Chapter 681: The Patriarch Preaches

“This is Gu Ming’s armor. It’s completely destroyed.”

The two of them are greatly shocked.

One of them hovered in the air and looked down at the center area where the battle had taken place.

There was a perfect circle on the ground. There seemed to be leaf-like shapes in the periphery. Further on, there was a circle of damage. The extent of the damage lessened the further they checked. The destruction affected several thousand meters of land.

“What a powerful destructive force! To think that there was such an elite in the golden lotus world.”

“Could it be a Nine-leaf cultivator?”

“Gu Ming’s armor should’ve been able to block a Nine-leaf attack for some time. That should give him an opportunity to flee. However, this armor is already destroyed. Look at this destruction. It might very well be a Ten-leaf elite or maybe a Mystic Sky elite.”

The Mystic Sky meant that the opponent’s strength was based on the Ten-leaf stage where the opponent had formed the Thousand Realms Whirling. The Thousand Realms Whirling. Those below the Ten-leaf stage were ants.

In the Divine Court realm and below, three to four avatars could be formed at every realm.

In the Nascent Divinity realm, there was only a single avatar, the Hundred Tribulations Insight. The avatar’s strength was determined by the number of leaves.

Similarly, there was only one avatar in the Mystic Sky realm and that was the Thousand Realms Whirling.

“The appearance of this huge beast meant that there are Nine-leaf cultivators in the golden lotus domain.”

“We haven’t seen many beasts throughout this month...”

“Hence, it’s possible that there’s a Mystic Sky elite here. We can’t stay in this place any longer. We must make contact with the inhabitants here and confirm our suspicions. Also, we must send the information back.”

“Mhm... The Flying Star House’s Jiang Wenxu sent the information when he was on the brink of death. We’ll have to confirm if he’s really dead as well.”

“It’s been more than 300 years... Looks like Luo Xuan wasn’t the nut job. We are.”

...

In Mo City.

The Evil Sky Pavilion’s four elders and Si Wuya were having a discussion in the meeting hall.

Chu Nan and the others stood there respectfully. They did not dare to act recklessly.

“The beasts had already been cleared away. We’re now trying to mend the Formation... We’re just worried the beasts might show up again,” Ke Qinghao, a Nether Sect branch master in charge of Mo City, said.

Si Wuya placed his hands on his back and said, “So the Formation has to be mended... I’ve had someone replicate the Divine Capital’s Ten Terminal Formation a month ago.”

“You’re brilliant, Mister Seventh, to have thought of that. We’ll have to set it up quickly.” Ke Qinghao was delighted.

“No...” Si Wuya said, “This Formation is left behind by Jiang Wenxu. There are many restrictions. It is powerful, but there are downsides as well. It needs to be modified. Mo Li made four copies when she was in the palace. Only the Ten Terminal Formation in the Obedient Villa worked. It’s clear that the replicated Formations contained too many uncertainties.”

Zuo Yushu bowed and said, “I think that we should leave this to the Big Dipper and Sky Conduct Academies.”

“I’ve tasked them with this about a month ago... I hope they can come up with improvements as quickly as possible...”

The others nodded. The Evil Sky Pavilion’s Mister Seventh truly lived up to his name; he was always a step ahead of others.

Zuo Yushu said, “The two academies might not be enough. The Taixu Academy is more skilled in Formations.”

“After the Taixu Academy suffered the great blow, I’m afraid they won’t cooperate,” Leng Luo said.

“I’ll persuade them,” said Zuo Yushu.

At this moment, an imposing voice rang from outside. “In that case, Elder Zhuo will head to the Taixu Academy.”

The others instinctively turned to look. They saw Lu Zhou sauntering into the hall with his hands on his back.

Everyone who was sitting rose to their feet immediately. They greeted Lu Zhou respectfully.

“Pavilion Master.”

“Master.”

“Senior Ji.”

“That’s enough.” Lu Zhou walked to the main seat and sat down. “I’ve killed the manmans. They won’t harass Mo City anymore.”

The others were frightened and shocked upon hearing this.

Chu Nan was the first to bow and said, “Senior Ji, your cultivation base is unfathomable. This is a blessing for Mo City!”

Lu Zhou glanced at him and said, “Ever since Yun Tianluo passed away, the Three Sects have been working hard to cultivate. As Luo Sect’s Grand Elder, what are you doing here in Mo City?”

Chu Nan sighed and said, “I had no choice. Many among the Three Sects have chosen to recultivate. I’m the first person to reach the Eight-leaf stage after recultivating. I was traveling the lands in search of a way to reach the Nine-leaf stage. However, I have yet to find it until now.”

“You can’t reach the Nine-leaf stage even after recultivating?” Lu Zhou frowned.

This problem was serious. It was related to Great Yan’s future, after all.

“It’s not that I can’t... but I don’t have any prior experience to rely on. The process of sprouting leaves with and without a lotus is different. I might be able to refer to my own experiences from the One-leaf to the Eight-leaf stage, but it’s different to reach the Nine-leaf stage.”

