Chapter 1072: A Good Card
“All of them are the same?” Lan Xihe muttered to herself.
In the first place, cultivation was going against the order of nature. After cultivating, one’s lifespan would increase, the aging process would slow down, one would become impervious to illnesses, and one’s body would grow stronger. Every breakthrough was heaven-defying.
“Did he disguise himself previously?” Although Lan Xihe managed to maintain her youth for so long, it was done over a period of time, and despite her appearance, she could not return to her youth. For Lu Zhou to revert to his youth in such a short time, it seemed rather impossible.
“Pavilion Master Lu…” Lan Xihe called out again, planning to ask more questions. However, when she looked up, Lu Zhou had already vanished from sight. Not even Si Wuya could be seen. The duo had long left the white tower.
She sighed lightly and said, “Tell Ning Wanqing to send them off.”
“Understood.”
…
North of the White Tower Council, on miles of snow-capped mountain ranges.
Ning Wanqing said, “Pavilion Master Lu’s strength seemed to have increased again…”
Lu Zhou was puzzled. Previously, when he came, he had five Birth Charts. Now, he had six Birth Charts. Indeed, he had gotten stronger, but it was still far from possessing 12 Birth Charts. Where did Ning Wanqing get this feeling from? He asked curiously, “You can sense my strength ?”
Ning Wanqing pointed at his nose and ears as he said, “These are probably G.o.d’s gift to the blind. I can’t see but I can hear and smell very well. Pavilion Master Lu’s aura seemed smoother, more stable, and filled with vitality. Although Pavilion Master Lu has hidden his strength, you can’t hide your aura and bearing much…”
Lu Zhou nodded and said, “You’re much smarter than Nangong Yutian.”
“Thank you for your praise, Pavilion Master Lu.” Ning Wanqing bowed. After he straightened his back, he looked at Lu Zhou with his lifeless eyes and said, “Pavilion Master Lu, I have a clue about the blue crystals you’re looking for…”
Lu Zhou did not pay much attention to their conversation until this moment. He turned around immediately to look at Ning Wanqing.
Ning Wanqing smiled. “Pavilion Master Lu, you must be very curious. I’m from the White Tower Council, but why didn’t I inform the Tower Master about the clues I have and choose to reveal them to you instead…”
“I’m not curious,” Lu Zhou replied.
“…” Ning Wanqing felt as though he had been dealt a heavy blow. In the end, he only said helplessly, “One of the blue crystals is in the possession of Xiao Yunhe, the former Tower Master of the Black Tower Council.”
“Xiao Yunhe?” Lu Zhou frowned.
“He’s been searching everywhere for ways to recover his destroyed Birth Charts. It’s not surprising that he wants the Great Void energy that can change one’s fate. Xiao Yunhe is incredibly cunning; I won’t be surprised if he has found all six of the blue crystals. However, I heard later that the blue crystals were useless in helping him to recover his destroyed Birth Charts.”
At this moment, Si Wuya said, “Thank you for providing us with such an important clue. In return, I will give you a piece of information.”
“Please speak.”
“Tower Master Lan has experienced the vicissitudes of life and has met many people. In my opinion, she has long seen through your petty tricks,” Si Wuya said.
Ning Wanqing was stunned.
Si Wuya did not continue speaking and walked up the snowy mountain with his master. When they arrived at the runic pa.s.sage, he activated the runic pa.s.sage.
Lu Zhou asked, “Are you deliberately trying to sow discord between them?”
“Master, I’m not that idle. There’s something wrong with Ning Wanqing. When Lan Xihe and Gongsun Yuanxuan were sparring earlier, anyone who isn’t a fool can tell it’s a life-or-death battle. However, Ning Wanqing didn’t seem to care at all nor did he try to intervene. I have enough reasons to suspect he’s the spy that Great Ming’s royal court planted in the White Tower Council,” Si Wuya replied.
Lu Zhou nodded slightly; his disciple’s a.n.a.lysis was very reasonable.
“Master, where are we going?”
“Let’s return to the Preservation Hall first. We’ll look for Lu Qianshan another day.”
“Understood.”
…
In the evening.
In the Preservation Hall.
Lu Zhou was sitting cross-legged, thinking about the day’s events.
“Why did my Dantian’s sea of Qi suddenly get blocked?”
Why is there a blockage in my Dantian Qi Sea?”
Due to the momentary blockage, Gongsun Yuanxuan could act pretentiously for a while longer. Otherwise, he was confident he could Gongsun Yuanxuan behave with just a slap. In fact, even an ordinary Deadly Strike Card would be able to deter Gongsun Yuanxuan from acting recklessly.
