A Chaotic World

Even as the light in Elder Chang's eyes slowly faded away, his face continued to wear a look of shock and indignation.

When he pulled Lu Tianzi into this dull grey world of his, it had been an action fueled by an absolute confidence in himself. Due to the difference in cultivation levels, he believed that he possessed more than enough capability to handle anything that Lu Tianzi could ever throw at him.

All he wanted was to trap Lu Tianzi in an isolated world, such that Lu Tianzi would not be able to escape with some unexpected life saving trump card.

Little did he expect that this move would end up being a fatal decision on his part.

Somehow, this seemingly vulnerable martial artist at the Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm managed to jump five whole boundaries to defeat him. And now, this dull grey world that he created actually ended up becoming the very last scenery that he would ever lay his eyes on.

Even in his last moments, Elder Chang could not accept what just happened.

Lu Tianzi released his beastial transformation and took a deep breath to calm down.

Unlike the Fallen Sun, the Nine Flames Pendant required a huge amount of energy in order to activate, and even Lu Tianzi with his dual true origin cores found it extremely taxing to use simultaneously with his other techniques.

As expected, an Overlord rank treasure was not something that just anyone could use at will.

Thankfully, taking Elder Chang's life allowed Lu Tianzi to absorb a large amount of primordial slaughter essence, making the effort much more worth it.

Usually, killing a demon would not give one too much primordial slaughter essence.

However, that was not the case for Lu Tianzi who had been able to gain an abnormally huge amount of primordial slaughter essence when he took the lives of his enemies throughout this entire operation, Elder Chang being no exception.

This was a feeling that he was strangely familiar with.

Previously when he faced the members of the Flying Dragon Hall during the war against the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom, he had also been able to absorb a surprisingly huge amount of primordial slaughter essence from killing them.

Lu Tianzi had believed that this was an effect of the Heaven Devouring Divine Art, made possible only because he understood the workings of the Flying Dragon Ascension Art. Yet when he asked his master, Xihuang Yuanfeng had denied that there was such an aspect to the Heaven Devouring Divine Art.

Now, however, Lu Tianzi was starting to believe otherwise.

Just like how he had understood the Flying Dragon Ascension Art in the past, Lu Tianzi understood the techniques of the Frost Guards this time. That was the only obvious similarity between the two situations.

Perhaps even his master had not fully understood the workings of the Heaven Devouring Divine Art. Or perhaps there was something strange about him that resonated with the technique, resulting in the birth of such an effect.

After all, he was also unique in the sense that he was cultivating two different cultivation systems at the same time, so what applied to others might not apply to him.

Still, no matter what the reason was, the result was a boon and not a bane. So Lu Tianzi was not too worried about the matter.

On top of the primordial slaughter essence, there was also another unexpected benefit from this fight.

Lu Tianzi looked at Elder Chang's corpse that had fallen limply to the ground. Specifically, Lu Tianzi's gaze stopped on the weapon that was still gripped tightly in his hand.

Did he call it the Crimson Serpent Whip?

As he thought that, Lu Tianzi felt his surroundings start to tremble.

The dull grey walls and the ceiling of similar colour began to crumble, with bits and pieces of it falling off like an unstable building caught in the epicentre of an earthquake.

Now that Elder Chang had fallen, it appeared that this world of his was starting to collapse as well.

Lu Tianzi hurried over to where Elder Chang lay and stripped him of the Crimson Serpent Whip and his spatial ring.

Within moments, the dull grey world around him started to warp and distort, turning into a blur before the familiar surroundings of the Frost Guards prison finally returned.

All around him, the battle had yet to come to a conclusion.

Members of both the old and new factions continued to pit similar techniques against each other, that was, until someone finally noticed his return.

"Wait, what's going on? Isn't that Elder Chang lying on the ground?"

The loud exclamation instantly drawing the attention of everyone else. After all, everyone had been expecting Elder Chang's return to turn the tide.

"That kid! He's still alive!"

"Don't tell me?"

"Young Sir Lu survived!"

"What do you mean survived? He won! Hahahaha! He actually won against Elder Chang!"

"No way, Elder Chang actually lost!"

"Why is Elder Chang just lying there? Is he already dead?"

"How is that possible?!"

The fights within the prison ceased as though it was a tacit agreement by both sides, and Lu Tianzi, along with the motionless Elder Chang lying beside him, quickly became the centre of attention.

"Young Sir Lu! Are you all right?" Nanlian Hui rushed over to his side with a look of both joy and disbelief.

"Yeah, I am fine," Lu Tianzi said before turning his eyes to the others. "Are we winning?"

"Heh!" Nanlian Hui chuckled and turned towards the others as well. "They were trying to hold out until Elder Chang's return. But now, it seems like they are not going to stand a chance!"

"Elder Chang has fallen! Surrender now or die!" Elder Minshang quickly figured out what was going on and shouted.

The enemy had been waiting for Elder Chang's return to turn the tide. Now that things had turned out this way, all that was left was to sweep them away before joining up with the main assault team!

At the same time, Elder Minshang could not help but shoot a look of apprehension towards Lu Tianzi.

There was no trick to it – he could sense that there were truly no more signs of life coming from Elder Chang's body.

