Chapter 703: An Errant Heart Emerges Victorious
Lu Zhou dove from the sky. When the dust settled, and his vision was clear, he saw the entirety of the five-finger pit on the ground. Although he had used the Deadly Strike Cards several times before this, when he saw the effect again, he was still shocked by its indescribably destructive power.
The reward of 4,000 merit points meant that Fa Kong was weaker than Chi Yao.
Although the palm seal was shocking, it paled in comparison to the shocking strike he had dealt Chi Yao in the dark abyss that illuminated the place.
Lu Zhou did not need to waste his breath with this aggressive Nine-leaf cultivator. Even if he could have killed Fa Kong with his own ability, it still would not be dependable as the Deadly Strike Cards.
Indeed, this would cost him some merit points. However, he had just reached the Nine-leaf stage; there were still many things he needed to learn and understand.
This Blood Sun Sect elite obviously would not obediently surrender. Therefore, Lu Zhou decided to kill him with a strike. It was a neat, thorough, and decisive move.
Lu Zhou finally descended and made his way to the palm-shaped put. He saw the Blood Sun Temple’s high monk, Fa Kong, lying inside.
Fa Kong’s arms and body were crushed and damaged beyond repair, and his face was injured beyond recognition. Fa Kong was dead.
Indeed, Fa Kong was far stronger than Jiang Wenxu. However, back then, Lu Zhou had used a Peak Trial Card. His battle with Jiang Wenxu was a one-sided fight. This time, he relied on his own strength. Combined with the Heavenly Writing’s extraordinary power, he managed to last until now.
“Karmic fire?” Lu Zhou fell deep into his thoughts as he stroked his beard. ‘Can a Nine-leaf cultivator... burn energy?’
During dire situations, ordinary cultivators always went one of two ways during their death struggle. The first was to self-destruct by releasing all the Primal Qi in their seas of Qi in an explosive manner. With that, they would be able to create a great impact in a short time. Best case scenario, they would survive but destroy their cultivation bases Worst case scenario, they would die instantly. The second method was to burn their seas of Qi, releasing the potential contained in the Primal Qi. This was a method to temporarily raise their cultivation bases. After doing this, the cultivators would suffer irreparable damages to their bodies.
Clearly, the red lotus karmic fire Fa Kong released in his death throes did not belong to those two methods. It was more similar to releasing power by burning energy that was condensed from Primal Qi.
After mulling over it for a moment, Lu Zhou shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts. This was not the time to be thinking about these things.
After he was sure that Fa Kong was dead, Lu Zhou called up the system dashboard and looked at his remaining life. He hoped the earlier rise in numbers was not a temporary thing.
Remaining life: 73,003 days.
“200 years...” After reaching the Nine-leaf stage, Lu Zhou’s life was extended for 73,000 days, which was 200 years. This extension of his life must be due to his breakthrough to the Nine-leaf stage.
From the One-leaf to Eight-leaf stage, every single leaf added 50 years to a cultivator’s life. It seemed like the ninth leaf granted cultivators 200 years of life.
Currently, the great limit of life had been broken.
Lu Zhou was now a true Nine-leaf cultivator of Great Yan.
Lu Zhou looked at his hair. It had reverted to its salt and pepper, half-black and half-white, state. However, his body and movements seemed to be better than before.
Whizz!
He flipped his right palm and manifested a miniature avatar. The nine leaves spun around the lotus. At the same time, wisps of vitality flowed out from the golden lotus.
“An outflow of vitality?” He remembered that the final golden energy ring did not slide down when he was at the point of breakthrough. Instead, it moved in the opposite direction by moving upward. Then, the golden lotus was brimming with life after absorbing sufficient life force. That was when the ninth leaf sprouted.
At this moment, Lu Zhou noticed the numbers on the dashboard were rising.
+200!
+300!
+100!
Lu Zhou’s expression remained calm. With a burst of movement, he left the palm-shaped pit that destroyed the landscape. He went into the forest and sat down in a quiet spot. Then, he began to gather the outpour of vitality from his Nine-leaf cultivation base.
...
Meanwhile.
The three Evil Sky Pavilion elders and disciples and the Great Yan cultivators who came to watch the demonstration flew south in a frenzy.
Si Wuya, Duanmu Sheng, Mingshi Yin, Zhu Honggong, and Zhao Yue were leading the others. The Nine-leaf cultivators moved too quickly for them. They could not keep up.
“There! There are signs of a battle!”
Fallen trees were strewn across the lands; mountains were flattened.
“I hope the pavilion master is alright. Be careful, everyone! Our visitor isn’t a pushover.”
Everyone nodded.
“Keep chasing after them. We can’t let any harm come to Senior Ji, no matter what. Otherwise, Great Yan will be in danger!”
The cultivators looked ahead as they flew in the air.
Pan Litian turned around to look at those behind him and asked, “Are you afraid?”
“Of course not!” someone exclaimed loudly. The person continued to say, “If we advance, we might survive this. However, if we retreat, we’re done for. If being afraid is useful, we would’ve submitted to the 12 allied nations a long time ago.”
Great Yan thrived for such a long time because the people were not cowards.
