Chapter 1691: The Power of the Painting

The remaining four red-clad men were like frightened birds. Their bodies trembled as they curled up in a fetal position on the grounds. Their eyes were brimming with reverence and fear. After a moment, they struggled to their knees before they began to kowtow like devout believers.

Lu Zhou asked expressionlessly, “You’re my believers?”

“Honorable Lord, we’re truly your most loyal believers! Please show mercy. Please spare our lives!”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Since you believe in the Unholy One, you should be familiar with the way the Unholy One did things.”

The four men looked at each other as their faces turned ashen. How could they not know about how the Unholy One did things? Based on how they had ridiculed and trampled on the Unholy One’s dignity earlier, their deaths should be even more terrible than Luo Xiu. With this in mind, they fell back on the ground in despair.

At this moment, the electric arcs on Lu Zhou’s body finally disappeared. He looked at the blue avatar.

In the beginning, the blue avatar’s electric arcs were like the blue of the sky. However, as he continued to comprehend the divine Dao power, they gradually turned a dark blue. They looked very pure and clear, unlike the Unholy One’s forked electric arcs.

Lu Zhou speculated that although his cultivation path was similar to the Unholy One, his was a purer version. Based on the Unholy One’s memories, he was sure that the Unholy One only had one avatar. From the beginning of time until now, he was the only one who possessed two avatars.

“My lord, please spare my life!”

“My lord, please spare my life!”

Lu Zhou ignored the pleas. Instead, he waved his hand. He wanted to look at the four power cores. At this time, peace had already returned to the surging power cores. Their excess energy had flowed into his golden lotus. He could clearly sense that his golden lotus had become much stronger; this was especially true for the light disk underneath it.

Lu Zhou stepped forward, and the light disk flashed.

He was still not very familiar with the light disk and its uses. However, after witnessing the blood disk’s ability, he realized the importance of light disks.

At this time, the light disk suddenly flew toward the four men.

The four men were so frightened that sweat drenched their bodies. However, despite their fear, they did not dare to dodge. To be precise, they could not dodge. They were so scared that their legs had gone soft. In the end, they forcefully withstood the attack from the light disk.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The four of them were sent flying.

Lu Zhou said, slightly surprised, “It’s so powerful!”

After a moment, Lu Zhou used the great power of teleportation and appeared above the four men. He could sense the fear in their hearts from their pale faces. He said tonelessly, “Lead the way.”

“A-alright, alright. Lead, lead… the way…”

The four men were incoherent. They struggled to their feet and swayed back and forth.

Lu Zhou frowned slightly. With a wave of his hand, a streak of energy shot out and bound them.

The four men were very obedient and let Lu Zhou bound them. Finally, one of them pointed at a destroyed mountain peak and said, “T-there… It’s, it’s over… there…”

Lu Zhou brought them with him as he flashed and appeared above a pile of rubble and debris. He unbound them, dropping them unceremoniously to the ground, and said, “Clean it up.”

The four men nodded over and over again.

“Yes, yes, yes…”

“…”

Lu Zhou felt rather speechless when he saw the four men manually cleaning up the rubble and debris with their hands as though they were laborers moving bricks.

Lu Zhou asked in a deep voice, “Am I that terrifying?”

Thud!

The four men fell to their knees immediately and prostrated themselves on the ground.

“L-lord, please spare our lives!”

They had completely lost their high and mighty air from before as they trembled and begged for mercy.

“Y-you, you’re not… terrifying! We, we’re blind! It’s our fault for being blind! Please forgive us, Honorable Lord!”

Lu Zhou landed on the ground and said, “The Nihilist Congregation believes in me. Are they committing evil in my name?”

‘Although I’m not a good person, I won’t allow others to ruin my reputation and commit evil in my name.’

“No!” one of the men said, “My lord, most of the members of the congregation are indeed your loyal believers. It’s just that… It’s just that…”

“Speak,” Lu Zhou said.

“It’s just that you were gone for 100,000 years. With that, the belief has also gradually deviated…”

Then, the four of them hurriedly kowtowed again.

“We, four brothers, swear to the heavens that we’re your most loyal believers! We have no idea about what Cult Leader Du had done! Please show mercy~”

Lu Zhou said expressionlessly, “Do you work well, and I’ll spare your lives. Otherwise…”

These words were enough to intimidate them and give them hope at the same time.

The four men were ecstatic. They kowtowed again, and when they rose their feet and returned to work, their cultivation seemed to have returned. Very quickly, they cleared away the rubble and debris, revealing the runic passage.

Needless to say, Lu Zhou did not believe their claims about being his most loyal believers. It was just that they still had their uses so he decided to keep them alive for the time being.

“Honorable Unholy One, please!”

The four men were very respectful. It was as though they had become servants.

Lu Zhou walked forward with his hands on his back. As he walked past them, his robe fluttered in the wind. The translucent ancient Dragon Soul circled Lu Zhou’s body before it disappeared.

Upon seeing this, the four men staggered back as their hearts jolted in shock and fear.

‘Heavens! The Unholy One is even more majestic than the legends said. To think I’m only standing a few feet away from him!’

After Lu Zhou stepped into the runic passage, the four men eagerly followed suit. They stood near the edge, giving Lu Zhou, who was standing in the center, a wide berth. Then, one of them smacked their hand on the ground, lighting up the runic passage.

Since earlier, Lu Zhou had wanted to visit the ancient ruins to look for the Nihilist Congregation so he could understand the matter regarding the ten celestial stars. Now that he discovered the Unholy One’s painting could activate the four power cores, how could he let go of this great opportunity? After all, who knew if the power of the painting would dissipate if he returned to Xihe Hall? He could sense the power in the painting was still sufficient now so he was determined to make this trip.

It could be seen that the Unholy had gone to great lengths to hide the four power cores. He had even hidden the key to unlocking their powers in the painting. The power in the painting could not only activate the power cores, but it also held secrets and techniques that could help cultivators comprehend the laws of the Great Dao.

Lu Zhou had to admit that he had hit the jackpot this time. He managed to activate the four power cores, his golden lotus was stronger, and even his light disk was stronger. With the painting, he believed his subsequent improvements would not be too slow.

There was also the blue avatar that still needed life hearts.

Although the life heart of the blood shaman was powerful, it was contaminated with many forbidden witchcraft techniques, which would greatly affect one’s state of mind. It would negatively impact one’s comprehension of the Great Dao. Hence, it was not suitable to be used.

The Nihilist Congregation prided themselves on being able to find what others could not. Lu Zhou thought it would be a good opportunity for him to obtain life hearts while the power in the painting was still present.

With all these thoughts in mind, Lu Zhou nodded with a pleased and satisfied expression on his face.

‘The plan is so perfect that if Old Seventh were here, he would have to admit defeat, right?’