A Chaotic World

"Argh!" Lu Tianzi could not help but groan in misery as flames burst out from the shallow wound on his back.

Lu Tianzi hurriedly retreated, deliberately slamming his burning back into the wall of the cave.

The searing pain ceaselessly assaulted his mind as he gritted his teeth, trying his best to endure the agony of being burnt alive.

Thankfully, the flames did not last for long.

But the moment Lu Tianzi looked up again, Hu Shenwei was already slashing down towards him once more!

Lu Tianzi's eyes widened in shock.

Hu Shenwei's swordplay was too fast!

He kicked off from the wall, borrowing the sudden boost to dodge to the side.

Rolling off the floor into a defensive high kneeling stance, Lu Tianzi raised both his weapons in a cross before him as he eyed his opponent cautiously.

"Is this all you are capable of?" Hu Shenwei grinned sinisterly as he halted his attacks momentarily. "I admit that you are strong for your cultivation realm. However, by challenging me, an Essence Condensation realm martial artist, you are getting way over your head!"

Pu-!

Lu Tianzi spat on the floor in disdain, "Even if I did not do this, would you let me off?"

"In that case, I definitely would have let you live. After all, you are still a beloved member of my human race," Hu Shenwei let out the amiable smile that he always wore.

"Like father, like son. You are just like Hu Yuanbo, living a life of lies and deceit!" Lu Tianzi stood back up to face him.

"Hu Yuanbo?" Hu Shenwei's eyebrow twitched in displeasure. "You are just a lowly Essence Building realm martial artist. Who gave you the right to refer to the City Lord by his name?"

Lu Tianzi snorted coldly.

"Do I even need anyone's permission to speak of Hu Yuanbo's name? So what if he is still the Lord of Ivory Rock City? That is just a position that he built upon his lies! In any case, he won't be able to sit his position for long. After I get rid of you, he will be the next in line!"

Hearing that, Hu Shenwei broke out into an uproarious laughter.

"Take down the City Lord? With just you? What lofty dreams!" Hu Shenwei mocked sarcastically. "All right, enough of this nonsense. After killing you, I would still have to worry about those demons who are after us, so just stay put and die obediently. The result will be the same even if you struggle anyway. It is all a matter of time!"

Hu Shenwei did not wait for a reply from Lu Tianzi, immediately charging towards him after saying his share.

At this moment, Lu Tianzi's level of concentration reached its peak.

He knew that both in terms of swordplay and control of Spiritual Essence, he was inferior to Hu Shenwei. If the battle dragged on at the rate it was going, then the injuries on him would only continue to accumulate, resulting in his eventual defeat.

Since that was so, in order to come out victorious, he would have to rely on the areas that he had the advantage in and take Hu Shenwei by surprise.

But the problem with relying on the element of surprise meant that he would only have one chance to do so.

If he screwed up this one chance, then Hu Shenwei would definitely be on guard from then on.

Should that happen, defeating Hu Shenwei would then become much more difficult than before!

Steeling his resolve, Lu Tianzi decisively slashed out with his sword, intending to match Hu Shenwei's sword in a head on clash!

"Blocking my sword with yours yet again? And you are supposed to be an unprecedented combat genius?" Hu Shenwei sneered in contempt. "Looks like I have grossly overestimated you. You are just an insect who doesn't learn!"

Bang-!

Hu Shenwei frowned subconsciously as his sword hand was pushed away from that collision. As expected, the force behind Lu Tianzi's attack was truly stronger than his, and he was once again the one being pushed back from a head on clash.

However, so what of it?

Even though he was pushed back, the flames from his blade continued surging forward, threatening to engulf Lu Tianzi whole!

Yet at this time, Lu Tianzi did not choose to retreat.

With a loud roar, Lu Tianzi charged forward instead, directly bursting through the surging flames towards Hu Shenwei!

After bursting through the flames, Lu Tianzi's other hand immediately struck!

"Die!" Lu Tianzi yelled as the sabre in his left hand slashed towards Hu Shenwei!

"You madman!" Hu Shenwei cursed in shock.

As the one who executed the combat skill, Hu Shenwei understood even better than Lu Tianzi that those were no ordinary flames.

The temperature of the flames had reached an extremely high degree, able to even refine pills and melt down treasures. If a person were to be burnt by such a flame, the pain and damage received was unimaginable!

Having been struck by it twice before, there was no way that Lu Tianzi did not know how fearsome these flames were.

Yet he still chose to dive right into the flames?

Knowing that he could not win with normal means, did this Lu Tianzi intend to take him down even at the cost of his own life?

Commendable effort, but that was not good enough!

Hu Shenwei's sword hand had originally been struck aside from the first clash, seemingly leaving him wide open. However, by gritting his teeth and straining every single muscle on his body, Hu Shenwei was actually able to forcibly pull his sword back in front of him to face his opponent!

