Daybreak.
As usual, Lu Zhou stretched his limbs and did some simple exercises. Then, he checked his remaining life out of habit. It was reduced by one day, no surprises there. Then, he opened the door and walked out.
Lu Zhou had barely walked out of the room when he saw Zhu Honggong sprawled on the floor outside.
“Peace to you, master, may you live forever and ever… Top of the morning, master…”
“What is it?” Lu Zhou asked.
“Master… The Fiend Extermination Alliance has gone too far. I’ve been thinking the entire night and thought of a good plan,” Zhu Honggong said.
“Let’s hear it.”
“Seventh Senior Brother has a Six-leaf cultivation base. If he has his Peacock Plume, even a Seven-leaf cultivator would deem him formidable. Hence… I propose that we unseal his cultivation base,” Zhu Hongong replied.
“Are you begging on his behalf?” Lu Zhou had expected this. After all, Zhu Honggong had a good relationship with Si Wuya. They had always been on good terms.
“I dare not, but I just feel it’s necessary for Seventh Senior Brother to step up when the Evil Sky Pavilion’s in trouble,” Zhu Honggong said.
“Do you think I can’t deal with these sects on the Noble Path?”
“Huh?” Zhu Honggong started. He shuddered as he hastily said, “That’s not what I meant. I would never!”
Lu Zhou glanced at him and said, “You have the protection of your zen tunic and the boxing gloves as your weapon. Although you have the Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar, you’ve not managed to sprout a single leaf. If you have the time to plead for that rascal, you should use it to cultivate.”
Zhu Honggong kowtowed and said, “Yes, master.”
Zhu Honggong felt like crying. Why was this not going the way he had imagined? His master’s reply dismissed his ideas and destroyed his backbone in just an instant. He was not fit to plead on anyone’s behalf.
“Tell that rascal that he has to stay in the Cave of Reflection until the memory crystal is found.”
“Yes, master.”
…
Si Wuya was soon informed of this decision. He sat on the stone bench, perplexed. “How is master going to defend the Evil Sky Pavilion if he’s being this stubborn?”
Zhu Honggong shook his head with a sigh and said, “I have no choice as well. If I said any more, I’d be sent into this cave as well.”
“You’re not to blame for this. By the way, have you heard from Fourth Senior Brother?” Si Wuya asked.
“No.” Zhu Honggong shrugged. He suddenly felt that none of them were dependable enough in this time of need.
SI Wuya paced around the cave with his hands on his back. Even he felt that this was a difficult situation to solve. In the end, he waved his hand and said, “You should head back for now. I’ll try to think of something.”
Zhu Honggong nodded and left.
…
Night came as the breeze blew gently.
Lu Zhou gauged the Heavenly Writing’s extraordinary power. He had used one-third of it to heal Pan Litian. He would need at least five days to restore it. Without thinking too much, he closed his eyes and continued to meditate on the Heavenly Writing scrolls.
When he was in his meditative state, he would feel an extremely comfortable sensation and lose himself in the feeling.
The unique scripts of the Heaven Writing scroll moved.
This reminded Lu Zhou of the sutra of the Heavenly Writing powers. Before this, he could not read these scripts at all. However, the Open Heavenly Writing scroll would group the scripts together to form the basic sutras. The Open Heavenly Writing scroll seemed to have picked scripts from a sea of scripts to form sentences.
Before he knew it, he fell into the immersive meditation state again.
…
Like the previous day, Duanmu Sheng was shooting around the waist of the mountain with his Overlord Spear in his hands. He had thought today would be just as peaceful as any other day when he saw a flash of fire at the foot of Golden Court Mountain.
“Hm?” Duanmu Sheng frowned. He activated his Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar. The resonance of the avatar was enough to attract the attention of the Evil Sky Pavilion. It was the equivalent of him alerting the others about this.
Figures shot out of the southern pavilion and hovered in midair.
