My disciples are all villains.

The sun rose in the east. The sunlight pushed the morning mist away and shone down on Cloud Mountain, making it look like paradise.

After an entire night's worth of cultivation, Lu Zhou felt that his Primal Qi had been replenished.

After the Violet Glazed Ceramic was improved to the desolate grade, his cultivation base had been raised threefold.

It was no wonder Ye Zhen's cultivation base was on par with a Ten-leaf cultivator despite his young age. If he was not hell-bent on restoring his lives, he would have become a Ten-leaf cultivator long ago.

At this moment, a voice rang from the other side of the door.

"Senior Lu, Sect Master Nie invites you to the hall for a conversation."

"Alright." Lu Zhou slowly rose to his feet before he stretched his limbs.

At the same time, he checked his system dashboard.

'Where did Ji Liang go? Which disciple of mine earned that Nine-leaf reward?'

Lu Zhou did not dwell on this matter and made his way to the main hall.

...

When Nie Qingyun, Sikong Beichen, and the others saw Lu Zhou, they stood up to welcome him.

"Brother Lu."

"Senior Lu."

Lu Zhou waved his arm and said, "There's no need for formalities." Then, he swept his eyes across his disciples.

Yu Zhenghai, Little Yuan'er, and Conch stood at the side.

He frowned and asked, "Where's your Second Senior Brother?"

Little Yuan'er shook her head. "Second Senior Brother has always been mysterious. Nobody knows where he's at."

Yu Zhenghai said, "Second Junior Brother prefers to be on his own. There's no need to worry about him, master. Even if Cloud Mountain were to collapse, he wouldn't be crushed by the weight."

Lu Zhou nodded slightly.

Nie Qingyun felt slightly awkward when he heard this exchange.

Meanwhile, Sikong Beichen laughed loudly before he said, "Indeed, your capable disciple is one of a kind, Brother Lu. His sword path is already at the peak. I'm sure he'll master the son of heaven's sword within these few years. All he needs is just a bit of luck. Within ten years, he'll surely reach the Ten-leaf stage."

Nie Qingyun was shocked upon hearing these words. He said, "If you praise him this much, he must be an amazing character."

Sikong Beichen regarded Nie Qingyun with a bored expression, clearly displaying his lack of interest in entertaining Nie Qing Yun, as he said, "This is Brother Lu's first disciple. In terms of saber techniques, he's on par with you, Nie Qingyun."

"Oh?" Nie Qingyun shifted his eyes to Yu Zhenghai. An expression of envy appeared on his face when he saw the desolate-grade Jasper Saber. His weapon was only a heaven-grade weapon.

Yu Zhenghai said, "Sect Master Nie, shall we have a sparring session someday?"

"I wish no more than to meet my own match," Nie Qing Yun said.

Sikong Beichen was rendered speechless for a moment by Nie Qingyun. Then, he said, "The great Ten-leaf cultivator of Cloud Mountain is stooping so low as to spar with a Nine-leaf cultivator…"

Nie Qingyun. "…"

Nie Qingyun was about to retort when Lu Zhou said, "Enough." After he sat down, he said, "Let's get down to business."

Nie Qingyun nodded and said, "The Sky Martial Court has been made aware that their men are being held captive on Cloud Mountain. They will send an emissary today to demand the release of their men."

"Demand?" Lu Zhou cocked an eyebrow.

"It wasn't stated clearly in the flying letter. I think the people from the Sky Martial Court will be here soon."

Speak of the devil.

A Cloud Sect disciple hurried into the hall at this moment. He bowed and said, "Sect master, the people from Sky Martial Court are here."

The others nodded. This was within their expectations so they were not surprised.

"Let them in."

"Understood."

...

In the sky above Cloud Mountain, a flying chariot was slowly approaching. This was the Sky Martial Court's flying chariot.

The Sky Martial Court had obtained Cloud Mountain's permission to enter and was being escorted by the cultivators. They passed through the barriers and landed beside the incense furnace before the main peak's hall.

More than 10 cultivators from the Sky Martial Court walked into the hall with boxes in their hands.

When they entered, Nie Qingyun and Sikong Beichen recognized one of them at once.