Lu Tianzi had closed in considerably after the first clash, but Hu Shenwei miraculously found enough space to slash out with his sword once again, finding Lu Tianzi's sabre as it was slashing down!

Bang-!

Hu Shenwei's sword was once again struck aside, but the flames from his sword surged forth towards Lu Tianzi just like how it did before.

Surely this was enough?

But no, it was not.

"Hu Shenwei!" Lu Tianzi roared as he charged out of the wave of flames once again, rushing straight towards his opponent!

"You crazy suicidal bastard! Are you in such a hurry to die?!" Hu Shenwei roared in anger, biting down hard as he once again pulled his sword back to face Lu Tianzi.

Having to forcibly pull his sword back again and again would definitely result in internal injuries, no matter how slight they were. These internal injuries would in turn cause a temporary drop in his combat capabilities which would take him time to recover from.

With the threat of the demons looming behind, Hu Shenwei was naturally unwilling to subject himself to such a state. But Lu Tianzi was simply too persistent, even managing to endure the burning of the flames as he focused solely on offence!

Lu Tianzi's persistence, coupled with his inhuman strength, was actually forcing Hu Shenwei to the edge.

Hu Shenwei had already strained himself greatly with the previous clash, but that did not mean he would simply give up and leave himself open to another frontal attack.

"Let's see you endure this!" Hu Shenwei shouted in rage.

Slashing out with his sword, Hu Shenwei channelled all of his Spiritual Essence into activating his combat skill.

At that instant, the flames on his sword seemed to have exploded into a raging inferno, growing extremely resplendent as it transformed the night of the cave into day. Following the trail of the sword, it was like a dazzling sword of light was slashing towards Lu Tianzi.

If this sword managed to hit Lu Tianzi, it was likely that his body would be vapourised immediately!

But at this time, facing such a terrifying attack from Hu Shenwei, Lu Tianzi actually completely let go of both the sword and sabre in his hands!

With each of the two earlier clashes, Lu Tianzi had slowly closed the gap between them. Right now, the two of them stood barely a metre apart, the closest since the start of the fight.

Every inch on Lu Tianzi's body seemed to be screaming in pain from having been directly exposed to Hu Shenwei's flames. In fact, any ordinary Essence Building realm martial artist would have already succumbed to the agony by now, be it losing consciousness or perhaps even dying from the severe injury.

However, Lu Tianzi had a far tougher body than his peers, powered by a strong will for revenge.

Gritting his teeth, he endured the extreme agony that he was going through at the moment, and directly punched out towards Hu Shenwei's right arm!

At such close proximity, slashing with a weapon was actually far slower than striking with one's fists. That was especially so since Hu Shenwei had to forcibly recover from a broken stance.

Hu Shenwei's eyes widened in horror upon seeing Lu Tianzi's strike!

With his powerful perception as an Essence Condensation realm martial artist, how could he not tell what would happen next?

The moment Lu Tianzi punched out with his fist, Hu Shenwei had already deduced that there was no way he could make it in time to block the punch.

All he could do was to watch on helplessly as Lu Tianzi's fist sped towards its target with pinpoint accuracy!

Fast!

If Hu Shenwei's swordplay was already considered fast, then Lu Tianzi's punch was even more so!

Thunderbolt Torrential Fists.

This was the one combat skill that Lu Tianzi had never stopped practising since he was young.

Right now, that torturous practice was paying off as he put it on display in its full glory, complete with the extreme swiftness and strength that came along with it!

Lu Tianzi's punch smashed directly into Hu Shenwei's right arm, stopping his sword slash right there and then!

No matter how resplendent his sword light was, no matter how glorious his attack seemed, none of that mattered as long as Hu Shenwei failed to hit Lu Tianzi with it!

But it was not over yet.

Before Hu Shenwei could recover, Lu Tianzi's second punch smashed into Hu Shenwei's left shoulder, completely breaking apart his stance and opening up his defence!

Next came a rain of unstoppable punches that landed with such incredible pace that it seemed to even overshadow the heavy downpour outside of the cave.

Lu Tianzi roared in anger, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he punched out repeatedly, smashing Hu Shenwei towards the wall of the cave.

Bang-!

Hu Shenwei spat out a mouthful of blood as his back collided against the cave wall.

Upon the impact, the huge gash on his back caused by the demons earlier was torn even wider apart!

Hu Shenwei had already overstrained himself when he tried to forcibly recover from his broken stance twice. After which, he had concentrated all of his momentum and strength into that last sword slash, hoping to end everything with that one strike.

But he eventually failed.

After the first few punches from Lu Tianzi, Hu Shenwei had completely lost his sense of bearing and the ability to defend!

