My disciples are all villains.

Lan Xihe could not help but laugh. She asked, "If the White Tower Council doesn't join forces with Pavilion Master Lu, what does Pavilion Master Lu plan to do?"

"I've never been one to force others. The choice lies with you," Lu Zhou replied.

Lan Xihe nodded slightly and said, "We might die. Have you about what you'll do if… if we die. Do you plan to make arrangements for the Evil Sky Pavilion?" Her words showed she was not confident at all. Perhaps, it was because Lu Zhou had defeated her with three moves and Great Ming watching her every move intently that her confidence collapsed.

"There are no ifs," Lu Zhou stroked his beard and said. Then, he asked, "Are beast emperors so strong?"

In Lu Zhou's opinion, no matter what kind of beast it was, it was just a matter of using his item cards to deal with it. Moreover, he thought there was likely no need for him to even use the enhanced Deadly Strike Card.

Lan Xihe chuckled softly. "It seems like I was right. Pavilion Lu's understanding of beasts is indeed limited."

Lu Zhou did not deny those words.

Lan Xihe continued to say, "Like beast kings, but to a much greater extent, beast emperors are called beast emperors due to their ability to summon and control beasts. The beasts they control will mindlessly throw their lives away for a beast emperor. Unlike humans, there's no greed, fear, or cowardice in these controlled beasts… Most importantly, they have four life hearts…" She spoke in a relaxed tone as she continued watching the moon.

Lu Zhou was surprised. "Four life hearts?"

Lan Xihe lightly leaped into the air before she said, "That's right, and that's just the beast emperors. Moreover, there are fierce beasts more powerful than beast emperors. Both of us have 12 or 13 Birth Charts. Above us, there are supreme beings. There are fierce beasts that even supreme beings can't deal with. Can you imagine how strong are the fierce beasts that even supreme beings can't deal with?"

'This… is indeed very powerful… However, why would I be afraid?'

Lu Zhou asked, puzzled, "Why don't the supreme beings protect humans?"

Lan Xihe shook her head gently. "It's hard to imagine these words came from Pavilion Master Lu. Put aside the supreme beings, let me ask you: do you think the emperor of Great Tang can completely stop common people from killing each other?"

The answer was obvious; it was almost impossible to do such a thing.

People died every day. Even if there were laws that prohibited killing, stealing, and trespassing, there were always people who would break the law.

Perhaps, in the eyes of supreme beings, cultivators, even Thirteen Chart cultivators, were no different from ants.

Lu Zhou lifted his head and gazed into Lan Xihe's limpid eyes; he could not tell what she was thinking at this moment. He asked, "You only have three years left? Is there no solution?"

Lan Xihe shook her head.

Lu Zhou continued to say, "I have a piece of 10,000-year-old Green Cicada Jade with 5,000 years of life in it. I can lend you some of the years in it."

"Human cultivation is a heaven-defying act anyway. Have you ever thought about breaking into the Myriad Supreme Realm?"

"It's too far away," Lan Xihe said, "Perhaps, only cultivators from Unknown Lands have mastered the path to enter the Myriad Supreme Realm."

Lu Zhou remained silent.

The night was getting dark; it was getting late.

Lan Xihe flew higher up into the sky before she said, "It's late, Pavilion Master Lu. Please allow me to consider the matter of the beast emperor and Great Yuan. Farewell."

Lu Zhou did not stop her. He watched as she flashed toward the horizon and vanished from sight; who knew where she went? The White Tower Council had quite a few runic passages in the red lotus domain after all. Nevertheless, the number still could not compare to the black lotus domain's runic passages. With this thought in mind, he wondered when the cultivators from Great Yuan would enter the battlefield.

…

After Lu Zhou returned to the Preservation Hall, he sat cross-legged and began to cultivate again.

When the sky was slightly bright, he opened his eyes slightly and looked at the faint light outside of the window as he muttered to himself, "A beast emperor has four life hearts. This is actually a good thing…"

Although the difficulty of killing beast emperors was higher than he had imagined, it provided four life hearts. Usually, one needed to be incredibly lucky to obtain four advanced life hearts.

One Birth Chart or one life heart represented one life. In other words, to kill a beast emperor, he would need at least four Deadly Strike Cards.

Currently, one Deadly Strike Card cost 40,000 merit points. Without considering further increment of the price, killing a beast emperor would cost at least 160,000 merit points.

"This seems to be the easiest and most cost-effective method at the moment..."

In the end, he felt he still relied on the item cards too much. The rate of his strength improving was too slow, after all.

Seeing that it was still early, he closed his eyes again and continued to cultivate. Currently, he was only at the Seven-chart stage. In order to advance to the Eight-chart stage, he needed to stabilize his realm first.

