My disciples are all villains.

"There's no need to be overly worried. Master is here. Even if a huge Ten-leaf beast isn't a match for master," Yu Zhenghai replied carefreely.

The disciples were unaware that their master was, in fact, only a Nine-leaf cultivator. Not only were they convinced their master had long reached the Ten-leaf stage, but they also believed their master had initiated his Birth Chart. After all, their master had defeated elites like Ye Zhen, Chen Tiandu, Chen Beizheng, and Sikong Beichen all lost to him.

...

Outside the hall.

When Little Yuan'er felt the dense vitality energy, she pulled Conch down and hastily said, "Quick, Little Junior Sister, sit down and cultivate!"

"Oh."

Both of them sat cross-legged in front of the hall, reaping the benefits from the master's cultivation.

…

Lu Zhou's speculation was proven right. Indeed, there was no need to rush the leaf-sprouting process. All he needed to do was go with the flow.

Letting the melon drop after it ripened was indeed the best way to raise his cultivation base. The precondition was that his cultivation base would have to be at its peak.

During that prolonged battle, Ye Zhen was still capable of maintaining the leaf-sprouting process. He must have mastered some special technique.

When Lu Zhou recalled this, he thought to himself, 'It feels like a waste to have killed him so quickly… I should've kept him alive to interrogate him!'

...

Another hour passed in just a blink of an eye. At the same time, more and more winged beasts appeared in the sky.

The dense life energy shrouded the entire mountain and hung in the air like the morning mist, casting a hazy filter over the mountain.

…

Inside the main hall.

Nie Qingyun was chatting with the emperor, Li Yunzheng.

At this moment, a disciple hurried into the hall to report. "Sect master, there seems to be a huge disturbance in Senior Lu's residence."

"Disturbance?" Nie Qingyun had prohibited everyone from approaching Lu Zhou's room except for those who needed to clean the place. What disturbance was there?

"Beasts!"

Nie Qingyun rose to his feet and said, "Your Majesty, I'll be right back."

"I'll go with you." Li Yunzheng had been living in the palace for a long time. It was rare that he was able to leave the palace. Naturally, he was curious about almost everything, even the mundane things. Now that such a great opportunity presented itself, how could it let it go?

"Alright. Please be careful, Your Majesty." Nie Qingyun waved his hand and moved to the cloud platform.

The cloud platform provided the best view of the twelve peaks of Cloud Mountain.

Nie Qingyun looked in the distance when he sensed the rich life energy in the air.

At this moment, the five elders of Cloud Mountain flew over as well.

"What happened?"

Nie Qingyun said, "Go and take a look. Assist Senior Lu in any way you can."

"Understood." The five elders flew away.

Li Yunzheng asked, "Did something happen to grandmaster?"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. We're just taking precautionary measures. Usually, beasts don't show up near Cloud Mountain. Huge beasts would only show up when there are Nine-leaf cultivators. However, they're usually weak. They're no match for me. Still…" Nie Qingyun looked at the mountain peak with a complicated gaze. "Senior Lu seems to be sprouting a leaf."

"Sprouting a leaf? Is the grandmaster attempting the Eleven-leaf stage?" Li Yunzheng scratched his head.

Nie Qingyun chuckled and said, "Based on the waves of Primal Qi and aura, it feels more like an attempt to reach the Ten-leaf stage. However, this doesn't make sense. The leaf-sprouting process from the One-leaf to the Eight-leaf stage can be repeated to stabilize a cultivator's cultivation base. The lotus accumulates energy to sprout a leaf. Hence, repeating the process can improve one's strength. However, this method doesn't work once one has reached the Nine-leaf stage. Why is Senior Lu doing this?"

Nie Qingyun was puzzled as well.

Li Yunzheng said with a wry smile, "Even a Ten-leaf cultivator like you can't make sense of this, there's no hope for me to figure it out."

At this moment, some distance away from the last of the twelve peaks, the sky turned dark. It looked like black clouds were rolling toward them.

Li Yunzheng was familiar with the records of beasts. He pointed at the sky and exclaimed, "Yong!"

"Yong?" Nie Qingyun frowned slightly. He immediately turned around and said, "Your Majesty, please head back. It's not safe up there."

Before Li Yunzheng could protest, Nie Qingyun grabbed him and flew to the fourth peak.

Xia Changqiu and Meng Changdong flew to the fourth peak as well.

Nie Qingyun said, "Beasts have shown up on Cloud Mountain. I'll deal with them. Look after His Majesty." He flew toward the third peak as soon as he finished speaking.

Now that Nie Qingyun had left, Meng Changdong had the highest cultivation base among those who were present. He moved to Li Yunzheng's side and said, "I'll look after His Majesty. All of you should be prepared to provide assistance if needed."

The others nodded.

…

The dark clouds hung low in the sky.

There were many Yongs in the air. Collectively, they looked like a trail of ink snaking their way forward.

Yu Zhenghai moved to Yu Shangrong's side as he looked at the beasts. "This doesn't look good."

"Are you afraid?" Yu Shangrong smiled faintly.

"This is just a small issue. Why should I be afraid?"

Yu Shangrong looked down and said, "Ninth Junior Sister, look after Little Junior Sister."

"Oh."

After Yu Shangrong finished speaking, an energy sword materialized in his hand. Following that, he charged toward the tide of beasts without another word.

