“Not suitable for women?” Yun Yuqing was stunned when she heard this. “How could such a technique exist?”

The world was vast, and she did indeed know of several techniques that weren’t suitable for women. Similarly, there were some techniques that weren’t suitable for men to cultivate. However, the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra was famous! It was just too strange for a technique that could grant eternal life to have such a prerequisite.

“I’m really saying this for your own good. You should give up on cultivating this technique. I wouldn’t have bothered to tell you this if we weren’t so close.” Zu An wrapped his arm around her soft waist. There was a gentle smile on his face.

Yun Yuqing bit her lip. “Are you giving me a fake chant again?” she said in annoyance. She wasn’t stupid, and reacted quickly.

“Of course not. I promise that every single word is real,” Zu An said, a serious expression on his face.

Even though every word he’d uttered was real, the most important parts of the chant were missing, and the order of the lines had been rearranged. This altered chant would bring about entirely different effects.

Big sis empress had personally helped him modify it this way. After all, her fate was tied to his now, so there was no way she would wash her hands of his current predicament.

Zu An had gone over his plan with her, and Mi Li worked out this altered version of the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra chant. After all, if his goal was to blindside an earth immortal rank like the emperor, a random set of chants wouldn’t cut it.

Yun Yuqing was about eighty percent convinced, especially since he had given such a confident vow. She could tell that the chant she had just obtained was indeed incredibly profound, and that it was on an entirely different level compared to the first one. There was no way Zu An could come up with something like this on his own, given his current level of cultivation.

Her heart softened, and she looked at Zu An with a complicated expression. “I thought you were extremely shrewd, but I never expected you to hand over the chants to your most important technique so easily. Don’t you understand that I could kill you right now with just a single thought?”

Her hands were wrapped firmly around this man’s muscular back, and a faint gleam of cold light had formed on her slender fingers. Just a quick jab from her would be enough to kill this man who had taken her chastity. No one would ever know what she had done, and everything would return to how it was before. She would continue to remain the noble and pure Madam of North Order City.

Zu An didn’t seem to care one bit. “Madam, if you really were someone who routinely used her beauty to extract intelligence from men, I would never have told you the truth. However, given how terrible your acting was, I know that you’ve never done this sort of thing before. Since I am going to die anyway, dying at the hands of such a beauty isn’t such a terrible fate. However, can Madam promise me one thing before I pass on?”

“What is it?” Yun Yuqing was extremely curious. She wondered what he would request for at such a time.

Zu An looked calmly into her eyes. “Promise me that you won’t do something so stupid in the future. No matter who tries to force you into it, you should never agree. A goddess like yourself should never let herself be defiled in such a manner for the benefit of such pigs.”

Yun Yuqing looked at him, startled. In that instant, she felt as if her heartstrings had been firmly tugged. This mission had filled her with grief and indignation, and she had even felt a little suicidal later on. Now that she’d heard what he’d said, it was as if a ray of sunlight had shone down into the darkness of her heart, and she resolved not to abandon herself to despair.

Zu An smiled when he saw her looking at him. “What are you looking at me for? You won’t be able to help falling in love with me if you keep looking at my handsome face.”

“Pah! Shameless!” Yun Yuqing scoffed as she blushed profusely. Despite her words, her heart was pounding fiercely.

A moment passed, and she said quietly, “Thank you.”

Zu An sighed. The women of this world really were simple and honest! The one who enjoyed it the most was clearly me—why is she thanking me instead?

Yun Yuqing hesitated, and then she said, “How about I try to help you escape?”

Zu An shook his head. “There’s no need for that. I’ll just end up dragging you down with me instead, as well as your clansmen.”

His plan was still to face the emperor himself and settle this issue. If he ran now, he would find his hands full just trying to evade all the different powers that were sure to be after him. Take the dark elf assassin, for example—he could never have escaped from him if he had encountered him in the wilderness.

Yun Yuqing understood this as well. And she quickly grew quiet.

A while later, her beautiful red lips parted again. “I know that there’s no way to save you from your current situation, but there is something that I could do for you.”

Zu An froze. “What is it?”

Yun Yuqing’s face turned red, and a hint of shyness flickered between her brows. She circled her arms around his neck and said into his ear with a gentle voice, “I can… I can give you a child.”

Zu An was left utterly speechless.

He was absolutely stunned. He never expected that she would suddenly say this! After all, she was the wife of a glorious king! In terms of status, they were worlds apart!

Her previous display of affection could be explained by her need to acquire Phoenix Nirvana Sutra. Now, though, this woman was actually willing to give birth to his child? That was completely different! Had she really fallen for him?

It really was hard to imagine that a woman from the demon race, especially one who commanded such a high status in the human world, and who had such vast experience and knowledge, would fall for him so quickly.

“Is there something wrong with my ears?” Zu An said in disbelief.

Yun Yuqing said nothing, and gently embraced him instead. She answered him with her passion and warmth.

“Wouldn’t King Wu go crazy if he learned of this?” Zu An’s mouth had become terribly dry all of a sudden.

“You don’t have to worry about him,” Yun Yuqing scoffed. It would be accurate to say that she had been forced to accept this task in the beginning, when she thought that she was giving birth to this child for King Wu’s sake. Now, however, she had already completely accepted it. She wasn’t doing this for King Wu, though. Rather she was willing to do this for the man who had been willing to die for her, and who truly cared for her.

…

A while later, she felt his body begin to twitch. Yun Yuqing looked at him with misty, unfocused eyes full of incredible warmth. “You don’t need to hold back…” she whispered.

With a roar, Zu An let go of the last of his restraint. He pulled her to him tightly, as though trying to squeeze her into his own body.

…

After what seemed like eternity, Zu An brought his gaze towards the blushing beauty in front of him. He couldn’t help but say, “I am a human, while you are a demon. Do you think our child will be a human or a demon?”

Yun Yuqing scoffed. “Pah! Can you choose a better description? Demons and humans aren’t so different in terms of appearance. Is there even a need to differentiate between them?”

Zu An laughed. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter if the child looks more like me or like you, because that child will be attractive either way.”

Yun Yuqing laughed along helplessly. This guy! He always has so much confidence, regardless of the situation.

…

Some more time passed, and a maid knocked on the door. “Madam, it’s almost daybreak.”

This was their code, informing her that King Liang and the others were about to return.

Yun Yuqing drew herself up off the bed lazily, revealing her beautiful curves. She put on her clothes, then gave him a reluctant look. She sighed. “I don’t know if we will ever meet again.”

Even though this was what she said, she knew that there was no way the emperor would allow Zu An to live after he reached the capital.

Zu An’s reply was wholly unexpected. “How can I afford to die, knowing a beauty like Yuqing is worrying about me? Have no fear, we will definitely meet again.”

A smile spread across Yun Yuqing’s heartbroken face. “I really hope that is true.”

She put that snow white fox coat around her again. When she walked out of the room, she was once again the noble and pure Madam.

Soon after she had left with her maids, a sharp sound rang out. The Imperial Guards in the courtyard returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

After King Wu had seen King Liang and Liu Yao off, he rushed to the study. As he made his way there, his emotions were difficult to fathom, pain and excitement mixed in with an urgent expectation for the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra.

When he returned to the study, he saw his wife sitting upright in front of the table as she usually did, beautiful and composed. Her face was slightly redder than usual, but other than that, there wasn’t really anything different about her.

He swallowed with difficulty, then asked inquisitively, “Yuqing, did you succeed?”