My Disciples Are All Villains

Lu Zhou had not seen the appearance of the limited treasure chest for a long time now. The last time it appeared, it contained many treasures so he expected the same of this treasure chest. He hoped this time the key open this treasure chest would not be his disciples' weapons again. He could not bear thinking about how long it would take him to travel back and forth if that was the case.

Lu Zhou checked the price. It cost 10,000 merit points. How was he going to carry on living if the prices of the items continued to increase while his income remained the same? Fortunately, he had gained many merit points earlier.

Merit points: 51,440.

"Purchase." Lu Zhou, naturally, did not hesitate to purchase the limited-time treasure box. 10,000 merit points were instantly deducted from his account. He did not feel pained by this.

A flash of light appeared. After it subsided, a dark box could be seen on the table.

At the same time, the system dashboard started its countdown. He had seven days.

Lu Zhou walked over and studied the outer appearance of the box. 'I hope I don't need anything special to open the box. Si Wuya's not here with me, and I don't want to strain my brain over this matter. It's not worth it to spend too much time on this.'

After studying it for a long time, he confirmed there were no patterns on the box. This meant he did not need his disciples' weapons to act as keys. 'What a relief! However, how am I supposed to open it?'

Apart from a small opening on top of the box, the other five sides were completely smooth.

Lu Zhou frowned slightly. 'The opening has to be the keyhole...'

Lu Zhou brought Unnamed out. He channeled Primal Qi into it and drew it across the box.

Boom!

Sparks flew.

The treasure chest was as tough as the previous one. This meant that it could be used as a weapon as well. It was comparable to a desolate-grade weapon.

He wondered if it could be turned into a pair of boxing gloves as well. Otherwise, he could only attach a chain to it and flail it around. He would give it to whichever disciple who wanted it.

Lu Zhou no longer wasted time and entered his meditative state. He knew it would not be easy to unlock the treasure chest, and it would probably need some sort of collective effort to open it.

…

Time continued to pass.

Early the next morning.

Lu Zhou summoned his four disciples, Meng Changdong, Xia Changqiu, Tian Buji, Ji Fengxing, and Wuwu to his courtyard. He tossed the treasure chest on the ground.

The others gathered around the dark box and looked at it intently. They had no idea what it was.

Meng Changdong cupped his fists and asked, "Senior Lu, what's this?"

"A treasure chest. I'll need all of you to think of a way to unlock it."

"That's easy! Master, allow me!" Little Yuan'er raised her foot and shrouded it with energy before she stomped on the box.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Little Yuan'er stomped on it three times in a row.

"…"

The others were speechless as they watched her.

The box sank into the ground. Otherwise, it was completely undamaged.

Little Yuan'er grunted and said, "We should ask Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother to cut it open…"

"…"

'This little girl is still violent even after all this time. She's too spirited!'

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "This item is too tough. It's almost like a desolate-grade weapon. It's futile to use force."

Yu Zhenghai nodded and said, "It's just like that box we were shown the last time. Master, where did you get this?"

"Don't ask about things that you're not supposed to," Lu Zhou replied without any inflection in his tone.

Yu Zhenghai laughed awkwardly. It was not surprising that his master had treasures. It was due to this that many eyed the Evil Sky Pavilion covetously in the past. The ten great sects attacked the Evil Sky Pavilion under the pretext of ridding the world of evil when what they really wanted was the treasures in the Evil Sky Pavilion.

"We should leave brain puzzles to Seventh Junior Brother." Yu Zhenghai stepped away.

Yu Shangrong crossed his arms. He looked at Yu Zhenghai and nonchalantly said, "I'm skilled at killing. I'm afraid this is something only Seventh Junior Brother can solve."

Lu Zhou had expected this. He did not think they would be able to come up with any ground-breaking ideas anyway. He shifted his attention to Xia Changqiu, Tian Buji, and Meng Changdong before he asked, "What do you think?"

Xia Changqiu and Tian Buji shook their heads, indicating they were clueless as well.

Meng Changdong exclaimed, filled with praise, "This is my first time seeing such a sturdy desolate-grade weapon. The opening should be the keyhole."

Little Yuan'er rolled her eyes. "Aren't you stating the obvious? Even I can tell that much."

Yu Shangrong said as soon as Little Yuan'er finished speaking, "Elder Meng, don't take this to heart. This is how my Ninth Junior Sister always behaves. Over time, you'll discover that she respects the old and loves the young."

Upon being praised, Little Yuan'er giggled in delight. "Thank you for the compliment, Second Senior Brother. You're the one who knows me best."

Meng Changdong. "…"

Lu Zhou shook his head. 'Looks like it'll take a while before I can open this treasure chest.'

When Lu Zhou was about to retrieve the box, Conch frowned and pointed at it with an unnatural expression on her face. "T-this… I've seen this before!"

The others turned to look at Conch in shock.

Lu Zhou was inwardly shocked as well. How could Conch recognize something from the system? Was the system deliberately guiding him down a certain path? Fate worked in strange ways. When he noticed her strange expression, he slowly said, "There's no rush. Think about it carefully and study it."

He waved his hand. The treasure chest flew up and hovered in front of Conch.

Conch shook her head and said, "I don't remember anything…"

"…"

Lu Zhou sighed. The box landed on the ground.

Conch said vaguely, "The key… I remember the key."

"Where is it?" Lu Zhou asked.

"The palace."

'The palace?' Lu Zhou was shocked. 'Am I supposed to enter Great Tang's palace?'

Meng Changdong regarded Conch with a complicated gaze as he said, "Senior Lu, your tenth disciple, I mean, Miss Tenth, has she been to the palace before?"

"She's from the red lotus domain. I took pity on her and accepted her as my disciple. I taught her cultivation so that she could protect herself and live a peaceful life," Lu Zhou replied.

"Conch is gifted in the tongue of beasts and music. Elder Meng, you're knowledgeable. Have you heard anything about this before?" Lu Zhou thought he might find out something about Conch or her family.

"The gifts of music and the beasts' tongue are rare. To my knowledge, there's only one person with such gifts. She's called Luo Xuan; she's a true genius."

Ji Fengxing immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes. I remember it now! The genius of the Sky Martial Court. Everyone called her a lunatic back then. The Sky Shuttle, the red transporter, and the Daoist veins, she was the one who created them."

Yu Zhenghai recalled his traits as a Wuqian. There were some similarities with Conch, especially the ability to come back to life. When he was just resurrected, his memories were blurry and his cultivation base had returned to the initial stage. Then, he posited, "Is Conch Luo Xuan's reincarnation?"

The others were shocked by Yu Zhenghai's theory.

Little Yuan'er had never considered this. She started in shock.

Meanwhile, Conch looked at everyone in confusion. She felt slightly aggrieved; she did not want the theory to be true.

Meng Changdong laughed. He shook his head and said, "That's impossible."

"How so?" Ji Fengxing wondered.

"Luo Xuan isn't dead!"