…

When the sky was bright, Lu Zhou silently recited the mantra for the Heavenly Writing's power of sight. He planned to check in on Zhu Honggong who was in Jiangdong Circuit first.

His eyes glowed blue, and he soon saw Zhu Honggong dressed in heavy armor.

Zhu Honggong stood on a high wall and shouted, "Release the arrows! They're just trash birds! What are you afraid of?"

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Giant crossbows on the city wall released bolts into the sky, killing all the low-level flying beasts in the sky.

Outside of the city wall, the carcasses of fierce beasts piled up like mountains.

At this time, many cultivators standing behind Zhu Honggong were shaking their heads helplessly when they saw the number of bolts that had been used.

A city guard mustered up his courage and bowed before he said, "Mister… Mister Eighth, if we keep fighting like this, the bolts will run out. At that time, it'll be even more troublesome. Our people had gone to the Endless Ocean to investigate; the sea beasts will definitely arrive in five days. It's best to save these weapons…"

"Why didn't you say so earlier? Come here! You should take command then." Zhu Honggong took off his helmet. It was so hot that he was drenched in sweat. He leaned against the wall before he continued to say as he put on a sage-like appearance, "I've been here a while, but none of you said anything so I could only blindly give commands…"

It seemed like Zhu Honggong still had a little bit of awareness.

The city guard smiled and said, "You're a high-ranking official in the capital who's appointed by His Majesty, and you're also a powerful cultivator. How could we dare to overstep the boundary? The common people of Jiangdong Circuit can only rely on you to protect them…"

Zhu Honggong waved his hand and said, "There's no need to be so courteous. I don't understand palace etiquettes anyway. I'll leave the commanding to you. Keeping the fierce beasts away is everyone's responsibility, not mine alone…"

The city guard said sincerely, "I didn't expect Mister Eighth to be so magnanimous. It seems like we've overthought things…"

"It's a small matter."

Seeing that Zhu Honggong was so easy to talk to, a cultivator standing at the back boldly asked, "The people in the palace have all said that the members of the Evil Sky Pavilion are brave and powerful. Mister Eighth, can you give a demonstration to widen our horizons?"

"Widen your horizons?" Zhu Honggong took off his armor and said, "Fine! I'll widen your horizons!"

He straightened his back and raised his hand. "Open your eyes and have a good look!"

All of the cultivators present on the scene looked at Zhu Honggong intently.

Buzz!

A Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar rose from the ground and towered over the clouds.

Zhu Honggong's expression was one of pride as he said, "Brothers, this is my true strength. Are you afraid?"

He closed his eyes, enjoying everyone's surprise and admiration. Perhaps, if he had opened his eyes to have a look, he would see that the surprise and disdain were actually doubt and disdain.

Since it was not easy and energy-consuming to maintain an avatar, Zhu Honggong withdrew his avatar after a while.

When the avatar vanished, the cultivators looked at each other with their brows furrowed and exchanged a look before they began to whisper among themselves.

"Did you have a good look?"

One of the cultivators shook his head.

"Isn't it a Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar?"

That person nodded.

"However, it's very tall."

"It is very tall, but I didn't see a golden lotus…"

"Is it possible that he's not a member of the Evil Sky Pavilion but a palace expert instead?"

Someone made a shushing noise. "Hey, aren't afraid of being beheaded for saying these words in front of him?"

Everyone fell silent immediately, frightened.

Height was indeed an important criterion to measure an avatar's strength. However, the Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar limited the cultivators' imagination. Moreover, the golden halo and the eleven leaves hung high up at the back of the avatar so none of the cultivators saw them.

At this moment, the city guard said loudly, "Mister Eighth's cultivation base is so high; it's really admirable! The people of Jiangdong Circuit are saved!"

"Yes, yes, they're saved!"

Everyone agreed perfunctorily.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The city guard glanced at the flying beasts in the distance and said, "A new wave of fierce beasts is coming. Everyone, get ready. Is it really okay for me to command the others, Mister Eighth?"

"Go ahead." Zhu Honggong nodded in satisfaction. However, after a while, he felt there was something strange with the city guard's tone.

Under the command of the city guard, the new wave of fierce beasts was quickly taken down by two sharpshooters. They even had extra time to leap off the city wall to collect the carcasses. All the carcasses that were of value were brought into the city.

At this time, the city guard asked with a smile, "Mister Eighth, are you satisfied with my performance?"

"Not bad. Keep up the good work!" Zhu Honggong said and patted the city guard's shoulder.

With this, the cultivators in the surroundings laughed.