My disciples are all villains.

Yu Zhenghai was prepared to be punished. After all, he had summoned his courage to say what was on his mind. Even if his master had hit him, he would not complain. Based on the years he had spent with his master, he knew very well how unreasonable his master could be. Let alone speaking boldly, his master viewed something as trivial as his disciples' differing opinions and defiance as disrespectful. He had kowtowed out of fear and respect toward his master and also in hopes that master would listen to the words he had to say.

Lu Zhou looked at Yu Zhenghai who was still on the ground. He shook his head and said, "Get up and talk."

"I dare not."

"I've already said what needed to be said. If you want to continue kneeling then be my guest," Lu Zhou said.

Upon hearing Lu Zhou's words, Yu Zhenghai looked up before he rose to his feet.

'He'll only do the exact opposite of what he's told. His stubbornness hasn't changed since he was a child.'

Lu Zhou was aware that Ji Tiandao never liked to reason with others. Ji Tiandao preferred to persuade others with his fists. Indeed, using the fist could solve many problems. However, there were things that could not be solved by using fists.

Lu Zhou looked at Yu Zhenghai.

Although Yu Zhenghai tried his best to maintain his composure, he found it difficult to breathe after he rose to his feet. This conversation brought with it immense pressure. To think the Sect Master of the Nether Sect was feeling nervous at this moment.

"Enough." Lu Zhou waved his sleeve and walked in another direction. "A man should bleed. Those who aren't garrulous aren't fit to be a disciple of the Evil Sky Pavilion. How are you going to take down the Divine Capital like this?"

Yu Zhenghai trembled when he heard Lu Zhou's words. He hurried after Lu Zhou and asked tentatively, "Master… you... you agree?"

Lu Zhou walked as he said, "I've always kept my word. Six months. You have less than one month left… I'll punish you when the time comes."

Yu Zhenghai was delighted. He bowed and said, "In that case, I have one request, master."

"What is it?"

"Now that the nine provinces are under the Nether Sect's control, if it's possible, I hope that nobody from the Evil Sky Pavilion will meddle in this matter," Yu Zhenghai said.

Lu Zhou stopped walking. He turned to look at Yu Zhenghai and asked, "Are you confident?"

"Naturally… I have Seventh Junior Brother," Yu Zhenghai said, "Nothing is for sure in the world. I hope you'll agree to this, master."

Lu Zhou did not reply immediately. Instead, he continued walking forward. Shortly after, he arrived in front of a huge boulder. The character 'hai' was etched on it. He pointed at the 'hai' and asked, "You carved this all those years ago. Do you remember it?"

The character was messy and slanted to the side. It had been eroded by time and weather, and yet, it was still clearly visible.

Yu Zhenghai replied with a smile, "I remember."

Lu Zhou stood still as he faced Yu Zhenghai and slowly said, "You're the eldest, and it's only natural for you to shoulder everything. I hope the iron rule of the Evil Sky Pavilion will be forever engraved in your heart just like this word."

Yu Zhenghai fell to one knee again. "Fellow disciples shall not fight amongst each other… I would never dare to forget this."

The character on the huge rock reminded Yu Zhenghai of the time he cultivated here. How fast time flew! In just a blink of an eye, 300 years had passed.

The trees and plants were lush and verdant now. Everything had changed.

Wind caressed Lu Zhou's beard. Although the Reversal Cards had made him much younger, his appearance was still that of an old man.

Lu Zhou looked at Yu Zhenghai and said, "Yu Zhenghai…"

"Yes, master."

"I was you, and you would become me someday. If yesterday were to happen again, what would you do?"

When Yu Zhenghai heard the question, he was stunned.

Lu Zhou did not wait for an answer. He waved his sleeve and left.

The back of the mountain fell silent. Before he knew it, it was deep into the night.

After a long pause, Yu Zhenghai murmured, "If I were given a chance to start over, I'd do it all over again."

…

At the midpoint of the Evil Sky Pavilion's mountain.

Mingshi Yin was sending Yu Zhenghai down the mountain at this moment. He asked, "Eldest Senior Brother… How was the chat? What did I tell you? Master is much gentler compared to the past, right?"

Yu Zhenghai did not reply to Mingshi Yin's questions. Instead, he kept walking down the mountain as he took in his surroundings.

