My disciples are all villains.

Liu Zhi straightened his back and rose from his seat. With his hands on his back, he said, "I'm trying to help my father out. I'm sure you've heard that the Nether Sect is set on conquering the nine provinces. The battle of Yu Province is close at hand. The Taixu Academy is to send every one of its members to the battlefield to aid General Ji."

Lin Xin was not surprised by Liu Zhi's condition. He had expected as much. If the Taixu Academy wanted help from the Divine Capital, there was, naturally, a price to pay. He nodded, acquiescing to Liu Zhi's condition. "Okay. You have my promise, Your Highness."

Liu Zhi stood before Lin Xin as he said, "Don't think you're getting the shorter end of the stick here. After this tribulation, you'll receive another five leaf-sprouting pills as a reward. Don't forget… the Big Dipper Academy only listens to the Imperial family's orders."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Lin Xin bowed.

"The battle of Yu Province is of high importance. You should send your men there as soon as possible… I'll give you another something to calm your nerves." Then, Liu Zhi moved his head close to Lin Xin and whispered to Lin Xin.

The others could not hear what was said, but they saw Lin Xin's eyes widening and eyelids twitching.

Lin Xin had tried to maintain his dignity as the Patriarch of the Taixu Academy before this. However, at this moment, he could only respectfully say, "Thank you for the pointers, Your Highness!"

"I'll leave it to you, then. Farewell." Liu Zhi did not stay for long. He turned around and walked out of the discussion hall.

Lin Xin hastily said, "Zhou Wenliang, see His Highness off."

"Me?"

"Yes, you!"

The Second Elder, Zhou Wenliang, nodded and ran out at once.

Lin Xin said, "Xiao Shan, bring 1,000 core disciples with you to reinforce General Ji's army."

"Patriarch… c-can we trust the Crown Prince?" Xiao Shan seemed apprehensive.

Lin Xin's expression grew stern as he said in a low voice, "Do it."

"Understood."

Ever since the elders had proposed that he apologized to the Evil Sky Pavilion, Lin Xin had been furious with them. He was in no mood to waste words with them. So long as he could survive this disaster and continue to ally with the Divine Capital, it might be possible for them to attain the Nine-leaf stage in the future. At that time, his great limit would be a thing of the past.

Zhou Wenliang returned soon after Xiao Shan left. He looked at the armor in the box and tentatively asked, "Patriarch… Is the armor really that powerful? Can it repel a Nine-leaf cultivator?"

"It can't be fake," Lin Xin placed his hands on his back and said, "I've visited the Imperial city many years ago and was fortunate to enter the inner warehouse… The items there are rare treasures and weapons gathered from all over the world. The person who managed the inner warehouse back then was Princess Yun Zhao. At that time, she had maintained that the Nine-leaf stage was achievable."

The Second Elder, Zhou Wenliang, bowed and said, "Patriarch, the academy is safe with you personally making a move!"

Lin Xin glanced at Zhou Wenliang and said, "I want to find the best place to lay out a Formation and come up with a plan to defeat Old Villain Ji… Send the armor into my room."

"Understood!"

…

Seven days passed by in just a blink of an eye.

In the Evil Sky Pavilion.

When Lu Zhou opened his eyes again, he gauged his extraordinary power. After confirming that his extraordinary power was completely replenished, he called up the dashboard.

He checked the menu for the Earth Scroll and noticed that nothing had changed.

"It can't be meditated on at the same time?"

If they were two different kinds of extraordinary power, that would be troublesome. He would have to spend more time meditating when he cultivated.

To confirm this theory, Lu Zhou opened the menu for the Earth Scroll. He tried to meditate on the scripts of the Earth Scroll. It was just like that time when he first encountered the Human Scroll. He had to meditate while looking at the Earth Scroll's menu. However, the scripts did not emerge from the Earth Scroll's menu as he expected. He sighed. "So, the Earth Scroll isn't as easy, after all."

He closed the Earth Scroll's menu. There was a new mission on the mission list: Search for the remnants of the Open Earth Scroll.

Lu Zhou frowned slightly. 'This is too much! Even the Human Scroll wasn't like this in the beginning!'

At this moment, Mingshi Yin's voice rang from outside. "Greetings, master."

"What is it?"

"The Taixu Academy requests an audience."

