Chapter 832: Take It Up a Notch
Yu Shangrong used his avatar to restrain the Yong’s wings so it could not trash around. This provided Yu Zhenghai and Nie Qingyun the opportunity to focus on their attacks.
Countless energy sabers struck the Yong’s chest.
The Cloud Mountain disciples were dumbstruck by what they saw. They had witnessed the impressive strength of a Ten-leaf cultivator before, but the two Nine-leaf cultivators exceeded their expectations with strength almost comparable to that of a Ten-leaf cultivator.
…
“Just how… powerful is the Evil Sky Pavilion? These two disciples look like Ten-leaf cultivators no matter how I look at it!” Meng Changdong murmured as he regarded the two eldest disciples of the Evil Sky Pavilion with a complicated gaze.
Li Yunzheng’s eyes twinkled as he said, “To be honest, I’m even more excited about meeting my master now. Although Eldest Senior Uncle and Second Senior Uncle are always at odds and claim superiority over each other, both of them acknowledge my master’s capability. My master’s cultivation base must be profound”
“How can the seventh disciple be more powerful than the first and second disciple?” Meng Changdong found Li Yunzheng’s words unreasonable.
“You can’t say that,” Li Yunzheng said, “In the cultivation world, those who are more accomplished are superior. I heard from Monastery Master Xia that grandmaster’s favorite disciple isn’t First or Second Senior Uncle.”
Meng Changdong recalled the time he used the talismans to contact the golden lotus domain. He recalled the ma.s.sive Cheng Huang that swept through the invasion force from the golden lotus and nodded his head in a.s.sent. With all these thoughts in mind, he felt that it was not degrading at all to be the Guardian of the Evil Sky Pavilion at all!
…
Boom!
The Yong continued to resist. This time, it tried to unfurl its wings to break free of the restraint. As its eyes widened, blood continued to flow down its body.
The Cloud Mountain disciples s.h.i.+fted their attention to the beast again.
When Yu Zhenghai the Yong was in a frenzied state again, he said, “Second Junior Brother, let it go. Be careful. It might damage your avatar.”
Yu Shangrong was aware of this as well. Although his avatar still had the Yong’s wings in its grasp, the beast was tras.h.i.+ng more and more violently.
Following that, Yu Shangrong leaped up and retracted his avatar before he retreated with a flurry of movements.
The Yong screeched when its wings were released.
Nie Qingyun laughed. “To think we’re able to kill a Birth Chart Beast! It won’t be too late to kill it after it’s done tras.h.i.+ng about.”
“You have a point. We can just avoid it for now,” Yu Zhenghai said.
The three of them only watched as the Yong trashed around. All of a sudden, it turned around and began to flap its wing to rise higher in the sky. Then, it dove at the three men.
“Dodge.”
The three of them shot in three different directions.
However…
Boom!
The Yong rammed into the barrier instead.
Cracks appeared on the barrier immediately. The barrier was now running out of power after being erected for so long.
Nie Qingyun frowned. “This is bad. The barrier is broken!”
The Yong flapped its wings, stirring up a strong gale of Primal Qi that destroyed the buildings on the ground.
After breaking the barrier, the Yong flew higher into the sky again.
“What is it doing?” Nie Qingyun was baffled by the Yong’s actions. “Running away?!”
Yu Zhenghai said gruffly, “It won’t get away!”
Yu Zhenghai was about to give chase when…
Whoos.h.!.+
A golden energy seal shot through the roof of Lu Zhou’s room.
Then, a Nine-leaf avatar wrapped in energy seals charged toward the Yong’s belly. It raised its hand that glowed blue as it moved below the Yong at lightning speed and pushed its palm up.
“Livestock.”
From afar, the palm strike looked like an insignificant leaf trying to strike the belly of an eagle. It looked so small and harmless.
Contrary to appearance, when the palm landed, energy rolled out immediately, creating ripples in the air.
Bam!
A palm-shaped indentation could be seen on the Yong’s belly immediately.
“Master?!” Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong exclaimed in shock.
“Senior Lu.” Nie Qingyun looked at the Yong and the palm-shaped indentation on its belly incredulously. He was shocked by the force of the attack.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhou’s palm strike sent waves after waves of aftershock to the Yong’s internal organs.
