Chapter 90: Be Gentle, Senior Brother
The green-clad swordsman did not look at the black-clad man who stood behind him. A smile bloomed on his face before he said, “Tell your sect master that I have no intention of taking lives today. Tell him that I’m sorry.”
For some reason, when the black-clad man heard the word, ‘sorry’, he took a step back in spite of himself. He said awkwardly, “Senior, you killed the Sword Freak, Chen Wenjie, previously. Who’s your next target?”
The green-clad swordsman gave the black-clad man a sideways glance, causing the black-clad man to retreat further. He was quite frightened, worried that the green-clad swordsman would say he was the next target.
“Don’t worry, I’ve always been a gentle and polite person. Your sect master knows that well,” the green-clad swordsman said indifferently.
“Uh... I’m just feeling pressured from your powerful aura, senior. I hope you’re not offended by this.” The black-clad man’s knees were knocking against each other at this moment.
“It’s fine,” the green-clad swordsman said gently, “Thank you for passing on information for me these days.”
The black-clad man wiped the sweat off his face as he sighed in relief.
The green-clad swordsman continued to say, “If I ever plan to kill you, I’ll let you know beforehand, my friend.” He had clearly paused for a moment before he added the words, ‘my friend’.
“...” The black-clad man felt like crying. ‘You plan to tell your target you’re going to kill them before you kill them?’ He no longer dared to say anything, he only stood silently at the back.
The green-clad swordsman continued observing the Black Knights. He shook his head and sighed before he said, “Fan Xiuwen, the leader of the Black Knights has been in there for half a day. I doubt he’ll be coming back out.”
“S-senior, won’t you wait a little longer?”
“It’s boring.” The green-clad swordsman turned around and left. After walking about 100 meters away into the forest, he disappeared into thin air.
The black-clad man stumbled, nearly losing his footing. He heaved a long sigh. ‘This mission will be the end of me!’ After he calmed down, he continued to observe the Black Knights. At this moment, he saw a person flying out of the barrier. The person circled above the Black Knights before he came to a halt. “Evil Sky Pavilion’s Mingshi Yin?”
No matter how well-trained the Black Knights were, they could not help but take several steps back under Mingshi Yin’s intimidating aura. In the end, they could only helplessly leave the Golden Court Mountain.
The black-clad man nodded to himself as he muttered under his breath, “No wonder Senior Sword Devil left. Even Fan Xiuwen who has an Eight-leaf avatar is helpless against the Evil Sky Pavilion... The old villain is truly impressive!” It did not take long before he left the forest as well.
...
Evil Sky Pavilion.
Lu Zhou looked at his merit points on the system dashboard. He had 2,210 merit points left. The reward for capturing Fan Xiuwen was much less compared to killing a Nascent Divinity Tribulation realm elite.
‘I have 5 luck points... I did two draws previously, and all I got was a ‘thank you’ and ‘too bad’ message.’ Lu Zhou considered it for a moment. ‘Perhaps, I should try again. After all, third time’s the charm...’
“Lucky draw. Ding! Spent 50 merit points on a lucky draw. Thank you for participating. Luck +1.”
Lu Zhou shook his head. He resisted the urge to make another draw. ‘This is the same as refining a weapon. I have to be patient and wait for an opportunity. I can’t let it get to my head.’
Name: Lu Zhou
Race: Human
Cultivation base: Brahman Sea Eight Meridians
Merit points: 2,160
Avatar: Mighty Four Quadrants
Remaining life: 5,801 days
Item: Deadly Strike Card x 1, Impeccable Card x 2, Critical Block Card x 7 (passive), Cage Bind x 5, Whitzard, Bi An.
Weapon: Unnamed, Amorous Hoop (Owner: Ye Tianxin. Requires re-refining before use.)
Cultivation method: Thee Scrolls of Heavenly Writing
“Five Energy Universe costs 8,000 merit points...” Lu Zhou muttered to himself with a frown. He did not think he would have enough points even if he killed Fan Xiuwen and the others. He sighed, ‘And this is only the Five Energy Universe. I’m certain the Six Recombinant Trigram Lines, Seven Star Soul, and Eight Methods Connected aren’t any cheaper than the Five Energy Universe.’
