Cui An only frowned slightly when he saw the four guards being killed; he did not lose his temper. Then, he looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "I heard a rumor early in the morning that someone has killed Yu Chenshu. Are you the rumored expert with the surname Lu?"

Li Yunzheng said in a deep voice, "Cui An, are you not going to kneel when you see me? How dare you disrespect your master!"

Cui An ignored the furious Li Yunzheng and only said, "Your Majesty, you're still young and easily influenced. After this matter is dealt with, I'll naturally apologize to Your Majesty. The other four Grand Dukes are on their way here as well."

Li Yunzheng wanted to continue reprimanding Cui An, but Lu Zhou raised his hand to stop him.

Lu Zhou's expression was calm as usual as he asked, "So, you're Cui An, one of the five Grand Dukes?"

If Cui An's men were around, they would definitely rebuke Lu Zhou for referring to Cui An by his name instead of title.

Nevertheless, Cui An did not seem to take offense. He only crossed his hands and placed them on his back as he replied, "Yes."

Lu Zhou could see the hostility in Cui An's eyes so he bluntly asked, "You seem to be dissatisfied?"

Lu Zhou found it a little strange. The elders from the Sky Martial Court knew he was the one who killed Yu Chenshu, but they did not dare to voice their opinions at all since he arrived. Where did Cui An's confidence come from?

Cui An said in a low voice, "Dissatisfied? Do you know this is the Sky Martial Court? Not only did you kill the Court Master of the Sky Martial Court, but you have the audacity to come here. I really don't understand you."

Indeed. Lu Zhou's actions were difficult for ordinary people to understand. After killing the head of the other party, he even came to the other party's house in broad daylight to make all kinds of demands. It was a little too much.

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I've always been reasonable when dealing with matters. Shouldn't Yu Chenshu die for trying to kill my friend?"

"Whether he should die or not is not up to you to decide. It should be decided by the Supreme Court. Moreover, Yu Chenshu's mission was given by the royal court," Cui An said steadily and confidently as though he had justice on his side.

"A mission from the royal court?" Lu Zhou turned to Li Yunzheng and asked, "You're the emperor. Did you give such an order?"

Li Yunzheng hurriedly shook his head and said, "Grandmaster, how could I give such an order! Cui An, how dare you defy the emperor?!"

"..."

The emperor himself had opened his mouth to refute the claims, contradicting Cui An's words.

Cui An's expression did not change at all when he heard Li Yunzheng's words. Instead, he only scoffed lightly and said, "Do you think you can threaten me just because you kidnapped the emperor?"

Lu Zhou stroked his beard silently as he listened to Cui An. Initially, after he killed Yu Chenshu in the Sky Wheel Mountain Range, he thought it would be enough to intimidate the Sky Martial Court Academy and the royal court. He did not expect there would still be people who were so ignorant and foolish. However, it was not surprising. The world was big; it was inevitable that there would be one or two ignorant idiots. This was also good. He could gain something out of this situation.

Cui An continued to say, "If you didn't come, it would have been fine. However, you just had to come here. As the saying goes, you don't want to take the path to the heavens, but you chose to charge down to hell. You can't blame me for this…"

After Cui An finished speaking, he looked at the crowd before he sternly said, "Qiu He, as the second elder of the Sky Martial Court, not only did you not avenge your court master's death, but you're even kneeling and begging for mercy from his murderer. You're a humiliation to the Sky Martial Court."

Qiu He kept quiet and remained kneeling on the ground.

Cui An looked at the other elders from the Sky Martial Court and raised his voice as he said, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and activate the Sky Martial Heavenly Formation!"

Qiu He remained still.

Cui An sighed and shook his head. "A bunch of trash!"

Then, Cui An raised his hand and waved it.

Buzz!

A buzzing sound rang from outside the hall.

Soon enough, the ground trembled slightly, causing the furniture in the hall to shake as well. Even the building seemed to tremble slightly.

Qiu He exclaimed in shock, "The Sky Martial Heavenly Formation? How do you know to activate the formation?"

Everyone was perplexed.

At this moment, Sikong Beichen coughed before he interjected weakly, "So it was you who snuck into the underground prison at night and injured me…"

Cui An scoffed. "You're old and muddle-headed. You can't even differentiate day from night. I'm an important official of the royal court. It's my responsibility and obligation to kill those who harm the country. I serve the country righteously. What need is there for me to be sneaky? Sikong Beichen, if it weren't for Yu Chenshu's sake, I would've killed you with a kick. You wouldn't have had the chance to bark here today."

Sikong Beichen frowned. "You…"

At this moment, Lu Zhou turned to look at Cui An and asked, "Are you done?" His aura now was slightly different from before.

No one dared to interrupt Lu Zhou.

Cui An nodded. "Yes, I'm done. It's a waste of my breath to say so much."

"Take him down." Lu Zhou waved his sleeve.

Yu Zhenghai was the first to make a move. His hand glowed with a golden light as he grabbed Cui An's neck.

Cui An pushed his hand out immediately and both opponents' energies collided.

Bang!

