A Chaotic World

Surrender.

This was a word that no one wanted to hear coming from the leader of their group. But faced with the current situation, not a single person could fault Old Qiao for giving in.

Against an Overlord realm powerhouse, no one in the Origin Core realm would stand a chance, not even a Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist like Old Qiao.

If they tried to force things, it would only result in meaningless bloodshed.

"Hahaha! That's more like it!" the haughty muscular man laughed in satisfaction. "Now hand over all your valuables obediently. And don't even try to do anything funny. If you do, don't blame us for being ruthless!"

Everyone in the group had grim expressions as they looked towards Old Qiao. The latter could only sigh in resignation before stepping forward and removing her spatial ring.

But before Old Qiao could fully remove her spatial ring, someone shouted from the back of their group.

"Hold it!"

The sudden outburst not only drew the attention of everyone in Old Qiao's group, but also that of the bandits.

"Who is it?!" the haughty muscular man shouted in rage.

He was not the only one wondering either. Everyone's gaze turned towards the back of the group only to see a young man step forward confidently.

Lu Tianzi ignored everyone's gaze and stared straight at the bearded Overlord standing atop the Pure Snow Serpent King's head. Nanlan Qianxue cautiously stepped up beside him and got ready to act the moment anyone moved against Lu Tianzi.

"We are not surrendering," Lu Tianzi said.

"It's you...?" Old Qiao frowned when she saw that it was the Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm Lu Tianzi speaking. "Just drop it, brat. I hate doing this as well, but this is not a situation that can be overcome just by being stubborn."

"You'd better listen to your leader," the haughty muscular man said unhappily. "This is your final warning."

"And what if I don't?" Lu Tianzi questioned. "Will you kill us all as you said? Or will you be asking your boss to act and risk having the poison spread even further?"

Hmm?

This time, his words drew the interest of everyone in Old Qiao's group.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" the haughty muscular man yelled at Lu Tianzi. "If you dare to spout anymore nonsense, I will make you leave your life behind as well!"

"What? Am I wrong, Senior Overlord?" Lu Tianzi was not intimidated.

"You little bastard, you dare to ignore me?" the haughty muscular man erupted with a powerful aura, creating an overwhelming pressure that fell upon Lu Tianzi.

No matter what, he was a Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist. He did not even remember the last time a Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist dared to treat him with such disregard!

Lu Tianzi scoffed, then continued looking towards the bearded Overlord. "Senior, why don't we make a trade?"

He spoke with such composure that it seemed unreal. It was almost as though the pressure from the haughty muscular man was non-existent.

The bearded Overlord narrowed his eyes at Lu Tianzi.

Others were also shocked by the current situation, but not as much as the bearded Overlord. As the haughty muscular man's master, he knew exactly how powerful the haughty muscular man was.

The haughty muscular man might not be giving it his all right now, but to be able to ignore even such a level was something that no Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artists should have been capable of!

That only meant two things – the young man before him was either monstrously strong for his cultivation level, or he had a treasure that guarded him from the pressure.

Either way, it meant that the young man was no simple character.

But that was not the main issue either.

Rather than that, what the young man said was of much more importance.

"A mere Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist wish to negotiate with me?" the bearded Overlord said nonchalantly.

"That's right," Lu Tianzi nodded. "It's not like you can make a move on us without killing yourself anyway, so why don't you just let us go? That way, we can all leave in one piece. Not just us, but you as well."

"Watch your mouth, you brat!" the haughty muscular man shouted in anger. "Who is going to kill himself?!"

"If I am wrong, why don't Senior Overlord give me some pointers?" Lu Tianzi smirked. "I will gladly exchange one or two blows with Senior!"

"You cocky little brat!" the haughty muscular man cursed. "Since when is it your place to challenge my mast-"

"Wait, Qin'er," the bearded Overlord said. "Let's hear him out."

"Master, there is no need to care about a junior like him. As long as I make a move, all of them will be dead in a flash!" the haughty muscular man argued.

"Let's hear him out," the bearded Overlord repeated.

This time, the haughty muscular man remained silent, but not before glaring at Lu Tianzi.

"Surely you don't believe that we will retreat just like that?" the bearded Overlord said, his voice just as calm as before.

"What? Does Senior want to fight us and risk killing yourself then?" Lu Tianzi frowned. "Or do you think that even without you, your men will be able to win despite our numbers advantage?"

This time, Old Qiao's group perked up their ears as well.

Earlier, they had thought that Lu Tianzi was simply bluffing. But judging from the other party's reaction, they were either amused and playing along with Lu Tianzi, or Lu Tianzi might actually be right about the current situation.

If it was the latter, then things would be completely different.

Old Qiao's group was hundreds strong, while the group of bandits had dozens of men at most. Had it not been for the presence of the bearded Overlord, Old Qiao's group would never have surrendered!

In any case, their next course of action would depend solely on the next few words exchanged between the duo.

"Judging from this young man's words, it seems that you have a rather good idea of what my condition is," the bearded Overlord said. "In that case, would you know of a way to cure it?"

Old Qiao's group immediately started to exchange glances. However, they still dared not make a move in case the bearded Overlord was faking it.

"Surely Senior doesn't expect me to unconditionally tell you the cure in such a situation?" Lu Tianzi scoffed.

"I think you are misunderstanding something here," the bearded Overlord said. "The fact that I am speaking to you doesn't mean that I am afraid. In fact, what my disciple said earlier is true. He alone will be able to crush all of you in a fight. Furthermore, how sure are you that I can't make a single move?"

