My disciples are all villains.

The sun shone into the hall.

Lu Zhou felt as though he had slept through an entire era.

He had been in the red lotus domain for a long time now. Crossing the Endless Ocean alone took more than one month. Then, he made his way from the Thousand Willow Monastery to the Ninth Temple, and finally, to Cloud Mountain. He had successfully drawn the ire of the palace and the Sky Martial Court. Meanwhile, the golden lotus domain was safe now under his disciples' protection.

It was time for him to sprout the tenth leaf…

Throughout the time he was on Cloud Mountain, he had spoken to Sikong Beichen and Nie Qingyun frequently. He had heard about the experience of a Nine-leaf cultivator when attempting the Ten-leaf stage. Naturally, there was a chance these might only be applicable to red lotus cultivators, not golden lotus cultivators.

Apart from that, there was something important he had to confirm. He needed to know if sprouting the tenth leaf would decrease his lifespan. To obtain answers, he would have to be bold! Since he had Reversal Cards, he should confirm this matter as soon as possible. After all, he could clearly feel his disciples' cultivation bases improving and were fast approaching his own. He could not live with himself if he could not, at least, have cultivation bases on par with his disciples. Moreover, he had a cheat.

Lu Zhou could not help but marvel out loud, "Indeed, the effects of the Great Void Seed are outstanding!"

Finally, he cleared his mind of distracting thoughts and no longer hesitated. Then, he extended his hand. Perhaps, he was already used to living as an old man, strangely, his wizened hand boosted his confidence when he looked at it.

Whizz!

The familiar and unique sound of power resonance rang in his ears as a miniature Nine-leaf golden lotus avatar appeared above his palm.

This was his true avatar, the one that everyone mistook as an avatar of someone who had initiated the Birth Chart.

Golden flames soon appeared around the avatar. They shone like the slowly rising sun. Many envied these golden karmic flames of his.

Shortly after, Lu Zhou circulated the Primal Qi inside his sea of Qi.

A golden radiant circle appeared around the waist of the avatar and dropped down. This was normal when sprouting a leaf.

…

In the sky to the north.

Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai exchanged a look.

"What's master doing again?" Yu Zhenghai was puzzled.

"It's the unique resonance when an avatar is manifesting. Perhaps, he's sprouting a leaf."

Usually, cultivators would not simply manifest their Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar. After all, it would take a heavy toll on their Primal Qi to maintain the avatars.

Yu Zhenghai exclaimed in shock, "Master is already at the Ten-leaf stage! Does this mean he's going to become an Eleven-leaf cultivator?"

Yu Shangrong smiled and said, "Eleven-leaf?"

"I was only saying what came to my mind. Perhaps, it's Thousands Realms Whirling, and he's attempting the Mysterious Heaven realm."

Since the duo had no experience or knowledge beyond this, they could only speculate.

Yu Shangrong did not entertain Yu Zhenghai. Instead, he asked, "Eldest Senior Brother, can you keep watch on your own for a while? I'll fetch our junior sisters here."

"Go," Yu Zhenghai said with a wave of his hand.

Yu Shangrong leaped and flew toward the back of the mountain.

Shortly after, Yu Shangrong returned with Little Yuan'er and Conch in tow.

"Greetings, Eldest Senior Brother." Little Yuan'er and Conch greeted Yu Zhenghai in unison.

"There's no need for such formalities; we're fellow disciples, after all. Ninth Junior Sister, your aura has grown stronger lately. Not bad!" Yu Zhenghai praised Little Yuan'er.

Little Yuan'er smiled and said, "I'm almost at the Eight-leaf stage. However, I still have much to do compared to Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother."

"With your talent, you won't have a problem catching up to both of us. There's no need to be in such a hurry. Who knows? Maybe Eldest Senior Brother might even have to rely on you in the future," Yu Zhenghai said.

"You're teasing me again, Eldest Senior Brother."

Whizz!

At this moment, the resonance of energy rang from Lu Zhou's room again. Invisible Primal Qi rippled out into the surroundings as well.

"What's master doing again?" Little Yuan'er asked curiously.

"Who knows? We're supposed to guard him," Yu Zhenghai said with his hands on his back, "Yuan'er, you and Conch take the lower areas."