“The pavilion master was magnanimous enough to demonstrate the way to reach the Nine-leaf stage without considering the price he had to pay. If he weren’t in the midst of his demonstration, the attacker wouldn’t have stood a chance at all! How are we different from beasts if we cower in fear and retreat?”
“Those who are afraid should scram. We won’t stop you!” someone shouted.
None of the cultivators in the air retreated. All of them wore a determined expression on their faces.
“Alright! I’ll lead the way!” Pan Litian tossed his Golden Gourd Bottle out. The gourd bottle spun in the air and pointed south before it flew swiftly in that direction. “Let’s go!”
Hundreds of cultivators flew in the sky under Pan Litian’s lead.
...
In the red lotus domain.
The sun was shining down at this moment. However, dark and gloomy clouds seemed to loom over the Blood Sun Mountain. The Blood Sun Temple was shrouded in darkness.
Inside the zen hall, the monotonic raps on the wooden fish rang in the air. The sounds were not slow nor rushed.
At this moment, a strong gust of wind blew across the room, forcing the windows open.
Creak!
The rapping noises stopped.
A disciple in kasaya bowed before he straightened one hand before himself and reported, “Abbot, the life stone of the Monastic Discipline Hall’s First Seat, Fa Kong, has shattered...” His tone and expression were calm as though he had already foreseen this.
A voice rang from the Zen room at this moment. “Fa Kong is the second Zen cultivator who mastered the karmic fire of our temple. His cultivation base is on par with mine... Pass this information to the Sky Martial Court. We’ll have to postpone the Sky Shuttle project.”
“Understood.”
After the disciple in the kasaya left, inside the Zen room.
An old man dressed in ordinary monks’ robes opened his eyes slightly. He straightened a palm before himself and heaved a long sigh.
“Peaceful nirvana is the fruit of proper cultivation. He’s now in the cycle of reincarnation. Amitabha...”
...
In front of the Evil Sky Pavilion’s great hall.
Little Yuan’er and Conch took turns looking after Ye Tianxin.
Meanwhile, the injured Eight-leaf cultivators sat cross-legged on the ground as they sped up their recovery.
Hua Wudao stood in front of the others, pacing up and down as he occasionally glanced outside the barrier.
“What f*cking bad luck! Who’s that cultivator who appeared out of nowhere?” Zhu Tianyuan cursed before coughing.
“Senior Zhu, the red elite who must’ve been a Nine-leaf cultivator!” Nan Gongwei sighed as he shook his head.
The red lotus cultivator was capable of injuring several Eight-leaf cultivators with a few strikes and pushed the Evil Sky Pavilion’s Patriarch back. There was nobody apart from a Nine-leaf cultivator who was capable of such feats.
“There’s always someone stronger than us... In the past, I’d thought I’d learned about the world’s secrets at the Eight-leaf stage. Now that I think about it, I realize how foolish I was.”
Huang Shijie adjusted his breathing as he said, “Before I met Brother Ji, I had the same thought... There’s no need to worry. Brother Ji will certainly defeat that person.”
The others nodded.
At this moment, this was the only way they could comfort themselves.
At this moment, someone emerged from the great hall.
“Brother Zhu?”
Zhu Tianyuan opened his eyes. He endured the pain in his chest and looked at the person who called out to him. He asked, “Jie Kai? Why are you hiding inside?”
Jie Kai said sheepishly, “I’m no match for a Nine-leaf elite...”
Zhu Tianyuan spat. “Coward.”
The other Eight-leaf cultivators regarded Jie Kai with scornful expressions.
“Don’t say that... It’s stupid to charge forward when defeat is inevitable. Brother Zhu, you only have yourself to blame for your current state.”
“Are you done speaking?” Zhu Tianyuan asked, annoyed.
“Don’t be mad, Brother Zhu. You’re in bad shape, at the moment. You should prioritize healing yourself,” Jie Kai said softly. Then, he asked, “Does anyone know what that red thing was?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“That thing is recorded in the books. It’s known as a Sky Shuttle,” Jie Kai said with a dramatic flair.
Zhu Tianyuan suddenly turned to look at Jie Kai. He suddenly remembered the record he had brought with him after leaving the Ancient Saint Cult. He asked pointedly, “Why didn’t you say anything earlier if you have knowledge of it?”
Jie Kai said with a sigh, “What good would that do? Mister Seventh’s pride wouldn’t have allowed me to speak. Moreover, would you have listened to my explanation, Brother Zhu? Indeed, it was a Nine-leaf elite in the Sky Shuttle. Moreover, from the looks of it, he had reached the Nine-leaf stage a long time ago. I’m afraid things aren’t looking good for Senior Ji.”
“What do you mean by that?” Zhu Tianyun glared at Jie Kai.
Jie Kai frowned slightly. “I meant no ill will. I’m just stating the fact.”
“You? No ill will?” Zhu Tianyuan looked at Jie Kai disdainfully.
“Brother Zhu... I have ten healing saint pills here. Everyone, please take some. They have miraculous effects on internal injuries.” Jie Kai fished out a pouch from his pocket before showing the cultivators the pills.