My disciples are all villains.

Chen Fu scoffed. “As I said, the Great Void thinks it’s superior to everyone. This alone makes it very hard for me to accept them. Back then, in order to become a Saint, I traveled all over the nine domains and discovered a very interesting thing…”

“What is it?”

“They’re not afraid of the imbalance, but they’re afraid of the domains’ destruction,” Chen Fu said.

“The imbalance can go away, but there are no domains, there’ll be no balance,” Lu Zhou said.

Chen Fu nodded as he continued to say, “That’s right. That’s why after I quelled the disturbance in the twin lotus domain and brought peace to it, I forced them to leave me alone by severing the boundary.”

“Severing the boundary?”

“The nine domains are connected to the Unknown Land. The places where they’re connected are the boundaries. In the end, they came to an agreement with me. I can stay, but I can’t leave.”

“But you just left,” Lu Zhou said.

“The imbalance is bad so the Scales of Justice should be ridiculously tilted now. Don’t worry,” Chen Fu said.

“Then you can go out and relax during this time,” Lu Zhou said.

“Does this mean not even one domain can be missing? Otherwise, the balance will be forever lost?” Lu Zhou speculated out loud.

Chen Fu nodded and did not say anything else. He only let out a long sigh, lamenting the passing of time and an old life.

Lu Zhou had lost the desire the explore the Pillars of Apocalypse for now, and the fierce beast in the fog was not something he could deal with now. When he had enough Deadly Strike Cards, perhaps, he would try again in the future.

With that, the duo returned to the runic passage they came from.

After stepping into the runic passage, Chen Fu suddenly said, “I showed you those things because I admire your ability and potential.”

“You flatter me.”

“Even now, you still want to hide your cultivation?” Chen Fu looked at Lu Zhou with a knowing smile.

Lu Zhou: “?”

‘Is my cultivation base as a Great Venerable Master not good enough?’

Since Lu Zhou did not know how to explain himself, he remained silent.

Chen Fu waved his hand and said, “Forget it. I understand.”

Hua Yin and Yan Mu: “???”

Chen Fu turned to Yan Mu and asked, “Who are you to him?”

“T-t-this…”

Hua Yin, who had understood everything long ago, interjected, “They’re just strangers meeting for the first time.”

“Strangers meeting for the first time?” Chen Fu revealed a disappointed expression.

This… this, this…”

“They’re just strangers meeting for the first time.” Hua Yin understood everything since long ago.

“First time meeting?” Chen Fu revealed a regretful expression. “I had wanted to let you into the mountain. Forget it. Hua Yin, see the guest out.”

Yan Mu: Ah?

Hua Yin looked at Yan Mu as he said to Chen Fu, “I’ll see him off the mountain then, master.”

…

When the duo arrived outside the mountain, Yan Mu wanted to say a few more words to Hua Yin. However, Hua Yin just turned back and walked into the barrier without another look or another word to him.

Yan Mu waved his hand and swallowed the words he was about to say. He turned around and sighed in frustration. “What should I do if I’d offended the Saint earlier? I have to look for Senior Lu!”

Yan Mu looked around and hurriedly made his way west when no one noticed him.

…

Lu Zhou flew west at a neither fast nor slow speed. Since he was rather sure he already had the Resurrection Scroll, he was no longer in a hurry.

As he flew, he recalled the scroll he obtained from the black lotus domain’s Nine Twists Illusory Formation.

Swoosh!

With a thought, he brought it out.

With just a glance, there did not seem to be anything special about it.

“Is the Resurrection Scroll hidden in the Scripture of Sermons?” Lu Zhou wondered out loud as he hovered among the clouds.

After thinking about it for a moment, he gathered his Primal Qi and sent a strand of his consciousness into the scroll.

“What Dao? What’s the Dao? It’s all nonsense!”

“…”

It was that familiar voice again.

Lu Zhou moved his consciousness within the scroll. It was as though he had entered a new world.

The darkness resembled the time before dawn broke, and the power of the heavens faintly permeated the starry sky.

“The hegemon of a region can control the entire world.”

Lu Zhou heard the familiar voice again.

“A mystical power, a painting, a plant, a tree, a flower, a world.”

“Life is death; death is life.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

The world within the scroll distorted, and a terrifying pulling force tugged at Lu Zhou’s consciousness. Then, Lu Zhou heard an angry shout.

“Repent, and you shall be saved!”

Another voice sounded. “What is the Dao? What is demonic? Repent? Bullsh*t!”

Swoosh!

When Lu Zhou felt the pulling force growing stronger, he withdrew his consciousness. The process of withdrawing his consciousness caused a disruption in his Primal Qi, and in turn, caused him to drop from the sky. After falling for about 1,000 feet, he finally managed to stabilize himself.

“What a powerful force,” Lu Zhou muttered as he looked at the scroll in his hand, “Could this be the secret technique Lu Tiantong wanted to impart to the world?”

However, Lu Zhou quickly shook his head, discarding this idea. After all, it was not just Lu Tiantong’s voice that he had heard. It was too early to come to a conclusion.

Lu Tiantong was a legend after dominating the black lotus domain 30,000 years ago. However, he eventually disappeared.

Although the energy from the Scripture of Sermons had been absorbed by the Heavenly Writing, the remnant energy was still rather extraordinary.

Lu Zhou shook his head. Similar to before, he had too many unanswered questions.

“Forget it. Let’s return for now.” Lu Zhou put away the Sermon of Scriptures. He would ponder on these matters later. After all, Si Wuya was now in a critical condition.

Just as Lu Zhou was about to leave, countless cultivators appeared in the south and north. Then, a voice rang in the air.

“Please stay.”