Read My Disciples Are All Villains - Chapter 891 - Karmic Fire In The Palace online free - Light Novel Full

Lu Zhou put the life heart away, feeling unprecedentedly excited. Nevertheless, he grumbled inwardly about the extraordinary power as he rushed out. At the same time, he opened the system interface,

Merit points: 33,130

He looked at the price of the Deadly Strike Card. 26,000 merit points.

It would be a loss for him to kill Thousand Realms Whirling cultivators with a Deadly Strike Card. Moreover, Thousand Realms Whirling cultivators who had activated their Birth Charts were even more troublesome; with the Birth Charts, the effect of the Deadly Strike Card was reduced tremendously. Naturally, as a Thousand Realms Whirling cultivator himself, he knew how difficult it was to look for life hearts to activate one's Birth Charts.

Considering the rarity of life hearts, Yi Yao must have hated him to death for destroying one of his Birth Charts with the Deadly Strike Card.

Soon after, Lu Zhou's mind drifted to the guiding mark of the formation that Yi Yao pushed into the stone wall. "What's with that guiding mark?"

It had to be a contact point that had been there for a long time. Moreover, if the passage to the black lotus domain was under the lava, Yi Yao had to escape into the depths of Sky Wheel Rift Valley. If he returned now, he would probably run into Yi Yao. He regretted not destroying the guiding mark because he had left in a hurry.

After flying out of the Sky Wheel Rift Valley, Lu Zhou did not leave immediately. He hovered in the star-dotted sky as he muttered to himself, "If he's not convinced, I'll destroy another one of his Birth Charts."

If Lu Zhou managed to destroy another one of Yi Yao's Birth Charts, he was certain he would be able to defeat Yi Yao, who was left with three Birth Charts, with his two Birth Charts and extraordinary power. Moreover, Yi Yao had lost an arm and was greatly injured at this moment.

After mulling over the matter for a moment, Lu Zhou felt like something was amiss. 'Now that I think about it, it seems like I should be able to win! I should've seized the chance to pursue him and attack! Why did I stop when the situation was favorable to me?! I've suffered a great loss!'

With this thought in mind, Lu Zhou dove back into the Sky Wheel Rift Valley and entered the underground cave again. Unfortunately, he did not see Yi Yao.

He flew toward the guiding mark before he struck it with his palm. The already damaged stone wall was instantly reduced into a mountain of rubble after he was done. The dimly lit guiding mark was completely destroyed.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The rocks continued to fall into the bubbling lava.

"Is the passage close?" It seemed like the guiding mark was not just a guiding mark; it also marked the passage that linked the black lotus domain and the red lotus domain.

The black lotus domain was strong enough to monopolize the Birth Chart Beasts in the red lotus domain with no one the wiser. Would they set their sights on the golden lotus domain as well?

The golden lotus domain's cultivation limit was at the eighth or ninth leaf. The golden lotus that absorbed one's lifespan was the shackle of heaven and earth. The process of sprouting the ninth leaf would attract the huge beasts. Based on the general cultivation speed, the golden lotus domain should have Ten-leaf cultivators within a few years. At that time, the golden lotus domain would attract Birth Chart Beasts.

The law of the jungle, naturally, applied to the golden lotus domain as well. In the past, due to the weakness of the golden lotus domain, it remained invisible. However, once Birth Chart Beasts began to appear, would the black lotus domain try to monopolize the Birth Chart Beasts in the golden lotus domain?

Lu Zhou shook his head; there was no point dwelling on this matter for now. It was best for him to return first.

With that, Lu Zhou left the Sky Wheel Rift Valley.

About half an hour after Lu Zhou left.

Yi Yao walked out into the lava-filled cave as he pressed one hand against his shoulder.

"So cautious?!" Yi Yao looked at the entrance to the underground cave with lingering fear in his heart. Fortunately, he was patient enough to endure staying hidden for close to an hour. If it were not for this, he would have been beaten by that mysterious expert again.

As Yi Yao rose into the air, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. He gritted his teeth as he looked at the destroyed guiding mark. "Who's he? An envoy from the blue lotus domain? However, there's no record of a blue lotus domain in the Black Tower Council. What's happening? Is it a case of the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?"

Yi Yao gritted his teeth and endured the excruciating pain. He could not help but shudder when this thought appeared in his mind. In his mind, the black lotus domain had always been the hunters, and the other domains were like sheep. What the hell was the blue lotus then? He could not figure it out.

"I must report this to the Black Tower's Council," Yi Yao muttered to himself as he looked at the lava.

Buzz!

A Thousand Realms Whirling avatar appeared. Its height had dropped from 500 feet to 450 feet.

Yi Yao could not help but tremble again when he recalled the golden Seal of Fearlessness.

Activating a Birth Chart absorbs 1,500 years from a fierce beast's life span through its life heart. After that, a distinct Birth Zone would appear, providing a cultivator with an additional 500 years of life. In addition to raising one's cultivation base, prolonging lifespan, and bestowing one with special skills, a Birth Chart could also help a cultivator to block a fatal injury. That was equivalent to having an extra life. Naturally, this also meant that the Birth Chart would be lost.

Only Yi Yao knew how it felt to lose something as important and precious as a Birth Chart at this moment. With the loss of a Birth Chart and his arm, how could he not feel resentful? He looked at the entrance with dark eyes as he muttered to himself, "I'll remember you. The next time we meet, I'll destroy your Birth Charts before I take your life."

Boom!

Splash!

Yi Yao dove into the lava with his Thousand Realms Whirling avatar in tow.

After a moment, there was no movement in the underground cave except for the bubbling lava.

It was almost midnight when Lu Zhou returned to the Literary Star Hall in the Sky Martial Court.

With the Purple Glazed Ceramic and the Mystic Heaven realm cultivation base, it was almost impossible for anyone to notice him.

Lu Zhou did not feel happy even though he had acquired a new life heart. After all, he had just discovered the Deadly Strike Card that he had relied on the most could no longer be considered his most powerful trump card.

However, through his first battle with a Thousand Realms Whirling cultivator, he learned more about the uses of a Birth Chart.

Lu Zhou recalled his first meeting with Lu Li. If they were to fight, perhaps, he might be at a disadvantage. However, he had more than 500,000 merit points at that time. Therefore, it was not completely impossible as well for him to destroy five Birth Charts.

In the past, Lu Zhou had only used the Deadly Strike Card as a last resort. It was not a means to earn merit points. Moreover, he was rather prudent when using the cards due to his fear of a price hike.

However, currently, it seemed like the Deadly Strike Card had become rather useless!

He did not need the Deadly Strike Cards to deal with cultivators below the Mystic Heaven realm. However, now that the card was unable to deal with those in or above the Mystic Realm, did not it mean the card was now useless?

"Yi Yao will definitely seek revenge from me… How should I deal with him?"

Lu Zhou looked at the system interface.

Merit points: 33,130

Remaining lifespan: 961,401 days (Out of 2634 years, 110 years are from Reversal Cards).

Only slightly more than 30,000 merit points? Lu Zhou felt poor.

It was not worth it to buy a Deadly Strike Card now. Rather than depending on the Deadly Strike Card to deal with that Thousand Realms Whirling cultivator, it was better for him to focus his efforts on his Birth Charts.

Lu Zhou brought the scarlet pheasant's life heart out and let it hover in front of him.

"Ding! The scarlet pheasant's life heart contains 2,000 years of life and can be used to activate a Birth Chart (Every activated Birth Chart will grant a cultivator 500 years of life. The Birth Palace would absorb 1,500 years of life from the life heart, leaving an additional 500 years behind) Ability: Fire control."

Subsequently, Lu Zhou brought out the piece of cloth Lu Li had given him and studied the positions of human-grade Birth Charts to search for a suitable position for the life heart with fire attributes. The Yong had increased his defenses, and the other fierce beast increased his offensive power and granted him the fire-resistance ability. The life heart of the scarlet pheasant's fire control complemented the fierce beast's fire resistance.

As he looked at the description on the cloth, Lu Zhou looked at the earth-grade Birth Charts with fire attributes longingly before he shifted his eyes to the human-grade Birth Charts on the left and the right of the Birth Palace respectively. The life heart he had just obtained would grant him the ability to control fire, and he could put it in the same place in the Birth Palace as the previous life heart that granted him the fire-resistance ability.

Lu Zhou was perplexed. "I haven't activated all the human-grade Birth Charts, I wonder if I can activate an earth-grade Birth Chart?"

Buzz!

Lu Zhou manifested his Thousand Realms Whirling avatar. Then, he looked at the positions in the Birth Palace on the lotus seat. Then, he gently placed the scarlet pheasant's life heart on the fire attribute zone on the lotus seat.

"Ding! To activate this Birth Chart, you need to activate at least five Birth Charts."

'As expected,' Lu Zhou thought to himself. Since it was like this, he could only place this life heart into the same place as the life heart of the fierce beast that granted him the fire-resistance ability.

Whoosh!

After Lu Zhou placed the life heart on the lotus seat and in the Birth Palace, the life heart sank into the Birth Palace.

Vitality energy began to swirl around the life heart in just a blink of an eye.

Lu Zhou knew that this process would take a long time so he no longer paid any attention to it. Instead, he closed his eyes and entered the meditative state while he waited for the activation of this Birth Chart to be completed.

An hour later.

Whoosh!

Lu Zhou felt a scorching air blowing against his face. When he opened his eyes, he saw a raging golden fire burning tall in his Birth Palace on the lotus seat.

"Karmic fire?"

Previously, the karmic fire would burn around the lotus or appear in his hands. However, it was burning and surging in his Birth Palace now.

Swoosh!

The flames continued to rise and burn.

"Ding! There are leftover years of life from the life heart; they'll be converted into energy."

As soon as Lu Zhou received the system notification, he felt a burning sensation all over his body, in his internal organs, and his Dantian's sea of Qi. All of them were burning with karmic fire at this moment.

"This is bad." As expected, one should not recklessly use the life heart. Just like medicine, taking too much might come with unpleasant effects.

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Before using this Birth Chart Heart, Lu Zhou had a feeling that it was more suitable to be placed in the position of the earth-grade fire-attribute Birth Charts that he saw on the piece of cloth, the Birth Chart map. Putting in the zone of human-grade Birth Charts was obviously an overkill. If he could not withstand this, it would backfire on him without a doubt.

Lu Zhou endured the restless fire and heat in his body as he tried his best to calm his surging blood qi and energy. As long as he could ride through this wave of fire, he would be able to successfully activate his Birth Chart.

How ironic was it that he was being burned by his own karmic fire?!

The burning sensation grew more painful.

Buzz!

Lu Zhou's forehead was drenched in sweat as he manifested his avatar to prevent the karmic fire from burning the building down.

Lu Zhou frowned slightly as he looked at the flames on the shoulders of his avatar. The flames looked abnormally bright and dazzling.

He tried his best to control the flames on his dharma body to not burn the building. He only needed to wrap the dharma body.

"Extraordinary power." He used the extraordinary power he had painstakingly saved.

The extraordinary power appeared and shrouded his avatar, and he felt like he was being submerged in cool water. It extinguished the flames of the karmic fire in just a blink of an eye.

Lu Zhou looked at the Birth Palace in the center of his lotus seat. It seemed like it was about to stop spinning. Apart from that, there was no movement in the Birth Chart zone; its distinct edges showed no sign of lighting up.

"Am I going to fail?"

"..."

Lu Zhou waited for a moment. There was still no change that indicated he had successfully activated a Birth Chart.

"Failure is the mother of success." Lu Zhou sighed as he shook his head. One could learn from one's mistakes.

Lu Zhou was about to withdraw his avatar when…

Swoosh!

The flames on the lotus seat reignited with a vengeance.

'Hmm?' He looked at the place in the Birth Palace where he had placed the scarlet pheasant's life heart and saw that the flames had reignited there as well.

"Thankfully, I didn't use too much of my extraordinary power earlier." Lu Zhou was overwhelmed with relief.

He continued to maintain his avatar.

This time, the burning sensation had disappeared. The side effects brought by the overflow of energy were also gone. The process of activating this Birth Chart was now similar to the first two times he activated his Birth Charts.