Even so, despite his seemingly pitiful position at the moment, not all was lost.

Hu Shenwei desperately held on to his consciousness, hoping for any opportunity that he could grab hold of. As long as Lu Tianzi showed even the slightest of opening, Hu Shenwei might still be able to recover, escaping from this relentless rain of punches.

But Lu Tianzi was not termed as a combat genius for nothing.

How could he show such an opening when he finally managed to corner his opponent to such an extent?

As a result, Hu Shenwei appeared to be completely helpless as Lu Tianzi repeatedly hammered him against the wall with his fists!

Hu Shenwei felt his consciousness gradually slipping away from him as he endured the relentless attack from Lu Tianzi. At this point, his vision was turning dark and he was no longer capable of sending out his perception to watch his surroundings.

All that was keeping him standing right now was his conviction as a martial artist, and an unwillingness to fall before achieving his goals!

Since young, Hu Shenwei had always been known as the son of the Lord of Ivory Rock City, forced to stay within the shadow of his incredible father.

Instead of nurturing him with love, his father had always played the role of the devil, being extremely strict with him.

That was fine with him as well, since he understood that his father merely wanted to instill discipline into him. It was all so that he could eventually grow to become capable of taking over the heavy reins of leading humanity through the darkness.

With that in mind, Hu Shenwei trained with all his might, wanting to one day become the strongest warrior, standing by his father's side and lending his strength to building the future of humanity.

In Hu Shenwei's heart, his father was the religion that he believed in, and he was fated from birth to serve by his father's side.

But everything changed on that fateful day when he was finally let in on the dark secret behind Ivory Rock City's unblemished record of never suffering an attack from the demons.

Humanity was weaker than the demons, and that was the fate of the weak.

In an instant, the father whom he knew as the champion of humanity in the resistance against demons had become a weak leader who had no choice but to sacrifice the few for the many.

And thus, Hu Shenwei no longer aimed to serve by his father's side.

At that moment, he felt like he had lost his own identity.

From then on, he had longed to find a new identity, a new reason to get stronger. After all, what good was getting stronger when even his father had to give in to the demons' requests?

Then he realised one thing, perhaps he was born for a different reason after all.

Since his father was unable to bring humanity out of the darkness, then he shall be the one to do so.

All he had to do was to grow even stronger and attain even more glorious results than his father, and things would naturally fall in place. He would eventually replace his father as the leader of humanity, and lead the resistance against the demons!

At that time, humanity would no longer have to cower before the demons, and would instead be able to stand equally beside them.

He would be the one shining star who had led humanity to prosperity, the hero who delivered everyone from their sufferings!

The bards would sing of his deeds and the jesters would dance to his tale.

That was his fate!

That was why he strove hard to be recognised, cultivating with all his effort, and fighting for every opportunity to display his capabilities.

However, reality was harsh on him.

No matter what he did, nobody truly recognised him for who he was, only referring to him as the son of his father. This way, all of his achievements were credited to his father instead.

That caused his to be extremely depressed, doubting his previous idea that he was the chosen one to deliver the masses.

If he was not the chosen one, then no matter what he did, nothing would work.

After all, there was no way to struggle against fate.

Or so he thought…

But when he came across Lu Tianzi during this operation, everything clicked in his mind.

At that moment, he realised that everything that happened before was likely caused by this unprecedented genius. As long as he managed to kill Lu Tianzi here, then things would return to what they were, and humanity would remain safe just like before.

Perhaps this was his fate after all!

The reason why he had trained so hard was all for this moment, to take out the troublemaker Lu Tianzi for the sake of humanity's continued existence!

This was supposed to be his fated role!

But what was happening now?

Was he actually going to lose?

What was going to be the fate that awaited humanity then?

No!

He was unwilling to accept this!

And at this critical moment, he actually felt a small gap in Lu Tianzi's offence!

Someone like Lu Tianzi actually made a mistake in his pacing?

There was no doubt about it. This was the hand of fate working in his favour!

Without a moment's hesitation, Hu Shenwei raised his arm to guard!

If he could stop Lu Tianzi's attack for just a single a moment with his guard, he would be able to create a small gap to escape. Once he managed to create some distance between them, then he could even regain the upperhand!

But at this time, he felt a cold edge stabbing into his raised arm.

Huh?

Confusion set in as Hu Shenwei struggled to see with his eyes that had barely remained open, only to realise that there was a small knife gripped tightly in Lu Tianzi's hand.

In the end, that small gap in Lu Tianzi's offence only appeared because Lu Tianzi had reached for the concealed knife hidden under his clothes.

Lu Tianzi slashed forth with this knife, cutting straight through Hu Shenwei's raised arm and slicing right across Hu Shenwei's throat!