When the three elders of the Evil Sky Pavilion and the other disciples saw the huge palm seal flattening the sea of trees, they were horrified, shocked, and confused. They were certain the Nine-leaf expert who came in here in a transporter and had mastered the red flames had been reduced to a pulp. So why was the pavilion master launching a palm seal now? Were there other red lotus cultivators in the vicinity? Could… could it be that he was just… showing off?
“Wise elders, please tell you if you think that palm seal is far too big,” one of the cultivators said.
Leng Luo, Pan Litian, and Zuo Yushu studied Lu Zhou’s golden lotus.
Pan Litian and Leng Luo had once witnessed Lu Zhou’s Nine-leaf avatar up-close. Naturally, they had no idea that it was just the effect of the Peak Trial Card. Compared to that golden lotus, this current lotus and its leaves were much larger. Additionally, after the leaves straightened up, they seemed even more powerful.
“Uh…” Pan Litian stammered.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before…” Leng Luo replied bluntly, “Just admit it if you don’t know anything about it. It’s a grave sin to mislead the juniors.”
When the others heard this, they turned around and bowed at Leng Luo. “We admire your magnanimity, senior!”
Pan Litian rolled his eyes. He could not have cared less.
Si Wuya said, “There is far too little information regarding the Nine-leaf stage in Great Yan at the moment. It’s normal for us not to know much about this. However, based on what we do know, this seems like a power from the Nine-leaf stage. Look at that… Do you see any similarities between the golden flames and the red lotus karmic fire?”
“Indeed, they do look similar… They both appear like tongues of flames. However, this golden flame burns brighter. In comparison, the red lotus fire seemed like a fire in the midst of a blowing wind,” Mingshi Yin said.
“You’re incredibly talented, Mister Fourth. Your explanation was easy to understand.”
Si Wuya looked at Lu Zhou in the sky with his hands on his back.
When they were about to step forward, Lu Zhou raised his palm again. He pushed his palm downward and unleashed five Abandon Wisdoms consecutively at the same spot.
Trees fell as clouds of dust stirred up.
The dust obscured their visions. Everyone was shocked and confused.
What was the pavilion master doing?
“Such dense Primal Qi! How can he still be left with this much power after fighting the unknown visitor for so long?”
“This is nothing. The pavilion master fought the Nine-leaf Jiang Wenxu who was the former Grand Imperial tutor of Great Yan, the puppet master of the 12 allied nations, and the most influential individual among Other Tribes. And yet, faced with the pavilion master, he was powerless. After defeating Jiang Wenxu, the pavilion master hurried eastward across Heaven’s Moat and destroyed the seven nations… They were both Nine-leaf cultivators, but the differences in their strength are as clear as day. However, when this unknown invader came, the pavilion master was at a crucial point of his demonstration. With this, we can now see the uninvited guest was far from being a match for the pavilion master,” Pan Zhong said solemnly.
The others were filled with awe and nodded upon hearing these words. In their opinion, these words did not sound exaggerated at all.
…
After the five palm strikes hit the ground, Lu Zhou looked at the slowly burning golden flames. He was starting to get a feel of his power. The appearance of the golden fire renewed his understanding of the Nine-leaf stage.
His cultivation base now exceeded the strength that the Peak Trial Card granted him… Naturally, unlike the effect of the Peak Trial Card, he could not use his Primal Qi without a care and endlessly launch his ultimate moves. Hence, it was not easy to say which one was better.
Lu Zhou looked at the nine leaves again. They were originally wide and flat. Now they were like sharp golden blades. The new straight appearance made his golden lotus avatar seem fiercer and cooler.
The clouds of dust finally settled.
After unleashing the palm strikes, Lu Zhou looked down. As expected, there was a palm-shaped pit on the ground.
“…”
It did not seem appropriate to destroy the environment like this.
Lu Zhou retracted his avatar. At this moment, he saw the elders and his disciples leading a group of cultivators. They were flying toward him at the moment.
The three elders and his disciples flew in the lead while the others followed from behind in an orderly fashion. Apart from that, the other cultivators maintained a lower altitude out of respect.
When they finally arrived in front of Lu Zhou, they greeted him in unison.
“Greetings, pavilion master!”
“Greetings, master!”
“Greetings, Senior Ji!”
At this moment, only a small part of Lu Zhou’s hair was still dark.
