My disciples are all villains.

His face looked well-defined now, and his dark eyes were as calm as usual. However, there were still wrinkles on his forehead and a few strands of silver hair at his temples. His eyebrows and beard still did not have the luster they would have if he was young.

"Not bad…" Lu Zhou muttered to himself after evaluating his appearance. Based on his current appearance, it was not difficult for people to see that he was a handsome and elegant man in his youth.

The road to regaining his youth was long. He would take his time.

After Lu Zhou returned the ancient bronze mirror to its original position, he decided it was time to activate his Birth Chart.

He looked at the 'Riding the wind and breaking the waves' position in the Birth Palace, hoping that it would not absorb the lifespan he gained from the Reversal Cards.

Following that, he picked up the life heart and placed it in the Birth Palace without any hesitation.

The life heart lit up the 'Riding the wind and breaking the wave' position in the Birth Palace immediately.

Lu Zhou looked at the Birth Chart zone intently.

Swoosh!

The golden karmic fire appeared around the lotus seat immediately, but it did not obstruct his view of the lotus seat. As the life heart sank into the zone, he could feel his Birth Palace expanding.

As he waited for the activation of the Birth Chart to be completed, a thought appeared in his mind after looking at his Birth Palace. 'Hmm? It seems like I can activate 10 Birth Charts for now?'

However, he knew it could not be that simple. Lu Li and Yan Zhenluo had reached the limit at five and six Birth Charts respectively. How could both of them reach the limit so easily?

"Does innate talent and aptitude have anything to do with the number of Birth Charts one can activate?"

As the saying went, 'Talent defines the upper limit while diligence only defines the lower limit.'

No matter how diligently a cultivator cultivated, they would not be able to increase the number of Birth Charts they could activate if their Birth Palaces were not big enough.

A distinct noise rang from the life heart at this moment.

Lu Zhou suddenly felt as though his Dantian's sea of Qi was splitting. Fortunately, he had read about this side effect in the book that Yan Zhenluo had given him. The more Birth Charts one had activated, the more the difficulty would increase. The pain of activating a Birth Chart would, naturally, increase as well.

Activating a Birth Chart was like using a life heart to carve a place in the Birth Palace. The process of 'carving' felt like cutting one's flesh. The pain was necessary, and one could not use Primal Qi to lessen the pain. Otherwise, it would affect the special ability from the life heart.

Lu Zhou sat down cross-legged. This pain was nothing to him; he could still tolerate this little bit of pain. Moreover, the Dantian's sea of Qi was tough, to begin with, and there was no threat of it really breaking.

…

The entire process lasted for about two hours. The feeling of his Dantian's sea of Qi splitting had also disappeared.

"Life heart…" Following that, Lu Zhou decisively grabbed the life heart in his Birth Palace and brought it out.

Crack!

Soon after, the zone in the Birth Palace mended itself. It rippled and caved in, forming an hourglass-shaped dent.

"It's a success..." Lu Zhou looked at the life heart in his hand that was still brimming with energy and vitality energy.

After he put the life heart away, he observed the change in his Birth Palace. A vortex had appeared and began to devour his lifespan.

-100 days

-200 days

- 300 days.

Seeing his life decreasing at a stable rate, he was rather relieved. As long as it did not exceed the years he received from the Reversal Cards, no matter how much it decreased, it would recover sooner or later. Otherwise, his appearance would revert to that of an old man again after he exerted so much effort to look young again.

Thinking about this made him miss his time on earth when he was a student and was pursued by many girls. That time in the past had become a beautiful memory that he could never return to.

It would take a while for the entire thing to be over so he no longer paid any attention to his Birth Palace. Instead, he chanted the mantra for the Heavenly Writing Power inwardly to check in on his eighth disciple and Lu Li.

As the blue energy converged around his eyes, scenes after scenes flashed past his eyes.

...

At this moment, Dang Kang was sound asleep, lying in front of Zhu Honggong who was sitting on a chair.

Lu Li who sat across from Zhu Honggong said, "It's all thanks to the fact that you severed your lotus that you're able to easily sprout the ninth leaf."

Zhu Honggong said, filled with pride, "That's only natural! When master proposed severing the lotus to sprout the ninth leaf, the entire golden lotus domain had bowed to him."

"However… how are you going to activate your Birth Chart without a lotus? You need the lotus seat to activate the Birth Chart," Lu Li said as he furrowed his eyebrows.

Zhu Honggong shrugged. "Nine leaves isn't bad. Since I'm peerless in the yellow lotus domain, I'll just stay here and marry a few beautiful wives. That's right, if you're willing, I'll look for a few beautiful wives for you as well!"

Lu Li frowned and said, "You promised me that you would go back."

