When he saw that his cultivation base was at the ninth-tier of Body Tempering, Lu Zhou shook his head helplessly. Unfortunately, Ji Tiandao's cultivation base was gone. Apart from being old, the body was only left with the strength of Body Tempering.
Ji Tiandao's Peak Form cards?
"System, does it mean Ji Tiandao's peak form in his strongest period?"
The system did not answer; it looked like that was the case.
Three cards…that was an hour and a half.
In a state when his strength and cultivation base had declined, Ji Tiandao could still draw with the top ten experts, so it should not be difficult to beat them in his peak form.
'A Reversal Card that can give me some life force?'
This was exactly what he needed most now.
Almost without thinking twice, Lu Zhou took out the Reversal Card, which shattered and turned into specks of light with just a thought, swirling around him.
In that moment, he shuddered!
The life force of the surrounding grass and trees seemed to have been drawn over as streams of energy rolled and poured through the mountains. Soon, streams of energy rapidly converged from all over the mountains and plains.
His skin changed.
His hair changed.
His eyesight became clearer.
His life force was restoring.
Lu Zhou glanced at the menu: The field of remaining life was slowly increasing.
The effect of a reversal card that could reverse life...was amazing.
It took a while for the feeling to gradually settle down.
Meanwhile...
Not long after the four disciples arrived at the foot of the mountain, they felt the strong movement on the mountaintop.
"What a strong energy wave!" Old Third exclaimed.
"I knew that Master had stronger skills that he had not taught us!"
"Since the betrayal, Master always holds back a trick or two when teaching us!"
"But...When I was closest to Master just now, I clearly felt that there was no energy fluctuation in his body. There are rumors in the cultivator world that Master had been injured."
"Don't be fooled by appearances! It's not difficult to conceal energy fluctuation. Judging from Master's performance just now, everything should be under his control."
"Little Junior Sister, Master doted on you the most. Do you know what technique this is?" The other three disciples looked at the ninth disciple.
"Ah? How would I know...Master is always so unfathomable!" Little Yuan'er mumbled.
Just as the four of them were patrolling, they heard the voice of an orthodox cultivator from outside the shield.
"Listen up, the villains of Golden Court Mountain! You are surrounded! Quickly come out and face your death!"
The voice echoed over the mountain.
The ninth disciple looked up and saw a chariot fly across the sky.
"It's Zhou Jifeng, the eldest disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect. It's said that he just broke through into the Divine Court realm some time ago."
"He has just stepped into the Divine Court realm. If it were a one-on-one fight, he's not even worthy of being Little Junior Sister's opponent."
"It's a pity that there are many of them."
"..."
Among the nine great villains of Golden Court Mountain, Ci Yuan'er, who joined the sect the latest, had the weakest cultivation base. She was now at the Dao-controlling stage of the Divine Court realm.
"These people are not a concern…The real trouble is the top ten experts. They all have the strength of the Nascent Divinity Tribulation realm."
"With no chance of getting Eldest Senior Brother's help, I only hope that Master really has a plan to drive back the enemies," said the third disciple, Duanmu Sheng, with his arms folded over his chest.
The fourth disciple, Mingshi Yin, gave a sly smile and said, "I know this is treacherous, but who can stop the four of us now if we want to flee?"
Duanmu Sheng, Zhao Yue, and Little Yuan'er all paused. After a long silence, Duanmu Sheng said, "How can I leave when Master hasn't given me a weapon?"
The fifth disciple, Zhao Yue, parted her red lips slightly as she chuckled and said, "Which is more important, your life or that broken weapon?"
The ninth disciple gave them a complicated look, and she could not help but say, "Senior Brothers, Senior Sister, do you really not want to fight alongside Master? How could you do this when Master had worked so hard to teach us cultivation techniques?"
Senior Sister Zhao Yue lifted a hand and said, "Little Junior Sister, you joined the sect the latest, so there are many things you don't know..."
Mingshi Yin snorted lightly and said, "Although Master taught us cultivation techniques, he also tortured us, didn't he?"
"But, we've become stronger because of that, right?" Little Yuan'er did not understand.
