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Chapter 491

Chapter 491: Sprouting Another Leaf

When he first transmigrated here, Lu Zhou had a hard time cultivating due to his body . He had made it this far by relying on his item cards . Now that his body had been strengthened, the speed of his cultivation was much better than before .

Item cards were just item cards, after all . A fake Nine-leaf elite could fool the masses for a time but not forever .

With the dawn of the Lotus Severing era, people had begun to cultivate diligently . Apart from the trillions of humans, they were also the Other Tribesmen . Surely, there would be geniuses who would eventually attain the Nine-leaf stage . If he did not have true strength, how was he going to face the future that was unfolding at a magnificent scale?

Lu Zhou flipped his palm . When the resonance sounded, a miniature avatar materialized above his palm; it was a One-leaf Golden Lotus Nascent Divinity avatar .

The single leaf seemed lonely . Perhaps, he too used to putting on an act . When he finally saw this one lonely leaf, he could not help but feel extremely weak .

Lu Zhou shook his head; this was not the time to lament at his weakness . He focused on the Golden Lotus and circulated the Primal Qi within his dantian’s sea of Qi .

The avatar changed . Golden rings of radiance appeared on the avatar and moved down .

Sprouting a leaf was like nurturing a tree . When the nutrients and conditions were right, the plant would sprout and grow . The more leaves it had, the better the plant would grow .

Sometimes, Lu Zhou wondered about the names of the Nine-leaf and Ten-leaf stage as recorded in the books . There were also records of the next realm after the Nascent Divinity realm: the Mysterious Heaven realm . In that case… Why were there so many cultivators stuck at the Eight-leaf stage, unable to move to the Nine-leaf stage? What were the secrets contained in the world of the Nine-leaf stage? Countless predecessors must have peeked into the realm before . However, they were all buried under the tides of history .

…

Secluded inside the Evergreen Palace, the Emperor, Liu Gu, was also working hard to sprout leaves .

Liu Gu, who commanded the Divine Capital and the Imperial guard, was well equipped to sever his lotus and to cultivate as quickly as possible .

The attendant hastened all the way into the Evergreen Palace with a platter in his hand . He passed through layers of defenses and entered the study . He kneeled on the ground and respectfully said, “Your Majesty, the Big Dipper Academy has refined another leaf-sprouting pill . ”

Liu Gu, who was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, opened his eyes and looked at the pill on the platter . “One pill?”

“It takes a long time to refine a leaf-sprouting pill . Huge amount of labor and resources are needed . President Zhou said they did their best . ” The attendant’s voice was shaking as he spoke .

There was a moment’s silence .

Then, Liu Gu raised his hand and brought the leaf-sprouting pill toward him .

“Here’s my decree . The Big Dipper Academy is to focus all its resources on refining leaf-sprouting pills . The Imperial family will supply all materials needed . All resources, except the Imperial guard, are to be made available to them . ”

“Understood . ” The attendant left the study reverently .

The room was silent again .

Liu Gu raised his hand . When his Primal Qi surged, an avatar appeared .

The brilliant golden avatar illuminated the entire room . There was no Golden Lotus under the floating avatar . Four bright golden leaves were spinning around the avatar .

Liu Gu nodded in satisfaction . He raised his hand and sent the newly refined leaf-sprouting pill into his mouth .

He clenched his fist .

Boom!

The avatar dispersed .

The effects of the pill should be kicking in soon .

He was just about to start cultivating when his eyes snapped open . He shouted, “Men!”

An attendant started . He ran into the room, bumping into the walls and doors as he stumbled into the study . He looked up and saw a fuming Liu Gu .

“Y-your… Your Majesty!”

“The leaf-sprouting pill’s effect isn’t strong enough . What’s the reason for this?” Liu Gu asked .

“Your Majesty… President Zhou himself refined this pill and packaged it before sending it here . This is the best pill of all the leaf-sprouting pills,” the attendant said nervously .

Liu Gu frowned deeply, puzzled . ‘Could this be due to my improved realm?’