"Isn't it good to stay in the yellow lotus domain? Why should we leave? As long as we don't intentionally look for trouble, we'll continue to rule over the domain. We'll strictly follow your plan of keeping the fierce beasts away. I won't try to sprout the tenth leaf to avoid attracting the beasts as well. At that time, even the experts from the black lotus domain wouldn't be able to find us…" Zhu Honggong said.

Lu Li's frown deepened. He suddenly felt that Zhu Honggong had changed into a different person. It was not like he did not expect this. Zhu Honggong was only human. Was there anyone who would easily leave behind a high position and status?

Lu Li shook his head and said, "In the end, you're muddled by your position."

"I'm very clear-headed..." Zhu Honggong said as he chuckled and shook his head, "Everyone thinks I'm stupid, but all of you are the stupid ones. Is it uncomfortable to live such a life? This is heaven. I love it here."

"But you promised me..."

"I didn't say when I'd leave though..." Zhu Honggong interjected as he shrugged.

Lu Li asked, "Aren't you afraid your master will look for you? He's probably worried about you…'

Zhu Honggong was momentarily stunned by Lu Li's words. After thinking about it, he said, "Master treated me kindly. Eldest Senior Brother treats me like an elder brother... Second Senior Brother, Seventh Senior Brother… all of them treated me like their brother. I have to find a chance to bring them here to enjoy life!"

Lu Li. "???"

Did Eldest Senior Brother not mean that he was the eldest? How could he treat Zhu Honggong like an elder brother?

At this moment, Zhu Honggong stood up and poured a glass of water as he said, "Senior, it seems like you're in a bad mood. Hurry, drink some water and calm down…"

"No need," Lu Li said in a clear voice, "Zhu Honggong, it's not in your destiny to live the life of an emperor."

"Well, I'm living the life of an emperor right now..."Zhu Hong spread his arms. He really did not understand what Lu Li meant.

Lu Li. "..."

After a moment, Lu Li said, "You have the Great Void energy. Dang Kang chose you and followed you wholeheartedly only because it wants to rely on the energy to grow stronger. Don't tell me you think your handsome appearance attracted it? In the future, you'll become a powerful cultivator. You will face heaven and earth for those who suffered injustice; you will face God who has created countless shackles… This is your mission and this is your future. You will never be able to rid yourself of it."

Zhu Honggong was stunned.

The hall was silent for a long time.

In the end, Zhu Honggong shook his head, "I don't care about my mission or my future. I'm not very ambitious, to begin with."

"You're a hopeless case..." Lu Li said, clearly disappointed.

Zhu Honggong leaned back lazily and crossed his legs, exuding the air of a young master. "You're not my master... Nobody can control me but my master."

'Impudent!'

At this moment, a thunderous voice rang in the depths of Zhu Honggong's mind, causing his hair to stand on ends and chills to run up his spine. The voice and the word were very familiar. It was like that time when his master reprimanded him back when he was in the Evil Sky Pavilion.

Zhu Honggong fell to his knees immediately. His body trembled as looked outside of the hall timidly as he called out tentatively, "M-master? I was wrong! I was wrong!"

Lu Li. "???"

Lu Li, naturally, did not hear anything. He only looked at the kowtowing Zhu Honggong in confusion, wondering what kind of show was this.

…

Meanwhile, after Lu Zhou shouted the word 'impudent', he completely used up his supreme mystic power, cutting off the scene before his eyes,

The Preservation Hall was in a mess at this moment. Tables and chairs lay in a broken heap on the ground, and none of the pillars were without cracks.

…

Outside of the Preservation Hall.

At the same time, the four elders from the Evil Sky Pavilion were suddenly sent flying back at the same time as they spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Old Pan, it's all your fault... You've made the Pavilion Master angry!"

"You can't blame me for this... How could I know this would happen?"

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The four elders landed on the ground one after another.

Xia Changqiu walked over from the distance. He stroked his beard as he asked curiously, "Four elders, what are you doing?"

The four elders hurriedly rose to their feet and feigned a calm expression. They placed their hands on their backs and puffed their chests out.

Following that, Pan Litian said with a straight face, "This is a new cultivation method. Your knowledge is limited so I'm afraid you won't be able to understand it."

"No wonder..." Xia Changqiu cupped his fist together and said, "Such a strange cultivation method has truly broadened my horizon… Can I..."

"No," Pan Litian refused decisively.

"I'm sorry for being rude." Xia Changqiu felt he was asking for too much as well. "In any case, I thought I heard a shout earlier. Did something happen?"

"Monastery Master Xia, you talk too much." Leng Luo said pointedly as he turned away. His silver mask glinted coldly under the light.

"I apologize. I'll take my leave now." Xia Changqiu hurriedly left. He thought to himself that experts were indeed experts. Even their cultivation methods were so unique. If only he could learn a thing or two from them.

After Xia Changqiu left, the four elders of the Evil Sky Pavilion turned to look at the Preservation Hall before they exchanged a look.

"Let's go and have a look."

"Okay."