My disciples are all villains.

This was not the third Heavenly Writing technique that Lu Zhou had just meditated upon. It was the grand technique, Scram, that the others were familiar.

The sound exploded in everyone's ears like a clap of thunder.

To gain the power of speech recognition, even about unspeakable truths. To understand the words spoken by the tongues of beings in different worlds. This was the Power of Speech.

The densely packed energy blades that resembled golden needles were neatly gathered in the air. They were shattered by the soundwave as though they were made of glass. They vanished in the air and returned to nature. On the other hand, the 1,000 energy blades closest to Lu Zhou's forehead seemed to be reflected as they shot upward.

Gong Yuandu's huge avatar merely lasted for a breath. Then, the golden avatar exploded like a bubble under the force of the hurricane-like soundwave.

Several energy blades shot toward Gong Yuandu, taking him by surprise. He did not expect this. His protective energy layer was penetrated by the energy blades like a balloon. Some of the energy blades pierced his arms, face, back, and feet. A frightened expression could be seen on his face at this moment. A grunt rang in the air before he fell down.

Meanwhile, Hua Wudao's Six Compatible Seal instantly shattered. The others reeled back and crashed on the ground as well.

Even Duanmu Sheng and Little Yuan'er who had experienced the impact of the grand technique, Scram, before were startled.

The Power of Speech truly exceeded everyone's expectations. The soundwave continued to travel upward after Gong Yuandu was shot down.

Boom!

The weak barrier was broken by the soundwave from within as though it was a bubble. The barrier faded away.

Gong Yuandu fell to the ground.

Silence descended on the Evil Sky Pavilion.

Lu Zhou looked up. There was no longer a barrier. Uh… It seemed like the force of his attack was greater than before. 'This complicates things even more… What a headache!'

Lu Zhou wanted to scratch his head. This was not what he had intended to do. 'Now that the barrier is gone, what will the Noble Path do?'

Similarly, Leng Luo and the others were rendered speechless by what had just transpired. They rose to their feet and looked at the battered Gong Yuandu.

Lu Zhou turned to look at Gong Yuandu as well.

To everyone's surprise, Gong Yuandu did not die. Although the barrier's power was weak, it was still much more powerful than an elite with a Nascent Divinity Tribulation realm cultivation base. The grand technique, Scram, had instantly shattered the barrier, and yet, it could not kill Gong Yuandu.

'How did he do that?'

Gong Yuandu lay on the ground for a moment longer before he struggled to push himself up and sat on the ground. He looked at the ground, uncertain if he should cry or laugh. He had lost completely. He was a man after all, and he had his pride. He would never allow himself to cry in front of others. In the end, he smiled and chuckled softly. He disregarded the pain in his body and said, "I've lost."

Lu Zhou looked at Gong Yuandu. "Have you thought about it?"

"About what?"

"The reason you lost."

"I haven't." Gong Yuandu shook his head. He looked at Lu Zhou with a smile before he shuffled to the table and took a seat across Lu Zhou.

The two of them poured themselves some wine.

"You have 100 years left… Are you going to throw that away?" Lu Zhou asked.

Gong Yuandu sighed. "There's something you don't know, Brother Ji." He raised the wine jar and poured it into his mouth. After a few mouthfuls, he lowered it and said, "I don't have that long."

"Why?"

"I've spent my essence and blood a long time ago…" Gong Yuandu said.

Essence and blood were the basis of life.

Lu Zhou frowned slightly and asked, "Just to improve your cultivation base?"

Gong Yuandu coughed violently twice. A splash of red could be seen. He had coughed up blood. He wondered if it was due to the damage he sustained from the grand technique, Scram, or if it was due to his old injuries. Strangely, when he coughed up blood, half of his hair turned white. He seemed unbothered as he wiped the blood off the edge of his lips and took another sip of wine. He even managed to smile as he said, "A little more."

"Hm?"

"Just a little more… and I'll be at the Nine-leaf stage."

The others who were standing nearby were thoroughly shocked.

Anyone who had an inkling of common cultivation knowledge would know what Nine-leaf meant. Eight-leaf was the limit attainable by humans. Up until now, there were no cultivators who had successfully reached the Nine-leaf stage. At the very least, nobody knew about any Nine-leaf elites.

Even in the Misty Forest where humans seldom tread or the whirlpools in the seas where no one dared to travel to… there were no Nine-leaf elites. There were no records of such individuals in all the books accessible to men as well.

"Just a little more… and yet, it's an uncrossable chasm," Lu Zhou said.

"Brother Ji, can't you feel it?"

"Feel what?" Lu Zhou asked.

"A sense of danger, the feeling of your life slipping away. It's peculiar and unexplainable…" Gong Yuandu lowered his voice and said, "Whenever my cultivation base improves… I'd feel that I've aged. I'm aging quickly, and there's nothing I can do to stop it…"

There was a hint of helplessness in Gong Yuandu's eyes as he said. "Whenever I try to stop it, the Primal Qi that I've painstakingly accumulated would leave my sea of Qi."

"When did you start having these feelings?" Lu Zhou asked.

"During the tenth year inside the Mausoleum of Swords… and the 30th year."

"So, during the first instance, you stopped it, but during the second instance, you did not."

"I had no choice." If his hair had not been covered in grime, his silver mane would have been obvious.

Lu Zhou seemed to be lost in his thoughts as well. 'If what he said is true, the limit of a human's cultivation is the Eight-leaf stage. Alas, I only have him as a reference. That's fewer than I like.'

Gong Yuandu began coughing again. With this cough, his hair turned completely white. Even the grime could not mask the color of his hair.

The others were shocked to see this. They did not understand what was happening.

Lu Zhou looked at Gong Yuandu's white hair. Realization dawned on him before he softly said, "Fool."

"If I didn't, I would've died instantly." Gong Yuandu laughed again. He no longer drank the wine. His right hand was shaking. "Sometimes, there's nothing wrong with being a fool." Then, he lifted the wine jar and poured its contents into his mouth. The wine agitated his belly. However, he seemed to not be bothered by the discomfort. He was enjoying himself. It had been a long time since he had felt this way after he had entered the coffin. The sting of the wine made him feel human and alive.

Unfortunately, with every mouthful of wine, Gong Yuandu's completely white hair seemed to whiten even more if it was possible. The dirt fell off from his hair. His skin was so wrinkled that it no longer resembled skin. It would not be exaggerating to say it looked like tree bark.

"Truth be told, when I attacked… I had a fleeting illusion that I could kill you," Gong Yuandu said with a chuckle.

"If I didn't have some matters to attend to, you would've been a dead man when we met at the Mausoleum of Swords," Lu Zhou said confidently.

Gong Yuandu nodded listlessly. He remembered the Seven Terminal Formation and his Demon Sword in the Mausoleum of Swords.

Lu Zhou could tame the Demon Sword and break the Seven Terminal Formation. Defeating Gong Yuandu was definitely a lesser feat.

"Brother Ji, you're older than I am and possess a much more profound cultivation base… Soon enough, you'll feel the same things I've felt," Gong Yuandu said with a chuckle, "Perhaps, all our seniors felt the same way as they looked for a breakthrough."