The higher the realm, the more difficult it was to improve . This was the general rule that never changed since time immemorial .

However, the effect of this pill was outrageously weak .

After pondering on it, Liu Gu said, “You’re dismissed . ”

“Understood . ” The attendant felt suspicious as well . However, he, naturally, dared not question the emperor . He hastily retreated from the room reverently .

…

Outside the Big Dipper Academy .

An academy disciple carried a chamber pot and walked out of the academy .

“Make way, make way…” The academy disciple continued walking .

Several disciples covered their noses and gave way .

“That reeks! What’s wrong with you? Can’t you do this when no one is around?”

The academy disciple looked up with a chuckle and said, “I-I’m sorry . ”

“Why haven’t I seen you before?” The sour face disciple walked over .

“I’m new . Otherwise, I wouldn’t be doing this . ”

“Is that so? Let’s see your paiza . ”

If this were in the past, he would not have bothered with such a lowly character . However, this was a unique time for the Big Dipper Academy . Strict measures were in place . They could not allow any careless mistakes . Everyone coming in and out of the academy had to be checked .

“Sure . ” The academy disciple with the chamber pot produced a paiza and passed it to him .

“Mister Ri? Why does this paiza look so new?”

“Of course, it’s new . After all, I’ve only just carved it earlier…”

“Hm?”

Swoosh!

A cold light glinted in the air as the Separation Hook drew an arc across his neck .

Mingshi Yin covered his mouth . With the chamber pot in one hand and the corpse in the other, he scurried into an alley and vanished .

…

A moment later .

In a forest more than ten miles from the Big Dipper Academy .

Mingshi Yin took a pill and sniffed it . “This f*cking stinks… Oh, wait, it’s the smell of the chamber pot . Is this the leaf-sprouting pill? I wonder if I can eat it while I still have my Golden Lotus? The Big Dipper Academy is vast, but they sure are stingy . I’ve practically turned this place inside out, and this is the only one I found . ” He did not consume the leaf-sprouting pill . Instead, he packed it away and left the forest .

…

Meanwhile, the ten pill refinement rooms in the Big Dipper Academy were in chaos .

Hundreds of academy disciples searched the academy as they hovered in the air .

A few hours later, the academy disciples gathered outside the main pill room .

“President, we couldn’t find it!”

“We’ve searched everywhere: the north, south, east, and west . We found nothing!”

“The final pill must’ve been substituted and stolen by someone!”

Zhou Youcai frowned . His eyelids twitched out of anger . He said in a deep voice, “Shameless scoundrel! This is too outrageous!”

“Calm down, president!” the others cried out .

Zhou Youcai suppressed the flames of rage in his heart and said, “Put a lid on this . We’ll act as if this didn’t happen . ”

“Huh?”

“You’ll obey my orders!”

“Understood!” The academy disciples bowed .

…

Inside the Evil Sky Pavilion’s eastern pavilion .

Lu Zhou glanced at the descending radiant circles .

He could feel that his avatar was getting stronger .

Finally…

Whizz!

Under his coaxing, a corner of the avatar’s Golden Lotus sprouted a new leaf . The new leaf shone with a dazzling brightness .

“It’s done . ”

The radiance faded away . Two leaves were now slowly spinning around the Golden Lotus .

Technically, this was Lu Zhou’s first experience of sprouting a leaf through his own effort . It felt more exciting compared to purchasing avatars .

It took him half a day to accomplish this .

Lu Zhou’s cultivation base was now officially in the Two-leaf Nascent Divinity realm .

Lu Zhou called up the system dashboard . He looked at the prices of the item cards .

As he expected, the prices of the item cards had increased by 1,000 merit points .

The current prices of the item cards meant that it was no longer practical to hoard them .

Lu Zhou had the Heavenly Writing’s extraordinary power . So long as he continued to meditate upon the Heavenly Writing scrolls, it could be used to replace the Deadly Strike Card . If he had no other choice, he could still buy the Deadly Strike Card at a high price to save his own life .

He glanced at the Golden Lotus Leaf again .

“50,000…”