Chapter 1233: The Ancient Ruins of Transient City
After his two youngest disciples left, Lu Zhou leaped up and returned to the ancient tree.
“Hmm?” Lu Zhou discovered the life heart had already sunk completely, leaving the Birth Palace smooth. With this, he had entered the second stage of activating the Birth Chart. He checked the system panel and discovered his remaining lifespan had already started to decrease as well.
The process was much smoother than he had expected. All he had to do now was wait for the Birth Palace to absorb enough lifespan, and the activation of the Birth Chart would be complete.
…
At the same time, outside of a white palace.
Lan Xihe looked at the blue sky, lost in her thoughts.
After a long time, a female attendant walked over. She bowed and said, “Master, the Sacred Hall has said the imbalance will only increase. Chaos has descended on the Unknown Land…”
“Did they discover anything unusual?”
“The Unknown Land is too vast. It’s difficult for the people of the Sacred Hall to keep an eye on everything,” the female attendant replied.
Lan Xihe sighed.
With the imbalance bringing chaos, it was indeed difficult to obtain information.
…
Five days later.
Click!
A crisp sound rang in the air before Lu Zhou felt a surging energy in his Dantian’s sea of Qi. He opened his eyes and saw his tenth Birth Chart flas.h.i.+ng. He discovered his lotus seat seemed to have expanded a little as well. This meant that he could continue activating his Birth Chart.
After sensing his tenth Birth Chart, he brought his astrolabe, which was flas.h.i.+ng with ten Birth Charts, out. The most dazzling one was his ninth Birth Chart; it was also his first Great Birth Chart. His ninth Birth Chart also came from Lu Wu’s life heart.
Lu Zhou nodded in satisfaction. After putting away his astrolabe and lotus, he leaped down. He had already started thinking about where he could activate his next Birth Chart.
Subsequently, Lu Zhou ordered everyone to gather.
Soon enough, everyone, except for Mings.h.i.+ Yin, gathered in front of the ancient tree.
Little Yuan’er stood in front with the little Fire Phoenix and Conch.
The little Fire Phoenix’s appearance seemed to have changed. Its tail was tied in a circle, and its feathers have changed completely.
Lu Zhou frowned, “This is the Fire Phoenix?”
“Master, no one will be able to recognize it now that I’ve dyed it! I’ve given this careful thought. I’ll dye it again when we return!”
“…”
The people of the Evil Sky Pavilion were even more speechless. If they did not know it was a Fire Phoenix, they would really think it was a little turkey from a common household.
Over the past few days, everyone had gone from being shocked to being acceptant and envious. It was very probable that when the little Fire Phoenix matured, it would not be any weaker than Lu Wu. Who would not be envious with such a beast? Moreover, the scene of the Fire Phoenix soaring the air and beating up the two Venerable Masters was still vivid in their minds. Hence, they were slightly speechless when they saw what Little Yuan’er had done.
Lu Zhou said, “Remember that this little Fire Phoenix has to be kept a secret. I won’t let anyone who leaks this out off easily.”
Everyone bowed.
At this moment, Kong Wen and his three brothers stepped forward and fell to their knees. Then, he said, “Old sir, I have a request.”
“Speak.”
“The four of us would like to join the Evil Sky Pavilion. I hope that you’ll give us a chance,” Kong Wen said without beating around the bush.
In fact, Lu Zhou felt that it was a little difficult for these four people to join the Evil Sky Pavilion. In terms of strength, they were not as good as Sun Mu and his brothers. However, their performance so far had been commendable. With this, he also realized he had to alter his recruitment strategy slightly. The recruitment should not be based on strength alone, but it should also be based on one’s character.
Lu Zhou stroked his beard and examined the four people in front of him. “Are you sure you want to join the Evil Sky Pavilion?”
Kong Wen said, “I’ve spoken to Envoy Yan for a few nights now so I understand the rules. Moreover, we, brothers, have also thought about it very carefully. In order to show our sincerity, we’ll give you this life heart.”
Kong Wen then brought out the life heart that Lu Zhou had previously rewarded him with.
Lu Zhou was rather surprised by this. After all, Zhu Yan’s life heart was that of a beast king.
Kong Wen continued to say, “I know that all of you are strong so the beast king’s life heart will be useful to all of you. It’s a bit of a waste for me to keep it.”
