My disciples are all villains.

Lanni endured the pain in his chest as he waved his hand. He could only blame himself for acting rashly and bringing the coffin in without any explanation. After all, in Great Yan, this gesture was extremely disrespectful.

One of Lanni's subordinates opened the lid and carried one of the thicker books before respectfully presented it to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at the book skeptically. "The Nine-leaf cultivation method?"

There were similar books sold on the streets of Great Yan. They were basically scams.

Lanni hastily said, "1,900 years ago, my ancestors found this coffin on the shores of the northern border… The personal diary of my ancestors said that there was once a powerful Nine-leaf cultivator inside this coffin."

Mingshi Yin said sarcastically, "Sure, we believe you."

Lanni said in a clear voice, "I swear on the name of the Bonar Family. If there is an ounce of untruth in my words, my family will be cursed to live as slaves for generations to come!"

"Wow, that's harsh. Carry on…" Mingshi Yin gave him a thumbs-up.

Lanni lowered his voice and slowly said, "That cultivator remained in Rouli for a month. He brought some books with him and left Rouli. I heard that he came to Great Yan. Then, he was never heard of ever again."

There were too many loopholes in Lanni's story. If there had really been a Nine-leaf cultivator, why had nobody hailed him as a brilliant genius 1,900 years ago? Why was he not mentioned in the annals of history? There had never been rumors about him in the cultivation world as well.

However, Lu Zhou was in no hurry to refute Lanni's claims. Instead, he opened the book. The cultivation method in the front pages was similar to Great Yan. In terms of cultivation theories, it was fundamentally similar to the Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist Societies. He skipped to the part of the book where the Nine-leaf stage was concerned. Alas, he discovered the pages were smudged with ink, and the writings were almost illegible. There was only one line he managed to make out: The people here are weak, but it's safe here. I hope that it remains like this forever." The words were writing in Great Yan's language.

Lu Zhou frowned. He flipped through the other pages and realized they were illegible. Again, he saw the same line: I hope it stays this way forever.

"I hope it stays like this forever."

"I hope that there is no Nine-leaf stage in the world. I hope that there is no Ten-leaf stage in the world."

"I like gold… not red."

There were no cultivation methods. There were only scribbled lines of incohesive thoughts. It was like a prayer and a diary.

Lu Zhou looked at Lanni standing in the great hall…

Lanni bowed. "The covers of the books are protected from decay by special Formation veins. The veins are carved into the seams. They can attest to the age of the books."

Lu Zhou closed the book. He saw dense veins running along the cover. Alas, they were faded and only a handful of them was still glowing red. In that instant, he remembered the line on the last page: I like gold, not red.

This was Lu Zhou's first time seeing red Formation veins. He raised his palm and smacked the cover!

Boom!

The Formation vein unleashed a mystical power.

A red stamp shot toward the skies. Then, it scattered into the surroundings like butterflies. Due to their age, the stamps were feeble. The power they had stored was nearly depleted.

Lu Zhou smacked the book with his hand again. He channeled his Primal Qi into the cover's veins. It immediately shone with golden radiance. The veins were renewed. The red veins faded away and were replaced by golden ones.

Lanni nodded. "There are 100 veins in total. Every vein can protect the book for 20 years. Every 20 years, one of the veins would fade."

Lu Zhou raised his palm. His expression remained the same, but he was inwardly shocked. Indeed, this book was nearly 2,000 years!

"Do you know where the person inside the coffin is now?" Lu Zhou asked.

Lanni shook his head and said, "My family has protected this item for generations. We're searching for that senior as well. We've received no information about the senior up until now."

Lu Zhou stroked his beard and pondered. There had never been a shortage of people interested in digging out secrets in this world, especially when it was about the Nine-leaf stage and the Ten-leaf stage.

At this moment, Lanni said, "This is the sincerity of the Bonar Family… I'm willing to give these to the Evil Sky Pavilion."

It was expected for them to present the books as a gift, but the coffin was really inappropriate. If it were not an antique, Duanmu Sheng would have long thrown them out of the window.

