Chapter 1726: Return
After Lu Zhou got what he needed, he quickly left the ancient ruins and returned to the Evil Sky Pavilion through a runic pa.s.sage.
When Zhu Honggong sensed the fluctuations from the runic pa.s.sage, he knew Lu Zhou had returned. He left the southern pavilion and rushed to the back of the mountain. He was even more anxious than Lu Zhou. Before he reached the back of the mountain, he saw Lu Zhou walking out. He rushed over and said with a silly smile on his face, “Master, you’re back!”
Lu Zhou nodded and asked, “How’s your Seventh Senior Brother?”
“When he woke up, he couldn’t stop talking! He said he wouldn’t go back to sleep and that he’d wait until you return!” Zhu Honggong said. He was barely able to suppress his excitement.
It could be seen that Zhu Honggong and Si Wuya had chatted a lot.
Lu Zhou walked with his hands on his back toward the southern pavilion while Zhu Honggong followed closely behind. When he arrived at the southern pavilion, he saw Princess Yong Ning, who looked to be in high spirits, guarding the outside of the southern pavilion.
Princess Yong Ning bowed slightly. “Senior Ji, you’re back.”
“Yes. You’ve worked hard.” Lu Zhou nodded.
“It’s not hard. It’s what I should do,” Princess Yong Ning said before she turned to the side, “He’s been waiting for you for a long time.”
Lu Zhou entered the southern pavilion with his hands on his back. He walked past the screen and arrived at Si Wuya’s bedside.
At this moment, Si Wuya was lying on the bed with his eyes closed. When he heard the faint footsteps, he instinctively opened his eyes. He did not move and did not speak for a long time; he did not even blink his eyes that were filled with excitement, regret, self-blame, and all kinds of complicated emotions.
In comparison, Lu Zhou was relatively indifferent. He studied Si Wuya’s face briefly before he asked, “Do you feel better?”
As Lu Zhou spoke, he took a seat at the table near the bed.
Si Wuya regained his senses and quickly sorted his complicated emotions. His eyes were a little red, and he tried his best to suppress his emotions. Then, he lifted the quilt and got off the bed smoothly before he kneeled and kowtowed as he called out in a soft voice, “Master.”
Lu Zhou looked at Si Wuya and said, “Rise to your feet and speak.”
Si Wuya did not get up immediately. He remained on the ground with his head lowered. He took a deep breath before he explained, “I’ve been looking for you for almost 100 years. Starting from the Evil Sky Pavilion, the red lotus domain, the black lotus domain, the white lotus domain, the green lotus domain, and the twin lotus domain. From Chifenruo to… Huantan, to Zuo’e, to the Great Abyss Land… I spent almost 100 years traveling the nine lotus domains and the Unknown Land, but I couldn’t find you. Please forgive me, master!”
Lu Zhou saw the kneeling Si Wuya blaming himself so he sighed, rose to his feet, and went to Si Wuya. He stared at Si Wuya for about three seconds before he said, “I know. Get up.”
The last two words were said in a commanding tone.
Si Wuya no longer resisted and slowly rose to his feet.
Si Wuya looked just like he did before. Confident and even a little conceited. No matter what happened, his eyes were always br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence. His confidence was like Yu Shangrong’s when Yu Shangrong faced his opponents. Although Si Wuya was now as weak as an ant, his confidence could shake the mountains and the sea.
Lu Zhou sighed softly. He thought perhaps it was a mistake to try and change Si Wuya’s personality. After all, Si Wuya had the right to be arrogant. After he returned to his seat, he poured two cups of tea before he pointed at the seat across from him and asked, “Do you plan to kneel on the ground and talk to me?”
With that, Si Wuya moved to sit across from Lu Zhou with an awkward expression.
Lu Zhou pushed a cup of tea over to Si Wuya.
“I’m not worthy,” Si Wuya said.
“Oh, then were you worthy when you were young?” Lu Zhou asked before he said, “This is the Evil Sky Pavilion. It’s where you eat, drink, s.h.i.+t, and sleep.”
Si Wuya shook his head. He had forgotten that the Evil Sky Pavilion was where he had grown up. So many years pa.s.sed in just a blink of an eye, and he did not know how he became like this.
Lu Zhou did not ask about Si Wuya’s resurrection. Instead, he brought out two b.a.l.l.s of light that were protected by energy seals and handed them to Si Wuya as he said, “These are Meng Zhang and Jian Bing’s blood essences. Take them.”
Si Wuya took a look at the two blood essences and quickly left his seat to kneel on the ground again. “Master is kind.”
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “A few hundred years have pa.s.sed, but you’re still the same. Are you very fond of kneeling?”
“...”
“Do you know who I am?” Lu Zhou suddenly asked.
“I do.”
“Then, why do you still dare to approach Ming Xin?” Lu Zhou asked.
“Because Ming Xin’s pursuit is the same as master’s,” Si Wuya replied.
Lu Zhou nodded.
‘As expected, humans are all the same. Even Ming Xin can’t resist the temptation of eternal life after reaching the end of his cultivation path…’
“Ming Xin also knows about me?” Lu Zhou asked.
Si Wuya said, “I’m not sure, but I think he should have guessed it long ago.”
Lu Zhou looked outside the window before he sighed. “I knew it. How could he be so stupid? He’s waiting for me to pave the way for him…”
Si Wuya nodded.
Lu Zhou looked at Si Wuya and asked, “What did you do to make Bai Zhaoju treat you so well?”
