A Chaotic World

The prison of the Frost Guards was located deep within the territory, near the core of Frostguard Mountain. Normally, the prison would be rather empty since the Frost Guards did not like to waste the time and effort on guarding their enemies. If there was no important information that they had to fish out of their prisoners, the Frost Guards usually ended the lives of their prisoners as soon as possible.

But at this moment, the prison was almost completely full.

A lady who looked to be in her seventies had her hands clasped behind her back as she slowly walked down the dark aisle, her light footsteps sounding unnaturally loud in this silent space.

Finally stopping in front of the deepest cell, she peered in through the gaps between the bars and smirked.

"How are you feeling today, Elder Minshang?" her voice was rather hoarse.

Within the cell was a single man who looked to be in his late forties, sporting a short beard and dishevelled long hair. His clothes were tattered and dirty, making him look like a beggar as he sat against the wall in a corner of the cell.

This Elder Minshang might be a pathetic state right now, but he had a grand background. Not too long ago, he was still one of the highest ranked elders in the Frost Guards.

Elder Minshang opened his eyes upon hearing the old lady's words.

"What's so special about today that it made you get off your lazy ass and come to me, Nanyan Hua?" Elder Minshang replied drily. "Having issues with your cultivation again, so here to seek my advice? Wait till tomorrow, and perhaps I will be in the mood to help you out."

The old lady – Nanyan Hua – felt the corner of her lips twitch. "Just because I am calling you elder, do you really think that you are all that? Your days as the Second Elder of the Frost Guards is over! Look at the state that you are in right now, then look at me. Can't you see who is the one in control? If I want to, I can easily make arrangements for your execution!"

"You don't have the authority to do so," Elder Minshang replied indifferently. "If you are not going to tell me what's your intention of coming, then I will be going back to sleep."

With that, Elder Minshang closed his eyes once more.

His attitude from the start of their conversation made it obvious that he simply did not care about Nanyan Hua at all, and this inevitably caused anger to well up within Nanyan Hua.

"I guess there's no harm in letting you know," Nanyan Hua snorted. "You might not be able to feel it because this prison is built with a formation that prevents the use of perception, but there are some imbeciles who have decided to sneak into our grounds. Right now, we are slowly hunting them down one by one to get rid of them once and for all!"

"And then what? Do you need my help?" Elder Minshang replied without opening his eyes.

"Tch! Who needs your help?!" Nanyan Hua retorted angrily. "Rather than that, I was thinking that perhaps you might be interested in the identity of these intruders. That's right, they are your old comrades who escaped from Frostguard Mountain like cowards."

"Hmm?" Elder Minshang frowned.

Nanyan Hua immediately felt better upon seeing the frown on his face. "Among them, Nanshen Qin has already been spotted. Right at this moment, most of our men are converging upon him. I reckon that it won't take long before you see him again!"

Elder Minshang opened his eyes, but he did not reply. It appeared that his mind was filled with various thoughts right now.

"Are you worried?" Nanyan Hua grinned. "Then again, why wouldn't you be? This is such a stupid move tha-"

Bang-!

A thunderous explosion cut her words short, and she immediately spun around to shout towards the entrance. "What happened?!"

The prison was large with multiple rows of cells, and she was unable to see the entrance from her current location.

"H-Help!" someone shouted from the direction of the entrance.

"What?!" Nanyan Hua widened her eyes in shock. Without even looking back at Elder Minshang, she rushed towards the entrance.

Behind her, Elder Minshang silently watched her disappearing back, just like the prisoners in the other cells.

***

Upon arrival at the prison of the Frost Guards, the infiltration team did not hesitate for even a single second before taking action.

With a white shield in hand, Nanlian Hui charged directly into the gate, smashing the gate into smithereens in a single thunderous collision.

"Wha-?!" the guards seated behind the gate turned their heads up in alarm, but it was already too late.

Sabre light flashed as Lu Tianzi and Nanguo Lin followed up immediately, their blades reaping the lives of their targets without fail.

"H-Help!" the other guards cried out in horror as they watched their colleagues get assassinated before their very eyes.

The prison guards were martial artists with cultivation levels nearer to the low origin core realms. Against the members of the infiltration team, they simply did not stand a chance.

"This...!" Nanyan Hua was shocked when she finally arrived near the entrance.

Sprawled out on the ground before her were her five subordinates, each one lying in a puddle of their own blood.

"Nanyan Hua?" Nanlian Hui narrowed his eyes at the old lady. "You are here as well?"

Nanyan Hua might be from the older generation, but she had never been a respected character. As the designated warden of the prison, she was known to relish in torturing prisoners. Not just that, but her attitude towards those with a lower cultivation level than herself had been far from good as well.

She was the capricious type of person who would curry favour with those in power, but act coldly towards those beneath her.

And now, she had joined the camp of the Frost Claw Overlord and helped to overthrow the Piercing Wind Overlord.

"Nanlian Hui! Nanguo Lin! How can you do this to your fellow Frost Guards?" Nanyan Hua questioned after plucking up her courage. "Are you able to face the ancestors after what you have done?"

"Our ancestors?" Nanlian Hui sneered. "You actually dare to talk to us about facing our ancestors?"

"Let's not waste time with her," Nanguo Lin stepped forward decisively with his sabre in hand.

Now that the distraction teams had engaged the enemy and Nanshen Qin was using himself as a bait, they could not afford to waste even a single moment.