After breaking through the great limit, coupled with the vitality flowing out of the golden lotus, his life longevity had increased. However, they only extended his life. They were not like the Reversal Cards. Therefore, it had no effect on his appearance. Nonetheless, in the future, he would no longer need to use the Reversal Cards to reach the Nine-leaf stage. He would be using them to reverse his state. With that, it would be easier for him to restore his appearance.
He swept his gaze across everyone present on the scene and noticed the other Eight-leaf cultivators were not present. He said, “Rise.”
The others stood in midair.
Lu Zhou was puzzled. “Where are the others?”
“Master, they were injured by that unknown visitor so they couldn’t come,” Si Wuya explained.
“They’re all injured?” Lu Zhou frowned slightly.
“Uh…” Realization dawned on Si Wuya as soon as he heard Lu Zhou’s words. The Eight-leaf cultivators, Ye Tianxin, Nan Gongwei, Feng Yizhi, Chu Nan, Zhang Zhishui, Zhu Tianyuan, Zhou Youcai, were all injured. No, there was still Jie Kai. A frown appeared on his face immediately. He quickly said, “I’ll return to the Evil Sky Pavilion at once in case someone tries to stir up trouble.”
Lu Zhou did not know who Si Wuya was referring to. He could still feel the Primal Qi in his sea of Qi still expanding so he was looking for an outlet. Hence, he only replied curtly, “Alright.”
After saying this, Lu Zhou vanished out of sight.
The others were shocked by this. They turned to look at Golden Court Mountain, there was a burst of movement before Lu Zhou vanished again from sight.
“The pavilion master… Is this behavior normal after defeating a Nine-leaf cultivator?” Pan Litian wondered out loud. He felt rather speechless.
“How would I know?” Leng Luo was speechless as well.
“This isn’t normal! A person should be resting after a battle! Unleashing his Primal Qi without a care… Is he showing off?” This was the only reason Pan Litian could come up with.
Si Wuya said with a clear voice, “We shouldn’t dally here. Let’s quickly return to the Evil Sky Pavilion.”
The others nodded and made their way back to the Evil Sky Pavilion. In no time at all, they vanished from sight.
After they left, the middle-aged red lotus cultivator emerged from behind a huge tree near the palm-shaped pit. He was panting heavily as he slumped to the ground. He gulped as he wiped the sweat off his face. He struggled as he made his way over to the edge of the pit and peered inside with bloodshot eyes.
An expression of disbelief and horror appeared on his face as he muttered to himself, “Great Yan’s Nine-leaf cultivator… has mastered the karmic fire… He did a splendid job of hiding it, too splendid…” He continued muttering to himself, “Golden fire… Is it similar to the red lotus karmic fire?”
After a moment, the middle-aged man rose to his feet with great difficulty. He flew past the palm-shaped pit toward another palm-shaped pit.
He hovered in the center of the palm-shaped pit and saw what was left of Fa Kong. When he saw the shredded monk robes, he said, “The Blood Sun Temple’s red lotus karmic fire elite, Fa Kong?”
He wiped the sweat off his face again before he flew up and vanished among the trees.
…
Meanwhile, in the Evil Sky Pavilion.
Jie Kai looked at the poisoned Eight-leaf cultivators and nodded in satisfaction. “The full effects of the Intoxicating Spring Breeze should be kicking in now… Are you still planning to go against me?” Then, he shifted his gaze to Little Yuan’er and Conch who were hovering above the Evil Sky Pavilion and said, “Little girl, if you know what’s best for you, you’ll stay out of this. I’m surprised you weren’t poisoned, but so what? You’re not an Eight-leaf cultivator, after all. Just stay there and watch…”
After Jie Kai finished speaking, as he walked past Nan Gongwei and Feng Yizhi, he gave them a kick each.
“You…” Nan Gongwei glared at Jie Kai.
After confirming that Nan Gongwei and the others had completely lost their ability to fight, Jie Kai felt relieved and at ease.
As he stood in front of the great hall, he waved his hand. A small corked vial flew into his hand. He waved it before the others. “Intoxicating Spring Breeze, this is all there is… Although it’s precious, I think it has served its purpose well being used on all of you.” Then, he put the vial away and looked at Zhu Tianyuan as he said in a threatening and cold tone, “Brother Zhu, my patience is limited. Surrender the notes… This is the last time I’ll say that.”
