Lu Zhou hurriedly raised his hand and interjected, "Monastery Master Xia, don't misunderstand me. I only hope all of you will be able to live to your full potential, but… I have no intention of forcing any of you to stay!"
"Yes, yes, yes..." Xia Changqiu hastily said.
However, Xia Changqiu's words seemed to have stunned the geniuses.
Huang Yu asked curiously, "Senior Lu, do you really intend to rebuild the Sky Research Court?"
"Well, if you want to rebuild it, we'll rebuild it. If you want to, then it's fine as well," Lu Zhou said.
The geniuses were delighted.
"Then, can you return my possessions to me?"
"The things in the Literary Star Warehouse are yours to begin with…" Lu Zhou replied calmly.
"You'll satisfy all our needs?"
Lu Zhou said resolutely, "No, I won't promise such a thing. However, as long as it doesn't go against my morality, I'll agree to everything."
The geniuses understood the reasoning behind this answer. Moreover, why would people help them if they were completely inflexible?
Huang Yu was the first to raise his hand and said, "Good! I'll stay!"
With Huang Yu taking the lead, the others raised their hands and agreed one after another.
Lu Zhou nodded in satisfaction as he said, "Very good."
At this moment, Li Yunzheng chimed in, "Then, I will also write a decree for the Sky Martial Court to be demolished and for the Sky Research Court to be rebuilt!"
Meanwhile, Wang Dachui held the Longevity Sword carefully and hurriedly said, "Leave this sword to me! If I can't repair it, I'll personally chop my head off and present it to you on a platter, Senior Lu!"
The beggar-like man said, "Dachui, stop showing off! I can repair it as well! It's not your turn to brag. Give it to me!" He walked up to Wang Dachui and began arguing over the Longevity Sword.
"Hey, don't fight me over it! Serious matters should be left to the professionals! What do you know? Get out of the way! No one's allowed to get close to this sword!" Wang Dachui said indignantly. He held the Longevity Sword tightly against his body as he looked at his peers vigilantly.
"..."
Although Lu Zhou managed to convince these talented people to stay, they needed to be managed. Then, he thought of Si Wuya. In a way, Si Wuya was similar to these people. He decided not to dwell on the matter. When Si Wuya arrived, he would let Si Wuya think of a solution.
Following that, Lu Zhou said, "Don't forget my second request."
Everyone quieted down and looked at Lu Zhou.
"Luo Xuan?"
The geniuses' excitement faded immediately as soon as Luo Xuan was mentioned.
"Senior Lu, Luo Xuan is the ultimate genius of the Sky Research Court! It's pity! It's truly a pity that she's a fool now."
Lu Zhou asked skeptically, "A fool?"
"We're not sure what's going on either… We were imprisoned by Yu Chenshu before she returned. To capture us all at once, he invited everyone from the Sky Research Court to a banquet. Later, he sealed our cultivation bases and imprisoned us under the Literary Star Gate."
"The Literary Star Gate..." Lu Zhou turned to look at the Literary Star Gate. This was where the beams of light converge before shooting out that towering pillar of light at him.
"Senior Lu, I'll go and save Luo Xuan now."
"Wait." Lu Zhou turned around with his hands on his back. "I'll go."
Everyone nodded.
Huang Yu looked at the people from the Sky Research Court and asked, "I'll go with Senior Lu... Do you want to come with us?"
"No, no, no! It's so smelly I could die! Even if you beat me to death, I'm not going! You go!"
Following that, Huang Yu and He Zhong walked to Lu Zhou.
Huang Yu said, "I'll lead the way."
Lu Zhou's entourage followed him as well as Huang Yu led them to the Literary Star Gate.
While they were walking, Huang Yu asked tentatively, "Senior Lu, do you know Luo Xuan?"
"We met once," Lu Zhou answered truthfully. Their meeting was limited to one-half of the memory crystal.
Huang Yu said with a sigh, "She's the most talented person in our Sky Research Court. She even created the Water Shuttle at such a young age. It's truly a pity..."
"Was she very powerful?" Lu Zhou asked.
"She had already reached the Ten-leaf stage. However, she spent most of her energy studying the ten-leaf level, but most of her energy was spent studying the other worlds. She was the first person to discover the golden lotus domain and the black lotus domain. 300 years ago, she created the Water Shuttle and traveled through the Black Water Mystic Cave. After that, she disappeared for quite some time. For some reason, when she returned it was as though she had become a fool. She's locked in the deepest part of the underground prison by that old fart, Yu Chenshu," Huang Yu said.
