My disciples are all villains.

Although the Nether Sect had conquered the Divine Capital, there were still many dangers lurking within the palace walls. They knew that the road to Lou Lan would not be smooth-sailing.

After pondering on it for a moment, Lu Zhou said, "Old Seventh, take the flying chariot to Liang Province and look for your Second Senior Brother."

It would be much safer if they had Yu Shangrong's help.

Ye Tianxin said, "Master… Why don't I go accompany Seventh Junior Brother to Liang Province? I've traveled the entire Great Yan previously. I've been to the western regions and passed by Lou Lan. If we travel by flying chariot, we'd be too big of a target. We'll certainly attract the attention of the Other Tribes. That's very dangerous."

Ye Tianxin had a point. With her accompanying Si Wuya, the journey would be much smoother.

However, Si Wuya said, "Sixth Senior Sister, although you're an Eight-leaf cultivator, you're not completely healed yet… You should stay here and help master oversee things in the Divine Capital… Moreover, I have my sources in Lou Lan."

"…"

Sources...

Si Wuya glanced at Yu Zhenghai before he said, "Master, time waits for no man. I'll take my leave now."

"Go." Lu Zhou waved his arm.

Si Wuya pushed away from the ground and flew toward the flying chariot. The cloud-splitting chariot dragged a long tail behind it as it moved toward Liang Province. In just a moment, it disappeared among the clouds.

The cultivators outside the Divine Capital were shocked and baffled when they saw this. Perhaps, their courage was boosted by the disappearance of the Ten Terminal Formation, they moved closer to the Divine Capital to have a look.

There were no Imperial guards, no curtain-like barrier in the sky, and no ballistae…

The Divine Capital was in ruin. Dilapidated houses, corpses were strewn everywhere on the ground, and fly-infested pools of blood summarized the post-war Divine Capital.

Upon seeing this, the cultivators sighed deeply.

Rebirth would follow a war.

Then, the cultivators in the air looked in the direction of the Imperial city.

"In the end, who's the final victor?"

Nobody knew the answer, and nobody dared to enter the Imperial city of their own accord. They merely flew around inside the Divine Capital.

…

Inside Dazheng Palace in the Imperial city.

Li Yunzhao supported the Empress Dowager to slowly sit down.

The person seated opposite the Empress Dowager was the Evil Sky Pavilion's Master, the greatest Nine-leaf expert in the world.

The palace was filled with people kneeling on the ground.

The court officials and the elders of the two academies were bound and forced to their knees.

When the Empress Dowager looked up, she saw Zhao Yue standing behind Lu Zhou. "Zhao Yue… you came."

Zhao Yue lowered her head.

"I don't blame you." The Empress Dowager could not blame Zhao Yue nor did she have any reason to blame Zhao Yue.

Zhao Yue did not grow up in the palace. She had also fulfilled her responsibility when she took care of the Empress Dowager while she was ill. In fact, it was a wonder that she did not hold a grudge against the palace.

The Empress Dowager knew that she was in the wrong. How could she blame Zhao Yue? Then, she shifted her gaze to Lu Zhou. After studying him for a moment, she said emotionally, "It's been a while."

Lu Zhou did not bother with small talks and directly dove into the heart of the conversation. "There are tens of thousands of Nether Sect members outside Dazheng Palace. They're the subordinates of my disciple, Yu Zhenghai…"

"I know."

"I won't comment on Liu Ge. Ever since Liu Gu ascended the throne, he did not govern the country. He killed the fairfolks, dumped their corpses into the river, and fished their bones from the river for a decade. The prince colluded with grand shamans from the Other Tribes and brought harm to the nine provinces. The Imperial family has ended up in this situation today…"

"... because we brought it upon ourselves," the Empress Dowager said with a sigh. A resigned expression could be seen on her face. She turned to look at the court officials and said, "It's meaningless to talk about these things now… The change in governance is a part of the natural cycle. If the people of the nine provinces can live peacefully, I won't have any complaints even if the ruler's surname is Ji."

Upon hearing this, the court officials prostrated themselves and cried out, "Empress Dowager!"

Their cries were brimming with despair. If there were a change in rulers, they would all become slaves from a subjugated nation.

Lu Zhou shook his head. He was different from Yu Zhenghai; he was not interested in world domination. If his first disciple, Yu Zhenghai, truly wanted to sit on the throne, he would have to go through many obstacles as well. After all, Yu Zhenghai did not have the surname Liu.

Among the five princes, only the Third Prince, Jiang Aijian, and the Fifth Prince were left. It did not matter to Lu Zhou to whom the court officials wanted to push onto the throne.

Nevertheless, Yu Zhenghai had gone through many troubles to conquer the empire. If Lu Zhou made a decision on his first disciple's behalf, would his disciple not feel disappointed? Therefore, he was not in a hurry to make a decision.

Instead, Lu Zhou looked at the elders from the Big Dipper Academy and the Sky Conduct Academy and the court officials. "How should we deal with these people?"

