My disciples are all villains.

Inside the study of the Evergreen Palace, the Divine Capital's Imperial city.

The current Emperor, Liu Gu, was writing with his brush.

The hurried noise of an attendant's footsteps rang in the air.

Liu Gu stopped writing instinctively. He rested his brush on the table and looked toward the door.

Before the attendant even entered the room, he kneeled and said, "Your Majesty, our scouts have reported that the seven great sects were wiped out by the Evil Sky Pavilion. They were powerless to resist."

Liu Gu had expected it to end in mutual defeat. No matter how powerful Old Villain Ji was, he could not possibly hold his own against so many elites. With the Duanlin Branch's Patriarch, Chang Yan, making his move while putting his own life on the line, it should not be a problem for them to gravely injure Lu Zhou. The remaining Evil Sky Pavilion disciples were nothing to be afraid of. This way, the greatest threat to the Imperial family would disappear. However, the attendant said the seven great sects were powerless to resist?

Liu Gu's brows were tightly knitted together as he said in a deep voice, "Repeat what you just said."

The attendant's voice was trembling as he said, "Our scouts reported that the seven great sects, I mean, the eight great sects, the Yun sect included, have been wiped out by the Evil Sky Pavilion, and they were powerless to resist." He was close to tears, afraid Liu Gu would send a hand seal toward him. After all, it would not be the first time for something like that to happen. The former attendant had died in this manner.

Attending to the monarch was like attending to a tiger. This had been the case since ancient times.

Liu Gu seemed calm outwardly, but no one could imagine how terrible he was when angered. "How could this be? Did Si Wuya and Yu Zhenghai return?" This was the only possibility he could come up with.

The attendant gulped. He had been mulling over this before he came here. He had rehearsed a hundred times. Finally, he said, "Old… O-old Villain Ji is already at the Nine-leaf stage!"

This time, Liu Gu did not make the attendant repeat his words. He was shocked. It was as though his soul had left his body.

The study was extremely quiet now. The air seemed so heavy that it pressured its occupants. It was difficult to breathe.

The attendant dared not say anything. His body was shaking uncontrollably.

For what seemed like hours, Liu Gu made a show of his amazing endurance. Aa though nothing had happened, he asked, "What's the progress with our research on severing the Golden Lotus?"

"Y-your Majesty… Th-there are ten survivors. O-one of them is trying to sprout leaves again."

"Good." Liu Gu returned to his desk. He kept a tight lid on his emotions as he calmly asked, "What's the situation of the battle at Liang Province?"

"The men from Rouli and the members of the Nether Sect are engaged in an intense battle. Yu Zhenghai has gone to Liang Province. He shouldn't be able to stir up trouble for a while," the attendant said, feeling much more at ease.

Liu Gu picked up his brush again, dipped it in ink, and wrote on the paper the word 'unify'. At the final stroke of the character, he drew a forceful upward stroke…

Swoosh!

The character for 'unify' seemed to have come to life. A golden radiance wrapped around the word. The script seal flew toward the attendant who was at the door. It pierced his head in a blink of an eye.

Liu Gu did not even deign to look at the attendant. He merely heard a sound like a fruit that had fallen on the ground. He continued writing the words 'ten thousand tribes'. After finishing, he placed his brush back onto the table. Without a trace of emotion, he said, "Take him away."

"At once."

The attendant's head had exploded. Even at the moment of his death, he did not understand why Liu Gu had killed him.

Yu Zhenghai's Nether Sect was wreaking havoc across the nine provinces. What was Yu Zhenghai not being able to stir up trouble at the moment supposed to mean? Was this not an embarrassment to Liu Gu?

…

The Divine Capital was the most flourishing city of Great Yan. It was also the part of the empire where news traveled the fastest. It was not strange for Liu Gu to be the first person to learn about it.

Such a great battle could never be kept a secret for long.

Soon enough, the news of the Evil Sky Pavilion's Patriarch having attained the Nine-leaf stage spread throughout the Divine Capital. Then, with the Divine Capital as the center, it spread throughout the nine provinces.

For a time, the Evil Sky Pavilion's brilliant feat amazed the world.

...

At a certain relay station in the Divine Capital.

Several cultivators were talking over drinks.

"Who would dare stand against the Evil Sky Pavilion if it becomes the greatest force under the heavens in the future?"

