‘This system has quite unexpected features,’ Lu Zhou thought to himself. Fortunately, he was old now and his skin was saggy and wrinkled, so nobody could see the change in his expression, unless it was an obvious one.
When Zhou Jifeng heard that, he shouted furiously, “Bullsh*t! Don’t you try to sow discord, old villain! Everyone in the world knows that Si Wuya, the seventh disciple of Golden Court Mountain, is a despicable man good at calculation. A pity that such a mean trick is useless against me!”
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “What an ardent but ignorant youth! In this case, I will tell you everything. When I visited Yi Province many years ago, I stopped at the Jiang Family for a rest. Coincidentally, the young lady of the family was giving birth. The newborn boy was born with extraordinary bone structure and amazing talents. I intended to take him in as my disciple. So, I gave his parents three days to consider. But, regardless of their decision, I had decided to bring the boy with me…However, the next day, the whole Jiang Family was slaughtered.”
“It was already too late when I arrived…Later on, the whole cultivation world thought I was the one who slaughtered the Jiang Family. I’ve killed countless people in my life, and one more murder case or one less false charge would not change that fact. All the orthodox cultivators in the world thought I did it, but nobody knew it was actually done by Luo Changfeng.”
Fighting back the pain, Zhou Jifeng sneered, “You can continue to make up the story…”
Lu Zhou knew that the other would not believe it, so he gave him a heavy dose, “You have a birthmark on your shoulder. When you were born, the inside of your body was wet and cold. It was I who helped you to get rid of that, and it is also the reason why there is always a stream of evil energy in your body. Your surname is Jiang, and you are the son of that Jiang Family…”
Zhou Jifeng was taken aback. Few people knew he had a birthmark on his shoulder, so how did this old villain know?
“Considering that you are too young, if I tell you the whole truth, I’m afraid you will not be able to bear the impact…Well, you may leave now.”
Sometimes, a retreat was the way to advance, and what happened next had proven that right.
Although Zhou Jifeng did not believe it, he still said, “I don’t believe what you said…Old villain, don’t hope that such a despicable and mean trick will work on me.”
“If you dare to slander my master again, I will chop you into pieces now. Do you believe it?” Little Yuan’er raised a hand.
Zhou Jifeng, “…”
He suddenly felt that the old villain was not as terrible as he had imagined, but this little girl was rather scary.
As the saying went, ‘Nice people are bullied and the docile horses are ridden.’ Lu Zhou suddenly realized that when dealing with youth like this, he could not be too gentle. So, he laughed and said, “Your master, Luo Changfeng, had slaughtered the whole Jiang Family, raped your mother, and abducted you. Thirty years ago, he broke through the Nascent Divinity Tribulation realm. The realm is divided into three major stages, Dao Primal, Chaotic Primal, and Dao Fusing. In the Dao Fusing stage, there is a way to advance…”
He was not yet finished when Little Yuan’er interrupted, “Master, I know about this…With a powerful cultivation base, a Dao-fusing expert can devour another person’s energy essence and cultivation base and fuse them as one. That is why the stage is called Dao Fusing. Am I right, Master?”
Lu Zhou paid her no mind, so Little Yuan’er immediately bowed her head and dared not speak again. Meanwhile, Zhou Jifeng frowned and kept shaking his head.
Lu Zhou went on, “In the whole Heavenly Sword Sect, only your cultivation path is exactly the same as Luo Changfeng’s. Do you still think there’s nothing wrong with him?”
There was no need for him to finish the rest.
Although these words could not immediately change Zhou Jifeng or make him believe, they at least aroused his doubts, and that was more than enough. He would verify the rest himself.
“I know you don’t believe it…When you get back, go and ask your master’s master. Little Yuan’er, see him off,” Lu Zhou said faintly.
“Master, surely you are not letting him go just like this? He had attacked you!” Little Yuan’er pursed her lips.
“Don’t be presumptuous!”
Hearing that, Little Yuan’er could say nothing else but stamp her foot lightly. Then, she turned to Zhou Jifeng as she snorted and said, “You are a stupid pig! Does my Master need to lie to you? Wouldn’t it be better for him to just kill you? Fool!”
Zhou Jifeng, “…”
His mind was in a mess now, and he kept repeating ‘I don’t believe…’ instinctively.
…
After Little Yuan’er sent Zhou Jifeng away, Lu Zhou glanced at the quest menu. He knew that the side quest would not be completed immediately. But, it was only a matter of time.
If Zhou Jifeng were clever enough, he would investigate what he had said, unless he was mentally retarded.
