Ye Zhen was finally here.
Lu Zhou remained indifferent. He did not even spare the heavily-injured Cao Zhi. Perhaps, he was so used to striking people that hitting such a target did not even stir up any emotion in him. There was no challenge at all so how could he have any feeling about it. He was numbed to this.
Nie Qingyun suddenly turned and said with a scowl, “Ye Zhen, how dare you show your face here?”
Ye Zhen brought Jiang Xiaosheng with him as they landed slowly. After that, he took his time tidying his robes before sitting down. Then, he cupped his fists in greeting. He was all smiles as he said, “I do apologize. I invited Senior Lu here via letter, but I forgot to inform you about it, Sect Master Nie. Will you forgive me?”
Inwardly, Nie Qingyun hurled a barrage of insults at Ye Zhen. ‘He really knows how to sow dissension.’
Nie Qingyun glanced at Cao Zhi. Then, he gave an unexpected order. “Cao Zhi, on account of your public defiance of my order, you’re sentenced to death.”
‘Death?’
The disciples and elders of Cloud Mountain were shocked.
Indeed, Cao Zhi openly went against the sect master’s orders, but surely, this did not warrant a death sentence?
There was a brief look of shock in Ye Zhen’s eyes, but he recovered quickly and maintained his smile.
Cao Zhi pressed his chest and wiped away the blood from his mouth. He said meekly, “You, you… You… You… save, save me…” He tried to raise his hand, trying to point at Nie Qingyun and Ye Zhen.
Nie Qingyun said gruffly, “Take him away.”
“Understood.”
Two disciples obeyed his order.
Ye Zhen said loudly, “Why are you so angry, Sect Master Nie? Killing him won’t do you any good.”
“You know very well why I’m killing him,” Nie Qingyun said. Ever since he emerged from his cultivation in seclusion, he was in constant contact with the 12 Elders. He could clearly sense that he was gradually losing his grip on Cloud Mountain. For example, who gave Xie Xuan the permission to annihilate the Thousand Willow Monastery? Apart from that, the 30 Nascent Divinity realm cultivators who went to the Flying Star House were still missing. These signs all pointed to the fact that someone was extending their clutches toward Cloud Mountain. This person could not be anyone else but Ye Zhen. Therefore, he had killed Cao Zhi to serve as a reminder to the others.
Ye Zhen said indifferently, “As long as you’re happy.”
Nie Qingyun scoffed and no longer paid attention to Ye Zhen. Instead, he cupped his fists at Lu Zhou and said, “Old Mister Lu, those were some amazing techniques. I’m impressed. Cao Zhi has offended you, and I’ve punished him. I hope this will appease you, Old Mister Lu.”
Ye Zhen cupped his fists at Lu Zhou and said, “Senior Lu, we meet again.”
Lu Zhou stroked his beard and looked at Ye Zhen. He was filled with the urge to bring the Deadly Strike Card out to kill Ye Zhen. However, he knew it would be foolish to use the Deadly Strike Card before he figured out what kind of monster Ye Zhen was.
Ye Zhen had hoped to see a shocked expression on Lu Zhou’s face. However, he was destined to be disappointed.
Lu Zhou said calmly, “I thought you wouldn’t come.”
Ye Zhen said, “Of course I’ll come. I’m the one who invited you here, after all, Senior Lu. I was caught up with something else on the way here. That’s why I’m late. I hope everyone can forgive me for this.”
Sikong Beichen said disapprovingly, “Ye Zhen, what’s your motive for doing all this?”
Ye Zhen said, “Naturally, I’m here to serve justice.”
“Serve justice?”
The others were confused by Ye Zhen’s words.
Ye Zhen said, “Cloud Mountain’s Xie Xuan led a group of disciples on a punitive campaign against the Thousand Willow Monastery on his own accord. An explanation should be given to Senior Lu and Monastery Master Xia.”
Nie Qingyun felt rage bubble up in his heart. He looked at Ye Zhen and said, “Weren’t you the one pulling the strings behind the scene?”
“Sect Master Nie, no matter how hard you try to talk your way out of this, the truth is that Xie Xuan led a punitive campaign against the Thousand Willow Monastery. What do you say, Elder Meng?” Ye Zhen looked at Meng Changdong who sat opposite him.
Meng Changdong remained silent.
Crash!
Nie Qingyun raised his wine cup and threw it on the floor. He shouted, “Ye Zhen, even if Chen Tiandu were here, he would never dare accuse me of such a crime. How dare you!”