The four elders fell deep into their thoughts when they heard these words. They were all experienced individuals with great knowledge. However, they did not know how to reach the Nine-leaf stage from the Eight-leaf stage.

The purpose of pushing the energy rings down was to promote the growth of leaves on the golden lotus. Now that the golden lotuses had been severed, what was the point of the energy rings?

“There’s still plenty of room for learning in regard to the Nine-leaf stage,” Pan Litian said.

Chu Nan said, “That’s why the speed of attaining the Nine-leaf stage is incredibly slow.”

It was only natural for them to progress rapidly if they had prior experiences to draw from. They were blindly exploring in the later stages; it was only natural that their progress was slow.

“Senior Ji, you’re the greatest Nine-leaf cultivator in the world... If you’re willing to share the method of reaching the Nine-leaf stage with the world...”

“Shut up!” Hua Wudao reprimanded Chu Nan. “How dare you ask about such a thing!”

Chu Nan shuddered as he fell to one knee and said, “It was a slip of tongue... Please forgive me, senior Ji!”

Indeed, such matters were taboo.

At this moment, Lu Zhou raised a hand and said, “It’s not entirely impossible.”

The others were shocked. All of them stared at Lu Zhou, at this moment.

Lu Zhou asked, “How many times have the beasts attacked humans?”

Ke Qinghao bowed and said, “It happened thrice in Mo City. The first time, it was the smaller manmans, and we didn’t pay much attention to it. The second and third times are the huge manmans. I heard there are beasts in Yi Province as well, but they’re just groups of weak beasts.”

“Someone saw them south of Yu Province.”

“A large number of land beasts appeared near Measure Heaven River.”

Lu Zhou stroked his beard and nodded. “Si Wuya.”

“Your orders, master?”

“Hasten the development of the Formation. Also, tell everyone that I’ll preach about the method of reaching the Nine-leaf stage soon.”

Upon hearing this, Si Wuya was shocked. “Master, are you going to preach to the whole world?”

The others widened their eyes with an incredulous expression on their faces.

If it were just the beasts, Lu Zhou would not consider doing this. However, the appearance of the envoys from the red lotus domain had changed his mind. Up until now, there was no true Nine-leaf cultivator in Great Yan. If the red lotus domain decided to invade, how were they supposed to defend themselves?

Pan Litian bowed and said, “Pavilion Master, please think about this carefully!”

“Please think carefully about this, Pavilion Master!” the other elders chimed in as well.

This was no trivial matter.

However, Lu Zhou’s expression remained unchanged. “I’ve made up my mind!”

Currently, he was not a true Nine-leaf cultivator. He would achieve a breakthrough sooner or later. Judging by his current progress, he believed that he was not far from reaching the Nine-leaf stage. He would alert the others when that time came. Instead of doing that, he decided that he could also hide that in the name of demonstrating the method of sprouting leaves. He could kill two birds with one stone with this.

‘Am I too cunning?’

The cultivators of the Evil Sky Pavilion kneeled and said, “Your magnanimity is something we should learn from you, Patriarch!”

“Your magnanimity is something we should learn from you, Patriarch!”

“Ding! Worshipped by 10 individuals. Reward: 10 merit points.”

“After the Eight-leaf stage, the reward for every worshipping individual would be 1 merit point. The reward would not be repeated.”

Lu Zhou frowned. ‘The system is such a troll.’

‘Forget it. I’ve earned quite a lot from killing the manmans and Gu Ming. It’s time for me to get ready for the Nine-leaf stage.’

Lu Zhou stood up.

At this moment, a Nether Sect disciple came running in. He panted as he said, “Patriarch! Outside... outside...”

The branch master, Ke Qinghao, frowned and asked, “What is it? More beasts?”

“No, no, no... The people... the people...”

Lu Zhou glanced at the disciple. With his hands on his back, he said, “Let’s have a look.”

The others bowed and followed him.

Xiao Yun, who was standing beside Chu Nan, wanted to say something, but Chu Nan said in a hushed voice, “Senior Ji dislikes fickle-minded people the most. Are you still thinking of joining the Evil Sky Pavilion?”

Xiao Yun immediately withered.

...

Outside the mansion.

There was a commotion on the streets.

The doors were opened, and the civilians were kneeling at the doors.

“Thank you, Patriarch!”

“Thank you, Patriarch!”

“Ding! Worshipped by 520 individuals. Reward: 520 merit points.”

Lu Zhou walked out.

“Ding! Worshipped by 1,100 individuals. Reward: 1,100 merit points.”

He stood at the end of the street and looked around himself. He remembered a phrase from earth: those who win the hearts of the people will win the world.

It did not matter if he was of the Fiend Path.

Lu Zhou stepped into the air and looked down. The nearby streets were full of people.

He sent a soundwave that traveled that resounded through the streets. “With me here, the sky won’t fall.”

He heard notifications of being worshipped again. With that, he earned another 20,000 merit points.