“How’s this possible?” Zhao Yuan panicked, his eyes brimming with confusion.
As the king of assassins, he had absolute control over his body. He was confident that he could dictate the life or death of anyone within a one-meter radius of him. Even when Zu An appeared, he'd still been confident he could kill Zu An if the latter got within a thirty-centimeter radius.
If someone had told him that an enemy could easily rescue a person he was holding hostage, he would have never believed it. What did it mean to be the king of assassins? It meant no one could rescue a person under his control!
That was the basis of his confidence, which was why he'd dared to negotiate with Zu An after holding Bi Linglong hostage.
What's going on? Was it all my delusion? Reluctant to believe this was real, he even tried stabbing the pillar in his grasp. It was indeed no illusion. What he was holding was a rotten pillar.
It wasn't just him; the crowd was also flabbergasted.
Murong Qinghe and Zhang Zitong rubbed their eyes before exchanging confused looks. They had seen Zhao Yuan holding Bi Linglong hostage. It was one thing for Zhao Yuan to hallucinate, but how could all of them be hallucinating together?
Bi Linglong felt as if she was dreaming. It was just a second ago that Zhao Yuan had his blade pressed against her neck, and she had already resigned herself to death. She'd even considered slitting her neck against the blade so that she wouldn’t be a liability to her lover. But then, the next second, she suddenly appeared by his side.
She reflexively touched her neck and felt the thin cut on it. That confirmed she wasn’t hallucinating. What’s going on?
Everyone present was full of questions.
Zu An sighed. “I told you, I call the shots in this world.”
After obtaining the World Law Beacon and the acknowledgment of the world’s will, he'd been granted the equivalent of a superuser privilege. He could freely alter the world laws, though only to a certain degree—it couldn’t threaten the functioning of the world.
To be exact, it was the equivalent of having access to a game’s backend engine, allowing him to freely alter data. Even moving mountains and seas wasn’t beyond him, let alone substituting Bi Linglong with a pillar.
In this world, he was no longer at the level of a simple cultivator anymore. Other cultivators had to rely on fighting to obtain what they wanted, but he could solve problems with a simple thought.
He'd still struggled to use these privileges before, but after his encounter with the deities in the ancient Celestial Court and the Deity of Enigma and Chaos, Mi Li, his grasp on power and laws had risen to another level. It helped him decipher his privileges in this world.
But he could only access these godlike abilities because he was this world’s master, which meant that he couldn’t use them anywhere else. Had he bumped into Zhao Yuan in another world, it wouldn’t have been such an easy fight.
That said, even the experience of being a god in a little world was meaningful. It deepened his understanding of power and laws, allowing him to deduce the abilities of the mythological and universal deities.
“So this is the power of a god...” Zhao Yuan looked crushed. He knew he was cornered, and there was no way Zu An would spare him after everything he had done.
“How tragic it is to be mortal!” He slit his throat with his blade. He looked at Zu An and Concubine Bai with a mocking gaze as life seeped from his body. “I won’t let you interrogate me. Concubine Bai, you'll never see your son again!” Thanks to the annihilation power's enhancement, he could still speak so much despite having slit his throat.
Concubine Bai exclaimed in horror. Her face turned ghastly pale.
Zu An stared at Zhao Yuan with an enigmatic smile. “Do you think death is the end for a god?”
Now that death was drawing close, Zhao Yuan had been fearless, but Zu An’s words made him panic. Could it be...
The truth soon became apparent. Zu An casually waved his hand, and a transparent soul emerged from Zhao Yuan's body. The latter looked back at his corpse, followed by his current transparent form that no one else could see. He was shocked and frightened. “This is... my soul?”
Zu An smiled. “I should have told you that I’m also the netherworld’s master. Deceased beings fall under my jurisdiction.”
Zhao Yuan was horrified. “NOOOOOO!”
Zu An turned to Concubine Bai and said, “Don’t worry. He hid your child in a small town not too far away from Phoenix Pass. I’ll send someone to rescue him.” He called Zhang Zitong over and relayed the instructions to her.
Zhang Zitong excitedly replied, “Consider it done!”
I’m the first one the regent thinks of when he needs something done! He's given me the location and the defense layout. With the imperial guards and the Embroidered Envoys under my command, I should just buy a slab of tofu and bang my head on it if I can’t rescue the hostage despite that.
Zu An turned back to Concubine Bai and said, “The Shadow Group fed him a poison to keep him under their control, but you don’t need to worry. I already know the antidote’s concoction method. I’ll hand it to someone from the academy later.”
Concubine Bai was overjoyed. She kneeled to him and said, “Thank you, Zu... Regent!”
Bi Linglong frowned. She wanted to say something, but she held her tongue.
Zu An supported Concubine Bai to her feet. Then, he turned to address the rebel soldiers in Phoenix Pass. “You have brought chaos to the empire by aiding the rebellious kings, but they have been purged now. I’ll give you a chance. Lay down your weapons, and I’ll spare your lives as long as you haven’t hurt any innocent civilians.”
“Thank you, regent. Long live the regent!”
Now that Zhao Yuan was dead and Concubine Bai had submitted, who would dare to continue the rebellion, especially after what they had just witnessed? Right now, they only felt thankful to the regent for his magnanimity.
Listening to the cheers from the crowd, some imperial officials secretly glanced at Bi Linglong. When they saw her looking at her lover with adoring eyes, they burst into laughter. In history, officials who were so celebrated by the people drew their liege’s suspicion and would eventually be purged, but no one thought anything was wrong with what had just happened.
Zu An entrusted the two dukes from the Qin clan with the important responsibility of processing the rebel army’s surrender, while he greeted the officials and caught up with old friends like Gao Ying and Pei You. It had been years since they had met, so there was a lot to chat about.
It took a while before Bi Linglong got some private time with Zu An. “Ah Zu, I don’t think we should spare Concubine Bai’s son.” Fearing that he would misunderstand, she quickly added, “I’m not on good terms with Concubine Bai, but I’m not saying this out of a personal vendetta. That child is Zhao Han’s descendant. Others might seek to use him when he’s still young, and if he learns that you killed his father later when he grows older, he might turn against you. It wouldn’t be wise to keep him around.”