A Chaotic World

Deep within the Valley of Finesse, Lu Tianzi sat cross legged with his eyes closed.

He was seated under a rather special tree. Its leaves were silver instead of green, and even the flowers that bloomed on the trees were a shiny silver in colour. From the darkness of the night, the bright moonlight reflected off the surface of its leaves and flowers to create a picturesque scene of glittery beauty.

It was known as the Silver Blossoms Tree, an extremely rare spiritual plant.

The Valley of Finesse was vast with plenty of good cultivation spots, but this tree was the sole reason why Lu Tianzi had chosen to meditate here instead of anywhere else.

Of course, it was not for the tree's shiny appearance.

The presence of the Silver Blossoms Tree made this an extraordinary spot because it constantly emited spiritual energy, making its surroundings an ideal cultivation ground for martial artists of the Spiritual Essence cultivation system.

But at this moment, the usually vibrant-looking Silver Blossoms Tree seemed to have withered slightly.

If others were to probe closely with their perceptions, they would be able to see that Lu Tianzi had established some sort of spiritual connection with the Silver Blossoms Tree. And through this connection, Lu Tianzi was greedily absorbing spiritual energy from the tree.

After a long time, Lu Tianzi finally opened his eyes and let out a deep breath.

With the help of the Silver Blossoms Tree as well as the dense spiritual energy within the Valley of Finesse, he had managed to give his Spiritual Essence true origin core the final push needed to reach its utmost limit, then successfully compressed it back to its original size.

This also meant that he had finally broken through to the Second Cycle Origin Core realm of the Spiritual Essence cultivation system!

Lu Tianzi stood up and looked at the withering Silver Blossoms Tree, then started shifting some rocks around the tree with a calculated precision. After he was done, he stomped down on the ground without hesitation.

Weng-!

A energy gathering formation buzzed into life, drawing in World Origin Energy from the surroundings to feed into the Silver Blossoms Tree.

This energy gathering formation seemed extremely simple on the surface, like it was the most basic of energy gathering formations. However, anyone with a trained eye would be able to tell that there was more than met the eye.

The Valley of Finesse was a cultivation sacred ground, and the dense World Origin Energy present had nourished the terrain for countless years.

This created a phenomenon unique to the Valley of Finesse.

Each grain of sand, each rock and pebble... all of them now had a sliver of energy flowing through them.

It could be said that the terrain itself had transformed into a natural medium of World Origin Energy.

Because of the energy within them, the different parts of the terrain acted in the same manner as energy nodes of a formation, forming into a natural yet complex web of interconnected formations that covered the entirety of the Valley of Finesse.

Unfortunately, not every natural formation was beneficial.

There were certain spots where World Origin Energy was denser than others, but there were also spots where World Origin Energy was considered scarce even when compared to the outside.

Some areas were concealed in an unnatural mist, while others threatened to take the lives of any careless trespassers.

As visitors to the Valley of Finesse, martial artists would be able to discern the differences between these spots rather easily as long as they cared to observe the native plants and beasts.

Places with dense World Origin Energy would naturally be where the plants and beasts congregated, and places with traps would only house the toughest lifeforms present.

Yet even though it was easy to spot the differences in these areas, few would be able to understand the reason behind such differences.

It was like formations were being stacked and overlapped upon each other without proper consideration, causing all the original formations' effects to go completely off tangent.

Some effects were amplified, while some effects were reduced.

Some effects were altered into something completely different.

Even Lu Tianzi, with his understanding of formations and his Limitless Mirror Eye, took quite a while before he finally managed to grasp the concept behind this complex web of natural formations within the Valley of Finesse. And that was only because he was a martial artist who practised Spiritual Essence cultivation system, giving him a greater affinity towards the rich spiritual energy in the area.

Now with just a few casual adjustments of the terrain, Lu Tianzi was able to set up a energy gathering formation such that the nodes of the formation tapped into the life points of the terrain, amplifying the original energy gathering effect to a much higher level.

This way of utilising nature to amplify the effect of formations was a concept that Lu Tianzi was only able to comprehend through his stay at the Valley of Finesse.

The Silver Blossoms Tree had already been in a prime position within the Valley of Finesse, but Lu Tianzi's mediation just made its spot that much better.

The withering Silver Blossoms Tree reacted immediately to Lu Tianzi's actions, crazily absorbing the World Origin Energy that had been drawn towards it.

Seeing that, Lu Tianzi smiled in satisfaction.

The tree might have withered slightly because Lu Tianzi absorbed too much of its spiritual energy, but it had yet to go past the point of no return. As long as the tree stayed here and continued absorbing the World Origin Energy from its surroundings, it should be able to recover soon enough.

Now then, the two month period was almost up, and it's about time for him to leave.

Lu Tianzi felt a little regretful, but he also knew that he had already benefited enough. Even if he stayed longer, his harvest would not increase much further.

At this moment, Lu Tianzi narrowed his eyes in focus.

He suddenly felt the presence of multiple individuals converging upon his position from various directions.

Under normal circumstances, he would not have been this wary.

After all, the Valley of Finesse was under the charge of the Blue Ember faction, so there should not be any unauthorised intruders. Moreover, he also knew that apart from himself, the Blue Ember faction had sent a few other inscription masters here to hone their psyche, so it was not too strange to come across others.

However, what caused Lu Tianzi to sense something amiss was the fact that these individuals had all hidden their presences. Moreover, they had done so in an impeccable manner as they quickly approached under the cover of the night.

Had it been any other Origin Core realm martial artist, they would never be able to sense the approach of these individuals.

Fortunately, Lu Tianzi's perception had always been exceptionally strong. He was even able to see through the cultivation level of Overlord realm powerhouses!