Leng Luo’s cultivation base was the most profound. He was also the first to arrive. He hovered at a high altitude and looked down at the foot of the mountain. The moonlight shone on his silver mask as he looked at Duanmu Sheng’s Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar and asked, “The seven great sects are here?”
“I’m not sure, but there’s something fishy about that fire.” Duanmu Sheng recalled his avatar and turned to look at it again. He manifested his avatar at the foot of the mountain to warn the people there away.
At this moment, Hua Wudao appeared beside them in the air. He said, “Don’t fall for their ploy to lure us away.”
“Mhm.” Duanmu Sheng nodded.
With Pan Litian’s experience serving as their reference, they were more cautious now.
Meanwhile, Hua Yuexing appeared outside the Evil Sky Pavilion’s great hall. With a tap of her feet, she landed on the highest point of the pavilion with movements as graceful as a swallow. She wielded her Falling Moon Bow tightly. It resembled a slender and tough sculpture.
Hua Wudao glanced at her and projected his voice. “Yuexing.”
“Elder Hua.”
“You’ll keep watch tonight.”
“Understood.” Hua Yuexing was a Three-leaf Godly Archer now. With her abilities, so long as she had a high vantage point, she could hit anything in view. She was the best choice to keep watch throughout the night.
At this moment, fire flashed in the distance again. Unlike before, the fire was forming a horizontal line as it traveled at a terrifying speed toward Golden Court Mountain like a red carpet. With the help of the wind, it shot toward Golden Court Mountain like the tide.
“A fire attack?” Duanmu Sheng raised his Overlord Spear and shouted, “How dare you!”
“Duanmu Sheng… don’t do anything rash!” Hua Wudao called out after Duanmu Sheng who was about to leap into action to stop him.
“Are we supposed to let the fire rage on?”
Withered trees and weed dominated the foot of the mountain to begin with. The fire would soon spread to Golden Court Mountain in no time.
Hua Wudao shook his head. “Yuexing.”
“I see them!” At the top of the Evil Sky Pavilion, Hua Yuexing wielded her Falling Moon Bow that was now wrapped in golden energy.
Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!
The energy that wrapped around the Falling Moon Bow was soon as tall as herself. She pulled on the bowstring with her right hand. A thick energy arrow appeared.
The instant the energy arrow appeared…
Bam!
The energy arrow was fired.
At a distance away from Golden Court Mountain… it was nearly impossible to see the top of the Evil Sky Pavilion. The moon shone behind it.
Some of the cultivators who were setting fire to the forest heard a strange buzzing sound.
“Did someone activate their avatar on the mountain to try and scare us off again?”
Whoosh!
They looked up and saw an energy arrow sailing toward them.
Puh!
It penetrated the chest of one of the cultivators. The man widened his eyes. He looked incredulously in the direction of the Evil Sky Pavilion… Then, he fell backward with a loud thud.
“God… Godly Archer!”
When the others saw this, they were shocked.
“Quick! Quickly now… The fire is already going strong… let’s retreat!”
“Fall back!”
Just when they turned around, several energy arrows flew toward them from the Evil Sky Pavilion with the moon behind their backs.
Puh!
Puh!
Puh!
Three early-stage Brahman Sea realm cultivators were struck. They fell to the ground, powerless to put up any resistance.
The other cultivators scattered and fled.
Yet, the fire was still spreading toward Golden Court Mountain. The wind was feeding the fire with much-needed oxygen.
At the top of the Evil Sky Pavilion, Hua Yuexing said, “I’ve taken down four of them… I can’t see the rest. They’re well hidden, and I can’t get a clean shot. Most of them have fled.”
“I see.” Hua Wudao nodded.
“Scoundrels will be scoundrels. Is this all they can do to the Evil Sky Pavilion?” Leng Luo shook his head.
Duanmu Sheng looked at the incoming flames and said, “Don’t forget about the fire.”
Hua Wudao said in a booming voice, “Allow me…” He stepped forward in the air. Radiant circles spread out with every step he took as he descended.
