My disciples are all villains.

Moo!

A mooing noise that was laden with battle intent resounded in the air.

When the mooing ended, a loud explosion sounded in the air.

A golden radiance shot up from the third peak's foothill. It rose hundreds of feet into the air. The golden radiance spiraled in an anti-clockwise direction and swept through the forest, uprooting all the trees in its path. The energy formed a huge ripple that continued to sweep out through the surroundings.

The commotion was too huge.

Everyone turned to look in the direction of the commotion.

Leng Luo said, "It's the mount, Kui Niu. That was Kui Niu's call."

"Isn't Eldest Senior Brother's mount some other beast?" Naturally, Little Yuan'er had only heard of it but had never seen it. Moreover, what little she knew was the rumor from the cultivation world.

It was unlikely that Leng Luo had guessed wrongly since he was knowledgeable.

Lu Zhou glanced at the golden radiance and the sweeping energy. He recognized it as Yu Zhenghai's skill that he had become famous for, the Dark Heaven Starlight. However, since they were too far away, he could not see the rascal.

Duanmu Sheng prepared the flying chariot for flight.

The Four Great Protectors exchanged glances and arranged themselves in a row. Then, they moved swiftly to the front of the cloud-splitting chariot. At the same time, the four of them activated their avatars. Two Six-leaf Avatars and two Seven-leaf Avatars appeared at the same time. Such powerful opponents were indeed awe-inspiring.

The avatars merely remained for an instant before disappearing again. The resonance of the energy negated the mooing sound, and it gradually faded. Their surroundings were quiet again.

"We know that we're not a match for you, old senior… Our sect master has spoken about your peerless strength. Even if the four of us join forces, it's impossible for us to defeat you. Please think this through, old senior!"

They were trying both the soft and hard methods. In other words, if Lu Zhou was hell-bent on stopping them, the four of them would fight him

Pan Litian coughed and took a step back. He seemed helpless.

Leng Luo was calmer than Pan Litian. Perhaps, it was due to his mask that no one knew what expression he wore on his face.

Meanwhile, this seemed to prove that Yu Zhenghai's cultivation base was on par with his master's cultivation base! After all, if the Four Great Protectors had such a profound cultivation base, it stood to reason that Yu Zhenghai would have an Eight-leaf avatar.

Lu Zhou looked at the four of them. He had a good impression of these four individuals. At the very least, they had always been polite. For this reason, he did not intend to kill them. However, he bought four Thunderblast Cards, just in case. "I commend you for your bravery." His voice turned deep and domineering as he said, "In light of the Could Treading Boots, I'll make an exception this time… Step aside!"

The words, 'step aside', resounded in everyone's ears. There was no ostentatious display of soundwave or fluctuation of Primal Qi.

Lu Zhou was confident that he could repel the four of them. If they wanted to take their chances with the 1% sure-kill rate, they would have to rely on their own luck.

Hua Chongyang bowed, sweat beaded on his forehead. He did not dare look at Lu Zhou on the flying chariot. He gritted his teeth and steeled his resolve. He waved his arm and said, "Retreat."

Bai Yuqing did not understand this. Although he did not want to fight the patriarch of the Evil Sky Pavilion, how could they retreat on a whim when they had a grand plan to execute?

"We're supposed to buy time for the sect master… You Hongyi shouldn't be able to hold out for much longer. The third peak's defensive Restrictions should be breached anytime now! We can't retreat!" Yang Yan said.

"I'll say it again, retreat! In the sect master's absence, I'll be assuming his role!" Hua Chongyang said in a deep voice

"Understood!" The others had no choice but to bow and follow the orders.

The four of them slowly made way for Lu Zhou.

Leng Luo and Pan Litian exchanged a look. Then, they looked at Lu Zhou who seemed unmoved. There were no fluctuations of aura on Lu Zhou's body…

However, the formless aura field was enough to strike fear into the hearts of the onlookers.

Three feet of ice was not formed in a single winter's day. The tempering of a millennium has given Lu Zhou a commanding presence.

Hua Chongyang, Bai Yuqing, Yang Yan, and Di Qing parted to the sides respectfully.

Duanmu Sheng understood what his master wanted and steered the flying chariot toward the Clarity Sect's third peak.

There were countless towering trees at the foot of the third peak. The cloud-splitting chariot flitted through the forests like an electric eel in the ocean.

