Chapter 862: Seeking Marriage

“Excellent!” How could He Li miss such an opportunity to distinguish himself? He eagerly scurried over, silently recalling the incantation he had heard earlier: “As I mount the mystic clouds, and widely open the gate of heaven; the sun returns to the Golden Palace, the southern stars revolve around the Jade Balance; the ceremonial canopy turns purple, and the elegant music enters Zheng…”

The stone pillars indeed featured patterns like dark clouds, heavenly gates, suns, and golden palaces. He quickly tried to align the corresponding patterns.

Unfortunately, as soon as he aligned two, when he tried to align other patterns, the previously aligned ones would rotate again, losing their match.

He experimented repeatedly, but each time he fixed one part, another would break. Eventually, cold sweat dripped down his face.

Zhao Ruizhi observed this, then walked over and pushed him aside. “Useless! You can’t even handle something so simple.”

After saying this, he also began rotating the corresponding pillars. He quickly aligned four of them. Clearly, his previous observation had allowed him to deduce some rules.

However, when he started aligning the later patterns, he found that rotating those caused the previously aligned pillars to rotate incorrectly and lose their order.

He frowned deeply. He adjusted them several more times; as he aligned the later ones, the earlier ones became misaligned again. This left him flustered and struggling.

He Li, standing by, suppressed a smile. He thought, “You just insulted me, acting like you were so great. Is this all you’ve got?”

Of course, he would never dare to voice these thoughts aloud.

Zhao Ruizhi’s face also showed some embarrassment. He turned to look at Zu An. “As you just said, you can solve this mechanism?”

“Naturally,” Zu An replied proudly.

Zhao Ruizhi snorted. “In that case, you do it. If you can’t solve this mechanism, you’ll immediately understand what regret feels like.”

Zu An shook his head. “If I help you solve this mechanism, won’t you just turn around and kill me? I’m not that foolish.”

Zhao Ruizhi said in a deep voice, “Don’t worry, with so many witnesses here, I promise not to kill you if you can solve the mechanism.”

“Haha, your words mean nothing. You just went back on your word,” Zu An sneered.

Hearing him say this, a flicker of anger crossed Zhao Ruizhi’s eyes. It had been a long time since anyone dared to speak to him like that.

Rage points from Zhao Hao +444!

However, for the sake of the greater objective, he suppressed his anger. “If you don’t believe me, I can swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao.”

Zu An shook his head. “The elemental energy in this secret realm is extremely chaotic; a Heavenly Dao oath would have no effect.”

Zhao Ruizhi was startled. It was known that only those at his cultivation level could perceive the anomalies in this world. How had this fellow figured it out?

“This won’t do, that won’t do. What exactly do you want?” He was growing impatient.

Zu An said, “We don’t talk about oaths; we talk about benefits. This secret realm has been full of various mechanisms all the way here. You’ve needed me to solve almost every one. We’ve only just completed the first floating island, and there are two more to go. The magnificent palace undoubtedly contains all sorts of complex mechanisms. If you harm me prematurely, causing a mechanism to remain unsolved, and you’re just one step away from immortality but can’t reach it, wouldn’t that be the greatest regret of your life?”

He naturally wouldn’t trust the other party like that. However, stabilizing him temporarily was necessary. He also wanted to reach the uppermost palace, find Qin Shi Huang’s secret treasure, and acquire the second half of the *Primordial Genesis Scripture*. With Mi Li’s assistance at that point, it would be considered fighting on home ground. By utilizing the palace’s various arrangements, he would have a fighting chance against the emperor.

Zhao Ruizhi smiled. “You truly are eloquent, young man. Alright, you’ve successfully persuaded me. As long as you can help me achieve immortality, I will not harm you.”

“I said this is an exchange of benefits. I help you achieve immortality, so what will you give me?” Zu An asked.

Zhao Ruizhi’s expression darkened. “Didn’t I promise to spare your life? Are you trying to push your luck?”

