Chapter 795: All Element Mastery

Feeling his intense emotional fluctuations, Mi Li, who was beside him, said, "You don't need to worry so much. Earlier, when you were with Yun Jianyue and during your intimate moments with the Empress, there were no other suspicious individuals spying on you."

Hearing her say this, Zu An finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had been using the jade cong to monitor his surroundings, he lacked the confidence to detect someone like the Shadow Building Master, the head of the world's most mysterious assassin organization.

Now that Mi Li had said this, he felt at ease. After all, Mi Li's cultivation and insight were far beyond what ordinary people possessed; no matter how powerful the Shadow Building Master was, he couldn't surpass her at her peak.

At this point, he also recalled that Yun Jianyue, being a Grandmaster herself, hadn't detected anything unusual at the time. It seemed his actions had indeed not been discovered by the Shadow Building Master.

However, he dared not be careless in the slightest. Back then, he was merely a minor figure, and perhaps the Shadow Building Master hadn't paid him much heed. But recently, he had been very active in the capital, already drawing the attention of various major powers. The Shadow Building Master must have begun to notice him, so he would have to be extremely careful in his future actions.

Zu An then asked for more information about the Shadow Building, but unfortunately, Ma An didn't know much.

When he felt he had asked enough, Zu An finally inquired, "Have you told anyone else about your visit here today?"

This was crucial to clarify. Otherwise, if he dealt with Ma An and the latter had left a contingency plan beforehand, wouldn't his own information be exposed?

Ma An answered in a lifeless manner, "I have no friends and don't trust others. Besides, I only came here to confirm a suspicion, so I didn't tell anyone else. However, just in case, I left a record in my notebook stating that I came to find Zu An today. If anything happens to me, people in the palace will know Zu An is the culprit."

Zu An: "..."

What a cunning old fox! Fortunately, I asked one more question, otherwise, this fellow would have tricked me.

He hastily inquired about the notebook's whereabouts, and then instantly ended Ma An's life.

Although Zu An disliked killing, he wouldn't show mercy to someone who had intended to take his life.

Ma An softly fell to the ground, and two porcelain bottles, one black and one white, suddenly rolled out from his clothes. The black bottle had "Ice Heart Snow Soul" carved on it in small characters, while the white bottle was labeled "Antidote."

Zu An picked up the black porcelain bottle and felt an icy chill penetrating even through the glass. Mi Li floated over from the side and said, "This must have been the source of Ma An's confidence. It can even poison a Grandmaster, but he didn't expect you to have just broken through the Primordial Chaos Scripture, making you immune to all poisons."

Zu An glanced at the still-burning candle, thinking how unlucky Ma An was. Mi Li was in a soul body state, and Daji was an unknown mysterious entity. Otherwise, if both of them had been poisoned, Ma An would at least have had leverage to bargain with him.

At this moment, Mi Li stretched, revealing her graceful and alluring curves. She yawned and said, "After a night of exertion, I need to go back and catch up on my sleep."

In fact, after being together for so long, Zu An understood why Mi Li needed to sleep so often. Initially, it was to stabilize the Xiangfei Red Tear poison she had contracted, but now, without a physical body, remaining in a soul state for extended periods was very energy-consuming, thus requiring frequent sleep to replenish herself.

For this reason, Zu An had even specially bought a bed for her and placed it within the Tai'a Sword's intrinsic space, though he wondered if her soul body could actually sleep on a bed.

As Mi Li was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something and said, "Oh, by the way, I observed the divine birds awakened by your Phoenix Nirvana Scripture and noticed that you primarily utilize their inherent special abilities."

"Is there something wrong with that?" Zu An was taken aback.

"Of course it's wrong, and it's a terrible waste," Mi Li said with a hint of exasperation. "I've been wondering why you couldn't awaken elemental abilities after reaching the sixth rank. I initially thought it was because the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture was too unique and required a higher level for awakening. But now you're at the ninth rank and still haven't awakened any elemental abilities. Combining this with the divine birds that appear every time you break through, I've finally figured out the reason."

"What's the reason?" Zu An hastily asked.

Other cultivators could use their elemental abilities for various flashy moves, but he alone hadn't awakened any, relying solely on brute physical force, which truly seemed a bit crude.

Mi Li sighed, "Because you actually awakened elemental abilities a long time ago; you just haven't realized it. Haven't you noticed that your progress in cultivating the 'Snowflake Divine Sword' has been quite fast?"

Zu An replied, "For a protagonist with my extraordinary talent, isn't it natural to cultivate quickly?"

