Chapter 511: Secretly Entrusting Her Heart

However, whatever the reason, Zu An had no time to ponder, because the monstrous Tao Tie had already lumbered towards him.

Looking at the ferocious beast before him, Zu An couldn't help but swallow, feeling a shiver of fear.

Fearing he would lose courage completely, he continually encouraged himself. This creature in front of him was just a bit terrifying to look at, and its reputation as an ancient fierce beast was great, but judging by its size, it was only as big as a small T-Rex or an Alien.

If his past self had encountered it, he would certainly have needed more than a few lives, but now he was a cultivator. His physical quality and reaction speed were akin to a mini-superman, so he might not be without the strength to fight such a monster.

Thinking this, he immediately felt much calmer: "Son of a bitch, bring it on!"

The Tao Tie monster seemed to understand his provocation, letting out a whimpering cry as it charged towards him.

That powerful physique, coupled with a baby-like whimper, looked utterly ridiculous.

However, Zu An wasn't laughing now. In that instant, the monster's initial direct swipe at him had suddenly shifted mid-air, clearly avoiding the long sword in his hand. Since the 'Death-Dealing Dagger' had lost its effect earlier, he had switched to the Tai'e Sword, whose length certainly offered a greater advantage.

Initially, seeing the creature foolishly swinging its paw towards his sword, he had secretly rejoiced, thinking that no matter how powerful this monster was, it was still made of flesh and blood. Against the Tai'e Sword, which could cut through gold and jade, it would be no different from tofu.

But just as it was about to be struck, the Tao Tie deftly moved its paw, then swiftly slapped the flat of the Tai'e Sword from the side.

Caught off guard, the immense force that instantly jolted his hand made Zu An lose his grip on the Tai'e Sword. The sword arced through the air and plunged directly into a pile of white bones several *zhang* away.

Zu An was horrified. This creature was clearly no ordinary monster; its strength was far greater than its appearance suggested. Aliens and small T-Rexes were nowhere near its league.

He couldn't help but feel utterly dejected. It seemed that in this world, just as humans could improve their cultivation, monsters could too.

At the same time, he no longer dared to simply regard the opponent as a low-intelligence monster. The creature's reaction just now made him realize that the Tao Tie had probably already discovered them the moment it entered, but had remained silent, pretending not to notice. Then, when they were most relaxed and off guard, it had shot out its tongue in a sneak attack, nearly achieving a double kill.

Thoughts flooded his mind, and at the same time, he rushed without hesitation towards the Tai'e Sword, wanting to retrieve his weapon and resume the fight.

He had little confidence in fighting this thing bare-handed.

But how could the Tao Tie let him have his way? Letting out a whimpering cry, it leaped, blocking the path between him and the Tai'e Sword. Then, without pause, it lunged, tackling Zu An to the ground.

Zu An hadn't expected its speed to be so great; after all, from the moment it appeared until now, the Tao Tie had been moving sluggishly.

Caught off guard, he was immediately pinned beneath the creature.

Zu An wanted to cry but had no tears. This was the first time in his life he had been tackled, and it wasn't by a beautiful woman but by a monster.

He even began to wonder if he was naturally too thick-skinned, otherwise why would such absurd thoughts arise at such a critical moment.

The Tao Tie didn't hold back. Its gaping maw immediately lunged towards his head, and a foul, fishy stench assailed him.

Zu An quickly extended his hands, pressing down on its upper and lower jaws, forcing them shut. This made the creature snap its bite shut prematurely, biting empty air.

Having watched nature documentaries before, he knew many animals had astonishing bite forces, but the strength required to open their mouths was far less.

For example, an alligator's mouth could tear apart not just a person, but even a several-hundred-pound ox or horse. However, if you forced its mouth shut beforehand, the strength of an adult human would be enough to keep it from opening.

From their recent encounter, Zu An had already determined that while the Tao Tie's strength surpassed his, there wasn't a qualitative gap. Thus, in desperation, he held its mouth shut, preventing it from using its formidable fangs.

The Tao Tie was also bewildered. This was the first time it had encountered such prey. It instinctively tried to open its mouth to bite, but its jaws were held shut by the opponent, making it impossible to open them. Frantically, it shook its head.

With his life hanging in the balance, Zu An exerted all his strength, desperately holding down its head.

Seeing that it couldn't shake free, the Tao Tie suddenly raised its sharp tail, then swiftly thrust it towards his head.