Naturally, Yu Zhenghai would not allow himself to lag behind. He brandished his Jasper Saber and charged out as well.

Two Nine-leaf avatars towered in the air and formed a wall, blocking the wave of beasts.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Energy sabers and energy swords began to slash, slice, and hack at the Yongs.

"There's more up above."

Yu Shangrong smiled faintly. "Don't blink, Eldest Senior Brother."

"Hm?"

Yu Shangrong pushed his palm out.

Swoosh!

An energy sword flew up before it split into many other energy swords. In just a few breaths, the energy swords seemed to have covered the sky.

At this moment, there were close to 60,000 energy swords slashing at the beasts.

It was like a storm.

"It's amazing you're able to pull this off without a weapon." Yu Zhenghai praised before he tossed his Jasper Saber out. He cast the Sovereign Descent first.

Energy sabers spun out, dismembering the beasts in their paths.

Soon after, a huge dragon formed from energy sabers plunged into the midst of the beasts and began its savage dance, leaving beasts carcasses that dropped from the sky in its wake.

Yu Zhenghai asked with a smile, "What do you think about Water Dragon Song?"

"I must say it's amazing that you're able to unleash Water Dragon Song after casting Sovereign Descent," Yu Shangrong said.

Two consecutive ultimate moves could easily make a person careless.

Swoosh!

Meanwhile, Nie Qingyun who had just arrived overheard the duo's conversation. He looked at the beasts that were raining down from the sky and wondered inwardly, 'Aren't Senior Lu's two eldest disciples usually at odds with each other? I'm not used to it now that they're complimenting each other.'

Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai did not stop bickering and debating about the superiority of the sword and saber since they came to Cloud Mountain, after all.

At this moment, the two disciples turned around at the same time when they discovered Nie Qingyun's presence. "Sect Master Nie?"

"Uh…" Nie Qingyun waved his hand awkwardly. "It… It seems like I'm not needed here."

At this moment, the trail of Yongs had scattered and retreated. Among the few that were left, there was a Yong the size of a huge chariot.

Its face was that of a man with bark-like skin. At the same time, its four large eyes and huge ears gave it an owlish appearance as well. It radiated a strong life energy.

Yu Shangrong said tonelessly, "I'm afraid that this is going to get really troublesome."

"Who cares? Let's kill it!"

The duo rose higher in the sky.

Yu Zhenghai manifested his avatar first. Then, an energy saber appeared around the Jasper Saber as he gripped it with both hands.

Bam!

A 50-meter energy saber dropped from the sky and struck the Yong.

As a few feathers fell from the Yong's body, it screeched in pain immediately. Its cry was hoarse and thunderous, seemingly capable of injuring one's eardrums. Even the smaller 

After a beat, it lunged at the duo and opened its beak that seemed as wide as a chasm.

"Trying to eat me? You'll have to see if you have what it takes!" Yu Zhenghai unleashed the Sovereign Descent.

Energy sabers rolled out like a tidal wave.

Then, Yu Zhenhai rode on the momentum as he retreated.

Meanwhile, Yu Shangrong appeared above the huge Yong at lightning speed. He pushed his palm down, and an energy sword shot toward the beast.

Bam!

The energy sword broke!

Yu Shangrong felt his arm go numb. He leaped and flipped a few times in the air before he moved back. A faint smile could be seen on his face as he said, "Your head is really tough. It's unfortunate that I don't have my Longevity Sword..."

Piercing the Yong's head with an energy sword was no less difficult than ascending to the heavens.

The Yong was infuriated. It tried to ram the duo with its body. Its black body easily covered the entire mountain peak.

At this moment, Nie Qingyun said gruffly, "Allow me."

With two bursts of grand techniques, Nie Qingyun appeared above the beast. He gripped the Sky Soul Saber with two hands as he shouted, "Livestock, take this!"

An energy saber that was wider and longer than Yu Zhenghai's energy saber appeared as Nie Qingyun brought the Sky Soul Saber again.

Bam!

The saber dropped down.

The huge backlash caused Nie Qingyun to lose grip of the Sky Soul Saber.

After he retrieved his saber, he moved near Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai at lightning speed. "This beast is tough! Look for its weak spot!"

Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai nodded.

The trio then flew out again.

…

Meanwhile…

Several miles away from Cloud Mountain, several cultivators stood on a small hill as they looked at the black Yong with a terrified expression on their faces.

"Birth Chart Beast?"

"Pass on the information quickly. Say that a Birth Chart Beast has appeared near Cloud Mountain."

"Yes, boss. Uh, what's a Birth Chart Beast?"

"It's been a long time since such a beast appeared in the red lotus domain. It's said that initiating a Birth Chart requires at least 1,500 years of life. This beast's life aura is powerful. Beasts that can provide enough longevity for this purpose are called Birth Chart Beasts," the cultivator explained.

"But… there are elites on Cloud Mountain."

"Just pass on the message… The Sky Martial Court has ordered us to keep an eye on Cloud Mountain. We must report every single thing we see."

"Understood!"

"Do it quickly. The Sky Martial Court has been searching for Birth Chart Beasts all these years. They scoured almost every mountain and forest in Great Tang. They'll like this piece of information for sure."

"Understood! I'll send a letter immediately"

The cultivator looked up at the huge beast and said, "Cloud Mountain… I don't think you can handle a Birth Chart Beast. However, where did this Birth Chart Beast come from?"