Chapter 2334: Soul Shackles

Zu'an composed himself. Since there was no immediate way to rescue Xie Daoyun, he decided to set that matter aside for now and address other urgent tasks.

If he remained immersed in regret and remorse, and the women around him faced danger again, his unpreparedness would leave him helpless to watch events unfold—that would be the greatest folly.

He inventoried the various items found in the treasury. Several important scrolls of formation scriptures had vanished with Xie Daoyun. However, Zu'an had previously learned the 'Mysteries of Spatial Transformation,' which was sufficient to complete the teleportation array needed to return to the cultivation world. In fact, he could even modify it to be far superior to Donal's array, so the absence of the treasury's formation scriptures wasn't a significant issue.

The only notable point was that the formation scriptures in the treasury detailed the operation of the entire underground level, including its defensive arrays. However, destruction is easier than construction; although he didn't understand the complete operating principles of the grand array, simply wanting to dismantle it wouldn't be difficult.

Of course, all areas related to the underground city's formations were heavily guarded by the Demon Lord's forces, making them inaccessible to outsiders. He needed to devise a plan.

Fortunately, Zu'an already had an idea in mind...

Besides the formation scriptures, there were also many medical and poison-related texts, a field in which Ji Xiaoxi excelled.

Zu'an initially thought that with his knowledge from the 'Baopuzi True Scripture,' learning these skills from the texts wouldn't consume much Rage value.

However, when he saw the numbers in the hundreds of millions, he was stunned: "Is this a mistake?!"

What a joke! Learning an incredible ability like the 'Art of Myriad Transformations' didn't require so much Rage, so why would studying medicine and poison texts consume so much?

The system offered no response to his question. Instead, Mi Li's voice rang out: "Come to me, I'll explain."

Zu'an's mind stirred, and his spirit quickly entered a void. This was the space within the Tai'a Sword, which ordinarily only the sword spirit could enter. However, their souls had long been bound by a contract, making it very convenient for him to enter and exit.

At that moment, Mi Li lay languidly on her side on a large bed, dressed in a red gown. Her graceful and lithe figure seemed especially favored by the heavens, beautiful to the point of being transcendent.

Mi Li rested her chin on her hand, her beautiful, cold, and captivating eyes half-closed. Her entire being exuded astonishing charm.

Even with Zu'an's current composure, he couldn't help but be momentarily captivated by her beauty. However, he quickly regained his senses, inwardly grumbling that Mi Li seemed to really like this pose and didn't worry about scoliosis.

"Are you talking bad about me?" Mi Li opened her eyes and glared at him with a hint of displeasure.

Zu'an's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly chuckled apologetically, "How could I? I was just stunned by Master Sister's captivating beauty."

A faint smile appeared on Mi Li's face, but she quickly suppressed it: "Hmph, you rascal, you shouldn't use words like 'captivating beauty' to praise your master. It shows no respect for your teacher."

"This is what I truly think, so it naturally came out. I hope Master Sister won't mind," Zu'an said earnestly.

Mi Li felt a bit pleased, struggling to keep her lips from curving upwards: "Why don't you call me Empress Master anymore? Just 'Master,' what's with 'Sister'? You're being disrespectful."

Zu'an sighed: "At this point, I'm not a fool. What virtue or ability did that Ying Zheng possess to marry you? Since you're not truly the Qin Empress, I naturally can't call you 'Empress' anymore. Otherwise, every time I called you 'Empress Master,' there'd be a strong 'married woman' vibe, and I'd feel like I was defiling Master Sister."

Mi Li had revealed so many secrets to him, far more than a mere Qin Empress would know. Although she hadn't stated it explicitly, he could sense that her past status was exceedingly high.

Her identity was even more mysterious than that of the Great Emperor of Fengdu.

"Married woman vibe?" Mi Li's cheeks flushed slightly, and she spat, "What nonsense! Besides, don't you sometimes enjoy seducing married women? The princesses in the capital weren't spared by you, and there's still the Wu Princess outside."

Zu'an: "..."

Seeing his embarrassment, Mi Li decided not to press the topic and lightly coughed.

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. The reason you can't learn those medical and poison texts is actually very simple. Although humans are the spirits of all creation and possess unique cultivation speeds, they also bear a certain kind of 'shackle.' Look back at the most brilliant figures throughout history—was there anyone who excelled in every single aspect?"