Lu Zhou sighed in relief. He was incredibly lucky he managed to successfully activate his Birth Chart this time. The slightest mistake would have rendered the life heart useless.

Out of caution, Lu Zhou paid attention to the activation of the Birth Chart for a while. After confirming he was on the right track, he closed his eyes to meditate on the Heavenly Writing.

Early the next morning.

Lu Zhou opened his eyes and looked at the Birth Palace in the center of the lotus seat. It was still burning, and the life heart was still absorbing vitality energy.

"Why is it taking so long?"

The activation of the Birth Chart this time far exceeded the previous two times.

He gauged his extraordinary power and determined he needed another two days to fully replenish it. Therefore, he used the Purple Glazed Ceramic and continued to meditate on the Heavenly Writing.

The scripts from the Heavenly Writing appeared in his mind. With the help of the Purple Glazed Ceramic, the scripts from the Heavenly Writing appeared at a much faster rate than before.

The feeling of immersing himself in meditation was incredibly comfortable. It was like meeting again after a long separation.

Two days passed in just a blink of an eye.

It was quiet inside and outside of the Literary Star Hall.

...

Si Wuya had gone to look for his master. However, when he received no response, he did not dare to enter without permission. Fortunately, his master trusted him so he made his own decisions one after another.

When he returned to the Sacred Rites Hall, he saw Li Yunzheng with dark circles around his eyes waiting for him with an ingratiating expression on his face.

"T-teacher… I finally understood this question. Can you give me another month?" Li Yunzheg said with an embarrassed expression on his face as he held a few pieces of paper up.

During this time, he had been studying the riddles that Si Wuya had given him. Up until now, he only managed to understand some of it, let alone solve them.

Si Wuya returned to the table. He glanced at Li Yunzheng and said, "There's no need for that. You can't solve this question."

"Why? Oh, I understand. Is this an unsolvable riddle?" Li Yunzheng asked.

"There is a solution. What I mean is that with your ability, you can't solve it," Si Wuya said.

"Uhhh..."

During this time, Li Yunzheng's confidence had been completely destroyed. He, who claimed to be well-read, was beaten up in almost every aspect in front of Si Wuya.

In the past, Si Wuya had been a Grand Tutor in the Imperial Court, after all. Apart from that, he was also much older than Li Yunzheng. Therefore, his knowledge and experience were not something Li Yunzheng could hope to match.

Si Wuya asked, "In your opinion, if you want to take back your authority, where do you have to start?"

"I'll, naturally, start with the civil and military officials... As long as there's no objection from them, I'd be able to sit firmly on my throne," Li Yunzheng replied.

"Think about it again." Si Wuya picked a brush up. He clearly did not think much of Li Yunzheng's answer.

"Am I wrong? Teacher, the four Grand Dukes have been persuaded by grandmaster's strength that's in the Mystic Sky realm. With grandmaster on my side, they'll definitely stand on my side as well. With the support from the four Grand Dukes, we only need to convince the civil and military officials by giving them a little benefit..." Li Yunzheng said.

"Think again." Si Wuya shook his head.

"..." Li Yunzheng scratched his head. No matter how much he thought about it, he could not think of a better method. After an hour, he finally gave up. He bowed before he said, "Teacher, please enlighten me."

Si Wuya put the brush down before he said, "Xia Housheng leads the royal guards, the main force that controls the capital."

Li Yun Zheng asked, "I don't know where Xiahou Sheng is hiding. There's no news of him in the capital. With grandmaster around, he probably wouldn't dare to come out of hiding, right?"

Ever since Yu Chenshu died, Xia Housheng had not been seen.

"Nothing is absolute in the world." Si Wuya rose to his feet and placed his hands on his back before he said, "Xiahou Sheng has 100,000 royal guards under his control... You must never forget that..."

"Teacher, please enlighten me," Li Yunzheng said.

"The weak have no right to speak," Si Wuya said slowly, "You're the ruler of a country so you should understand this the most."

Li Yunzheng nodded.

Si Wuya continued to say, "You must make the eight Great Generals of the Ten Path submit."

Li Yunzheng said hesitantly, "They're all heroes who protect the people and the country, and if I..."

"As a ruler, you should never be indecisive. You're still young so I can make decisions for you. You will understand in a few years. If you're not willing to let me make this decision for you, you can leave now... Our relationship as teacher and student will end here."

Si Wuya's almost ruthless way of doing things stunned Li Yunzheng. He found it hard to accept.

Si Wuya knew he had to be ruthless.

Si Wuya also knew that he had to be ruthless. However, when he recalled Li Yunzheng's young age, he sighed. He knew he could not press Li Yunzheng too hard as well.

Si Wuya had seen the rise and fall of the Imperial court in the golden lotus domain. He had seen siblings killing each other and the fall of the Imperial family.

Si Wuya looked outside the window and asked, "Jiang Aijian, the person who came with me, do you know his true identity?"

Li Yunzheng shook his head, indicating that he did not know.

Si Wuya said, "He's the Third Prince of Great Yan's Imperial family, Liu Chen. At that time, many people thought he would surely be the successor of the throne. Not only was he the most promising prince in the history of Great Yan, but he was also the most favored prince. Alas, a fire in his palace burned thousands of people to death. At that time, the Imperial army, the Black Knights, the Great Generals of the nine provinces, not a single person stood on his side." His voice lowered as he continued to say, "Without sufficient strength, even those closest to you might betray you or not take your side. The blood that flows down the dagger that is stabbed into your heart might be black. Do you understand?"

Then, Si Wuya said in a grave tone, "Remember this; those generals are not 'your' generals." He emphasized heavily on the word 'your'.

Li Yunzheng trembled.

Si Wuya continued to say, "In a few days, I will discuss the matter of entering the palace with your grandmaster. You should return for now and think about this."

"I will take my leave then." Si Wuya's simple words have stirred up chaos in Li Yunzheng's mind.

Meanwhile, in the Literary Star Hall.

"Ding! You've meditated on the Earth Scroll 300 times. Obtained: a privilege from the Heavenly Writing."

"With this privilege, you can upgrade the extraordinary power to the supreme mystic power."

Lu Zhou opened his eyes after receiving these system notifications.

After three days, he felt as though he had fallen asleep and had suddenly woken up from a dream.

At this moment…

"Ding! Worshipped by 15,500 people. Reward: 15,500 merit points received."

"Ding! Worshiped by 8,750 people. Reward: 0 merit points."

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Lu Zhou was puzzled by the series of notifications.

"The supreme mystic power?"

He had obtained six scrolls including the Human Scroll and the Earth Scroll. During the process, he had also obtained many Open Heavenly Writing Scrolls. Obtaining an Open Heavenly Writing Scroll was equivalent to unlocking new powers. This time, his meditation had gained him a privilege from the Heavenly Writing.

"Use."

"Ding! Used the privilege from the Heavenly Writing. The extraordinary power had been upgraded to the supreme mystic power."

Following that, Lu Zhou felt that all the cooling sensation of vitality energy stimulating his mind, his extraordinary meridians, and his sea of Qi. From the surface of his skin to the inside of his body, he felt as though he had been gently electrocuted, causing him to feel numb all over. The hair on his skin stood on ends. Apart from that, his mind was stimulated to an unprecedented level.

When his mental state finally stabilized, he discovered his extraordinary power had been replaced with the supreme mystic power.

The extraordinary power was exaggerated as it was; how insanely powerful would the supreme mystic power be?

In the beginning, there was the path. The path was pure, leading to all kinds of wonders and mysteries.

Rather than blindly speculating, it was better to test it out.

Lu Zhou opened his hand, and it glowed with a blue light.

"Blue?" It was still blue, but the supreme mystic power was a clearer and deeper blue compared to the extraordinary power. It shone even more dazzlingly than before.

"So this is the supreme mystic power? I wonder how powerful it is..."

Lu Zhou looked around. There was no way he could use the buildings in the Sky Martial Court to test the strength of the supreme mystic power. He did not want to move to another place; he liked this place. It was spacious and comfortable and there were not many people around. Moreover, the building would not be able to provide him with an accurate gauge of his new power.

"Forget it. I'll test it out when I have the chance." It was rather difficult to test his power without a Thousand Realms Whirling cultivator around.

Previously, the extraordinary power allowed him to defeat Nascent Divinity Tribulation Realm cultivators when he was in the Divine Court Realm. However, after sprouting the ninth and tenth leaf, the extraordinary power was no longer as exaggerated as before. After using it against the coffin and armor with red runes, he confirmed the extraordinary power was stronger than that of a Nine-leaf cultivator. With his current cultivation base, half of the extraordinary power could only put a dent in the astrolabe of a Five Chart Thousand Realms Whirling avatar. It would only cause the astrolabe to dim briefly, leaving no lasting damage. Would the supreme mystic power be able to damage an astrolabe?

After a moment, Lu Zhou clenched his hand, dispersing the supreme mystic power where he had placed the scarlet pheasant's life heart. At this moment, the life heart was nowhere to be seen. Unlike the other two Birth Charts, the distinct edges of the third Birth Chart that had formed were faintly red, causing the third Birth Chart zone to look golden red.

At the same time, he could also sense his avatar had grown taller. It should be 400 feet tall now.

After Lu Zhou withdrew his Thousand Realms Whirling avatar, he looked at the system interface again.

Merit points: 48,630

"The 15,000 merit points are from Old Eighth?"

Now that he was reminded of Zhu Honggong, Lu Zhou decided to take a look to see what Zhu Honggong was doing. Since the extraordinary power had been replaced by the supreme mystic power, there should be changes in the Heavenly Writing Powers as well, right?

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and silently recited the mantra for the Heavenly Writing Power.

His eyes glowed blue before Zhu Honggong appeared before his eyes.

At this moment, Zhu Hong Gong was dressed in a long robe. He was seated in the highest chair, and his hands were placed on the armrests that had been carved into the likeness of a tiger's head.

On the lower ground, a young man was in the midst of reporting something:

"Sect Leader, the Cool Breeze Sect, the Righteous Sun Sect, and the Virtuous Sect have agreed to be annexed. You've met the three sect leaders before this. If you want to kill them, all you have to do is say the word."

Zhu Honggong opened his eyes and nodded in satisfaction. He waved his hand and said indifferently, "Kill them."

"Wait." Lu Li, who was sitting on the left, said, "This is a good time to win over the people's hearts. Don't start a massacre."

Zhu Honggong smiled sheepishly before he said, "Ah, that's right. I was too immersed in acting like my master; I couldn't help it. Please don't misunderstand me, senior."

"Your master likes killing people?" Lu Li asked as he furrowed his brows.

"Uh… Not really. However, he's never indecisive when killing those who deserve to be killed," Zhu Honggong replied.

"One should look at the situation before killing. In the eyes of the sects of here, you're invincible. There's no need for you to lower yourself to the level of these ants," Lu Li said.

"What do you mean by that, senior?" Zhu Honggong asked.

"We'll rule with both kindness and power. Reward the original members of the Flood Sect with earth-grade weapons, cultivation methods, and other treasures. After three days, you'll join the alliance of the cultivation world formed by the ten major sects and take the highest position," Lu Li said.

Zhu Honggong was stunned.

When Xu Wanqing heard the words 'earth-grade weapons', his eyes lit up immediately. He fell to one knee and said, "Thank you, Sect Leader. Thank you, senior. For your grace of bestowing me an earth-grade weapon, I'm willing to follow you for the rest of my life!"

Zhu Honggong frowned and said, "Earth-grade weapons are nothing." He looked at his gloves silently. He did not activate it, but he knew it was better than a heaven-grade weapon.

"Thank you, Sect Leader," Xu Wanqing said before he took his leave.

Lu Li looked at Xu Wanqing's retreating back and said, "This is the power of kindness… Earth-grade weapons are nothing to you so why don't you give them to these people? What you need to do is control the rare resources here. For example, the fire spirit stones, the purple fire stones, and possibly life hearts and Birth Chart Beasts."

"Is this appropriate?" Zhu Honggong asked.

"It's not inappropriate. If you ever learn about the Black Tower Council in the future, you'll understand how kind this method is," Lu Li replied.