"You're too naive. Just look at the notoriety of Golden Court Mountain and the reputation of its nine evil disciples."
A crooked stick would have a crooked shadow; disciples' character and behavior could be expected to resemble that of their master.
"In any case, this cannot be an excuse for betrayal," said Little Yuan'er stubbornly.
That made the other three shake their heads and sigh. Their master was bad-tempered and moody sometimes, and he treated disciples harshly. As for the departure of their eldest and second senior brothers, they did not know the reason, and their master never mentioned it either.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhou had been studying the system.
After using the Reversal Card, he felt that his body was rejuvenated. Although it was still not as energetic as that of a young man, it was enough for him to move around.
He rose to his feet and breathed as he performed a set of simple exercises. After getting familiar with his new body, he sighed, "It's still a little too old."
In his previous life, no matter how he worked overtime and stayed up late, he felt at most thirty years old. He was not used to being so old all of a sudden.
Fortunately, his remaining life was restored to 313 days.
Lu Zhou noticed that he could exchange cultivation techniques, weapons, and Reversal Cards in the shopping mall. It meant that he could have inverse growth.
313 days were far from enough. He wanted to return to a level where he could at least move normally. It felt really bad to look so old.
Or, maybe he could reverse to his youth? However, he did not have too many Reversal Cards at the moment. He could only consider that after solving the immediate crisis.
He feared that no other dimension traveler was stuck in this kind of a situation.
"It's a pity that the gift items are too few. It seems that some brains are needed to solve the immediate crisis." Lu Zhou kept pondering. A moment later, he slowly got up and walked out of the gazebo.
The scorching sun was dazzling. Although Ji Tiandao's memory provided him with many references, when he saw it with his own eyes, he was still amazed by the clear blue sky.
Boom!
There was an explosion, and the whole Golden Court Mountain shook.
Lu Zhou frowned slightly. Were the cultivators already impatient to break the shield?
Boom!
He looked up at the invisible shield.
Golden Court Mountain was truly a treasured land. The powerful restriction was strengthened exponentially by the terrain, and it was very difficult to break even by experts of the Nascent Divinity Tribulation realm.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...
In the blink of an eye, the four disciples came in front of him. They were taken aback when they saw Lu Zhou standing straight.
"Master!"
"Master!"
"Master!"
"Greetings, Master!"
The last one to greet him was his ninth disciple, Ci Yuan'er.
Lu Zhou saw the smile on her comely face.
"Master, you seem to be getting younger," Yuan'er said with a smile.
"Come here!"
"Aye."
The scenes of Ji Tiandao doting on Ci Yuan'er emerged in Lu Zhou's mind. He did not expect the old villain to have a gentle side. He lifted a big old hand and gently patted his ninth disciple on the forehead.
"You're still the nicest."
Duanmu Sheng, who stood aside, said, "Master, they are trying to break the shield. Please let me fight them! I'll certainly slaughter them all."
Lu Zhou's glance crossed Duanmu Sheng's eyes.
The gaze made Duanmu Sheng's heart tremble, and he swallowed as he lowered his head, not daring to look directly at the other again.
"I already have a plan to drive back the enemies. Come with me!" Lu Zhou said faintly.
"Understood!"
After regaining some life force, Lu Zhou's legs became more agile.
His four disciples followed respectfully behind him as he walked toward the outside of Golden Court Mountain.
Outside of the mountain, thousands of cultivators lined up in dozens of small groups: some stood on flying swords, some on chariots, and some on the ground.
Various banners were waving in front of them—the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Duanlin Branch of the Confucian School, the Primal Sect of the Dao League...
"Work harder, everybody! The shield is not going to last for long! The villainous patriarch of Golden Court Mountain must be seriously wounded, which is why he dares not to come out now. If it were in the past, Golden Court Mountain would have never suffered such humiliation in silence!"
"Indeed! He must be too scared to come out and face us! Let's continue to challenge them to a fight!"
A chariot drifted through the sky, from which came ringing out a voice, "Listen up, the villains of Golden Court Mountain! You are surrounded! Quickly come out and face your death!