During the journey back, Lu Zhou had been thinking about how to explain the change in his appearance to his disciples. Although he was their master and none of them would dare to challenge him or doubt him if he unleashed his blue lotus, it would still arouse suspicions and questions from not only the Evil Sky Pavilion, but outsiders as well.
Moreover, up until now, the strange feeling still had not gone away. He wanted to find out what exactly the sense of unease was and where it came from. Until he figured it out, he could not remain independent of the Evil Sky Pavilion. The best candidate to help him with this was Si Wuya, the smartest among his disciples.
After everyone left, before Lu Zhou could speak, Si Wuya said, “Master, the runic passage to the golden lotus domain is open now. Apart from that, I made a new discovery regarding the Four Great Uncharted Lands and the Great Void…”
“Oh?”
This was rather unexpected.
Si Wuya brought out a scroll from his sleeve. Before he could walk over, the scroll flew out of his hand to the back of the screen and landed in front of Lu Zhou.
Lu Zhou frowned as he looked at the content of the scroll. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. After he calmed down, he waved his hand, and the scroll flew back to Si Wuya. Then, he asked, “The hint came from the ancient goatskin map?”
“With the ancient goatskin map, we used the connections between the runic passages to make a guess. Of course, this is just a guess. We still need to confirm it,” Si Wuya replied.
“Apart from the Great Void, you suspect there are four other domains?”
Si Wuya said, “Little Junior Sister and I spoke to Ying Zhao. From what I can infer, it seems like the golden lotus domain’s Moonlight Woodland, the red lotus domain’s Land of Chaos, and the south of the black lotus domain should be once the same place. In fact, I suspect all the domains are one in the beginning. The language and cultivation methods should be once the same as well. As for the reason why it was divided, I still don’t know. Now, we have the golden lotus domain, the red lotus domain, the black lotus domain, the white lotus domain, and the yellow lotus domain. There should still be another four domains. When all is said and done, there should be nine domains that were once one.”
Lu Zhou lifted his hand to stroke his beard and ended up stroking the air again; he shook his head. Si Wuya’s analysis made sense. After a moment, he asked, “Do you know why I asked you to stay?”
Si Wuya shook his head.
Lu Zhou continued to say, “You’re very smart so I don’t have to worry when you’re handling matters.”
“Thank you for your praise, master,” Si Wuya said.
At this time, Lu Zhou suddenly asked, “What do you think of immortality?”
“Immortality?” Si Wuya was puzzled by Lu Zhou’s question. “So far there’s no evidence of humans being able to live forever. Perhaps, this is just wishful thinking? However, humans have been constantly breaking the limits with cultivation, defying the heavens, and increasing their lifespans. Perhaps, we’ll attain immortality once we reach supremacy in cultivation?”
“Then, do you believe in perpetual youth or regression to youth?”
Si Wuya replied confidently, “The earlier humans cultivate, the more likely they are to retain their youthful appearances. Ninth Junior Sister and Little Junior Sister are examples of this. Since they started young, it’s likely they’re able to maintain their youthful appearance for a long time. However, regressing to one’s youth or maintaining one’s youth is incredibly difficult. Naturally, some are able to achieve it through some unique cultivation method and some can achieve it after their cultivation bases reach a certain stage. Lan Xihe, the Tower Master of the White Tower Council, is probably part of the latter…”
Lan Xihe looked very young. No one knew her true age, and no one dared to question her. After cultivating to a certain level, perhaps, appearances no longer meant anything.
As soon as Si Wuya finished speaking, he saw something flash from the corners of his eyes. When he raised his head, he was stunned.
‘Is this my master?’
The person standing in front of Si Wuya, who was dressed in a long robe, was tall and well-built. He had valiant and dignified air about him. He stood with his hands resting on his back, looking awe-inspiring. Despite his youth, he looked as though he had experienced the vicissitudes of life. His extraordinary bearing made him seem peerless.
When Si Wuya met the young man’s gaze, he saw the cunning, calmness, and vast knowledge behind the young man’s eyes.
Since the birth of mankind, one’s eyes would not change no matter what from birth to death. Moreover, as the saying went, ‘The eyes are the windows to the soul’.
When Si Wuya recovered from his shock, he called out without any hesitation or doubt, “Master!”
Lu Zhou nodded slightly. “You still recognize me.”
Si Wuya took a deep breath to further calm down before he said, “In fact, I’ve had my suspicions but didn’t dare to believe it. When master was still in the Evil Sky Pavilion, there were already signs that show you’re becoming more youthful. Even the four elders showed slight signs when they gathered to absorb the excess vitality energy when master cultivated.”
This was the reason Lu Zhou had asked Si Wuya to stay back. He knew he would not need to explain much.
