The commanding tone entered the ears of Su Sheng who was outside the great hall. He fought back his surging blood essence as he lay on the ground with a pained expression on his face. This palm strike would render him motionless for a long time. The difference in the palm strike’s strength was too great! He was completely powerless. He endured the pain and rose to his feet with great difficulty and entered the Evil Sky Pavilion’s great hall…
Liu Ge did not look at Su Sheng.
Faced with this situation, Su Sheng had no choice but to kneel toward Conch.
Upon seeing this, Conch seemed flustered as she moved to the side and hid behind Mingshi Yin to avoid Su Sheng’s bow.
Mingshi Yin smiled and said, “Oh, so you’re capable of feeling frightened as well, little ancestor?”
“I’m not frightened,” Conch said.
“If it were Ninth Junior Sister, she would’ve given him a kick. You’re slightly lacking in bravery,” Mingshi Yin said.
In terms of tormenting others, Conch and Little Yuan’er were at the same level. However, Conch seemed less bold compared to Little Yuan’er.
Before Conch could reply, Lu Zhou waved his hand and said, “This is the Evil Sky Pavilion, not the palace. You’d do well not to bring the ways of the palace here.”
Liu Ge nodded in agreement and said, “Su Sheng, thank Brother Ji.”
Su Sheng shifted to face Lu Zhou and said, “Thank you for holding back, Senior Ji.”
Mingshi Yin rolled his eyes and said, “If you had listened to me, it wouldn’t have come to this.”
“You’re right, Mister Fourth.” Su Sheng’s face flushed red. As the saying went, ‘Consider the master before hitting the dog’.
Naturally, that saying did not apply to Lu Zhou. Not only did he not consider Liu Ge when he taught Su Sheng a lesson, but he even ridiculed Liu Ge.
“Brother Ji, why are you so angry?” Liu Ge asked.
“I don’t have time for you…” Lu Zhou looked at Conch and beckoned her over.
Conch obediently walked to Lu Zhou’s side.
Lu Zhou inspected her pulse and widened his eyes. “Sense Condensing realm?”
“Master, am I in the Sense Condensing realm?”
Although it was slightly unbelievable, the truth was right there before his eyes. Lu Zhou nodded and said, “That’s right, you’re already in the Sense Condensing realm.”
Conch seemed delighted.
Lu Zhou continued to ask, “But, who taught you to control Qi with sound?”
Mingshi Yin said, “Master, I didn’t teach her that… It could be Old Eighth.” Nothing else mattered apart from shifting the blame away from himself.
“Master, I learned it myself,” Conch replied immediately.
Su Sheng. “???”
Gu Yiran. “???”
Su Sheng had initially thought Conch was an elite who concealed her aura. There was no longer any doubt that she was just a beginner! To think, he, a great Eight-leaf cultivator, had insisted on sparring with her. The more he thought about it, the more ashamed he felt.
Lu Zhou reminded her, “Don’t rush when you cultivate. You should focus on your cultivation for now. Controlling Qi with sound can come later.”
“I understand, master,” Conch replied.
Then, Lu Zhou looked at three guests again before his eyes finally settled on Liu Ge. “Old Fourth, bring Conch out of the hall.”
“Understood.” Mingshi Yin led Conch out of the great hall.
Su Sheng and Gu Yiran exchanged a look. They wondered if they should leave the great hall as well despite the fact that they were great generals of the Imperial guard.
Liu Ge said, “Stay outside.”
“Understood.” Gu Yiran stood up and gestured at the Imperial bodyguards.
The boxes were left at the sides as they filed out of the great hall.
Soon after, Lu Zhou and Liu Ge were the only ones left alone in the great hall.
“Let’s hear it… Why did you come?” Lu Zhou asked.
Liu Ge heaved a long sigh before he said, “Time is a cruel thing. Centuries have passed in just a blink of an eye. I came because there’s something I’d like to personally ask you.”
Lu Zhou remained silent.
Liu Ge asked without beating around the bush, “Did you truly attain the Nine-leaf stage, Brother Ji?” His gaze was searching as he looked at Lu Zhou after asking the question.
The great hall was silent.
After a moment, Lu Zhou replied with a question, “Why would you ask that?”
“Do you remember that mysterious elite, Brother Ji?” Liu Ge said.
“If you’re not going to get to the point, you can leave. I don’t have time to waste on you,” Lu Zhou said before he rose to his feet.
The system’s upgrade would only be completed in two months. Lu Zhou had used some of his extraordinary on the palm strike earlier. He needed time to recover and did not have the luxury of chatting with this person.
“…” Liu Ge was slightly surprised. He said at once, “The mysterious elite rode in a coffin from the northern borders, crossing the lands of the Other Tribes and Great Yan…”
Lu Zhou remembered the Roulian, Lanni, who brought a red coffin to the Evil Sky Pavilion. He stopped moving and placed his hand on his back as he said, “Get to the point.”
