“How do we leave this dungeon?” Zu An suddenly realized that he hadn’t asked the most important question. Unfortunately, there was no reply. He didn’t know if Wu Geng did this on purpose, or if he had already left this world.

The space around them began to warp. The two of them felt a feeling of weightlessness, and when they woke up again, they discovered that they were still touching Fu Hao’s owl statue.

This was where they had begun the trial. There was no one else around them. Previously, they had been worried that Ya Zhang’s corpse would be waiting to ambush them, but after going through Wu Ding’s trial, they knew that Ya Zhang was both loyal and reliable. Zu An actually wanted to spend some time reminiscing with that fellow, but he wasn’t around. He had most likely gone back to his coffin to sleep.

“Hm? Why did you return so quickly? Did you fail to start the trial?” Mi Li’s familiar voice came to him.

Zu An was stunned by her remark. “How much time has passed since we touched this statue?”

“Not that long, maybe just a few breaths. Did you fail to start the trial, or have you already passed it?” Mi Li was someone with great experience, and already had a vague idea of what had happened.

“Of course we passed.” Zu An sighed. “I didn’t expect that only a few seconds had passed. We went through several decades inside.”

Even though the period between Wu Ding and Di Xin spanned several centuries, Zu An and Pei Mianman had only experienced a few decades themselves.

Then again, it hadn’t truly felt like several decades either. To Zu An, his time spent living the different lives within the dungeon seemed to go by much more quickly than in the real world as well.

“Time flows at its own pace in these trials, which is why such a phenomenon is quite common.” Mi Li replied, “You can tell me the details of what happened later. For now, what did you obtain from completing the trial?”

She suddenly realized that it had been a long time since she was this excited about anything. She hadn’t even been this excited when she stumbled upon pleasant surprises while cultivating in the past. Why was she so excited over Zu An potentially getting stronger?

She was quite perplexed when she thought of this, but she merely put it down to her eagerness to reforge a new body. After all, the stronger he was, the quicker she would be able to achieve her own goal. That must be it.

Zu An replied, “I received something called the Heaven-Devouring Sutra.”

“Heaven-Devouring Sutra?” Mi Li was taken aback.

“Do you know about it, big sis empress?” Zu An was somewhat startled by her reaction.

“Of course! The Shang royal family’s Heaven-Devouring Sutra is a technique that would leave the world terror-stricken!” Mi Li’s expression was hard to read. “Most techniques in this world obey the natural laws. In essence, these natural laws make use of abundance to compensate for deficiencies elsewhere. However, the technique of the Shang royal family takes the exact opposite approach. It uses deficiencies to further one’s own abundance, relying on the devouring of other cultivators’ ki to strengthen oneself…”

When he heard what she said, Zu An subconsciously blurted out, “Like the Star Devouring Art?”[1]

“What is this Star Devouring Art?” Mi Li was confused.

“Nothing…” Zu An threw her a random explanation as he pondered over his new skill. It seemed pretty similar to the Star Devouring Art, but was probably an upgraded version of it. At the very least, it didn’t seem like one had to cripple his own intrinsic cultivation and start from scratch again.

These Shang Dynasty fellows were truly something else… They used humans as sacrifices, ate human flesh, and now I find out that they even sucked out their ki… It was difficult not to call them cannibals at this point.

Mi Li said, “Even though this technique seems a little treacherous, it suits your current situation quite well. Since your cultivation is still so low, you can use this skill to grow quickly. However, I have to warn you that this technique has a sinister undercurrent to it. If you are even a little bit careless, it might consume you instead. The more you use it, the more ruthless you will become, and you may eventually lose yourself.”

Zu An laughed. “Big sis empress, you’re worrying too much. There can be good or bad people, but there’s no such distinction when it comes to techniques. As long as I only use this to devour bad people, then even a sinister technique will become a good one.”

Mi Li nodded. “It’s rare for someone as young as you to understand that. However, I do not believe there is a need to limit yourself to only devouring bad people. There is no such thing as an absolutely good or bad person, so just focus on your own goals of cultivation, and don’t rely on it too much. Anyways, since you’re already conscious, there's nothing for me to worry about anymore. I’ll give you and your big-boobed sis some personal space.”

With that, she seemed to disappear without a trace. She seemed to have already fallen asleep.

Even though it seemed like the two of them had chatted for a while, based on the number of words exchanged, their conversation had been carried out between their two souls, so it all happened in a split second.

Pei Mianman didn’t notice anything strange. She said, “Ah Zu, Wu Geng didn’t tell us how to get out of this dungeon. What do we do now?”

They had successfully exited the trial, but they were still inside the secret dungeon, which was located within the ancient stele. They had no idea how to get out.

“We have no choice but to look around ourselves,” Zu An said with a sigh. “By the way, Wu Geng said that you could take Fu Hao’s owl statue with you. Give it a try. Do you think you can move it?”

Pei Mianman gently caressed the owl statue beside her. “I can sense some special connection and intimacy with this owl statue, so I should be able to commune with it somehow. I’ll need some time, though.”

“Take your time to settle that first. We have plenty of time. I’ll keep watch from over there.” Zu An said.

Pei Mianman nodded. She wrapped her hands gently around the owl’s wings and focused on trying to communicate with it.

Zu An saw her intense focus, and figured that he should leave her alone for a while. As such, he began to study the Heaven-Devouring Sutra that Wu Geng had given him.

As soon as he took out the bronze document, an icy voice sounded in his head.

Yinxu’s secret manual, Heaven-Devouring Sutra, has been detected. Do you wish to cultivate it?

Zu An obviously hit ‘Yes’. The bronze item in his hands turned into starlight and vanished, and a wave of information flowed directly into his head.

When he looked inside himself, he saw a taotie diagram take form. This taotie greedily devoured everything it could. Once it had done so, it even began to eat its own body, eventually leaving only a large mouth.

Even so, it still wasn’t satisfied. It suddenly raised its head towards the sky and widened its massive mouth, swallowing the heavens themselves.

Then, there was a great rumbling noise. The taotie’s giant mouth turned into a black hole, swallowing up all the celestial bodies that approached it…

Zu An felt his throat go dry after watching this entire ‘animation’. This technique really did seem quite sinister. Would he end up turning into a black hole as well if he continued to use it…?

While he was lost in his own thoughts, the cold, mechanical voice sounded again.

A new function of the Keyboard has been unlocked because you have obtained a second complete secret manual: The Valkyrie System!

Unlike in other dynasties, where men were considered of much higher status than women, many outstanding heroines emerged during the rule of the different kings and queens of the Shang Dynasty. These women were revered by the common people of the Shang Dynasty as valkyries.

Many other worlds have such outstanding women as well. Unfortunately, as their worlds collapsed, these dazzling valkyries lost their former strength and glory as well. Their souls became fragmented and incomplete, and their bodies continually drift along the ebb and flow of space-time.

Tiger Talismans can be used in the Valkyrie System. If your luck is good, you might resonate with a certain valkyrie who has been lost to the flow of space-time, and you can summon her to your world to fight for you!

Tiger Talismans can be obtained through the Rage lottery system. As a congratulatory reward for unlocking the Valkyrie System, you have received ten Tiger Talismans. We wish you the best of luck and hope you can resonate with a valkyrie during your ten free attempts.

As a friendly reminder, if you have purchased lottery tickets your entire life but have never won, we advise you not to have any high expectations for the Valkyrie System…

As he listened, Zu An slowly shook his head.

1. This is a technique from The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.