"As expected of the place I admire. If I can enter the Evil Sky Pavilion one day, I'd be willing to give up ten years of my life."

"Forget about it… With your talents, you might not even be hired as a help."

The others roared with laughter.

The stances of the cultivators changed quickly. Those who initially supported the Evil Sky Pavilion naturally became even more supportive and fanatic.

Those who opposed the Evil Sky Pavilion were silenced.

At this moment, an elegant and poised man asked, "Pardon me, but is there really a Nine-leaf cultivator?"

"Comrade, I can tell you're not from around these parts. There's no doubt about it, the Evil Sky Pavilion's Patriarch is at the Nine-leaf stage!"

"He severed his Golden Lotus?"

"Don't think that he did… The method of severing the Golden Lotus was only recently made public. There's only a handful who survived the act, and they'd had to sprout leaves all over again. Hence… I suspect that the old villain has some other method."

Someone nodded and chimed in, "That's right. Severing the Golden Lotus is only one of the ways. I heard that some major sects are trying to suppress the forming of their Golden Lotuses from the moment they stepped into the Nascent Divinity realm and are focused on forming leaves instead… Some tried to restrict their Golden Lotuses with the aid of potions. There are more and more ways to do this now."

The cultivators nodded.

The elegant and poised man smiled and said, "Thank you."

He stood up and was about to leave when the waiter of the relay station stopped him and said, "Hello there, that'd be two pennies for the refreshments."

The man was taken aback. He rummaged through his pockets and said helplessly, "I'm sorry. Today doesn't seem to be a good day. I will pay you in the future."

"Huh? Dear customer, there are many others here as well. We're only a humble business…" the waiter said, clearly being put in a difficult situation.

The man searched his pockets again. Once more, his hands came up empty. As the saying went, 'A cent would be the bane of a hero'.

The waiter caught sight of the sword he carried and said, "Why don't you leave your sword behind as collateral?"

When the sword was mentioned, the cultivators in the surroundings looked at the sword immediately. Those with keen eyes could tell that it was a good sword. They knew what a sword meant to a swordsman. A swordsman would never part with his sword.

"I'll pay for him." A graceful lady appeared at the side of the relay station. She tossed two pennies to the waiter.

The man glanced at her and said, "Thank you."

The cultivator must be impoverished. A woman even had to pay for him. The others felt embarrassed on his behalf.

The lady suddenly bowed and said reverently, "Please accept me as your disciple, Mister Second."

"…" The others were taken aback.

With a gentle expression, the man said, "I'm sorry. I don't accept disciples."

The lady immediately stood up and spread her arms. She said passionately, "My name's Qin Ruobing. I've admired the Evil Sky Pavilion since I was a little girl. I humbly implore you to accept me as your disciple, Mister Second!" Then, she fell to her knees immediately.

The others were shocked.

"I remember now. She's the daughter of the Qin Jun, Prince of Qi!"

"That's her? Then this must be…"

Yes, he was the Evil Sky Pavilion's second disciple who had flown all the way from Wuxian Mountain without taking a break, Yu Shangrong. He happened to pass by the Divine Capital and had stopped to rest.

Swoosh!

The cultivators there immediately prostrated themselves as they trembled.

The waiter was scared out of his wits. He considered his options before he finally mustered his courage and took out the two pennies that he had received. Then, he walked to Yu Shangrong and said in a mixture of excitement and fear, trying hard to string up coherent sentences, "I… ha-have been conceited and blind! Please… please… please…"

"You've rightfully earned that." Yu Shangrong smiled faintly.

"Right… right… rightfully earned." The waiter was greatly shocked. He did not expect the Evil Sky Pavilion's second disciples to be so approachable and reasonable.

The other cultivators had difficulty believing this as well.

Yu Shangrong maintained his smile as he patted the waiter's shoulder. Then, he looked at Qin Ruobing and said, "The path of cultivation is difficult and fraught with dangers. You're born into a life of luxury, and thus, aren't fit for cultivation."

"M-mister Second."

Zing!

The Longevity Sword left its scabbard.

Under the shine of the sun, the sword gleamed with faint scarlet light that made it look even more extraordinary.

The relay station was a place where information and knowledge were exchanged in breadth and depth. The cultivators gathered there looked at the Longevity Sword before them fearfully.

"It's really him. It's Sword Devil Yu Shangrong!"

"He's not dead?!"