Chapter 977: The Runic Passage

As a master, Lu Zhou tended to underestimate his disciples. It was just like how in the eyes of the older generation, the younger children would always seem like children no matter how old they had grown. Therefore, he would always remind himself to have more confidence in his disciples and give them more freedom. He had even allowed Yu Zhenghai to ‘leave him’ after completing his apprenticeship. Even then, at this moment, he still felt that he had underestimated his two disciples.

Yu Shangrong’s control over his avatar had exceeded Lu Zhou’s expectations. His avatar’s mobility was almost no different from that of a human. The battle seemed like a three-man battle, but it was, in fact, a four-man battle. From the beginning to the end, the whiteguard did not notice this and disregarded his avatar. It was not surprising since the whiteguard had lived for a long time and was set in ways; how could he regard a Ten-leaf avatar as a threat?

Lu Zhou could tell the duo’s performance not only surprised him, but it had terrified the whiteguard as well.

…

Tian Ming’s eyes were wide open as blood dripped down from the tip of the golden-green leaf. Due to the excessive force the leaf was stabbed at him, the blood splattered on his face as well, causing him to look ghastly. His eyes brimmed with disbelief; he could not understand how someone with ten leaves could be so strong. It was illogical!

“You!”

The golden avatar stabbed Tian Ming again with the second golden leaf.

Everyone knew that lotus leaves were sharp; they were not inferior to some high-grade weapons. However, since it was attached to the lotus, it was rather difficult to use the leaves to attack.

Even Yu Zhenghai was surprised by Yu Shangrong’s astonishing performance.

Tian Ming gritted his teeth and said resolutely, “Even if I die, both of you must die with me!”

Buzz!

Tian Ming’s avatar appeared as its astrolabe appeared and slammed into Yu Shangrong’s avatar.

The avatar used the remaining golden leaves to block the force of the white astrolabe.

“Get out of the way!” Yu Shangronrg suddenly turned around and struck with his palm.

The palm seal hit Yu Zhenghai’s astrolabe.

“Are you crazy!” Yu Zhenghai naturally did not think to guard against Yu Shangrong, therefore, he was easily pushed away.

Yu Shangrong brandished the Longevity Sword as his eyes flashed with determination. This was probably the fastest speed he had ever swung his sword.

The white astrolabe spun in place. Instead of releasing beams of light, it shot out countless energy seals instead.

When Yu Shangrong saw an opening, his avatar disappeared again and appeared behind Tian Ming, preparing to stab with the leaves again.

Nevertheless, Tian Ming had learned from his mistake. He had expected this so he released the vitality energy in his body in a frenzy.

Boom!

The vitality energy landed on Yu Shangrong, sending him flying back. While he flew backward, he tossed the Longevity Sword out.

Like a streak of light, the Longevity Sword flew into the golden avatar’s hands.

Golden light flashed brightly as the avatar swung the Longevity Sword down with all its might.

Bang!

This move successfully severed one of the white avatar’s arms.

…

“Ding! Destroyed one Birth Chart. Reward: 6,000 merit points.”

…

Tian Ming seemed to have lost his mind as he continued to release his vitality energy as though he intended to throw his life away.

As the saying went, ‘Those who are strong aren’t afraid of the strong; they’re afraid of those who’re reckless.’

At this moment, it was clear Tian Ming no longer cared about his life anymore. After the explosion of energy pushed Yu Shangrong back, he flashed in front of Yu Shangrong and attacked with a black object.

Yu Shangrong used all his strength and retaliated at this moment when Tian Ming left himself vulnerable.

Ten golden leaves shot out and pierced Tian Ming’s heart.

“You’re dead.”

Bang!

Tian Ming’s palm that was holding the black object landed on Yu Shangrong’s shoulder. He felt his arm go numb immediately as he fell down.

At this moment, Yu Zhenghai flashed forward. The water dragon roared as he held the astrolabe and released his Birth Chart power.

Bang!

Yu Zhenghai’s Birth Chart power accurately landed on Tian Ming’s Birth Palace.

The Water Dragon Song, along with the Jasper Saber, was like a hot knife through butter as it cut through Tian Ming’s Birth Palace.

When Yu Zhenghai raised his head, he saw the cold smile and the expression on Tian Ming’s face that made Tian Ming seem indifferent about life or death. “Goodbye!”

Boom!

The white avatar exploded. The shockwave from the explosion spanned a radius of thousands of meters.

Yu Zhenghai flew backward as the Water Dragon Song scattered and the Jasper Saber spun a few times in the air.

…

“Ding! Killed a target. Reward: 8,000 merit points. Domain bonus: 2,000 merit points.”

…

In the gloomy ruins in the Southern Kingdom.

After the shockwave from the explosion died down, silence returned.

Yu Zhenghai panted heavily as he lay on his back and looked at the sky. After a moment, he asked, “Are you alright?”

Yu Shangrong, who was sitting nearby, replied, “I won’t die.”

“I didn’t expect even after working together, we barely killed him,” Yu Zhenghai said as he pushed himself up. His arms were numb, his body was sore, and his blood qi was surging. When he turned around to look at Yu Shangrong, he discovered Yu Shangrong was abnormally still. An ominous feeling rose in his heart immediately. “Second Junior Brother…”

“I’m fine…” The words sounded weak and unconvincing.

