A Chaotic World

"Master!"

This time, it was not just the haughty muscular man. Every single one of the bandits cried out in unison, their expressions warped in horror.

None of them had expected the bearded Overlord to suddenly bow his head towards a group of what they had originally considered mere prey.

The haughty muscular man rushed forward and fell to his knees beside the bearded Overlord. "Master, please get up! Even if you are willing to put down your pride, you have to think about the prestige of the Frost Guards! What will the guys think if they see you like this?!"

In response, the bearded Overlord only shook his head with closed eyes. "Pride? Prestige? That day we left, I have already put it all behind me. Now, all I care about is to take revenge for the brothers who have fallen!"

"This..." the haughty muscular man was stumped.

The rest of the bandits similarly fell silent as they heard that, not knowing how to respond to those words.

"Young man, I am asking of you with all my heart," the bearded Overlord turned his attention back towards Lu Tianzi. "Please help me. As long as you are able to do so, no matter what task you ask of me in the future, I will go to any length to accomplish it!"

"No."

Lu Tianzi's reply came instantly.

He had been betrayed enough times in the past, so the current him was no longer as naive as before.

Dealing with the Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm haughty muscular man along with the rest of the bandits was one thing, but dealing with an Overlord powerhouse was another story altogether.

After all, an Overlord powerhouse was someone that Lu Tianzi had zero confidence of beating right now.

If there was no good reason for it, he certainly would not put himself in needless danger just to help out someone he did not know.

Old Qiao could not help but feel nervous upon hearing his reply.

They still did not know if the bearded Overlord truly had no fight left in him. Should that not be the case and a fight really break out here, the results would be disastrous.

"Unless..." Lu Tianzi continued.

"What is it? If you have any conditions, just name it and I will satisfy it as long as it is within my means!" the bearded Overlord lit up at the first glimmer of hope.

"I want two things," Lu Tianzi said before pointing towards Nanlan Qianxue. "First, you and all your men will not do anything that will harm my companion and I, or stop us from leaving anytime we want. If you got to know that someone is trying to harm the two of us, you will do everything in your power to stop them."

"Hey, hey..." Old Qiao felt the corner of her lips twitch. "Are you only talking about you two? What about the rest of us...?"

"Second," Lu Tianzi continued. "You will open up your inner world and allow me to access it freely. If I determine that I am unable to help you, you and all your men will neither harm us because of that, nor stop us from leaving."

"That is natural," the bearded Overlord nodded before realising something. "Hmm? Are you not asking for any rewards?"

"As for that, I will leave it to Senior Overlord," Lu Tianzi shrugged. "If you agree, I would have to trouble you and all your men to swear a Heaven's Oath. Should any of you go back on your word, you shall die on the spot!"

"All of us?!" the haughty muscular man frowned. "You sure are asking for a lot!"

"What? Unhappy about my terms?" Lu Tianzi retorted.

"Wait, young man," the bearded Overlord interjected. "I can talk to my men about your conditions, but will you be able to give us some form of assurance as well?"

"Assurance?" Lu Tianzi shrugged. "I can't assure that I will be able to treat you without first inspecting your inner world. But I can assure you that I will do my best to treat you as long as it doesn't harm myself."

"That's good enough. Please give us a few moments," the bearded Overlord sighed before getting to his feet and turning around to face the rest of the bandits.

He did not say a word, but from their expressions, it was obvious that they were conversing through voice conveyance.

While waiting, Old Qiao walked over to Lu Tianzi with a grim expression on her face. "Young man, do you know what you are doing right now?"

"I am saving someone," Lu Tianzi answered.

"You might think so, but at what cost?" Old Qiao cautioned. "The other party is an Overlord powerhouse. Even if they agree to your terms and swear a Heaven's Oath, who knows what kind of tricks they have up their sleeves? If you ask me, it is best to simply walk away from such trouble."

"Don't worry," Lu Tianzi replied. "I'm willing to gamble on my intuition this once."

He said that, but it was not exactly a gamble either.

"I hope you don't end up regretting this," Old Qiao was unconvinced.

"We agree to your terms," the bearded Overlord's voice interrupted them.

The rest of the bandits, though reluctant, stood silently behind him. It seemed that many of them were still not truly convinced, but that did not matter.

Lu Tianzi smiled.

What happened next was nothing short of surreal for Old Qiao's group. No, even the bandits themselves could not quite believe what they were doing.

Led by the bearded Overlord, all of them swore a Heaven's Oath in accordance to what Lu Tianzi asked for. In return, Lu Tianzi swore an oath as he had promised.

This was a scene that nobody would have imagined just ten minutes ago when the bandits first appeared.

"Shall we begin?" the bearded Overlord stepped forward.

"Mm," Lu Tianzi nodded.

"Be careful," Nanlan Qianxue could not help but remind him.

"Don't worry, I know what I am doing," Lu Tianzi responded with a smile before approaching the bearded Overlord.

The bearded Overlord sat down on the snow covered ground and closed his eyes, while Lu Tianzi stood behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Just like that, Lu Tianzi sent his perception into the bearded Overlord's inner world.

