“What does the Asuras’ power insignia look like?” Zu An asked. Power insignias manifested in different forms in different worlds. It could be a scepter, a gemstone, or something intangible like a law.

“Only my father knows. That’s why those two imprisoned him but dared not take his life,” Princess Liuli replied.

“You’re lying. Lozento is an upright individual. That’s why the Asura King entrusted the most elite Asura army to him in the first place. Someone like that wouldn’t betray the Asura King,” Xihe interjected.

Princess Liuli frowned. “That confuses me as well. My father must have trusted him and lowered his guard, or else he wouldn’t have been taken down that easily.”

Zu An couldn’t help but secretly ask Xihe, “Why aren’t you doubting Pimosh?”

Xihe rolled her eyes. “It’s all because of you.”

“What does this have to do with me?” Zu An was baffled.

Xihe finally explained, “The Asura World envied the Celestial World’s beauty and prosperity, so they married the most beautiful Asura woman off to Emperor Jun to forge closer ties. That woman’s name is Shezhi, which means ‘Sincerity’ and ‘Pleasure’ in the Asura tongue. That greatly delighted Emperor Jun, and he took her into his harem.

“Later, Shezhi began missing home, so she wanted to invite her father, Pimosh, and close friends to the Celestial World as guests. Emperor Jun acceded to her request.

“Pimosh was flattered by the gesture. He gathered a huge bunch of friends and headed to the Celestial Court to visit his daughter. Actually, visiting his daughter was of secondary importance; he wanted to brag by showing the other asuras the Celestial World.

“Unfortunately, their huge group was stopped at the Celestial Court’s entrance. To be fair, the Celestials were extremely arrogant then and looked down on the Asuras from the bottom of their hearts. On top of that, they didn’t speak a common language. In the end, they failed to enter the Celestial Court.

“Pimosh wanted to brag about his daughter’s marriage before the other asuras, but he ended up being locked out instead. He saw that as an affront. As soon as he returned to the Asura World, he began stoking the flames of war against the Celestial Court. Many asuras also felt insulted by the Celestial Court’s arrogance, and there was already a deep-seated grudge between both worlds. Under his rally, practically the entire Asura World joined the battle.”

“It was a terrible war. The celestials and the asuras suffered a lot of casualties. The ruins of the battlefield felt like a glimpse of hell... and it was all because of you!”

Zu An was rendered speechless. “Isn’t Emperor Jun the culprit behind this mess? What does this have to do with me?”

“Aren’t you Emperor Jun right now?” Xihe glared at Zu An with contemptuous eyes.

Zu An was speechless. He still harbored some doubts regarding this matter, though, so he asked, “Emperor Jun already accepted Shezhi’s request to invite asuras into the Celestial World, so why was Pimosh blocked at the entrance?”

“You’ll have to ask Emperor Jun.” Xihe harrumphed. “Those arrogant celestials probably just looked down on the asuras and didn’t want to let them in, and Emperor Jun let them have their way to appease them. What does a promise to a woman count for?”

Zu An wisely didn’t refute Xihe’s words. He turned to Princess Liuli and asked, “Where is your father imprisoned? How many people are still loyal to him?”

He wasn’t so arrogant as to think that he could slaughter his way through the asuras. Pimosh was an expert strong enough to wage a war against the Celestial Court; he was likely to be around Emperor Jun’s level. Similarly, Lozento led the most elite army of the warlike asuras. Even Zu An would have to tread carefully around them.

“My father is imprisoned in Golden City, though I’m not sure about the exact location,” Princess Liuli said. “Most asuras should still be loyal to my father, except for Pimosh and Lozento’s kin and aides. However, the asuras revere the strong. If they learn that my father has been imprisoned, there is no saying whether they might switch loyalties to Pimosh and Lozento. Still, there are a few major factions that are extremely loyal to my father. They should be able to help us if we can get into contact with them. It’s just that Mount Meru is currently on high alert. There’s no way for me to make it to them.”

“I’ll take you there," Xihe suddenly spoke up. She turned to Zu An and said, “In the meantime, you should investigate why Lozento betrayed the Asura King and see if there’s any way to mend ties with him. Otherwise, even if we gather the other major factions, it’ll still be hard for us to stand against his army.”

She was worried that Princess Liuli would fall in love with Zu An. Instead of risking that, she would rather take Princess Liuli with her.

Zu An was oblivious to her thoughts. “Alright!”

Princess Liuli looked at the duo with curious eyes. “Who are you? Why are you helping me?” The tides were no longer on her side. There was no reason for these two to take such a huge risk to help her.

“We need to borrow the Asuras’ power insignia,” Xihe said. She glanced at Zu An and added, “And this fellow likes to play the hero.”

Zu An chuckled. He didn’t think that Princess Liuli’s resemblance with Mo Xi was a coincidence, and he was intrigued to know how she would end up as Mo Xi.

Princess Liuli looked at Zu An. “I can sense an Asura Tear from you. Asuras only bleed; they don’t cry. An asura woman would only cry for someone if they were deeply in love with them. I don’t know who that asura woman is, but since she’s willing to trust you, I’ll do the same, too.”

Zu An was taken aback. He remembered the forlorn look in Princess Ni Huang’s eyes when he took his leave, and that dampened his mood.

Xihe gritted her teeth in anger. No wonder this fellow said that he has experience dealing with the Asuras. It turns out he's in a relationship with an asura woman! Is there anywhere in the world where he doesn’t have any lovers? For a moment there, she even suspected that Zu An was actually Emperor Jun.

Princess Liuli quickly explained Mount Meru’s situation to the two of them, as well as provided Zu An some leads to work with when investigating Lozento. Only then did they part ways.

Xihe and Princess Liuli would be heading to the three major camps to liaise with the Asura King’s aides, whereas Zu An would head to the towering City Lord Manor located at the center of Iron City.

Security in Metal City was tighter than ever, especially for the City Lord Manor. Nevertheless, Zu An still easily snuck in using his Myriad Transformations. He followed Princess Liuli’s instructions and soon found Lozento. The latter was meditating inside a sealed chamber alone, seemingly conversing with a portrait.

Zu An was hesitant to get any closer, fearing that he would alarm Lozento. The latter was after all one of the top three asura experts.

Just then, someone outside reported, “Marshal, the First Elder’s envoy requests an audience.”