Cui An was sent flying out of the Sacred Rites Hall. However, he did not seem flustered. He raised his head and looked at the sky. He said calmly in a clear voice, "The formation has been activated. Since you've made your choice, all of you can stay here forever."

"You think you alone are capable of this?"Yu Zhenghai sneered.

"Of course, it's not just me. I've prepared a gift for you..."

At this moment, one after another, people appeared from the buildings in front of the hall. They were all dressed shabbily, and their appearances were unkempt. Their hair was messy, and their beards had clearly not been shaved for a long time. There were all sorts of people; blind and bald men, lame people, people with heads tilted unnaturally to the side, crazy and hysterical women, and old men with bent bodies.

Cui An turned to look at these people who looked like beggars and said, "As long as you kill everyone in the Sacred Rites Hall, all of you will regain your freedom!"

A bald man laughed maniacally. "Cui… Cui An… You said it yourself… If you lie to us…"

"Haven't I already free you from the prison?" Cui An retorted.

Another person laughed. "Deal! It's a deal! The air outside is so fragrant… It would smell even better if blood were spilled!"

The sound of cackling rang in the air before someone said, "How about we tear off the heads of those people in the Sacred Rites Hall? Hurry! I can't wait anymore!"

Upon seeing this, Meng Changdong exclaimed in surprise, "The members of the Sky Research Court!"

"It's those lunatics from the Sky Research Court! Everyone, be careful!"

With this reminder, everyone grew nervous.

In Great Tang, there was no one who had not heard of the Sky Research Court. After all, the current status of the Sky Martial Court was built upon the foundation laid by the Sky Research Court. Even the foreign tribes in Great Tang were wary and had kept a respectful distance from the Sky Research Court.

At this moment, Cui An leaped on top of a building and said, "The Sky Martial Heavenly Formation has been activated. Your strength will be greatly boosted. Go!"

Yu Zhenghai shook his head. He was about to make a move again when Lu Zhou's voice rang from behind him.

"Stand down."

Yu Zhenghai's fighting spirit was instantly put out by his master's words. It was as though someone had poured a bucket of ice-cold water on him. Nonetheless, he obediently returned to the Sacred Rites Hall.

In fact, Lu Zhou was looking out for his disciple. After all, this was the Sky Martial Court. It was not a bad thing to be cautious. Moreover, it was good to conserve strength if possible. There was no need to fight until the sky fell and the earth cracked if it was not necessary.

Swoosh!

In just a blink of an eye, Lu Zhou appeared in front of the Sacred Rites Hall. He looked at the group of people as he stood with his hands on his back. "The Sky Research Court?"

A bald man said in between bursts of laughter. "Hey, hey! Someone recognizes us! It's been so long, and there are still people who know us! Old man, since you have good eyesight, we won't kill you! Get out of our way!"

Lu Zhou nodded his head in satisfaction after confirming the group of people was from the Sky Research Court.

On the other hand, when Cui An heard the bald man's words, he hurriedly said, "No! We have to kill him first! What are you waiting for?"

The members of the Sky Research Court stared at Lu Zhou.

Meanwhile, Cui An flew up into the air and looked around before he said, "I'll return in an hour!"

Cui An was very smart. He retreated to the distant horizon.

"Heh, that bastard. He's using us to fight his battles!" The bald man spat.

"The people from the royal court are all like this! Disgusting!"

One of the women looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Old man, I'm sorry. However, I have to do it for my freedom!"

With these words, the people from the Sky Research Court charged forward.

"Avatar!"

Buzz!

A golden lotus that resembled a pond appeared in front of everyone's eyes. The ten leaves were dazzling as they shone with a golden light. Then, a humanoid avatar rose from the ground and soared up into the sky above the Sacred Rites Hall. In just an instant, its height reached 300 feet. Finally, golden karmic fire began to burn and surge around it.

The members from the Sky Research Court widened their eyes in shock as they flipped backward and retreated. Then, they looked up at the avatar's head.

An astrolabe appeared, and a Birth Chart lit up.

Everyone looked at this sight in awe, excitement, shock, and disbelief when a beam of light shot out from the Birth Chart.

Meanwhile, Cui An felt rather satisfied and happy that his plan was going smoothly as flew away. All of sudden, he felt a sense of danger at his back. He quickly turned around and saw a sight he would never forget.

Cui An saw a 300-foot avatar burning with golden fire and a golden astrolabe hovering at the back of its head towered above the Sacred Rites Hall. At this moment, a beam of light was shooting toward him from the golden astrolabe.

Cui An's eyes widened in shock and fear as his body trembled. His heart rate increase by 10,000 times as he exclaimed, "Thousand…"

Whoosh!

The beam of energy light pierced Cui An's heart accurately, leaving behind a neat and bloody round hole.

Before Cui An died, his mind was blank. The 300-foot avatar with a golden astrolabe was reflected in his eyes as he dropped from the sky. He tried to breathe but discovered that he could not. It did not take long before his head slackened and he died.

Meanwhile, the lunatics from the Sky Research Courts were petrified!