Chapter 1520: Divine Weapon
The Agate of Enlightenment wasn’t actually a piece of agate. It was a translucent honey-like liquid, but more viscous, stored in a ki stone bottle. The bottle had all kinds of runes and formations around it to prevent the medicinal qualities from leaving the bottle.
When Zu An opened the lid, rich natural ki rushed out. He had only sensed a similar density of ki from the Xia Dynasty secret dungeon, but at that moment, the concentration was even greater than in that dungeon.
Apart from that, there was an ancient and profound air about it that seemed to carry the great dao of the world, as if there were laws of the cosmos carved within. Even the slightest contact could bring great benefits, giving a cultivator vague signs of a breakthrough.
The reason why the Golden Crow Crown Prince had been able to gain such high cultivation and become the leader of the five extremes above all of his peers, apart from his superior apt.i.tude and pointers from the Fiend Emperor, was partly due to the Agate of Enlightenment. It allowed cultivators to comprehend the dao and achieve breakthroughs more easily.
However, even the Golden Crow Crown Prince with his distinguished status had only received a single drop of this Agate of Enlightenment each year. It was easy to see just how precious it was.
And yet, Zu An had simply taken the entire bottle. Of course, out of consideration for the Second Empress, he still left behind a small bottle for the young prince’s cultivation. However, if there hadn’t been enough Agate of Enlightenment to begin with, he would probably have taken the rest too. At worst, he would have just compensated the mother and son in a different way.
Zu An activated the forging system. A large cauldron projection appeared in the room. He then sent in a strand of White Lotus Flame. The great cauldron instantly erupted into blazing flames. Fortunately, the Second Empress’ palace was supported by special runes, or else a normal house wouldn’t be able to hold such a large cauldron or such blistering flames.
He then added the heaven-grade ores to it. They were the most basic materials needed for the Tai’e Sword’s repair. Such ores would both help to regulate the flame’s temperature, and melt to repair the Tai’e Sword.
Zu An was about to put in the Tai’e Sword when he suddenly thought of something. He quickly took it back.
“Beautiful master, hurry and wake up~” he repeatedly called out to Mi Li. He had forgotten that her soul was still in the Tai’e Sword and almost roasted her alive.
“What is it?” After Zu An called out for a long time, a lazy voice finally replied. The voice sounded a bit upset, as if she had been woken up from her sleep.
A wonderful figure lay down on a seat off to the side. She wasn’t dressed in lavish palace wear the way she usually was, and instead had some soft, light-colored clothes. She was like a stay-at-home married woman who had been roused awake and came down to open the door.
Her beautiful hair was bundled up in a simple manner around her neck and shoulders, a hairstyle pre-Qin Dynasty women often wore. She rested her chin on her hand, her soft hair casually falling down across her snow-white skin and swaying with the wind. Her usually lively and heroic demeanor surprisingly gave way to a hint of gentle charm.
The light of the fire coming from the large cauldron in the center of the room was like a winding milky stream against her body, highlighting her incredible curves.
Zu An thought to himself, Is this woman really not a reincarnated gourd spirit?
However, after the previous night’s battles, he was now just like a saint. He quickly recovered and said, “Beautiful master, I hope you’ve been well.”
“It would’ve been better if you hadn’t woken me up,” Mi Li replied, rolling her eyes.
“Master, you really slept quite deeply. I almost lost my life in that Unknown Region!” Zu An began to grumble.
“Aren’t you still fine?” Mi Li replied, then yawned while covering her red lips, her movements graceful and n.o.ble.
Zu An was speechless.
“Master, you might not know, but I had to be a subst.i.tute for the ancient deity Yi in the Unknown Region. I even shot down the suns in the sky! Later, I even killed the Fiend Emperor. When I came out, I even killed several grandmasters…” He gathered his thoughts and then began to tell her about what had happened in her absence with a big smile. Even though he didn’t say it directly, his excitement clearly hinted for her to praise him.
“I know that already. Seeing as your Puppet Curse is gone, the Fiend Emperor is obviously dead,” Mi Li said flatly. She remained calm, as if she were listening to something that couldn"t be more expected.
Zu An was now at a loss. Is it because I didn’t do good enough, or does this woman not care about me at all?
When she saw his expression, Mi Li grinned and said, “Alright, fine. Actually, I saw everything that happened in the dungeon.”
“You saw everything?” Zu An asked.
“Of course. How could I sleep in such a dangerous situation? I was always secretly watching. I have to say, brat, you really do have some skill,” Mi Li replied.
Zu An’s expression immediately brightened. Looks like my beautiful master still loves me.
