Feng Liu’s expression changed drastically. He was shaken and flustered. He wanted to leave as quickly as he could, but Pan Litian was on him. He nearly forgot that his opponent was once the greatest elite of the Clarity Sect. It was unthinkable for such a Daoist elite to not be skilled with the sword. Such an elite would never allow himself to be powerless or defenseless.
Pan Litian flew at Feng Liu with his avatar and energy swords.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The cultivators within the range of the energy swords were dismembered by the energy swords easily as though the swords were slicing fruits. Their severed limbs rained down on the forest below.
The cultivators who were further away fled as quickly as they could.
Pan Litian only had eyes for Feng Liu. He followed Feng Liu.
An Eight-leaf avatar pursuing a Six-leaf avatar was like an adult chasing after a child!
Feng Liu felt more desperate as time went by. His eyes were brimming with fear.
The energy swords left the earth flattened in its wake. Trees fell as though they were made of dominoes.
“Impossible!” Feng Liu’s voice cracked. The Eight-leaf Golden Lotus avatar was looking down on him just like how he was looking down at Pan Litian just moments ago.
Pan Litian said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve unsealed my golden gourd bottle… I’ll unseal it for you today!”
Whizz!
The golden gourd bottle shone brightly and shot toward Feng Liu.
Boom!
Feng Liu did not even have the chance to cry out when the golden gourd bottle landed around him.
A round pit appeared before Pan Litian. The red glow on Pan Litian’s face gradually disappeared at this moment. His Eight-leaf Avatar paused slightly in midair before fading away.
Thud!
Pan Litian fell into the round crater.
Everything was plunged into silence and darkness.
The Zhencang disciples who had gone through much trouble to escape looked at the vanishing avatar incredulously. Nobody dared to get closer. They were already heavily wounded. Most of their number had been killed by Pan Litian’s sudden attack with his energy swords. Those who survived were just a handful of their initial force.
“Head back and report this to the branch master. Eldest Senior Brother died in battle against Pan Litian. Pan Litian… burned his dantian’s sea of Qi.”
“Let’s go!” The remaining members were not bold enough to move forward. They turned around and vanished into the darkness.
Meanwhile, Pan Litian lay in the crater for quite some time. He spent most of his life living a nomadic lifestyle, moving from one place to another. The skies were his blanket, and the earth was his bed. He was already used to resting in such uncomfortable environments. Although he had burned his dantian’s sea of Qi, he did not regret it.
…
Inside the meeting hall of Zhencang Branch.
Feng Qinghe listened to his disciples’ reports and frowned. “Feng Liu is dead?” He had difficulty believing this.
“Eldest Senior Brother and Pan Litian had a bloody battle… Who knew the old fart would burn his own sea of Qi!”
Feng Qinghe’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably. He was so frustrated that his fists trembled when he clenched them in frustration.
An elder at the side bowed and said, “Branch Master, we should prioritize the bigger picture. Pan Litian has burned his sea of Qi. This means he has lost the ability to fight. Hua Wudao is a cowardly tortoise. The men of the Seven Stars Villa can easily deal with him. It’s said that Leng Luo was heavily wounded in Tangzi Town. The Celestial Masters Sect can deal with him. With their talisman seals working against his Dao Invisibility, he won’t be able to get away. The Hengqu Branch, Duanlin Branch, Good Fortune Temple, and Core Heart Sect will work with us to deal with Old Villain Ji.”
Upon hearing this, Feng Qinghe’s rage subsided somewhat. He said, “We can’t underestimate the Evil Sky Pavilion disciples… That Duanmu Sheng and Mingshi Yin are being restricted by Old Villain Ji, but they’re not to be taken lightly. Moreover, now that Si Wuya is with them, we have to be careful.”
“Si Wuya is a traitor of the Evil Sky Pavilion. Knowing Old Villain Ji’s temper, Si Wuya won’t be treated kindly. Yu Shangrong’s fate is unknown, but I doubt he’ll appear. The other disciples aren’t powerful enough to turn things around.”
