Chapter 791: An Intense Battle

Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong exchanged a glance. They tacitly flanked their junior sisters as they flew toward the golden flames.

The cultivators from the Sky Martial Court and the Flying Star House looked at Nie Qingyun who had flown out as well.

With Sikong Beichen and Nie Qingyun around, the Sky Martial Court and the Flying Star House did not dare to act rashly.

The Sky Martial Court had the support of Yu Chenshu, a Ten-leaf cultivator who managed to master the karmic fire. Meanwhile, the Flying Star House that had a good relationship with the Sky Martial Court had a Ten-leaf cultivator among their ranks as well.

The 10,000 cultivators flew out closely in a huge group. It made for a rather majestic sight.

“Where’s he going?”

“No idea. Just keep going after him!”

The cultivators kept moving.

Apart from the Ten-leaf cultivators, most of the cultivators had a hard time catching up to Lu Zhou and Ye Zhen. Fortunately, the Ten-leaf cultivators did not leave the others behind and adjusted their speed to accommodate the others.

Lu Zhou’s expression was calm as he flew toward the cage.

Ye Zhen had lost three lives consecutively and had suffered heavy injuries. Moreover, he was still in the process of sprouting a leaf. He wanted nothing more than to find a hole to hide in forever. At this moment, he finally landed on the northernmost observatory platform of the 12 peaks. His eyes were bloodshot as he looked at the cage that was sailing toward him before he shifted them to his red lotus.

“Sprout!” Ye Zhen channeled a huge amount of energy into his red lotus in a frenzy. He desperately hoped he would be able to break through to the Ten-leaf stage at the critical moment. This was his only hope of turning the tides of the battle.

The Binding Cage Card shone intensely with golden light that covered the entire round observatory platform.

The round observatory platform was several hundred feet wide and had four pillars in four directions. Apart from that, there were six huge rocks hovering in the air as though they were shackled in place by some unique Daoist veins.

Boom!

At this moment, the Binding Cage dropped on the observatory platform.

Boom!

The golden cage surrounded the 170-foot Nine Infants avatar on the observatory platform as soon as it dropped.

‘What is this?’ Ye Zhen looked up. Although he had read many books and was familiar with many cultivation paths, he could not identify the golden cage. At this moment, he finally realized just how superficial his understanding of the old man was. It seemed like... the number of leaves on a lotus was no longer an accurate way to measure someone’s cultivation base.

The cage disappeared soon after.

Lu Zhou dove and landed on the observatory tower. He stroked his beard with one hand on his back. He looked at Ye Zhen expressionlessly as he said, “You’re quite lucky.”

“Lucky?” Ye Zhen was baffled.

Lu Zhou looked at Ye Zhen’s spinning red lotus and said, “You have nowhere to run.”

“Don’t be so sure about that.” Ye Zhen stomped his feet.

The observatory platform’s Daoist veins shone.

Ye Zhen’s Confucian robes were shredded by a gust of energy and scattered in the wind. One could immediately see the Confucian runes that were inscribed on his body. Apart from that, there were also red symbols, lines, and the Nine Infants.

The 10,000 cultivators who had hurried over were shocked by this sight.

Ye Zhen’s performance kept renewing everyone’s knowledge. They knew he had a profound cultivation base and was knowledgeable. However, they did not expect him to have an unknown side to him as well. Not only did he worship the Nine Infants, but he had also inscribed the Nine Infants on his body and branded it on his blood and soul.

The karmic fire burned away at Ye Zhen’s robes before pieces of the robe turned into final talismans and rune seals above the observatory platform.

The Nine Infants inscribed on Ye Zhen’s body glowed faintly.

Lu Zhou kept his eyes on Ye Zhen.

At this moment, Ye Zhen said, “I’ve created many new cultivation paths over the past century. For example, the way to make my avatar appear humanoid, form different energy seals, and the way to enable my avatar to move freely and kill. This current technique is called Exchange of Life; I can exchange one life for an incredibly powerful attack.”

Ye Zhen struck with his palm as soon as he finished speaking. One of the three heads on his avatar drooped immediately.