“Master, why didn’t you kill him?” Little Yuan’er asked as soon as she returned to the Evil Sky Pavilion.
But, Lu Zhou shook his head in response.
The desire to kill in this little girl’s heart was too strong. Just like her senior brothers and sisters, she had been heavily influenced by Ji Tiandao.
Lu Zhou stood up and clasped his hands behind his back as he said, “Killing people is not the only way to solve a problem.”
“But Master, you sent me down the mountain to kill many orthodox cultivators just now. They were sneaking around Golden Court Mountain, and they deserved to be killed!” Little Yuan’er said angrily.
Speechless, Lu Zhou knocked her on her head and said, “Don’t argue with me.”
“Ouch!”
“Did I say you can’t kill people? Killing people is not the only way to solve a problem, but it is always one of the ways!”
“Oh!” Little Yuan’er did not quite understand that.
Right then, Lu Zhou heard a system prompt, “Ding! Your disciples are doing evil, and your merit points will be deducted soon!”
‘Damnit! The merit points can be deducted!’
Although he tried to be as calm and poised as possible, he almost collapsed at that moment and cursed.
“Go get your Senior Brothers and Sister here!”
“Yes, Master!”
While frowning, Lu Zhou asked, ‘System, I have only so few merit points. Why do you still want to deduct them?’
Of course, the system still did not respond. It seemed to convey that while he could obtain merit points from his disciples, the merit points could also be deducted when his disciples did evil.
But…what had they done to be considered evil?
Before very long, the three villainous disciples—Duanmu Sheng, Mingshi Yin, and Zhao Yue—walked into Evil Sky Pavilion with their heads bowed while being led by Little Yuan’er, as if nothing had happened.
“Greetings, Master!” The three of them greeted at the same time.
“Tell me what have you done just now,” Lu Zhou asked, his face expressionless.
“Ah? Master, we’ve been doing what you asked us to do, patrolling around Golden Court Mountain. We didn’t do anything else!” Mingshi Yin said with an innocent look.
Lu Zhou said faintly, “You should know my temper. I don’t like anyone lying to me.”
When the trio heard that, their expressions changed slightly.
The fourth disciple, Mingshi Yin, said hastily, “We found some hunters in the southern foothills…Golden Court Mountain is not a place for them to hunt.”
“So, you attacked them?”
“I…I’m sorry, Master. I should have killed them all!” Mingshi Yin said.
Lu Zhou, “…”
“Golden Court Mountain is famous in the cultivation world, so how could those hunters not know that? It is very likely that they are spies sent by those so-called orthodox sects. Master, I’ll go and kill them all now!”
Mingshi Yin turned around and was about to leave when Lu Zhou, somewhat speechless, said, “Hold on!”
“Ah?”
“The shield has not yet been fully repaired, so it is normal for someone to accidentally trespass our land. You just have to drive them away and only attack when you discover someone with ill intentions,” said Lu Zhou.
The three villainous disciples looked at each other and thought, ‘Wait, this is not Master’s usual routine…Shouldn’t we kill those intruders and their families?’
“This disciple will obey Master’s order.”
Their loyalty was 68%, 62%, and 65% respectively.
After that, they went to the foothills together. As soon as they left the Evil Sky Pavilion, they felt the pressure in their hearts disappear. The fifth disciple, Zhao Yue, smiled and said as she played with her hair, “Master has suddenly become so gentle that I’m not used to it. Senior Brothers…do you feel that Master has become different from before?”
Mingshi Yin, who boasted of being good at analysis, stroked his chin and said, “Don’t panic, don’t blindly analyze, and learn from your mistakes…Maybe Master is trying a new routine.”
“Yes, we just have to follow his orders and not ask too much.” Duanmu Sheng did not care so much and just made his way down the mountain.
…
Before long, Lu Zhou, who was resting in Evil Sky Pavilion, heard a prompt.
“You have saved 15 innocent lives and are rewarded with 150 merit points.”
“You have received the worship of 14 people and are rewarded with 14 merit points. You have received the devout worship of 1 person and are rewarded with 10 merit points.”
“Hint #1: Devout worship has a 10x bonus, and ordinary worship does not have a bonus.”
“Hint #2: You will not get merit points again from the same worship.”
“Hint #3: Merit points will not be rewarded from worship that is deliberately planned.”
Lu Zhou opened his eyes instantly.
‘What! I can get merit points from worship? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?’
Whenever someone knelt and bowed to him, he would actually receive merit points!