“My life is surely too insignificant compared to immortality,” Zu An said, acting as if he had nothing to lose. “I won’t do a losing business like that. At worst, we’ll all go down together.”

Even He Li was somewhat impressed now. “This guy is truly a warrior, constantly testing the limits of death!”

He actually wanted to negotiate terms with the emperor as well, but his courage failed him every time he met the emperor’s gaze.

Bi Linglong bit her lip tightly. Although her rationality told her that given the emperor’s obsession with immortality, he would most likely agree, she couldn’t help but worry for Zu An. She was also very curious about what conditions Zu An would propose at this moment.

“Very well, I’ll make an exception. What do you want?” Zhao Ruizhi mused, planning to stabilize this fellow first, let him help obtain immortality, and then slowly settle scores with him later.

Zu An pointed to the side. “I want her!”

Zhao Ruizhi instantly erupted in fury. “You’re seeking death!”

A formidable aura burst forth instantly. Yet, Zu An remained standing straight, looking at him fearlessly.

He Li, standing nearby, was utterly awestruck. “This guy is unbelievably bold; I almost want to kneel before him!” Previously, Zu An and the crown princess had done many things to anger the emperor, but that was from a distance, separated by two floating islands, and the emperor couldn’t reach them quickly. But now, he was directly demanding the crown princess in front of the emperor himself?

He was extremely curious how the emperor would react.

Bi Linglong had been very worried about Zu An’s safety. But who would have thought he would pull such a stunt? Her pretty face instantly flushed crimson.

This guy truly was…

She wasn’t sure what her mindset was at that moment. She didn’t understand why he would make such a demand.

Wasn’t this touching the emperor’s inverse scale?

However, rationality was one thing, and emotion was another, and women were often emotional.

The other party was taking such a huge risk to “propose.” Her heart pounded. “Does he really care about me that much?” As for Zu An’s safety, she was less worried, because being part of the imperial family, she understood the emperor’s character.

As long as he could achieve immortality, what was a mere woman? Furthermore, it was only a verbal promise, and a qualified politician was always ready to go back on their word.

As for the imperial family being disgraced as a result, that wasn’t a major problem. Afterward, he could just silence everyone present, and then no one would know he had agreed to such humiliating terms.

Zu An calmly said, “You want immortality, and I will help you achieve it. After gaining immortality, you will have countless women. Why would you still cling to just her? If you can’t bear to let her go, then kill us now and pursue that illusory immortality on your own.”

Zhao Ruizhi’s expression shifted between dark and clear. Finally, he said coldly, “Alright, on the condition that you can truly help me.”

He had already made up his mind. Once this fellow helped him enter the palace, he would immediately pulverize him and scatter his ashes, venting his hatred.

He couldn’t even wait to slowly torment him.

He Li and the others from Prince Qi’s manor were waiting for the emperor to tear Zu An limb from limb. They never expected this answer.

“The imperial family’s moral integrity is truly low! He’d actually give up his ‘wife’ just like that?”

“Wait, is she his wife or his daughter-in-law?”

“His Majesty is truly generous!” Zu An laughed heartily. Then he turned, took Bi Linglong’s small hand, and said, “You’re mine now.”

Bi Linglong felt a little dizzy. This scene before her was too surreal to be true, yet it was undeniably real.

She blushed and opened her mouth, but for a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

Respond to him with a look of joy? A maiden’s modesty prevented her from doing so in front of so many people.

But if she said something else, it would easily hurt his feelings.

So she simply said nothing at all.

Zhao Ruizhi’s eyelids twitched. “Solve this mechanism first! Otherwise, I’ll execute both of you immediately.”

Rage points from Zhao Hao…

Zu An chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s child’s play.”

After saying this, he went over and rotated each pillar. He recorded which pillars moved when each specific pillar was rotated, and how many times each moved.

After testing each pillar, he wrote many columns of numbers on the ground.

Zhao Ruizhi immediately grew impatient. “What in the world are you doing?”

Zu An shot back, “What do you know? This is called linear algebra, the crystallization of human wisdom from a certain world.”