Zhu Honggong nodded. Then, he said with a sigh, "In the end, you have to become like those you hate."

At this moment, Xu Wanqing suddenly entered the hall again. He bowed before he said, "Sect Leader, I have good news!"

"Speak."

"Ever since you defeated the top ten experts of the three major sects yesterday, another five sects are willing to join our Flood Sect!" Xu Wanqing said.

"Alright, I'll see them later."

"Understood." Xu Wanqing turned around and left again.

Lu Li calculated the progress in his mind. When there were no outsiders left in the hall, he said to Zhu Honggong, "Manifest your avatar so I can have a look.'

Zhu Hong nodded and manifested his avatar.

Lu Li studied the avatar as he said, "Its true height is 130 feet now. When I was in the Black Tower Council, I read that one would need roughly 1,200 years of life when sprouting the ninth leaf. The life heart of the flounder only has 300 years of life. You have about 900 years left in you… This number is barely enough…"

"Um... Senior, does that mean I'll become an old man?" Zhu Honggong asked.

"The life heart of the king of the sea beasts has 1,900 years of life left.

The heart of the Sea Beast King has 1,900 years left. We can use it to prolong your life by 400 years. The remaining 1,500 years of life should be saved for when you're activating your Birth Chart. After sprouting the ninth leaf, your lifespan will extend as well. Therefore, there's no need for you to worry about that," Lu Li said as he continued to look at Zhu Honggong's avatar. It seemed like he was not aware of the method of severing the lotus.

"You have a point… Senior, I realized you're quite similar to my Seventh Senior Brother," Zhu Honggong said.

"Your Seventh Senior Brother?"

"You've seen him on the Sky Shuttle. I brought Dang Kang with me to lure the sea beasts away at that time to save my Seventh Senior Brother," Zhu Honggong said with a sigh, "We have a very good relationship. I'm sure he must be crying his eyes out at this moment…"

Lu Li recalled the scene in the fog above the Endless Ocean. "Him? He also smells of the energy from the Great Void."

"What's the smell of the energy from the Great Void?" Zhu Honggong asked as he lifted his arm and sniffed his armpit.

"This is very strange. When both of us return, we should have answers when we meet your master. However, I have to think of a way to mask the Great Void energy on your body."

"Thank you, senior. Apart from my master… Ah, no. Apart from my Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, Fourth Senior Brother, Seventh Senior Brother, you're the first person I met who treats me so well."

"..."

...

The Heavenly Writing Power was cut off.

Lu Zhou nodded in satisfaction. He no longer had to worry since he knew that his disciple was safe. Based on what he had seen, it seemed like Lu Li was going to help his disciple to sprout the ninth leaf.

"Lu Li is also a member of the Black Tower Council? Why is he so different from Yi Yao? Is there internal strife in the council?"

Lu Zhou did not dwell on the matter for long. Instead, he gauged his supreme mystic power. After a moment, he discovered he had three-quarters left. He could continue observing Zhu Honggong if he so wished.

"How powerful is the supreme mystic power? Moreover, there's still the fire control ability from the third Birth Chart..."

When he thought about his third Birth Chart, he looked outside. After a moment, he channeled his energy into the Purple Glazed Ceramic before he flew outside.

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Lu Zhou silently left Sky Martial Mountain like a gust of wind and flew toward the towering mountain range before coming to a stop between two remote mountain peaks.

Following that, he manifested his Thousand Realms Whirling avatar.

Buzz!

When the familiar buzzing noise rang in the air, the birds took flight and the beasts on land scampered away.

Lu Zhou studied his Thousand Realms Whirling avatar. There were not many changes in his avatar apart from the most obvious one being its height that had increased by 50 feet. Apart from that, his avatar did not gain a crown as well. Nevertheless, he did not care about such useless flashy things.

After that, he shifted his attention to the golden astrolabe at the back of his avatar. He could not help but wonder to himself, "What would it look like if all 36 Birth Charts are activated?"

After activating all the Birth Charts, if he wanted to use their powers all at once, would the power surge cause the astrolabe to explode? It would be fine if he did not attempt such a thing, but it would definitely be problematic if he wanted to do something like that.

Lu Zhou shook his head. 'It's useless to think about it now. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'

Subsequently, he mobilized the power of his third Birth Chart. The zone of the third Birth Chart in the Birth Palace flickered immediately.

Lu Zhou looked at a mountain in the distance, and with just a thought, a beam of light that burned with golden flames shot out of the third Birth Chart on the golden astrolabe.

Whoosh!

Boom!

The beam of light easily penetrated the mountain.

Huge rocks began to roll down the mountain as a huge flame began to burn. It did not take long before the rocks rolling down the mountain were on fire as well.

He wondered if this was part of the ability to control fire?

"I can use the Birth Chart's power four times previously. After activating the third Birth Chart, how many times can I use the power?" Lu Zhou wondered out loud.

He looked at the mountain again. In any case, it was already destroyed. It made no difference if he tested his strength on the mountain again.

Lu Zhou's avatar faced the mountain as his third Birth Chart kept shooting beams of light out of his golden astrolabe.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Lu Zhou inwardly counted every beam of light that shot out of the golden astrolabe until the third Birth Chart zone dimmed.

"Twelve times?" This meant that every time he activated a Birth Chart, the number of times he could use the power from the Birth Charts increased by four times. Naturally, he was not completely certain this would stay the same with every subsequent activation of a Birth Chart in the future.

On another note, he was rather satisfied that he could use the Birth Chart powers twelve times. The force of this power would be devastating to those below the Thousand Realms Whirling stage. If Ye Zhen were to stand in front of him now, just the Birth Chart powers alone could crush his bones and reduce him to ashes.

After a moment, Lu Zhou wondered what would happen if he was fighting an opponent with a similar cultivation base, and he used his supreme mystic power along with the Birth Chart powers. How big would his advantage be if he used his supreme mystic power?

With this thought in mind, Lu Zhou frowned slightly. "I should've saved more of my supreme mystic power so I can test it."

Lu Zhou continued to hover in the air. He was very satisfied with the destructive power and the effect of the third Birth Chart.

He wondered how long the karmic fire would burn. If he let it burn, he was sure that the fire would burn for hundreds of miles like the fires on earth. After a moment, he decided to test his supreme mystic power even though he did not have much left.

He pushed his hands out, and a blue palm seal shot out.

Boom!

It landed on the area that was on fire.

The mountain had suffered 12 blows from Lu Zhou's third Birth Chart and was on the brink of collapsing. With the palm seal, it collapsed completely.

On the other side of the collapsed mountain.

No one knew how much time had passed when a man with a dirty face ran out of the ruins. He pointed at the heavens and coughed violently before he cried out, "Heavens, what did I do wrong? I haven't sworn on the heavens after almost getting struck to death previously! I even moved to a different place, but you still struck me! Don't you think you've crossed a line? You even struck me so many times this time around! It's really painful!"

...

Back in the Literary Star Hall.

Lu Zhou was aware of his strength. Therefore, he felt that it was enough. At this time, the only trump card he had was his supreme mystic power. Others also possessed Birth Charts, weapons, and karmic fires so those things could not be counted. Moreover, those people were old and cunning foxes who had lived a long time; how could they not possess a treasure or two?

After a moment, he brought Unnamed out. He had already used the black runes on it. With what he knew now, he thought it was likely that the black runes were from the black lotus domain. This meant that future opponents from the black lotus domain would have stronger offensive power.

Lu Zhou remained calm and called up the system.

Merit points: 48,630

"Draw."

"Ding. Used 50 merit points. Obtained: Reversal Cards x10."

Currently, he felt the Reversal Cards were no longer of use. His lifespan had been prolonged to roughly 2,600 years now, after all.

"Hmm, how about using my life to activate a Birth Chart next time?" Lu Zhou thought for a moment. He would try to study this method in the future.

His disciples' cultivation bases were not high enough yet. At some point in the future, the need for Birth Chart Hearts would grow greater.

"Draw."

"Ding! Used 50 merit points. Thank you for your participation. Luck 1."

Lu Zhou was thanked ten times for his participation over the next ten consecutive draws.

Perhaps, he had drawn too many lucky draws, he had come to the conclusion there was no pattern to the system of the lucky draw. Therefore, he was not burdened and continued to draw as he pleased without thinking too much about whether he would strike the jackpot or not.

"Draw."

"Ding! Used 50 merit points. Luck 11. Obtained: Synthesis Card x1."

"Synthesis Card?" Lu Zhou's heart skipped a beat when he saw the new card. There was finally something new from the system! It was only natural that he was excited; one would grow tired if one had to eat the same dish every day, after all.

"Synthesis Card. You can synthesize three of the same cards to enhance its effect."

"Is that useful?" Lu Zhou stroked his beard and wondered to himself. As it happened, the Deadly Strike Card's effect had weakened considerably. What would happen if enhance its strength?

After a moment, he continued making draws.

Time flew by in just a blink of an eye.

When Lu Zhou looked at his luck points the next morning he discovered he had accumulated 220 luck points.

He felt cheated. 200 luck points were already the highest in his lucky draw history. After breaking that record, if he continued on, it would be difficult for him to break his own record in the future.

He had been drawing the entire night and had been thanked the entire night. It was impossible for this streak to continue, right? As long as he managed to draw something, he would stop.

"Draw."

"Ding! Used 50 merit points and 220 luck points. Obtained: Reversal Card x10, fire spirit stone x3, Deadly Strike Card x1."

Lu Zhou's mentality had long been trained by the system to be unshakeable. When he saw the rewards, he only nodded in satisfaction. Put everything else aside, obtaining a Deadly Strike Card offset all his losses.

One Deadly Strik Card cost 26,000 merit points while one night of lucky draws cost slightly more than 10,000 merit points.

'Not bad.' Lu Zhou still had 36,980 merit points left.

The Synthesis Card would only synthesize three of the same cards…

After a brief moment, Lu Zhou decisively spent 26,000 merit points to buy another Deadly Strike Card. He was left with 10,980 merit points.

"I still need another one… Forget it. It's not too late to synthesize the cards in the future."

Moreover, these two Deadly Strike Cards should be sufficient for now. If Yi Yao came to seek revenge, he should still be able to take Yi Yao down.

Lu Zhou was about to rise to his feet when…

"Ding! Worshiped by 32,340 people. Reward: 32,340 merit points."

"Ding! Worshiped by 12, 034 people. Reward: 0 merit points."

Lu Zhou's heart thumped once loudly in excitement. "Where's Old Eighth exactly?"

He wondered if his eighth disciple had returned to Great Yan and become a local tyrant?

After a moment, he closed his eyes and recited the mantra to activate the Heavenly Writing Power.

Soon enough, a puzzling scene appeared in front of Lu Zhou's eyes.

Zhu Honggong stood on a high platform calmly as he manifested his Eight-and-half-leaf avatar.

Meanwhile, cultivators in all directions prostrated themselves on the ground.

"The sect leader's divine might will last for thousands of generations!"

"The sect leader's divine might will last for thousands of generations!"

"The sect leader's divine might will last for thousands of generations!"

Upon closer inspection, Lu Zhou saw three corpses strewn on the platform. He muttered to himself skeptically, "Is Old Eighth rebelling and trying to snatch the throne from Zhao Yue?"

'What Sect Leader? Why didn't he return to the Evil Sky Pavilion?' Lu Zhou had already found it strange the previous times he checked in on Zhu Honggong. At that time, he thought, perhaps, Zhu Honggong missed the feeling of being a leader; he was once the fierce leader of the Tigerridge Gang after all. After being forced to disband, it was understandable he wanted to stand a high place again. However, this time, his eighth disciple was being worshiped by almost 40,000 to 50,000 people! This kind of power, even if it was not much, could not be underestimated. He did not understand why his disciple was creating such a huge following for himself.

At this moment, Zhu Hong Gong withdrew his avatar and said in an indifferent but clear voice, "There's no need for formalities…"

Lu Zhou thought to himself, 'Indeed, he's worthy of being my disciple. He possesses a little bit of my style…'

Following that, Zhu Honggong suddenly turned to the side and said, barely able to suppress his excitement, "Senior, senior, what do you think? Do I look cool?"

