Chapter 1313: The Weak Should Have the Awareness of the Weak
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After a short interlude, the Zhao Residence returned to silence. However, there were still a few cultivators hovering in the distance, wanting to watch the show. Moreover, due to the commotion around Xi Qishu’s death, there were rumors going around that his death had something to do with Zhao Yu.
Over the years, the stability of Great Qin depended a lot on the four Venerable Masters and the emperor of Great Qin. With Tuoba Sicheng and Ye Zheng’s deaths, even without the imbalance, there would still be chaos on both sides of the Red Line.
Those who wanted peace prayed fervently for the imbalance to be over; most of these people were ordinary folks. However, there were also those who liked excitement and even hoped for the end of the world to come. They wanted to see the frail balance between humans and fierce beasts break so they could watch an epic battle. There had never been a lack of people who liked watching shows in this world, after all.
…
In a room at the Zhao Residence.
Lu Zhou was unaware that his actions had attracted the attention of the world and the people from the Great Void.
He looked at the increase in his lifespan and nodded in satisfaction. The advanced enhanced Reversal Cards he had obtained from the lucky draw were very useful.
Now that he had 13,000 years of life, he could sprout one leaf. However, he did not intend to use his lifespan to sprout the leaf. Instead, he brought the Pillar of Impermanence out and placed it on the ground in front of him. Then, he manifested his Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar, which was still under the effect of the Concealment Card. Since the last upgrade of his system, the effect of the Concealment Card had increased to ten days.
“Upgrade.”
The Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar began to spin on the spot. It absorbed the vitality energy from the Pillar of Impermanence without any difficulty.
At the same time, Lu Zhou could feel the vitality energy in the Pillar of Impermanence slowly decreasing as well. Fortunately, he had enough vitality energy in the pillar to sprout the leaf. Otherwise, he would have a hard time satisfying the vampire-like blue avatar.
]The Hundred Calamity Cave started to spin on the spot. With the experience gained several times, the life-span of the spell body in the life-suppressing stake was being absorbed smoothly.
He could feel that the life-span in the life-suppressing stake was slowly decreasing. Fortunately, the life-span stored in the life-suppressing stake was enough. Otherwise, it would not be enough to satisfy the vampire-like blue spell body.
“The golden avatar would absorb one’s lifespan first before increasing it after a breakthrough; the blue avatar would only absorb one’s lifespan without giving anything back.”
If he did not have the golden avatar or Reversal Cards, even if he had the Heavenly Writing, he would only be able to use his extraordinary power.
Then, when his mind wandered to the astronomical amount of lifespan would he need to upgrade his Thousand Realms Whirling avatar, he felt his head ache.
“After the blue avatar becomes a Thousand Realms Whirling avatar, will I need to activate Birth Charts like the golden avatar as well?”
Since he seemed to be the only person with a blue avatar, he had no reference or experience to draw from.
Lu Zhou sighed and continued to cultivate.
…
After receiving Zhi Wenzi’s order, the cultivator mustered up his courage and approached the Zhao Residence again. Seeing that there were still a few cultivators lingering around, he flew over to them.
When he arrived, someone said to him, “You’re too late. The show is over.”
The cultivator really wanted to say he was a returning audience, but in the end, he held back. Instead, he asked, “Aren’t any of you going closer to take a look?
“Take a look, my as*! That swordsman is incredibly skilled. He broke everyone’s weapons with just one move. He’s likely Young Master Zhao’s guest.”
In Great Qin, many dukes and wealthy young masters like to invite experts to their homes as guests. These people gave the experts fame, status, and power while the experts worked for them.
“It’s been a long time since there has been any movement. I don’t think there’ll be any more shows to watch. Let’s go.”
With that, the people began to leave one after another.
On the other hand, the cultivator remained in his spot and surveyed his surroundings. When he confirmed there was no one around, he hurriedly snuck into the Zhao Residence like a thief. After he landed in the backyard, he crawled on all fours like a Tibetan Mastiff; his entire person seemed to have changed at this moment. When he arrived near a building, he uncovered the black cloth that was wrapped around the Qi orb and waited silently.
When the Qi orb lit up, he put it away before he crawled forward again.
The Zhao Residence was very quiet, making him even tenser. He restrained his aura and controlled his breathing and heart rate.
‘Fortunately, I have a high-grade life heart from a dog-like beast,’ he thought to himself as he approached the next building. He lowered his head and looked at the Qi orb. The brightness was only average. With this, he speculated that whoever the orb sensed was someone who had just broken through to the Thousand Realms Whirling stage not too long ago.
At this moment, his nose twitched.
‘What’s that smell?’
He lowered his head and sniffed as he made his way to the base of the wall. After a moment…
‘F*ck! What kind of bad luck is this!’
There was the smell of urine at the base of the wall.
‘What kind of place is the Zhao Residence? Why are there people urinating in this kind of place?’
Following that, he quickly made his way to the other side of the building and brought the Qi orb again. When he saw the Qi orb lit up, he muttered, “Around five Birth Charts…”
He knew someone like that was definitely not the target of the Emperor’s Gemini.
