Chapter 700: 700

Chapter 700: The Arrival of the Nine-leaf Cultivator (Part Two)

If Lu Zhou did not prepare enough Reversal Cards before he attempted the Nine-leaf stage, similar to his host, he would have rapidly aged and died as a result. The golden lotus’ ability to absorb one’s life force was truly terrifying.

He suddenly recalled Gong Yuandu, the sword path genius of the northern capital, even went as far as to remain inside a coffin in the Swords Mausoleum for 100 years just to attempt the Nine-leaf stage. In fact, 100 years was nothing to an Eight-leaf golden lotus cultivator. Gong Yuandu’s experience was not meaningless. Gong Yuandu had revealed the fact that golden lotuses absorbed cultivators’ life forces.

Lu Zhou remembered the leader of the Three Sects, Yun Tianluo, as well. He lost many years of his life trying to reach the Nine-leaf stage. He even sealed the memories of his attempt inside a chessboard. From that, Lu Zhou confirmed that golden lotuses truly absorbed cultivators’ life forces.

Then, did this mean Luo Shi Yin’s record about the golden lotus absorbing 1,200 years of life was true?

At this time, Lu Zhou was prepared to stop sprouting the ninth leaf at any moment. If there was even the slightest abnormality, he was going to stop immediately without any hesitation. He was even prepared to accept the loss of the 900 Reversal Cards he had used. Apart from that, it was also not important what the other cultivators might think. After all, with his Disguise Cards and Heavenly Writing Powers, he could still maintain his status. If it came down to it, he could just thicken the skin on his face and say this was only a demonstration of what they should not do when sprouting the ninth leaf.

Whizz!

Currently, Lu Zhou’s golden lotus was spinning twice as quickly compared to before. Apart from that, he was also using up his Reversal Cards much more quickly.

He comforted himself that he was going to use the Reversal Cards sooner or later anyway; there was no point in saving them. “Use all of the Reversal Cards!”

The cultivators looking up from the Evil Sky Pavilion’s great hall discovered the golden lotus had completely obscured their vision.

The vitality energy in the air had converged to one specific point. The sky above the Evil Sky Pavilion that was filled with vitality shocked the cultivators slightly.

Many people wanted to see Lu Zhou’s appearance. Alas, they could only see his silhouette. However, there were more people who were focused on the golden lotus.

At this moment, the vitality energy in the surroundings surged and rose like a tsunami.

The cultivators inside the barrier felt the powerful vitality around them; expressions of bewilderment could be seen on their faces.

No one, including the Evil Sky Pavilion’s disciples, knew what method Lu Zhou used to obtain so much vitality energy.

The Evil Sky Pavilion disciples had witnessed their master’s blue lotus. Compared to when the blue lotus bloomed, the vitality now was much purer and denser.

“This is the crucial stage!”

“I didn’t expect it’d be so difficult to reach the Nine-leaf stage!”

“Since Senior Ji has been a Nine-leaf cultivator for a while now, I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it must have been when he first attempted to reach the Nine-leaf stage.”

“However, don’t you think this looks like the real thing? Senior Ji is truly amazing. He can even recreate such life-like reenactment of breaking through to the Nine-leaf stage.”

The golden lotus was buzzing louder than before due to its increased spinning speed.

Lu Zhou who was basking in the golden light no longer thought about how others might perceive him. All his attention was focused on reaching the Nine-leaf stage. He had no experience nor techniques; this was his first time attempting to break through to the Nine-leaf stage. In Great Yan, this was also the first time anyone had reached this stage in the process of reaching the Nine-leaf stage.

Lu Zhou looked at his remaining life.

Remaining life: 433,500 days.

-300!

-200!

-400!

This series of numbers meant that the Reversal Cards was bringing him back to his youth.

He touched his face and looked at his hair. His skin felt as supple as a newborn’s, and his hair was as dark as ink. He was slightly distracted by these discoveries. ‘Am I… Am I handsome now?’

Buzz!

The buzzing sound from the golden lotus quickly pulled him back to his senses and away from his narcissistic thoughts.