This was the first time that Lu Tianzi was allowed freely inspect the inner world of an Overlord realm powerhouse.

As expected, it was rather different from that of his own.

After reaching the peak of the Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm, a martial artist had to inscribe their origin core with marks that represented their comprehensions into the world laws.

It sounded simple, but inscribing the marks of law was different from just randomly carving into the origin core.

The former was a giant step forward, while the latter led to self destruction.

Only by truly understanding the world laws would one be able to leave these marks of law in a way that granted the origin core the traits of the world laws, allowing for greater affiliation in the future.

Upon the addition of a mark of law, the origin core would evolve into what was widely known as an Overlord's nascent core.

Still, Lu Tianzi already understood as much, so seeing the bearded Overlord's inner world did not give him any new insights into cultivation. If anything, it only gave Lu Tianzi a better understanding of the bearded Overlord, as well as reveal the world law that he had comprehended.

Law of Wind.

Lu Tianzi smiled as this finding further corroborated the hypothesis in his mind.

Next, it was time to move on to actual business.

Lu Tianzi could not help but frown when he inspected the state of the bearded Overlord's inner world.

It was the same combination of poison that he had suspected, but the situation was worse than he thought.

The poison had completely permeated the inner world, and was already encroaching on the nascent core itself. At this stage, perhaps even breathing should feel like being stabbed by a dagger, not to mention moving around.

It was rather impressive that the bearded Overlord actually managed to release his aura earlier without revealing any hint of being in pain.

No wonder the bearded Overlord was so desperate for a cure, to the extent that he was willing to put down his pride and beg a complete stranger like him.

If Lu Tianzi were the bearded Overlord, he would probably try to hold onto any glimmer of hope as well, no matter how faint the hope was.

Fortunately for the bearded Overlord, the one he met today was Lu Tianzi.

Lu Tianzi pulled back his hand, and the bearded Overlord opened his eyes.

"How is my condition?" the bearded Overlord asked.

At the same time, everyone perked up their ears to listen, especially the bandits.

"I believe you don't need me to tell you how serious your condition is," Lu Tianzi replied. "It would be difficult if you want me to grant you a full recovery..."

The expressions of the bandits sank, while those from Old Qiao's group looked at each other nervously.

"You say that it is difficult, but not that it is impossible," the bearded Overlord said. "Does that mean there is still a chance?"

"That will depend on you," Lu Tianzi smiled. "Are you prepared to pay the price?"

"I thought I have already made myself clear," the bearded Overlord shook his head. "Whatever the price, I will oblige as long as it is within my means. Just name it. What is it that you want?"

"Three wishes," Lu Tianzi said. "Senior Overlord will grant me three wishes in the future."

The bearded Overlord frowned. "Three wishes?"

"That's right," Lu Tianzi nodded. "Whatever it is that I wish for."

"That I cannot do," the bearded Overlord refused for the first time. "What if you ask of me to kill all of my men and then commit suicide?"

"That will depend on how much you trust me," Lu Tianzi shrugged. "Though I can promise you one thing. As long as you and your men do not plan to harm my companions and I, I will not ask of anything that harms you and your men."

"That makes things simpler," the bearded Overlord said. "If you are able to heal me, then three wishes is a small price to pay!"

Lu Tianzi and the bearded Overlord swore another Heaven's Oath, and the deal was sealed.

"You guys can go now," Lu Tianzi turned around and said to Old Qiao, who was visibly surprised.

"R-Really?" Old Qiao glanced over at the bearded Overlord. "Will you be all right?"

In her eyes, Lu Tianzi was putting himself in an extremely precarious situation. Even with the Heaven's Oaths in place, who knew if there was a loophole somewhere that could be exploited?

"Don't worry, leave this to me and go on," Lu Tianzi said confidently.

"If you say so..." Old Qiao nodded. "I wish you good luck."

As the leader of the group, she had to take the entire group's interest into consideration when deciding her next actions.

Since they were being given the chance to leave unscathed, she naturally would not turn it down, and that was the case even if she felt worried for Lu Tianzi.

This time, it was the bandits who watched on in confusion as Old Qiao's group quickly left the area, leaving Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue behind.

"You aren't going to keep them around as insurance?" the haughty muscular man from before sneered. "Aren't you afraid that we will go back on our word?"

"Don't I still have the Heaven's Oath on my side?" Lu Tianzi shrugged before turning to the bearded Overlord. "Now then, shall we return to where you are staying? I won't be able to treat you out here in the wilds, Senior Piercing Wind."

Hmm?

The bandits immediately put on a wary expression.

"I don't believe we have met," the bearded Overlord said, his voice more solemn than before. It was obvious that he had grown cautious of Lu Tianzi too.

"Only from description," Lu Tianzi answered frankly. "But don't worry, I mean you no harm. The thing is that I am currently headed for Frostguard Mountain, and I've heard that Frostguard Mountain has been controlled by the Frost Guards for generations. Given that, isn't it only natural for me to wish to get in the good books of the leader of the Frost Guards, the famed Piercing Wind Overlord?"