My disciples are all villains.

Yao Qingquan was still panting heavily from the lingering dear.

After the scorching sensation from the karmic fire subsided, the two First Seats gradually calmed down. They were speaking more coherently as well. Although two disciples supported them, it was still difficult for them to sit up. In the end, they disregarded their appearance and remained seated on the stretchers.

"That Confinement Seal is tricky to deal with. It's similar to the Square Box, but the Square Box is more often used for restricting and defending. It's more of an auxiliary tool. On the other hand, the Confinement Seal has an earth-shattering and domineering force," Yao Qingquan said.

Nie Qingquan exclaimed in shock, "The old fiend, Sikong, is a Ten-leaf cultivator no matter what! His name is renowned, and he's greatly experienced in combat! I didn't expect the Confinement Seal would be able to trap Old Fiend Sikong so easily!"

Yao Qingquan said with a sigh, "Indeed, it would be difficult to capture the temple master with the Confinement Seal alone. However, Yu Chenshu had mastered karmic fire, and he's a Ten-leaf cultivator as well. Their battle dragged out for a long time. As they moved eastward as they fought, they flattened no less than ten mountains. The forest near the eastern swamps was bathed in a sea of flames as well. Karmic fires are truly powerful. Nearing the end of the battle, Temple Master was completely worn out, and as a result, he fell prey to the Confinement Seal."

Zhao Jianghe added, "Senior Lu, the Confinement Seal is extremely dangerous. It has the abilities of the Square Box, and its defenses are amazing. Once someone's trapped, they wouldn't be able to circulate Primal Qi at all."

"It can restrict one's Primal Qi as well?" Nie Qingyun frowned.

The two First Seats only sighed and shook their heads. From the beginning until now, they were only looking at Lu Zhou; they did not trust Nie Qingyun very much. Now that Sikong Beichen had been captured by Yu Chenshu, the Ninth Temple was at its most vulnerable.

Lu Zhou asked, "How did both of you manage to escape?"

Zhao Jianghe pressed his hand on his chest when he coughed. Then, he said, "Since the Confinement Seal was only used on the temple master, we managed to escape. However, if the temple master didn't keep Chen Yushu occupied, I'm afraid we…"

Zhao Jianghe trailed off and shook his head.

Lu Zhou stroked his beard and said, "Apart from this, does Chen Yushu have any other tricks up his sleeve?"

Understanding one's enemy would almost guarantee a victory. Lu Zhou knew he could not afford to make the same mistakes he made the first time he killed Ye Zhen. Although he possessed the Golden Taixu Mirror, he had to guard against the possibility that his enemies might have mastered techniques that could bypass the mirror as well. Moreover, his enemy this time was the Sky Martial Court's Yu Chenshu. It was impossible that someone like Yu Chenshu did not have any means to preserve his life.

Yao Qingquan shook his head and said, "Alas, he only needed his karmic fire and the Confinement Seal to deal with us. The elders who came with him didn't even join the fight."

Nie Qingyun's expression was grim when he said, "I didn't know Yu Chenshu is so powerful." Then, he turned to Lu Zhou and said, "In my opinion, Yu Chenshu is trying to divide and conquer us. If my speculation is right, it would be Cloud Mountain's turn sooner or later."

Lu Zhou stroked his beard as he mulled over the matter.

If Yu Chenshu had other methods of saving his own skin, it was not wise to directly challenge him. Perhaps, he could use the Appearance Alteration Card and infiltrate the Sky Martial Court? At that time, he would swiftly use the Deadly Strike Card to end Yu Chenshu. Alas, things were not that simple.

After a moment, Lu Zhou said, "Cultivators above the Nine-leaf stage should remain on Cloud Mountain for the time being."

Nie Qingyun nodded. He waved his hand at the elders at the side, "You heard Senior Lu!"

"Understood."

Lu Zhou looked at Yao Qingquan and said, "Tell the remaining three First Seats of the Ninth Temple not to act rashly. Since Yu Chenshu didn't kill Sikong Beichen, there's hope for him yet. I think he wants to use Sikong Beichen as bait."

"Understood!" Yao Qingquan was moved. The Ninth Temple could only rely on Senior Lu now. After a moment, he asked, "What if Yu Chenshu seizes this opportunity to attack the Ninth Temple?"

"There's no need to worry. The Ninth Temple is protected by the Grand Formation. It's not easy to take the Formation down. If Yu Chenshu shows up, I'll personally take him down."

Upon hearing this, Yao Qingquan shifted his body before he fell to his knees.

Zhao Jianghe followed suit and kneeled as well.

Lu Zhou frowned. He waved his hand, and a surge of energy lifted the duo. He said, "You are men, and you shouldn't kneel on a whim."

Hearing these words, the two First Seats were moved. After they struggled to their feet, they bowed at Lu Zhou.

"Thank you, Senior Lu. I don't know how we'll be able to repay your kindness."

Lu Zhou turned to look at Nie Qingyun and said, "Tell your men to inspect Cloud Mountain's Grand Formation."

"Alright." Nie Qingyun wasted no time in ordering his men to thoroughly inspect Cloud Mountain's Grand Formation.