A blast of red energy began to surge and swell, accompanied by the rune seals.

“You want to sacrifice one of your lives? You’re dreaming.” Lu Zhou raised his hand again. He tossed his final Thunderblast Card at Ye Zhen’s main body.

The others watched as a palm seal with lightning descended.

The fragments of the Confucian robes tried to repel the lightning bolt immediately.

Boom!

The Thunderblast passed through the rune seals in the air and hit Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen grunted in pain as he was sent flying by Thunderblast, spitting out blood. He looked at Lu Zhou incredulously.

Lu Zhou stepped forward. Unnamed materialized in his hand again. The black runes swirled around the blade. He unleashed his grand technique and appeared above Ye Zhen’s Nine Infants avatar. He brought his blade down mercilessly on the neck of one of the heads.

The energy around Unnamed slashed through the neck like a hot knife through butter.

Ye Zhen received another heavy blow. His expression was murderous as he glared at Lu Zhou. Blood trickled out of his orifices as the patterns on his body dimmed slightly. With a loud bang, he crashed against a huge pillar on the observatory platform.

At the same time, Ye Zhen’s spinning red lotus began to slow down.

The decapitated head fell and vanished, returning to nature.

“Ding! Killed a target. Reward: 4,500 merit points.”

Ye Zhen fell to the ground. He flipped and landed on his knees. He supported his weight with both hands on the ground. Exchange of Life was the technique he had the most confidence in, but it was still stopped by Lu Zhou. The difference between their strength was too great!

With this, Ye Zhen lost... again.

Lu Zhou withdrew Unnamed after his attack landed with utmost precision. He had moved at lightning speed that almost no one noticed the black runes on Unnamed. Moreover, Unnamed was glowing with golden energy and there were many red rune seals in the air that confused the others. All in all, it was incredibly difficult to notice the black runes.

Lu Zhou stroked his beard as he looked at Ye Zhen, who was kneeling on the ground, with a blank expression. “You’re really not tactful at all.”

“...”

The 10,000 cultivators remained silent, too afraid to make a sound.

‘Is Ye Zhen going to submit?’

“The difference is too great. Ye Zhen can’t possibly be a match for Brother Lu,” Sikong Beichen said confidently.

Meanwhile, the word ‘ said Sikong Beichen.

The words ‘not tactful’ grated on Ye Zhen’s nerves and stabbed his heart. He could hardly endure this. Blood continued to trickle out of his orifices onto the stone floor. After a beat, he channeled his Primal Qi from his palms into the stone floor.

The four pillars immediately formed pillars of light that sealed off the observatory platform. The six rocks hovering above the observatory platform shone before they merged and formed a Formation.

Then, Ye Zhen suddenly rose to his feet. He looked even more terrifying with blood flowing out of his eyes. This was a stark contrast to his earlier scholarly image.

Currently, Ye Zhen only had two leaves left on his avatar. Moreover, they looked weakened as well.

At this moment, Nie Qingyun suddenly remembered the Formation on this observatory. He led the others and retreated swiftly. “It’s the observatory’s Five Terminal Formation of the observatory platform! Move back!”

The others were shocked and swiftly moved back.

Sikong Beichen frowned slightly. “The Five Terminal Formation?”

“The Five Terminal Formation is a modification of the Ten Terminal Formation. It’s not as wide or grand as the Ten Terminal Formation, but it has the same effects,” Nie Qingyun said.

Sikong Beichen said to Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai, “Look after the others. I’ll go over to assist your master.”

“There’s no need to help my master,” Yu Zhenghai said, “You’ll understand soon.”

Great Yan’s Ten Terminal Formation was drawn by the Imperial tutor, Jiang Wenxu, who was actually a Flying Star House elder. Therefore, it was not surprising there were Formations in the red lotus domain that were similar to the Ten Terminal Formation in Great Yan.

The Five Terminal Formation was activated in just an instant.

