Lu Zhou lifted a hand and stroked his beard. He had gotten used to the motion, and his mentality seemed to have grown old with it as well.
He looked to his left and right, but he still did not see Zhao Yue and the others. Consequently, he could not help shaking his head. It was not cost-effective to use a peak-form experience card to catch only one disciple. However, he had no other choice now.
"Ye Tianxin..." Lu Zhou's voice was calm and sounded like a teacher calling his student. "I had taught you the Blue Waves Technique and given you the Amorous Hoop in the hope that you could protect yourself in this dangerous cultivation world, not to make you desert the sect and betray me."
Ye Tianxin laughed, her voice so thrilling that it made the hairs of those who heard it stand on their ends. However, many cultivators were pleased to know that the old villain had produced such a treacherous disciple.
"Old man, do you think you can still treat me like you used to?" Ye Tianxin paused as she spread her arms and then continued, "You are old and no longer the same Ji Tiandao who could throw the world into chaos. This place...is the graveyard I've personally designed for you."
The air in the surrounding woods began to stir. Cultivators with profound cultivation bases seemed to notice it, and they quickly sent out their divine senses to probe the changes.
This place was...not simple.
By now, Little Yuan'er could not listen any longer. "How dare you scold Master! You will be struck by lightning!" It was a pity that her reproach was not strong enough.
Lu Zhou waved his hand to signal Little Yuan'er not to interrupt, and then he said, "Who leaked my whereabouts to you? Was it Old Seventh, Old Fifth, or that good-for-nothing Old Eighth?"
Ye Tianxin said, "I don't need them to tell me." She paused for a brief moment and then went on, "I don't mind telling you the truth...The kidnapping of the Ci Family was my plan, and the goal was to lure Little Junior Sister and you out of Golden Court Mountain."
Pan Zhong had a moment of enlightenment, and he asked with surprise, "You are the one who gave me the task?"
"Yes."
"What if this old villain didsn't show up?" Pan Zhong asked. He did not understand why she was so sure that the old villain would be here.
Ye Tianxin smiled, but her voice was cold as she said, "You have too many questions. You just need to do what you were told, and you will be paid what was promised."
Pan Zhong shut his mouth, for he felt a murderous aura.
On the other side, Lu Zhou's expression remained unchanged as he said, "Well, I've killed many people in the past, and I don't mind killing a few more."
Hearing him, all the cultivators opposite him took a step back and grew nervous.
"Why are you still pretending, old thing?" Ye Tianxin stared at Lu Zhou. "The secret drug of Primal Fiend...A dose of this drug can boost a cultivator's energy for a short time, but the side effect is that the cultivation base will reduce to half for ten days, and it cannot be consumed again."
Lu Zhou remembered the secret drug when she mentioned its name. It was invented by the Medicine King but boycotted by the orthodox sects in the world because of its overly brutal and evil effects. Over time, it disappeared. He did not expect that they would associate him with it.
"I would not believe if others claimed they have the Primal Fiend drug, but I'm certain that this old villain has it!" shouted one of the cultivators.
Ye Tianxin laughed again and said in a dark tone, "I have another bad news to tell you..."
"I've placed down an array here, which has greatly weakened energy. Even if you have the secret drug and take it in your desperation, it will be in vain. Well, that's all I want to say. Master, this is the last time I call you Master. When you're dead, I'll order someone to properly bury you and handle Golden Court Mountain. Oh right, the experts of the Righteous Sect should have arrived at Golden Court Mountain. Third Senior Brother is wounded, so I think Fourth Senior Brother must have surrendered by now."
When she had finished, Ye Tianxin's face relaxed, and she stepped back. It seemed that she did not plan to attack herself. Her deep fear for Ji Tiandao made her reluctant to be the first to strike, and she did not think that the secret drug was the old thing's only trump card. It was not a bad idea to let others be cannon fodder sometimes, and it was also the reason why she did not bring her people here.
"An array?" Little Yuan'er glanced around. She sensed the energy fluctuation in the surroundings, which worried her. "What should we do, Master?"
A row of cultivators was slowly approaching them.
"There's no need to be afraid." Lu Zhou's voice still sounded confident.
Ye Tianxin grew suspicious. She found that one thing Zhao Yue told her was right. The old man's style of handling things seemed to be different from the past. He did not get angry, fly into a rage, or curse.
"Master..." Suddenly, Wang Fugui ran out of the woods behind them with a sad face while panting.
"Fugui? What are you doing here?" Little Yuan'er asked suspiciously.
"Your mother...she is worried about your safety..." When Wang Fugui saw his master, who was in a coma, he wailed again, "Master, what happened to you?" Then, he kowtowed to Lu Zhou and said, "Old Mister, please save my Master, please..."
Swoosh!
Suddenly, Wang Fugui leaped toward Lu Zhou like an arrow with a glinting dagger in his hand!
He was a Divine Court expert!
It all happened so quickly and suddenly that even the cultivators who were about to attack Lu Zhou did not expect it. They all stared at the scene with wide eyes.
"Master!" Little Yuan'er turned pale with fright.
It was way too close, and Lu Zhou had little chance of dodging the attack. Even a Nascent Divinity Tribulation expert could not resist the attack without being hurt when unprepared.
'It worked!' Ye Tianxin's eyes lit up, and a look of anticipation crept up her face.
Bam!
The dagger stabbed Lu Zhou in the back, and everything seemed to have paused in this moment.
"Oh?"
Surprisingly, the dagger could not move further even for just a little bit.
'What's going on?' Thoughts flashed through Wang Fugui's mind. The dagger was a poisoned earth-grade treasure, and he had thrust it with all his strength as a Divine Court expert. 'Why can't I feel it stab into his body?' As an excellent assassin, he had mastered all the details of the craft, just like an excellent archer could tell if the arrow could hit the target or not the moment it was released. He did not need to examine it.
He slowly looked up. The dagger was...blocked by an invisible force?
Lu Zhou's voice rang out at this moment, "Why do I need to take a drug to kill you all?"
BOOM!
An energy blast suddenly spread out in all directions like an explosion. The powerful energy formed rings of light in an instant and knocked Wang Fugyi flying away. At that moment, energy waves that looked like ripples kept spreading out of Lu Zhou's body.
"Not good! The old villain did this on purpose!"
"Ah!"
"It is not the old villain who has fallen into a trap, but us! Ye Tianxin, you are such a scheming woman!"
Bam! Bam! Bam!
All Brahma Sea cultivators fell to the ground, losing their ability to fight back.
Meanwhile, Ye Tianxin stared at the scene in disbelief and her heart trembled violently. 'He did this on purpose? Why is the array ineffective against him? Why can he still take the secret drug? What went wrong?'
Lu Zhou clasped his hands behind his back and took a deep breath. 'It will be good if I can always keep this form. It feels great to go back to the peak again...'
His aura, cultivation base, and energy had all gone back to the peak levels, as if his young body had returned or he had awakened after hundreds of years of sleep.
"Ye Tianxin, do you think I didn't know you had made a Divine Court assassin disguise as a steward in the Ci Family?"
Ye Tianxin's eyes were filled with shock as she kept backing away.