When Conch heard this, a delighted expression appeared on her face. However, she did not agree to it immediately. She placed her right index finger between her lips and teeth as she mulled over it.
Lu Zhou frowned slightly. There were many who under the heavens would have loved to become one of his disciples. ‘Little girl, know your place. It’s a blessing on your end for me to accept you as a disciple.’
“Uh… After cultivating, can I fly?” Conch asked.
“You can.”
“Can I make a golden giant like Sister Yuan’er did?” Conch asked timidly.
“You can.”
“Can I defeat those monsters?”
When he heard this question, Lu Zhou did not answer immediately.
Lu Zhou did not answer in haste.
Based on Conch’s talents, she should be able to control those beasts. Even a powerful beast such as Tiangou was captivated by her flute. Why would she need to defeat them? “Are you scared of them?”
“Without the flute, they’re scary,” Conch replied.
She had a point. Her present condition was that she did not have full control of her talent at all. If it were not for the divine steed, Ji Liang, her flute’s song today would have attracted many beasts. Also… It was truly a waste if she did not cultivate with this talent of hers.
“When you start cultivating, those beasts will leave you alone,” Lu Zhou finally replied.
When Conch heard this, she nodded vehemently. “Then, I’ll cultivate with you.”
“Good.” Lu Zhou had an idea. He pointed at the rush cushion. “In that case, kneel. You’ll carry out the ritual of kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times.”
Conch stood up and stepped over the rush cushion. She stood before Lu Zhou and kneeled respectfully.
If he was a stickler for etiquette, he would have notified everyone in the Evil Sky Pavilion and have Conch perform this ritual before everyone. However, he felt accepting a disciple was a personal matter and would rather do away with the convoluted and unnecessarily elaborate ritual. However, the act of kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times could not be skipped. It was partly to have Conch remember that this was necessary if she were to acknowledge someone as her master. It was also to make her submit herself genuinely.
A master for a day, a father forever. With this, she was now part of the Evil Sky Pavilion…
“Master.”
“Ding! Inheritance and Teaching Mission amended to 10/10. Original Ji Tiandao Teaching System is officially removed. Reward: System Upgrade Card x1; Reversal Card x10; merit points: 10,000; Famous Teacher Trains a Fine Student Mission Card.”
“System Upgrade Card: Increases the permissions of the merit points system.”
“Famous Teacher Trains a Fine Student: Supervise your disciples’ painstaking cultivation with greater strictness for at least three months.”
The series of instructions gave Lu Zhou a shock. When he had just transmigrated here, he received a notification that the teaching mission was completed. He did not give it much thought before, but he did not expect it to be officially removed.
‘I hope that my system won’t be removed with it.’
Lu Zhou called up the system dashboard at once.
The familiar interface popped up.
‘Fortunately, it’s still here. Why are you panicking? You’re already an old man.’
Lu Zhou shifted his gaze downward and saw the System Upgrade Card.
‘What does increasing the permissions mean?’
He tapped the upgrade card, and a message popped up.
“System Upgrade Card. Time needed: 5 months. Throughout the upgrade process, the system cannot be used. Are you sure you want to continue?”
“Not now.” Lu Zhou considered it for a moment. It was slightly disadvantageous to not be able to use the system’s various functions. The five months’ upgrading time was also too long for him. If someone were to come looking for trouble while during that time, he would be in a difficult situation. Moreover, the four elders and his disciples were not too powerful at the moment. It seemed like it had been the right call to eliminate Lin Xin and break the barrier of the Taixu Academy.
Lu Zhou continued scrolling down. “Famous Teacher Trains a Fine Student?”
“Famous Teacher Trains a Fine Student: Supervise your disciples’ painstaking cultivation with greater strictness for at least three months. Are you going to use it?”
“Yes.” At this moment, Lu Zhou saw a Famous Teacher Trains a Fine Student mission on the mission list. It would last for three months. He nodded and closed the system dashboard.
He returned his gaze to Conch. He calmly said, “Get up.”
“Mhm.” Conch got up happily.
“You should address me as master from now on.”
“Oh, master.” Conch lowered her body slightly in an attempt to mimic Little Yuan’er.
Lu Zhou waved his hand. A cultivation method tome about breathing from the nearby table flew toward him. “This will teach you the basics about breathing. Cultivate according to the instructions listed inside every day. You can look for me if there’s anything that you don’t understand.”
Lu Zhou tossed the tome toward Conch.
The basic cultivation method was something every cultivator must cultivate after entering the Mystic Enlightening realm. This was the basic way to increase one’s Primal Qi and widen one’s dantian’s sea of Qi. Then, they would choose between the directions of Confucian, Buddhist, or Daoist methods, combine it with their own advantages and inclinations, and eventually, fix the direction of their cultivation.
“Thank you, master.” Conch received the tome with a dazzling smile on her face.
Lu Zhou expected to hear a notification and receive a reward from the system. Unfortunately, the system did not give him any merit points.
According to the system’s treatment of his nine disciples, apart from Ye Tianxin who was banished and would not earn him any rewards, he would receive merit points as rewards so long as they acknowledged that they had returned to the pavilion.
Yet, Conch was not counted. This was awkward.
“The bright moon shines over the sea; from far away we share this moment together. Could it be… that the criterion for accepting disciples is so rigid?” Lu Zhou wondered. In the end, he decided it was pointless to dwell on it. If he truly had to recruit disciples according to the poem, he could just recruit another one when he ran into him or her. Moreover, Conch’s talents were comparable to his nine disciples. She would surely become a great helper to him in the future. With this thought in mind, he brightened up.
“Anyone there?”
“Your orders, Pavilion Master?” A voice rang from outside the door.
“Summon everyone to the great hall.”
“Understood.”
…
Inside the great hall.
Everyone from the Evil Sky Pavilion was gathered there.
Yet, Lu Zhou was taking his time to show up.
The four elders, Duanmu Sheng, Mingshi Yin, Zhu Honggong, Zhao Yue, and Little Yuan’er stood at the side. They occasionally looked out of the great hall as they waited for their master.
The others stood at the other side.
“What’s with master today? What’s with all the ceremony?” Mingshi Yin wondered out loud.
“Just stay calm. We’ll know once the pavilion master is here,” Pan Litian said.
At this moment, Lu Zhou held Conch’s hand with his other hand placed on his back as they slowly strolled in from outside the great hall.
The others turned to look.
The four elders were perceptive enough to understand what was going on when they saw Lu Zhou leading Conch here.
The four of them bowed and said in unison, “Congratulations, Pavilion Master!”
Lu Zhou brought Conch to the front and turned around to face the others. With a clear voice, he said, “I have two things to announce.”
He paused.
The great hall was silent.
“From this day onward, Conch will officially be my tenth disciple.”
Although the others had expected this, they were still slightly taken aback. Everyone knew about the strict requirements of becoming an Evil Sky Pavilion disciple. There were countless people who wished to become a disciple of the Evil Sky Pavilion’s patriarch. Even geniuses such as Pan Zhong and Zhou Jifeng were not considered by him. It was clear just how difficult it was to become his disciple.
Pan Zhong and Zhou Jifeng felt nothing but envy at this moment. They looked at Conch before both of them and the female cultivators bowed in unison.
“Greetings, Miss Tenth.”
Conch seemed reserved faced with all this situation.
Lu Zhou glanced at her.
Conch nodded. She stood before Duanmu Sheng. “Greetings, Third Senior Brother.”
“Hello, Little Junior Sister.”
