A Chaotic World

As an inscription master, Lu Tianzi's eye for treasures was better than that of most others.

Scanning through the items on the fifth storey, he found that most items were at the Advanced Essence Condensation rank, with only a minority at the Peak Essence Condensation rank.

Lu Tianzi could not help but feel disappointed upon realising that.

He had hoped that just like Nanlan Qianxue, he would be able to at least obtain an Origin Core rank item.

But this result was understandable as well.

After all, this was just the fifth out of nine storeys. Even the Nine Suns Sect could not possibly have that many Origin Core rank treasures just lying around.

With four more storeys to go, it was already quite fortunate that there were even any Peak Essence Condensation rank items here for him to choose from!

Most of the items stored within the Pagoda of Treasures were in the form of weapons. After all, powerful weapons were the most direct way to increase a martial artist's combat prowess.

However, with his sword and sabre both already at the Peak Essence Condensation rank, Lu Tianzi did not have too much interest in the weapons available.

Just then, Lu Tianzi came across the first item that caught his eye.

The Nine Dragons Flexible Armour was made from the scales of a Flood Dragon. Flood Dragons were legendary beasts with strength that could even go beyond the Origin Core realm in adulthood. Even though their scales were not considered impenetrable, they were still able to mitigate a large amount of energy from incoming attacks.

Though it was only made with scales taken from an infant Flood Dragon, the Nine Dragons Flexible Armour was able to block most attacks from martial artists under the Origin Core realm. Even attacks from weaker Origin Core realm martial artists could be mitigated to a certain extent!

When Lu Tianzi saw the Nine Dragons Flexible Armour, he immediately felt his interest piqued.

Having just faced an attack by an Origin Core realm martial artist in the Trial of the Fist, Lu Tianzi was still quite shaken by how helpless he truly was in comparison. With this Nine Dragons Flexible Armour, he would at least stand a greater chance if he were to be targeted by someone with that level of strength.

In the end, guarding one's life was still the most important of all!

In comparison to his life, nothing else mattered.

Not intending to decide immediately, Lu Tianzi continued looking. And just as he was about to be done with the fifth storey, he finally saw an item that truly moved his heart!

Made entirely of reinforced silver, the Star Reaper Spear was completely silver in colour, and was almost three metres long from end to end. Cast as a whole instead of forging its spear shaft and spearhead separately, this provided the weapon with a sense of unity and allowed the weapon user to freely channel their energy through the entire spear.

Lu Tianzi's eyes lit up the moment he set his eyes on this beautiful spear.

Since he had started on his road of martial arts, Lu Tianzi had always dreamt of traversing the world, suppressing all his opponents with a spear in hand.

Regretfully, he had not possessed a spear back when he was learning from his master Xihuang Yuanfeng. That had resulted in him missing the chance to acquire further guidance on the art of spearmanship.

Now that this Star Reaper Spear was placed right in front of him, how could he pass up on this rare opportunity?

However, each person was only allowed to select one treasure and one jade slip to be brought out of the Pagoda of Treasures. In terms of usefulness, the Nine Dragons Flexible Armour far exceeded the Star Reaper Spear, especially since he already possessed two weapons at the Peak Essence Condensation rank.

Wait… one treasure and one jade slip?

But what if he gave up on the jade slip?

Would he be able to trade it for another treasure instead?

This thought ran through Lu Tianzi's mind.

In terms of cultivation techniques, the Heaven Devouring Divine Art was certainly superior to any cultivation techniques of the Nine Suns Sect.

In terms of combat techniques, Lu Tianzi possessed the Eternal Wraith Sword Art. On top of that, he now had the Astral World Slash, and was about to look into the Limitless Mirror Eye.

Disregarding the Astral World Slash which was a last resort type of attack that relied on his inscription skills, Lu Tianzi had no doubt that the Eternal Wraith Sword Art and the Limitless Mirror Eye were techniques that should be at least on par with the most profound combat techniques available in the Nine Suns Sect, if not better.

In terms of movement techniques, Lu Tianzi was quite pleased with the performance of his improved Flowing River Silent Strides. For the moment, Lu Tianzi was only looking to further refine the technique, and not to learn an entirely new one.

Thus Lu Tianzi truly had no interest in the jade slips placed before him.

Just to be sure, he scanned through the items from the fourth storey to the first storey as well, taking care to even look at the descriptions of the various jade slips. As he expected, nothing else caught his eye.

Having made his decision, Lu Tianzi returned to Elder Jingren who was waiting near the exit.

Seeing that Lu Tianzi had returned, Elder Jingren asked, "It seems like you have made your choice."

"Yes, Elder Jingren," Lu Tianzi answered.

"Very well, show me the items that you have retrieved," Elder Jingren instructed.

"The thing is this…" Lu Tianzi hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I don't think that the techniques listed in the jade slips here are suitable for me. Is it possible to exchange the option to select a jade slip for a second piece of treasure…?"

Elder Jingren was originally looking forward to seeing just what kind of cultivation technique this arrogant young man would finally settle on, only to be shocked by the other party's answer!

"What did you say?" Elder Jingren could not believe what he was hearing. "You say that none of the techniques here are suitable for you?"

"Yes…" Lu Tianzi answered awkwardly.

He naturally understood that in this Elder Jingren's eyes, his actions would seem incomprehensible.

After all, the other party had already reprimanded him once for not focusing on picking a good cultivation technique back at the Pagoda of Knowledge. Now that this was happening for a second time, there was no doubt that Elder Jingren would think even worse of him.