Mi Li: "..."

Ignoring his words, she continued, "You should know that the 'Snowflake Divine Sword' is an ice-type combat technique. Logically, without an ice elemental ability, no matter how high your aptitude, you can only learn its form but not its essence. Yet, you perform the Snowflake Divine Sword convincingly, even activating some of the sword technique's inherent ice abilities."

Zu An also fell into contemplation: "I suppose it's because I utilized the Snow Phoenix's ability..."

Mi Li interrupted him, "It's not the Snow Phoenix's ability itself, but rather that the Snow Phoenix is ice-attributed, giving you the foundation to cultivate ice-type cultivation methods and combat techniques. It's like when you practiced the 'Flame Blade' and needed to borrow Daji's fox fire. But now that you have the Fire Phoenix, you should be able to cast it without needing Daji's ability."

Zu An's heart stirred. He immediately began circulating his qi according to the 'Flame Blade''s operational route, intentionally not contacting Daji this time. To his surprise, a faint blade of flame truly appeared on his palm, and this time, the blade's color was golden, identical to the Fire Phoenix's flames.

"Do you understand now?" Mi Li continued. "In fact, each divine bird belongs to a different element. For example, the Grand Gale bird is wind-attributed, the Hundred Cries bird is mental-attributed, the Blue Duck is water-attributed, the Snow Phoenix is ice-attributed, the Green Luan is wood-attributed, the Golden Phoenix is metal-attributed, and the Fire Phoenix is fire-attributed..."

"So, when you consider it this way, it's actually correct that you haven't awakened a single elemental ability. That's because you've awakened all elemental attributes. The difference is that while others can use their corresponding elements simply by awakening them, you must practice the combat techniques of the corresponding elements to fully unleash them."

Zu An couldn't help but be overjoyed: "So that's it! So that's it! Hahaha, as expected, a protagonist wouldn't dare go out without mastering all elemental attributes, wahahaha!"

"Are you having a fit?" Seeing his wild laughter, Mi Li was speechless.

"Just a little excited, just a little excited," Zu An chuckled.

Mi Li nodded in understanding. "Since ancient times, most cultivators specialize in a single element. Occasionally, a rare genius might master two, but that's the absolute limit. Your mastery of all elements is truly unheard of, so it's normal to be a little excited."

"However, I advise you not to expose this publicly. Otherwise, all the powerful individuals in the world will be envious and jealous. The kinder ones might capture you for research, while the more sinister ones would likely eliminate you as soon as possible, nipping you in the bud."

Zu An was a little displeased: "I've already resolved to pursue the Great Dao. A true man should ride forth boldly and become the strongest man in the world."

Mi Li rolled her eyes: "Temporarily concealing your talents doesn't conflict with that. Looking through historical records, countless powerful figures have existed, but those who charged forward relentlessly, never knowing retreat, all died tragically in the end. It doesn't matter if you die, but don't drag me down and extinguish my hope as well."

Zu An thought to himself that this woman was truly speaking against her heart. She clearly cared about him, yet she kept insisting it was all for her own sake.

He said in a deep voice, "So, am I just supposed to continue living timidly, enduring humiliation even when someone bullies me?"

"Not necessarily," Mi Li replied. "If someone bullies you, find a way to beat them back. Just make sure you plan how to handle the aftermath, and don't let everyone in the world know you've mastered all elemental attributes."

Zu An nodded, "Understood. Either I don't reveal it, or if I do, I make sure they don't see the sun rise the next day. That way, it naturally won't be exposed."

Mi Li: "..."

"You really are a cunning little devil."

"Empress sister, you've learned bad habits. Where did you pick up such foul language?"

"From you, of course."

"So, if you get the chance, you can cultivate other corresponding elemental combat techniques. It will significantly improve your strength. Well, I'm done talking with you; if I don't get some sleep, I'll get dark circles under my eyes..." Mi Li yawned and swiftly returned into the Tai'a Sword.

Zu An, meanwhile, fell into contemplation. Currently, he had the Snowflake Divine Sword for ice and the Flame Blade for fire. What about the other elements?

Hmm, for water, he could find Zheng Dan; for wood, Xue'er; and for mental... Yun Yuqing seemed to be mental-attributed. Hahaha, I'm a genius! Indeed, a male lion relies on his pride of lionesses.

But whom could he find for wind and metal?

Did any of the confidantes he knew possess elemental abilities in those two attributes?

Sigh, he had been quite proud of this aspect before, but now that he thought about it, he still had a long way to go.

Everything for cultivation, yes, that must be it!