My Disciples Are All Villains

Lord Zhennan's vines moved again.

Lu Zhou shook his head. "The Pillar of Impermanence stays… However, I'll adjust its absorption speed.

"Hey, I'm a man of my word. How can you…"

Lu Zhou interjected, "This is the way I do things. Would you prefer it if I let it suck you dry? I have enough patience and time…"

"..."

Lord Zhennan knew Lu Zhou had the upper hand now. It was imperative for him to remain calm. Then, he said sullenly, "Fine."

The vines continued to shrink until they shrank into the ancient tree. With this, one could not tell at all the tree was being used by a powerful cultivator to survive.

"Let's go."

Lu Zhou placed his hands on his back and walked toward the ancient tree.

Yu Zhenghai, Yu Shangrong, and the others followed closely behind.

When they arrived under the tree, Zhao Yu gulped and looked at the tree nervously, afraid that the branches would kill him.

Lord Zhennan said, "Let me warn you. The forest ahead is shrouded by killing intent. That old witch had set up a troublesome killing formation. It won't be easy to deal with that formation."

Although the Pillar of Impermanence's absorption speed had slowed down, if anything were to happen to Lu Zhou, it would mean that he would have to raise that life-sucking pillar for the rest of his life. Hence, he definitely did not want any harm to come to Lu Zhou. As for the others, he did not care if all of them died. In fact, he could kill them with one strike if he wanted to. Naturally, he did not dare to do so since he could sense Lu Zhou's profound and mysterious aura. He was not confident he would be able to kill Lu Zhou. Rather than facing his opponent head-on, was it not better to use his opponent to his advantage?

Lu Zhou walked toward the strange forest up ahead as everyone followed behind him.

Lu Wu leaped over, covering 150 kilometers with just a leap.

Zhao Yu said, "That's the strange forest that Lord Zhennan mentioned. As he had said, there's a formation in there…"

The place looked similar to where Lord Zhennan had taken root. Black fog swirled in the surroundings. The difference was the sensation of being submerged in water was stronger.

Similar to before, Lu Zhou brought out the Golden Taixu Mirror and shone it on his surroundings. However, he did not find anything out of the ordinary.

Kong Wen used his tracking talismans but failed to find the eye of the formation.

"Why don't we retreat, Old Sir? We're lucky that Lord Zhennan can't move, but Tian Wu is different," Zhao Yu said nervously.

"If Tian Wu can move, why didn't it fly over and kill Lord Zhennan?"

"There must be restrictions of some sort despite the small distance between them," Lu Li speculated, "Moreover, it's possible that Tian Wu just couldn't kill him. After all, not everyone possesses the Pillar of Impermanence."

It was only natural that Lord Zhennan was the strongest in its territory.

"Let me look around…" Yu Zhenghai said before rushing out. He tossed the Jasper Saber out and flew around to scout the place. After determining there was no unusual movement, he returned.

Boom!

While Yu Zhenghai was flying back to the others, a wave of water-like energy sent him flying back.

Yu Zhenghai frowned. "Again!"

Yu Zhenghai tried about ten times, but without fail, he was sent flying back each time.

Upon seeing this, Yu Shangrong smiled faintly. "Interesting."

Then, Yu Shangrong flew over. Although he was faster and more agile compared to Yu Zhenghai, his outcome was the same as Yu Zhenghai. He had only flown out ten meters before he was pushed back.

It was rather strange. Soon after, the entire forest seemed to be filled with energy that felt like raging waves and water.

Yan Zhenluo, Lu Li, Kong Wen, and his brothers were soon sent flying as well.

Little Yuan'er and Conch who were not in the range of energy could keenly feel the repelling force as well.

Zhao Yu and his men were even more vulnerable.

"This place is really strange!"

"Master, what should we do?"

Zhao Yu hurriedly interjected, "I think we should retreat."

Lu Zhou looked at Zhao Yu. "Didn't you say you have a way to go to that place?"