After that, Lu Zhou left the hall.

…

When Lu Zhou returned to his room, he called up the system dashboard.

Merit points: 147,440

Remaining life: 219,730 days

Items: Ji Tiandao's Peak Trial Card x1, Deadly Strike Card x1, Impeccable Card x1, Critical Block Card x138, Disguise Card x1, Golden Taixu Mirror, Appearance Alteration Card x3, Shining Stone x3, Refining Talisman x1, Reversal Card x77

Mount: Whitzard, Bi An, Ji Liang, Qiong Qi, Dang Kang.

Weapon: Unnamed, Jade Horsetail Whisk, Magistrate Brush, Nine String Zither, Square Box, Purple Glazed Ceramic, Cold Wind Trident

Lu Zhou discovered the dashboard seemed to have been upgraded. The categorization seemed to be clearer now.

Unfortunately, there were too few main power cards.

If he had known that this would happen, he would have cut down on his usage of item cards when he was still in the golden lotus domain and spent more time on raising his cultivation base.

He sighed. The thoughts of men often changed depending on the stages of life and the circumstance they were in.

Lu Zhou brought Unnamed out.

Black runes revolved around it.

At this moment, he recalled seeing a black lotus descending from the sky through the memory crystal.

"Black lotus..."

All signs indicated that black lotus cultivators were extremely terrifying. If he encountered one, and the Deadly Strike Cards were exorbitantly priced, he would be in trouble.

Once bitten, twice shy.

It seemed he could no longer use his Deadly Strike Cards in the red lotus domain as he pleased.

"Yu Chenshu…"

Lu Zhou remembered the new Heavenly Writing Power he had obtained and wondered if he could find Yu Chenshu's current location.

'Let's give it a try.'

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and recited the mantra.

Soon after, his eyes glowed blue.

However, he soon received a system notification.

"Target cannot be visualized. Current limitations only permit this to be used on friendly targets."

"It doesn't work? I thought I'd be able to spy on everyone with this power."

A feeling of déjà vu washed over him.

After a moment, he closed his eyes again.

"SIkong Beichen."

Then, he recited the mantra again, "For all life in the universe, their lives, deaths, kindness, evil, merits, and sins can be clearly seen."

His eyes glowed blue.

The Heavenly Writing's extraordinary power swiftly surged out of his body.

It was dark all around. The only source of light beamed down Sikong Beichen from above. His arms were chained to the sides, and his hair was disheveled. He looked exhausted.

The sounds in the surroundings entered Lu Zhou's ears.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

The sound of chains rang in the air.

"Hey, newcomer. Were you fooled by that old geezer as well?"

"Say something, newcomer…"

Since the surroundings were dark, Lu Zhou could only hear the voices.

After a short moment, he stopped using the power. With this, he had swiftly used up a lot of his extraordinary power. Moreover, there was a limit to what he could see.

"Where would that place be?" Lu Zhou fell deep into his thoughts.

He knew too little about Sky Martial Court.

Although he caught a glimpse of Sikong Beichen, he could not pinpoint Sikong Beichen's location. However, he managed to confirm that Sikong Beichen was alive, at least.

Lu Zhou no longer used the power. Instead, he inspected his cultivation base. After the efforts he expended, his cultivation was now at the late Nine-leaf stage. He was confident he would be able to attempt the Ten-leaf stage roughly after ten days or so.

Then, he looked at the Reversal Cards in his possession. Currently, he had 77 of them.

"Use."

He used 10 cards in a go.

The rich vitality around the mountain peak surged and converged immediately.

...

Meanwhile, Nie Qing Yun and a few others were delegating tasks and sorting the boxes on the cloud platform. All of them looked up when they sensed the peculiar phenomenon.

"What's this?" Nie Qingyun's expression was rather complex.

Xia Changqiu stepped forward and explained, "There's no need to worry, Sect Master Nie. Senior Lu does this a lot. You've seen him manifest the blue lotus earlier, right? If I'm not mistaken, this is probably one of the ways to cultivate the blue lotus."

"Blue lotus? Monastery Master Xia, in your opinion, do you think Senior Lu really came from the golden lotus domain?" Nie Qingyun asked.

Instead of responding to Nie Qingyun's question, Xia Changqiu said, "Sect Master Nie, my cultivation base might be a far cry compared to yours, but I have some words of advice for you. I wonder if I should say it."

"By all means!"

"The elites have their own ways of doing things. Senior Lu's cultivation base is unfathomable. We should be broadminded and act no different from usual. It's important that we don't ask too many questions about their cultivation. Naturally, it's a different story if Senior Lu willingly imparts his knowledge on us," Xia Changqiu said, "What I'm trying to say is that it doesn't matter if it's the red, golden, or blue lotus. Since it benefits us, why must we trouble ourselves unnecessarily? Moreover, if we unintentionally stepped on Senior Lu's bottom line…"

Xian Changqiu did not finish his sentence and left it to Nie Qingyun's imagination. He only smiled faintly.

After listening to these words, Nie Qingyun cupped his fists together and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Monastery Master Xia."