A Chaotic World

Chapter 252: Banquet at Bluenight Palace

City Lord Nanlan and his daughter were not the only ones discussing about Lu Tianzi.

All over the kingdom, the hottest topic on everyone's tongues was about their victory over Dragon Cauldron Kingdom. Along with it, Formation Master Beimu's final move was the greatest spectacle, but Nanlu Tianzi's feats would not go unmentioned either.

Back in Scarlet Moon City, this was the case as well.

However, not everyone was discussing the matter in the same light.

In a huge underground chamber that was well-lit with multiple candles, many experts sat at a long table with solemn expressions.

All of them were Origin Core realm experts, with the strongest already at the Eighth Cycle Origin Core realm. The Eighth Cycle Origin Core realm expert sat at one end of the long table, looking straight down the line at the man who was standing at the other end.

In fact, all of the people present were staring at the same person right now, frowns apparent on their faces.

If Lu Tianzi was here, he would certainly recognise this person who was the only one standing.

He was none other than Elder Beiqian Zuo of the Flying Dragon Hall.

Back then during Lu Tianzi's participation in the assault on the Dragon Cauldron Army's recovery tents, it was Elder Beiqian Zuo who had sent Beiqian You to ambush Lu Tianzi on his way back. In the end, his plan failed, and it was Beiqian You's entire extraction team that got wiped out by Lu Tianzi instead.

Now, Elder Beiqian Zuo stood before the other elders of the Flying Dragon Hall, his head hung low in shame.

"Repeat what you just said," the man seated at the end of the long table spoke.

He looked to be a middle-aged man, with his black hair tied into a long ponytail that stretched down to his back. His voice was steady, but anyone who paid attention would be able to sense a faint tinge of rage hidden within.

This was none other than the head of the Flying Dragon Hall, Hall Master Beisheng Jue.

Hearing the grave tone in the hall master's voice, Elder Beiqian Zuo could not help but swallow his saliva nervously. "I apologise for my actions, but the outcome only proves that I was right from the start! My disciple Peng was killed by Nanlu Tianzi! Why else would he eliminate every single member of the extraction team?!"

Bang-!

Hall Master Beisheng Jue slammed his fist onto the table in rage. "Because you sent them there to kill him! What other reason does he need?!"

Silence fell over the room.

Having witnessed the anger of Hall Master Beisheng Jue, even Elder Beiqian Zuo dared not rebut. All he could do was hang his head low.

Indeed, if someone was sent to kill Nanlu Tianzi, what would stop him from retaliating and killing them in return?

Hall Master Beisheng Jue took in a deep breath before sitting back down. "No matter. What's done is done. You have two options now, do you need me to tell you what they are?"

"No, I understand what I have to do," Elder Beiqian Zuo replied with a trembling voice.

Indeed, he had been in the Flying Dragon Hall for long enough to understand how they do things.

With Nanlu Tianzi's current status, there was no way that the Flying Dragon Hall would fall out with the youngster on his account. If things went on like this, the Flying Dragon Hall would certainly choose to expel him, or even turn him in for Nanlu Tianzi to deal with.

That was option one, to accept his fate and patiently await his fall from grace. If things turned out badly, this might even lead to his death.

If he did not wish for this to happen, however, it was not as if he had no other options. That was where option two came in.

He had to find a way to get rid of Nanlu Tianzi before anything could even happen.

"Good," Hall Master Beisheng Jue nodded. "Now then, the meeting is adjourned. Before things are settled, I don't want to see your face again. Otherwise, don't blame me for being merciless!"

"I understand," Elder Beiqian Zuo bowed in shame.

He naturally did not need any reminder from the hall master. He, too, understood that given the current situation in the Scarlet Moon Kingdom, he had no choice but to finish things as soon as possible!

***

Bluenight City, Nine Suns Sect.

Lu Tianzi's eyes slowly opened as he exited a session of meditation.

It had already been a few days since he returned to Bluenight City, and while many of the others were still in a celebratory mood, he had been spending much of his time cultivating in his room.

