A Chaotic World

"Watch it!" Linye Caixia shouted right as she approached.

Lu Tianzi narrowed his eyes, which were now shining with a silvery light.

He could tell with a single glance that Linye Caixia had suppressed her cultivation level to the Third Cycle Origin Core realm, her attack having become significantly weaker as compared to the one that she had used on Young Master Xuan Hao.

However, her movement and combat techniques were just as exquisite as before, containing within them the combat insights of a powerful Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist.

In the eyes of an ordinary Third Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist, this attack by Linye Caixia would have been truly unstoppable.

Unfortunately, Lu Tianzi was no ordinary Third Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist.

In fact, it had been a really long time since he last encountered any issue handling an attack of the same cultivation level.

With his Limitless Mirror Eye, Lu Tianzi had seen through the trajectory of the incoming attack in an instant.

Right now, his thoughts were not on how to defend against the attack, but more on how he should deal with this situation.

Should he give it his all?

Or should he pretend to be knocked off his balance as well, so as to not outshine his Brother Xuan Hao?

No, that's not the answer.

Young Master Xuan Hao had invited him here as a support only because of his potential, so he had to at least show off a suitable amount of it.

What good would it be if he were to be overwhelmed the moment he arrived, and right in front of all of Young Master Xuan Hao's seniors to boot?

If that happened, it would probably be difficult for the seniors of the Timeless Flame Sect to look highly upon him in the future, and Young Master Xuan Hao's effort to invite him here would be rendered completely meaningless.

Lu Tianzi focused his attention back on Linye Caixia.

It should be fine as long as he did not have to reveal his trump cards!

With a flick of his wrists, the Cloud Splitter appeared in Lu Tianzi's hands.

This was the long sword that he had won over from Chengban of the Divine Storm Sect after the latter gambled it on their fight, and was a weapon at the Peak Origin Core rank.

After so long, he had managed to refine the treasure sword for his own use.

Following Linye Caixia, Lu Tianzi stepped out as well, charging forward while slashing out with the long sword.

"Heh! That's more like it!" Linye Caixia grinned when she saw Lu Tianzi take the initiative instead of just focusing on defence.

But just as the two blades were about to meet, Lu Tianzi suddenly changed directions, side stepping to avoid clashing head on with Linye Caixia.

"Too late!" with a quick twist of her ankle, Linye Caixia made an abrupt turn towards Lu Tianzi.

With that, the spear in her hands once again homed in on Lu Tianzi.

But he was not worried.

In his hands, the Cloud Splitter moved gently but swiftly.

It softly came into contact with the side of Linye Caixia's spear before skilfully guiding the trajectory of the spear away from himself. Along with her weapon, Linye Caixia was completely thrown off-course as well.

"What?!" Linye Caixia widened her eyes in shock.

At the same time, the others present in the Grand Ember Hall all revealed looks of surprise.

This seemingly random Third Cycle Origin Core realm kid who came in with Xuan Hao actually had a bit of skills!

Of course, Linye Caixia had forcibly suppressed her cultivation level for this.

Since she was not used to the level of Essence energy at her disposal, it was only natural for her control over her techniques to be a little off.

However, her insights into the martial path were already at the level of a Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist. That should be more than enough to make up for the disadvantages of lacking preciseness in her energy control.

Yet this kid actually managed to stand his own against her?

Even if it was a fluke, it was still an impressive feat!

After her first attack missed, Linye Caixia stopped dead in her tracks. Her expression was blank, but her eyes remained fixated upon Lu Tianzi.

Lu Tianzi could not tell what she was thinking, but he did not hesitate to make his next move.

"Thank you for holding back, Lady Linye," Lu Tianzi quickly clasped his fists towards the young lady in front of him.

By doing so, Lu Tianzi was trying to quickly end things on a good note.

He could not afford to lose here, but neither did he want to embarrass the most highly regarded youngster in the Timeless Flame Sect.

His words broke Linye Caixia from her daze, but not in the way that he had wanted.

"Are you kidding me? Who's holding back here?" Linye Caixia retorted with an excited grin. "Watch this!"

With that, she struck once again.

The spearhead could be heard piercing through the air as it headed straight towards Lu Tianzi.

However, the Cloud Splitter drew yet another elegant arc in the air as it pushed against the spear shaft, shifting the trajectory of the attack away from him.

As her spear was pushed aside, Linye Caixia inevitably lost her balance for the slightest of moments, stumbling a little to the side.

She quickly recovered and turned around, looking at the young man whom she had not thought much of just a few moments ago.

It was already the second time that her attack had been neutralised with ease.

And this time, Lu Tianzi did not even take a single step.

"Thank you for your guidance," Lu Tianzi clasped his fists towards Linye Caixia, trying to end this once more.

But the moment he looked up at Linye Caixia, Lu Tianzi saw that the latter's grin was actually wider than ever. The excitement in her heart might as well be written on her face right now.

"Heh! You are not too bad!" Linye Caixia praised. "Now then, let's see how you take the next one!"

"Next one...?" Lu Tianzi felt the corner of his lips twitch. Was she still not done?

Indeed, she was not.

The spear in Linye Caixia's hand started giving off an orange glow, becoming especially red at the spearhead. Faint traces of smoke could be seen being emitted from all over the spear, evident of the high temperature that it was currently at.

Just by standing before her, Lu Tianzi could feel a heat wave being emitted from Linye Caixia's position, bringing the temperature of the room up by tens of degrees.