Lu Zhou had been too focused on the Earth Scroll that he had forgotten all about this. The Taixu Academy had repeatedly challenged the Evil Sky Pavilion. If they could not give him a satisfactory explanation, he would not let them off the hook.

Lu Zhou walked out with his hands on his back. When he saw Mingshi Yin standing respectfully, he asked, "You're alone?"

Lately, Mingshi Yin was the only one who came to greet him. He did not see the others.

Mingshi Yin scratched his head and said, "Fifth Junior Sister and Eighth Junior Brother are brave enough to sever their lotuses and have been cultivating. As for the others, I have no idea where they are."

As soon as Mingshi Yin finished speaking, an excited voice rang in the air. "Old Fourth, Old Fourth, where are you? I've improved a lot in my Overlord Spear skills! You have to believe me."

Swoosh!

Mingshi Yin disappeared without a trace.

'It's no wonder he has been lingering around the eastern pavilion. He knows the others wouldn't dare to recklessly come in.'

Duanmu Sheng did not enter the eastern pavilion. He passed the eastern pavilion and soon vanished from sight.

Lu Zhou shook his head as he walked toward the Evil Sky Pavilion's great hall.

…

Inside the great hall.

Lu Zhou sat in a stately manner on his seat.

Apart from Pan Zhong and Zhou Jifeng, the others were not there. It did not look like the Evil Sky Pavilion at all.

Three members from the Taixu Academy were escorted into the great hall by the female cultivators. Once they entered the great hall, the three of them fell to their knees.

"Greetings, Old Senior Ji! I'm Taixu Academy's Second Elder, Zhou Wenliang."

"Greetings, Old Senior Ji! I'm Taixu Academy's Third Elder, Wang Jianrang."

"Greetings, Old Senior Ji! I'm Taixu Academy's Fifth Elder, Zhang Gong."

'What do we have here? Before this, it wasRen, Yi, Li, Zhi, Xing and Wen, Liang, Gong, Jian, Ran are Confucian virtues that mean benevolence, justice, courtesy, wisdom, sincerity and moderation, kindness, respect, frugality, and magnanimity.  ren-yi-li-zhi-xin. This time, it's wen-liang-gong-jian-rang. What a complete lineup.'

The three of them looked up and to their sides. The great hall was empty. They were puzzled. Was this the Evil Sky Pavilion? It was so underwhelming that they briefly thought they were in the wrong place. After all, there were many who impersonated Ji Tiandao and his nine disciples lately. It had almost become a trend.

Finally, Zhou Jifeng said in a deep voice, "What are you looking at? How dare you behave impertinently before the pavilion master?"

"Please forgive us, Senior Ji! We're here to sincerely apologize..." Zhou Wenliang hastily replied.

"Apologize?" Lu Zhou looked down at the trio. "If you're sincere, Lin Xin should have come."

Pan Zhong thought Lu Zhou's words made sense. He instantly cursed at the trio. "A bunch of fools… Do you think the Evil Sky Pavilion can be easily deceived?" A wave of satisfaction rose in his heart after he vented his anger. Moreover, with the other disciples absent, the pressure on him had lessened considerably. He felt great! He had to seize this opportunity and leave a good impression on the pavilion master. As the saying went, 'When the tiger is away from the mountain, the monkey would take charge'.

Zhou Wenliang shuddered and hastily said, "Senior Ji, I can explain!" He immediately pulled the package that the older two elders were holding between them. He opened it and said, "Senior Ji, have a look at this!"

The others were puzzled. They looked at the content of the package. There was a dark red armor. The veins were densely packed and extremely fine.

It was normal that Zhou Jifeng and Pan Zhong did not see anything special.

However, Lu Zhou's emotions stirred when he saw the armor. The veins on the armor resembled those on the coffin the Roulain, Lanni, brought here!

"Senior Ji, Lin Xin is colluding with the Crown Prince and plans to do you harm. It's said that this item can be used against a Nine-leaf cultivator. How absurd!"

Translator's note: Ren, Yi, Li, Zhi, Xing and Wen, Liang, Gong, Jian, Ran are Confucian virtues that mean benevolence, justice, courtesy, wisdom, sincerity and moderation, kindness, respect, frugality, and magnanimity. 

Ren, Yi, Li, Zhi, Xing and Wen, Liang, Gong, Jian, Ran are Confucian virtues that mean benevolence, justice, courtesy, wisdom, sincerity and moderation, kindness, respect, frugality, and magnanimity.