But just how did this Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist manage to defeat Elder Chang in his own separate world?

This mysterious strength was probably the reason why Nanlian Hui and Nanguo Lin were so respectful towards him, and Elder Minshang was determined to find that out as soon as possible.

After all, any unknown factor was a potential risk.

***

The blinding light died down, and colours returned to the Frostguard Pavilion.

Nanlan Qianxue panted heavily from the overexertion as she looked around her, wanting to analyse the result of the activation of the Firestar Bracelet.

By activating the Firestar Bracelet, Nanlan Qianxue had managed to call upon terrifying flames that blew away a huge portion of the enemies. Unfortunately for her, they were mostly those of a lower cultivation level.

In the end, three enemies at the Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm had worked together to suppress the flames.

And now, it would be difficult for Nanlan Qianxue to activate the Firestar Bracelet again, at least not anytime soon.

As a Second Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist, her energy reserve is limited. Just activating the Firestar Bracelet once had already taken a huge toll on her.

If she wanted to activate it again, she would need to spend quite a bit of time to recover first.

"That bitch! We need to get rid of her fast!"

"Don't let her activate that bracelet again!"

Due to her earlier actions, Nanlan Qianxue had instantly risen in priority as one of the main targets for the enemy.

Fortunately, those on her side quickly recognised that as well.

"Protect Young Lady Nanlan!"

Strong allies rushed forward to intercept the enemy members who were approaching Nanlan Qianxue, forcing them back with a powerful momentum.

"There's the main assault team! Join the fight!"

At this moment, the two distraction teams arrived at the Frostguard Pavilion as well and immediately joined in on the fight, bolstering their ranks even further.

"Shit! Retreat!"

"Draw back! We just need to buy more time for the rest to be done!"

Seeing that the situation was not looking good for them, the enemy lines began to retreat in an orderly manner. They continued to dish out attacks even while retreating, making it difficult to make any aggressive moves.

However, the Piercing Wind Overlord's faction could not help but feel slightly uneasy.

They were originally all part of the same influence, so they knew the number of top tier experts that should be in the enemy camp.

Surprisingly, what they faced here at the Frostguard Pavilion was not even half of what they had expected.

The distraction teams were here with them too, so it was not like the enemy camp should be divided.

In that case, just why were the enemies not sending out their full force to meet them in battle?

It did not take long for them to find out the answer to that question.

As they continued to chase down the retreating enemy, they eventually arrived at a huge clearing deeper into the territory.

The Courtyard of Remembrance – a place of serenity where members of the Frost Guards would come to meditate in front of a grand statue of the founder of the Frost Guards.

But at this moment, the grand statue was no more, and the place was also far from serene.

The pure white snow on the ground was riddled with smoking holes, and bodies were lying around completely motionless. These were all mere traces of the fierce battle that was still ongoing right now.

"Just give it up, Nanshen Qin! No matter how strong you are, there is a limit to how much you can do alone!"

"That's right! Surrender and we will at least spare your life!"

"You should be at your limit by now, so why make it hard for everyone?"

Hovering in the air above the Courtyard of Remembrance, a sole Nanshen Qin was facing off against a dozen Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artists.

When the main assault team saw this, it instantly became clear to everyone that the enemy had placed more emphasis on taking down Nanshen Qin as compared to fending off the attack of the main assault team.

Realising this, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

While they were struggling against a mere fraction of the enemies, Nanshen Qin had been fighting a lone battle here all by himself, facing off against more experts than they were fighting combined. Had they taken any longer, who knew what would have happened to him in this place where no one else could see?

And that explained the sorry state that Nanshen Qin was in right now.

His combat robe – a treasure in its own right – was now tattered and torn, exposing parts of his muscular body that was now punctured with wounds.

His hair was dishevelled, and even his attractive face was now mostly hidden behind traces of blood.

His breathing was unnaturally fast as well, but a smirk still appeared on his face when he noticed the arrival of the assault team.

If the assault team had made its move, that means the rescue operation must have been successful!

"Hahaha! It's all worth it then!" Nanshen Qin laughed heartily, causing a streak of blood to flow from his mouth. "Now then, where are the dogs Nanwei Chang and Nanshen Leng?! Stop hiding behind your subordinates and come face me if you dare!"

"Insolence!"

"Is that how you should be addressing Elder Chang and the master?"

"You are already have one foot in the grave, and you still dare to be this cocky? Take him down now before the others can intervene!"

Someone gave the command, and the dozens of Nanshen Qin's enemies moved all at once.

The simultaneous attack of a dozen martial artists at the Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm was nothing to be scoffed at. The pressure alone was sufficient to rob lower Origin Core realm martial artists of their ability to even stand.

"Help him!"

The assault team moved immediately, but they were still too far away to intervene in time.

Nevertheless, Nanshen Qin did not show any signs of fear as he faced this seemingly overwhelming attack.

"Come! Let me show you the difference between you and I!" Nanshen Qin roared as he raised his battleaxe up high. "Let me show you the strength of the Son of Lightning – Nanshen Qin!"

Heaven's Judgement!

With that, an unprecedented amount of lightning gathered around Nanshen Qin and his battleaxe, finally exploding out in all directions as the heavy blade was swung.