"Watch out!" Pei Mianman, who had been closely following the battle, cried out in alarm. But speaking immediately aggravated her injuries, causing sweat to pour down her face from the pain. Ignoring it, she weakly looked towards Zu An.

Seeing the Tao Tie's sharp tail plunge directly into him, her mind went blank, and she felt as if her soul had left her body.

But soon, Zu An's voice came: "Nice try, you think I haven't seen *Alien*?"

Pei Mianman was filled with both surprise and joy, but her injuries were too severe, leaving her almost speechless.

Zu An tilted his head, secretly breathing a sigh of relief as he watched the sharp tail, now just inches away, plunge deep into the dirt. From the first moment he saw the creature, he had noticed its long, sharp tail, so when he saw it raise its tail like a scorpion, he knew it was about to attack.

Enraged, the Tao Tie twitched its tail, lifting it up directly and then thrusting it down fiercely again.

Zu An quickly tilted his head, dodging in the other direction. After striking empty air, the Tao Tie raised its tail again and thrust it down, and Zu An dodged again... The two played a game of attack and evasion within inches of each other.

Of course, for the Tao Tie, it might have been just a game, but for Zu An, a moment's carelessness would mean being pinned to the spot.

Zu An also knew that prolonged defense was unsustainable and that this couldn't continue. However, even with his accumulated strength, he could at best barely control the creature's mouth; moving its heavy body was utterly impossible.

A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. He decided to intentionally stop dodging for once, allowing the creature's tail to plunge directly into his shoulder.

Blood burst forth instantly, but a red gleam flashed in Zu An's eyes. Clearly, he intended to worsen his injuries to trigger the berserk effect of the 'Phoenix Nirvana Sutra'.

He was already injured, and now with this terrifying new wound, he instead felt his body surge with explosive power.

He immediately bent his leg, pressing it against the creature's belly. Then, just as it raised its tail again to finish him off, he kicked it away.

With a tremendous crash, the Tao Tie fell backward into a pile of white bones, crushing them into fragments. The strange snakes hiding within scattered, but several were snatched by the Tao Tie's claws and stuffed into its mouth to be chewed.

The two eyes on its shoulders gazed at the figure opposite with bewilderment and suspicion. Why had that guy's strength suddenly become so immense?

Zu An had already seized the opportunity to run to the Tai'e Sword and pull the weapon out of the ground. At the same time, he fixed his gaze on its claws, which resembled human hands but were tipped with tiger claws.

The creature had just picked up the strange snakes and fed them to itself, almost like a human eating. Its ability to use its claws so flexibly was truly not good news.

The Tao Tie's confusion was brief; its gluttonous instinct quickly made it whimper and lunge towards Zu An again.

This time, Zu An was prepared for its speed. Furthermore, being in the berserk state of the 'Phoenix Nirvana Sutra,' he immediately activated 'Sunflower Mirage' to flash to its side, then swung his sword, aiming for its head.

At this moment, the Tao Tie clearly sensed danger. It swished its long tail, directly thrusting it towards him.

Zu An weighed the comparative lengths of the Tai'e Sword and the creature's tail, realizing that trading blows would still leave him at a great disadvantage.

So, he abandoned the idea of thrusting the sword into its head and instead swung it sideways. The Tai'e Sword, already incredibly sharp, sliced off half of its tail with a single stroke. Bluish-gray liquid sprayed wildly from the severed end, falling onto the surrounding white bones and instantly corroding large holes into them.

"Whimper, whimpers!" The Tao Tie cried out in agony, clearly in immense pain from its severed tail.

Zu An's head throbbed from the noise. He followed through with a heavy punch to its head with his left hand: "I'll punch you whimpering monsters one by one!"

The Tao Tie was sent stumbling backward by his punch, eventually colliding with the nearby wall. It shook its head as it got up, clearly dazed by the blow.

Zu An couldn't help but shake his hand; the recoil from that punch had made it throb with pain. He secretly regretted it, thinking he should have aimed for its waist instead.

Worried that Pei Mianman wouldn't last much longer, he swiftly wielded the Tai'e Sword and attacked while the creature was dazed.

To his surprise, a cunning glint suddenly appeared in the Tao Tie's eyes. The two ram-like horns on its head flickered with purple electricity, then a ball of lightning condensed between them and shot directly towards Zu An.

The entire process sounds slow in description, but from the lightning coiling around its horns to the formation of the lightning ball and its subsequent launch, it all happened almost instantaneously.