"Are you really going to take advantage of your greater numbers and higher cultivation level? What kind of martial artist is so dishonourable?!" Nanyan Hua took a step back in fear. She was only at the Seventh Origin Cycle. For someone like her, it was impossible to face either Nanlian Hui or Nanguo Lin in combat, much less both of them together.

But at this moment, she caught sight of an unfamiliar face behind them.

"Wait, who is this? Why don't I recognise him at all?" Nanyan Hua pointed towards Lu Tianzi. "You people actually resorted to enlisting foreign influences for help? So much for not wanting to expand our networks, I see that this is all that your belief amounts to! In the end, you guys are just like us!"

"Shut up, Young Sir Lu is one of us!" Nanlian Hui retorted.

"As if! If he is one of us, why wouldn't I know him?" Nanyan Hua snorted. "There is no doubt that-"

"Can we stop wasting time on cheap talk?" Lu Tianzi finally lost patience and spoke up. Without even waiting for an answer, he had stepped out towards Nanyan Hua, his left arm slashing out with the Fallen Sun.

"Hmm?" Nanyan Hua frowned.

She might not be a match for Nanlian Hui and Nanguo Lin. But now, a mere Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist actually dared to make a move on her?

What a joke!

But it was the perfect opportunity as well. Since he was ignorant enough to throw himself at her, she might as well put him to good use.

Who knows?

If she could capture him as a hostage, he could just end up being her ticket out of this mess!

A smirk appeared on Nanyan Hua's face as she charged forward without hesitation, determined to end things before the other two could react.

But as she approached Lu Tianzi, Nanyan Hua could not help but feel that something was not quite right.

Wasn't the other party a little too fast?

Unfortunately, she did not have the time to think things through.

Slash-!

Even up till the moment before her head was severed by the Fallen Sun, Nanyan Hua did not understand what was going on. She might not have understood what happened, but Nanlian Hui and Nanguo Lin saw everything clearly.

To put it simply, she was outclassed in every aspect. Be it speed or power, she had been far beneath Lu Tianzi.

But at this point, they were no longer surprised to see this.

Nanlian Hui went to her fallen corpse and started searching her spatial ring, eventually retrieving a set of keys. With that, the infiltration team quickly got to work.

"Elder Minshang! My apologies for coming late!" Nanlian Hui rushed before the deepest cell and quickly started unlocking the cell door.

However, Elder Minshang did not reveal the least bit of excitement at the potential freedom.

"Hui'er, why have you returned?" Elder Minshang asked, his tone full of disapproval.

"Elder Minshang, we are here to save everyone and retake Frostguard Mountain!" Nanlian Hui replied as he opened up the cell door.

"How foolish. You should have bade your time before acting. Those traitors will not kill us so soon because they want to use us to lure out Master. By doing this, you are playing directly into their hands," Elder Minshang said with a sigh. "What about Master? Did he not stop you?"

"It is actually Master who ordered us to come!" Nanlian Hui explained.

"Master did?" Elder Minshang raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Are you sure you aren't lying about this?"

"I swear that it's the truth!"

"That's odd," Elder Minshang rubbed his chin in contemplation. "Why would Master do that? Did he come up with a way to deal with Leng'er?"

"The truth is that Master has recovered. With Master at his optimal state, the Frost Claw Overlord is nothing!" Nanlian Hui said proudly.

"Master has recovered?" Elder Minshang's eyes finally lit up in excitement. "I see, I see! In that case, everything makes sense now!"

"Isn't that right? I have just sent Master a message letting him know that we have rescued everyone, so they should be starting to move," Nanlian Hui explained. "Now, all we have to do is to join up with them and end things once and for all!"

"Good!" Elder Minshang nodded before looking around at the other prisoners who had just been freed from their cells. "Today, we shall reclaim what is rightfully ours! For the Frost Guards!"

"For the Frost Guards!" everyone echoed in excitement.

After being imprisoned and tortured for this long, the group could not wait to go out and take revenge for all that had been done!

But it was at this moment when their morale was high that a voice came from the prison entrance. It was a familiar voice for everyone except Lu Tianzi, yet also one that sent chills down their spine.

All of them turned silent as they looked towards the entrance – at the group that slowly entered the prison in a confident manner.

"What Frost Guards? Have you forgotten that you lot are already no longer part of the Frost Guards?" the bearded man leading the group said with a triumphant grin on his face.

"Elder Chang!"

Every member of the Frost Guards felt their bodies tense up upon seeing the bearded man.

He was Elder Chang, the First Elder of the Frost Guards. In the past, he used to be the right hand man of the Piercing Wind Overlord, but now he served by the side of the Frost Claw Overlord. Best known for his combat prowess, his fighting capabilities were only below the two overlords and Nanshen Qin among the Frost Guards.

In fact, even Nanshen Qin was not that much stronger than him!

Nanlian Hui gritted his teeth in indignation.

It might not have been as bad if Elder Chang was alone. In that case, they could still try to overwhelm him with numbers. But now, Elder Chang had a huge group of men following him, each of them in the upper levels of the Origin Core realm.

Even with the freed prisoners on their side, they were unlikely to be a match. As long as the others could buy him some time, Elder Chang alone would be able to get rid of them one by one.

This was truly the worst case scenario!

"Hahaha, looks like my guess was right," Elder Chang laughed. "I was wondering why Qin'er would suddenly act like a crazed person. But as I thought, he was just a decoy. The prison is your true target!"