Lu Zhou. "..."

He really had to give it to this disciple of his.

At this moment, a figure dove from the sky at top speed. He wielded a sharp blade in his hand and was stabbing it in the direction of Zhu Honggong's face.

Upon seeing this, Lu Zhou instinctively lifted his hand to intervene.

Boom!

A loud explosion rang in the air as he shattered a table in the Literary Star Hall.

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Not only did Lu Zhou fail to intervene, but he even destroyed the table in the Literary Star Hall.

He frowned slightly.

In fact, it was already good enough that the Heavenly Writing Power allowed him to see and hear beyond what was normal. Based on his understanding, if he relied on the extraordinary power, the range of his hearing and sight would not be so miraculous and would be limited. The power of sight and the power of hearing he had now were all thanks to the Heavenly Writing.

Lu Zhou maintained the Heavenly Writing Power and continued to watch.

When the figure was a few meters away from Zhu Honggong, he manifested his avatar.

A yellow six-leaf lotus!

"Hm?" Due to the slight difference between the color gold and yellow, Lu Zhou had yet to notice yellow lotus. At this time, he only felt that the Six-leaf cultivator was truly bold to launch a sneak attack on Zhu Honggong.

Boom!

Zhu Honggong manifested his avatar and sent the figure flying and spitting out blood in the air. Following that, he tapped his toes on the ground gently and rose into the sky. The chubby Zhu Honggong looked as nimble as a swallow and as swift as the wind at this moment. In just a blink of an eye, he arrived, with his avatar in tow, in front of the person who attacked him.

The 140-foot avatar with no lotus appeared in front of the crowd again. They looked at Zhu Honggong reverently as they chanted in unison.

"Our sect leader is so powerful that he can rule the world!"

Meanwhile, this was not Lu Li's first time seeing Zhu Honggong's avatar. However, it was only at this moment that he realized… that Zhu Honggong's avatar had no lotus?

Lu Zhou looked at the cultivator who was sent flying and looked at his lotus. He finally discovered the yellow lotus...

He stopped observing and fell deep into his thoughts. At the same time, he sensed he still had half of the supreme mystic power. After observing for such a long time, there was still so much supreme mystic power left. Indeed, it was much more powerful than the extraordinary power.

"Old Eighth and Lu Li are using methods from the Black Tower Council?" Lu Zhou nodded as he muttered to himself, "It should be fine…"

Lu Zhou had a good impression of Lu Li. If it were the methods of someone like Yi Yao, it would be difficult for him to accept them.

Everything in the world was part of the food chain. While humans fought among themselves, they were unaware that in the eyes of the heavens, they were not even comparable to ants.

After a moment, Lu Zhou's thoughts began to stray again when he recalled the merit points he had just obtained.

"Should I continue to draw?"

However, based on his understanding of the lucky draw, the probability of drawing another Deadly Strike Card was very low.

Merit points: 43,320

After mulling over it for a moment, Lu Zhou decided to purchase the Deadly Strike Card instead. When he saw the price did not go up, his mood improved considerably.

Following that, he brought out the Synthesis Card.

"Please place the Synthesis Card together with the cards you want to synthesize."

After taking out his three Deadly Strike Cards, he put the four cards together.

"Would you like to synthesize the cards?"

"Synthesize."

"Ding! Synthesis completed. Obtained: Enhanced Deadly Strike Card."

"Enhanced Deadly Strike Card will grant you indescribable power. You can choose between two effects; you can choose to deal a fatal strike to the real body of a person with less than 8 Birth Charts or you can choose to deal a fatal strike to five ordinary targets."

Lu Zhou nodded. The difference between the ordinary and enhanced Deadly Strike Cards was quite large. He could choose between two options. The first one directly attacked the real body of his target so he might not be given a Birth Chart bonus. The second one was like turning three Deadly Strike Cards into five Deadly Strike Cards. It was a bargain, but he did not feel like it was a huge bargain. It would have been better if he could take out eight instead of five targets.

Nevertheless, it was better than nothing.

Lu Zhou put away the rudimentary enhanced Deadly Strike Card before he thought about Zhu Honggong again. "I hope Lu Li doesn't disappoint me... However, if they want to stay in the yellow lotus domain, then I'll let them be..."

After a while, he recalled Yi Yao's words. "What kind of force is the Black Tower Council?"

There was almost no doubt now that the Black Tower Council was monopolizing all the Birth Chart Beasts in the red lotus domain. Indeed, the Black Lotus Council was unlikely to kill the people of the red lotus domain to maintain the long-term supply of Birth Chart Beasts. It was likely that every time a Nine-leaf cultivator appeared, the Black Tower Council would observe them. When they sprouted the tenth leaf, the Black Tower Council would then set their sights on whichever Birth Chart Beast that appeared.

If it was like this, then there was no doubt the golden lotus domain would be in a similar predicament as well in the future.

Previously, Lu Zhou had also been slightly worried when this thought occurred to him.

In the end, Lu Zhou decided to use the Heavenly Writing Power to observe Great Yan since he now had the supreme mystic power. He closed his eyes and silently chanted the mantra for the Heavenly Writing Power.

His eyes shone with a blue light before scenes appeared in front of his eyes.

In Great Yan's Imperial palace.

Zhao Yue was sitting at her desk, looking through scrolls.

At this moment, Princess Yong Ning walked in and said with a smile, "Sister Zhao Yue, don't overwork yourself."

Zhao Yue replied, "I'm fine. I'm a cultivator, after all..."

"What about your sister?" Yongning asked.

"She only comes here once in a while," Zhao Yue replied.

Lu Zhou was confused. Since when did Zhao Yue have a sister? Moreover, based on Zhao Yue's expression and tone, it seemed like she had a good relationship with her so-called sister.

"Well, it can't be helped. The future of Great Yan depends on Sister Zhao Yue..." Yong Ning said with a sigh.

Zhao Yue smiled and said, "Junior Sister Tianxin plays a huge role as well."

Yongning nodded. "Mr. Sixth is like the guardian of the Divine Capital and the nine provinces… Apart from that, cultivators often send food to Cheng Huang as well."

"This is a case of a just cause attracting people's help and support."

"Why don't you become the Empress? You're a member of the Imperial family royal family anyway," Yong Ning asked with a smile.

"That won't do... I have no thoughts about the throne. When master returns, I'll select someone to take over," Zhao Yue said with a sigh, "My cultivation progress is slow. If I don't work hard, master might have an opinion about it."

Lu Zhou cut the Heavenly Writing Power off.

"Who's the sister Zhao Yue mentioned?"

After a while, he thought about Ye Tianxin. This disciple had gone through a lot since she was young. Now, she had finally grown strong enough to help him.

It was possible that the Black Tower Council was already keeping an eye on Ye Tianxin.

All of a sudden, a thought appeared in his mind. "That's right! There's Cheng Huang! It can give one 2,000 years of life. Doesn't this mean Cheng Huang is a Birth Chart Beast?"

Lu Zhou immediately closed his eyes again and mobilized the Heavenly Writing Power.

Ye Tianxin appeared in front of his eyes. She stood in the Evil Sky Pavilion, overlooking the mountains.

Lu Zhou looked at Cheng Huang.

Cheng Huang's body had shrunk a lot.

"Is it possible that Cheng Huang was somehow aware of the existence of the Black Tower Council so it deliberately parted with a part of its heart so that it wouldn't be discovered?"

This was highly possible. Everything made sense now.

"Cheng Huang is really clever," Lu Zhou said to himself as he cut off the Heavenly Writing Power again.

This would explain why Cheng Huang hid in the depths of Moonlight Woodland and did not appear in the cities.

Nevertheless, Ye Tianxin had already reached the Nine-leaf stage and had also obtained the karmic fire. Moreover, she also had the Great Void Seed in her. If she continued to cultivate, it would not be long before she sprouted the tenth leaf.

the moonlight forest at the beginning and did not appear in human cities.

"Black Tower Council," Lu Zhou muttered to himself again as he fell deep into his thoughts.

At this comment…

Si Wuya's voice rang from outside.

"Disciple greets master."

"Come in." Lu Zhou dismissed his thoughts for now and looked outside the hall.

Si Wuya walked in with the goatskin map in his hands while Li Yunzheng trailed behind him in a respectful manner.

"Greetings, grandmaster," Li Yunzheng said.

Lu Zhou stroked his beard and nodded. "Just tell me what you want."

Si Wuya bowed and said, "Master. the matters in the Sky Martial Court have mostly been dealt with. There are 35 people in the Sky Research Court, and they've agreed to obey the new rules. Without rules, there will be no order, and nothing will get done."

"These people are not easy to deal with. How did a young man like you convince them? You must have expended a lot of effort, right?" Lu Zhou asked curiously.

"Not really. I only told them that master appreciates people who know how to adapt to the situation the most."

"That's it?"

"That's all." Si Wuya added. "However, I wrote it down on a piece of paper and handed each of them a copy."

Lu Zhou:"..."

Sometimes the saying, 'It's better to win the heart of the people than to capture the city', could be applied in an unexpected way as well.

Si Wuya continued to say, "There's another thing. In my opinion, it's time for us to enter the palace."

"Enter the palace?"

"The four Grand Dukes have agreed to support Li Yunzheng regain authority over Great Tang," Si Wuya said.

Lu Zhou shifted his eyes to Li Yunzheng and asked, "Are you ready?"

Li Yunzheng bowed before he replied, "Granddisciple is ready. Teacher and I have discussed this matter for a few nights. It seems like we'll still need your support, grandmaster."

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Lu Zhou stroked his beard and said, "Tell me your thoughts."

Li Yunzheng kowtowed and said, "Master, I'm still young. I'll listen to whatever Teacher says."

"Oh?" Lu Zhou turned to look at Si Wuya.

Si Wuya said, "Master, Li Yunzheng is still young. He's too indecisive and rash to deal with matters now. He has all the weaknesses that shouldn't be present in a ruler. To prevent accidents, I'll make a pact with him..."

Lu Zhou raised his hand to interrupt him and said, "This is a matter between both of you so I won't get involved. Moreover, there's no need for me to worry about you."

Si Wuya felt something stir in his heart. He bowed and said, "Thank you, master. Everything is ready now. We're only waiting for master..."

Lu Zhou nodded and asked, "What do you need me for?"

"Master just needs to sit on the highest chair in the room. There's no need for you to do anything; you can leave everything to me," Si Wuya replied.

"When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"No. After three days," Lu Zhou said.

"It'll be as you said then, master. We'll leave in three days." Si Wuya did not question why he had to do everything according to his master's wishes and leave in three days.

After using the Heavenly Writing Power a few times to check in on his disciples, Lu Zhou needed some time to replenish his supreme mystic power. Apart from that, he also had to confirm if the replenishing rate for the supreme mystic power had changed as well.

When Lu Zhou saw that Si Wuya had yet to take his leave, he asked, puzzled, "Is there anything else?"

Si Wuya placed the ancient map in front of Lu Zhou and spread it out. "This is the ancient map that master instructed disciple to bring from the eastern pavilion. This ancient map is rather miraculous. It has the complete outlines of the red lotus domain and the golden lotus domain. Please have a look, master."

Lu Zhou looked at the ancient map.

The outlines of the red lotus domain and the golden lotus domain were as he had expected. They were similar.

"In your opinion, where is the black lotus domain?" Lu Zhou asked.

Si Wuya said, "The overlapping part between the golden lotus domain and the red lotus domain is the Black Water Mystic Cave; behind the Four Great Forests is the unknown place; the place we traveled using the Sky Shuttle is the Endless Ocean. After studying the ancient books, I discovered the Endless Ocean is even more vast than we imagined it to be…"

Li Yunzheng who had always been interested in the matter chimed in, "I've read about it in the ancient books as well. They said that the Endless Ocean is like its name; it's endless and has no boundaries.."

Si Wuya asked, "What kind of sea is endless?"

Li Yunzheng shook his head.

Lu Zhou, who retained his knowledge from earth, said, "A sea that goes around in a circle?"

