My disciples are all villains.

When he first transmigrated here, Lu Zhou had a hard time cultivating due to his body. He had made it this far by relying on his item cards. Now that his body had been strengthened, the speed of his cultivation was much better than before.

Item cards were just item cards, after all. A fake Nine-leaf elite could fool the masses for a time but not forever.

With the dawn of the Lotus Severing era, people had begun to cultivate diligently. Apart from the trillions of humans, they were also the Other Tribesmen. Surely, there would be geniuses who would eventually attain the Nine-leaf stage. If he did not have true strength, how was he going to face the future that was unfolding at a magnificent scale?

Lu Zhou flipped his palm. When the resonance sounded, a miniature avatar materialized above his palm; it was a One-leaf Golden Lotus Nascent Divinity avatar.

The single leaf seemed lonely. Perhaps, he too used to putting on an act. When he finally saw this one lonely leaf, he could not help but feel extremely weak.

Lu Zhou shook his head; this was not the time to lament at his weakness. He focused on the Golden Lotus and circulated the Primal Qi within his dantian's sea of Qi.

The avatar changed. Golden rings of radiance appeared on the avatar and moved down.

Sprouting a leaf was like nurturing a tree. When the nutrients and conditions were right, the plant would sprout and grow. The more leaves it had, the better the plant would grow.

Sometimes, Lu Zhou wondered about the names of the Nine-leaf and Ten-leaf stage as recorded in the books. There were also records of the next realm after the Nascent Divinity realm: the Mysterious Heaven realm. In that case… Why were there so many cultivators stuck at the Eight-leaf stage, unable to move to the Nine-leaf stage? What were the secrets contained in the world of the Nine-leaf stage? Countless predecessors must have peeked into the realm before. However, they were all buried under the tides of history.

…

Secluded inside the Evergreen Palace, the Emperor, Liu Gu, was also working hard to sprout leaves.

Liu Gu, who commanded the Divine Capital and the Imperial guard, was well equipped to sever his lotus and to cultivate as quickly as possible.

The attendant hastened all the way into the Evergreen Palace with a platter in his hand. He passed through layers of defenses and entered the study. He kneeled on the ground and respectfully said, "Your Majesty, the Big Dipper Academy has refined another leaf-sprouting pill."

Liu Gu, who was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, opened his eyes and looked at the pill on the platter. "One pill?"

"It takes a long time to refine a leaf-sprouting pill. Huge amount of labor and resources are needed. President Zhou said they did their best." The attendant's voice was shaking as he spoke.

There was a moment's silence.

Then, Liu Gu raised his hand and brought the leaf-sprouting pill toward him.

"Here's my decree. The Big Dipper Academy is to focus all its resources on refining leaf-sprouting pills. The Imperial family will supply all materials needed. All resources, except the Imperial guard, are to be made available to them."

"Understood." The attendant left the study reverently.

The room was silent again.

Liu Gu raised his hand. When his Primal Qi surged, an avatar appeared.

The brilliant golden avatar illuminated the entire room. There was no Golden Lotus under the floating avatar. Four bright golden leaves were spinning around the avatar.

Liu Gu nodded in satisfaction. He raised his hand and sent the newly refined leaf-sprouting pill into his mouth.

He clenched his fist.

Boom!

The avatar dispersed.

The effects of the pill should be kicking in soon.

He was just about to start cultivating when his eyes snapped open. He shouted, "Men!"

An attendant started. He ran into the room, bumping into the walls and doors as he stumbled into the study. He looked up and saw a fuming Liu Gu.

"Y-your… Your Majesty!"

"The leaf-sprouting pill's effect isn't strong enough. What's the reason for this?" Liu Gu asked.

"Your Majesty… President Zhou himself refined this pill and packaged it before sending it here. This is the best pill of all the leaf-sprouting pills," the attendant said nervously.

Liu Gu frowned deeply, puzzled. 'Could this be due to my improved realm?'