Si Wuya answered truthfully, “I knew Zhi Ming is the Lost Island, and I helped him to fix the ancient formation…”
“Hm?”
Si Wuya explained, “Zhi Ming is one of the Four Divinities of Heaven. To fix the formation, we need some power equal to it. I have the Fire Deity’s power, and I couldn’t bear it so I gave him some.”
Lu Zhou nodded.
Ling Guang, the Vermilion Bird, was one of the Four Divinities of Heaven, after all.
Lu Zhou thought about Jiang Aijian and Li Yunzheng so he said, “Ling Guang will have to leave eventually.”
Upon hearing this, Si Wuya kowtowed and said, “Without your permission, I’ve formally accepted Li Yunzheng as my disciple.”
“It’s up to you to accept a disciple or not. Whether it’s good or bad, it’s your own business,” Lu Zhou said.
“Thank you, master!” Si Wuya said, overjoyed.
Lu Zhou intended to ask about the Great Void, but when he saw that Si Wuya’s complexion did not look too good, he stood up and said, “Take the blood essences first and inherit Ling Guang’s power.”
‘There’ll be time to talk about other things later… The most important thing is to heal him…’
“Understood,” Si Wuya said as he held the two drops of blood essences in his hands.
When Lu Zhou was walking past Si Wuya, he stopped and said, “That girl, Yong Ning, is not bad…”
Then, Lu Zhou patted Si Wuya’s shoulder before he left the southern pavilion with his hands on his back, returning to the eastern pavilion to activate the blue avatar’s Birth Charts.
After Lu Zhou left, Si Wuya scratched his head and muttered to himself, “What does master mean by that?”
At this moment, Zhu Honggong, who had rushed in, said with a disappointed expression, “Seventh Senior Brother, I don’t mean to criticize you, but you’re usually very smart so why are you so dull now? It means that master approves of your marriage…”
“Uh...”
“Don’t be shy,” Zhu Honggong chuckled and said as he gave Si Wuya a thumbs-up, “Sister-in-law is young and beautiful, gentle and virtuous.”
Si Wuya: “?”
“Why do you look so unhappy?” Zhu Honggong asked curiously.
Si Wuya sighed and said with a hint of melancholy, “Eighth Junior Brother, I spent almost 100 years but failed to spend all of you. Is master unhappy?”
Zhu Honggong touched Si Wuya’s forehead before he said, “I don’t think so. Seventh Senior Brother, there’s nothing wrong with your brain, right? You can’t see master’s eyes because he’s smiling so widely! How is he unhappy?”
“Is that so?”
“...”
Zhu Honggong was filled with the urge to hit Si Wuya. He said, “Master even poured you a cup of tea! Eldest and Second Senior Brothers didn’t even receive such a treatment!”
“Eighth Junior Brother, I feel much better after listening to you. I’m just worried that master has another meaning that I don’t understand,” Si Wuya said.
“Hey, don’t use your villainous heart to measure master’s heart,” Zhu Honggong said with a hint of helplessness, “Some things aren’t as complicated as you think they are…”
“Eighth Junior Brother, you seem to have become smarter,” Si Wuya said.
Zhu Honggong cleared his throat, brushed his hair back, and said somewhat proudly, “Seventh Senior Brother, in fact, I’ve always been smart. It’s just that you didn’t notice it. Seventh Senior Brother, you’ve changed…”
“Changed?”
“It seems like you’ve learned how to consider others and think from their point of view,” Zhu Honggong said with a smile.
…
That night.
After Si Wuya consumed Meng Zhang and Jian Bing’s blood essences, the four blood essences resonated and created an energy that circulated through his body and Eight Extraordinary Meridians. They tempered his meridians and his body continuously.
Si Wuya, who was as weak as a baby, grew stronger with the four blood essences. His Eight Extraordinary Meridians became many times stronger.
…
The next morning, when Si Wuya opened his eyes, he found his body was covered in a layer of mud.
With the nourishment from the four blood essences, his Eight Extraordinary Meridians were very strong now.
He said, filled with praise, “The blood essences of the Four Divinities of Heaven are truly amazing.”
One of the major reasons Si Wuya had been investigating the Nihilist Congregation was to find Jian Bing. Perhaps, he could have collected the four blood essences, but he did not have the time or energy. He knew the whereabouts of the Fire Phoenix, Zhi Ming, and Meng Zhang, but Jian Bing’s whereabouts had always been a mystery.
“Are you ready?” a hoa.r.s.e voice said from outside of the southern pavilion.
Si Wuya shook his head and said, “To be honest, I’m not ready.”
“A man shouldn’t be so indecisive.”
“But if we do that, you’ll disappear forever,” Si Wuya said.
“I’m already satisfied that the Fire Deity has a successor. Besides, do you have an idea better than this?”
Si Wuya fell silent.
Ling Guang continued to say, “This is your weapon. It has absorbed the weapon spirit of the previous Fire Deities; it has been successfully upgraded to the void grade. The descendant of the Fire Deity has to be powerful. He must lead the Fire Deity clan to restore its glory and maintain the balance of the world! As the successor, you can’t be weak.”
Whoos.h.!.+
A streak of light flew in and landed in front of Si Wuya. It was his weapon, the Peac.o.c.k Plume. It had now been upgraded to the void grade.
Si Wuya looked at the Peac.o.c.k Plume for a long time as scenes from the past appeared in his mind. He recalled the scene where his master bestowed the weapon to him and the scenes where he killed his enemies with it. It was as though everything was destined.
“Has everything been decided from the start?”