"Uh…"

"Speak." Lu Zhou stared at Zhao Yu unblinkingly.

Zhao Yu smiled awkwardly. "Old Sir, I… I was just joking at that time. Please don't take it seriously."

Lu Zhou said in a lowered and threatening tone, "My patience is limited. Don't test me."

Zhao Yu was the one who took proposed working together, and it was also Zhao Yu who decided to break the agreement. In Lu Zhou's eyes, this person had no integrity at all. If Zhao Yu refused to obey when he was being tolerant, then Zhao Yu could not blame him if he used force.

Zhao Yu sighed. "The thing is I'm not sure the method will work. According to the legend, the ten Pillars of Destruction are the Gates of Destruction. In order to utilize their power to change the world, one must obtain the acknowledgment of the Pillars of Destruction." After a pause, he continued to say, "Perhaps, humans are wicked and fierce beasts are too strong, the heavens divided the world and turned the Unknown Land to what it is now as a punishment. In any case, to change the world, we must obtain the pillars' acknowledgment and recognition."

Little Yuan'er asked curiously, "How do we get the pillars to acknowledge us?"

Zhao Yu smiled wryly. "By being virtuous. However, humans are rarely virtuous; they're born ugly with no moral character to speak of. It's just that they're restrained by conventions. I don't believe there's anyone virtuous in this world…"

Lu Li shook his head. "I think it's the other way around. When humans are born, they're like a blank sheet of paper. Evil isn't inherent. It's just that as they grow, they become tainted by the world…"

Zhao Yu did not respond to those words. Instead, he said, "In any case, the Forest of Horrors is the hardest and most important part. However, once you get past it, you'll arrive at the Pillar of Destruction."

"If it's like you said, how did those who participated in the Great Void Expedition get close to the pillar? They obviously came to steal something; that's hardly considered virtuous…" Yan Zhenluo asked, puzzled.

"When the Great Void Seeds mature, the Pillars of Destruction will disappear," Zhao Yu said.

Everyone fell silent.

Lu Zhou's expression remained the same as he surveyed the strange forest. After thinking about it for a moment, he flew out.

Buzz!

Soon enough, he felt a mysterious energy pushing him back.

Zhao Yu shook his head helplessly.

Lu Zhou mobilized the divine power and imbued his body with it before he flew out again. At this moment, his body shone dazzlingly with a golden light. In just a second, he flew in without any obstruction.

Everyone instinctively turned to look at Zhao Yu; their shock visible on their faces.

Zhao Yu was similarly shocked. "How did he do it?"

As soon as Lu Zhou entered the strange forest, black fog began to roll over. He used his divine power and manifested his flaming golden lotus. The golden lotus burning with karmic fire successfully dispersed the black fog.

At this time, an angry voice rang from the depths of the forest.

"Fire… Fire… It's actually fire…"

Zhao Yu, who was standing out of the range of the forest, shook his head. "It's over. Tian Wu hates fire the most."

A wave of black water swept out at this moment, covering the sky.

Everyone was pushed back 1,000 meters. The force was beyond their imagination. Even the beast emperor, Lu Wu, was pushed back.

Silence descended on the strange forest again.

Everyone looked ahead warily.

In the forest, Lu Zhou's body was still emitting golden light as he hovered in the air.

Apart from Lu Zhou, there was someone else standing, safe and sound, with a baffled expression on his face. He was none other than the fourth disciple of the Evil Sky Pavilion, Mingshi Yin.

"???"

"Don't look at me like that. I'm confused as well. Hey, hey, if you don't believe me, let me show you…" Mingshi Yin said.

Then, Mingshi Yin flew forward. Nothing happened. He flew forward again. Still, nothing happened.

At this time, Lu Zhou was looking at Mingshi Yin flickering back and forth in the strange forest, clearly unaffected.

After a while, Mingshi Yin said, "Is the formation broken? What kind of stupid formation is this?"

"..."