Lu Zhou, naturally, deliberately manifested his Nine-leaf avatar so the people would worship him. He thought he would fail, but who knew it would turn out to be a success? According to the system, he could scheme or force people to worship him. However, what he just did worked.
Perhaps, the timing was important. Or maybe the people worshipping him had to be sincere and truly grateful for him to earn merit points. That was why he did not earn merit points from those cultivators who only acted respectful to him.
He was lucky this time around. If this was any other city, the people would only be temporarily awed. They would not go so far as to worship him.
The Disguise Card cost him 10,000 merit points. The cost was truly high. He could not afford to take risks. It was clear to him that the event that led to the worshiping was the key.
Ten seconds passed in an instant, and his avatar disappeared.
The cultivators who hovered above Qiong Qi’s carcass were still in awe.
“Senior Ji is unrivaled. He’s a Nine-leaf cultivator, but he can kill Qiong Qi with an Eight-leaf cultivation base.”
“That just shows how confident he was… We’re Eight-leaf cultivators as well, but we couldn’t take down Qiong Qi even if we joined forces. In contrast, Senior Ji overpowered Qiong Qi on his own. Although we’re using the Eight-leaf stage strength, we’re as different as heaven and earth.”
Nan Gongwei and Feng Yizhi’s minds were filled with many thoughts.
At this moment, someone next to them said, “Senior Ji aside, the Evil Sky Pavilion’s first disciple, Yu Zhenghai, and second disciple, Yu Shangrong, have never lost a single battle, and they’re both Eight-leaf cultivators as well. During the battle on Cloud Radiant Forest, both of them were evenly matched. Although they’re peerless among Eight-leaf cultivators, there’s a rumor that both of them couldn’t even defeat Senior Ji when they joined forces.”
With this series of events, Lu Zhou was now invincible in their hearts.
Back at the Evil Sky Pavilion.
Si Wuya and Mingshi Yin went to the eastern pavilion immediately to greet Lu Zhou.
Bi An landed before the hall.
When Mingshi Yin saw the little pup, Qiong Qi, beside his master and on Bi An’s back, he frowned. “What’s that?”
Si Wuya turned to look as well. He did not recognize Qiong Qi.
“Welcome back, master.” The fourth and seventh disciples bowed in unison.
Lu Zhou leaped off Bi An. With a wave of his hand, little Qiong Qi fell off Bi An’s back.
He did not expect little Qiong Qi to adapt to external environments so quickly throughout their rushed journey. Its footing was already stable. Perhaps, this was the beasts’ strength.
“Master, this is…” Mingshi Yin pointed at little Qiong Qi with a confused expression.
Woof! Woof! Woof.
Little Qiong Qi flapped its wings at Mingshi Yin. Its fur had flattened and looked neat. With this, it resembled a silly little puppy even more.
“Heh… I didn’t offend you, did I?” Mingshi Yin looked at little Qiong Qi.
Little Qiong Qi wagged its tail and ran over. It sniffed around but seemed to find the scent unbearable. It rolled over with its feet facing the skies.
Mingshi Yin. “…”
Lu Zhou glanced at the pup and said, “This beast is Qiong Qi.”
“Qiong Qi?” Si Wuya walked over; an expression of slight disbelief could be seen on his face. He did not expect there was such a little and cute Qiong Qi. Was this the beast that wreaked havoc in Yu Province City?
“Yu Province City’s problem has already been dealt with. This little Qiong Qi is the offspring of the Qiong Qi that wreaked havoc. Look after it,” Lu Zhou said.
The offspring of Qiong Qi?
Si Wuya clicked his tongue. Realization dawned on him before he said, “Congratulations on obtaining another mount, master.”
“A mount… This is a mount? Woof, I’ll bite you, you hear?”
Woof! Woof! Woof!
Little Qiong Qi and Mingshi Yin seemed to be bickering.
Si Wuya was rendered speechless by Mingshi Yin’s behavior. ‘How childish!’
At this moment, Little Yuan’er returned with Conch. Both of them were holding hands. When she saw little Qiong Qi rolling on the ground, her interest was instantly piqued.
