My disciples are all villains.

There was no one in this world who knew Yu Shangrong better than Yu Zhenghai. He could see Yu Shangrong's speed was much faster than before. The slightest difference in speed in a fight between experts made a huge difference. Moreover, he had taken note of Yu Shangrong's speed when both of them flew from Jiannan Circuit to the Southern Kingdom. Both of them had been competing, and the result was both of their speed was on par with each other.

Since Yu Zhenghai could sense the change in the speed, Yu Shangrong could sense it even more acutely. He looked at his avatar in surprise. The lotus leaves that had a slight change in color were like tender buds that were about to bloom in spring. The golden color served as a beautiful contrast to the hints of green. It seemed like he managed to gain the ability from Liang Qu's life heart.

"..."

After carefully studying Yu Shangrong's avatar, Yu Zhenghai said, "You've grown stronger."

"I can feel it as well." Yu Shangrong nodded.

Yu Zhenghai suggested, "Let your avatar grow to its full size..."

"No." Yu Shangrong shook his head. "It'll attract attention. Moreover, just by looking at it now, I can tell the height hasn't changed."

"That doesn't make sense..." Yu Zhenghai furrowed his brows, puzzled. "The height of an avatar represents one's cultivation base. However, you've clearly grown stronger. How can there be no changes in the height of your avatar?"

"Perhaps, it has something to do with the lack of a lotus. The life of an expert is destined to be different from others, after all. The life of an expert is a… lonely one…"

"..."

The conversation was getting boring. The gist of their conversation was always the same.

At this moment, Yu Shangrong suddenly said, "The Evil Sky Pavilion is contacting us..." Following that, he brought a miniature formation that had been pre-drawn from his waist and put it on the ground. Then, he brought out three high-grade talismans that floated above the formation and ignited them.

Yu Zhenghai said, filled with praise, "With Seventh Junior Brother's talent, everything is so much more convenient!"

Before the duo left, Si Wuya had prepared many things for them. Talismans, formations, and maps, all of them were meticulously prepared.

Soon enough, Yu Shangrong picked up one of the talismans above the Formation. After he read what was written on the formation, he tossed it toward Yu Zhenghai. "This is for you."

"For me?" Yu Zhenghai looked at the talisman carefully. The more he read, the more shocked he was. Then, he laughed heartily before he said, "Second Junior Brother, this is the method to form a Thousand Realms Whirling avatar! How does master know I'm trying to form my Thousand Realms Whirling avatar? Is master a prophet?"

Yu Shangrong shut down that theory immediately. "You're overthinking things. Have you forgotten master's sound technique when we were dealing with Xiao Yunhe? Obviously, master is not far away…"

Yu Zhenghai shook his head and said, "I disagree. If master were here, why would he send information from the Evil Sky Pavilion? He could've just come here and tell me about it. Master wouldn't do such unnecessary things."

"In any case, it's just a technique to form the Thousand Realms Whirling avatar. Whether it'll work or not remains to be seen," Yu Shangrong said.

Yu Zhenghai was just about to retort when several white figures could be seen flying in the sky.

"Someone's here." Yu Shangrong hurriedly withdrew his avatar and flew back to the palace wall.

The duo watched as the white figures flew toward the ruins.

Yu Zhenghai shook his head and said, "It seems like we're unlucky today."

The duo hid their auras and did not move. The appearance of the whiteguards had caught them off guard. Soon after, they heard voices in the direction where the blackguards had killed Liang Qu.

"The Black Tower Council is really shameless! They even want to extend their reach to an abandoned place like the Southern Kingdom. Since they broke the agreement first, there's no need for us to care about them anymore!"

"From the looks of it, they were here yesterday. Look at the bloodstains and the traces of the battle, they're relatively new…"

"Since the Black Lotus Council has broken the agreement, we should first occupy the Southern Kingdom before we think of a way to occupy Great Tang."

"I heard there's an expert in Great Tang who's neither from the black lotus domain nor the red lotus domain..."

"There's no need for you to worry about that. Just focus on your job. How we're going to occupy Great Tang or how we're to deal with that mysterious expert are matters for the Elders Guild."

"You're right, captain. What about the stone forest formation?"

"Destroy it!"

"Understood."

Following that, deafening sounds of explosions and buzzing energy rang in the air for about 15 minutes before silence returned.

"There should Birth Chart Beasts in the south. Let's go..."

"Understood."

'Birth Chart Beasts?' Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong raised their heads and looked at the sky.

The whiteguards flew south and soon disappeared from the duo's sight.

Yu Zhenghai said, "It's just as Xiao Yunhe said; the south is controlled by the White Tower Council. Their conflict is..."

"The conflict between the Black Tower Council and the White Tower Council has nothing to do with us."

"You're right." Following that, Yu Zhenghai manifested his avatar again. He followed the instructions on the talisman and tried to form his Thousand Realms Whirling avatar again.

Yu Shangrong did not bother Yu Zhenghai. Instead, he flashed to another corner to gauge his speed. He smiled faintly. Although he could not activate his Birth Chart yet, at least he could absorb the life heart.

Following that, he took out Liang Qu's life heart and manifested his avatar before he began to absorb the life heart's energy again.

…

Two days passed in just a blink of an eye.

It was late at night at this moment.

Yu Shangrong finally finished absorbing the energy from the life heart.

The life heart had lost its luster and looked dried up.

Yu Shangrong exhaled, sensing the changes in his Dantian's sea of Qi. He could tell his Dantian's sea of Qi had grown bigger. Apart from that, the green in his lotus leaves had also become more distinct. Under the night sky, it looked like dried yellow leaves were being rejuvenated.

"Does this mean I have Liang Qu's ability?" Yu Shangrong wondered.

After a moment, he sensed his lifespan. Powerful cultivators could roughly sense their lifespans; even ordinary people could sense when their deaths were near.

"800 years?" Yu Shangrong muttered to himself.

Based on what Yu Shangrong knew, to activate a Birth Chart, one needed to absorb 1,500 years of life from a life heart. After successfully activating a Birth Chart, one would gain 500 years of life. Due to him being a Nobleman, the years of life he obtained when cultivating had always been half of what ordinary cultivators obtained. He had expected to gain 250 years at most this time; how could he not be surprised that he gained 800 years? It was even more than what ordinary cultivators obtained.

However, Yu Shangrong was not happy about this. In his opinion, misfortune often hid blessings while fortune often hid curses. Nevertheless, the years he obtained were rather useful.

After he withdrew his avatar, he wondered out loud, "I've completely absorbed the energy of my second life heart. What happens if I continue? It's impossible to find a limitless supply of energy for my avatar to absorb… I wonder if I'll be able to forge a new path of cultivation like Xiao Yunhe said?" He could not help but feel a sense of anticipation for the future when he thought about Xiao Yunhe's words.

At this moment, Yu Shangrong heard a muffled groan. He turned around and saw Yu Zhenghai's face was twisted in pain and blood could be seen at the corners of his lips. He said with a frown, "Eldest Senior Brother…"

"I... I'm fine. Don't mind me." Yu Zhenghai forcefully endured the pain in his internal organs.

A crisp noise rang in the air, and Yu Shangrong looked at Yu Zhenghai's lotus seat. There were distinct lines on it now.

When the lines appeared, Yu Zhenghai groaned in pain again. "Motherf * cker... It's just a little pain! What can it do to me?"