After spending such a long time as a soul, Mi Li desperately wished to go for a stroll as a normal person. She was tired of spending most of her time asleep, and wanted to take a look at this new world for herself. 

Even though Zu An was reluctant, he had to admit that she had been a great help to him so far. He had already agreed to help her reconstruct her body. Now that there was an opportunity for Mi Li to have a body of her own, it didn’t feel proper to stop her. He let her soul body fly into Daji.

Mi Li entered Daji’s body. Zu An was just about to ask her how she felt when he was stunned by a miserable scream. Mi Li’s soul leapt back out of Daji’s body and stared back at it in horror.

“What’s wrong, big sis empress?” asked Zu An urgently. Clearly something had gone wrong.

Mi Li glared at him. “You said that this woman was lacking a soul?”

“Yup,” Zu An confirmed. That was what the system told him, at least.

Mi Li looked confused by the honesty in his voice. “That’s strange…”

“What’s going on?” Zu An asked in a panic. He noticed that Mi Li’s body was flickering, as if she was fading. She had clearly suffered severe damage.

Mi Li replied, “She isn’t missing a soul. It’s just been sealed by a profound and mysterious formation… Um, I guess you can consider her soul damaged, given this seal. Of her three souls and seven forms, only her Life Soul has been allowed to return to her body. That’s why she looks like a living corpse.”

Every person has three souls and seven mortal forms. The three souls are the Heaven Soul, Earth Soul, and Life Soul. The seven forms represent a person’s joy, anger, grief, fear, love, hatred, and lust.

Zu An was stunned by this revelation. “If I understand you correctly, we can restore her intelligence by undoing her seal.”

Endless possibilities had opened up for him. Daji was already beautiful in her current form, but it just didn’t seem right for only her body to be here. If her soul were to be returned as well, he could find himself in an intimate relationship with a legendary fox spirit.

“Forget it,” Mi Li said with a snort. “The seal on her body is extremely profound, and even seems to resonate with the dao. Even I, at the peak of my powers, would not be able to crack it, let alone someone like you.”

Zu An wasn’t happy with her dismissal. “It’s not as if we’re in a rush to unseal her. Anyway, it’s better than accepting that she’ll be an empty shell forever. Big sis empress, is there no way for you to possess her?”

Mi Li rolled her eyes. “With that terrifying formation within her, I’d just be asking to be extinguished if I try to go in.”

Zu An let out the breath he was holding. “That’s good then, that’s good,” he replied subconsciously.

Mi Li’s expression turned cold. “What? Do you think that you’d lose a girl to play with if I possess her body? You look way too happy about this.”

Zu An sighed. “I just don’t want you to leave me. I’m already used to having you by my side.”

Mi Li’s eyes trembled slightly. She was silent for a while, then said quietly, “I’ll have to leave eventually.”

Zu An laughed. “At least we’re together for now. I have some time to prepare myself.”

Mi Li pursed her lips, but didn’t say anything else.

“Were you injured just now?” asked Zu An hurriedly.

Mi Li nodded, her voice harboring lingering traces of fear and annoyance. “Thankfully, I was still rather careful, and fled immediately when I sensed that something was wrong. If not, my soul might really have been blasted apart by that seal. Even so, my soul still suffered a considerable amount of damage. All the recovery that I’d made after this period of bitter effort has now been wiped away.”

Zu An was at a loss for words.

Even though he knew that her soul had been damaged, he hadn’t expected it to be that serious. No wonder her tone had been rather awful just now.

“Forget it. I really have to go into hibernation in order to restore the damage, so I won’t be able to help you for some time. You have to throw away the thought that I’m somehow secretly watching you, and that I’ll be able to help you if you encounter any danger. Otherwise, you’ll die without even knowing what killed you.” Mi Li’s tone was extremely serious.

Zu An nodded. “Big sis empress, you’ve already taken care of me for so long, and I’ve gone through quite a bit myself as well. If I had to rely on you every time, I would be worse than useless.

“Right, I’ll definitely find some medicine that can help your soul restore itself once I reach the capital.”

“You’ll be dealing with the number one cultivator of this world once you reach the capital. Even your own safety isn’t guaranteed. Forget about it.” Despite her words, Mi Li’s expression grew gentler, and she gave a slight sniff. Since this fellow bore such goodwill towards her, she wouldn’t bother challenging him on his filthy thoughts.

You put it so nicely just now, but don’t think for a second that I don’t know what you’re really thinking. You’re afraid that you’ll lose out twice if I seize Daji’s body, right? Hmph! How dare you have such thoughts about me? You’re just a shameful pervert after all.

Mi Li quickly went into hibernation. Zu An stowed Daji away as well, and began to study the Heaven Devouring Sutra. From its description alone, it seemed like quite a ferocious technique. It was now rather obvious how Wu Geng had been able to decimate everything around the deer terrace pavilion by channeling a single skill through his palm. He had probably used the Heaven Devouring Sutra.

He felt anticipation building within him. He didn’t know when he would be able to reach that level of power.

His expression suddenly grew strange. Wu Geng had been a participant in the final trial, but so had his mother, Queen Jiang. Her appearance within the trial would not have been different from her real self.

His anxiety regarding the trial had led him to ignore the chambers of imperial concubines during his time as king. What if he hadn’t held back, but kept Queen Jiang company? Would Wu Ding have interfered to stop him?

“What are you thinking about?” Said a sweet-sounding voice beside his ear.

“I was just regretting that I didn’t…” Zu An was halfway through his reply when he suddenly noticed Pei Mianman standing next to him, a smile across her face.

“What are you regretting?” Pei Mianman asked curiously.

“Nothing.” Zu An’s face turned red. How could he possibly say it out loud? Even he was embarrassed by the thought. “You’ve successfully communed with Fu Hao’s owl statue?”

“Yup. I already established a connection with it.” Pei Mianman opened her fair hand. The owl statue had shrunk to a miniature size, and was slowly spinning within her palm.

Zu An was jealous, but only of how cool she looked right now. “What does this owl statue do?”

Pei Mianman shook her head. “I still don’t know too much about it, but I know that it’s somehow related to the darkness of the night. I need some more time to study it.”

Zu An nodded. Many magical artifacts only unlocked all of their functions after the two souls merged completely. Pei Mianman had just established a connection with this owl, but given that she had taken on the identity of Fu Hao within the trial, he believed she would quickly reach that stage.

“Oh, right. A hidden passage opened up after I connected with the owl statue. It seems to lead further down,” Pei Mianman said.

Zu An looked at where the owl statue had stood. Sure enough, a dark passage led down through the ground. The murals along the sides of this passage seemed extremely familiar. “This is Fu Hao’s tomb!” he blurted out.

“Huh? How do you know?” Pei Mianman asked him curiously.

A look of great turmoil appeared on Zu An’s face. “Did you forget that I was the one who constructed your tomb after you died in the trial? These murals and this owl statue, everything is exactly as I remember them.”

Pei Mianman held his hand gently. “All of that is already in the past. I’m right here by your side.”

Zu An nodded. “Yeah. Let’s head down. I remember that the jade badge of the Eastern Barbarians was placed among the funerary objects. We still have our promise to Jiangjiang to fulfill.”

“Won’t it be poor etiquette if we disturb her rest, though?” Pei Mianman said with a worried look.

Zu An laughed and said, “Aren’t you Fu Hao? I am Wu Ding. We’re just taking a stroll down memory lane. Even if there is some part of her still down there, she might be overjoyed to see some old friends.”

“Everything in the trial was fake though…” Pei Mianman mumbled. Despite her words, a fair amount of tension seemed to drain out of her.