“What about Yu Zhenghai?” Feng Qinghe was worried about Yu Zhenghai the most. After all, Yu Zhenghai was the Evil Sky Pavilion’s first disciple. On the surface, he was the greatest traitor of the Evil Sky Pavilion. However, anyone with keen eyes could tell that even though the Nether Sect was powerful, it remained respectful to the Evil Sky Pavilion. It was no longer considered news in the cultivation world that the Four Great Protectors would turn tail and run whenever they saw the Evil Sky Pavilion’s Master.
“Don’t worry, Branch Master… Yu Zhenghai is fighting with the Imperial family right now. To make things more difficult for him, the people of the Core Heart Sect have gone to Rouli.”
“Rouli?”
“The Nether Sect won the battle in Liang Province, killed the Fourth Prince and 2,000 elites from Rouli and Lou Lan… The royals of Rouli want nothing more than to tear Yu Zhenghai apart,” the elder said.
Upon hearing this, Feng Qinghe frowned again. He said, “The Core Heart Sect is colluding with Rouli? The Other Tribesmen are Other Tribesmen, after all. I’m sure their goal is to plunge Great Yan into chaos, right?” Then, he stopped to sigh before he said, “The seven great sects can’t stop now. The Hengqu Branch went as far as summoning their patriarch out of his seclusion. Although Feng Liu is dead, it’s not in vain.”
If they did not contribute more, what reason would they have to claim a bigger share of the loot when the Evil Sky Pavilion was destroyed?
Feng Qinghe sighed again. “Send someone to the site of the battle. Find Feng Liu’s body and give him a proper burial.”
“Understood.”
…
Inside the Evil Sky Pavilion’s eastern pavilion.
Lu Zhou studied the old parchment drawing for some time before he finally stopped. He crossed his legs and sat down to study the Heavenly Writing power.
Currently, he had mastered four Heavenly Writing powers. The first being the power of speech, a sound technique; the second was the power of muting, an areal attack; the third was the power of past lives, a sort of mimicry technique; and the fourth was the power of immaterial existence, a sort of healing technique.
He had used the first three powers many times and had basically understood them. However, he was not familiar with the fourth power. It seemed like a healing skill, but it was able to restore vitality as well. If that was the case, could he use it on the members of the Old Age Pavilion to help them recover their cultivation bases more quickly?
Lu Zhou was still mulling over this matter when Zhao Yue’s voice rang from outside. “Master, a letter from Fourth Senior Brother.”
“Read it.”
Zhao Yue read aloud, “Master, I’ve spread the information about the severing the Golden Lotus everywhere I went. Apart from that, I found out the Fiend Extermination Alliance is moving now, and we should be wary of rats on the mountain… Also, the Duanlin Branch’s Patriarch has emerged from the mountain… We’ll have to guard against the patriarchs of the other sects as well. Lastly, I’ve located a Darknet branch. I’ll consult Ye Zhixing about this and will report back once I know more. Regards, Mingshi Yin.”
After reading, Zhao Yue asked, “Master, what should we do now?”
Lu Zhou spoke calmly, “It’s about time we bring the enmity between the Evil Sky Pavilion and the ten great sects to an end.”
At this moment, a female disciple walked into the eastern pavilion, looking shaken. “Pavilion Master, M-miss Fifth… This is bad, Elder Pan… H-he’s grievously injured!”
Zhao Yue was shocked. She asked, “Grievously injured? How come?”
“I-I… I don’t know.”
At this moment, Lu Zhou walked out of the eastern pavilion with his hands on his back. Although his expression was calm, he was inwardly confused and suspicious. The timing of this incident is too suspicious. When he recalled the content of Mingshi Yin’s letter, he could not help but think this had something to do with the seven great sects.
Zhao Yue and the female disciple bowed at once when they saw Lu Zhou.
“Where’s he?”
“Mister Third and Mister Eighth have gone down the mountain.”
Lu Zhou waved his sleeve. His wizened face seemed calm, but a slight hint of fury could be seen between his brows.