He noticed the numbers on the interface were still dwindling. This meant the golden lotus was still absorbing his life force.

Meanwhile, the cultivators felt uneasy as they watched Lu Zhou. They were worried and nervous as though they were the ones who were trying to sprout the ninth leaf. Although they knew this was just a demonstration, they could not help but feel amazed.

The cultivators outside the barrier who were unqualified to enter saw this dazzling display as well.

The cultivators, both inside and outside the barrier, were hit with a sudden realization of why the patriarch chose to demonstrate the process of sprouting the ninth leaf in the sky above the Evil Sky Pavilion. It was so that everyone could see the demonstration with their own eyes. All of them could help but feel moved by his magnanimity.

The dazzling golden light burst forth from the 100-foot avatar that towered over everything. It struck fear into the hearts of everyone present on the scene. The dazzling light seemed to shine for a long time like the sun and the moon.

Meanwhile, Lu Zhou who kept his eyes trained on his avatar discovered the golden lotus that resembled a vortex had begun to slow down.

When he looked at the dashboard, he noticed the numbers had been reduced by half.

‘Is it finally satiated?’ The rate the golden lotus was absorbing his life force was slowing down.

At the same time, he felt his own body. He seemed to be in his prime after youth was returned to him.

Time ticked by. Although the speed had slowed down, the numbers on the interface were still dwindling. Naturally, he would age each time the numbers dwindle.

At this moment, a small commotion broke out among the cultivators.

“Look! The avatar is growing taller!” someone exclaimed.

“The golden lotus has grown larger as well!”

“The ninth leaf is about to sprout!”

Everyone held their breaths at this moment as their eyes were firmly trained on the golden lotus.

To everyone else, Lu Zhou was merely giving a demonstration. That was why he was so calm and composed.

However, despite Lu Zhou’s outwardly calm expression, inwardly, he was beginning to feel uneasy. ‘Am I… close to the Nine-leaf stage yet?’

The golden lotus’ speed slowed down again while the golden light’s brightness remained the same.

…

In the forest beyond Golden Court Mountain’s barrier.

The middle-aged red lotus cultivator fisted his hands as he stared at the avatar above the Evil Sky Pavilion. A hint of surprise could be heard in his voice as he muttered disgruntledly, “The golden lotus domain’s Nine-leaf cultivator… is able to gather so much vitality?”

He was perplexed. He could not understand what was going on.

His confusion was only natural since there was no such problem in the red lotus domain. Since he had just arrived in the golden lotus domain, he was unaware in the golden lotus domain that one had to give up years of their lives to reach the Nine-leaf stage. In his opinion, breaking through to the Nine-leaf stage in the golden lotus domain was much more grandiose compared to breaking through to the Nine-leaf stage in the red lotus domain.

The avatar kept growing taller, and the golden lotus kept growing bigger.

Other cultivators appeared in the forest as well, but the middle-aged man ignored them.

Even Other Tribe cultivators from Rongxi and Rongbei had come to watch. Naturally, they could only stay outside the barrier to watch as they held their breaths.

…

Crack!

A crisp sound rang in the air.

The eight spinning golden leaves spun around a specific spot of the huge golden lotus. They seemed to be moving toward the energy rings at the avatar’s waist.

“What’s happening?”

“I get it now! No wonder we can’t break through to the Nine-leaf stage. The golden lotus absorbs our lives. Once it’s satiated, there would be an outpour of energy from it. Even without the golden lotus, the lotus leaves would do the same!”

This statement seemed to enlighten many cultivators present on the scene.

When the commotion below reached Lu Zhou’s ears, he refocused his attention and continued to focus on sprouting the ninth leaf.

In truth, he was not sure what was happening. The numbers on the interface were still dwindling. At this moment, the numbers had dwindled until it was in the four digits.

“Wait… This is more than 1,300 years!” Lu Zhou frowned.

900 Reversal Cards were equivalent to more than 1,232 years. Coupled with his 112 years, he had 1,344 years of life.

Remaining life: 8,675 days.

However, he was left with 23 years of life now.

The golden lotus had absorbed more than 1,300 years of his life. This was more than what Luo Shiyin had recorded!

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