteract, it wouldn't be known as a deadly poison capable of felling an Earth Immortal. From the moment she was poisoned, the venom had already spread throughout her entire body. Cutting off her hand would be useless."

Mi Li turned her head, her phoenix eyes appraising Zu An. "You don't want me to die?"

Zu An replied, "How could I wish for Queen Sister to die? Putting everything else aside, simply from an aesthetic perspective, you're much more pleasing to the eye than Zhang Han."

Chu Chuyan and Qiao Xueying exchanged glances, thinking, *This guy is truly audacious. He dares to flirt with even such a powerful female zombie?*

In their view, no normal person could live for such a long time. Mi Li was clearly a zombie, just like Zhang Han, only much more beautiful than an ordinary one.

Zhang Han was even more speechless. No one could be called ugly without reacting.

Rage value from Zhang Han +444!

"You're asking for death!"

Zhang Han transformed into a streak of black mist and lunged at Zu An. Although he had no hands, the disparity in their cultivation levels was so vast that even if Zu An had all his limbs, Zhang Han could still easily kill him.

Zu An could have used his movement technique to evade, but the thought of what would happen to Qiao Xueying and Chu Chuyan behind him if he did so stopped him. Thus, he gritted his teeth, holding the Tai'a Sword he had acquired earlier, and met the attack.

From a distance, Mi Li waved her left sleeve. The Tai'a Sword in Zu An's hand seemed to receive a summons, instantly flying out of his grasp like a bolt of lightning. It pierced directly into Zhang Han's chest, and the powerful impact sent Zhang Han flying backward, finally pinning him to the stone wall mid-air.

Zhang Han looked down at the Tai'a Sword in his chest, his face initially filled with disbelief, but soon replaced by a sense of relief. He murmured, "It's good to be dead, it's good to be dead. Living was torment, torment for thousands of years. It's time to die..."

His voice gradually faded, and he finally lowered his head, breathing no more.

Zu An couldn't help but give Mi Li a thumbs-up. "To kill such a powerful Zhang Han in one move, my admiration for Queen Sister flows like a mighty river..."

"Stop your flattering nonsense!" Mi Li cut him off before he could finish. "Killing it isn't that easy. Ultimately, it just didn't want to live anymore."

Hearing her words, Zu An couldn't help but look back at Zhang Han on the stone wall, and suddenly, for a moment, he understood him.

Back then, he emerged during a time of imperial crisis, saving the crumbling edifice of the empire. He was on the verge of becoming the savior who would rebuild the Great Qin, yet after a devastating defeat, he surrendered to the enemy and caused the massacre of Qin's last two hundred thousand main troops.

The empire's hero suddenly became its greatest sinner. He must have been in extreme agony internally.

The instinct for survival made him choose to linger on, living as a half-human, half-ghost for so many years, until today. Because Zu An impersonated Qin Shi Huang, coupled with Mi Li unsealing herself, and the two hundred thousand vengeful spirits seeking him out, all the familiar people and events made him feel as if he had returned to that era, finally crushing his will and leading him to embrace death.

As if his silent thoughts had been heard and he knew he was understood, Zhang Han's body suddenly disintegrated, turning into a cloud of dust that scattered with the wind.

With his death, the black ropes binding Chu Chuyan also vanished. Zu An rushed to rescue her from the altar. "Are you alright, my wife?"

"I'm alright," Chu Chuyan replied. Her elemental meridians were still severed, leaving her utterly powerless. She could only slump weakly into his embrace, a faint blush appearing on her fair face.

Noticing her body was as soft as cotton, Zu An's brows furrowed slightly. He quickly helped her into Qiao Xueying's arms, then hurried over to Mi Li. "Queen Sister, are you alright from that poison?"

"You're probably just asking how to save your little wife, aren't you?" Mi Li snorted coldly, seeing right through his ploy.

Zu An chuckled awkwardly. "I'm concerned about you too, of course! Is there anything I can do to help?" As he spoke, he leaned his head in, intending to look at her arm.

Mi Li waved her hand dismissively and turned slightly, evading his gaze. "A mere trivial poison, what can it do to me?" she said coldly.

"That's good, that's good," Zu An let out a sigh of relief. "Then, Queen Sister, can you fulfill your promise and tell me how to help her recover?"

Mi Li's gaze darted between Zu An and Chu Chuyan. It was clear from her changing expression that she was making an extremely difficult decision.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Zu An's heart skipped a beat.

Mi Li shook her head but remained silent, simply looking at him with a strange expression.

Chu Chuyan, still weak, spoke up. "With severed elemental meridians, even the heavens cannot save me. Why make things difficult for her? Don't worry, I promise I won't seek death anymore."

Seeing how he and Xue'er had risked their lives to save her, even if she felt her life was meaningless, she didn't want to let their sacrifices be in vain.

Mi Li snorted. "Hmph, no need to use reverse psychology on me. Saving you is easy. I was just thinking about something else."

Hearing that there was a way to save her, Zu An was overjoyed. "Please enlighten us, Queen Sister."

Even a flicker of hope appeared in Chu Chuyan's eyes. Although she spoke casually, she had been a prodigy in cultivation since childhood and naturally didn't want to spend the rest of her life as a cripple in bed.

Qiao Xueying was also filled with curiosity. As far as she knew, no one in this world had ever fully recovered after their elemental meridians were severed. She wondered what method the other party possessed.

"Didn't you learn the 'Primordial Chaos Scripture'?" Mi Li glanced at Zu An. "The Primordial Chaos Qi is the purest essence from the birth of the universe, even more refined and nourishing than elemental energy. It can not only temper your body but also repair others'."

Zu An's heart leaped. "You... how do you know I learned the 'Primordial Chaos Scripture'?"

Mi Li scoffed. "Qin Shi Huang sealed the 'Primordial Chaos Scripture' inside the Tai'a Sword, thinking I wouldn't know, hmph. Besides, even if I truly didn't know, I could sense it the moment I saw you. A body tempered by Primordial Chaos Qi is vastly different from an ordinary person's."

"So that's how it is." Zu An was delighted, and he immediately moved to heal Chu Chuyan.

Mi Li, however, said, "However, tempering someone else's body isn't nearly as effective as tempering your own. This way, you can only help her barely regain her mobility and self-care abilities, but she won't be able to recover her original cultivation strength."

Zu An's expression subtly changed. "That's different from what you said before."

"Why are you panicking?" Mi Li glared at him and continued, "Just recently, I learned something else that makes it very simple for her to recover completely."