The higher the realm, the more difficult it was to improve. This was the general rule that never changed since time immemorial.

However, the effect of this pill was outrageously weak.

After pondering on it, Liu Gu said, "You're dismissed."

"Understood." The attendant felt suspicious as well. However, he, naturally, dared not question the emperor. He hastily retreated from the room reverently.

…

Outside the Big Dipper Academy.

An academy disciple carried a chamber pot and walked out of the academy.

"Make way, make way…" The academy disciple continued walking.

Several disciples covered their noses and gave way.

"That reeks! What's wrong with you? Can't you do this when no one is around?"

The academy disciple looked up with a chuckle and said, "I-I'm sorry."

"Why haven't I seen you before?" The sour face disciple walked over.

"I'm new. Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing this."

"Is that so? Let's see your paiza."

If this were in the past, he would not have bothered with such a lowly character. However, this was a unique time for the Big Dipper Academy. Strict measures were in place. They could not allow any careless mistakes. Everyone coming in and out of the academy had to be checked.

"Sure." The academy disciple with the chamber pot produced a paiza and passed it to him.

"Mister Ri? Why does this paiza look so new?"

"Of course, it's new. After all, I've only just carved it earlier…"

"Hm?"

Swoosh!

A cold light glinted in the air as the Separation Hook drew an arc across his neck.

Mingshi Yin covered his mouth. With the chamber pot in one hand and the corpse in the other, he scurried into an alley and vanished.

...

A moment later.

In a forest more than ten miles from the Big Dipper Academy.

Mingshi Yin took a pill and sniffed it. "This f*cking stinks… Oh, wait, it's the smell of the chamber pot. Is this the leaf-sprouting pill? I wonder if I can eat it while I still have my Golden Lotus? The Big Dipper Academy is vast, but they sure are stingy. I've practically turned this place inside out, and this is the only one I found." He did not consume the leaf-sprouting pill. Instead, he packed it away and left the forest.

...

Meanwhile, the ten pill refinement rooms in the Big Dipper Academy were in chaos.

Hundreds of academy disciples searched the academy as they hovered in the air.

A few hours later, the academy disciples gathered outside the main pill room.

"President, we couldn't find it!"

"We've searched everywhere: the north, south, east, and west. We found nothing!"

"The final pill must've been substituted and stolen by someone!"

Zhou Youcai frowned. His eyelids twitched out of anger. He said in a deep voice, "Shameless scoundrel! This is too outrageous!"

"Calm down, president!" the others cried out.

Zhou Youcai suppressed the flames of rage in his heart and said, "Put a lid on this. We'll act as if this didn't happen."

"Huh?"

"You'll obey my orders!"

"Understood!" The academy disciples bowed.

…

Inside the Evil Sky Pavilion's eastern pavilion.

Lu Zhou glanced at the descending radiant circles.

He could feel that his avatar was getting stronger.

Finally...

Whizz!

Under his coaxing, a corner of the avatar's Golden Lotus sprouted a new leaf. The new leaf shone with a dazzling brightness.

"It's done."

The radiance faded away. Two leaves were now slowly spinning around the Golden Lotus.

Technically, this was Lu Zhou's first experience of sprouting a leaf through his own effort. It felt more exciting compared to purchasing avatars.

It took him half a day to accomplish this.

Lu Zhou's cultivation base was now officially in the Two-leaf Nascent Divinity realm.

Lu Zhou called up the system dashboard. He looked at the prices of the item cards.

As he expected, the prices of the item cards had increased by 1,000 merit points.

The current prices of the item cards meant that it was no longer practical to hoard them.

Lu Zhou had the Heavenly Writing's extraordinary power. So long as he continued to meditate upon the Heavenly Writing scrolls, it could be used to replace the Deadly Strike Card. If he had no other choice, he could still buy the Deadly Strike Card at a high price to save his own life.

He glanced at the Golden Lotus Leaf again.

"50,000…"