Zu An couldn't summon the Great Wind for instantaneous movement, leaving him no time to dodge. The lightning ball exploded against his chest, causing him a searing pain and the smell of scorching.

But these weren't the most terrifying effects. The most terrifying was that he found himself completely paralyzed, unable to move a muscle for a short time.

Clearly, this was the paralyzing effect of the lightning!

Zu An was aghast. He knew precisely what losing mobility at such a critical moment meant, but there was nothing he could do to change it.

Just then, the Tao Tie opened its wide mouth, and its long tongue shot directly towards the space between his eyebrows. Clearly, this strike was intended to shatter his skull completely.

Watching the tongue grow larger and larger before his eyes, Zu An's hair stood on end. He knew he was on the brink of death.

However, the creature's tongue shot out too quickly, and he was currently paralyzed and immobile, making it impossible to react effectively.

But the imagined head-shattering blow did not occur. The tongue stopped an inch from Zu An's forehead.

Not only was Zu An stunned, but even the Tao Tie was bewildered. It instinctively retracted its tongue a bit, then shot it out again, but it still fell short by that same inch.

Zu An finally realized what had happened: the creature's tongue had just been severed when it pierced Pei Mianman's shoulder. The Tao Tie, accustomed to its tongue's usual length for hunting, had instinctively assumed this distance would be enough to pierce its enemy's head, forgetting that a section of its tongue was now missing.

How could Zu An let such a perfect opportunity slip by? While the creature was dazed, he immediately summoned Hundred Birds and launched a soul attack against it.

Because of his cultivation, Hundred Birds was now more adept at defense than offense, but that only applied to high-level cultivators. Although this Tao Tie was cunning, it was still a monster that couldn't even speak, clearly lacking true sapience. This meant its spiritual attributes were relatively weak.

Sure enough, as Hundred Birds let out a piercing cry, an invisible sound wave spread out. The Tao Tie's entire body trembled, a bewildered look appeared in its eyes, and even its previously stiff, extended tongue flopped limply downward.

Meanwhile, Zu An's blood felt as if it were burning from his brush with death. The paralyzing effect gradually receded, and he barely regained his mobility. Without a moment's hesitation, he gripped the Tai'e Sword and sprinted to the Tao Tie's side.

Recalling the pain from striking its head earlier, he chose not to aim for the head this time. Instead, he plunged his long sword into the eye on its shoulder.

This creature was so bizarrely shaped; who knew if its head was its true head? In any case, conventionally, eyes weren't usually far from the head.

"Whimper, whimpers!" The entire sword almost completely disappeared into its body. The Tao Tie let out an utterly horrifying shriek.

Then its entire body stiffened, and finally, it crashed to the ground.

Zu An pulled the sword back. Countless nauseating liquids oozed from its eye socket, blackening the surrounding ground.

"Fortunately, the Tai'e Sword is of extraordinary quality; any other sword would probably have been corroded beyond recognition by its blood," Zu An remarked as he sheathed his sword. Ignoring the Tao Tie's corpse, he rushed to check on Pei Mianman's condition.

Pei Mianman had been forcing herself to stay conscious, watching his battle with the Tao Tie. Several times, she had seen him in mortal danger and felt her heart in her throat. Only now, seeing him kill the Tao Tie, did she finally let out a sigh of relief.

But as that breath escaped, she could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

Zu An quickly scooped her up: "Mianman, Mianman!"

Pei Mianman struggled to open her eyes, a faint smile gracing her lips: "Ah Zu, you're truly amazing. You even managed to kill such a terrifying monster."

Normally, Zu An would have teased her, but seeing the horrific wound on her shoulder, his eyes welled up, and he had no desire to joke. "Mianman, don't talk anymore. Save your strength."

Pei Mianman shook her head in his arms: "I'm going to die soon anyway. If I don't speak now, I'll never be able to... Actually, there's so much... so much I want to tell you, but I thought... and thought, and telling you now would only... only add to your troubles, so it's better not to... I just wish you and Chu Yan would... would..."

Seeing her eyes gradually dimming, Zu An urgently said, "I won't let you die, I won't let you die!"

Suddenly, a thought flashed in his mind. He quickly pulled out a bright red glass bottle, poured all its liquid into her mouth, and anxiously murmured, "Mianman, you must hold on, you must hold on!"

But in the end, Pei Mianman still closed her eyes.

