Zu An clasped his fist and said, “You have misunderstood. We are here to request an audience with the Asura King. We beseech you to relay our request.”

“The Asura King?” The faces of the asura guards darkened. “The Asura King has been assassinated. We are searching for the culprit right now. You two are suspicious. Who knows if you are related to the culprit?”

Zu An was dumbstruck. He had shrugged off Lady Houtu’s warning that the Asuras were extremely belligerent, since he was on good terms with the future Asura royal family. With this connection, he'd thought that it would be easy for him to befriend them. Little had he expected the Asura King to be assassinated.

Xihe retorted, “We have only just arrived here. We don’t even know what happened in your Asura World, so how can we be related to the culprit?”

“Follow us to Iron City. We’ll know the truth once we interrogate you. You’ll be released once we confirm your innocence,” the leader of the asura guards coldly spat.

Zu An had learned from Xihe that the Asura World had three major cities—Golden City, Silver City, and Iron City. These three cities were helmed by the three strongest asuras. Golden City was under the Asura King, whereas the other two cities were ruled by asuras of comparable stature to the Asura King.

Xihe scoffed, “We have come to visit a friend, yet you want to detain us without a legitimate reason. Do you take us for three-year-old kids?”

Once they were imprisoned, they wouldn’t have a say as to whether they were innocent or not.

The leader of the asuras was infuriated. “Arrest them!”

The asuras were about to make a move when a seven-colored light flashed and the world spun before their eyes. By the time they snapped out of their daze, Zu An and Xihe were already gone. They exchanged looks, wondering if they had been hallucinating.

Zu An and Xihe entered Meru Mountain.

It was a mountain, but it pierced into the clouds, towering as high as heaven. There were three floating cities at the foot, the midpoint, and the peak of the mountain. The city at the mountain peak emanated a radiant golden glow even from a great distance away. That was the legendary Golden City, the Asura race’s capital and where the Asura King lived. The city located at the midpoint of the mountain reflected a white gleam. That was Silver City. And the iron-gray city closest to Xihe and Zu An was Iron City, where the bulk of the Asura King’s army was stationed.

After the earlier encounter, Zu An and Xihe chose to conceal themselves and snuck into Iron City. Zu An even disguised himself as a hideous asura and crafted an ugly mask for Xihe. Asura men were notorious for their ugliness, after all. If they scaled Mount Meru with the appearance of ordinary humans, they would be discovered right away.

Xihe regretted crossdressing. How was she to know that there had been an upheaval in the Asura World? Her previous getup would have worked for the old Asura World, which had its fair share of visitors from other races. But the current Asura World was shrouded in an air of desolation. The guards patrolling the streets didn’t hesitate to capture and interrogate anyone whom they deemed suspicious. There was no one from the other races around. Perhaps they had all been thrown into prison.

“Is the Asura King really dead?” Zu An was worried. He would have no idea where to find the Asura Path’s power insignia if that was the case.

Xihe rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you from the future? Why don’t you know about this?”

Zu An sheepishly replied, “I'm not familiar with the Asura World’s history. I only had a brief encounter with them in the future, so my understanding of them is limited.”

Xihe sighed before saying, “The Asuras worship the strong, and the Asura King is the most powerful individual in the Asura World. His strength rivals Emperor Jun and Donghuang Taiyi. That’s how the Asuras have survived their countless fights against the Celestials. I can’t imagine someone like that being assassinated.”

Zu An sighed. “Even someone as powerful as Emperor Jun has died without leaving a trace.”

Xihe also fell silent. Could the Asura King have met with the same fate as Emperor Jun? This feels like the calm before the storm.

Zu An suddenly frowned. “Someone is approaching.”

Xihe looked over. “It seems to be a woman.”

A slender woman from another street was rushing in their direction. She wore a veil that obscured her facial features, but judging from her physique and air of youthfulness, it wasn't difficult to imagine that she was a beauty.

Xihe sneered, “I hope you aren’t feeling sorry for her, are you?” This fellow is too much of a philanderer.

Zu An huffed in response, “I intervene based on the situation, not whether the other party is a woman or not.”

Through his divine sense, he saw a group of asuras pursuing the masked woman, but he didn’t want to get involved before getting to the bottom of the situation. Besides, he had other matters to attend to here.

The masked woman turned at the bend of the street and headed toward them. Her hair was woven into little braids. She was scantily dressed, revealing her slender waist and youthful thighs. It was difficult to resist the urge to take a second look at her.

Zu An was dazed, not because of her beauty but because she reminded him of someone.

Xihe noticed his expression and sneered.

The masked woman was startled to see the two of them, but she quickly exclaimed joyously, “You’re finally here!”

Xihe was stunned. This cunning woman is dragging us down in hopes that we’ll create an opening for her to escape?

She nearly laughed out of sheer anger. But before she could explain, the asura guards had already unleashed attacks on them.

Zu An frowned. With a wave of his hand, he conjured a void that devoured all the attacks targeting them.

The asuras widened their eyes as if they had seen a ghost.

The masked woman was startled as well. She had only intended to use these two to stall her pursuers; she hadn’t expected them to be this powerful. Realizing that she had trifled with the wrong people, she hastened her footsteps to escape.

But Xihe grabbed her shoulder and said, “Miss, you’re being too optimistic if you think you can get away after dragging us down into the mud.”

By this point, the asuras had realized that Zu An and Xihe weren’t enemies they could deal with. They immediately turned tail and fled.

“We can’t let them get away! We’ll be goners if this matter reaches the ears of the lord of Iron City, Lozento!” the masked woman exclaimed.

Due to her struggling, her veil fell, revealing a beautiful but flustered face.

The sight of her face made Zu An’s heart skip a beat. With a wave of his hand, he quickly captured all the asura guards into his seven-colored halo.