The eastern side of the mountain range in the Eastern Forest Mountain was as silent as a graveyard. As a result, Lu Zhou's words were extremely loud and clear.
Mo Xinglu hurriedly tried to hush Lu Zhou. "Old senior…"
The others were on the verge of tears.
'You crazy life heart-obsessed old man, even if you want to die, can you not drag us into the water with you!?'
The blackguard in the center of the trio on the left looked at Lu Zhou. "Your life hearts?"
Lu Zhou's expression remained unchanged. He stroked his beard with one hand while the other rested on his back. "That's right."
The blackguard nodded before he said in a low voice, "Well, from now, these life hearts belong to us. We, the Black Guards, will take them away. Can you hear my words clearly?"
Lu Zhou said, "I can hear your words clearly, but I don't understand them."
"You don't understand?"
Buzz!
A 450-foot black lotus avatar appeared in front of everyone again. It was even more majestic and eye-catching up close. The black energy around its body was like moonlight shining in ink. The lotus and the ten leaves were black as well. The black astrolabe at the back gave it a mysterious air. The lights on the astrolabe glinted like the stars in the galaxy. This was the Thousand Realms Whirling; the dream of all Ten-leaf cultivators.
If a pin dropped now, the sound would probably resound in the mountain range.
The blackguard withdrew his avatar before he asked, "Do you understand now?"
Mo Xinglu, Xuan Chengzi, and Zeng Yan quickly nodded. "I understand, I understand…"
Lu Zhou. "…"
'To think that I was trying so hard to reason with these three people earlier. I should've just shown them my avatar!'
The blackguard looked at Lu Zhou and repeated his question, "Do you understand?"
Lu Zhou shook his head.
With this shake of head from Lu Zhou, the three Ten-leaf cultivators felt as though their hearts had dropped to the ground! If the old man angered the Thousand Realms Whirling expert, they would be buried together with him! How could this old man be so unreasonable!?
Mo Xinglu and Xuan Chengzi hastily spoke up one after another to prevent Lu Zhou from speaking.
"I'm sure the old senior understood your meaning. Seniors, please take the life hearts away."
"That's right, that's right, just take them away."
Unfortunately, the blackguard did not seem to be appeased by their words. He stubbornly waited for Lu Zhou's reply.
Lu Zhou said, "Isn't this daylight robbery?"
The blackguard flew forward dozens of meters and landed in the center of the group. He gripped his long halberd and said airily, "Humans are not born equal."
At this moment, the blackguard standing in the center of the trio on the right finally said, "There's no need to waste words with him. We just need to complete our mission."
"Alright." The blackguard nodded slightly. Then, he waved his hand casually.
The ink-like energy surged and collected the three life hearts.
The blackguard's movement was not fast. He deliberately let everyone have a good look as he took the life hearts away.
The life hearts were halfway across from the blackguard when Lu Zhou flicked his sleeve. Just like that, the three life hearts shot into his sleeve one after another.
The Black Guards. "???"
Xuan Chengzi, Mo Xinglu, and Zeng Yan. "???"
After obtaining the three life hearts, Lu Zhou said indifferently, "You're right. Humans are not born equal."
Lu Zhou put away his fate core and said indifferently,
Under the heavy armor and masks, no one knew what the expressions of the Black Guards were like at this moment.
However, one could see the blackguard, who was standing in front, tightening his grip on his halberd.
"Goodbye." The blackguard raised his hand, and a black palm seal sailed toward Lu Zhou as it grew from small to large.
The six blackguards waited patiently for the old man to be smashed into pieces.
The thousands of cultivators held their breaths as they looked at the black palm fearfully. They shook their heads and sighed inwardly.
Swoosh!
Lu Zhou's figure turned blurry, and he arrived in front of the blackguard who launched the palm seal before he struck with his palm.
Bang!
Lu Zhou's palm strike landed straight on the blackguard's chest, returning the favor.
The blackguard widened his eyes in shock, caught off guard. As he was sent flying back a few hundred meters like a cannonball, a dent on his armor could be seen. He grunted before he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Captain!" One of the blackguards caught his injured captain. Even then, the force was so strong that he was also pushed back a few meters before he managed to come to a halt.
The scenery of the Eastern Forest Mountain was pleasing to the eyes. If it were not for the thousands of cultivators crowding here for the three life hearts, it would be perfect for one to enjoy the scenery. Alas, at this moment, the blood permeated the air, speaking of the many lives that were lost here, stirring up fear in people's hearts.
It had always been like this in the cultivation world. Death could come upon a person in just a blink of an eye, and sometimes, one would not even know how one died.
Mo Xinglu, Xuan Chengzi, and Zeng Yan were shocked.
However, the trio's shock was nothing compared to the blackguard's shock. The armor hid his expression, but his exposed eyes revealed enough shock. At the same time, 10,000 questions arose in his heart. Who was this old man? Why was he so powerful? Why was such a powerful person so modest and reasonable?
This palm strike was just like an appetizer. Lu Zhou knew that it would be a little difficult to fight six of them alone. Moreover, it would be a huge loss to waste a Deadly Strike Card on these people. He recalled some information from the book he read; the essence of the Birth Charts resided in the Birth Palace. If the Birth Palace was destroyed, the Birth Charts would be destroyed as well.
At this moment, the six black guards regrouped and formed a line. The armor on their bodies seemed to have an inexplicable connection. Apart from them being identical, there seemed to be energy that linked them.
The blackguard whom Lu Zhou sent flying was the captain of the group on the left. He endured the excruciating pain in his chest and asked, "Senior, who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. The life hearts belong to me."
"We, the Black Guards, are just following orders. Why must you make things difficult for us?" the captain asked.
"Making things difficult? I didn't see you acting this way earlier…" Lu Zhou shook his head disapprovingly. It was fine if the blackguard did not speak, but he could not help feeling angry after listening to these words. Since when did following orders become an excuse to bully others?
The blackguard decided to compromise. "There are three life hearts. Why don't you take one, and we'll take the remaining two?"
Lu Zhou shook his head.
One of the captains said again, "Your strength should be around that of a Five Chart expert. These low-level life hearts are useless to you."
Upon hearing these words, the thousands of cultivators were shocked. The blackguard who appeared domineering and mysterious earlier was actually speaking so politely!
Meanwhile, Xuan Chengzi, Mo Xinglu, and Zeng Yan wanted to slap themselves. Even the blackguard had to compromise with the old man. To think… to think they wanted to take advantage of the old man earlier.
Lu Zhou said, "I've already said I want all three life hearts."
The captain of the team on the right brandished his halberd.
The sound of energy resonance rang in the air.
In front of everyone's eyes, one, two, three Thousand Realms Whirling avatars appeared like three twinkling black stars.
Upon seeing this, the team on the left tacitly manifested their avatars.
Four, five, six Thousand Realms Whirling avatars!
The six avatars, four short and two tall, formed a line. The tallest were 450 feet tall while the shortest was 400 feet tall.
Among the six of them, there were two Four Chart experts and four Three Chart experts.. The average strength of a blackguard was just as Yan Zhenluo had described.