After a brief pause, Huang Yu continued to say, "It's not an exaggeration to say that if she had focused on her cultivation, she wouldn't be inferior to Yu Chenshu. After sprouting the tenth leaf, she began researching some kind of potion or something. She wanted to create something that could help humans raise their cultivation bases and break the limit of the Birth Charts and the Thousand Realms Whirling stage. She experimented on herself, causing her Ten-leaf cultivation base to be incredibly unstable. She really suffered a lot…"
After a while, Huang Yu stopped in his tracks and said, "Senior Lu, we're here."
Little Yuan'er and Conch who had followed their master came to a stop as well.
From the beginning until now, Conch's expression had been slightly unnatural. She felt inexplicably familiar with this place.
Huang Yu pointed at the stone pillar and said, "This is the most powerful part of the god-killing formation. The Sky Martial Court used it to gather a large amount of energy for the god-killing formation. Once its power is released through this stone pillar, even a Birth Chart master would have a difficult time."
They had all seen the power of this stone pillar with their own eyes. It was really impressive that the Sky Research Court created such a powerful formation.
"Open it." Huang Yu pointed at the Literary Star Gate.
He Zhong walked to the side with a smile and said, "Would you believe me if I say I can open this lock with my fingernail?"
"Stop showing off. Hurry up," Huang Yu urged He Zhong.
"You're no fun!" He Zhong raised two fingers as a surge of energy entered the keyhole. Then, with a click, the lock was opened. After his cultivation base was unsealed, he could now condense energy. It was nothing to unlock a lock.
Creak!
The Literary Star Gate opened.
Lu Zhou and Huang Yu walked in the lead.
Soon enough, Huang Yu brought everyone to the underground prison.
The dark underground prison was unsettling and made one feel rather uncomfortable.
At this moment, Little Yuan'er discovered Conch's unnatural expression, "Conch, what's wrong?"
Conch shook her head. "Senior sister, I'm... I'm fine... I'm just a little dizzy."
Lu Zhou stopped walking and turned back to look at Little Yuan'er and Conch. Then, he said, "Yuan'er, bring Conch out."
"Okay." Little Yuan'er reached out to support Conch.
However, Conch waved her hand and said, "Master, I'm fine. There's no need for me to leave…"
"Are you sure you're fine?" Lu Zhou flicked his finger, and a golden seal floated forward.
One gave birth to two, two gave birth to four, four gave birth to eight… In just a moment, the dark underground prison was lit up.
Conch nodded. "I'm really fine. I'm just a little dizzy! Maybe it's the airflow here…"
"Okay."
Lu Zhou and the others continued to move forward. They continued walking; it was as though there was no end to the underground prison.
A sour stench permeated the entire place while in the prisons on both sides, chains and shackles could be seen.
A skeleton could also be seen sitting in one of the prison cells.
It was truly shocking. To think the people from the Sky Research Court were imprisoned here for 100 years.
Even after walking for 15 minutes, they had yet to reach the end.
Li Yunzheng stopped in front of a prison cell. He knocked on the iron door angrily and said, "Yu Chenshu! If he is still alive, I will definitely chop him into pieces!"
Although Li Yunzheng was young, he was not unfamiliar with hardships. For many years, he lived a lonely life in the royal palace that was like a prison. Fortunately, he survived it.
When he saw two rows of prison cells, smelled the indescribable stench, the corpses, and the bones, how could he not feel pain on their behalf? Compared to the people from the Sky Research Court, his life was incredibly comfortable.
Everyone wanted a carefree life, but how many could have such a life?
Moreover, in an environment such as this, how was it possible to talk about dreams and the future? Just being able to leave the place and breathe the fresh air probably already felt like a huge blessing.
Huang Yu and He Zhong's heart was moved by Li Yunzheng's reaction.
At this moment, Huang Yu finally said, "The door to the inner room, where Luo Xuan is being held, is up ahead. Yu Chenshu prepared a special prison for her and kept her apart from us. We haven't seen her in a long time. Yu Chenshu came here once a month. I don't know what her condition is like now so Senior Lu, you should mentally prepare yourself…"