My disciples are all villains.

Lu Zhou was puzzled. 'What are all these monks doing here?'

Apart from Zhou Jifeng and Pan Zhong, his disciples and the other old men were not present on the scene.

"Greetings, Benefactor Ji." The monks bowed in unison.

Lu Zhou remained silent as he waited for Xu Jing's explanation.

Xu Jing said, "The Heaven Choice Temple has recruited 2,000 new disciples. I've called them over as reinforcements, but the battle had already ended when they arrived. However, they arrived just in time to help with the clearing of the corpses. We're fortunate to have accomplished what was entrusted to us. The foot of the mountain is now cleared."

Lu Zhou nodded when he heard this. He was pleased. It was not a bad thing to have them help out around these parts. He replied curtly, "I see."

Xu Jing seemed embarrassed as he said, "However, many trees and plants near the foot of the mountain are half-withered. I've tried the Merciful Ark of Salvation, but it did not help."

The withering of the plants was within Lu Zhou's expectations. Fortunately, the purple mist had been quickly dispersed. Otherwise, all the plants on Golden Court Mountain would wither and the mountain would be barren. He was deep in thoughts at this moment. He finally decided to restore the barrier should the chance presented itself. Without the barrier, the defenses of Golden Court Mountain were too weak.

Xu Jing said, "Benefactor Ji, the Buddhist prayer beads are too precious of a gift. I can't take it without earning it. Kindly take it back, Benefactor Ji." He removed the prayer beads from around his neck and respectfully presented them to Lu Zhou with both hands.

Lu Zhou glanced at the Buddhist prayer beads. Was any of his disciples thinking of becoming a monk? 'Who should I give this to if not a monk?' Finally, he said, "I've never liked monks, but your performance is worthy of praise. Since I've given you the prayer beads, I won't take them back."

Xu Jing was slightly taken aback by this. When he received the prayer beads yesterday, he thought it was a ploy by the Evil Sky Pavilion to temporarily bribe them for their help. He did not expect to keep it. When he heard Lu Zhou's words, a contrite expression appeared on his face. His benefactor had sincerely offered him a gift, and yet, he had questioned the benefactor's motives. "I'm ashamed of myself!"

Was this the bearing and thoughts worthy of an erudite monk? Xu Jing was so ashamed he wished the ground would open up and swallow him.

Lu Zhou who did not spare any thoughts to his matter was rather speechless when he looked at Xu Jing. He finally understood why his disciples greatly disliked those on the Noble Path. The people on the Noble Path assumed too much and thought too highly of themselves. 'I'm just giving you the prayer beads because you've been of help to me. Moreover, the prayer beads aren't worth much.'

To each his own.

Xu Jing wore the prayer beads around his neck. He lifted his monk robes and kowtowed piously. "On behalf of the Heaven Choice Temple, I thank you, Benefactor Ji."

Xu Jing's disciples, naturally, could not stand by idly when their master was kowtowing. They kowtowed at Lu Zhou as well.

"Ding! Received a genuine kowtow from 1,020 individuals. Reward: 10,200 merit points."

'Hm?' Lu Zhou was surprised to hear this notification. He suddenly remembered that Xu Jing mentioned something about the Heaven Choice Temple having many new disciples. A repeated kowtow would not give him any points. The arrival of 1,020 new disciples was a pleasant surprise.

Lu Zhou suddenly felt that it was a good decision to have given the Buddhist prayer beads to Xu Jing.

However, the Heaven Choice Temple was reborn with the Evil Sky Pavilion's help and was different from the other sects. He could not possibly expect the others to kowtow at him genuinely just because he gave them something.

...

Over the next two weeks, Xu Jing insisted on staying to show his gratitude. He thoroughly cleaned the Evil Sky Pavilion. Apart from the withered plants at the foot of the mountain, which they could not do anything about, everything was tidied up by the monks. Even the steps were spotless.

…

Early one day, Lu Zhou had just finished meditating on the Heavenly Writing scrolls.

At this moment, Mingshi Yin entered the eastern pavilion with a letter in his hand. He bowed, clearly irritable, as he said, "Master, a letter from Jiang Aijian."