Ye Zhen had practically exhausted his Primal Qi with this action. When he saw the had been successfully activated, he smiled, clearly pleased with himself. With the blood on his face, he looked vicious and terrifying when he smiled. He wiped the blood from his face as he looked at Lu Zhou murderously and said, “Old geezer, you’ve underestimated me... The Five Terminal Formation is complete. Most of the Primal Qi has been cut off. You can’t kill me, but I can kill you.”

Lu Zhou shook his head as though he was looking at a pitiable insect. He stroked his beard and said, “You’re really pitiful. You’re still unaware of the vast difference between us.”

“Let’s die together!” Ye Zhen stepped forward. With his final bit of Primal Qi, he lunged at Lu Zhou with his avatar.

The two heads bared their fangs.

At this moment, Lu Zhou formed an energy sword with two fingers. The blue energy sword slashed at the first head that descended on him with merciless precision.

Just like that, another head was decapitated.

“Ding! Killed a target. Reward: 4,500 merit points.”

Lu Zhou lowered his hand for a moment before raising it again. He pushed forward and channeled all his remaining extraordinary power into his hand and grabbed the neck of the final head on Ye Zhen’s avatar.

Ye Zhen’s eyes widened in horror. “Impossible!”

Lu Zhou’s expression remained calm. He thought the effort he had expended was rather worthwhile. After destroying this head, he would have taken seven of Ye Zhen’s lives. It was truly worth it!

At this moment, Lu Zhou was almost out of extraordinary power and he did not have much Primal Qi due to the Five Terminal Formation.

Similarly, Ye Zhen did not have much energy left as well. Nevertheless, he was adamant about sprouting the tenth leaf! Since most of the Primal Qi had been cut off by the Formation, his red lotus was spinning at an incredibly slow pace.

Lu Zhou shook his head and said evenly, “If I clench my hand slightly, you’ll die.”

“No, no, no...” Ye Zhen panicked.

At this moment, the observatory platform was silent.

The disciples and elders from the Flying Star House wanted to dive down, but with Nie Qingyun and Sikong Beichen in front of them, they did not dare to make a move,

At this moment, the Five Terminal Formation shattered.

The pillar of light disappeared, and the Daoist veins faded away.

At this moment, a scarlet figure shot toward the observatory platform and shouted, “How dare you harm a Flying Star House elder? Die!”

A scarlet energy sword that was dozens of feet long and 10 feet wide flew out toward Lu Zhou.

“The Ten-leaf Chen Tiandu!”

“The house master is here!”

Ye Zhen was invigorated. His voice trembled as he cried out, “House Master, save me! He’s out of Primal Qi!”

Chen Tiandu advanced with his 200-foot avatar and energy sword that was dozens of feet long.

Lu Zhou frowned slightly.

Sikong Beichen joined his palms together and shouted, “I’ll deal with him!”

Nie Qingyun stopped Sikong Beichen immediately. “What are you thinking?”

“Step aside!” Sikong Beichen said gruffly.

At the same time, Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai manifested their 150-foot avatars!

Nie Qingyun manifested his avatar as well!

Another great battle was about to begin!

The elders and disciples from the Flying Star House closed in.

At this moment, without letting go of the final Nine Infants’ head, Lu Zhou raised his left hand and threw a Deadly Strike Card out.

Abandon Wisdom!

The palm seal suddenly grew as large as Buddha’s palms!

The 10,000 cultivators held their breaths as they watched in shock.

Upon seeing this, Sikong Beichen recalled the scene in the Holy Palace. It was like deja vu. He said somewhat emotionally, “Finally! Brother Lu is finally no longer suppressing his realm.”

Nie Qingyun. “...”

The palm seal easily passed through the red energy sword and continued on its trajectory.

Boom!

It struck Chen Tiandu’s face and chest heavily, causing him to plummet 100 feet down to the foot of the mountain.

A palm-shaped chasm was left in the wake of this attack.

“Ding! Killed a target. Reward: 5,500 merit points. Domain extra: 1,500 merit points.”

“...”

The heavy atmosphere seemed to freeze due to this shocking and heaven-defying palm strike. No words could describe everyone’s feelings. The old man before their eyes easily killed a Ten-leaf cultivator with just a single strike. How could they not be shocked speechless?