He quickly noticed something. “This guy is surprisingly cautious.”

He had been tracking that faint will fragment, and discovered that it had actually split in three different directions at the same time before returning to the bodies of three different individuals. The fragments wanted to run when they returned to those three individuals’ bodies, but their faces paled. They immediately sensed that a terrifying aura had already locked down on their bodies. In an instant, the three individuals’ heads drooped, and they immediately lost their lives.

These three were clearly also corpse puppets. They were like a firewall that prevented potential trackers. When the one controlling them sensed that Zu An had actually tracked it all the way to them, not only did it abandon the three corpse puppets, it decided to give up on that strand of will entirely and self-destruct it.

Unfortunately, even doing such a thing still left behind behind a trace for the current Zu An. He immediately noticed the slight trace of will in the air and tracked it to its source.

Somewhere nearby was a ruined daoist temple with a dried-up well in the rear court. There wasn’t even a single insect alive within, and there was a bit of black energy coming out from the opening.

There was a whole different place in the well. Someone had dug out a cave within, and an elder dressed in daoist robes was seated there in meditation. He suddenly coughed out a mouthful of blood. He opened his eyes. There was fear in his expression as he exclaimed, “What a powerful pressure!

“Hmph, thank goodness I was careful enough and set up several measures so I can’t be traced. No matter how powerful he is, he still won’t be able to find me.

“However, this place can no longer be used. I need to switch locations as quickly as possible.”

Just then, a voice asked from beside him, “Where do you plan to relocate to?”

“Of course…” The old daoist reflexively replied when he realized that something was off. He suddenly turned around and saw a handsome man and two beautiful ladies looking at him with an ambiguous expression. His eyes immediately narrowed.

“How can this be?!” the old daoist exclaimed in complete disbelief. Just a second ago, he had been confidently claiming that he couldn't be tracked, and yet his prideful statement immediately came back to bite him.

Zheng Dan and Sang Qien were feeling just as shocked as the elder. Just a moment before, they had still been near their home, and yet an instant later, they were now suddenly here? They didn’t even have any impression of how they had gotten here. They only recalled that Zu An had carried them, one in each arm, and then there was a bit of heat around their waist. They had felt a bit embarrassed and thought that he was going to do something to the two of them, wondering whether to push him away. And yet a second later, they realized that they had overthought things.

Zu An had wanted to chase after the one that was monitoring them, but he was also worried that it would be too dangerous to leave these two in their home. Besides, they had already been apart for quite some time, and he cherished every second they could spend together, so he'd decided to just take them with him. The two women's bodies were extremely light, so carrying them wasn’t difficult at all.

Zu An examined the whole place. He could smell a faint fishy scent in the air and saw skeletal remains scattered in the corner. His face couldn't help but darken. “It was a monster after all!”

He'd thought that it could be some malicious cultivator, but when he arrived, he sensed a different aura coming from the elder's body. It was just pretending to be human.

“Everyone claimed that the regent’s cultivation was unrivaled. Today, sure enough, I have seen that this is indeed the case. If it were anywhere else, I might still be a bit scared of you, but what you absolutely shouldn’t have done was to come all the way here and even bring those two dainty girls with you.” The old daoist snickered. Then, his body swelled, and the robes covering him ripped apart inch by inch.

A pitch-black monster appeared in the cave. It had countless pairs of legs and looked like a giant centipede. Of course, there were other differences, one of them being that there was a head between every leg. It really was horrifying to look at!

The monster twisted its body, and then seemed to merge with its surroundings. The cave suddenly lit up with streaks of red light, as if countless pairs of eyes were staring at the three of them. These were the eyes between its legs!

At the same time, the scattered skeletal remains all flew into the air. As they danced around, the skulls released horrifying laughter. A sinister and terrifying aura gradually filled the cave, feeling as if it could devour all living beings.

Even Zheng Dan, who had experienced all kinds of terrifying things, turned a bit pale with fright. Sang Qien’s face paled a bit as well and she reflexively hid behind Zu An.

Zu An said with a cold snort, “Insignificant skill!”

No one even saw him really move, but a flash of white light appeared, and all of the sinister winds disappeared. The skulls fell to the ground, and the red eyes exploded one after another.

Spurt!

