My disciples are all villains.

Boom!

The blue palm seal shattered Jiang Wenxu's almost-translucent palm seal and continued sailing forth.

To Lu Zhou's shock, the blue palm seal passed through Jiang Wenxu as though Jiang Wenxu was made of air.

"No wonder… No wonder…" Jiang Wenxu murmured to himself.

"No wonder, what?"

"We'll meet again… If you wish to recover your memories, come to Lou Lan… Since you claim that you've attained the Nine-leaf stage, I have no choice but to kill you again." After saying these words, Jiang Wenxu's body flickered a few times like a projected image from the modern world before disappearing completely.

Realization dawned on Lu Zhou. No wonder Jiang Wenxu had seemed unreal, and his palm seal was not red.

Lu Zhou walked over. He lifted his hand and summoned an energy orb to illuminate the cave.

A round rune engraved in the center of the cave. It was filled with peculiar runes.

Jiang Wenxu must have created a projection of himself with some witchcraft spell.

There were clearly red runes around the cave as well. However, perhaps, due to the passage of time, the red runes were already faded.

It seemed like Jiang Wenxu had been guarding this place for a long time now. Was he trying to prevent people from looking for Chi Yao in the abyss?

No. When Lu Zhou thought about it further, he thought he did not make sense.

The 100,000-foot-deep abyss could not be explored by just anyone. Even if an Eight-leaf cultivator made it down there safely, they would not have been a match for Chi Yao. They might even end up as Chi Yao's meal. In that case, what was Jiang Wenxu doing here?

Lu Zhou remembered the environment in the abyss. It was dark; there was no sun nor moon. Endless black water stretched as far the eyes could see.

That was certainly not the red lotus domain.

Jiang Wenxu's goal was clearly to prevent the appearance of a Nine-leaf cultivator. In that case, the abyss might be a passage leading to the red lotus world!

Lu Zhou raised his wizened hand and smacked his forehead. His realization came too late! He was drifting southward along Heaven's Moat. In that case… the red lotus world was most probably situated north of Heaven's Moat.

"Yu Shangrong…" If Yu Shangrong ended up in the red lotus world, things would not bode well for him.

Lu Zhou turned around and left the cave. He had no intention of remaining here.

He stepped away from Heaven's Moat and dove.

"Whitzard."

…

Two days later, next to the 100,000-foot-deep abyss.

Si Wuya looked at the abyss he drew on the paper in confusion. He said, "Fourth Senior Brother, don't you think there's something strange about this narrow abyss?"

"Strange?" Mingshi Yin shook his head.

"It's normal for there to be cracks in mountain ranges. To the south, it's connected to the peak of Heaven's Moat. To the north, I've sent my men to investigate… but it isn't connected to Cloud Rage River. Instead, it seems to have vanished halfway," Si Wuya said.

"That's normal. It's a cliff," Mingshi Yin said.

"No… Fourth Senior Brother, look closely." Si Wuya insisted.

Mingshi Yin studied Si Wuya's map.

Si Wuya explained, "When I was an official in the palace, I saw such a diagram. At that time, I thought someone had casually sketched it. Now that I think about it, that drawing inside the palace is this abyssal rift."

"Rift?"

"That's right, this is more like a rift. Cloud Rage River is downstream while the peak of Heaven's Moat is upstream… When the water from upstream flows downstream, there should be a plain… Why would there suddenly be a cliff?" Si Wuya asked.

Si Wuya was knowledgeable. He knew about astronomy and geography. It was not surprising for him to know these things.

Mingshi Yin understood it now. He said, "You're saying that there's something fishy with this rift?"

"That's right." Si Wuya nodded. "With Second Senior Brother's ability, he couldn't have fallen to his death. It's unlikely for him to be incapable of flight as well… Based on my speculation, there must've been some force that prevented him from rising, and maybe, it pulled him down."

"Makes sense." Mingshi Yin nodded.

"The person who drew the abyss inside the palace is most probably the Imperial tutor…" Si Wuya said.

At this juncture, Mingshi Yin smiled and said, "Now that you've mentioned it, I heard from Ninth Junior Sister that master received a letter from the Imperial tutor from the palace. He also received some notes from a Luo woman."

Si Wuya beamed. He seemed happy. "Where are they?"

"You'll have to ask master about that. I have no idea."

Si Wuya seemed disappointed.

At this moment, young Yu Zhenghai appeared outside the tent and said, "J-ju… Junior Brother Mingshi Yin… Are you there?"

"I'm coming, Eldest Senior Brother!" Mingshi Yin ran out. "Do you want to spar again, Eldest Senior Brother?"

Young Yu Zhenghai seemed to be perplexed as he said, "I'm confused. When I was sparring with you, my blade seemed capable of defeating you at every turn. Why isn't it the same with Junior Brother Duanmu Sheng when I sparred with him?"

Mingshi Yin. "???"

"I've spoken to Junior Sister Yuan'er, and she said that you're a Seven-leaf elite. With my current strength, there's no way I could've defeated you… Were you going easy on me?"