One, two, three... ten... fifteen Origin Core realm martial artists, all of them with a higher cultivation level than himself.

This was quite the party!

From their movements, they were definitely heading straight for him.

Who could have sent them, and what was their goal?

No, thinking about it was pointless.

It could literally be anyone – Xuan Wen, Grandmaster Xiqin, Xuan Junwei, Linye Caixia, or even the faction leader Xuan Qinshang... all of them could have a possible motive if one really wanted to pin it on them. It could even be the Radiant Raven Sect or someone completely unknown.

The most important thing now was not to find out who they were or who sent them, but to think about his next step.

Even though Lu Tianzi could see them coming, their encirclement was flawless, and it was already too late for him to run.

Since that was the case, he could only try to take the initiative!

***

"Finally done!" Ruan Ling exclaimed in relief. "Now we just have to bring the ingredients back to the Timeless Flame Sect and we will be done!"

Ruan Ling had never done this kind of chores before, so she had grossly underestimated the amount of ingredients ordered by the Timeless Flame Sect.

The shop they went to did not have the supplies ready, so they had to visit the shop's warehouse located at some isolated corner of Eternal Flame City.

By the time they were done, the sun had already fallen.

"Thank you so much for the help, Young Mistress!" Bo'er said happily.

Not only did the help of Ruan Ling and Nanlan Qianxue save her a large amount of time, their use of spatial rings had also removed the need to lug everything back by hand.

So how could Bo'er not be grateful?

"Silly girl," Ruan Ling patted her head. "We can help you this time, but we can't be there for you every time. You really need to learn to say no when needed!"

"Hehe," Bo'er laughed in embarrassment, to which Ruan Ling could only sigh helplessly.

"It's getting late, let's return," Nanlan Qianxue suggested.

"Sister Qianxue is right," Ruan Ling agreed. "Let's go. I don't want to end up travelling through the night."

But just as they were about to set off, they noticed a young man heading towards them from down the street. Even from afar, his gaze was clearly fixed upon them, and this was made even more obvious because of the rather empty street.

This young man had a fair complexion and gentle features. With his long black hair tied into a single braid behind him, he looked more like a learned scholar than a martial artist.

Being in this secluded corner of the city, having a young man suddenly approach them in the middle of the night was rather spooky to say the least. Even the young man's good looks did little to mitigate this feeling.

However, Ruan Ling was not too worried. She simply stood there with her arms crossed, patiently waiting for the young man to approach.

That was because she could see that the young man was only at the Third Cycle Origin Core realm.

Being at the Fifth Cycle Origin Core realm, Ruan Ling was confident that she would be able to handle the other party even if he bore any ill intentions.

As though infected by Ruan Ling's composure, Bo'er did not feel too worried either.

On the other hand, the usually calm Nanlan Qianxue's expression turned into one of shock. That was because she recognised the other party with a single glance, and he was someone whom she had never expected to see here!

Noticing the look on Nanlan Qianxue's face, Ruan Ling asked warily, "Is he an enemy?"

By then, the young man was near enough to hear Ruan Ling's words. He could not help but let out a bitter smile, "I thought you looked familiar, but now I am certain after seeing your reaction. You are from the Scarlet Moon Kingdom, aren't you?"

Nanlan Qianxue nodded and said solemnly, "What do you want?"

The young man let out a helpless sigh, "You don't have to be so wary of me. We were at war, which was why we had to go against each other. But now that our two kingdoms have entered a state of truce, there is no longer a need for us to be enemies. Rather than that, don't you think that as fellow martial artists who came from the west, we should try to look out for each other?"

"A truce?" Nanlan Qianxue revealed a look of surprise.

The two kingdoms had always been at each other's throats, yet they actually entered a truce?

"That's right. Wait, have you not heard of it?" this time it was the young man's turn to be surprised. "To be frank, the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom has been greatly weakened after the war, and would need a long time to recover. Rather than continuing the tense relationship between the two kingdoms, we decided that it will be in both kingdoms' best interest to exist in harmony."

"So that's why..." Nanlan Qianxue nodded in understanding.

That made sense as well.

The Dragon Cauldron Kingdom had always been the aggressor between the two. So if the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom decided to call for a truce, it was not too surprising for the Scarlet Moon Kingdom to have agreed.

"Why don't you know about this though? This matter has been announced by both kingdoms so everyone should have known about it," the young man continued.

"I left almost right after the war ended, so I probably missed it," Nanlan Qianxue explained. "How about Sir Wenqin? When did you come to the central regions?"

"This is embarrassing. You actually know my name, but all I recognise of you is your face," Longshao Wenqin forced a laugh.

After all, Nanlan Qianxue was but one of the many Essence Condensation realm soldiers back then, so Longshao Wenqin never cared about her identity. If not for his almost photographic memory, he would never have recognised her.

Who knew that in such a short span of time, she would already have become a Second Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist?

Longshao Wenqin then continued, "I came to the central regions not too long ago to visit the Thunder Hawk Sect since we have a good trading relationship with them. That is where I heard of the upcoming Inscription Meet that will be held here at Eternal Flame City. Since some of them were coming to join in the fun, I decided to tag along with them to take a look. Is that why you are here as well?"

"You can say that," Nanlan Qianxue nodded.

Seeing how the two were conversing well, Ruan Ling finally relaxed. It seemed that the young man was once an enemy, but the grudge had been buried.

"Regardless, it is fate that we met here, so why don't you guys come with me?" Longshao Wenqin suggested. "I will bring you to meet my companions. The Thunder Hawk Sect is considered a rather decent level influence in the central regions. As long as we go along with them, we would not need to worry about being targeted by others!"