When Lu Zhou returned to the Evil Sky Pavilion, he went to the hidden chamber and began to study the Heavenly Writing. After half a day of poring over the text, his mental state was rejuvenated.
After Lu Zhou was done, he shifted his attention to the mysterious box again. He raised his right hand and Unnamed appeared in his hand.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Lu Zhou wielded Unnamed and swung it at the sword several times. It merely left a few marks on the mysterious box. Even then, the marks only remained for a few moments before it disappeared, the mysterious box was restored to its original appearance. The box was more hardy than he had expected.
“Perhaps, I need some sort of key?” Lu Zhou muttered to himself when he saw a groove on top of the box. Its pattern was quite peculiar. He manipulated Unnamed until it matched the pattern of the groove on the box before inserting it into the groove.
The pattern suddenly changed.
Clack!
Unnamed was repelled.
Lu Zhou raised his hand and recalled Unnamed. The sword vanished into thin air. Then, he sent several waves of energy at the box.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
‘Stupid box!’
…
Meanwhile, outside the hidden chamber.
Mingshi Yin and the others who had just arrived near the hidden chamber heard the commotion inside.
“Master is angry again,” Little Yuan’er mumbled.
“Many things have happened recently. It’s only natural for master to be angry.”
“Senior Brother, will Senior Sister Tianxin be alright?” Little Yuan’er asked softly.
“I can’t be sure. Master said that it depends on her luck.”
The three of them shook their heads.
Bzzt!
The hidden chamber’s rock door slid open slowly.
The three of them immediately held their breaths. They did not dare to continue their discussion. They saw their master swing his arm before a wave of energy carried a mysterious box into the great hall.
Lu Zhou slowly walked up to them with his hands on his back.
“Master!” Three of them called out in unison.
“Mingshi Yin.”
“Yes, master.”
“You always have the most ideas. This box is extremely mysterious. I’ll leave it to you for now. Find a way to open it,” Lu Zhou said slowly.
“Yes, master.” Mingshi Yin grinned when he saw the box. ‘I like simple tasks like this the most.’
Lu Zhou walked up the stairs and slowly sat down. As soon as he sat down, his three disciples immediately straightened up, they did not dare to behave carelessly. However, he did not look at them and continued entertaining his own thoughts.
‘Currently, I have 8,762 merit points. It seems like a lot, but it’s still not enough for me to buy the Six Recombinant Trigram Lines. Initially, I planned to purchase item cards for when I need them. However, if I recklessly buy them, the prices would go up. I have no choice but to spend my energy to improve my cultivation base, Although their cultivation bases are good, it’s still impossible to take them on missions like killing Wei Zhuoyan.’
When Lu Zhou thought about his disciples, he finally said, “How’s the improvement of your cultivation bases coming along?”
Duanmu Sheng hastily bowed and said, “I’ve had some breakthrough with my Divine One Technique. I think I can attain a Two-leaf avatar within a month.”
Mingshi Yin said, “My cultivation base is at the One-leaf avatar stage.”
“You’re not concealing your strength?” Lu Zhou stared at Mingshi Yin. After all, he discovered this fellow had intentionally concealed his strength when he was fighting Zhang Qiuchi.
Mingshi Yin hastily said, “Master, I’m telling the truth. I daren’t hide things from you.”
Lu Zhou nodded. He looked at Little Yuan’er, who was standing at the side. “Yuan’er, what about you?”
Little Yuan’er blushed. She stammered, “Peak Divine Court realm…” When she finished speaking, she fell to her knees and said, “I’ll break through to the Nascent Divinity Tribulation realm as soon as I can.”
Of Lu Zhou’s nine disciples, apart from Old Eighth and Old Fifth, Little Yuan’er was the only one who was still in the Divine Court realm. Little Yuan’er felt ashamed when she thought about this.
Lu Zhou did not mind much. However, he did feel their overall strength was slightly weak. If they wanted to stand firm in the cultivation world, they would at least need cultivation bases with Five-leaf or Six-leaf. The strongest of his disciples was Duanmu Sheng, who was close to attaining a Two-lead avatar. Indeed, they were quite weak. Ding Fanqiu had a Five-leaf cultivation base, Fan Xiuwen had an Eight-leaf cultivation base, and Hua Wudao had a Six-leaf cultivation base. When he made the comparison, he truly felt his disciples were unpresentable. Thus, he said to them, “You’ll have to work harder on your cultivation.”