"Mo Buyan?"

The person leading the group was one of Sky Martial Court's elders, Mo Buyan. He was also Yu Chenshu's most trusted subordinate.

Mo Buyan waved his hand.

The cultivators placed the boxes on the floor.

"Sect Master Nie, we meet again. Temple Master Sikong, you're here as well…" Mo Buyan greeted them in order.

Nie Qingyun and Sikong Beichen were slightly ill at ease.

After a beat, Nie Qingyun said with a frown, "Elder Mo, aren't you going to greet Senior Lu?"

Mo Buyan looked up and finally discovered Lu Zhou and his unusual presence. He hastily bowed and said, "I assume you're the Senior Lu who defeated Ye Zhen."

Lu Zhou looked at Mo Buyan expressionlessly and said, "Get down to business."

"…" Mo Buyan felt awkward.

'Everyone's busy. Who's willing to waste their time with you here?'

Mo Buyan said, "I have only one request for this visit. I hope that Sect Master Nie will release all the disciples of the Sky Martial Court. These boxes contain some tokens of appreciation from the Sky Martial Court."

After Mo Buyan finished speaking, he waved his hand again.

The cultivators behind him opened the boxes.

There were three boxes of extremely high-quality talismans, one box of gold, one box of medicinal pills, one box of secret tomes, and four boxes of heaven and earth treasures. Even for a major sect, these items were considered extremely luxurious.

Nie Qingyun shook his head and said, "Mo Buyan, your people colluded with the Flying Star House with the intention of annihilating my Cloud Mountain. Do you think I'll let this matter go?"

'You're kidding yourself if you think you can resolve this conflict with ten boxes of gifts.'

Mo Buyan said, "Apart from these boxes, the court master will personally request for a pardon on Cloud Mountain's behalf."

"A pardon?"

"The Flying Star House is in ruins. Ever since Ye Zhen and Chen Tiandu died, the five finger peaks had fallen. Thousands of disciples fled overnight. However, that's a separate matter from the deaths of the Sky Martial Court's chief instructor and the royal guard's deputy commander, Lu Zhan. You can hardly explain this matter away. The court master will take care of these matters for you. It'll be as though nothing happened on Cloud Mountain. However…" Mo Buyan paused for a moment before he continued to say, "I'd like to confirm that the Sky Martial Court disciples are unharmed."

"Are you here to negotiate or to make demands?" Sikong Beichen frowned as his voice deepened. "I don't know about Senior Lu, but even I wouldn't agree to your terms… Mo Buyan, do you think I'm a pushover?"

"Please don't misunderstand, Temple Master Sikong. The court master does not wish to aggravate the conflict. Everything can be discussed," Mo Buyan said.

"There's no need for a discussion," Yu Zhenghai said with a stern expression, "Go back and tell your court master that you have no right to speak to my master. If I'm in a bad mood, I might kill all your disciples."

Mo Buyan was taken aback. He turned to look at Yu Zhenghai and said, "Why do you have to put me in such a difficult spot, sir?"

Yu Zhenghai shook his head and said, "You're the one who's putting us in a difficult position."

"Please consider this carefully, everyone. After all, the Sky Martial Court isn't the Flying Star House or Cloud Mountain," Mo Buyan said.

At this moment, Lu Zhou said in a deceptively soft voice, "What's your name?"

Mo Buyan felt chills run up his spine when he heard Lu Zhou's question. He replied, "A true man never changes his name. I'm Mo Buyan."

Yu Zhenghai frowned slightly. 'Is he taking a dig at master for using an alias?'

Lu Zhou's expression remained neutral as he said, "Listen carefully, Mo Buyan."

"Gladly," Mo Buyan replied.

"We'll kill 20 of your disciples today as a warning. Tell your court master that if he's sincere, he should come here and speak to me," Lu Zhou said.

"…" Mo Buyan shuddered. He looked at this old man with slight incredulity. The old man was going to kill without reason and did not seem to take the Sky Martial Court seriously.

These 20 disciples were meant to pay for the lives lost during the red lotus domain's invasion of the golden lotus domain the other day.

Mo Buyan hastily bowed and said, "Senior Lu, please calm down! We can talk things through!"