My disciples are all villains.

Hua Chongyang, Bai Yuqing, Yang Yan, and Di Qing looked slightly battered. The Nether Sect disciples followed closely behind them, afraid to breathe loudly.

Shen Liangshou rose to his feet with great difficulty when he saw the Four Great Protectors.

Li Jingyi seemed as light as a feather as she landed on the ground in the distance.

Little Yuan'er hopped over. She said with a smile, "Hello."

'This little girl is too biased. Why is she so gentle when the other party is a beautiful lady?'

"Hello." Li Jingyi smiled.

Si Wuya glanced at Li Jingyi and said, "If Wei Zhuoyan is still alive and knows that you're Jiang Aijian's source, I wonder what he would think."

Li Jingyi was slightly taken aback. Based on Si Wuya's words, he clearly knew the current Wei Zhuoyan was a fake. Moreover, he knew about her friendship with Jiang Aijian. In the end, she only said, "You have a unique sense of humor, Mister Seventh."

Lu Zhou stroked his beard and said, "Wei Zhuoyan is still in Liang Province?"

"Technically, His Fourth Highness had lost in the battle of Liang Province City… The City of Mo is protected by a defensive Formation to begin with. Now, it's completely unguarded. I reckon the Nether Sect will conquer the ten cities of Liang Province in no time. General Wei's men have been made into mere figureheads. Hence… the Divine Capital sent Xiang Lie to deal with this matter personally," Li Jingyi said as she glanced at the Four Great Protectors at the side.

Lu Zhou glanced at everyone present before he called out, "Hua Chongyang..."

Hua Chongyang's heart skipped a beat. He hastily bowed and replied, "Old senior."

"Where's Yu Zhenghai now?"

"The sect master has ordered us to protect Mister Seventh. We… we don't know where he is right now," Hua Chongyang answered honestly.

Lu Zhou flicked his sleeve and cursed, "That disloyal rascal!"

"…"

The Four Great Protectors could be considered great individuals who followed their sect master for many years. They were in charge of hundreds of thousands of members and held high positions in the sect. Throughout their years of service, they had never seen anyone curse at their sect master in such a manner. However, they were not offended when the old senior expressed his disapproval of their master. In fact, they found it justified.

"Does he think he can conquer the Divine Capital just because he has learned a thing or two from me?" Lu Zhou said with a hint of disdain.

The Four Great Protectors appeared to be put in a tight spot by Lu Zhou's words. They did not dare to speak.

"He overestimates himself." Lu Zhou waved his arm. He beckoned Little Yuan'er over and said, "Let's return to the Evil Sky Pavilion."

"Mhm." Little Yuan'er nodded.

Si Wuya carried Liu Wenjun and was about to rise to his feet when the Four Great Protectors fell to one knee. "Mister Seventh!"

Shortly after, the Nether Sect disciples fell to their knees.

It was a majestic sight to behold.

Si Wuya said, "Tell my Eldest Senior Brother… this is my fault. If there's a chance in the future, I'll make it up to him."

Hua Chongyang lowered his head and mustered up his courage before he said, "Mister Seventh, I've guaranteed your safety to the sect master!"

Si Wuya shook his head and said, "I've decided to return to the Evil Sky Pavilion…"

"But… without you, Mister Seventh, how's the Nether Sect supposed to survive?" Hua Chongyang seemed slightly agitated.

No one could deny Si Wuya's contribution to the Nether Sect and the heights it had reached. Throughout these months, Si Wuya had drafted a detailed plan by leveraging his information network and made the Nether Sect into the greatest Fiend Sect with hundreds of thousands of disciples. It was now powerful enough to stand up against the Divine Capital. It could be said that Si Wuya was the second greatest person in the Nether Sect.

"Impudent!" Lu Zhou said, his voice was loud and domineering. Although his cultivation base was only in the Divine Court realm cultivation base, the soundwave and his Primal Qi made the others tremble in fear.

The Four Great Protectors were at loss over what to do.

Little Yuan'er pointed at the Four Great Protectors. "One, two, three, four… You're so stupid! My master will take anyone he wants with him. Do you think he has to report to you? Keep this up and see if I don't smash your heads to bits!"

The Four Great Protectors. "…"

Shen Liangshou. "…"

Little Yuan'er's words were fierce and arrogant, but she had a point.