However, that was something that could not be helped!

It was not like he could reveal the existence of the Heaven Devouring Divine Art.

If he did, perhaps even the prestigious Nine Suns Sect would resort to underhanded means in order to obtain the secrets of the cultivation technique from him!

But contrary to his expectations, Elder Jingren actually did not kick up a fuss about the matter this time.

"Go ahead and do as you wish. Ultimately, your future lies in your own hands. If you wish to continue down this road, then so be it…"

As though having resigned to his fate, Elder Jingren simply let out a deep sigh before agreeing.

It seemed that the heaven was fair after all. This Nanlu Tianzi might possess a great amount of talent, but his foresight seemed to be extremely lacking in comparison!

"Thank you, Elder Jingren!" Lu Tianzi excitedly went up to retrieve the two items that he had been eyeing – the Nine Dragons Flexible Armour and the Star Reaper Spear.

With the Star Reaper Spear in his possession, Lu Tianzi made a mental note that he had to make his master Xihuang Yuanfeng teach him some powerful spear arts the next time he returned!

When Lu Tianzi returned and showed Elder Jingren the two items that he had chosen, Elder Jingren was clearly disinterested. All he did was to check the token that he had passed to Lu Tianzi earlier.

After confirming that Lu Tianzi had only taken two items, Elder Jingren passed the token on to Nanlan Qianxue.

Nanlan Qianxue possessed the Origin Core rank Frost Jade Sword, and naturally had no need for other weapons. In the end, she selected an offensive talisman and a jade slip containing a combat technique.

One by one, the group took their turns to pick their rewards. After Nanqing Haowen was finally done, Elder Jingren brought them out of the pagoda and promptly left in a bad mood.

"I wonder what is wrong with Elder Jingren?" Nanqing Haowen raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I wonder too…" Lu Tianzi forced a smile in response.

"All right, then. I shall make a move first!" Nanlan Qianxue bid her farewell. "Inscription Master Nanlu Tianzi, you probably should start preparing to move as well!"

"Prepare to move?" Lu Tianzi did not quite understand.

"Do you think that the sect Elders will allow the top ranker of the Nine Suns Trial to remain as an Outer Sect member?" Nanlan Qianxue smiled. "Once you are inducted as a member of the Inner Sect, your will naturally be allocated an accommodation within the Inner Sect Grounds as well!"

"Hahaha! Looks like we might become neighbours soon!" Nanqing Haowen laughed.

The group separated quickly after picking their rewards, including the two seniors who left right after Elder Jingren did.

Having just gone through the Nine Suns Trial, all of them were extremely weary at this point. Even though their injuries were healed by the treasure spirit, their mental exhaustion was not something that they could recover from within the time span of a moment or two.

Even Lu Tianzi was forced to meditate for hours before he recovered to his peak state.

It was only then that Lu Tianzi finally had the time to go through the huge load of information that had been put in his head by the Grand Mirror's treasure spirit.

The Limitless Mirror Eye was essentially an eye technique.

Unfortunately, eye techniques were something that Lu Tianzi had never come across in his life. The fact that there was no short description about the technique did not help either.

Thus, Lu Tianzi had no choice but to spend a lot more time slowly digesting the information, trying to figure out the energy mechanics behind it. Even after trying for an entire night, Lu Tianzi had only just barely managed to touch upon the concepts of the technique.

Lu Tianzi closed his eyes, silently driving his Essence energy.

But when Lu Tianzi drove his Essence energy through his eyes in accordance to the Limitless Mirror Eye technique, it suddenly felt as though his eyes were set on fire!

"Argh!" Lu Tianzi gritted his teeth as he endured the burning pain.

Even though his entire body had been nourished by the dual cultivation systems, the eyes were still considered a relatively vulnerable part of the body.

When faced with the sudden influx of energy, his eyes were stressed to their limits, subjecting Lu Tianzi to incomparable agony!

However, this was an absolutely necessary step in order to practise the Limitless Mirror Eye.

This was a process of refining his eyes. Without having gone through this process, Lu Tianzi's eyes would almost certainly fail to withstand the stress of activating the Limitless Mirror Eye, possibly even crumbling under the might of the powerful eye technique.

Should that happen, even losing his sight would only be the best outcome possible!

Because of that, Lu Tianzi had to subject himself to such a torturous process, and it was not even a one-off matter. He would have to repeat this process multiple times until his eyes were finally strong enough!

If his will was just slightly weaker, there was no way that Lu Tianzi would be able to persist in cultivating this technique that seemed to be promoting path of masochism in martial artists!

When the pain finally subsided, Lu Tianzi could not help but fall backwards, lying down in exhaustion. His entire body was covered in cold sweat as he breathed heavily, desperately trying to catch his breath.

But when Lu Tianzi opened his eyes once more, he could not help but be surprised.

Something seemed to be different about his vision?

Wanting to confirm his suspicions, Lu Tianzi hurriedly exited his accommodation and looked around his vicinity.

The sun had yet to rise and it was still dark outside, but that did not stop him, nor did it stop his eyes.

Despite the darkness of the night, everything within a radius of a kilometre appeared extremely clear to him. Even the veins on the leaves or the ants crawling in the grass could not escape his sight.

Lu Tianzi was filled with an incomparable excitement!

After just one session of refining his eyes, his vision had already improved by such a huge extent.

If that was the case, then just how powerful would his eyes be when he finally managed to master the Limitless Mirror Eye?

By then, would he even still need his spiritual perception?