"Master, up ahead…" Little Yuan'er pointed out.

Pan Litian said, "That's where the Clarity Sect keeps its prisoners. There are up to 1,000 Restrictions… No wonder, no wonder…"

Leng Luo said, "The Four Great Protectors were buying time for Yu Zhenghai… With Yu Zhenghai's strength, even he would need some time to break through these Restrictions."

Little Yuan'er was slightly impatient. She hopped around and said, "Third Senior Brother, quick, quick, quick, quick… Don't let Eldest Senior Brother get away!" She pointed at a round clearing where the energy blast had swept through.

The trees were uprooted, and rubble and debris were strewn on the ground.

The cloud-splitting chariot's advantage was not clear in a forest since it had to maneuver around huge and towering trees.

At high altitudes, the flying chariot could fly at its maximum speed. At low altitudes, it would not be able to achieve the same speed.

Moo!

Kui Niu's call sounded again. It seemed to be trailing off.

"Running away?" Lu Zhou pushed away from the ground and leaped off the cloud-splitting chariot.

When she saw her master jumping out, Little Yuan'er applauded and said, "With master making his move, Eldest Senior Brother won't be able to get away now!"

When Lu Zhou leaped out, he did not unleash his grand technique.

Bi An appeared and growled.

Lu Zhou landed on Bi An's back and they shot forward at breakneck speed.

Bi An resembled a bolt of lightning as it traveled through the forest. Eventually, it reached where Dark Heaven Starlight struck moments ago.

Lu Zhou looked around at his surroundings. He studied the trees carefully as Bi An slowly descended. There were still remnants of auras left behind by the energy around the trees.

Only the Great Dark Heaven Memorial could leave this in its wake.

Lu Zhou made his way to the prison. Soon enough, he saw the entrance to the prison below the peak. The two pillars at the entrance had been damaged, one of them was tilted at an angle. It was clear it was destroyed by an energy as well. There were bloodstains all over the floor. Clearly, a battle had taken place here.

Layers of Restrictions stood before Lu Zhou. The thousand-layered Restrictions of the Clarity Sect stood in his path like 1,000 spiderwebs.

'Where would Yu Zhenghai be?'

Bzzt! Bzzt!

Electricity crackled along the thousand-layered Restrictions. The powerful Restrictions had clearly weakened from relentless attacks, and it looked like it was about to vanish at any given time.

At this moment…

Moo!

Kui Niu's call sounded close to Lu Zhou. He turned around to look and saw Kui Niu shooting through the forest. It resembled a yak with a white body and no horns. At this moment, it seemed to be shining.

'That person on Kui Niu's back must be that rascal!' Lu Zhou waved his arm without hesitation. The Improved Binding Cage Card shot out.

Lu Zhou had never seen the Improved Cage Bind Card in action yet. However, the instant it was unleashed, he could feel that it was different from before, in speed and power. The Improved Binding Cage Card seemed to be moving faster and smoother although it was not as large as he imagined.

"A Daoist Mantra? The Binding Mantra?" Lu Zhou was puzzled by this. He wondered why the improved version was not the cage itself. Instead, there was something that resembled the Daoist Binding Mantra.

There was a huge 'bind' script surrounded by a golden Eight Trigram. It was shrouded in rich Primal Qi as it shot toward Kui Niu.

"After it." Lu Zhou was certain Yu Zhenghai would not be able to escape this time. Bi An sped toward the target. They were instantly above the prison. It was a cliff face that was nearly perpendicular to the ground. The mantra disappeared after plunging over the cliff. Since the mantra disappeared, this meant that its effect was triggered.

'The rascal won't be able to get away!' Lu Zhou stood on Bi An's back and searched the area with his eyes. "You rascal, do you think you can run from my mantra by hiding?"

It was unfortunate that Lu Zhou could not follow the Binding Cage like he did when he was Yanzi Yunsan. The mantra moved too quickly. It flew past in an instant. There were upside and downside to the improved cards.

Fortunately, Bi An had a keen nose. Since the mantra had hit, Yu Zhenghai had to be nearby.

At this moment, Lu Zhou heard the system's notification.

"Ding! Punished the rascal. Reward: 300 merit points."

'Punish?' Lu Sheng had never heard of this notification before. This meant that the Binding Mantra had found its mark.