After the war, his accumulations had already reached the limits of the Peak Essence Condensation realm, and the liquid Slaughter Essence flowing through his inner world was already extremely dense and viscous.

But in order to attack the next boundary, he had to first cleanse and refine the impurities in his liquid Slaughter Essence, leaving it as pure as possible.

Only after doing this could a true condensation of his Slaughter Essence particles take place, gathering it together and forming it into a small and compact origin core.

The purer his Slaughter Essence was before the breakthrough, the smaller and more compact the resultant origin core would be.

And the smaller and more compact the origin core that was formed, the more space it would have to grow in the future.

There was no need to rush.

Someone who rushed into the Origin Core realm might receive greater power earlier, but the impure Origin Core could mean that he would be stuck at the First Origin Cycle forever, doomed never to advance any further.

City Lord Hu Yuanbo of Ivory Rock City was the perfect example.

Over the past few days, Lu Tianzi had been slowly refining the impurities in his inner world.

During this process, he had realised that the method to refine his impurities passed to him by Marshal Xianming was vastly different from the one stated in the Heaven Devouring Divine Art. Thus, he simply threw out whatever Marshal Xianming told him, concentrating on the method stated in the Heaven Devouring Divine Art instead.

Marshal Xianming might only be second to the Scarlet Moon Overlord in the kingdom, but compared to his master Xihuang Yuanfeng, Lu Tianzi still had a great deal more trust in the latter's techniques.

After all, Xihuang Yuanfeng's cultivation level spoke for itself.

Till date, Lu Tianzi still had no idea what Xihuang Yuanfeng's true cultivation level was at. But what he was certain of was that the pressure he felt from Xihuang Yuanfeng was certainly greater than the pressure he felt from the Scarlet Moon Overlord.

Since that was the case, how could Marshal Xianming even compare?

Lu Tianzi stepped out of his room and into the warm morning sun, slowly making his way through the Inner Sect Grounds.

It did not take long before he arrived at the front hall.

"Tianzi, you are here!" Sect Master Nanhui exclaimed with a wide smile when he spotted Lu Tianzi entering.

These few days, he always smiled whenever he looked at Lu Tianzi.

"Greetings, Sect Master, Elders," Lu Tianzi clasped his fist towards the many people present.

On this day, the sect master and all the elders had been gathered here. On top of that, the various Inner Sect members who had participated in the war were also here.

Of course, that included Nanlan Qianxue and Nanqing Haowen.

Nanqing Haowen had looked quite exhausted towards the end of the war, perhaps affected by the brutality of it all. Thankfully, he seemed to have recovered quite a bit over the past few days, and the usual smile had returned to his face.

As for Nanlan Qianxue, the accumulations from the war had caused her cultivation to improve by leaps and bounds. Over the past few days, she had actually broken through to the next boundary. Right now, she was already at the Advanced Essence Condensation realm.

Seeing this, Lu Tianzi sincerely felt glad for them as well.

"Good, good," Sect Master Nanhui still could not wipe the smile off his face. "Now then, if everyone's ready. Let us head out."

"Yes, Sect Master!" everyone answered in unison.

As if the celebratory banquet back in Scarlet Moon Palace was not enough, City Lord Nanlan's Bluenight Palace had started preparing for a celebratory banquet of their own after everyone's return to Bluenight City.

Apparently, it was supposed to be a celebration just for the local heroes who had come together to make the grand victory possible.

Having been invited by Bluenight Palace, the members of the Nine Suns Sect had no reason not to attend.

Over at Bluenight Palace, esteemed guests continued to stream in enthusiastically, many of them leaders of their respective influences.

City Lord Nanlan greeted each of these leaders with a smile, almost as though his expression had been plastered onto his face. But when the members of the Nine Suns Sect finally arrived, his expression suddenly brightened significantly.

"Greetings, Sect Master Nanhui!" City Lord Nanlan stepped forward to welcome them.

"Greetings, City Lord Nanlan," the many members of the Nine Suns Sect clasped their fist in respect.