“Fourth Senior Brother, what’s this?”
“Little Qiong Qi!”
Woof! Woof! Woof.
The two girls began to play with it.
Young girls always had a soft spot for cute animals that tried to be fierce, after all.
Lu Zhou remembered how ferocious the adult Qiong Qi was. He could hardly reconcile the image of the adult Qiong Qi with this little Qiong Qi. In the end, “Don’t underestimate Qiong Qi.”
Conch and Little Yuan’er played with it some more before standing respectfully before Lu Zhou.
“Master, Junior Sister Conch is now in the Nascent Divinity realm,” Little Yuan’er said.
Lu Zhou looked at Conch. Her speed was within his expectations. At the same time, he could not help but wonder if she was in her awakening state? If that was not the case, where did her cultivation base come from? Before Jiang Wenxu’s death, he denied the notes were left behind by Luo Shiyin. At that time, he inferred that it was impossible for Luo Shiyin to be Conch. In that case, what was the relationship between the two?
Despite his thoughts, Lu Zhou replied calmly, “Good.”
“I’ll continue to work hard!” Conch clenched her small hands.
Lu Zhou looked at Conch, feeling slightly hesitant. He was learning more about the red lotus domain by the day. Since Conch was from the red lotus world, would she one day stand against him?
There were good and bad people everywhere. Luo Shiyin left her notes here and encouraged Great Yan cultivators to improve themselves. On the other hand, Jiang Wenxu suppressed the progress of cultivation for his selfish reasons. Clearly, not everyone from the red lotus world was maniacs who only wanted to kill.
‘Forget it. I’ll deal with it when the time comes.’
Lu Zhou turned to look at little Qiong Qi and said, “Qiong Qi is still young. Who wants to look after it?”
“Me!”
“Me! Me! Me!”
Conch and Little Yuan’er raised their hands simultaneously.
Si Wuya took a step back; he was not interested in this.
Mingshi Yin raised his hand reluctantly. “Nice! Little pup, you have two ancestors as your new caretakers now. Off you go…” He nudged little Qiong Qi with his foot.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
Little Qiong Qi grabbed hold of Mingshi Yin’s right leg.
“What’s wrong with you? This is master’s order. I don’t have any time to spare for you. Get off!” Mingshi Yin tried to shake it off.
However, Qiong Qi only tightened its grip.
Lu Zhou found this strange as well.
Qiong Qi had acknowledged him as its master. He did not expect it to be so attached to another person.
“Mingshi Yin,” Lu Zhou said.
“Yes, master.”
“You’ll look after it,” Lu Zhou said.
“Huh?” He was stunned.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
Little Qiong Qi rubbed its face on Mingshi Yin’s foot.
Conch and Little Yuan’er said, “Master…” They had their own opinions.
Lu Zhou shook his head. “Qiong Qi is fiercer than Bi An. Are you sure that you want to look after it?”
The two girls shook their heads.
“Old Fourth… Any objections?” Lu Zhou asked.
No. I promise to take good care of it,” Mingshi Yin said with a stiff smile on his face.
Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!
Little Qiong Qi continued rubbing its face on Mingshi Yin’s leg.
Mingshi Yin was slightly annoyed by this.
Lu Zhou returned to his room.
He called up the system dashboard and checked his merit points.
Merit points: 45,140.
Items: Deadly Strike Card x2, Critical Block Card x72 (passive), Binding Cage Card x2, Whitzard (resting), Bi An, Ji Liang, Qiong Qi, Golden Taixu Mirror, Disguise Card x3, Reversal Card x350, Shining Stone x1.
Weapons: Unnamed, Life Cutter, Jade Horsetail Whisk, Spotless Dagger, High Void, Magistrate Brush.
He gained more than he thought he did.
According to his previous experiences with the lucky draw, this number of merit points should be enough for him to accumulate enough Reversal Cards.
“Lucky draw.”
“Ding! Spent 50 merit points. Obtained: Reversal Card x5.”
That was a nice start.
Lu Zhou decided to continue.