Chapter 45: Offense Is The Best Defense   Lu Zhou shook his head and glanced further down.

“An Impeccable Card?”

‘Impeccable Card: Provides 10 seconds of damage immunity. 500 merit points.’

“This card is not bad. It’s almost like invincibility, but ten seconds is too short...I will still be under threat after that. If there are no good counterattacks, I’d rather use a card that can help me flee. Nevertheless, it is still a good card, but it must be used based on the actual situation.”

Lu Zhou did not rush to buy it but continued to look at other cards.

‘Deadly Strike Card: Provides an unspeakable power to deliver a fatal blow to the target. 500 merit points.’

Lu Zhou looked at the description of this card carefully.

As an online game enthusiast in his previous life, he knew that if an item he got from killing a monster had the deadly strike ability, it usually had a very low chance of being triggered. However, this card did not have such a limitation.

He looked to the right and then to the left but found no other description or limitation.

“Unspeakable power...What does it mean?” Lu Zhou was lost in thought. “No matter what power it is, this card should not be bad based on the description. I might buy it later...”

‘Top-grade Defense Card. Reduce damage by 90% for 30 seconds. 500 merit points.’

‘Second-grade Defense Card. Reduce damage by 60% for 30 seconds. 300 merit points.’

...

The more than a dozen cards after that were all defensive cards. Since Lu Zhou’s current cultivation base was only at the Sense Condensing realm, they were pretty much useless to him. After all, even after ninety percent of the damage was reduced, the remaining ten percent was still more than enough to kill him.

He shook his head. “These cards are less useful than the impeccable card. Wait a moment! Why are most of them defensive cards? Is the system trying to make me a coward? Does it want me to let others beat me like a punching bag without fighting back? This is not the fighting style of the villainous patriarch!”

He looked further down. There were only a few cards that showed question marks and did not even have descriptions. He guessed that the system must have hidden their descriptions and prices, just like what it did to the avatars of Thousand Realms Whirling and Myriad Supreme. All online game enthusiasts knew that it meant they were superior and powerful.

After going through all the cards, Lu Zhou chose three impeccable cards and three deadly strike cards. The combination gave him both offense and defense.

Suddenly, he had a terrible idea: What would happen if he attacked an impeccable card with a deadly strike card? Would it be the same as the tale of the strongest spear and the strongest shield? How could he try it? He felt a little embarrassed just thinking about it.

Anyhow, he chose to ignore the rest of the defensive cards because offense was the best defense. In just the blink of an eye, he had spent three thousand merit points. However, these cards did worth the price, so there was nothing to argue about.

“How should I use the remaining four thousand five hundred and forty merit points? Should I buy a few reversal cards to restore my lifespan?”

His body was the key to the recovery of his cultivation base, but the remaining merit points were only enough to buy nine reversal cards and give him about two thousand and seven hundred days of life. That was still much shorter than the lifespan he had previously, which was about a thousand years.

It was worth noting that the reversal card focused on ‘reversal’, which meant it could reverse growth but not add extra lifespan to his old body.

“What about...lucky draws?” He did not know what was wrong with his head, but the word ‘lucky draws’ suddenly popped up. With the experience of the last round of lucky draws, Lu Zhou knew that the game could swallow all his merit points and give him nothing if he were down on luck.

“I should use the remaining merit points to improve my cultivation base, because it is the root of everything...”

Lu Zhou thought of the scene when he last produced the Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar. He noticed that the eight-leaf golden lotus beneath it had changed to nine-leaf. He had used a few peak-form experience cards, and they were all the same, so why were the results different?

“Is it because of the Heaven Writing?” He wondered what kind of cultivation technique it was. It was different from any of the techniques in his memory: it had no actual moves, no breathing methods, and no scriptures of controlling energy.

“Well, my cultivation base is indeed the root of everything, but before that...let me just try a few lucky draws.”

...

The headquarters of the Nether Sect was located on Pingdu Mountain north of Yu, a province in the western part of Great Yan.

Inside the great hall of the Nether Sect...

“My lord, I’ve found out everything. The patriarch alone captured the palace master of the Derived Moon Palace, and none of the Righteous Sect and Heavenly Sword Sect experts who invaded Golden Court Mountain survived.”

There was a throne in front of the speaker, shrouded in a cloud of black mist that blocked the view.

“I see,” a hoarse voice drifted out of the mist.

“My Lord, the palace master of the Derived Moon Palace was your junior sister. Her assault of the patriarch with the righteous cultivators failed miserably. The Yun Sect, Tian Sect, and Luo Sect are infuriated, and they swear to kill everyone in the Derived Moon Palace as a tribute to their dead disciples. Do you think we need to help her?”

The great hall fell silent. After a moment of quiet, the voice rang out of the mist, “She deserves it. We don’t have to do anything.”

“Understood, my lord.” The man cupped his fist and bowed before continuing, “There is one more thing.”

“Tell me.”

“The spy we planted in the imperial household reported that Lady Jade plans to wipe out Golden Court Mountain, and she even tried to convince the emperor to mobilize the imperial army.”

“And?”

“The emperor punished her by forbidding her from leaving her chamber for three months.”

The black mist fell silent as if the speaker behind it was considering something. A brief moment later, the voice said, “Great Yan is always at war, and the imperial army is the force guarding the capital city. How can it be transferred so easily? Lady Jade has shot herself in the foot this time. But...” the voice paused and then continued, “...she comes from the Western Regions and is not one of us after all. Keep a close eye on her.”

“I will do as you bid, my lord!”

“Also...” the voice rang out again, “Sword Freak loves to challenge others. Since the Clarity Sect has many experts, send him there...Tell him to avoid the Sword Devil.”

“I’ll do it right now.”

...

Duanmu Sheng, Little Yuan’er, and the others waited anxiously in the courtyard. The sun was already setting, but their master had not yet shown himself.

“It’s normal for Master to calm down and recuperate after the battle. Little Junior Sister, stop walking around. You make my head spin,” said Duanmu Sheng while rubbing his temple with a thumb.

Meanwhile, Zhou Jifeng said respectfully, “Old Senior is a mighty expert, he will be fine. Look at how bright this shield is!”

Little Yuan’er glared at him and said, “Idiot!”

Ye Tianxin did not think so, and she said in a faint voice, “If I were you, I’d go inside and have a look...He is very old and anything might happen to him...”

Right then, the mechanical sound of a secret door moving came from inside Evil Sky Pavilion, accompanied by the voice they were all very familiar with, “Come in, all of you!”

Everyone including Ye Tianxin trembled, and their weariness seemed to have disappeared in that instant.

Little Yuan’er walked over with a smile as she grabbed Ye Tianxin’s shoulder and said, “Let’s see how Master will punish you!”

Lu Zhou had come out of the secret chamber and was standing outside with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Greetings, Master!”

“Greetings, Old Senior!”

Ye Tianxin was thrown to the ground. She raised her head, wanting to look at the old man’s face, but all she saw was his back.

Lu Zhou did not answer them. Instead, he paced from left to right while stroking his beard.

“Master?” Little Yuan’er called gingerly.

Just then, she heard Lu Zhou murmur under his breath, “Why can’t I draw even a single prize...”

“Ah?”