Chapter 41: The Old Villain Is Back The voice was menacing, so everyone was taken aback. They judged that the speaker should be an old man who was unlikely to be an expert based on the energy contained in the voice. Nevertheless, it was strong enough to echo throughout the mountain.
Cultivators dotting the mountain all looked up in surprise as Whitzard approached on clouds. Legendary mounts were rare, let alone one that came with an auspicious aura. Who was the speaker?
Inside Evil Sky Pavilion, the chained Duanmu Sheng was the first to recognize his master’s voice, and he cried out loudly, “Welcome back, Master!”
His voice rang out like thunder and frightened all the righteous cultivators, causing them to tremble with fear and run out in panic. Soon, all the empty fields on the mountain were packed with cultivators.
Duanmu Sheng straightened up and stepped outside Evil Sky Pavilion. When he saw Whitzard, who was diving down fast from the sky, his excitement reached its peak. At that moment, he felt a rush of pride and a great sense of confidence.
“Not good! It’s the old villain!”
“Don’t panic! According to internal intelligence, the old villain is long at the end of his tether. He has relied on the secret drug of Primal Fiend!”
“Form the array! I want all Divine Court experts and above to assemble right now!”
More than a dozen Divine Court cultivators soon gathered above Evil Sky Pavilion. A short moment later, Fang Jinshan and Zhou Jifeng arrived as well. Everyone looked at the auspicious aura that swirled in the sky over Evil Sky Pavilion incredulously.
Lu Zhou stood on Whitzard’s back as he glanced at the whole Golden Court Mountain. As Ye Tianxin said, the mountain was invaded by a group of ignorant cultivators.
Ye Tianxin’s lips twisted into a smile. She wanted to laugh out loud, but she could not. The great pain from the destruction of her dantian had taken away her strength to speak. The reason why she had been able to stay awake until now was that she wanted to see how the old villain would deal with this situation.
Lu Zhou was thinking about how he would deal with the situation. He had two options: the first one was to use the last peak-form experience card. However, it was his biggest trump card, and he would have no other methods to protect himself after using it. The second option was to flee Golden Court Mountain with Whitzard. After all, Duanmu Sheng and Mingshi Yin were villainous disciples, and their death would not bother him.
Should he use the last peak-form experience card or flee?
He had used one peak-form experience card to capture just Ye Tianxin, which he considered to be a loss. The only consolation was that he was rewarded with a lot of merit points after the battle.
Ye Tianxin could see that Lu Zhou was thinking, so she said with great difficulty, “Let...me...go...You...You have no more trump cards!”
Little Yuan’er tightened her grip on Ye Tianxin and snorted, “In your dreams!”
The cultivators of the Righteous Sect had assembled, ready to face the formidable enemy. Cultivators beneath the Brahma Sea realm were clever enough to hide behind those stronger ones.
Lu Zhou glanced at the crowd. He saw through the Eye of Truth that the frenzied cultivators were all hostile toward him.
‘Wait, is that Zhou Jifeng? His loyalty is 15%? It has increased by 5% compared to when he left the Heavenly Sword Sect?’ Lu Zhou did not understand.
Fang Jinshan looked up and said in a cold voice, “I thought some formidable foes are here, but it turns out to be the old villain of Golden Court Mountain. Duanmu Sheng has been captured by me, and Mingshi Yin is seriously wounded by us. Golden Court Mountain belongs to the Righteous Sect now! Come down now to face your death!”
“Come down!”
“Come down!”
“Come down!”
They were facing a legendary mount after all, who could only be caught up by Nascent Divinity Tribulation experts. Fang Jinshan was trying to goad Lu Zhou down. As long as the old villain came down to the ground, they would have a chance to catch him.
‘This is a tough decision to make. How I wish I could save a peak-form experience card.’
Lu Zhou shook his head and said in a deep voice, “Well...”
Bam!