At this moment, Lu Zhou said, "I'll accept them…" His eyes darkened as he looked at Lanni and asked, "What do you want?"

There was no free lunch in this world. One would not be given gifts without having to give something in return.

Lanni placed his right hand on his shoulder and said in a gentlemanly fashion, "I dare not ask for anything in return, but I do have one wish."

"Let's hear it."

"We would like to have a glimpse of the grand Nine-leaf stage!"

"Is that it?" Lanni nodded with an eager expression on his face.

Lu Zhou walked down the steps with his hands on his back as he said, "Rouli has always had the ambition of wild wolves. You've trespassed on our borders numerous times. I'm afraid that a peace proposal is merely a pretext for you to verify something."

Lanni's face fell. He quickly said, "Uh, this… you've misunderstood me."

'A Disguise Card costs 10,000 merit points. How can I waste it on some Other Tribesman?'

What a joke!

Lu Zhou stepped forward.

Lanni took a step back.

At this moment, a deafening cry rang from outside.

Chirp –

Mingshi Yin said, "It's that livestock!" He ran out of the great hall.

In the skies, the huge winged beast flapped its 50-foot-long wings and squawked outside the barrier.

"My livestock is going berserk. I'll go tame it at once," Lanni hurriedly said.

His four subordinates followed him out of the great hall.

Lu Zhou waved his hand. "Duanmu Sheng."

"Yes, master."

"Take them down."

"Yes, master!"

Although Lu Zhou did not know where these Other Tribesmen got their confidence from, since they were bold enough to play tricks on the Evil Sky Pavilion, they could not be allowed to leave.

Having received the order, Duanmu Sheng picked up his Overlord Spear and pursued them.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

"Surrender!" Duanmu Sheng would not listen to excuses so he did not give a chance to speak. 100 spear shadows formed a ferocious spear seal as he attacked.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Lanni struck with both palms. His energy blocked the spear shadows, and he flipped backward before dropping to the ground.

"We came with sincerity. Why must the pavilion master be hostile?" Lanni's eyes burned with fury.

Lu Zhou walked past the coffin slowly. He was still curious about where Lanni Bonar had gotten his confidence from? He looked at the coffin beside him and saw it was densely covered in dark crimson veins.

Defensive Formation veins? They were more complicated and powerful than the ones on the book.

Lu Zhou emerged from the great hall and looked up.

The huge bird was starting to attack the barrier.

Bam!

Ripples spread across the barrier.

Mingshi Yin said speechlessly, "Stop pretending. Even your bird can't take it anymore."

Lanni frowned deeply. He glanced at Tiangou and wondered, 'How could this be?'

Bam!

Tiangou charged toward Golden Court Mountain's barrier again.

Duanmu Sheng could not stand this any longer. He advanced with his Overlord Spear.

A battle royale instantly broke out before the great hall.

Duanmu Sheng fought against five opponents on his own.

Mingshi Yin did not jump in hastily. Instead, he observed Tiangou in the skies.

It was flapping its wings, sending blasts of energy winds at the barrier.

At this moment, several energy arrows were launched from above the southern pavilion and struck Tiangou's huge body.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

These attacks were, naturally, from Hua Yuexing. Alas, she only managed to dislodge on its feathers. The other arrows were blocked with a movement of its wings.

Chirp!

The huge seemed extremely agitated,

"What is this?" Mingshi Yin's eyes widened.

Hua Yuexing was a Three-leaf Godly Archer, and yet, she could not even handle the beast?

Lanni turned to look at Lu Zhou as he fought and pleaded at the same time, "Pavilion Master, this truly is a misunderstanding!"

Lu Zhou stroked his beard as he observed the huge bird in the skies. Just when he was about to use Unnamed and turned it into a bow to take the beast down, the mellifluous sound of flute rang in the air.

It was slow and soothing. Like the gentle churning of a stream between the trees of a forest.

When the tune reached the area above the Evil Sky Pavilion, the huge bird seemed to have calmed down and seemed to have regained its senses.

Lanni's eyes widened. "Impossible!"

The tune continued playing…