Zu An instantly felt as if he had plunged into an ice cellar. Holding her, he murmured, "Why did it just occur to me that I had a bottle of 'Believe in Brother Chun'? If I had given it to you just a second earlier, you might not have died."

"It's all my fault, all my fault. You are so beautiful, so talented, with a wonderful life ahead of you. If you hadn't come to rescue me, how could you have died here..."

Zu An held her in despair, pouring out his heart. Scenes from when he first met her flashed in his mind: her charming, peach-blossom eyes and affectionate smile seemed like just yesterday. Then there was their 'fight to know each other' in Chu Chuyan's room, her secretly sneaking into his room late at night to teach him martial arts, and all her companionship along the way...

The more he thought, the sadder he became. He held her tightly and burst into tears.

"Hey, that tickles. Your snot's all over my collar," a grinning voice suddenly said.

Zu An straightened up in disbelief and looked down. He saw a smiling, radiant face looking back at him, her watery peach-blossom eyes as charming and affectionate as ever.

"You... you're not dead?" Zu An asked, hardly daring to believe his eyes.

"Did you want me to die?" Pei Mianman snorted. "What kind of miraculous medicine was that? I had one foot in the grave, and it pulled me back!"

"That was an elixir of immortality given to me by an immortal," Zu An chuckled.

"Elixir of immortality?" Pei Mianman was startled. "Then couldn't you make many people around you immortal?"

Zu An shook his head: "Currently, this is the only bottle. Of course, there might be more in the future..."

He hadn't finished speaking when Pei Mianman's expression changed: "You gave the only bottle of immortal medicine to me?"

Zu An chuckled, "Just kidding. It's not an elixir of immortality."

Pei Mianman pursed her lips: "This medicine can bring people back from the dead. Even if it's not an elixir of immortality, it's not far off. You used it on me, and I truly don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Hmph, repay me!" Zu An said in an annoyed tone, slapping her buttock. "Were you fine all along? Why didn't you say anything, letting me be so upset?"

Pei Mianman let out a soft moan, her pretty face already flushed deep red. She gave him a playfully reproachful look, yet without any actual blame. "I really was unconscious at first, only gradually waking up later. I'm glad it happened this way; if it hadn't, how would I have known how important I am to you?"

As she spoke, she gazed at him with affectionate eyes. Zu An saw her face, flushed like a peach blossom, looking even more delicate and radiant than usual, and for a moment, he was captivated.

"Oh dear!" Pei Mianman suddenly exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" Zu An quickly asked, worried something was amiss with her.

Pei Mianman turned her shoulder towards him: "The injured spot on my shoulder is very itchy. Could you take a look?"

She still remembered the terrifying wound on her shoulder; the Tao Tie's corrosive blood had ravaged her body, and recalling it now still sent shivers down her spine.

Zu An gently poked her wound: "Does it hurt? Don't worry, with my immortal medicine, even if you lose an arm or a leg, they'll grow back."

He had experienced it himself; his previous injuries were far worse than what Pei Mianman had seen, yet he had still recovered.

"It really doesn't hurt anymore," Pei Mianman said, a little surprised. She moved her arm and could clearly feel that the previous hollow sensation was gone; it had obviously returned to normal. But then she immediately voiced another concern: "Could you help me undo my clothes and see if there's any scar left?"

Not to mention a stunning beauty like her, any woman treasured her skin immensely, fearing even the slightest blemish.

"Oh," Zu An instinctively reached for her shoulder, but then hesitated. "Perhaps this isn't appropriate. Men and women shouldn't touch each other intimately."

Although the red bottle could restore her vitality, it couldn't mend her clothes. The fabric around her shoulder was already quite torn, and if he unfastened it further, it could easily slip off. He didn't want to be mistaken for a pervert.

Pei Mianman chuckled, "You're usually so flirty. You were just hugging and holding me, and now you're pretending to be a gentleman?"

"That was just to save you, and besides, I am a gentleman..." The more Zu An spoke, the less confident he sounded.

Pei Mianman looked at him affectionately: "Silly boy, our relationship is like this now. What does it matter if you see?"

Today's content combines two chapters into one large chapter.

Recently, I've had a personal conundrum that I hope you, my hidden dragon and crouching tiger readers, can help me solve: why does the protagonist have so many stunning beauties constantly appearing around him, while in reality, I rarely even encounter women, let alone beautiful ones?