Lu Zhou tried to mobilize the Primal Qi in his Dantian’s sea of Qi again. Once again, the feeling like his Dantian’s sea of Qi was blocked appeared again. It seemed like the process was a beat slower; only after the second try would he be able to mobilize his Primal Qi again.
This was an extremely terrifying thing for a cultivator. Let alone half a beat, even the delay of half a breath could be fatal.
“Is it related to the ‘Price of Youth’? Is this the price of youth? If it is, then the price is really too high…”
Lu Zhou looked at the quest panel on the system interface again.
“Second Avatar: collecting blue crystals (1/9).”
He had triggered this quest after declining the Price of Youth quest. It seemed like to solve this problem, he had to collect all nine blue crystals first.
“Lu Qianshan… His surname is Lu as well…” Lu Zhou muttered to himself.
Currently, there was a slight problem with his Dantian’s sea of Qi. If he wanted to go to Great Yuan now, he would have to make sufficient preparations.
He looked at his items on the system interface.
Merit points: 781,610
Items: Enhanced Deadly Strike Card x1, Impeccable Card x1, Critical Block Card x133(pa.s.sive), Golden Taixu Mirror, Disguise Card x2, Synthesis Card x2, Deconstruction Card card x4
Apart from the Peak Trial Card that was missing, he felt his item cards were rather complete.
“What will happen if I synthesize the Deconstruction Cards?” Following that, he looked at the Reduction Card on the system panel for ten seconds. He felt like it was not too useful now. Fortunately, its price was quite low. Since that was the case, there was no need to waste time thinking about it; he could just directly buy the cards.
Lu Zhou bought three Reduction Cards. After buying the first card, the price of the second one did not increase. When he bought the third one, the price increased by 1,000 merit points, which was not too bad.
Following that, he brought out a Synthesis Card and stacked it with the three Reduction Cards. He said silently, “Synthesize.”
“Ding! Synthesis successful. Obtained: Enhanced Reduction Card.”
“Ding! Enhanced Reduction Card: Can permanently reduce the target’s Birth Charts by one. Note: it’s different from destroying a Birth Chart. It can be understood as lowering the number of Birth Charts the target can activate.”
Upon reading the effect of the card, Lu Zhou nodded in satisfaction. He recalled when he helped Xiao Yunhe recover his Birth Charts. There was no doubt that one could restore one’s damaged Birth Chart even if it was difficult. To be able to directly lower the number of Birth Charts his opponents were able to activate was like nipping the problem in the bud.
“Hmm… It seems like just one card is too little…”
“Purchase six Reduction Cards and two Synthesis Cards.”
After synthesizing the six Reduction Cards into two enhanced Reductions Cards, Lu Zhou used his final Synthesis Card to synthesize the three enhanced Reduction Cards.
“I wonder if it’ll be a success. Synthesize.”
“Ding! Synthesis successfully. Obtained: advanced enhanced Reduction Card. Additional effect: Life Heart Extraction.”
“Ding! Advanced enhanced Reduction Card: the target’s Birth Charts will be permanently reduced by five. Out of the five Birth Charts, there’s a chance you might be able to extract the highest level life heart.”
“Not bad.” Lu Zhou was very satisfied with this additional effect. He was as satisfied with it as he was with the enhanced Deadly Strike Card. However, it might seem cheap in the beginning, in fact, the actual cost was not low. He had spent quite a bit synthesizing the cards.
If he wanted to quickly kill his enemy, he could combine the Reduction Card with the Deadly Strike card. He nodded again in satisfaction.
Following that, he closed the system panel and brought the Purple Glazed Ceramic out. He gauged it and found that half of its energy had been recovered. After that, he mobilized his Primal Qi and activated the Purple Glazed Ceramic. Its speed was slower than when it had full energy.
With that, Lu Zhou entered his meditative state and began to meditate on the Heavenly Writing.
…
Three days later.
In the morning.
The sun shone into the hall through the window.
At this time, Si Wuya was already in the Preservation Hall.
The pair of master and disciple was ready to leave for the black lotus domain’s Great Yuan.
Si Wuya said, “Master, the runic pa.s.sage is ready. I’ve made sure we won’t run into anyone during our journey there…”
Lu Zhou nodded and asked, “I heard Old Fourth is back?”
“Fourth Senior Brother has been sleeping since he returned. Should I ask him to come and pay respect to you?” Si Wuya asked.
“No need. Let’s go,” Lu Zhou said.
Si Wuya was slightly startled. His master had always been strict and hated his disciples sleeping in or being lazy. Why was his master not angry this time?
The duo had walked out and had just reached the entrance of the hall when Lu Zhou suddenly came to a halt. His ears twitched slightly before he said, “Someone’s here…”