Right then, Zhou Jifeng moved as quickly as lightning and thrust a sword beam toward Fang Jinshan, causing sparks to fly in all directions. The moment the beam stabbed into Fang Jinshan’s heart, it was blocked by a strange object. At the same time, a violent force threw Zhou Jifeng back and numbed his arms, rocking his Qi and blood.
‘Why is Fang Jinshan so strong?’
“What are you doing, Zhou Jifeng!” Someone cried out in shock.
Fang Jinshan did a backward somersault and dodged the fatal blow as he stared furiously at Zhou Jifeng and said, “Why did you do this to me?”
Zhou Jifeng did not expect that the assassination would fail at such a close distance.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhou still hovered in the sky as he watched with a great interest and surprised look.
“I didn’t expect you to be able to block my attack,” said Zhou Jifeng.
Fang Jinshan laughed. “Didn’t anyone tell you that there is a huge gap between a cultivator with a heaven-grade weapon and one without?”
“A heaven-grade weapon?”
Zhou Jifeng was very confident in the attack he had been brewing for a long time. If he managed to get close enough, even a Nascent Divinity Tribulation expert might not be able to block it. However, he did not expect that his target would have a heaven-grade treasure.
What kind of weapon was it?
“Why do you think Sect Leader only sends me, a Divine Court cultivator, to Golden Court Mountain?” Fang Jinshan sneered.
Little Yuan’er grew anxious as she watched. “Master, they make me so angry! I can’t believe a group of mere Divine Court cultivators can be so wanton!”
Lu Zhou shook his head as he looked at Fang Jinshan and said, “The Shield of the Dragonheart...I don’t think it can be considered a heaven-grade treasure.”
Fang Jinshan was startled. “How do you know it is the Shield of the Dragonheart?”
Lu Zhou’s expression remained the same. He did not have to argue with a junior; it would only drag him down in status.
Little Yuan’er snorted and said, “What’s so strange about it? You were still playing with mud when my master held sway over the world.”
She was telling the truth. When Ji Tiandao became famous all over the world, none of the people present were born. In the face of the old villain, they were all ignorant kids who had not seen the world.
“I’m giving you all a chance to live. Put down the weapons in your hands, fix the damage you have done to Golden Court Mountain, and serve me on the mountain for three years. If you agree, I can forget everything you have done today.”
He spoke neither too slow nor fast, and his voice was light and calm.
Hearing him, Fang Jinshan suddenly burst into laughter, and then the dozen Divine Court cultivators in front of him laughed as well. It was as if they had heard the funniest joke in the world.
The old villain finally gave up evil and returned to good! Instead of killing people, he now wanted to let people live, and all they had to do was fix Golden Court Mountain and serve him for three years? Wasn’t this funny?
It was too funny!
“I had offered you the chance. Since you don’t cherish it, you might as well stay here forever!”
Right then, Ye Tianxin raised her heavy eyelids and saw a shocking scene as the old villain’s aura bloomed once again. Her head tilted as she wanted to lift it to have a better look. Unfortunately, she only saw the nine-leaf golden lotus appear next to the old villain before she fainted.
It was a nine-leaf Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar.
The color of the world seemed to have changed in that moment. In the blink of an eye, the sky over Evil Sky Pavilion was occupied by the colossal avatar, causing the cultivators to gawk at it in shock.
Why was his first move an ultimate skill? Shouldn’t he attack with a few normal skills before using that?
“Master is the mightiest man in the world!” There was a look of admiration on Duanmu Sheng’s face.
Meanwhile, Zhou Jifeng broke out in a sweat. He hurriedly put down the sword in his hand and dropped to his knees as he shouted, “Old Senior is the mightiest man in the world!”
Both men’s loyalty increased by 5% at the same time.
Lu Zhou did not choose to run away; instead, he crushed the last peak-form experience card. The moment his weak, dried up Sea of Qi was filled, he knew that he had returned to the peak once again.