"Master is wise. I suspect that the lands known to humans are all surrounded by the Endless Ocean..." Si Wuya said confidently.

Li Yunzheng seemed stunned by these words.

"Master, you once saw a black lotus cultivator in the Sky Wheel Mountain Range. As it happens, the Sky Wheel Mountain Range is symmetrical to the bottomless abyss in golden lotus domain." Si Wuya raised his hand and pointed from the Heaven's Moat to the bottomless abyss and the Black Water Mystic Cave before his finger stopped at the Sky Wheel Mountain Range. Then, he continued to say, "This curved line extends to both sides. Therefore, regardless if it's the black lotus domain or the blue lotus domain, they should be located somewhere on the line!"

Li Yunzheng opened his eyes as if he had just discovered a new world. "..."

Lu Zhou was also shocked by Si Wuya's deduction. He had never thought of it that way.

The Literary Star Hall was as silent as a graveyard after Si Wuya finished speaking.

When Si Wuya saw his master keeping quiet, he assumed his master was displeased because he had mentioned the blue lotus domain. He fell to one knee and said, "I shouldn't have made wild speculations…"

Lu Zhou's eyes were still fixed on the ancient map as he stroked his beard and said, "No, your deductions are reasonable. I have no reason to be displeased… Rise to your feet and speak…"

"Understood."

Li Yunzheng could not help but say in admiration, "Teacher, your deductions really widened my horizons."

Lu Zhou said, "Keep an eye on this matter. If there's any new development, report to me immediately. Apart from that, I have two tasks for you."

"Master, please speak."

"First, the Black Tower Council from the black lotus domain is using formations to monopolize the Birth Chart Beasts in the red lotus domain. I suspect they'll target the golden lotus domain soon. Second, there must be something wrong with Zhao Yue's cultivation speed. You should investigate the matter quietly," Lu Zhou said.

"Understood." Si Wuya was planning to research the black lotus domain anyway even without his master's orders. Before he left the golden lotus domain, he had left behind the technique to communicate between the domains so he could investigate the matter regarding his senior sister discreetly. Moreover, it was also impossible to run to the front lines to investigate now that he was here.

Lu Zhou finally said, "You may leave."

"I'll take my leave then." Si Wuya bowed. Seeing that Li Yunzheng was still transfixed by the ancient map, he gestured to Li Yunzheng before leaving the Literary Star Hall.

After the duo left, Lu Zhou looked at the system interface.

Merit points: 16,320

Remaining lifespan: 961,438 days (2,434 years, in which 110 years are obtained from Reversal Cards)

Items: Rudimentary Enhanced Deadly Strike Card x1, Impeccable Card x1, Critical Block Card x58(passive), Golden Taixu Mirror, Appearance Alteration Card x2, Shining Stone x1, Fire Spirit Stone x3, Reversal Card x77

Mounts: Whitzard, Bi'an, Ji Liang(resting), Qiong Qi, Dang Kang

Weapon: Unnamed(unknown), Jade Horsetail Whisk(heaven-grade), Magistrate Brush(super heaven-grade), Purple Glazed Ceramic(intermediate desolate-grade), Cold Wind Trident(basic desolate-grade), Confinement Seal(intermediate flood-grade), Dragon Eagle's Fury(intermediate desolate-grade), Flash Hook(intermediate desolate-grade)

Lu Zhou noticed that Ji Liang was still resting. From this, it was easy to see that Ji Liang's ability could not be used frequently. He nodded his head in satisfaction at Whitzard that had finished resting. With Whitzard around, he could ensure the replenishment of his supreme mystic power.

"Three fire spirit stones. I have to find an opportunity to ask the Sky Research Court's Wang Dachui to upgrade the Purple Glazed Ceramic," Lu Zhou muttered to himself as he planned his next step.

The originally precious heaven-grade weapons seemed useless now; perhaps, they could be used as forging material.

Apart from Unnamed, the highest grade weapon in his arsenal should be the Confinement Seal.

All these weapons did not seem to be very useful to him since Unnamed could change its form. Naturally, this did not include the Purple Glazed Ceramic.

After upgrading the Purple Glazed Ceramic, he had to think of a way to raise his disciples' cultivation bases, especially Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong. He needed them to help him to obtain merit points; it was far from enough having to rely on himself.

Just like before, the Myriad Supreme's price was still not displayed. One could only imagine how costly it would be.

Following that, Lu Zhou activated the Purple Glazed Ceramic and closed his eyes, entering the meditative state to meditate on the Heavenly Writing.

Time flew by. In just a blink of an eye, three days had passed.

Early in the morning.

Lu Zhou slowly opened his eyes. He had fully replenished his supreme mystic power. His mental and physical state were much better than before as well.

He rose to his feet and did a series of simple exercises.

At this moment, a Sky Martial Court disciple bowed and said from outside of the hall, "Senior Lu, the Sky Shuttle and the flying chariots are ready to depart for the royal court…"

"Alright." Lu Zhou made his way out of the Literary Star Palace.

Once Li Yunzheng regained control of Great Tang, he would be able to push for the golden lotus domain and the red lotus domain to unite and fight against the black lotus domain.

It was a necessity for them to regain control of Great Tang.

Apart from the Evil Sky Pavilion's Sky Shuttle, there were another two flying chariots prepared by the Sky Martial Court. After all, due to the large number of people, just the Sky Shuttle alone was not enough to accommodate everyone.

Si Wuya divided the people into two groups. Lu Zhou and the members of the Evil Sky Pavilion would ride on the Sky Shuttle while the others would ride on the flying chariots.

The members of the Sky Martial Court and the Sky Research Court would stay behind.

Soon enough, Lu Zhou arrived near the Sky Shuttle.

The Evil Sky Pavilion disciples bowed. "Greetings, master."

The elders of the Evil Sky Pavilion, including Meng Changdong, greeted in unison, "Greetings, Pavilion Master."

"Greetings, Senior Lu."

Lu Zhou waved his hand before he flew into the Sky Shuttle. "There's no need for formalities."

"Let's go,"Si Wuya said.

At this moment, Wang Yun, the Grand Duke of Zhen, thickened the skin on his face and walked to the helm and said, "Senior Lu, leave such menial tasks like manning the helm to me…"

Nie Qingyun who was standing nearby on the deck said, "Do you think it's your turn to man the helm?"

Wang Yun. "..."

Wang Yun had been searching for an opportunity to perform well in front of Lu Zhou so he could save the lives of his son and his granddaughter. Now that his effort was rebuffed, his wizened face flushed red from embarrassment.

Wang Yun thought to himself, 'That's to be expected. He's a Ten-leaf expert, the Sect Master of the Twelve Sects of Cloud Mountain.' Someone like that was more qualified to man the helm compared to the Grand Dukes.

However, at this moment, Nie Qingyun gestured with his hand and said, "Brother Yu, please…"

Yu Zhenghai glanced at Nie Qingyun and said, "You have a discerning eye. Why don't you be the guardian of my sect in the golden lotus domain? The Nether Sect will definitely not disappoint you…"

Nie Qingyun's eyes brightened immediately as he said, "Then, that's a deal!"

"Alright," Yu Zhenghai said straightforwardly.

The two continued chatting harmoniously.

Wang Yun. "..."

Woof! Woof! Woof!

"Little dog, let's move further away," Mingshi Yin called out to Qiong Qi before he walked to the other side.

At this moment, the Sky Shuttle slowly rose into the sky.

Lu Zhou sat in the Sky Shuttle and looked at his disciples.

Duanmu Sheng leaned against the deck and looked at the Overlord Spear with a determined expression on his face.

Yu Shangrong's hands were empty as he looked down at the mountains.

Conch was standing alone in the wind. No one knew what she was thinking at this moment.

Only Little Yuan'er was busy chatting.

Lu Zhou shook his head slightly. These disciples were all unique and independent. It was not easy to teach them.

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In terms of cultivation speed, the disciples who possessed the Great Void Seed were superior to those in the golden lotus domain and the red lotus domain. Even Duanmu Sheng, whose transformation was the weakest, was already trying to sprout the ninth leaf. Nevertheless, their speed was far slower compared to those in the black lotus domain.

Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong were top-notch experts in the golden lotus domain but were slightly weaker in the red lotus domain due to the existence of Ten-leaf experts.

'Great Void Seeds…' The most crucial part of the memory crystal had been destroyed by Ye Zhen. What exactly was the Great Void Seed?

Based on his knowledge and experience, Lu Zhou was certain even the greatest alchemist would not be able to create such a miraculous pill. From what he could gather from the memory crystal, Ji Tiandao had gone to the unknown place. The unknown place seemed to be perpetually overcast; it was rather dark so he could not see much. Ji Tiandao's cultivation base was not very high back then; he must have used some tricks to obtain the Great Void Seed. Otherwise, he would not have been able to obtain such precious things under the noses of so many Thousand Realms Whirling experts.

Naturally, there was a possibility that the Great Void Seeds were trash, and no one in Great Void paid attention to them. However, the possibility of it was low. A treasure that could increase one's aptitude for cultivation; how could it be considered trash? Those people were clearly capable of searching for Great Void Seeds.

'This matter… If it's possible to hide it, then it's best to hide it…' Lu Zhou planned to disclose this matter to his disciple initially, but he dismissed the idea later.

At this moment, he looked at Duanmu Sheng and called out, "Old Third."

Clank!

The Overlord Spear fell to the ground.

"Master, you're… you're calling me?" Duanmu Sheng hurriedly picked the Overlord Spear up, stunned.

"How's the progress of your cultivation?" Lu Zhou asked. It was normal for a master to ask about his disciple's cultivation. Naturally, it was frowned upon for outsiders to ask one about one's cultivation.

Duanmu Sheng scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "Master, I h-have… e-eight… eight l-leaves."

Nevertheless, Lu Zhou was very satisfied. He was very familiar with Duanmu Sheng's aptitude and talent for cultivation. Among all his disciples, Duanmu Sheng's talent and aptitude were the lowest. After cultivating diligently for a long time, it was not easy for him to reach the Eight-leaf stage.

It was to be expected for his first and second disciple to sprout the ninth leaf. They had been stuck at the Eight-leaf stage for years, and when the shackles were broken, they hurriedly seized the chance to sprout their ninth leaves. It would not be surprising even if they sprouted the tenth leaf.

For this reason, he did not bother his first and second disciple much about their cultivation progress.

After a moment, Lu Zhou shifted his gaze away from Duanmu Sheng and called out, "Old Fourth."

Woof! Woof! Woof!

Qiong Qi ran over and lay in front of Lu Zhou like a domesticated dog.

Ming Shiyin. "???"

This dog really knew how to act.

Lu Zhou sized up Qiong Qi. He did not expect Qiong Qi would grow to double its size so quickly. If the Sky Shuttle was not big enough, it would have to fly on its own.

Mingshi Yin walked to his master. "Master."

"What's your cultivation base?"

Mingshi Yin said with a smile, "I'm at the Nine-leaf stage."

"Are you hiding your strength?"

Mingshi Yin hurriedly denied his master's words. "I'm not hiding anything. I've always been very honest. The sun and the moon can be my witnesses!"

Following that, Lu Zhou no longer paid attention to Mingshi Yin. He turned to look at Duanmu Sheng's Overlord Spear and asked, "You didn't let the Sky Research Court reforge your weapon?"

Duanmu Sheng held his Overlord Spear and continued wiping it as he replied, "I couldn't bear to have it reforged. Moreover, the forging materials are really high. I think it's good as it is now."

Lu Zhou thought about his disciples' weapons. Yu Shangrong's weapon was still in the Sky Research Court; Duanmu Sheng and Zhao Yue's weapons were at the heaven-grade; Conch had two weapons: the Nine String Zither and the Lantian Jade Flute. She was also his only disciple to possess a flood-grade weapon.

When they arrived in the capital, he would speak to his disciples about their weapons, or perhaps, he would just directly let the Sky Research Court reforge their weapons.

Following that, he shifted his attention to Yu Shangrong. "Old Second."

Yu Shangrong turned around to look at his master.

Lu Zhou asked, "How's the reforging of the Longevity Sword coming along?"

