Chapter 9: Assign Tasks
After glancing through them, Lu Zhou felt that he was going to faint.
He could not even afford the cheapest apprentice-rank avatar. They were all terribly expensive!
Although an avatar was one of the most powerful skills of cultivators, it also represented the bottleneck of a cultivator. Often, many cultivators were trapped in a certain realm, even for a lifetime, because the level of their avatars could not be improved.
“What does it mean by not showing the cost?” Lu Zhou murmured curiously.
Myriad Supreme was an avatar that only existed in the legends. In today’s cultivation world, even an old villain as mighty as Ji Tiandao only had an eight-leaf Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar.
Yes, it did show signs of breaking through to a nine-leaf Hundred Tribulations Insight, but it was still far from becoming a Thousand Realms Whirling avatar.
“Well, I’d better not think so far ahead...I need to get my attitude right.”
Since his cultivation base had reduced to the ninth-tier of Body Tempering, he had to change his attitude to that of a weakling. He could not hope to reach for what was beyond his grasp.
“Let’s try the lucky draw,” Lu Zhou said.
“Ding! The lucky draw begins.”
“Ding! The lucky draw costs 50 merit points. You’ve received a reversal card.”
“Would you like to continue the lucky draw?”
“Oh? Such a high winning rate? I can’t believe it actually didn’t just give me a ‘thank you, please try again next time’ prompt!” Lu Zhou was a little surprised. “I still have 150 merit points...Well, I’d better keep the points until I have enough to buy an avatar to improve my cultivation level.”
According to the normal cultivation process, he should first break through the bottleneck of the Body Tempering realm and enter the Mystic Enlightening realm, before he could master the use of an apprentice-rank avatar.
But, since he could buy avatars in the system, that meant there was no bottleneck.
“Show me the quests.”
“Current main quest: Taming villainous disciples. He who teaches me for a day is my father for life, those who betray their Master are treacherous, and those who are disloyal are worse than pigs and dogs. Tame your disciples and increase their loyalty.”
“Side quest #1: Increase Ci Yuan’er’s loyalty, completed.”
“Side quest #2: Punish the three villainous disciples, completed.”
“Side quest #3: Taming Zhu Honggong, in progress...”
“Side quest #4: Evil must be completely eradicated. Change the situation, in progress...”
When he saw that the quest interface had refreshed, Lu Zhou sighed.
“To tame the eighth disciple means that I have to find him...With my current cultivation base, this is no different from digging my own grave,” Lu Zhou said to himself. “I must consider things carefully and not act too rashly.”
He thought of the three villainous disciples. Even if he did not ground them, it would be a risk to keep them so close to him. After all, the truth would come to light sooner or later.
Only Little Yuan’er was the most reliable.
Her cultivation base was at the Divine Court realm, her loyalty was the highest, and she was the youngest. So, she was the most suitable disciple to keep beside him, and he could also teach her the truth of life, killing two birds with one stone.
When he thought of that, Lu Zhou slowly got up and returned to the Evil Sky Pavilion.
“I still have a reversal card. I have to use it before anything else.”
The Evil Sky Pavilion was the residence of Ji Tiandao and his disciples on Golden Court Mountain. It was situated at the top of the mountain, a quiet and serene place.
...
Three days later, at the headquarter of the Tigerridge Gang...
“How is the investigation going?”
“I had sent men to rush to the Golden Court Mountain with a flying chariot. The battle there was intense, so our men did not dare to get too close. But...but some cultivators told them that they saw an avatar with their own eyes.”
“An avatar? What kind of avatar was it?”
“The avatar was one hundred feet tall and twenty feet wide, surrounded by golden light and had an eight-leaf golden lotus under it.”
Plop!
Zhu Honggong fell from his throne. His air of a powerful lord was gone, and his face had turned extremely unsightly while his legs were shaking.
The person who had an avatar that was one hundred feet tall near Golden Court Mountain could only be his master. After a Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar was condensed, it would grow ten feet taller with every additional leaf it produced.
