Chapter 849: If I Let You Die?

Zhao Ruizhi: "..."Anger from Zhao Hao: 482,482,482...Zhao Ruizhi's hand twitched, and the colossal python, like a whip, lashed out at him. He struck with a vengeance, and combined with the python's immense strength, the whistling sound of the air could be felt even from afar. It was clear that this single blow could have leveled a mountaintop.

Zu An, however, remained completely still. The whistling python swept past him, yet it was still several tens of zhang away.

"Should I stand a little closer?" he asked with a grin.

He was so calm because the floating islands they stood on were a hundred zhang apart, and this snake was clearly not a hundred zhang long. Its huge head had just been sheared in half by the red mist below, making it shorter, so naturally, he had nothing to fear.

With that, he stepped forward. Originally, he wanted to say something provocative like, "I jumped in and jumped out again, come and hit me!"—much like the character Tang Jing from the film *Justice, My Foot!*—to earn more anger points. But then he remembered Bi Linglong was watching, and well, he needed to save face.

Even so, Zhao Ruizhi was seething with rage. He glared at Zu An hatefully, then with a flick of his hand, the tens of zhang-long python instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist. Clearly, he couldn't deal with Zu An at the moment, so he could only vent his anger on the poor python.

He Li watched from the side, horrified. The Emperor was so powerful that no one could even conceive of resistance. "Why does that Zu An fellow insist on deliberately provoking the Emperor?" he wondered. "Is that man insane?"

On the other side, Bi Linglong had the same question: "Zu An, it's rare for the Emperor to seek cooperation with you, offering a chance to ease tensions. Why did you deliberately provoke him?"

Zu An sighed. "Given the things I've done," he explained, "even if I groveled before him, he wouldn't let me go. So why should I humble myself? I might as well curse him a few times and make him just as miserable."

Bi Linglong suddenly understood. "You're still the rational one," she said. "I almost forgot about that."

Zu An continued, "Also, if he truly needs me, no matter how much I provoke him, he will tolerate it until the task is completed."

Bi Linglong's expression was complex. "The Emperor has never suffered such a great loss at anyone's hands," she said. "You are the first."

She felt both shock and admiration. This man was truly unlike anyone else; others found it difficult even to speak in front of the Emperor, yet he remained so composed.

Just then, gasps of surprise came from the distance. Below them, miniature floating islands began to emerge, one after another. Each was about one or two square meters in size. These miniature floating islands would rise for a moment, then descend, then hover motionless in the air. They seemed to be moving in a cyclical pattern.

More importantly, between their floating island and the gigantic floating islands above, these miniature islands, moving cyclically up and down, were everywhere. They seemed to form a floating bridge leading to the "immortal mountains" in the sky.

Zhao Ruizhi burst into laughter. "Indeed," he exclaimed, "there's always a way out!"

Clearly, such a secret realm would never be intentionally designed as a death trap. It seemed there truly was some kind of "legacy" within, waiting for those who were destined.

He abruptly looked towards Zu An. He saw that while there were a few scattered miniature floating islands between their respective positions, they were clearly not enough for him to step across. Thus, he could only suppress the anger in his heart and decided to reach the "immortal mountains" above first.

However, he remained cautious and did not go himself. Instead, he looked at He Li. "You go up and try," he commanded.

He Li's scalp tingled instantly. He finally understood why the other party had spared his life—he was just a tool to scout the new secret realm.

However, he dared not refuse in the slightest and quickly agreed with a forced smile.

Then he looked towards the Prince Qi's Mansion subordinates. Noticing his gaze, they all subtly recoiled and simultaneously looked up at the sky, pretending not to see him.

Clearly, after witnessing their companions' tragic fate earlier, who would still be fooled by him?

"A bunch of cowards," He Li cursed inwardly. "And they call themselves death warriors?"

Left with no alternative, he could only bite the bullet and go himself. He took a deep breath and stepped onto the nearest miniature floating island.

His muscles tensed throughout his body, ready to retreat immediately if anything went wrong. As a peak ninth-rank master, he was quite confident about covering this short distance.

He stood on the miniature floating island for a long time. It didn't collapse or fall as he had imagined, and he couldn't help but show his joy. "No problem," he exclaimed. "It's safe to step on this one!"

He was about to step back down, but Zhao Ruizhi stopped him. "Continue!" he commanded.