"Master, you once said the Sky Research Court is filled with many talented people. Wang Dachui is confident, and he doesn't seem like a braggart. He said he'll be done in three months," Yu Shangrong replied.

"That's good."Lu Zhou nodded.

Jiang Aijian said enviously, "Mister Second, you're really lucky. Your sword is jumping from the heaven-grade directly to the flood-grade. I wonder when I'll be able to own a flood-grade sword?" As he spoke, he caressed Dragonsong.

"That's not necessarily true," Yu Shangrong said with a smile, "It's incredibly difficult to forge a flood-grade weapon. Although we have the fire spirit stones, it'd depend on luck as well."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The four elders of the Evil Sky Pavilion suddenly felt their weapons were not very good at all. They thought about the flood-grade Nine String Zither that the Sky Research Court created that was said to be the most perfect weapon ever created. Why was it called the most perfect weapon?

Lu Zhou turned his head to look at Conch. She was still standing in the wind, lost in her thoughts. He called out, "Conch."

Conch turned around. "Master."

"You've just emerged from your closed-door cultivation so you haven't had a chance to properly greet your other fellow disciples and the elders," Lu Zhou said.

Despite her cultivation base and background, Conch was the youngest and newest disciple, after all.

Conch obediently greeted the members of the Evil Sky Pavilion.

"Greetings, senior brothers. Greetings to the four elders." Conch bowed.

Everyone returned the greeting.

Meanwhile, Si Wuya looked at his youngest junior sister with a complicated expression on his face. He recalled the poem and the name he had gleaned from that poem before he said, "Luo Shiyin?"

"Seventh Senior Brother," Conch responded with a faint smile on her face.

"I've studied Luo Xuan's notes countless times, and there are contradictions in them. I was certain there was no Luo Shiyin in the world. Who knew I'd only guessed half of it right..."

At this moment, Yu Zhenghai chimed in, "Well, you didn't guess wrong either. I'll tell you the specifics once we reach the capital. Sit tight, I'm going to speed up!"

...

The Sky Shuttle entered the capital in the evening.

The lights were bright. Even the formations and inscriptions in all directions shone brightly like lamps.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

At this moment, dozens of armored soldiers flew up and blocked the Sky Shuttle's path.

Upon seeing this, the four Grand Dukes flew out of the Sky Shuttle and showed their identity tokens to the soldiers.

The expressions of the armored soldiers changed drastically. All of them bowed in unison. "My apologies for failing to recognize Mount Tai. I respectfully welcome Grand Dukes..."

There was no need for Lu Zhou and the others to make a move at all.

After the four Grand Dukes returned to the Sky Shuttle, Wang Yun, the Grand Duke of Zhen, said, "Senior Lu, Your Majesty, why don't you come and live in my humble abode?"

Since he was allowed to return to the capital, Wang Yun knew it meant that the old man decided to let him live. Moreover, he seemed to have grasped the way that the old man did things; that was to say the old man liked to… go with the flow. It was just as he had heard; the old man appreciated people who understood the situation, someone who knew when to retreat and advance. He had always been more observant compared to the other three Grand Dukes. Therefore, he had been silently reminding himself and warning himself not to make a mistake. For now, it proved that he had done the right thing.

Lu Zhou did not respond.

Instead, Li Yunzheng said, 'Return to the palace…"

"Understood," Wang Yun said without any hesitation.

The Sku Shuttle continued to fly toward the royal palace under the lead of the four Grand Dukes.

When the Sky Shuttle landed in the royal palace, night had already fallen.

After the necessary arrangements were made for the members of the Evil Sky Pavilion, Si Wuya and Li Yunzheng made their way to the Preservation Hall to look for Lu Zhou.

Before Si Wuya spoke, Li Yunzheng said, "Grandmaster, I've already issued an imperial edict. I've summoned all the civil and military officials, the eight Great Generals of the Ten Paths, and the envoy to court the day after tomorrow, in the morning."

"Alright," Lu Zhou replied curtly.

"Then... I'll take my leave now, grandmaster." In comparison to himself, Li Yunzheng always felt that his grandmaster was more like the emperor.

In the end, Si Wuya and Li Yunzheng did not do anything in the Preservation Hall. After this brief exchange, the duo turned around and left.

Si Wuya could tell that something was weighing on Li Yunzheng so he asked, "Are you afraid master will take your throne? You should know if he wants your throne, you would've died a long time ago. It would've been so much easier to kill you instead of going around in such a big circle to help you before killing you."

Li Yunzheng shuddered upon hearing Si Wuya's words. He hurriedly said, "Thank you for your reminder, Teacher."

"There are many things that aren't as simple as you think they are..." Si Wuya said.

Li Yunzheng felt guilty for thinking such a thing. After a moment, he asked, "Master, are you confident about the day after tomorrow?"

Si Wuya smiled and asked, "Have you forgotten what I said?"

"The weak have no right to speak." Li Yunzheng nodded. "However, there's one person among the civil and military officials who's difficult to deal with."

"Hmm?"

"Father personally bestowed the position of Prime Minister Zhang Yuanren when he was still in power. The Zhang family had produced five generals. 100 years ago, in order to protect Great Tang, they died one after another. All of Great Tang's eight Great Generals have connections with the Zhang family. He's not someone who's afraid of death. If he decides to fight to the death, what should we do? If we kill him, we'll definitely lose the hearts of the people," Li Yunzheng said worriedly.

"You are the emperor!" Si Wuya said, emphasizing each word. After that, he left with his hands on his back, leaving the young Li Yunzheng standing in the courtyard outside of the Preservation Hall.

Li Yunzheng looked as though he was lost in his thoughts as he stared at the starry night sky.

The familiar smell of the night air was not present at this time. Instead, the metallic smell of blood permeated the night air as though heralding the bloody storm that was coming.

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The next morning.

Lu Zhou did not leave the Preservation Hall. He stayed in and cultivated. Although he had entered the Mystic Sky Realm, he still needed to cultivate to continue raising his cultivation base. This way, the pressure would not be so heavy when he activated his Birth Charts in the future.

Unfortunately, not much was known about the Mystic Sky Realm. Lu Zhou could only advance by blindly feeling his way around.

Based on what he had gathered, the black lotus domain had 36 Birth Charts. They had more complete information and a better cultivation system.

He had destroyed one of Yi Yao's Birth Charts previously. If Yi Yao returned and reported this matter, what if a Thousand Realms Whirling expert with a higher cultivation base appeared? He felt like he had created trouble for himself.

He felt more at ease when he recalled he now possessed the rudimentary enhanced Deadly Strike Card. Hopefully, there would not be too fierce a character who appeared in the red lotus domain. If there was an expert who had activated 36 Birth Charts, he would be at the mercy of others.

In the afternoon.

Lu Zhou continued to cultivate in the Preservation Hall.

At this moment, Mingshi Yin hurried into the hall and said, "Master, something has happened!"

Lu Zhou opened his eyes and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Originally, Li Yunzheng, that little emperor, had issued an imperial edict to summon all the civil and military officials tomorrow. Unexpectedly, all the civil and military officials came to the palace today. Seventh Junior Brother and the little emperor have already gone to the Political Announcement Hall," Mingshi Yin replied.

"Your Seventh Junior Brother should be able to handle this matter," Lu Zhou said.

"That's what I think as well, but something feels amiss to me..." Mingshi Yin continued to say, "This morning, I took the opportunity to go out for a stroll. There are thousands of commoners surrounding the royal palace. Moreover, although Xiahou Sheng isn't in the capital, he has mobilized 100,000 royal guards."

"Hmm?" Lu Zhou frowned slightly.

"I'm not doubting Seventh Junior Brother's ability. However, Xiahou Sheng and the eight generals could stand on equal footing with Yu Chenshu, how could they not have some skills? If they fight, master, you'll still have to make a move," Mingshi Yin explained.

"They're just a pack of rats; they dare to appear?" Lu Zhou was not like his past self. If he only had his ten leaves, perhaps, he would pay more attention to Xiahou Sheng. In the end, he said, "However, you have a point. Come with me."

"Understood."

The pair of master and disciple left the Preservation Hall. When they walked out of the hall, they saw Jiang Aijian running around with Dragonsong in his arms.

Mingshi Yin unceremoniously grabbed "Hey, little b*stard, where are you going? Come with us to the Political Announcement Hall."

Jiang Aijian smiled sheepishly as he said, "No, no, no. Mister Fourth, there are too many people there. I'm afraid they might be captivated by my handsome appearance."

Lu Zhou looked at Jiang Aijian and said, "Come with us."

Jiang Aijian. "..."

Mingshi Yin hooked his arm around Jiang Aijian's shoulders before he said with a smile, "You're too cowardly. Don't be afraid. I'll ask my dog to protect you."

Jiang Aijian. "???"

...

When the trio was near the Political Announcement Hall, but they saw many palace experts hovering in the air. There were many people on the ground as well; thousands of civilians could be seen lining up neatly in a row.

Lu Zhou looked at them suspiciously. 'How can ordinary civilians enter the palace? This is obviously orchestrated by some people…'

At this moment, Wang Yun suddenly appeared.

"Senior Lu! I was just about to invite you over."

"Where's Li Yunzheng?" Lu Zhou asked.

"His Majesty and Mister Seventh are in the main hall. This way please..."

Lu Zhou, Ming Shiyin, and Jiang Aijian followed Wang Yun to the Political Announcement Hall. When they were outside of the hall, they saw a crowd outside of the hall. The throne was placed at the top of the steps in front of the Political Announcement Hall, and there was a chair on each side of the throne.

Lu Zhou did not expect such a big turnout. He thought only the civil and military officials and the eight Great Generals would show up.

When Lu Zhou walked over, the members of the Evil Sky Pavilion were about to bow when he waved his hand, indicating for them to continue.

Li Yunzheng was dressed in his dragon robe. At this moment, he sat on the throne at the top of the steps, overlooking everyone.

Meanwhile, Si Wuya stood a step lower than the throne. His expression was calm, and his back was straight. His bearing was extraordinary.

Lu Zhou nodded. 'As expected of Old Seventh, His knowledge, courage, and bearing aren't something Old Eighth is able to replicate…'

Lu Zhou continued to walk forward toward the front of the hall.

At this moment, there were many eunuchs and palace maids standing around Li Yunzheng. Nevertheless, with his keen eyes, he quickly discovered Lu Zhou's presence. He wanted to get up, but Lu Zhou raised his hand, indicating that he should not move. Therefore, he continued to sit with his back upright on the throne.

Lu Zhou did not stand on ceremony and walked straight to the chair on the left.

The person sitting on the chair to the left of the throne was the current Grand Tutor, Guo Zhengping. When he saw an old man walking to the chair on the left without no one obstructing his way, he was going to rebuke the old man. However, before he could do so, the old man waved his hand, and he found himself standing up without meaning to do so.

The two Grand Dukes standing to the right of Li Yunzheng looked at Guo Zhengping meaningfully. Realization dawned on him, and he quickly took a step back and stood respectfully at the side.

Lu Zhou slowly sat down. He really had no intention of intervening; he was only here to watch a show. Naturally, he would not intervene if it was not necessary. Just like Mingshi Yin had pointed out, he had also come to keep an eye on things and to prevent accidents. As for other matters, he was too lazy to care about them.

Although Lu Zhou's entrance was rather low profile, it did not escape the attention of the civil and military officials at the bottom of the steps, the thousands of civilians on the ground, and the experts hovering in the air.

The entire place fell silent as they looked at the old man who suddenly appeared and took a seat next to the little emperor.

Si Wuya turned around and saw his master had arrived. He smiled, relieved. Then, when he made a move to bow, his master waved his hand and said, "Continue."

"Understood." Si Wuya looked to the front at an old man dressed in a white linen robe. "Lord Zhang, please continue."

At this moment, the Grand Tutor, Guo Zhengping, took another step back, making way for Wang Yun.

Wang Yun came to Lu Zhou's side and bent his body as he whispered to Lu Zhou, "That's Zhang Yuanren. He usually stays at home, enjoying his old age. The Zhang family has five martyrs who were conferred the titles of Great General by the late emperor. They're well-liked by the people."