Zhu Honggong was shaking all over. ‘It is really Master...What should I do... What should I do...’
Inside the Evil Sky Pavilion...
Lu Zhou used the reversal card, restoring his remaining life to 613 days. After a few days of rest, he had become more energetic.
“This card only gives me 300 days of life, which is not as good as the first one,” Lu Zhou murmured to himself.
He had become a little younger again. In terms of appearance, he had not changed much, except that he had a few more black hair and looked more energetic.
“I still have 150 merit points...So miserably few!”
Lu Zhou did not practice all the messy cultivation techniques in his mind, including those taught to his disciples. Instead, he planned to redeem new cultivation techniques from the shopping mall.
He did not want to repeat Ji Tiandao’s mistakes.
While a man’s good and evil should not be judged by others, it must be Ji Tiandao’s character and the way he treated others that had reduced him to such a state, where even his disciples had rebelled against him. And the degree to which a man could do evil was inextricably linked to the cultivation techniques he had practiced.
Just as he was deep in thought, a voice came from outside the door.
“Master, Little Yuan’er wishes to see you.”
“Come in!”
Little Yuan’er pushed open the door and walked in with tiny steps. When she saw her master sitting cross-legged on the ground, she chuckled and said, “Master, you are getting younger again.”
“Sweet talk,” Lu Zhou raised a hand and gently knocked her on the head.
“Master, you are really amazing!”
“Am I?”
“You are the only one in today’s world who can force back the top ten experts on your own,” Little Yuan’er said admiringly.
Lu Zhou did not say anything. He did that with the experience card, so it was not worth mentioning.
Little Yuan’er blinked her big eyes and said again, “Master, you had told me before that we can kill anyone we want as long as we are strong enough. But, why didn’t you kill Senior Brothers and Sister?”
“...”
Lu Zhou’s eyes fell on Little Yuan’er. He did not expect this little girl to have such dangerous thoughts.
“Yuan’er.”
“Yes, Master?”
“You must forget all the truth and words I have told you before...”
“Oh, I will!”
Lu Zhou noticed a hesitant look on her face. While shaking his head, he said, “Just say what you have to say...I won’t blame you.”
“Master, you once promised me one thing... Do I have to forget it as well?” Little Yuan’er summoned up her courage and asked.
What did the old villain promise her before?
Lu Zhou quickly searched his memory, but he could not find any relevant information. It seemed that after he had traveled into this old villain’s body, much of the memory was lost.
“What did I promise you?” Lu Zhou was puzzled.
“Master, you said that as long as I can reach the Divine Court realm, you will give the jade horsetail whisk...”
Although Lu Zhou did not remember anything about the promise, he knew the jade horsetail whisk. It was a heaven-grade treasure that could greatly increase a cultivator’s power.
However, after Lu Zhou traveled into Ji Tiandao’s body, all his items had disappeared. How was he going to give it to her?
He also understood why the old villain did that. The betrayal of his disciples had challenged his authority. If he did not weaken his disciples, everyone would betray him sooner or later. It was a helpless move.
But, words uttered were like spilled water after all.
“Of course, you have to forget that as well!”
Little Yuan’er was disappointed.
Lu Zhou went on, “But, I will give you another heaven-grade treasure. Horsetail whisks are usually used by elderly cultivators, and it doesn’t look nice when used by a little girl like you.”
Little Yuan’er was overjoyed when she heard that, and she quickly bowed and said, “Thank you, Master!”
Lu Zhou nodded slightly and said, “I have a task for you.”
“I’m at your service, Master.”
“There are still some orthodox cultivators secretly watching us around Golden Court Mountain. I want you to settle them.”
“I’ll complete the task.”
“Go now.”
The moment she left Evil Sky Pavilion, she drifted down the mountain swiftly and gracefully like a swallow. About ten minutes later, Lu Zhou heard the system prompt.
“You’ve killed a villain and received 10 merit points.”
“You’ve killed a villain and received 10 merit points.”