“If that solves the problem, then, carry on smashing cups, Sect Master Nie…”
Nie Qingyun’s face turned ghastly pale. He was about to strike when he saw the faint outline of a huge group of cultivators in the sky to the north. ‘Ye Zhen!’
Ye Zhen ignored Nie Qingyun’s fury and cupped his fists at Lu Zhou. “Old Mister Lu, I hope we can bury the hatchet between us.”
Lu Zhou kept his eyes on Ye Zhen as he stroked his beard and said, “Bury the hatchet?”
Ye Zhen realized that he had misspoken. He said, “Old Mister Lu, you’ve initiated your Birth Chart. I was too full of myself; I humbly accept defeat.”
Ye Zhen was capable of swallowing his indignation even after being killed once. He clearly knew when to advance and when to retreat. There was no doubt he was a very shrewd person.
“Is that the only reason why you invited me here?” Lu Zhou asked evenly.
Ye Zhen reiterated his earlier words, “First, I’m here so that the Thousand Willow Monastery will have justice. Although Xie Xuan is dead, Cloud Mountain has to give you an explanation. Second, the Flying Star House is willing to work with you, old mister. Regarding Meng Changdong, we can let bygones be bygones.”
When Nie Qingyun heard these words, he said decisively, “Disciples, heed my order! Activate the Formation!”
Only four out of the ten elders behind Nie Qingyun took flight.
Of the 10,000 disciples, only half of them flew up to the Eyes of the Formation to activate it.
Ye Zhen poured himself a cup of wine as though everything was within his calculations. He said, “Nie Qingyun, I advise you to calm down.”
Nie Qingyun was not foolish. He had expected as much. More than half of the Twelve Sects of Cloud Mountain was under Ye Zhen’s influence.
“Ye Zhen, do you really think I don’t understand you?” Nie Qingyun suddenly raised his voice. “Cloud Mountain Mirror.”
“Understood.”
Dozens of disciples activated the Eyes of the Formation on the cloud platform. Pillars of light emerged from them before they shot toward a rock tower.
Sikong Beichen shook his head and said, “Ye Zhen is truly a cunning man… Brother Lu, if you weren’t here today, the Twelve Sects of Cloud Mountain would’ve been devoured. Look…”
Lu Zhou glanced at the hiding cultivators at the 12 peaks.
Sikong Beichen added, “A man who is never content like Ye Zhen is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. We must be careful that we aren’t taken out by Ye Zhen as well.”
“Are you afraid?” Lu Zhou was as stable as Mount Tai.
“I, Sikong Beichen, will be here until the very end.”
At this moment, the Cloud Mountain Mirror on the cloud platform shone on the entire cloud platform.
Nie Qingyun addressed the elders and disciples of Cloud Mountain who had defected. “Open your eyes and take a good look at Ye Zhen for the monster he is!”
“The Cloud Mountain Mirror of the Cloud Mountain Formation parts the fog and reveals the moon…” someone said.
When Lu Zhou and Sikong Beichen heard this, something stirred within them. They looked at Ye Zhen at the same time.
‘This is great. I won’t have to use the Golden Taixu Mirror.’
When the light shone on Ye Zhen, a miniature avatar appeared. It was red with a red lotus, nine leaves, and it had a humanoid form.
“Hm?” Nie Qingyun’s brows were tightly knitted. “What’s the meaning of this?”
Ye Zhen was still smiling. His slender body that was dressed in Confucian robes made him seem like someone with no attachment to the world.
“What are you doing, Sect Master Nie?”
The light shone on everyone as well, revealing their avatars.
Among the Cloud Mountain’s ten elders, there were four Nine-leaf cultivators and six Eight-leaf cultivators.
The Cloud Mountain Sect’s Master, Nie Qingyun, was a Ten-leaf cultivator.
The ray of light continued moving and shone on Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong.
“Nine-leaf golden lotuses?! They’re really foreign tribesmen. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me!”
The radiance shone on Sikong Beichen. Ten-leaf red lotus.
When the Cloud Mountain Mirror shone on Lu Zhou, everyone looked on with an expectant expression on their faces. Everyone wanted to see what the avatar of someone who had initiated the Birth Chart looked like.
Nine-leaf… golden lotus?
Upon seeing this, Ye Zhen’s hand that was holding onto the cup froze in midair. He frowned, taken aback.