Si Wuya said, “I’ll speak to the others immediately…”
Lu Zhou interjected, “There’s no need for that. There are some mistakes in my cultivation. Before I rectify it, you can’t tell anyone about it.”
“Mistakes?” Si Wuya was aware that mistakes in cultivation were not trivial matters. He finally understood why he was the only one who was asked to stay back. After a beat, he said, “I’ll do as master wishes.”
“There’s no need to worry,” Lu Zhou said. Then, he added, “Since Lan Xihe sent me the blue crystal, now that she encountered some difficulties, I’ll go and have a look. Go and make the necessary preparations. You’ll come with me.”
“Understood.”
Everything would go much more smoothly if he handed it to his seventh disciple.
After Si Wuya left, Lu Zhou brought the blue crystal out and studied it. There was no doubt there was a faint trace of Great Void energy in it.
“Ding! You’ve declined the quest, the Price of Youth. The system is making necessary adjustments.”
‘Hm? Did the system crash after I declined the quest once?’
Apart from Yu Zhenghai and Ming Shiyin, the quests to educate and train his eight disciples were still there. Below the eight quests, a new quest appeared in the place where the Price of Youth once was.
After he pressed on the new quest…
“Ding! Completed the quest, the Price of Youth. Reward: 10,000 merit points.”
“Ding! Quest completion triggering a new quest.”
“All lives have origins and destinations. Take back what belongs to you.”
Lu Zhou was wary and suspicious of this series of notifications.
At this time, he received another notification of the new quest.
“Ding! New Quest. The Second Avatar: Collecting blue crystals (0/9).”
“???”
‘Is there such a coincidence?’
Lu Zhou picked up the blue crystal in front of him.
“Ding! Quest progress. Second Avatar: Collecting blue crystals (1/9).”
In other words, if he did not decline the quest before, who knew how long he might get stuck at the quest, the Price of Youth, before he could learn about the blue crystals. It seemed even he could defeat the system once in a blue moon.
After a while, he frowned. “What does the second avatar mean?”
Lu Zhou was still lost in his thoughts when Si Wuya’s voice rang from outside the Preservation Hall.
“Master, the runic passage is ready.”
“Bring Di Jiang and Whitzard along.”
“Understood.”
Since Lu Zhou had made it clear to Si Wuya that he did not want anyone knowing about his youthful appearance for now, Si Wuya knew he would have to deal with a few trivial problems on his master’s behalf before his master resolved the problem with his cultivation.
After sending away the experts in the palace, Si Wuya and Lu Zhou made their way to the Hall of Runes.
The Hall of Runes was a temporary passage.
Zhao Hongfu and Siwuya had been busy for a long time trying to open up runic passages between the golden, red, black, and white domains. Naturally, the domains involved had agreed to the opening of the passages, and they were not illegally opened.
“How’s Zhao Hongfu’s performance during this time?” Lu Zhou asked.
Si Wuya nodded and said, “She’s a rare rune genius. She’s not good at cultivation and is very carefree about most things. However, when it comes to runes, she’s very serious.”
After listening to Si Wuya’s appraisal, Lu Zhou brought out the top heaven-grade Magistrate Brush and said, “Give this to her. Also, there’s no need to save the fire spirit stones.”
“Understood.”
After putting the Magistrate Brush away, Lu Zhou, Si Wuya, Whitzard, and Di Jiang entered the runic passage.
…
On the roof of a building near the Hall of Runes.
Jiang Aijian held a blade of grass in his mouth and muttered to himself when he saw Si Wuya entering the runic passage with another person, “Since when did he meet that young man? It seems like even the members of the Evil Sky Pavilion have a lot of free time recently…”
At this time.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
A fierce beast that looked like a big wolf-dog leaped over.
“Damn, you scared me!” Jiang Aijian hurriedly stood up.
Ming Shiyin jumped up and asked, “What are you mumbling about behind everyone’s back?”
“Did the Evil Sky Pavilion recruit new people again?”
“New people? I just came back so I don’t know anything,” Mingshi Yin said as he sat down.
Jiang Aijian’s eyes lit up and he laughed. “The new person looks very young and fun to tease!”
Ming Shiyin rolled his eyes. “Do you have a lot of free time?” After saying that, he leaped off the roof.
Jiang Aijian chuckled. “Where are young going, Mister Fourth?”
“To sleep.”
…
Meanwhile, in a vast snow land that was filled with mountains.
A beam of light suddenly shot up into the sky.
Soon after, Lu Zhou and Si Wuya appeared in the runic circle.
A few cultivators guarding the runic passage rushed over from afar upon seeing this. It was normal for cultivators to guard official runic passages.
Si Wuya did not beat around the bush and said, “The Evil Sky Pavilion requests an audience with Tower Master Lan.”
The white-clad cultivators were briefly stunned. Following that, one of them hastily said, “Please follow me.”