The monster spat out a mouthful of blood. It could no longer maintain its original form and shrank back to its old daoist appearance.

His face was covered in disbelief. The murderous setup he had prepared was dealt with that easily? He was about to turn tail and run, but he discovered that he was restrained by a terrifying aura and couldn't move an inch.

Zu An slowly walked over and asked, “What is your name?”

The elder was really scared and reflexively replied, “Ten Thousand… Thousand-Footed Elder.”

Zu An felt that this name was quite fitting.

Sang Qien and Zheng Dan, who were leaning into Zu An, both saw the shock in each other’s eyes. Even though they already knew that Zu An was extremely strong, wasn’t this a bit too much?

They were both academy students and viewed the world from a different lens. They knew that the true form the monster had revealed, coupled with the frightening and treacherous formation it had prepared, made it far stronger than even grandmasters. Even if it couldn't compare to an earth immortal, it wasn’t too far off.

And yet, something that powerful was subdued by Ah Zu without much effort at all?

“I believe that you must be part of the monsters’ third path. Who are your colleagues, and what kind of plans do you have?” Zu An asked directly.

This Thousand-Footed Elder was a bit weaker than the Bloodthirst Crocodile and the other monsters he had met in the Ocean races. He was now far stronger than before as well, so it was naturally easy enough to subdue the monster.

The Thousand-Footed Elder snapped out of its daze and said with a sinister smile, “Since you know about all of that, I believe that the Lord of Myriad Transformations and the other pieces of trash must have failed. But you can cease your delusions if you want to get information out of me.”

After saying that, his entire body trembled, and his head drooped. Just like that, he died. It wasn't a transfer of divine will from the corpse puppets, but rather that his body had really died.

Just then, a sinister laugh resounded from around them. “You inferior species think that you can really defeat us? If it weren’t for this world’s barrier stopping us and the fact that we cannot descend in our strongest condition, why would we have been defeated by you?”

Sang Qien couldn't help but move closer to Zheng Dan. She looked around her and asked in a slightly trembling voice, “Dandan, is… Is this a ghost?”

Zheng Dan swallowed with difficulty. “It’s probably just a monster trying to dress up as a god.”

Zu An looked at a certain area inside this cave. He naturally knew what kind of state this individual was in. “Hm? Your soul seems to actually be able to leave your body after death, and it can return to another point?”

“But of course. This annoying world barrier has greatly restricted the way I can descend into this world. Even the War Priest, Shadow Monster King, and Lord of Slaughter died here, so no one is willing to risk coming into this world anymore. In order to solve this problem, the Monster Lord gave us brothers this blessing. Even if we accidentally die in this world, our souls can return to the Monster Lord’s side and revive. This is a mighty force that you can never even hope to obtain," the Thousand-Footed Elder said. He continued sinisterly, “Once I revive, you will understand what the meaning of regret is.”

Zu An couldn't help but laugh. “Since I could kill you this time, killing you again would still be just as easy.”

A hint of bitter hatred appeared in the Thousand-Footed Elder’s eyes. “You might be strong and I can’t win against you, but what about the people around you? Do you not have any close friends? For example, these delicate little girls, you can’t just protect them forever, right? But I can revive endlessly and will eventually find an opportunity. Then, I will make sure to properly humiliate them and make you regret offending me.”

Zheng Dan and Sang Qien were both greatly alarmed. You could live as a scoundrel for a thousand days, but how could you guard against a scoundrel for a thousand days? Ah Zu was so busy normally, and he was often away from home. How could he continue to protect them at their side?

Zu An gently patted their heads and said, “Don’t worry, he won’t have the chance.”

The Thousand-Footed Elder looked extremely unhappy about being looked down on. “Little girls, don’t be fooled by him. He has no way of protecting the two of you. Haha, just look forward to when I pay you two a visit again...

“Hm? Why am I still here?”

The Thousand-Footed Elder finally realized that something wasn’t right. Normally, he would have already returned to the Monster Lord’s side. Why were things not going according to plan?

Zu An sighed and gave him a pitiful look. “It seems you monsters don’t really have the best brains in your skulls. Did you really not realize that I never looked worried from the very start?”

“What… What did you do to me?” The Thousand-Footed Elder finally panicked.