Mingshi Yin said, "Eldest Senior Brother, you've wrongly accused me! We didn't use any Primal Qi during our sparring sessions!"

Mingshi Yin thought to himself in exasperation, 'A lousy teammate was more fearful than a godly opponent. Third Senior Brother, you've really done it this time!'

At this moment, Duanmu Sheng came over with his Overlord Spear in hand. When he saw Mingshi Yin and his Eldest Senior Brother, he said, "Old Fourth, let's go… We'll spar together."

"Huh?"

"Come one. Don't drag your heels. You can't even beat Eldest Senior Brother. How are you going to become stronger without hard work and practice?"

Dong!

He struck the ground with his Overlord Spear.

Mingshi Yin said in an aggrieved tone, "Al… alright…"

"I'll come as well," young Yu Zhenghai said.

After the trio left, Pan Zhong and Zhou JIfeng arrived outside the tent. "Mister Seventh."

"Come in."

Pan Zhong went inside and said, "Mister Seventh, the informant you told me to contact has sent a letter. The 12 allied nations are now formally established."

"It was bound to happen." Si Wuya sighed and shook his head.

Zhou Jifeng said, "Are the barbarians so confident?"

"It's been a long time since the lotus-severing era began. Even Liu Gu made it to the Eight-leaf-and-a-half stage. The Other Tribes thrive after their lotuses were severed. It's normal that they're confident… Moreover, I suspect that someone else is pulling the strings behind the scene." Si Wuya replied.

The two of them nodded.

"What do we do now?"

"We'll wait for my master's return," Si Wuya replied, "There's nothing we can do at the moment."

Without a Nine-leaf cultivator, the current Great Yan might not even withstand an attack from five allied nations, let alone 12.

...

Meanwhile.

Young Yu Zhenghai was watching Duanmu Sheng and Mingshi Yin spar. After a while, he could not refrain himself and seemed like he wanted to speak. "Urm…"

Duanmu Sheng and Mingshi Yin halted their movements. They bowed at the same time. "Kindly give us pointers, Eldest Senior Brother."

"I won't be so bold as to give you pointers." Young Yu Zhenghai was not used to his status as the Eldest Senior Brother at all. "I wish to spar with Junior Brother Duanmu Sheng."

Duanmu Sheng did not mind. "Kindly enlighten me, Eldest Senior Brother."

Mingshi Yin rejoiced in this opportunity to be freed from trouble. He took several steps back.

Yu Zhenghai and Duanmu Sheng got into position.

"Eldest Senior Brother, you haven't recovered your Primal Qi yet. So let this be a contest of saber and spear techniques."

"Alright."

"This technique of mine is called Scorching Field Hundred Strikes. I can launch 100 strikes in an instant. Take a close look, Eldest Senior Brother." Duanmu Sheng brandished his Overlord Spear.

Yu Zhenghai wielded the Jasper Saber and said, "Bring it on."

Duanmu Sheng sped forward. Spear shadows overlapped. Soon enough, there were 100 of them.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Several spear shadows hit the blade.

Yu Zhenghai was pushed back from the impact.

Duanmu Sheng launched 100 spear shadows again.

Young Yu Zhenghai was powerless to fight back. He could only defend himself.

Mingshi Yin covered his eyes. 'Damn. No wonder Eldest Senior Brother came to question me. Third Senior Brother, you're not holding back at all!'

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The few final spear shadows shook Yu Zhenghai so much that he fell backward.

Young Yu Zhenghai spat out blood.

Duanmu Sheng paled. "Eldest Senior Brother!" He tossed his Overlord Spear aside and rushed forward.

"Eldest Senior Brother!" Mingshi started. This time, he disregarded Duanmu Sheng's status as his senior brother and immediately rebuked him, "Third Senior Brother, you… you know that Eldest Senior Brother hasn't recovered yet. Can't you go easy on him?"

"I…" Duanmu Sheng was hit with a sudden realization. He was beside himself with guilt. "Eldest Senior Brother!"

"With Eldest Senior Brother's strength, killing a Brahman Sea realm cultivator is already the most he can do. You're a Four-leaf Nascent Divinity realm cultivator who re-cultivated without a lotus! You must be so proud of yourself for defeating Eldest Senior Brother!" As Mingshi Yin continued on his tirade, he walked behind young Yu Zhenghai and channeled his Primal Qi into him.

Duanmu Sheng sighed before he slapped his face. "I've lost my mind in the heat of the fight! I was only thinking of defeating Eldest Senior Brother!"

With this, Mingshi Yin did not think it was appropriate to continue berating Duanmu Sheng.

The others were attracted by the commotion as well.

Two of the elders, Si Wuya, Little Yuan'er, and Conch came running over, looking worried.

"Eldest Senior Brother!"

After channeling his Primal Qi into young Yu Zhenghai, Mingshi Yin said with a grim expression, "I think Eldest Senior Brother is out of vitality."