He continued to move forward, traveling along the wall and observing the Qi orb.
At this time, the Qi orb suddenly lit up. Since he came in, this is the first time the orb had shone so brightly.
‘Two Birth Trials?’ He was shocked and hurriedly put the Qi orb away with trembling hands. Just as he was about to move…
“Doggy, don’t mess around.”
‘Doggy?’ He shuddered. ‘Have I been discovered?’
He hurriedly moved to the last building, which seemed to be the grandest in the Zhao Residence, when the Qi orb shone even brighter than before.
‘Two Birth Trials and 13 Birth Charts?’
He covered the Qi orb and lay on the ground, waiting, when the orb suddenly dimmed.
‘Huh? Hundred Tribulations Insight?’ He scratched his head with a confused expression on his face.
No matter who one disguised one’s cultivation base, one would not be able to escape from the Qi orb since it could sense one’s breathing, vitality, Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and other things before making a judgment of one’s cultivation base.
The cultivator did not understand how the Qi orb that had shone so brightly a moment ago would suddenly dim. He looked at the orb with a dumbfounded expression. How could a person go from having 13 Birth Chart to only being at the Hundred Tribulations Insight stage? This change was too exaggerated!
He shook his head, unable to figure this out, when the Qi orb shone brightly again. This time it seemed to indicate the other person had 14 Birth Charts.
“???”
Then, in the next moment, the Qi orb dimmed again.
The cultivator was even more baffled. He really did not know what to think.
The Qi orb continued to s.h.i.+ne and dim. However, the intensity of its brightness remained quite consistent. It did not go past the brightness of a Fourteen Chart expert.
The cultivator knew the person in the building must be cultivating at this moment and was not paying to his surroundings. He decided to leave now. Otherwise, he would be easily discovered. Fortunately, thanks to his life heart ability, his breathing, heartbeat, temperature, aura, and so on were like that of a dog; if not, he would have been discovered long ago.
He withdrew his vitality energy from the orb and turned to ashes immediately. Then, he looked to the left and right before he returned the way he came.
When he arrived at the building near the place he had landed earlier, his nose twitched again.
‘What’s that smell?’
He smelled another strange smell and could not help but turn to have a look. After a moment, he shook his head. It was said that wealthy families were n.o.ble, but it seemed like that was not the case.
He had only raised his body slightly when he heard a low growl. His body stiffened as an ominous feeling rose in his heart. He slowly turned around. Not far from the base of the wall he had sniffed at earlier, he saw a pair of eyes s.h.i.+ning with a dim light staring at him.
“…”
He did not dare to move. He knew very well that if he moved, the beast hidden in the darkness would definitely alarm the others. He thought to himself decisively, ‘If the enemy doesn’t move, then I won’t move.’
Subsequently, he restrained his aura, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, and tried to stay calm.
It did not take long before he saw a dog-like beast emerge from the darkness. Under the moonlight, its fur was sparkling and looked almost translucent. Its wings were folded, its body was muscular, and its eyes were much brighter up close.
The cultivator’s eyes widened in shock. ‘Q-qiong… Qiong Qi…’
He did not dare to move at all.
Qiong Qi no longer growled. Instead, it walked over. Its speed was not fast; it walked at a leisurely pace with its head lifted proudly, looking elegant and n.o.ble. It finally came to a stop three meters away from the cultivator. Then, it began to sniff.
Qiong Qi smelled a special and familiar scent when it sniffed the cultivator. It barked once before it stuck its tongue out with saliva dripping down.
“???”
When Qiong Qi finally arrived next to the cultivator, it raised its paw and grabbed the cultivator’s body before it moved its nose closer and began to sniff.
The cultivator’s expression at this time was very interesting. One could see fear, humiliation, anger, embarra.s.sment, and all kinds of emotions on his face. Just as he was about to explode…
“Doggy, if you run around again, I’m going to stew you!”
Qiong Qi retracted its tongue and closed its mouth before it quickly ran back in the direction of the voice.
The cultivator did not waste time. He immediately rose to his feet and tapped his toes lightly on the ground before he flew into the night sky and darted into the forest at lightning speed. This was the fastest he had ever moved in his life.
After flying for several thousand meters, he finally landed on the ground before he vomited.
“I’ll become a laughingstock if anyone knows about this!”
After calming down, he flew away again. It did not take long before he arrived where the Emperor’s Gemini was waiting for him.
The cultivator hurriedly ran to Zhi Wenzi and Zhi Wuzi and fell to one knee before he said, “Lord Zhi, I’ve already investigated the Zhao Residence.”
“What’s the result?”
“I’ve repeatedly confirmed that the strongest person there doesn’t have more than 14 Birth Charts,” he replied.
“Is there anything strange about the Qi orb’s reaction? Don’t miss any details.”
“In the beginning, the Qi orb reacted as it should. However, when it was near one person, the orb turned strange. It kept flas.h.i.+ng as though it could not make up its mind if the person was someone with 13 Birth Charts or someone at the Hundred Tribulations Insight stage.”
“Huh?”
Zhi Wenzi and Zhi Wuzi looked at each other, equally confused.