Lu Zhou waved his arm, and the dashboard disappeared. There was no need to feel embarrassed about this. He was just starting out compared to Ji Tiandao who had lived to almost a millennium. ‘Hasty men don’t get to eat hot tofu.’
At this moment, Mingshi Yin ran into the great hall and said, “Master, I’ve locked our captives up. There won’t be any problem, master.” When he saw Lu Zhou was deep in thought, he quickly bowed, obviously trying to flatter Lu Zhou.
Perhaps, Lu Zhou was used to it, he did not feel particularly special. For all he cared, Mingshi Yin could flatter him forever. ‘This fellow, I think he’s possessed by Heshen.”
“What’s the matter?” Lu Zhou asked indifferently.
“Master, Fan Xiuwen is stubbornly refusing to reveal the mastermind behind the Fish Dragon Village’s incident. However, I have a suggestion...” With a smile on his face, Mingshi Yin made a hammering motion.
Lu Zhou said, “Fan Xiuwen is the leader of the Black Knights. If he’s capable of reaching that position, do you think your torture is enough to make him talk?”
“Well, what if he refuses to talk?” Mingshi Yin asked in confusion.
“There’s no hurry.” Lu Zhou stood up slowly. He walked down the stairs with his hands on his back as he continued saying, “The mastermind must be holding something over Fan Xiuwen’s head.”
Mingshi Yin asked tentatively, “Are... Are you planning to deal with the palace, master?”
Lu Zhou’s expression was calm. He did not answer the question. Currently, the only person capable of obtaining information from the palace was Jiang Aijian since he had access to the palace’s archives. However, that was before Jiang Aijian left the palace. Now that he had left, it was unlikely that he would be able to access the palace’s archives. Moreover, this matter was a tightly-guarded secret.
A thought suddenly appeared unbidden in Lu Zhou’s mind. ‘What if the palace leaked the archive on purpose to use the Evil Sky Pavilion and the Black Knights as pawns?’ After thinking about it, he called out, “Mingshi Yin!”
“Yes, master.”
“I’ll leave interrogating Fan Xiuwen to you,” Lu Zhou said with a wave of his hand.
Mingshi Yin replied respectfully, “Yes, master. I’ll interrogate this person thoroughly and find out the mastermind behind the incident as soon as I can!” After saying that, he paused for a moment before he continued to say, “Master, Fan Xiuwen is such a powerful person. The two Dark Knights we imprisoned are also elites. I’ve just entered the Nascent Divinity Tribulation recently, and I don’t even have a suitable weapon. Would you...”
“Get lost.”
“Yes, master!” Mingshi Yin immediately swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and ran out of the pavilion. A bitter expression appeared on his face. ‘It seems like my achievements have to be befitting of the type of weapon I want.’ He felt his heart wrench when he recalled the broken knife.
“Old Fourth?”
“Who’s that?” Mingshi Yin asked irritably. He was not in a good mood at this moment.
Duanmu Sheng appeared, brandishing the Overlord Spear. “Old Fourth, come spar with me! Look at my Overlord Spear!”
“T-third Senior Brother? I have something I need to attend to...”
“That won’t do. You’re the only person in the entire Evil Sky Pavilion who can spar with me. Pan Zhong and Zhou Jifeng aren’t enough. I can’t even get a good exercise out of them.” Duanmu Sheng walked over and patted Mingshi Yin’s shoulder.
Mingshi Yin’s eyes darted around as he said, “Master has ordered me to interrogate Fan Xiuwen today... it’s related to the Fish Dragon Village incident. Senior Brother, why don’t you spar with Little Junior Sister?”
Speak of the she-devil. Little Yuan’er sailed through the air and landed on a branch above their heads. “I’ll tell master two of you are bullying me!” As soon as she finished speaking, she left.
“...” Duanmu Sheng frowned. He said with a sigh, “You can interrogate Fan Xiuwen later. It’ll only take a moment...” He patted Mingshi Yin’s shoulder again.
“S-senior Brother, b-be gentle...”