The Yong looked at the old man who suddenly appeared. A dense life aura was swirling around the old man. At this moment, it seemed to be wavering. It wanted to eat the old man, but it felt slightly frightened at the same time. Moreover, it had been injured by Nie Qingyun and the others.
Although the Yong was not intelligent, it possessed what all beasts had: survival instincts.
After a beat, the Yong screeched before it turned around to fly away. Its movement seemed stilted due to its injuries.
Lu Zhou hovered in midair and looked at the Yong as he said, “Don’t let it get away.”
“Master, your avatar?”
Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong had never seen this avatar before.
It spun at a uniform speed while it maintained its miniature size. It seemed to be sprouting a leaf at this moment.
Nie Qingyun said, “It’s all shown in Senior Lu’s attacks. The avatar is only a small manifestation. The palm strike caused the Yong to flee in defeat. I’ll go after it! It won’t get away!”
Nie Qingyun summoned his Ten-leaf avatar again.
The red lotus blossomed. The 200-feet avatar flew toward the Yong. After unleas.h.i.+ng two grand techniques, it engaged the Yong.
…
Lu Zhou glanced at the avatar behind him. The leaf-sprouting process had not concluded. However, he could sense the vitality bursting from the nine golden lotus leaves. He only had to wait for them to be done.
Alas, the wait felt awfully long. Every second seemed like a year.
Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong were still stunned by this sight.
The avatar continued spinning at a uniform speed.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The Yong fought intensely against Nie Qingyun. The defenses of the frenzied Yong seemed to have grown even stronger. Even the Ten-leaf Nie Qingyun had a hard time taking it down quickly.
Waves of energy rolled out in every direction in the sky.
Lu Zhou hovered in the air as he looked at the Yong and the golden lotus.
When the golden lotus spun, it radiated dense vitality that shocked Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai. They could not understand it at all.
Sometimes, there was no need to understand every single thing in the world of cultivation.
The two disciples continued to be mesmerized by the flaming golden lotus as though they were the ones sprouting a leaf.
Lu Zhou glanced at his disciples and wondered if Eternal Paragon was taking effect and enlightening his two disciples. He decided not to disturb them.
Subsequently, Lu Zhou flipped his palm up, and Unnamed materialized in the form of a bow.
Lu Zhou rose higher into the sky until he exited the barrier. Then, he surveyed the surroundings.
Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai followed suit and rose high up in the sky. They chased away other winged beasts that were trying to draw closer.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhou pulled the bowstring back. Then, using his desolate-grade weapon and the Heavenly Writing’s extraordinary power, he fired an energy arrow toward his target – the Yong’s eye.
Bam!
The Yong screeched and trashed violently,
Nie Qingyun immediately shot backward. Fortunately, he was a Ten-leaf cultivator so he managed to dodge the Yong’s attacks. An expression of awe appeared on his face when he saw the blue energy arrow stuck in the Yong’s eye. “You’re truly amazing, Senior Lu. Why didn’t I think of that!”
Although the Yong’s defenses were formidable, its eyes were not as tough as other parts of its body. It was gravely injured by the desolate-grade bow and arrow.
Soon after, Lu Zhou pulled the bowstring back again.
Swoos.h.!.+ Swoos.h.!.+ Swoos.h.!.+
Lu Zhou fired another three energy arrows toward the Yong’s eyes.
At this moment, the Yong finally lost its vision. It spun around directionlessly at the same spot as blood flowed out of its eyes. It was a gruesome sight.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhou was appraising the strength of this Birth Chart Beast. In the Black Water Mystic Cave, he only managed to kill Chi Yao with a Deadly Strike Card. Chi Yao was stronger than a Nine-leaf cultivator; its strength was closer to a Ten-leaf cultivator. However, the Yong was even stronger than Chi Yao. Even after firing four arrows, he still failed to deal a fatal blow.
‘I need to save my extraordinary power. I can’t let this go on any longer.’
Lu Zhou finally said, “Step away from it. It has lost its eyesight and won’t be able to go far.”
Nie Qingyun nodded and retreated to the distance to watch the Yong.