“As for those grandmasters last night, they’re nothing special. In the Unknown Region, everything else was secondary. The most precious thing you gained was that unrivaled conviction. As long as you continue to win, you’ll become stronger and stronger,” Mi Li continued. If Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue were here, they would definitely feel great admiration. She had been able to deduce the reason behind Zu An’s increase in strength from a single glance.
“Then what if I lose?” Zu An asked with a frown.
“If you had that thought, you would no longer have that unrivaled conviction,” Mi Li said calmly.
Zu An shivered, seemingly understanding. Suddenly, he thought of something and asked, “Master, seeing as you saw everything, what exactly is going on with the Celestial Emperors? Are there really immortals in this world?”
“Of course there are,” Mi Li said, getting up from the seat and walking over to the window to look into the sky. There was a somewhat wistful expression in her eyes as she continued, “In the past, when I saw the ancient records, I thought they were just myths. I didn’t expect them to really have existed! The Unknown Region you went to was a bit different from other secret dungeons. It could be a world that really exists.”
“Really exists?” Zu An asked, shocked. Didn’t that mean the Celestial Emperors, Sun G.o.ddess, Spirit Mountain’s Ten Shamans, and the Mt. Wu G.o.ddess… were all individuals who actually existed?
Mi Li nodded and said, “That world is a bit strange. If my suspicions aren’t wrong, someone snipped a segment of the river of history and cast it there.”
Zu An’s expression changed. He asked, “Is there really someone that powerful?” To be honest, such a skill was already beyond his understanding.
“There’s no need for you to think about those things right now,” Mi Li slowly said. “There are too many temporal and spatial laws involved in the process, so not even I can comprehend it. However, I do have some guesses…”
Zu An waited for her to continue, but when he saw that she didn’t say anything, he thought she was waiting for him to play along. He quickly asked about it, but she didn’t say anything. Mi Li instead replied, “It won’t be of any help to you if I tell you about these things now. When it’s time in the future, you’ll naturally know them yourself.”
Zu An was speechless. He hated it the most when others made things mysterious like this on purpose.
Mi Li didn’t seem to want to continue talking about the topic with him, however. She changed the subject, asking, “You didn’t call me out just to show off, right?”
Zu An finally remembered his objective. He handed over the bottle in his hands, replying, “Beautiful master, do you see what I have here?”
Mi Li opened up the lid and gave it a look. Her previously calm and aloof demeanor was immediately replaced with pleasant surprise. She exclaimed, “Agate of Enlightenment!”
When he saw her become as happy as a little girl, Zu An immediately felt better. He thought, This woman usually always acts so profound and immeasurable. She really lacks the emotions of a normal girl.
“Out of the four things you mentioned before, I’ve already gathered two of the Five-Colored Springflower, Agate of Enlightenment, and One Life Water. There’s still one more item that you never told me about, though. Can you tell me now? That way, I can keep it in mind. Otherwise, I might have missed out on this Agate of Enlightenment in the Fiend races’ Imperial Treasury,” Zu An said out of curiosity.
“Once you find the One Life Water, I’ll naturally tell you the fourth item then. Telling you now is still meaningless,” Mi Li said, a blush suddenly spreading across her white cheeks.
Zu An thought he had misheard her. He was about to ask again when Mi Li pointed at the large cauldron at the center of the room, asking, “What are you trying to do here?”
Sure enough, Zu An was distracted. He replied, “Wasn’t the Tai’e Sword damaged? This is a good chance to fix it.”
Mi Li could sense that the heaven-grade ores were starting to melt inside the cauldron. She nodded and said, “The skill you obtained in the dungeon is not bad. Together with these heaven-grade ores, you should be able to repair it successfully.”
“There’s also this,” Zu An said, bringing out a piece of metal and waving it around. “I plan to throw this in too. I even got some Meteor Spark Pills to help with its refinement.”
“Calamity Gold!” Mi Li exclaimed. With her knowledge and experience, she naturally recognized it. Her expression became a bit conflicted as she said, “This is something that can refine true divine weapons. Don’t you feel that it’s a bit of a waste to use it on the Tai’e Sword?”
Zu An shook his head and replied, “How is this a waste? The Tai’e Sword is the supreme treasure of your Chu State and Qin State. Now, it’s even where your soul resides. It’s different from normal heaven-grade weapons.”
A strange look flashed through Mi Li’s eyes when she heard him say that so naturally. However, she quickly covered it up and replied, “What a rare display of filial piety. But there’s no need for you to feel any disappointment, because the Tai’e Sword was a divine weapon to begin with.”