Lu Zhou could sense the annoyance in Mingshi Yin's tone, but he did pay him any mind. "Read it."

Mingshi Yin opened the letter and read, "Old senior, has the Evil Sky Pavilion been trampled by a minor witchcraft cultivator? What's the situation? The major sects of the cultivation world are talking about how half of Golden Court Mountain withered overnight. This isn't good news…"

When he read this, Mingshi Yin muttered to himself, "Excuse me, we crushed them."

"Go on." Lu Zhou's voice remained calm.

Mingshi Yin did not dally. He continued to read aloud, "I must remind you that you should be wary of the alliances between the sects on the Noble Path. Also, I have an important piece of information… Ba Ma's death has reached Lou Lan. The royals of Lou Lan are infuriated. They sent several hundred cultivators to Rouli Nation for an alliance… Where do you think they're headed?"

'I'll clobber this long-winded fellow the next time I see him,' Mingshi Yin thought to himself before he continued to read the letter, "They went to Liang Province. Coincidentally, your first and seventh disciples are headed north. Si Wuya's information network in Great Yan is wider than mine, but in the Other Tribes and Lou Lan, he's no match for me… Ha-ha-ha…"

After reading that, Mingshi Yin said, "Master, shall we summon Jiang Aijian here? I don't think he made himself very clear."

"No need." Lu Zhou walked out of the eastern pavilion. He stroked his beard, lost in thoughts.

Great Yan had defeated Lou Lan many times. In the recent exchange, Lou Lan even had to offer one of their princesses for a marriage alliance. The marriage alliance was, naturally, a good thing. However, nobody expected that Mo Li would go so far as to turn into a woman and become the consort of Liu Huan, the Second Prince. Clearly, she had planned to infiltrate Great Yan and take it down from inside. Now that Mo Li and Ba Ma were dead, how could Lou Lan not be furious?

Back then, Ji Tiandao had lived through the period where Great Yan was in conflict with the Other Tribes. However, he rarely involved himself in those affairs.

"Master, I suspect that Lou Lan and Rouli are trying to invade Liang Province with this opportunity… Jiang Aijian is a prince, after all. This is their matter," Mingshi Yin said.

"After Liu Gu ascended the throne, he neglected to manage the empire. Even when the Second Prince died, he didn't make a move. I don't think things are as simple as you think they are," Lu Zhou replied.

"If that's the case, isn't Eldest Senior Brother just exposing his back to his enemies?" Mingshi Yin asked.

"Hm?" Lu Zhou glanced at him.

Upon hearing that, Mingshi Yin realized he had said the wrong thing. He hastily added, "Oh, right, he deserves it… If they're defeated, it'll be the perfect opportunity to capture and interrogate them."

"Are you trying to decide my matters for me?" Lu Zhou asked.

"… I dare not!"

Lu Zhou no longer spoke. He decided to just go with the flow. Clearly, there was something amiss with how Liu Gu seemed unbothered with the affairs of the world. In that case, what was the Imperial family waiting for?

"Send word to Jiang Aijian. Tell him to investigate the Imperial family's research on the Nine-leaf stage."

"Yes, master."

"Tell him that I'll take back Dragonsong and the Demon Sword if he refuses to cooperate."

"That's great! Uh… yes, master!" Mingshi Yin bowed.

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I'll check on Pan Litian and Leng Luo. I'll leave the rest to you. If there's nothing urgent, there's no need to report to me."

"Yes, master!" Mingshi Yin bowed again.

…

On Brackish Mountain in the snow-covered northern borders.

The cold spring wind blew, and yet, everything was quiet in the Melilot Graveyard. It remained unaffected by the roaring of the wind.

Whizz!

Yu Shangrong summoned a miniature Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar on his palm. He shook his head as he looked at it. Two-third of the Golden Lotus was now covered in purple spots. He could early feel his avatar had lost more than half of its strength. Moreover, the purple spots were still continuing to spread.

Yu Shangrong sighed softly. "This is my fate… I started with the melilot, and I'll end with the melilot."