“Yes, master,” Three of them replied in unison. They were shocked as well. Their master would not care about them like this in the past. It was considered good as long as he did not hold anything back from them.
At this moment, a female cultivator’s voice rang from outside the great hall. “Zhao Yue requests an audience.”
Lu Zhou’s three disciples instinctively turned to look.
Lu Zhou said calmly, “Let her in.”
Zhao Yue walked into the great hall with two female cultivators escorting her.
“This sinful disciple pays respect to master.” Zhao Yue respectfully kneeled on the ground.
“Raise your head,” Lu Zhou said indifferently.
Zhao Yue lifted her head slowly. She flinched when her eyes met Lu Zhou’s eyes.
The golden lotus on Zhao Yue’s forehead had disappeared.
“I’m grateful for your mercy, master… The witchcraft Restriction has been lifted,” Zhao Yue said with slight trepidation.
“How’s your cultivation base?”
“I’ve recovered about one-fifth of it. I’ll need one month to completely recover,” Zhao Yue answered honestly. When she finished speaking, she kowtowed as she said, “I know that I’ve made a mistake. I beg for a chance to redeem myself, master!”
Upon hearing this, Mingshi Yin and Duanmu Sheng kneeled down as well.
Although Little Yuan’er was a beat slower, she followed suit as well. However, she seemed puzzled by this.
Lu Zhou glanced at the other three before he said, “Zhao Yue.”
“Yes, master.”
“I’ll give you an opportunity to redeem yourself,” Lu Zhou said.
“Thank you, master! I won’t let you down!” Zhao Yue was overjoyed.
Lu Zhou noticed that Zhao Yue’s loyalty had increased by 15%. Currently, the Evil Sky Pavilion was weak. He had to focus on increasing his disciples’ loyalty and improving their cultivation bases. At the same time, he had to earn merit points. The truth behind the Fish Dragon Village had been brought to light, and he could not rush things on Wei Zhuoyan’s side as well. When he thought about this, he said, “In these few days, put all of your cultivation methods down in writing and present them to me.”
“Huh? Write down our cultivation methods?”
The disciples were dumbfounded.
“Do it. No questions,” Lu Zhou said in a tone that brooked no arguments.
“Yes, master.”
Lu Zhou had ordered his disciples to do this because he was not certain if his disciples were cultivating the right and complete methods. His lost memories were most probably related to his disciples. If the cultivation methods they were taught were defective, it would become a huge obstacle to their improvements. After a while, he waved his arm and left.
The four of them exchanged glances.
“Old Fourth, you’re the one with brains… What’s master playing at?” Duanmu Sheng asked as he scratched his head.
“How would I know…” Mingshi Yin carried the box and began studying it. Compared to writing down his cultivation method, studying the box was more interesting to him.
Zhao Yue said emotionally, “In any case, there’s no doubt that master has changed.”
“Fifth Junior Sister, you’re much more fortunate than Junior Sister Tianxin. Her fate is now in limbo. We’re not sure if she can make it,” Mingshi Yin said.
Zhao Yue was shocked by Mingshi Yin’s words, “What happened to Junior Sister Tianxin?”
Mingshi Yin sighed and said, “She’s now in a deep slumber… It’s best not to ask further. I don’t want to guess master’s intentions.”
“Are you saying that master is so simple-minded that you don’t want to guess his intentions?” Duanmu Sheng asked.
Mingshi Yin’s eyes widened as he said, “Shh! Third Senior Brother, I said no such thing! Master is very intelligent!”
“…” Little Yuan’er’s eyes brightened as she said loudly, “Oh, I know, you’re saying master is stupid!”
“…” Mingshi Yin carried the box and vanished into thin air. A boneheaded teammate could do you more harm than the most formidable opponent. He left for a quiet place behind the mountain.
As soon as Mingshi Yin arrived, he placed the box on a rock. He stroked his chin as he studied the box intently. The box was unlike anything he had ever seen. There were no gaps, no notches, no cover. It was a perfect cube!
“Regardless of what kind of box you are, a heaven-grade weapon can definitely break you!” Mingshi Yin raised his right hand, and his Separation Hook and Scabbard appeared in his hand. He swung it.
Bam!
Sparks flew.
Both his weapon and the box were unscathed.
“Incredible.” Mingshi Yin’s eyes widened. “I’m the dumb one here. Master would never give me something simple to deal with.”
Mingshi Yin saw the groove on the box. The sun shone on it, and he saw a unique pattern. “Hm? Why does this resemble my Separation Hook and Scabbard?”