"Dispense with the formalities! Dispense with the formalities! There is no need to be so courteous with me!" City Lord Nanlan laughed. "Come, let me show you to your table."

"Thank you, City Lord," Sect Master Nanhui smiled in response, following City Lord Nanlan to the front of the hall.

Unsurprisingly, the tables for the Nine Suns Sect were positioned right at the front, beside those of Bluenight Palace. After all, in terms of strength, these two influences were the leaders of Bluenight City.

Lu Tianzi took his seat among the other Inner Sect members, sharing his table with nine others.

The banquet started shortly after, and fine delicacies were brought out one after another. While the food was a level below that of the banquet in Scarlet Moon Palace, it was still far superior to the food that most people would be able to enjoy in regular restaurants.

"Hey Inscription Master Tianzi," Nanlan Qianxue's voice sounded out in Lu Tianzi's head while he was happily digging in. "Are you not going to return all the looks that are being directed towards you?"

Lu Tianzi could not help but let out a bitter smile.

Of course he could sense that at any one time, almost half the people at the banquet would be looking at him, and he could not help but feel uncomfortable about it. Still, he had pretended not to sense anything and continued enjoying his food.

But now that Nanlan Qianxue had pointed it out, this meant that others must have noticed as well.

How troublesome

Why couldn't people just leave him to enjoy his food in peace?

"Tianzi!" a familiar voice broke him out of his daze.

This time, Lu Tianzi was not irritated at all. Instead, he broke out in a smile before standing up to greet the person.

"Inscription Master Nanbai!" Lu Tianzi clasped his fist towards the white haired old man. Beside Inscription Master Nanbai was his son General Nanbai Zhaoyu.

"Hahaha! You have really outdone yourself this time!" Inscription Master Nanbai patted him on the shoulder. "I am truly proud of you!"

"Thank you for your kind words. I merely got lucky," Lu Tianzi laughed it off humbly.

"What you have done is far beyond what luck can do," General Nanbai Zhaoyu added from the side. "I know that you have already received a reward from His Majesty the King, but here is a little something from me as well. Let's just treat it as a congratulatory gift, as well as my thanks for playing a crucial part in ending the war!"

With that, General Nanbai Zhaoyu brought out a small spatial ring and placed it in Lu Tianzi's hands.

"Thank you, General Nanbai," Lu Tianzi did not stand on ceremony, keeping away the spatial ring. "I appreciate it."

"You better do appreciate it!" Inscription Master Nanbai laughed. "You might not know, but this is actually something that my son had gotten from Formation Master Beimu only after a long period of asking. For him to give it to you, you have really lucked out!"

"Oh?" Lu Tianzi exclaimed in surprise.

Back then when he first met General Nanbai Zhaoyu, the general had mentioned that he finally managed to convince Formation Master Beimu to sell him a rare item. Could it be this item?

"But since that is the case, General Nanbai must have needed it. How can I accept this?" Lu Tianzi moved to bring out the spatial ring once again.

Before he managed to do so, General Nanbai Zhaoyu waved for him to stop.

"It's all right, you can keep it. It is hard to explain, but I lost the need for it shortly after returning from Scarlet Moon City," General Nanbai Zhaoyu let out a tired sigh. "Since you are an inscription master yourself, you probably won't need me to explain. But this is a rare material that can be used in an inscription to enhance the cultivation effects of a beast core. Use it well and it might be of great aid to your cultivation in the future."

Lu Tianzi was dumbfounded upon hearing that.

So the item that General Nanbai Zhaoyu had gotten from Formation Master Beimu with such effort was a material to enhance the cultivation effects of a beast core.

As for why he had lost a need for it, it must be because Lu Tianzi had stolen the high grade beast core from the Shadowfront Fortress, leaving him with nothing to work on.

To think that right now, even the boosting material would land in his hands!

If General Nanbai Zhaoyu learnt that all of his hard work had only served to benefit Lu Tianzi, just what kind of reaction would he have?