Knowing Yu Shangrong, after killing their opponent, Yu Shangrong would rise to his feet gracefully and sheathe his Longevity Sword before he asked with his back facing Yu Zhenghai, “Eldest Senior Brother, what do you think about my sword technique?”

However, this was not the case. Yu Zhenghai propped his body up despite the chaos in his Dantian’s sea of Qi. After all, he had just entered the Thousand Realms Whirling not long ago, and his foundation was not stable. He struggled until he came to Yu Shangrong’s side, and he saw the unnatural expression on Yu Shangrong’s face. When he looked down, he saw a wound on Yu Shangrong’s arm. “You’re injured.”

“It’s just a small injury.” Yu Shangrong was already sitting cross-legged, trying to adjust his breathing and heal his injuries.

At this moment, wisps of black smoke rose from Yu Shangrong’s arm.

“A poisonous spike is lodged in there! We have to pull it out,” Yu Zhenghai said.

Yu Shangrong said, “I didn’t expect that whiteguard would use such a despicable and shameless method.”

“You shouldn’t have pushed me back,” Yu Zhenghai said in a slightly reproachful tone.

“What’s done is done. There’s no point talking about it anymore. In the end, we managed to kill him,” Yu Shangrong replied.

“That’s true.” Yu Zhenghai nodded slightly. If they could not win earlier, they would have to find a way to escape. After a moment, he surveyed his surroundings. The rubble in the ruins was already reduced to dust from their fight.

…

At night.

The moon that rarely made an appearance in the night sky of the Southern Kingdom shone through the thin clouds to the ground tonight.

“Let’s go.”

The duo was prepared to leave when many pairs of red eyes accompanied by the sounds of heavy footsteps rang in the night air.

Upon seeing this, Yu Zhenghai shook his head helplessly. “Second Junior Brother, it seems like our luck isn’t very good today…”

“They’re just beasts. We can just fly away.”

“You’re wrong. There are flying beasts as well…”

In the sky, there were flying beasts with sharp talons that resembled goshawks.

Although small fierce beasts did not pose much of a threat to them, among these beasts, there were larger beasts that looked like they might be Birth Chart Beasts.

“It’s said that the Southern Kingdom is treacherous and fraught with danger. Cultivators who journeyed deep into this place were eaten by fierce beasts. It seems like the rumors are true…” Yu Zhenghai said.

…

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The sound of water dripping brought Lu Zhou back to his senses. He frowned when he discovered he had depleted his supreme mystic power.

‘It’s amazing enough that with their cultivation bases they managed to kill a Three Chart Thousand Realms Whirling expert. How are they going to deal with the fierce beasts now?’ Lu Zhou’s frown deepened.

Based on the whiteguards’ conversation earlier, they were waiting for a special Birth Chart Beast that was supposed to appear in a month. It was not a month yet, but no one could say for sure that it would not arrive early.

“Should I return using Di Jiang?” It would take him five to six days to return; he might make it back in time. However, the long journey was too troublesome.

Before he continued thinking, he asked someone to summon Shen Xi over.

After receiving the summon, Shen Xi did not dare to delay and very quickly he arrived in the eastern pavilion with Pan Zhong. The duo bowed respectfully. “Greetings, Pavilion Master.”

Lu Zhou pointed at a chair in the hall and said, “Sit.”

After taking a seat, Shen Xi asked, “Pavilion Master, what are your orders?”

“The Black Tower Council travels using runic passages to monopolize Birth Chart Beasts, am I right?”

“Yes,” Shen Xi replied, “The inscription of the runic passage is done by a rune master. All cultivators can use them as long as they know how to activate the runic passages and have sufficient Primal Qi. Needless to say, one has to know where the runic passage leads to as well before traveling through it. When the entrance and the exit of a runic passage resonates, the passage will open…”

“I want to go to the Southern Kingdom as soon as possible, preferably within the month. Do you have any suggestions?” Lu Zhou asked.

A troubled expression appeared on Shen Xi’s face before he replied truthfully, “When I left the Black Tower Council, I brought along many talismans with me. However, I don’t know how to inscribe the inscriptions for a runic passage.”

Lu Zhou stroked his beard and continued thinking to himself.

After a while, Shen Xi said, “However, the Black Tower Council had left a runic passage between the golden lotus domain and the red lotus domain. Perhaps, we can… we can borrow it…”

“Continue.”

“When you killed the blackguard and whiteguard north of the Divine Capital previously, I arrived in the golden lotus domain using that runic passage. Before we escaped, we asked around about a few runic passages, and we learned that the runic passage north of the Divine Capital is linked to the red lotus domain…”

Lu Zhou nodded. “Alright, it’s decided then. We’ll use that runic passage. Make the necessary preparations, and we’ll leave for the red lotus domain in a few days’ time.”

Shen Xi said uneasily upon hearing Lu Zhou’s words, “Pavilion Master, I’m afraid this will thoroughly infuriate the Black Tower Council. The Black Tower Council and the White Tower Council place utmost importance on their runic passages and guard them strictly. If we do this, we’ll definitely draw the two councils’ wrath to the Evil Sky Pavilion…”

Indeed, drawing fire to oneself was not wise. Nevertheless, Lu Zhou only said, “Your worries are not without reason. However, I know what to do. You can take your leave now.”

“Understood.”