Lu Zhou turned to look at Wang Yun and said, "You're quite tactful. Very good."

"Many thanks for your praise, Senior Lu… Then, my… my son..." Wang Yun stammered.

"I can let him go, but it's best if you know your place," Lu Zhou said.

"Senior Lu, don't worry. His Majesty has the full support of the Wang family!" Wang Yun said. Then, he turned to Guo Zhengping and said, "Lord Guo, what do you say?"

"Yes, yes, of course..."

Great Tang had five Grand Dukes, including the now-dead Cui An, the Grand Duke of Fu. Each of them held power, and their five families were the most powerful families in the capital. Even if Guo Zhengping was the Grand Tutor, it was nothing more than an empty title in front of the Grand Dukes of Great Tang.

After Wang Yun straightened his body, he pulled Guo Zhengping to the side before he said with a frown, "Lord Guo, are you trying to get me killed?"

"I-I a-apologize..." Fear still lingered in Guo Zhengping's heart at this moment. "This old gentleman… Is he the mighty Thousand Realms Whirling expert?"

"What do you think?" Wang Yun said.

Guo Zhengping's hair stood on end, and chills ran up his spine. His eyes widened in horror as he looked at Wang Yun.

Wang Yun said solemnly, "I've already told you to leave the chair empty. After this, just stay silent and watch the show. Don't do anything unnecessary."

"I'll listen to Lord Wang," Guo Zhengping said as he wiped the sweat off his face.

"It's not just you... The other three Grand Dukes and I had discussed the matter the entire night; we'll be doing the same. As for the others, we can only leave it up to their fates," Wang Yun said.

Guo Zhengping frowned slightly as he looked at the civil and military officials at the bottom of the steps before he said, "You have my gratitude."

Meanwhile, everyone's attention was on Zhang Yuanren who was dressed in a mourning robe.

Si Wuya still looked at Zhang Yuanren calmly.

Zhang Yuanren kneeled on the ground and said, "Your Majesty... please think twice! Our Zhang family is full of heroes and martyrs. We're willing to go through fire and water for Great Tang."

Si Wuya said, "Lord Zhang, please think twice. I can understand you pleading on behalf of the Zhang family. However, for what reasons are you pleading on behalf of the eight Great Generals?"

Zhang Yuanren said, undeterred, "The eight Great Generals and the Zhang family are like a family. How can I watch them being wronged and sent to prison? Please think twice, Your Majesty!"

As soon as Zhang Yuanren finished speaking, the thousands of civilians standing at the back fell to their knees in unison and said, "Your Majesty, please reconsider!"

Si Wuya was rather taken aback by this response. It was clear that this resistance had been planned beforehand. They had all entered the palace this afternoon in hopes of catching him off guard and also inciting the commoners.

Currently, rumors were circulating in the capital that the little emperor wanted to make an example out of the heroes and the civil and military officials. Even Zhang Yuanren, whose family was filled with heroes and martyrs, had taken the lead to speak up. It was only natural that the public opinion was almost one-sided.

Si Wuya knew the person in front of him was not afraid of death. He said in a low voice, "Lord Zhang, you're intentionally trying to pressure His Majesty..."

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Zhang Yuanren who was kneeling began to kowtow.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

These three kowtows left their marks on the ground. Zhang Yuanren did not hold back nor did he use his protective energy when he kowtowed. Blood gushed down from his forehead as he pointed at Si Wuya and said, "The sun and the moon can attest to this old subject's heart. The Zhang family has been loyal for generations. How can we allow a dirty-mouthed brat like you slander us? Your Majesty, please open your eyes to have a good look. You have to stand up for this subject."

The series of ostentatious actions and words left Li Yunzheng flustered. Upon seeing such a sincere heart and valiance, how could his heart remain unmoved? He was just about to speak when he saw Lu Zhou raise his hand, stopping him.

It was just as Si Wuya had said, Li Yunzheng was still too inexperienced. Although he was knowledgeable, he was ignorant of the ways of the world. Just a small trick like this was enough to move his heart.

Si Wuya chuckled before he said, "You didn't answer my question. Are you trying to pressure His Majesty?"

"How dare you!" Zhang Yuanren stared at Si Wuya and said in a trembling voice, "This old subject is loyal and devoted. How would I dare to commit such a crime!?"

Si Wuya feigned a confused expression and asked, "If that's the case, why did you bring thousands of civilians into the palace and dress yourself in a mourning robe?"

"His Majesty wants to take the eight Great Generals down, it's only natural that this old subject is the first to disagree. Isn't His Majesty afraid of hurting the hearts of the people?" Zhang Yuanren asked.

The Zhang family had firmly tied itself to the eight Great Generals. After all, no matter how powerful the Grand Dukes were, as long as they did not have military power, the little emperor would not have any real power.

Everyone looked at Si Wuya, curious about how he was going to deal with the fearless old man and resolve this matter.

Si Wuya asked with a smile on his face, "Who told you that His Majesty is going to take down the eight Great Generals?"

Zhang Yuanren was not easily intimidated. In fact, he was very shrewd. He scoffed before holding up the imperial edict as he said, "Then, how do you explain this imperial edict?"

It was the imperial edict that summoned the civil and military officials and the eight Great Generals.

Si Wuya said evenly, "Why does the ruler of a country need to explain himself when he summons his officials?"

"..."

Zhang Yuanren felt stifled when he heard Si Wuya's words. However, he quickly adjusted his attitude before he said, "His Majesty is young and inexperienced. The eight Great Generals are constantly guarding the ten paths and the borders. How can they be recalled at will? Moreover, His Majesty can discuss this matter in the royal court. All the civil and military officials can assist His Majesty as well. If His Majesty, the ruler of a country, acts alone, what need is there for the civil and military officials? His Majesty might as well kill them all!"

Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials fell to their knees.

The scene was rather spectacular.

Si Wuya continued to say evenly, "The ten paths in Great Tang have long been dealt with. What I want to know is why His Majesty doesn't even have the right to summon his officials? Lord Zhang, I only have one question for you: Does His Majesty have the right to see his subjects? You only need to answer yes or no!"

"..."

Everyone exchanged a look. Put everything else aside, if the ruler of a country did not even have the right to see his subject, how could he be the ruler of a country?

Upon seeing the effects of Si Wuya's words, Zhang Yuanran raised his voice and said, "Of course, His Majesty has the right to see his subjects! However, is there anyone who doesn't know that His Majesty intends to kill the eight Great Generals? Don't try to confuse the masses with your words!"

Si Wuya shook his head and said, "In fact, these words were said to me by His Majesty; I've only repeated them. You said I'm trying to confuse the masses with my words; are you trying to say His Majesty is trying to confuse the masses with his words?"

"You!" Zhang Yuanren was rendered speechless.

At this time, Li Yunzheng rose to his feet and looked at Zhang Yuanren before he said, "Lord Zhang, Mister Si is my teacher. Therefore, I asked him to speak on my behalf. The Zhang family is valiant and loyal… But, you incited the people and the civil and military officials to force me to submit today… With just this alone, I can sentence you to death."

Thud!

Zhang Yuanren fell limply to the ground. His body trembled as he pointed at Si Wuya and said, "Your Majesty! He harbors ill intentions! I'm willing to die as a show of my loyalty and determination. I'm doing this not for any selfish reasons but for the sake of the world!"

The civilians broke out in a commotion as they discussed fervently among themselves.

Since time immemorial people flocked together for the sake of benefits, and there was no one who did not do things for their self-interest.

Could an old man who was willing to die to show his determination and loyalty have no selfish interest?

Nevertheless, the common people did not care nor did they understand the twists and turns of the matter. In their eyes, Zhang Yuanren was a great hero who deserved to be respected!

Si Wuya frowned. Then, he raised his voice and infused some energy into it before he said, "Then, I invite Lord Zhang to die…"

Following that, Si Wuya lifted his hand and pointed at a pillar in front of the hall and said, "This sentence is mine…"

Everyone looked at Si Wuya in shock.

Even Li Yunzheng was stunned. "Teacher..."

It was only a trivial matter of earning infamy; Si Wuya had long gotten used to such things.

Nevertheless, Si Wuya's words effectively pushed Zhang Yuanren to a corner. His eyes were bloodshot and his body trembled in anger. "You!"

From the beginning until now, Si Wuya maintained his composure. He said in an even tone, "Didn't you want to prove your determination and loyalty with your death? Using death to threaten His Majesty, is this the so-called loyalty of the Zhang family? Why don't you just die?!"

No one knew what was wrong with Zhang Yuanren.

Zhang Yuanren felt his blood boil as he lost his rationality. Like a wild horse, he charged toward the huge pillar in front of the hall. He found it rather strange that no one tried to stop him at all. However, just as he was about to hit the pillar, an expert dove down and stopped him.

"Father, don't!"

Everyone looked at the newcomer.

"Zhang Jingyuan? "Wang Yun asked curiously, "Aren't you the General of Jiannan Circuit? When did you return and enter the palace without permission?"

Zhang Yuanren and Zhang Jingyuan. "..."

Zhang Yuanren suddenly realized that his actions had harmed his son.

Si Wuya did not look at zZhang Jingyuan. Instead, he said to Zhang Yuanren, "Lord Zhang, it's really admirable that you tried to prove your loyalty and determination with death… However, Zhang Jingyuan entered the palace without permission and disguised himself as a palace expert. What are his intentions?" Then, he said, "Men, apprehend him!"

No one moved at all. The situation was still unclear so none of them dared to make a move recklessly, not even if it was the emperor himself who gave the order.

At this moment, Lu Zhou stroked his beard and lazily waved his hand.

Yu Zhenghai bowed slightly before he shot out at lightning speed.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Jingyuan turned pale with fright. He continued to retreat as he sent out waves of energies with his palms.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Yu Zhenghai said indifferently, "You're still too inexperienced…"

Bang!

The Great Dark Heaven Memorial shot out and landed heavily on Zhang Jingyuan's chest. He spat out mouthfuls of blood as he was sent flying in the air.

Yu Zhenghai did not even give Zhang Jingyuan a chance to land. He moved at lightning speed and easily caught Zhang Jingyuan with one hand.

"Amazing!" Wang Yun exclaimed in shock and admiration. That man was just a disciple, but he was already so strong!

Lu Zhou nodded in satisfaction. He could manifest his Thousand Realms Whirling avatar to make everyone, including the common people, submit. However, that would only be disadvantageous to Li Yunzheng. Therefore, if there was a better way to solve this matter, he would not interfere. Apart from that, he was certain Xiahou Sheng still had trump cards up his sleeve in the capital. Otherwise, how could Xiahou Sheng act rampantly and also control the situation in the capital?

Yu Zhenghai dragged Zhang Jingyuan back with him before throwing Zhang Jingyuan to the ground.

With this, Zhang Jingyuan spat out another mouthful of blood.

At this moment, Zhang Yuanren's face was twisted with hatred, and his heart was brimming with resentment. There were many reasons that forced him to remain silent, unable to plead for mercy.

Si Wuya was not in a hurry to kill Zhang Jiangyuan. Instead, he said, "Lord Zhang, your son will, naturally, be dealt with by the Supreme Court. Let's leave this matter aside for now…" After a brief pause, he continued to say, "If you still plan to prove your loyalty and determination with your death, please continue. This time, no one will stop you…"

Zhang Yuanren's eyes widened. "..."

Si Wuya said without waiting for the old man to reply, "Oh, don't tell me it was just a trick of injuring oneself to gain sympathy and support?"

"A trick to gain sympathy and support?" The commoners exchanged a look.

At this moment, Wang Yun chimed in with a clear voice, "Lord Zhang, I have to say your trick is really good. However, do you think the commoners are so gullible that they'd be fooled by your act?"

The Grand Tutor, Guo Zhengping, seized the opportunity and quickly added, "The commoners can see for themselves if you're truly loyal. Why did you ask Zhang Jingyuan to infiltrate the Palace?"