Zu'an paused, gradually understanding. For example, Zhuge Liang's wisdom was almost supernatural, but his martial prowess was extremely low. Lu Bu's martial strength was unmatched, but his intelligence seemed almost idiotic. Han Xin commanded armies like a god, employing countless strategies to confound his enemies on the battlefield, yet in politics, he was as naive as a child...

Even in the cultivation world, Old Grand Sacrificial Wine was exceptionally brilliant, his talent no less than Zhao Hao's. But because he studied too many disparate subjects and dabbled in various fields, his cultivation and martial strength alone were considerably inferior to Zhao Hao's.

There were simply too many similar examples.

Seeing his expression, Mi Li smiled: "It seems you've understood. Human energy is limited. If you reach the peak in one field, it's destined to be difficult to achieve the same excellence in others. Only the legendary gods can accomplish this."

Zu'an was somewhat puzzled: "But cultivators have abundant energy, and their souls are incredibly powerful. They should have enough energy to learn in other fields."

In his previous life, ordinary people were mere mortals with limited energy. But present-day cultivators could go long periods without sleep, and their physical strength was like that of a completely different species compared to common folk.

Mi Li explained: "The things cultivators learn also consume a great deal of energy, far more than the knowledge ordinary people acquire. The principle is actually the same: since the birth of the myriad realms, whether human or other beings, there has been an invisible and intangible 'shackle' in their souls. You are destined not to reach higher levels in too many fields."

"For someone like you, who has achieved so much in several fields simultaneously, you are already a genius among geniuses. However, even the greatest genius has their limits. So now, if you try to learn medicine and toxicology, you'll find the cost immense, and it will be virtually impossible to master."

Zu'an fell silent. He had already reached high levels in cultivation, runic formations, and the art of disguise and transformation through painting. Not to mention a series of other skills like artifact refining, alchemy, and gourmet cooking. Without the system's help, it would have been impossible for him to reach such levels in so many fields. However, even the system couldn't assist him indefinitely; he had finally hit the ceiling for auxiliary studies.

"Is there a way to unlock this restriction or 'shackle'?" Zu'an asked.

"Throughout history, very few have been able to undo this," Mi Li shook her head slightly. "Even among the legendary gods, only a select few seem to have ever managed it."

Zu'an was startled: "Even gods are subject to this limitation?"

"Naturally. This is an iron rule of the myriad realms, arguably the most fundamental law in the cosmos," Mi Li replied.

Zu'an was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Could it be that humans and indeed all beings in the cosmos were created by some entity? Otherwise, why would all living things bear such a 'shackle'?"

Mi Li shook her head slightly: "This question has been explored by powerful beings across the universe's realms, but no one has found an answer. The most prevalent theory currently is that there exists a deity who governs the way of balance in the myriad realms, maintaining equilibrium between yin and yang, the five elements, life and death... preventing any individual from becoming excessively transcendent. The 'shackle' we just discussed is a means to balance various forces; otherwise, if every being could master every field, the resources of the myriad realms would be utterly insufficient, balance would be shattered, and even all universes would collapse..."

"The deity who governs the way of balance..." Zu'an's heart stirred. He hadn't deeply considered it before, but in daily life, there were so many examples: where venomous snakes appeared, there would surely be an antidote nearby; some poisonous herbs and spiritual medicines often grew together...

Wait, wasn't this just like those 'dog planners' who balanced stats in games?

"You don't need to dwell on this. In fact, I've already told you too much today that I shouldn't have," Mi Li said with a grave expression. "I only explained the reason in detail because I was worried your Dao heart would be damaged. If you probe further, you could easily attract the gaze of certain entities, and only destruction would await you."

Zu'an quickly reined in his thoughts about exploring that deity. "Thank you for the reminder, Master Sister. But from what you just said, it seems there's still a way to unlock this soul 'shackle'?"

Mi Li hummed in affirmation: "There have indeed been individuals in history who unlocked it, but I don't know the method. You don't need to deliberately pursue it; everyone who has managed to break this soul 'shackle' possessed immense cosmic luck—it cannot be forced."

Zu'an nodded, no longer dwelling on the matter, and instead inquired about Xie Daoyun.

"I already know about that young girl. Don't worry, you'll be reunited soon," Mi Li said.