The others worshipped Lu Zhou again. They thanked him for his magnanimity for preaching to the world. Regardless if they had the potential to reach the Nine-leaf stage or not, everyone present had learned something from his demonstration.
“Ding! Worshipped by 1,000 individuals. Reward: 1,000 merit points.”
Upon hearing this notification, Lu Zhou decided not to hold back anymore. He tapped the ground lightly with his feet and shot out of the barrier immediately.
The others were confused by this.
Buzz!
A buzzing noise rang in the air as a 150-foot avatar appeared. It was shining with a golden dazzling light. Even the setting sun could not make it lose its radiance.
The other cultivators widened their eyes in awe as they admired the Nine-leaf avatar from afar.
Under the avatar, nine golden leaves that resembled sharp blades spun around the golden lotus. What inspired even more fearful respect were the golden flames on the tips of the nine leaves. Prior to this, no one had ever seen a burning lotus before.
The cultivators who hovered lower in the air looked up in awe.
The cultivators beyond Golden Court Mountain were filled with excitement.
To them, this flaming Nine-leaf avatar was the most moving work of art in the world.
Many would offer up their lives to pursue this ‘work of art’.
“Ding! Worshipped by 2,000 individuals. Reward: 2,000 merit points.”
Lu Zhou was pleased with the effects of showing his avatar.
At the same time, a thought appeared in Lu Zhou’s mind. Now that he was at the Nine-leaf stage, should he tour the nine provinces to show off his avatars?
He felt much better now that there was no ten-second limit.
However, since his sea of Qi was no longer pouring out excess power, he would only be spending his own energy if he continued to maintain his avatar.
Meanwhile, the Eight-leaf cultivators had never seen what a Nine-leaf golden lotus looked like before. When they saw the tongues of flame on the leaves, they were transfixed and mesmerized. This was especially true for the cultivators from the Three Sects. They remembered what their patriarch, Yun Tianluo, said when he was still alive: since he could not achieve the breakthrough himself, it was better to leave the opportunity to someone smarter.
“Senior Ji persisted in completing the demonstration…” Nan Gongwei said at this moment, pulling everyone back to the present. “He’s able to continue the demonstration after fighting that despicable sneak in the Sky Shuttle. His unyielding righteousness is truly amazing.”
The others nodded in agreement.
Lu Zhou retracted his golden lotus avatar and returned inside the barrier before he slowly descended. His gaze fell upon Nan Gongwei as he asked, “Sky Shuttle?”
Nan Gongwei bowed and said, “When you were fighting the person inside the Sky Shuttle, Jie Kai revealed the name of that object.”
“How did Jie Kai learn about this?” Lu Zhou asked.
Zhu Tianyuan wanted to answer, but he was still having trouble with his injuries. He coughed before he said, “Brother Ji, do you remember the notebook I gave you?”
Lu Zhou looked at Zhu Tianyuan.
Zhu Tianyuan continued to say, “Many pages were torn from the notebook. Some of them were torn by the author and some were torn by Jie Kai. At that time, the Ancient Saint Cult had troubles within and outside. Jie Kai colluded with his henchmen and wanted to become the cult master so he snuck into my room and stole that item. However, I got it back when I realized what he did. I didn’t know that he had already torn some of the pages.”
When the notebook was mentioned, Si Wuya walked over and asked, “Have you read the torn pages before?”
Zhu Tianyuan nodded and said, “To be honest with you, I don’t understand what was written on the torn pages and have mostly forgotten about them. All I remember are some blueprints with complex designs. It had some intricate Formation veins on it. The Sky Shuttle was one of them.”
The others were shocked.
Si Wuya had always had an eye for detail compared to others. After hearing Zhu Tianyuan’s answer, he could already make his inferences. He said, “This person has developed the golden lotus transporter a few centuries ago! The red coffin is only a crude design of a transporter. The Sky Shuttle is of a higher grade, but it can only carry a single passenger. The red lotus cultivators won’t stop at that… After 300 years, I’m afraid there’ll be larger Sky Shuttles.”