"Since that's the case, why don't we give it a try?" Lu Tianzi replied defiantly.

"Don't be hasty, young man," the bearded Overlord said. "If we really came to blows, both sides will not be able to get what we want."

"And what is it that both sides want?" Lu Tianzi questioned.

"I want to hear what you know about my condition, and you want safety," the bearded Overlord answered. "As long as you give me what you want, I will make sure that you get what you want in return."

"Master!" the haughty muscular man tried to cut in again, only to be silenced by a raised hand from the bearded Overlord.

"What do you think, young man?" the bearded Overlord asked. "Does it sound good?"

"Kid, don't fall for it!" Old Qiao interjected. "Who knows what they will do once they get what they want?"

"That's right! Don't give them what they need!" someone else chimed in.

"How naive," the bearded Overlord shook his head. "Do you think you will be able to escape unscathed if you don't give me what I want?"

"Tch!" Old Qiao clicked her tongue before sending a voice conveyance message to Lu Tianzi. "Kid, how certain are you that the Overlord won't be able to make a move?"

"Ninety percent," Lu Tianzi answered truthfully.

Owing to his experience at Wondertrap Mountain and his comprehensions into the Law of Poison, coupled with the increased perception from his Limitless Mirror Eye, Lu Tianzi was able to tell with a single glance that the bearded Overlord was affected by what seemed to be a combination of twelve different rare poisons.

This was an extremely potent combination that even Overlord realm powerhouses could not ignore.

While Nascent Core Overlords like the bearded Overlord would not die from it alone, it would certainly keep them from being able to unleash any strength that was even remotely useful in combat.

That was, unless they wanted to overexert themselves and let the poison spread through their body, possibly resulting in death.

However, nothing was certain in this world.

Even though Lu Tianzi could see through the poison, he did not know what rare treasures the bearded Overlord might have in his possession.

Everything could change if the bearded Overlord had a treasure that could curb the spread of the poison.

"Ninety percent..." Old Qiao frowned.

As the leader of a big group, she had more to consider than just her own personal opinion.

Was that ten percent chance of failure worth betting all of their lives on?

She was not sure.

"Look, I have no interest in killing," the bearded Overlord continued. "If you are able to tell me the cure, I won't just let you go, but I can even heavily reward you."

It was the carrot after the stick.

At this point, everyone in Old Qiao's group was already more or less convinced that the bearded Overlord was truly poisoned just like Lu Tianzi had said.

Lu Tianzi smirked. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to give you a cure without first examining you closely. The problem here is, does Senior Overlord dare to open up your inner world and allow me to access it freely?"

These words caused everyone to widened their eyes in shock.

Even Old Qiao and her group could not help but think that they were hearing things.

One's inner world contained the secrets of their cultivation. Not only was allowing another person into their inner world equivalent to revealing all of their cultivation secrets, it was also a dangerous matter as it rendered one vulnerable to the other party's attacks.

Any attacks from within the inner world was much harder to deal with than an external one, such that even an Overlord realm powerhouse like him could be susceptible to being heavily injured, or even killed, by a Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist like Lu Tianzi if things went awry!

Any attacks from within the inner world was much harder to deal with than an external one, such that even an Overlord realm powerhouse like him could be susceptible to being heavily injured by a Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist like Lu Tianzi.

If the other party was slightly more skilled, he could even die without having the chance to fight back!

To request free access to his inner world, Lu Tianzi was effectively asking the bearded Overlord to put himself at his mercy!

But to everyone's further surprise, the bearded Overlord actually fell silent instead of immediately rejecting Lu Tianzi.

"Master, you can't possibly be considering this!" the haughty muscular man pleaded. "How can someone at the Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm possibly know anything about what that traitor did? He is definitely bluffing, using this as an excuse to deal you a heavy blow!"

The bearded Overlord frowned before staring straight at Lu Tianzi. "How confident are you to be able to cure me?"

"Master!" the haughty muscular man was starting to get desperate.

"More than fifty percent," Lu Tianzi said while returning the stare. "I wouldn't know for sure until I identified the root cause of the problem."

"Do you dare take a Heaven's Oath about that? And that you will do your best to cure me and do me no harm?" the bearded Overlord asked.

"And what do I get in return? Safe passage?" Lu Tianzi scoffed. "Doesn't sound like a fair deal to me."

Those in Old Qiao's group immediately turned to him in resentment.

Safe passage was exactly what they wanted!

"What do you want in return then?" the bearded Overlord asked.

"You have nothing that I want," Lu Tianzi shrugged. "Why don't you get going now? Your secret has already been exposed so we are no longer afraid of you. If you don't mind, we still need to continue on our journey."

"Cocky brat!" the haughty muscular man cursed. "Do you really think I won't kill you?"

"Qin'er, enough!" the bearded Overlord shouted for the first time.

His majestic voice reverberated through the frozen land, causing the snow dunes in the surroundings to tremble.

As everyone fell silent, not daring to utter a single word, the bearded Overlord slowly flew down from atop the Pure Snow Serpent King's head to land on the snow covered ground.

What happened next caused everyone to be dumbfounded.

After taking in a deep breath, whe bearded Overlord suddenly fell to his knees and bowed his head towards Lu Tianzi.

"Young man, I beg you to please cure me of this poison. As long as you do, I am willing to do anything in my power to help you in the future!"