"Oh."

"Second Junior Brother, the east or the west. I'll let you choose," Yu Zhenghai said.

Yu Shangrong looked east before he said, "West."

"Alright."

Both of them stood guard in the respective directions they had chosen. Whenever flying beasts drew close, the duo would kill them mercilessly.

…

Meanwhile, Lu Zhou was completely focused on sprouting the tenth leaf.

The radiant rings continued to slide down. Nothing seemed unusual or out-of-the-ordinary. Unfortunately, this applied to his golden lotus as well; there were no changes in the golden lotus at all. It looked like how it usually did, as though it was frozen in time.

Lu Zhou shook his head. "This will take some time."

The golden lotus would not change so quickly. At this speed, this would probably take longer than when he sprouted the ninth leaf.

Fortunately, the leaf-sprouting process did not require that much Primal Qi. He could keep this up for a long time.

This continued for half an hour. Then, half an hour turned into an hour.

The speed of the golden lotus spinning and the convergence of energy did not change. The input of energy continued to maintain the spinning golden lotus.

There were no signs of the emergence of a new leaf at all.

"What's the problem?" Lu Zhou frowned.

No cultivation was smooth sailing, after all.

"How humiliating would it be if I fail to sprout another leaf?" Lu Zhou's frown deepened. He tried to increase the spinning speed of the golden lotus and his input of energy.

The golden lotus spun at high speed. The nine leaves look indistinguishable from each other, seeming as though they had merged into one.

Another hour passed.

The sun was setting. It was almost night.

"Still not working?"

If sprouting the tenth leaf was going to devour his lifespan, he should have felt it by now. If that happened, he could just stop the process. After all, with enough Reversal Cards, he could always try again. However, there were no changes until now.

Lu Zhou waved his hand.

The golden lotus spun at normal speed again.

He relaxed and organized the state of his psyche. Then, he used the Heavenly Writing's extraordinary power and activated his hearing power. The range of his hearing covered the entire mountain.

It was rather quiet.

Yu Zhenghai was in the east, and Yu Shangrong was in the west.

On the other hand, Little Yuan'er and Conch were outside the hall.

Lu Zhou stopped using the power.

After a moment, he suddenly recalled the time when Ye Zhen sprouted a leaf. "I see..."

When Ye Zhen sprouted his leaf that day, he maintained the spinning of the red lotus at a uniform pace. He did not channel any energy into it nor did he intentionally try to hasten the leaf-sprouting process. Even with Lu Zhou pressuring him heavily, he could have sprouted the leaf.

"So there's no need for an input of energy?"

As the saying went, 'The melon would fall after it ripens.'

'Should I just go with the flow?'

After he made up his mind, he withdrew his energy from the golden lotus.

As he expected, the golden lotus continued spinning normally. Its speed was not too fast or slow.

Lu Zhou nodded lightly.

The different paths of cultivation led to the same end. Whether it was the golden lotus or red lotus, to a certain extent, apart from the different colors, they were almost the same.

At this moment, the golden lotus emitted the unique energy of vitality. With this, the nine leaves shone brightly and grew lively.

This was just like raising plants. Too much water and the plant would die; too little water and the plant would wither.

For the golden lotus, energy was akin to water that powered its growth.

"I see."

Lu Zhou saw a ray of hope.

He maintained the leaf-sprouting process.

The vitality energy rose from the flaming golden lotus. The energy surged up and left the room through the seams and windows.

…

At this moment, winged beasts appeared in the sky once again.

Yu Shangrong looked up at the mountain peak.

There were dozens of flying beasts trying to get close to the mountain peak. However, they were kept at bay by Cloud Mountain's Grand Formation.

"Someone's here." Yu Zhenghai shot toward the horizon. "I think master has attracted an assassin here. Be careful."

"Alright." Yu Shangrong did not waste time on unnecessary words. With a burst of movements, he flew toward the western sky. A puzzled expression appeared on his face as he looked at the vitality energy surging from his master's room. Naturally, he knew it was this very energy that attracted the winged beasts.

Then, Yu Shangrong projected his voice toward Yu Zhenghai in the east and said, "Eldest Senior Brother, look out for the huge beasts."