“Who cares about the Sky Shuttle? We’ll take them all down if they ever set foot on Great Yan,” Pan Zhong said.
“Talk is easy… The red lotus cultivators aren’t pushovers. Any one of them could be a Nine-leaf elite who has mastered the red fire. What if there are Ten-leaf, Eleven-leaf, or 100-leaf elites?” Mingshi Yin chimed in.
Duanmu Sheng looked at Mingshi Yin pointedly. ‘Old Fourth is dependable on missions, but he likes to rain on people’s parades.’ Let alone a 100-leaf cultivator, they had not even met a Ten-leaf cultivator yet.
“Master… We’ve collected the broken parts of the Sky Shuttle. I think we can attempt to salvage it,” Si Wuya said.
“Alright. I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes, master.”
Lu Zhou looked at Zhu Tianyuan who did not seem to be in a good condition. He asked, “How are you feeling?”
Zhu Tianyuan waved his hands and said, “These are mere scratches. It’s nothing. I’ll be alright once I get a few days of rest. Eh, where’s my foolish son?” He looked around himself and could not find Zhu Honggong.
The other cultivators looked around as well.
After a while, they saw Zhu Honggong flying down the mountain.
When Zhu Honggong saw Zhu Tianyuan who was covered in wounds, he could not help but feel shaken. His father was a great Eight-leaf cultivator, how could he be injured to this extent? Who would dare hurt his father in the Evil Sky Pavilion? His master?
Before the others could as Zhu Honggong any question, Zhu Honggong said, “Father, your wounds look great!”
Zhu Tianyuan was momentarily taken aback. When he regained his senses, he rebuked his son immediately, “Heh, do you have an itch? Do you think I won’t raise a hand against you just because your master’s here?!” He stepped forward and grabbed Zhu Honggong’s ear.
Duanmu Sheng pointed at Jie Kai who was stuck in the ground and said, “The culprit is there.”
Zhu Honggong looked at Jie Kai who was clearly stomped to death by his master and was shocked.
Then, Little Yuan’er recounted what had transpired to him.
Upon hearing Little Yuan’er’s words, Zhu Honggong exploded in rage and instantly ran over and rained down punches on Jie Kai’s corpse.
“…”
The others watched him in stunned silence.
After punching the corpse, Zhu Honggong picked up a vial and asked, “What’s this?”
“The Intoxicating Spring Breeze… We have this poison in the Ten Thousand Poison Sect as well. Through the combined efforts of all our experts and after refining it for many years, this small vial is all we have,” Lu Liang, the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Poison Sect, said.
“What’s this?” Zhu Honggong picked up several old talismans from Jie Kai’s corpse.
“Talismans?”
“Those aren’t talismans. Let me see.” Si Wuya extended his hand.
Zhu Honggong obediently placed the talismans in Si Wuya’s hand.
Si Wuya scanned them, appearing shocked. “This… These are the blueprints of the Sky Shuttle, Water Shuttle, and sky chariot left by Luo Shiyin… Also, master, take a look at this.”
Lu Zhou took the blueprints and had a look. He did not understand the blueprints as well so he passed them back to Si Wuya. Then, he read the notes.
Some of the papers read: The Sky Shuttle has the highest rate of success, but alas, its capacity is too low. However, it will surely help humans to reach the other side. I hope my people will help the weak humans here to progress and overcome the shackles of the golden lotuses. I’ll see if I can use the transporter to return home. It’s too bad that they treat me like a lunatic. I’m the only one who knows I’m right.
When he read this, Lu Zhou remembered the notebook. He found the diagrams, but unfortunately, the parts that contained her research of the Nine-leaf stage had been destroyed.
Then, there were two final paragraphs that read:
I can’t go by my old name anymore. I should conceal my identity when I return. Jiang Wenxu’s appearance has disrupted my plans. Why and how does he have the same transporter I have?
I’m not Luo Xuan, and I’m not a lunatic.