"The Evil Sky Pavilion can do whatever they want with them." The Empress Dowager no longer regarded this as an important matter.

"Since I'm asking you, it means I respect your decision…"

When Lu Zhou spoke, the elders from the two academies who were on death row kowtowed immediately.

The Empress Dowager was taken aback. The Divine Capital had fallen. What more was there to be said? She looked at the elders who were kowtowing at her; the soft thuds of the foreheads hitting the floor irritated her slightly. "Drag them out… Behead them."

Since ancient times, monarchs had always been heartless.

Upon hearing the Empress Dowager's order, the elders' faces turned ashen.

"Have mercy, Empress Dowager! Mercy!"

The Imperial guards charged in.

These elders' cultivation bases had been sealed before they were bound. They were powerless to resist the Imperial guards and were dragged out of the palace.

Lu Zhou looked at the elders. 'What a waste… Should I be merciless and kill them myself?'

Although the remaining elders had weak cultivation bases, they were still worth something.

'I'm letting my mind wander again.' Lu Zhou shook off the extraneous thoughts before he asked, "When did you find out that he's not Liu Gu?"

The Empress Dowager looked up and said, "How could I not know my son? The day that impostor ascended the throne, I knew."

"Liu Ge was still around at that time. With his abilities, he should've been able to take that man down," Lu Zhou said.

"Indeed, Liu Ge had thought about it. Alas… the fake Liu Gu was already an Eight-leaf cultivator at that time. He also had a super heaven-grade weapon, the Magistrate Brush," the Empress Dowager said.

Lu Zhou flipped his hand, and a red-tipped brush appeared in his hand. "This is a super heaven-grade weapon as well?"

The Empress Dowager was not surprised the brush was with Lu Zhou now. She nodded. "That's right."

This… Perhaps, this was the reason the Imperial family had firm control over the empire.

Liu Ge had High Void, and Liu Gu had the Magistrate Brush. Moreover, they gathered the elites under the heavens inside the Divine Capital.

The armor, the red veins, the red-tip brush…

Lu Zhou asked, "Where did the Imperial family get all these items?"

The Empress Dowager turned to Li Yunzhai and said, "Send the others out…"

Li Yunzhao understood the Empress Dowager's intention. He turned to the court officials and said, "The Empress Dowager is tired. You're all dismissed for the day."

"Understood!"

The court officials looked perplexed. The Divine Capital had been conquered. What were they supposed to do next? Should they flee? Should they stay? They did not know what to do. Nevertheless, since the Empress Dowager had given her command, they had no choice but to obey and respectfully took their leave.

When the court officials were gone, the Empress Dowager rose to her feet and said, "Follow me."

"Where are we going?"

Li Yunzhao said in a hushed voice, "The inner warehouse."

Little Yuan'er was shocked. She asked, "Is this the inner warehouse that the shameless fellow mentioned?"

Zhu Honggong chimed in, "Are there treasures inside? We've won. By convention, I should be able to loot the place."

The others looked at Zhu Honggong…

'He must be really used to being the leader of the bandit. He's out of his mind!'

Upon seeing the peculiarity of everyone's gaze, Zhu Honggong scratched his head and asked, "Is it something I said?"

The others ignored him and followed Lu Zhou and the Empress Dowager.

Zhu Honggong, who was still confused, asked, "Tenth Junior Sister, did I say something wrong?"

Conch replied, "No."

"Then, why are they looking at me strangely? Are they jealous of my intelligence?" Zhu Honggong was about to scratch his head again when he realized he had been wearing his boxing gloves all along. He immediately lowered his hand. "Indeed, I'm much smarter than before… Eh, where's everyone? Third Senior Brother? Fifth Senior Sister? Sixth Senior Sister? Where did everyone go?"

The vast Dazheng Palace was now deserted.

…

After the battle at the Divine Capital.

Many palace girls and eunuchs fled the palace. The path seemed lonesome and desolate.

A moment later, the group arrived near the warehouse of the Imperial family. They made several turns before they saw an old brown door that was 30 feet tall and 10 feet wide.

The Empress Dowager stopped in her tracks and looked up. She said, "This is the Imperial family's warehouse. It's located deep in the palace; that's why it's called the inner warehouse."

Lu Zhou found the brown door familiar. He said, "I think I've been here before."

Li Yunzhao smiled and said, "You were on good terms with the former Emperor, Senior Ji. It's no surprise that you've been here… However, the inner warehouse isn't completely safe. Half a year ago, we lost the sword Dragonsong. It hasn't been recovered since."

Lu Zhou acted as though he did not hear Li Yunzhao's words. 'This has nothing to do with me...'

At this moment, the Empress Dowager took a key out and opened the door to the inner warehouse.

Lu Zhou did not press her about the key. He followed behind her in a casual manner.

"Everything Emperor Yong Shou obtained in the past was placed in the inner warehouse…"