“The reason why Great Yan’s Imperial family remains standing to this day is due to the mysterious elite’s help… He had stressed that we’re not to attempt the Nine-leaf stage. Otherwise, there would be unthinkable consequences.”
Lu Zhou was intrigued. He looked at Liu Ge and asked, “Where’s this person now?”
Liu Ge shook his head and said, “He stayed in the Divine Capital once. Then, he left some things there before he left. The Imperial family has been searching for him all these years. Alas, we’ve never heard from him again.”
“You seem to believe in this mysterious elite,” Lu Zhou said.
“I never doubted him from the beginning until the end,” Liu Ge replied, “The heavens have set this taboo for us humans, and there must be a reason behind this. We’ll have to pay the price if we’re to violate the taboo. We should cultivate according to the will of the heavens. Isn’t 1,000 years enough to satiate the greed of men?”
“I don’t think so,” Lu Zhou said.
“What’s your thought on this, Brother Ji? I’d like to hear it.”
“According to you, cultivators should be content with 1,000 years. However, a mortal is considered to have lived a long life if he or she lived to 100 years old. It has never been fair between cultivators and mortals. Doesn’t this mean cultivators have violated the mortals’ taboo?” Lu Zhou said, “Moreover, to cultivate is already going against heaven’s will.”
“Cultivating is going against the will of the heavens?” Liu Ge asked. “That’s only a view held by the minorities.”
“The Confucian school fears the command of the heavens and merely cultivates to better themselves; the Buddhist sects fear karma that could not be avoided; the Daoist sects wish for longevity and to exist alongside the heavens and the earth… Which of these isn’t going against the will of the heavens?” Lu Zhou asked.
“…” Liu Ge was at a loss for words. He had thought about this before. Over the long course of history, many cultivators had their own views about cultivation. There were countless views vying for dominance from the Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist sects, but the end goal remained the same. Three paths were constantly striving to break through from the original restrictions.
Liu Ge said, “It’s only a difference in opinions… You have your own view, Brother Ji, and I have mine.”
Lu Zhou stroked his beard and asked, “So, are you going to force your views on me?”
Liu Ge was once again at a loss for words. He studied Lu Zhou for a moment before he asked, “When did you grow so eloquent, Brother Ji?”
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhou slowly rose to his feet and said with an indifferent expression on his face, “It’s time for you to leave.”
Liu Ge continued to say, “I’m only here to confirm if you’re at the Nine-leaf stage, Brother Ji. If you are… Please consider the greater picture and conceal your cultivation base, Brother Ji.”
Lu Zhou turned around and struck with his palm. A shining golden palm seal sailed toward Liu Ge.
Liu Ge crossed his arms and released a burst of Primal Qi from his old body to block the palm seal. “There’s much control in this palm seal. Your cultivation base has indeed improved greatly, Brother Ji.”
Lu Zhou had struck with the power corresponding to his cultivation base that was in the Two-leaf Nascent Divinity realm. Therefore, it was not surprising that Liu Ge was able to block the attack.
Undeterred, Liu Ge continued to say, “If anyone reaches the Nine-leaf stage, there will surely be a great disaster. Please be careful, Brother Ji.”
Lu Zhou found Liu Ge’s amusing. “What disaster? Will the heavens part and the ground sink? Or will the waters of the lakes, rivers, and seas drown the lands?”
“I don’t know what disasters lie beyond as well, but I believe in the mysterious elite…” Liu Ge replied, “There are many things that can’t be explained, but time will tell. Please believe me in regard to this matter, brother Ji.”
Lu Zhou recalled the coffin. He also thought about the diary-like entries in the secret tome that came along with the coffin. The Formation veins on the coffin and the armor the Crown Prince, Liu Zhi, gave Lin Xin were proof of the mysterious elite’s existence. Unfortunately, he was not a real Nine-leaf cultivator and could not verify that.
The shackles of heaven and earth were the great limit of their lifespans. Everything was numbered.
After pondering on this for a moment, Lu Zhou said, “The cultivation world will have the answer in two months.” To be honest, he did not know how long it would take for someone to reach the Nine-leaf stage after severing their lotuses. He had casually come up with this answer after taking the cooldown period of the system into consideration. Who could say anything about his answer after the cooldown period was up?
“Two months?”
“The lotus-severing era has arrived… I won’t be the only Nine-leaf cultivator,” Lu Zhou said.
Liu Ge was taken aback by Lu Zhou’s words. If severing one’s lotus would help one to attain the Nine-leaf stage, nobody would be able to stop it. Even his son, Liu Gu, was attempting to attain the Nine-leaf stage as well. All things considered, what use was there for him to pester the Evil Sky Pavilion about this?