He Li's face fell, but he had no choice. He continued to step onto the next miniature floating island. The moment he stepped on this one, it moved, slowly rising. His heart leaped into his throat, but since he had just observed these miniature islands rising and falling cyclically, he wasn't too panicked.

After rising several zhang, another miniature floating island appeared before him. He knew the one he was on would soon descend according to its pattern. He couldn't help but glance back at Zhao Ruizhi, hoping to go back first.

To his surprise, Zhao Ruizhi said nothing; only his stern gaze conveyed the command to continue.

He Li swallowed hard and quickly jumped onto the third miniature floating island. This island also slowly carried him upward.

Several islands in a row proved to be fine, and He Li breathed a sigh of relief. Then his thoughts began to stir. The Emperor was too cautious, and this actually gave him an opportunity. If he was the first to step onto those immortal mountains, wouldn't he have a better chance of obtaining the fortune within?

That way, he could escape the Emperor's control...

Having cultivated to the peak ninth-rank, he was no fool. He knew the Emperor hadn't killed him yet because he still had some use in this new secret realm. Once they left this secret realm, his life would most likely be forfeit.

Therefore, if he could obtain the fortune on the immortal mountains above, it would be his only chance at survival.

Thinking of this, his steps became lighter, and he no longer hesitated as he had before.

Who knew that when he stepped onto the fifth miniature floating island, though it had clearly been in an upward trend, the moment he stepped on it, it abruptly plummeted.

He Li panicked and tried to return to the fourth miniature floating island. With his cultivation level, such a short jump was certainly achievable. Who knew that miniature floating island would quickly ascend, instantly creating a distance that left him in despair?

Just then, a vine suddenly flew over and wrapped around his arm, pulling him back.

Standing on solid ground once more, He Li, shaken but now stable, saw the vine in Zhao Ruizhi's hand and quickly bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for saving my life," he said.

"Continue scouting the path," Zhao Ruizhi said calmly. "If there's danger, I'll pull you back."

As he spoke, he displayed the vine in his hand. This had been inspired by his earlier act of wielding the giant python; he had casually pulled a long tree vine from the nearby dense forest. Unfortunately, these tree vines could hardly reach a hundred zhang, otherwise, his first act would have been to whip that brat on the other side to death.

The gratitude that had just surged in He Li's heart instantly vanished. He cursed inwardly several times. *This vine isn't long enough! It might be enough for the first few steps, but if I run into trouble further along, you won't be able to save me!*

Despite his inner turmoil, he still had to grit his teeth and continue scouting the path.

Because further along, each miniature floating island would have several other miniature floating islands to choose from nearby. To speed up the exploration, Zhao Ruizhi selected several more death warriors from Prince Qi's Mansion to go together. He remained in charge at the back, and if anyone fell, he would use the vine to pull them back and send someone else in their place.

Having been Emperor for so long, he naturally understood the art of managing subordinates. If he kept forcing the same person to take risks, that person would surely develop resentment. And if they did something irrational out of despair, it could affect the overall situation. Therefore, sending them in turns could motivate everyone and give them hope.

As for He Li, that fellow was too cunning and afraid of death and precisely needed to be pushed by him.

On the other side, Zu An watched them explore repeatedly. Although very slow, it was indeed very effective. They were already approaching the divine mountains in the sky step by step.

He couldn't help but frown. The other side had so many people they could use an exhaustive trial-and-error method, but his side couldn't do that. Firstly, they didn't have such long vines. Secondly, if he went to scout, Bi Linglong's cultivation level would make it difficult for her to rescue him in time. And letting the weakened Bi Linglong scout was simply not a good idea.

Who knew that at this moment, Bi Linglong would proactively offer to scout the path? Clearly, with her intelligence, she also understood the stakes involved. "As for vines..." she said, "I still have plenty of clothes in my storage space. We can tear them into strips to make ropes."

Zu An shook his head. "The distance here is too great," he said. "Even if we stripped off all our clothes to make ropes, it wouldn't be enough. Their side is clearly planning to use human lives to test the path. How can we choose such a method?"

Bi Linglong's face turned pale. "Then what do we do?" she asked. "Are we just supposed to stay here and wait to die?"

The red mist below was rising, and it would clearly engulf this place in a few days.

Zu An also mentally asked Mi Li if she had any solutions. Mi Li didn't answer his question. Instead, she asked, "Do you believe what I say?"

"Of course I do," Zu An said with a wry smile. "Empress Master, if you tell me to go east, I wouldn't dare go west."

"Then..." Mi Li's voice paused. "What if I tell you to die?"