After that, Lu Tianning, the Grand Duke of Hu, spoke up as well. "Zhang Yuanren, everyone knows your family has a good relationship with the eight Great Generals. Over the years, the Zhang family has continued to prosper in the capital. Let me ask you, does the land under the sky not belong to the emperor? 30 years ago, the fertile land in Guannei Circuit's Longxi used to belong to the common people; how did it become the Zhang family's possession?"

Lu Tianning's words were like a single pebble that stirred up a thousand waves.

These words caused a commotion among the common people.

Li Chang, the Grand Duke, took the opportunity to say, "We bore the infamy while you snatched the fertile land and benefited from it. Apart from that, you even have a spotless reputation. Do you really think you could have your cake and eat it too? If you're dissatisfied, why don't I get the Supreme Court to investigate this matter? In fact, we can have an open investigation so we won't be accused of hiding things from the common people."

"You!" Zhang Yuanren felt his blood boiling. The pressure on his chest grew heavier and heavier as well.

Zheng Ting, the Grand Duke of Yun, said, "You're working with the royal guards and the eight Great Generals to confront His Majesty. Not only are you trying to force His Majesty to submit, but you're trying to revolt as well!"

As accusations were thrown at him one after another, Zhang Yuanren seemed to have snapped as he rushed toward the huge pillar.

Bang!

After Zhang Yuanren crashed against the huge pillar, the entire place fell silent.

Li Yunzheng trembled inwardly as he looked at the blood that was dripping down the pillar to the ground.

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Zhang Yuanren's sudden action caused the entire place to fall silent.

A crack could be seen on the bloodied huge pillar. Blood continued to drip down the pillar to the ground.

Thud!

Zhang Yuanren, whose head was cracked open, fell to the ground with his eyes wide open. When he fell on the ground, it looked as though he was glaring at the heavens.

The commoners broke out in an uproar.

"Lord Zhang!"

"Lord Zhang!"

A row of dozens or so royal guards standing in front of the commoners fell to their knees loudly as they stared at Zhang Yuanren's lifeless body in shock. The loud and dissonant noises from their long halberds hitting the ground rang in the air.

All the civil and military officials wore a shocked expression on their faces.

Zhang Yuanren had really proved his determination and loyalty with his death!

"Father!" Zhang Jingyuan cried out heart-wrenchingly.

Yu Zhenghai pressed his hand down, subduing Zhang Jingyuan.

The four Grand Dukes were similarly shocked. They really did not expect Zhang Yuanren would kill himself to prove his loyalty and determination. How were they going to appease the commoners now?

Li Yunzheng was nervous. How could it be easy to be a ruler of a country? His teacher had said he had weaknesses a ruler should not have. What should he do now? Should he continue down this path and start a massacre?

Seeing that the situation was getting out of control and the public opinion was one-sided, Si Wuya casually waved his hand.

Wang Yun hurriedly brought out a stack of documents and presented it with both hands.

Si Wuya used his Primal Qi and said in a clear voice, "In the year 306 of Zhenwu, Zhang Yuanren occupied 3,000 acres of fertile land in Longxi, causing poverty and starvation among the people. This is the first evidence. Post it up."

It was as though they had long prepared for this; someone walked out from the back and posted it on the board.

Si Wuya continued to say, "In the year 310 of Zhenwu, there was an earthquake in Jiannan Circuit's Shu district. Zhang Yanchen, Zhang Yuanren's second son, embezzled hundreds of thousands of gold from the funds for disaster relief. Post it up."

"..."

"In the year 320 of Zhenwu, Zhang Bo led 30,000 men to the north and was defeated. In order to save his own life, he abandoned the border and fled south. This allowed 100,000 men from the foreign tribes to cross Wei River and Great Tang. Post it up."

This series of actions stunned Li Yunzheng. When were all these things prepared? How did his teacher do it?

The civil and military officials were stunned as well.

Meanwhile, Lu Zhou nodded his head in satisfaction. If he were to deal with the matter, he would have just killed all of them with a palm strike. Everyone would, naturally, submit, but they would lose the hearts of the people. Moreover, those who were forced to submit might even stab them in the back.

Si Wuya's move did not require him to personally kill the enemy. However, those who needed to be killed still died.

Li Yunzheng really felt like applauding his teacher at this moment. However, taking into account his image as the ruler of the country, he suppressed his desire to applaud his teacher. As it turned out, his teacher was not having a hard time dealing with Zhang Yuanren at all. His teacher had deliberately provoked Zhang Yuanren and slowly lured Zhang Yuanren to his death. His teacher waited until Zhang Yuanren died before listing out Zhang Yuanren's crimes one after another. With this, Zhang Yuanren did not prove his loyalty or determination with death. Instead, it looked as though Zhang Yuanren had committed suicide out of guilt.

How wonderful!

As expected of his teacher.

After Si Wuya listed out Zhang Yuanren and the Zhang family's crimes, he continued to say in a clear voice, "Zhang Yuanren knew that he had committed a grave sin so he committed suicide out of fear in front of the emperor."

The commoners looked at the evidence that was posted up on the board.

All of a sudden, someone in the sea of people cursed, "So he's a b*stard thief?!"

Another person joined in and began to curse as well. "Is this kind of person worthy of our support? He's too despicable! I really want to use my Dragonsong to stab him!"

A man asked in confusion, "How did you bring the sword into the palace?"

"That's right... Why do I have a sword? H-how terrifying! Was he trying to frame us? Don't tell me he wanted to borrow His Majesty's hand to silence us?"

The commoners took a few steps back one after another. Then, all of them fell to their knees with a thud and began to beg for mercy.

Si Wuya nodded before he turned to look at Li Yunzheng meaningfully.

Li Yunzheng rose to his feet and spread his arms as he said, "Rise! You're my people, my flesh and blood. Isn't it like hurting myself if I hurt you? Rise!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty is merciful!" someone in the crowd shouted.

With this, the other commoners began to join in as well.

Lu Zhou frowned slightly. 'Isn't this guy overdoing it?'

At this moment, someone dove from the sky above the Political Announcement Hall.

The sky lit up and a buzzing noise rang in the air.

Si Wuya said, "The civil and military officials are not allowed to retreat. Stay and protect the commoners!"

How preposterous! The civil and military officials ran faster than everyone else and retreated behind the royal guards as soon as that person flew over.

"These b*stards... They're indeed wicked people! It's His Majesty who loves the common folks!"

The commoners ran towards the steps of the hall.

The situation was clear to Li Yunzheng. He said to Si Wuya, "Thank you, Teacher."

Si Wuya nodded and smiled.

Li Yunzheng thought the person would fly to Si Wuya and let himself be captured. At that time, today's matter would be over. However, he did not expect that person to fly past Si Wuya and make his way toward him instead!

"Useless emperor, I'm going to take your life!"

Swoosh!

The assassin flew horizontally as an energy sword with black runes around it shot toward Li Yunzheng!

Si Wuya frowned. No matter how intelligent one was, there would always be things that one could not predict. He had long expected for something to go wrong somewhere, hence, he had invited his master over. As expected, something had gone wrong. Fortunately, this was all within his prediction.

Li Yunzheng's eyes widened. It felt as though his heart was in his throat at this moment.

The energy sword was about to pierce Li Yunzheng's glabella when Lu Zhou's wizened figure flashed and appeared in front of Li Yunzheng. He raised his hand indifferently and caught the black energy sword between his index and middle finger that shone with a faint blue light. All he needed was little supreme mystic power to catch the sword. In fact, there was no need for him to use the supreme mystic power. With the power from the Thousand Realms Whirling alone, he could easily deal with the black energy sword. However, how could he let go of such a good opportunity to test the supreme mystic power?

At this moment, it was as though everything and everyone had frozen over.

On the left, right, front, and back, the palace experts and the royal guards could sense the assassin's dangerous aura.

The assassin glared at Lu Zhou and said in a deep voice, "Get out of my way." Then, he tried to twist the energy sword to force Lu Zhou away with the offensive force of the black runes. Alas, Lu Zhou's fingers and hand were not shaken at all.

Lu Zhou said indifferently, "How dare a mere Nine-leaf cultivator act so impudently?!"

Lu Zhou exerted a little pressure with his fingers…

The energy sword covered with black runes broke immediately.

Following that, Lu Zhou struck with his palm. However, he did not use the supreme mystic power.

Bang!

A huge Great Vajra Wheel palm seal shot out and hit the assassin's chest. He felt as though his internal organs had ruptured and his bones had shattered from the force of the palm seal.

Lu Zhou pointed with two fingers before the top of the steps was filled with countless energy swords.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

They shot toward the assassin and pierced his body.

Thud!

Just like that, the assassin fell to the ground.

When Wang Yun saw the assassin's face, he cried out in surprise. "Zhang Yong?!"

At this moment, a young man holding a sword in the crowd cried out, "Goodness, my eyes have been opened today. These people are really shameless!"

At this point, unless they were not sound of mind, how could the common people not understand what was going on?

"It's Zhang Yong?'

"Zhang Yong wants to assassinate the emperor?"

Is it really Zhang Yong? Zhang Yong wants to assassinate the Emperor? !"

At this moment, Li Yunzheng recalled Si Wuya's words. As a ruler, one should not be indecisive. Hence, he shouted, "Pass down my decree. Capture all the members of the Zhang family."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Lu Tianning, the Grand Duke of Hu walked down the steps and pointed at the royal guards nearby. "Why are you standing there? Follow me?"

The royal guards did not move.

This was within Si Wuya's expectations as well.

At this moment, Lu Zhou's ears twitched slightly. The supreme mystic power converged around his ears, and in just an instant, his range of hearing covered the entire area around the Political Announcement Hall.

...

A few miles east of the Political Announcement Hall, in the Supreme Heaven Palace near the entrance of the royal palace, a person sat on a chair, leisurely eating fruits as he said, "I didn't expect the little emperor to be so capable. Forget it. I've lost today's game of chess. I'll continue playing another day..."

"Lord Xiahou, what about the royal guards?"

"Leave a number of them for the little emperor to order around. The royal guards are still my people. He has the support of a Thousand Realms Whirling expert so it's wise to engage in a direct fight today. I didn't expect them to not start a massacre. Let's go."

Just as they were about to leave...

Buzz!

A 450-foot Thousand Realms Whirling avatar appeared in the sky above the Political Announcement Hall.

The huge astrolabe unique to the Thousand Realms Whirling avatars made everyone present feel unable to breathe.

The thousands of commoners, the royal guards, the civil and military officials, and the members of the Zhang family looked up at the Thousand Realms Whirling avatar in a daze.

"This is..."

"T-th... T-thousand Realms Whirling?!"

"So Yu Chenshu was really killed by a Thousand Realms Whirling expert?!"

Some people were puzzled by Lu Zhou's sudden move. He had already won the game of chess. Why did he manifest his Thousand Realms Whirling avatar? To show off?

The atmosphere was stifling and heavy, causing everyone to feel suffocated.

The entire outside of the Political Announcement Hall was cast with the light from the lotus.

In the crowd, Jiang Aijian said again, "Senior Lu, you're the manifestation of divine power!"

The commoners wore frightened expressions on their faces.

Upon seeing this, Si Wuya rolled his eyes and said in a clear voice, "Don't worry. If he wanted to kill all of you, he would've killed all of you long ago. Why would he wait until now?"

Indeed. Was there a need for such an expert to wait before making a move? If he wanted to kill them, they would have died a long time back.

At this moment, Lu Zhou's voice rang clearly in the air. "There's an assassin. I'll be right back!"

Everyone was relieved. As expected, he was not targeting the common people.

The common people were not cultivators so they did not care if the lotus was golden or red. All of them kneeled on the ground reverently.

"Ding! Worshiped by 3,680 people. Reward: 3,680 merit points."

Li Yunzheng said, "Everyone, don't worry! I will never point my knife at innocent people."

Buzz!

The sound of energy resonating rang in the air.

In just a blink of an eye, the Thousand Realms Whirling avatar appeared in front of the Supreme Heaven Palace, looking down at a dazed Xiahou Sheng.

Lu Zhou said indifferently, "Xiahou Sheng."

"You... You... How did you know I'm here?"

The most dangerous place was the safest place, after all.

Xia Housheng had been hiding in the Supreme Heaven Palace all this time.

"Surrender now!"

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