Mingshi Yin felt bored. He usually sped down the mountain and had never taken the time to admire the boring scenery. Walking down the mountain at this pace truly annoyed him

the scenery around himself. Mingshi Yin felt flustered as he walked.

"Old Fourth, I heard master recruited a new little Junior Sister, is that right?"

Mingshi Yin nodded and said, "Yes… That little girl directly entered the Mystic Enlightening realm. Five months later, she's already in the late-stage of the Sense Condensing realm. She's even more baffling than Ninth Junior Sister."

"Oh? No wonder master accepted her as a disciple," Yu Zhenghai said.

"Even if master didn't accept her, the other sects would've fought to recruit her."

Yu Zhenghai asked skeptically, "This little girl has no relationship with master?"

"What do you mean, Eldest Senior Brother?"

"Why do you ask when you know what I mean?"

"I don't!"

"Forget it."

A moment later, Yu Zhenghai and Mingshi Yin finally arrived at the foot of the mountain. They passed through the barrier.

Yu Zhenghai said, "Old Fourth, look after master for me."

"Wow, I never thought you'd be concerned over another person, Eldest Senior Brother."

"What?"

"Oh, I mean… I'll certainly look after him. Don't worry, Eldest Senior Brother!" Mingshi Yin said.

Yu Zhenghai pushed away from the ground and left through the air. He vanished in the night sky in an instant.

After Yu Zhenghai left, Mingshi Yin hastily patted his chest and said, "Whew… that was close, so close. Fortunately, I wasn't exposed."

As soon as Mingshi Yin finished speaking, a disapproving voice rang from behind a nearby tree. It's nothing but a hypocritical show of affection."

Mingshi Yin shuddered. He looked in the direction of the voice and said, "S-Second Senior Brother? W-why are you here?"

"Old Fourth, why didn't you contact me when something so serious happened in the Evil Sky Pavilion?" Yu Shangrong asked.

"Uh…" Mingshi Yin cursed silently in his heart. He immediately felt that life was hard and fraught with hardships. He would be beaten to death if he said his Second Senior Brother was now weak, right?

"Second Senior Brother, your movements have always been unpredictable. I couldn't get a hold of you. Master once complained that you never wrote back. That's why I contacted Eldest Senior Brother."

When Yu Shangrong heard this, his frown faded. He nodded and said, "I've blamed you wrongly."

"That's alright."

"If anything like this ever happens again, you must tell me right away," Yu Shangrong said.

"Of course!" When Mingshi Yin saw that Yu Shangrong was leaving, he hastily called out, "Second Senior Brother, aren't you going to reset in the Evil Sky Pavilion?"

"No. I have something else to attend to." Yu Shangrong left in the air as soon as he finished speaking.

"Safe journey, Second Senior Brother." Mingshi Yin who had learned from his previous experience ran back into the barrier and returned to the Evil Sky Pavilion after seeing Yu Shangrong off.

…

Early the next morning.

Lu Zhou opened his eyes. He gauged the state of meditation of his extraordinary power. He could clearly feel that the pace of his meditation for the extraordinary power had increased. Similarly, his capacity to store extraordinary power had also increased. However, it still took him five to seven days to completely replenish his extraordinary power.

Lu Zhou did not continue meditating on the Heavenly Writing scrolls. Instead, he got up and looked at the old parchment drawing. When he saw that there were no new areas, he returned to the rush cushion.

He studied the system. After its upgrade, his extraordinary power had improved, and he had obtained a new power. He did not have any extraordinary power to test the power before this. Now that he had accumulated some, he decided to give it a try…

He recited the chant for the first Heavenly Writing inwardly, 'To gain the power to hear everything so that we can hear voices in all realms at will.'

As expected, soft voices entered his ears…

"Master has emerged from his cultivation in seclusion. He'll be examining his disciples' progress soon. This isn't something to be taken lightly. In the past, anyone who didn't pass was first beaten until he was half-dead before being tossed into a room to reflect," Zhu Honggong said.

"What? But the pavilion master doesn't seem like a violent person!" a few of the female cultivators said in shock.

"Heh, this is why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Do you think I'm a fool?" Zhu Honggong sighed helplessly. "Well, I guess I am. I can't help it. I'm born with this brain, after all."

The female cultivators laughed. "Listening to you trumps reading for ten years, Mister Eighth."