At this time, Shen Liangshou, naturally, knew Little Yuan'er was the ninth disciple of the Evil Sky Pavilion'. Bolstered by this knowledge, he chimed in, "Miss Ninth has a point. Do you think you can stop the old mister from taking anyone with him? D.. d… do you think Mister Seventh has a say in this matter?"

The four of them could not refute Shen Liangshou's words.

Lu Zhou looked at them indifferently and said, "If you wish to forfeit your lives, I'll grant you your wish." He raised a hand. A weak puff of Primal Qi swirled on his palm.

Hua Chongyang shuddered in fright. He hastily rose to his feet, turned around, and left.

"I've made a mistake!"

"I'll be taking my leave!"

The others did not put up a resistance as well. They quickly ran after Hua Chongyang, looking battered and exhausted. Clouds of dust stirred in their wakes, and they vanished from the ruins in just a blink of an eye.

At this moment, Bi An's stocky body appeared in midair. It landed slowly.

Shen Liangshou was startled into jumping. He backed away at once. He thought that the old senior was threatening to strike Hua Chongyang. Who knew the old senior was just summoning his mount?

Bi An landed next to Lu Zhou, and he leaped onto its back.

"O-old senior!" Shen Liangshou cried out immediately.

"Hm?"

"It's nothing… nothing important… I… was my performance alright?" Shen Liangshou looked at Lu Zhou expectantly like a kid waiting to be praised.

"Aren't you angry that I destroyed your cultivation base?" Lu Zhou asked.

"No, not at all… I deserve it. Besides, I have a sable magnolia…" He stopped talking abruptly. He hastily added, "I don't have a sable magnolia!"

Lu Zhou looked at Shen Liangshou and said, "The heavens aren't merciful. Creation is merely a lifeless offering to it… The humbler you are, the more you will learn. You should earnestly think about the things that you should and shouldn't do."

After Lu Zhou finished speaking, Bi An rose into the air. Little Yuan'er and Si Wuya flew behind him.

Shen Liangshou remained where he stood, stunned. He remembered various incidents regarding the Evil Sky Pavilion. Compared to the Evil Sky Pavilion, what was he doing? After a moment of silence, he bowed in the direction where Lu Zhou had flown off. Then, he shuddered before he ran into the distance.

…

Meanwhile, inside the Melilot Graveyard.

Yu Shangrong sighed and opened his palms. He circulated his Primal Qi and adjusted his dantian's sea of Qi. After adjusting his breath and meditating, the chaotic flow of his Primal Qi calmed down.

Yu Shangrong slowly opened his eyes… He looked at the ray of light shining into the Melilot Graveyard from the ceiling in satisfaction. The feeling of being able to live another day was wonderful… It was just like when he was enjoying the sunset on the mountain the other day. After a good night's rest, the sun would still rise on the second day.

It was cold on Brackish Mountain… However, for a cultivator, they could keep the cold at bay. He wanted to see if the sun was up outside… Alas, the state of his body left him with no choice other than to stay in the Melilot Graveyard.

Yu Shangrong raised a palm and looked at it. Everything was in order.

"Open." A miniature avatar materialized on his palm. The avatar had the same appearance as Yu Shangrong. It was like a small golden person without the Golden Lotus! Golden radiance rose upward from its feet in circles. Then, the circles dropped.

Yu Shangrong was as experienced in sprouting leaves as any other cultivator. He knew how leaves were sprouted. However, he was unaware that he had stepped foot on the path to the Nine-leaf stage… What he intended to do was to form the Golden Lotus again. After severing the Golden Lotus, all he had to do was to form it again. Hence, he circulated all his Primal Qi and condensed it into a golden radiance. He pushed it down on his avatar.

The energy gathered under the avatar's feet. Based on his past experience, this amount of energy should have been enough to form a Golden Lotus. However, no matter how hard he tried to circulate his Primal Qi, he could not form a Golden Lotus. The rings of energy flowed down the avatar's feet and dissipated as though they were poured into the ocean.

"Reopen." Yu Shangrong's voice was determined and forceful.

With that command, beams of golden radiance appeared.

Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!

Something resonated loudly in the air.

A faint smile appeared on Yu Shangrong's face. There it was… A leaf!