“The difference is too exaggerated. Elder Brother, do you think it’s some secret technique?” Zhi Wuzi asked.
“Impossible. Generally, there are two ways to determine someone’s cultivation base. The first is through perception. It’s difficult for weaker cultivators to hide from those stronger than, after all. However, this method is not very accurate since it’d be useless if one wants to determine the cultivation base of someone stronger. The second way to determine someone’s cultivation base is through special items, techniques, or formations. For example, there are mirrors that can reveal the truth, but they’re rare. As for formations, they’re quite troublesome since they have to be set up in advance, and one has to get the target in the range of the formation. The Qi orb is one of said special items. It’s very accurate. One of the reasons Thousand Realms Whirling cultivators are powerful is due to their acc.u.mulations of vitality energy. One cultivates with vitality energy to increase one’s lifespan, defying the heavens. The orb can accurately sense the vitality energy. Not only that, but it senses other things as well.”
Zhi Wuzi nodded before he said, “It’s truly a waste to use the Qi orb on them. Elder Brother, now that we’ve confirmed they killed General Xi, what are we waiting for? Let’s catch all of them now!”
Zhi Wenzi shook his head. “We’re not bandits. Let’s wait a little longer.”
“Wait a little longer?” Zhi Wuzi was confused.
“Three days, at most,” Zhi Wenzi said, “Great Qin’s hunting party should be returning soon.”
Upon hearing this, Zhi Wuzi’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed, “Elder Brother, you’re truly wise!”
“The weak should have the awareness of the weak, and the strong will make the judgment,” Zhi Wenzi said, “Even if we’re confident, we should still see what the Venerable Masters’ thoughts are. During these three days, we’ll have to see what their stances are. Nevertheless, I’m confident the Venerable Masters won’t care about these trivial matters. Moreover, the emperor doesn’t have much interaction with them as well…”
“You’re right, Elder Brother. I’ll send people to visit the Venerable Masters.”
“Go.”
…
The next day.
When dawn arrived, Lu Zhou was still immersed in meditating on the Heavenly Writing. He only stopped when the scripts in his mind began to jumble up.
When Lu Zhou saw his blue avatar, he was shocked.
“This… Stop!”
Then, he looked at the lotus and began to count out loud, “One, two, three, four… five!”
The blue avatar had two leaves before, and he wanted to sprout the third leaf. However, after a night, it had sprouted five leaves!
He waved his hand and the Pillar of Impermanence flew back into his hand. He sensed the vitality energy in it and found that he was missing one-third of the vitality energy originally in the pillar.
“…”
‘It’s really a vampire! The system didn’t even alert me, let alone ask for my opinion!’
Lu Zhou looked at the Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar.
“Ding! Five Leave Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar. You’ll require 10,000 years to advance to the next level.”
Lu Zhou thought it was lucky that he had used the Pillar of Impermanence. If he had let it absorb his lifespan, he would have died by the end of the night.
Lu Zhou looked at the Pillar of Impermanence again and noticed that the golden light on the pillar seemed to have dimmed a little. Clearly, the loss of so much vitality energy had greatly reduced its power.
In the end, Lu Zhou was not really bothered about it. After all, to him, the value of the Pillar of Impermanence was its ability to help his blue avatar evolve, which in turn would make him stronger.
Lu Zhou raised his hand.
The Five Leaf Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar flew forward and hovered above his palm.
“Apart from being able to provide me with a little extra divine energy, what else can it do? Is it like the golden avatar?”
With just a thought, he managed to move the blue avatar’s arm.
“Hm?”
Lu Zhou tried. He willed the blue avatar to move its other arm.
“I can control it with my mind?”
Usually, avatars lacked mobility; they were like statues. When one severed the lotus, it was akin to severing the avatar’s restraints. By removing the lotus, the avatar could be moved to a certain extent.
Lu Zhou did not expect the blue avatar, which still had its lotus, could be controlled with his mind. He was a little annoyed with himself. He should have noticed this long ago. Previously, he thought it was quite weak so he did not bother testing its power and uses. However, it seemed to him now that the blue avatar was much more powerful and exaggerated than he had imagined.
“Let’s try something else.”
He raised his right hand and spread his fingers.
As expected, the avatar mirrored his movement. However, its movement was a little stiff. Nevertheless, after a few tries, it seemed to have gotten familiar with moving and quickly lost the stiffness.
Lu Zhou put three fingers down. This movement was more subtle.
“Energy sword.”
An energy sword appeared in Lu Zhou’s hand immediately.
Similarly, an energy sword appeared in the blue avatar’s hand as well. However, it only appeared for a brief moment before it disappeared.
Lu Zhou’s eyes lit up upon seeing this.
All in all, after this round of practice, he felt that his second avatar was not that easy to control. His mind was like a remote control. He was not very skilled with subtle movements, but he had no problem with bigger movements.
Lu Zhou waved his hand again, sending the blue avatar ten meters away.
With that, it returned to its immobile state, looking like a statue again.
Based on this, he found out that he could not be too far from his avatar if he wanted to control its movements.
Lu Zhou shook his head.. “It’s still too weak. Let’s have a look at the lotus now…”