"Oh? Looks like Caixia is starting to treat this a little more seriously!"

"Hahaha, what a rare occasion!"

"Too bad my useless son is not here. Otherwise, he can definitely learn a thing or two from this!"

Those present in the chamber started to discuss among themselves, apparently intrigued by the current situation.

"Is nobody going to stop her?" Ruan Ling sent a voice conveyance to Young Master Xuan Hao. "Brother Tianzi is six full boundaries below her!"

In response, Young Master Xuan Hao could only sigh helplessly. "I have never seen anyone except for the Sect Leader and Faction Leader Xuan Bing stop Senior Apprentice Sister Caixia. When those two are not around, she basically gets to do whatever she wants. But don't worry, she will not go too far."

"Then are we supposed to just watch on as she bullies Brother Tianzi?" Ruan Ling clenched her fists. "He has never even heard of the Heaven's Warrior List before meeting us!"

"This is the privilege that comes with sheer talent," Young Master Xuan Hao shrugged. "If we are the ones ranked fourth on the Heaven's Warrior List, we will probably be getting the same preferential treatment."

"How biased!" Ruan Ling replied unhappily.

"At least he managed to do well up till now," Young Master Xuan Hao said. "I just hope that he doesn't push himself too far against Senior Apprentice Sister Caixia. After all, his real talent lies with the art of inscription."

"Watch my spear!" Linye Caixia cried out.

She raised her spear with one hand, keeping it parallel to the ground while sweeping it out towards Lu Tianzi.

This time, Lu Tianzi could sense that the strength behind her attack had significantly increased as compared to before.

It was not the level of Essence energy within the attack that had changed, but the concepts behind the attack itself.

This time, there were world laws imbued within the attack.

Previously, Linye Caixia had attacked without tapping into her comprehensions of the world laws, probably believing that it would not be necessary.

But now, it appeared that she was indeed treating this slightly more seriously!

Lu Tianzi smirked while looking at the rapidly approaching spear.

The orange-red glow on the spear was enough to let him know that if this spear came into direct contact with his body, it could probably cut right through him like a hot knife through butter.

But Lu Tianzi was still not feeling too worried.

No matter how strong Linye Caixia's attack was, it meant nothing as long as she could not hit him.

In the past two exchanges, he had the Cloud Splitter push Linye Caixia's spear from the side, forcing it off its original trajectory.

That was his way of fighting without confronting Linye Caixia head on.

Instead of making this a contest of brute strength, Lu Tianzi had wanted to overcome the other party with technique instead.

This time, he was still going to follow that same concept, yet also switch things up a little.

Instead of clashing head on with Linye Caixia's powerful spear strike, Lu Tianzi leapt into the air, nimbly dodging out of the way of the sweeping spear. At the same time, he slashed down with the Cloud Splitter to attack Linye Caixia for the first time.

Linye Caixia reacted instantly.

Her body swayed to the side, moving just out of range of the Cloud Splitter.

At the same time, the spear in her hand suddenly changed trajectory, swinging up towards where Lu Tianzi currently was.

This time, Lu Tianzi could no longer avoid a head on collision.

The spear was coming in far too quickly. If he did not want to get swept away by the incoming spear, he could only choose to block her spear with his long sword.

Bang-!

The thunderous collision reverberated within the Grand Ember Hall, and Lu Tianzi was instantly sent flying upwards. Thankfully, the Grand Ember Hall had a tall ceiling, giving Lu Tianzi enough time to stop himself instead of smashing right into it.

Even so, there was no doubt that Linye Caixia had won that exchange.

This came as no surprise to everyone present.

Now that she was treating this a little more seriously, it was only expected that she would be the victor in a direct exchange of strength!

Even Lu Tianzi could not help but feel surprised, and it was not merely because of the sheer power behind Linye Caixia's spear strike.

He took a glance at his Cloud Splitter and involuntarily let out a bitter smile.

Right now, the spot at which the Cloud Splitter had come into contact with Linye Caixia's spear had a bright orange glow to it.

Lu Tianzi was familiar with this type of glow – he had seen it plenty of times back at Old Juan's Equipment Shop in Sacred Cliff City.

It was the glow that came from heating up a piece of metal to the point where it would be suited for forging.

Lu Tianzi's gaze turned back towards Linye Caixia on the ground, and saw the satisfied grin on her face.

This girl... is she actually trying to reforge my sword in the midst of a fight?

How crazy!

After all, the Cloud Splitter is a Peak Origin Core rank treasure!

To be able to bring the Cloud Splitter to its limit with just a few hits, and while having her cultivation level suppressed to the Third Cycle Origin Core realm to boot...

Just how deep are her comprehensions into the Law of Fire?

At this point, Lu Tianzi could not help but feel that the Timeless Flame Sect truly lived up to its name. Its members were indeed well-versed with the Law of Fire.

Young Master Xuan Hao was an adept user of flames in battle, and now Linye Caixia seemed to be even better.

As long as she kept using that combat technique of hers, it would no longer be as easy to deal with her attacks. If the Cloud Splitter were to take a few more hits from her spear, it could really end up getting destroyed.

That would be a huge loss considering that this was a mere spar!

Since that was the case, it was time for him to try out some tricks of his own.

Still hovering in the air, Lu Tianzi opened up his left hand, and a ball of water started forming above his open palm.