…
Meanwhile, the troop of scouts in the distant forest wore expressions of shock on their faces.
“Who is this? A golden lotus cultivator?”
“Boss, shall we move closer?”
“Scram! Can’t you see all the elites gathered there? That Ten-leaf cultivator must be Nie Qingyun. The two Nine-leaf cultivators must be that Mister Lu’s lackeys. One of them is a Nine-leaf cultivator without a lotus. That old man is a Nine-leaf golden lotus karmic fire G.o.dly Archer… I reckon he must be Mister Lu’s strongest lackey. With a G.o.dly Archer present on the scene, those who don’t want to turn into targets should keep their distance!”
“Uh… You’re right, boss!”
The long range of G.o.dly Archers was the nightmare of low-rank cultivators.
“Pa.s.s on a message to the Sky Martial Court. That old fiend, Yu Chenshu, has a match now. We didn’t see that Lu person make a move at all.”
“Understood.”
…
Lu Zhou was focused on the struggling beast.
Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai would look at the Yong occasionally, but they were clearly more intrigued by their master’s golden lotus.
The vitality from Lu Zhou’s avatar was like a delicacy to the Yong. As though it could no longer resist, it suddenly turned around to face Lu Zhou.
“Master, it’s acting strange,” Yu Zhenghai said.
Yu Shangrong nodded. “It can sense the vitality. Master, leave this to me. You should get some rest.”
Yu Zhenghai chimed in, “Second Junior Brother has a point. Master, there’s no need to trouble yourself over such a trivial matter. We’ll work together with Nie Qingyun.”
The two disciples were not wrong. Their strength, along with Nie Qingyun’s strength, was sufficient to deal with the Yong.
At this moment, the Yong suddenly lunged at Lu Zhou. It could sense the rich and powerful vitality energy up ahead. Only by consuming this delicacy would it be able to survive.
“No!” Nie Qingyun shot toward the Yong with a flurry of movements in an attempt to stop the Yong.
Bam!
The beast did not avoid Nie Qingyun who stood in its path.
In the end, Nie Qingyun had to fly higher to get out of its way.
Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai launched countless energy swords and sabers at the same time.
Countless waves of attacks struck the Yong. However, it persisted, spurred on by its survival instinct. It did not care about the energy sabers and swords slas.h.i.+ng against its body and injuring it. At this moment, its defenses were raised. Its talons glinted as it charged through the storm of energy swords and sabers.
It was too late to stop the Yong.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhou made no attempt to move away and continued to look at the Yong.
The Yong was clearly risking its life just to get to Lu Zhou.
At the final moment, Lu Zhou raised his palm and no longer conserved his extraordinary power. He aimed his palm at the sky, launching a faintly blue palm seal as wide as a sky curtain.
Bam!
It blocked the Yong!
The two opponents were now locked in a tug of war.
Lu Zhou checked his extraordinary power. He had half left. However, it would soon be depleted if he kept this up.
The Yong parted its b.l.o.o.d.y beak, revealing its fangs. Sparks flew as the fangs brushed against the blue palm seal.
Lu Zhou felt a huge impact as he retreated several meters. Then, he heard a crisp noise ring in the air. He quickly turned to look behind him.
His golden lotus had grown a size bigger, and where it was once empty, the tenth leaf had sprouted. The Ten-leaf golden lotus was now in full bloom!
10 feet, 20 feet, 30 feet…
The avatar’s size increased swiftly. It shot up into the sky and eventually stopped at 200 feet.
Lu Zhou’s sea of Qi had widened, and his cultivation base had risen.
The golden flames around his avatar burned even brighter now.
Under the scorching heat of the golden flames, the beast’s instincts seemed to be repressed. It was shuddering at this moment.
Lu Zhou manifested a blue palm seal in his left hand while he wielded Unnamed with his left hand.
Black runes swirled around Unnamed at this moment.
At this moment, Lu Zhou suddenly retracted the blue palm seal. Following that, an energy sword larger than the sword in his hand emerged. It was 100 feet long and dozens of feet wide.
At this moment, black runes, golden karmic power, and the extraordinary power pierced through the Yong’s body at the same time…