Then, the four brothers bowed in unison. “Please accept this, old sir!”
Everyone nodded. Kong Wen and his brothers were much more sensible than Sun Mu and his brothers.
‘Since they’ve shown so much respect, I’ll return the favor.’
Lu Zhou stroked his beard and said, “How can I accept something that I’ve given away?”
“Ah?” Kong Wen grew slightly anxious. “Is the old sir unwilling to accept us?”
Lu Zhou shook his head. “Since you’ve thought it through, I’ll allow you to join the Evil Sky Pavilion.”
As soon as the four brothers heard these words, they fell into a daze.
Kong Wen had thought it was very unlikely that they would be accepted. After all, their cultivation was not high enough. Moreover, they were only skilled in one tracking technique. Over the past few days, he had learned from Yan Zhenluo that the Evil Sky Pavilion was very stringent. Therefore, he had been prepared to be rejected.
At this time, Yan Zhenluo reminded them, “What are you waiting for?”
Kong Wen regained his senses and led his brother to kowtow. “Pavilion Master, thank you!”
“Ding! Recruited four subordinates. Reward: 4,000 merit points.”
Lu Zhou stroked his beard and nodded. “Rise to your feet.”
“Understood.”
After the four brothers stood up, Kong Wen said, “This life heart…”
Lu Li interjected, “Since the Pavilion Master gave it to you, you can keep it. We’re not going to take it from you…”
Yan Zhenluo added, “Don’t worry. The Evil Sky Pavilion doesn’t lack these things.”
Kong Wen scratched his head as the others smiled.
Perhaps, Kong Wen and his brothers had experienced many twists and turns in the Unknown Land and seen the ups and downs of human relations.h.i.+ps so they were slightly taken aback by this scene. After a while, the four of them laughed along with the others. Their loyalty had increased greatly.
..
Lu Zhou nodded in satisfaction and said, “Alright. Let’s get back to business. Is there a more suitable place in the Unknown Land to activate Birth Charts?”
“Pavilion Master, what do you mean?” Kong Wen did not understand Lu Zhou’s intention.
“Little Yuan’er and Conch have sprouted their tenth leaf for a while now. Logically speaking, both of them should be the first to reach the Thousand Realms Whirling stage…” Lu Zhou said.
Realization dawned on Kong Wen. “In fact, there’s a really suitable palace.”
“Speak.”
“Humans used to live in the Unknown Land, but time has brought great changes to the place. Many things that were left behind by the ancient Saints have disappeared, but some are still around. About 5,000 kilometers to the west, near the heart of the Unknown Land, there’s a place called the Transient City. It’s an ancient city left behind by the Saints. It’s said that there’s ancient formation there that will increase the speed of cultivating and activating Birth Charts,” Kong Wen explained.
“There’s such an amazing place? Then, why doesn’t everyone go there?” Yan Zhenluo asked curiously.
Kong Wen shook his head. “There are naturally downsides as well. There are many fierce beasts there so ordinary cultivators can’t even hope to approach that place. On the other hand, Venerable Masters or those who are stronger are unable to cross the red line so how can they go there? They’d attract the Equalizers’ attention. However, since the imbalance has occurred, things are likely different…”
Lu Zhou nodded his head. The place fit his needs perfectly. Now that he had an enhanced Reduction Card, he was not afraid of Venerable Masters.
Moreover, Little Yuan’er and Conch successfully become Thousand Realms Whirling cultivators, they would be able to complete their apprentices.h.i.+ps, and as a result, he would be rewarded with special items that would be beneficial to him in the Unknown Land.
At this time, Lu Wu’s huge head descend from the sky. It asked, “You’re going… to the ruins of… Transient City?”
“You know about Transient City?” Lu Zhou raised his head and looked at Lu Wu.
“That place… is evil… It’s the holy land of ancient reptiles… Evil…” Lu Wu said.
Duanmu Sheng frowned and asked, “How many times have I told you to stop using reptiles to describe humans?”
“Young Master…”
“Don’t call me Young Master,” Duanmu Sheng said.
Lu Wu sighed. “I won’t… do it… again…”
Everyone laughed upon hearing these words.
Lu Zhou was not too bothered. After all, he understood that humans and fierce beasts possessed different ways of thinking. After a while, he asked, “Have you been to Transient City?”