A Chaotic World

The City Lord Manor of Ivory Rock City stood majestically at the top of a long flight of stairs, overseeing the entire Officials District from high above.

It was a huge mansion that was the symbol of the highest authority within the city, but there were few residents within. The majority of the servants stayed outside of the City Lord Manor, only entering when it was time for their work shifts.

As for the ones staying within the City Lord Manor, there were only the City Lord's family, as well as a group of key servants who were required to tend to their daily needs.

Thus, the City Lord Manor was generally empty unless there was an event taking place.

There was no such event occurring today, and the City Lord Hu Yuanbo was seated in his study chamber, conscientiously going through a stack of papers under the strong illumination of a candleflame.

He was dressed casually at the moment, his usual robes hanging on the wall rack by the side of the room. However, the noble air emanated from him was not one bit lesser than usual, and anyone who set their eyes on him now would immediately identify that he was a man of great stature.

As the City Lord, Hu Yuanbo naturally had administrative officials to help him sieve out the unimportant documents, but there were still some matters of greater importance that required his personal attention.

For such matters, Hu Yuanbo had to laboriously go through each document carefully.

Such was the responsibility that came with his position of power.

The sound of gentle knocking came from the door, suddenly breaking the silence within the study chamber.

Hu Yuanbo put down the paper in his hands and looked towards the door as he spoke, "Enter."

The door was gently pushed open as a petite figure carefully stepped in with a tray in her hands.

This petite figure was none other than Yan Caijie.

As part of her daily duties, she had prepared a pot of hot tea for the City Lord and was delivering it to him.

"Yan Caijie pays my respect to City Lord Hu," she stopped at the door to give a slight bow. "I am here to deliver the tea for your consumption."

"Thank you, Caijie," Hu Yuanbo nodded with a smile.

That was the sign of approval that Yan Caijie needed before she started making her way to the desk. She skilfully poured a cup of hot tea before placing both the teacup and the pot itself on the table in front of Hu Yuanbo.

In an instant, the delicious fragrance of the tea had wafted out to every corner of the study chamber, testament to the high quality of the tea leaves as well as the skill required to brew the tea to perfection.

Even though she was not considered talented in the path of cultivation, Yan Caijie had her own strengths as well. She had been acting as a caretaker for her brother for years, and had regularly been making tea to help him relax after cultivation.

After doing the same thing repeatedly for years, she could already be considered as sufficiently skilled.

Yan Caijie took a step back and simply stood there silently.

"Hmm?" Hu Yuanbo looked up in surprise. "You seem troubled, Caijie. Did something happen to you?"

Yan Caijie paused for a moment before speaking, "City Lord Hu, I have a question that I hope can be answered."

"What is it regarding? If I am able to, I will definitely answer it to the best of my abilities," Hu Yuanbo's tone sounded especially warm, as though the one he was speaking to was his own daughter.

"It is regarding my brother…" Yan Caijie started. "On the night of his departure, did he say anything about me?"

Hu Yuanbo did not even hesitate before answering, "I do not remember his exact words, but he did ask me to take good care of you, hoping that you will lead a good life from now on."

"Bingren is a fine man, giving his all for the good of humanity," Hu Yuanbo added. "Even so, I understand that it can be tough on you, considering how close you are as siblings. Do you miss him?"

"I do miss him. How can I not?" Yan Caijie let out a deep sigh. "Is that all that he mentioned?"

"Forgive me, Caijie. I truly do not remember the specifics," Hu Yuanbo shook his head apologetically. "But if you wish to, I can check with the others who were around that night."

"It's fine. I will take my leave now then," Yan Caijie replied.

"All right, have a good rest and don't worry too much. The heavens are not blind after all. I'm sure they will bless someone of Bingren's kind personality with safety," Hu Yuanbo smiled.

"I'm sure they will. The heavens are not blind indeed," Yan Caijie nodded before turning to leave.

The moment she turned around, the look in her eyes turned cold.

Not able to remember her brother's parting words?

That was something that happened just a little over two weeks ago.

For someone of Hu Yuanbo's cultivation realm, not to mention word for word, but even remembering every tone and expression on her brother's face should not have been an issue!

This meant that the City Lord was either lying, or simply did not bother!

Since that was the case, then Yan Caijie was now even more inclined to believe Lu Tianzi's words.

Hu Yuanbo watched as Yan Caijie closed the door behind her. After which, he silently savoured the hot tea as he fell into deep thought.

He was naturally not thinking about what Yan Caijie said or how she felt.

It was not that he did not care about her well-being in the slightest. After all, she was still a servant of his City Lord Manor and could be considered as a direct subordinate. If she was portrayed to be in a good state, it would certainly reflect well on him as well.

However, there were far too many things on his mind for him to worry about right now. In comparison, Yan Caijie's insecurities about her brother were the least of his concerns.

One of such matters was regarding his own son, Hu Shenwei.

Every martial artist needed some form of tempering in order to progress in their cultivation. It was simply impossible to go into secluded meditation and advance from zero all the way to the Origin Core realm.

Be it to consolidate their understandings of the current realm, or to gain new insights on their martial path, the tempering required of each martial artist differed from individual to individual.

However, the point of commonality would be that they would usually be able to benefit through experiencing battles, especially ones where they were pushed to the limit.

Thus, a martial artist would be able to benefit the most by being involved in countless battles where they placed their lives on the line.

It was just like how veteran soldiers were usually much stronger than their counterparts who had never been on the battlefield.

This was because these veteran soldiers had been tempered by a multitude of battles, in which any mistake could have resulted in severe injuries or even death. In such a situation, they were forced to find the optimal way to act in order to ensure the highest rate of survivability.

What was the fastest way to strike?

Where to aim while striking?

When to strike and when to defend?

All of these were just a small part of what they had to consider while on the battlefield, honed to perfection through countless trial and errors, failing which they might never live to return.

This was the same for martial artists, just that they even had to polish their understandings of their respective cultivation methods, as well as try to feel the presence of the world laws at the same time.

When Hu Yuanbo met with Nanbai Zhaoyu over the demons' attack on Ivory Rock City's workers, Nanbai Zhaoyu had casually mentioned that he would be leaving Shadowfront Fortress for two weeks to handle some personal matters.

For this reason, Hu Yuanbo had allowed his son Hu Shenwei to join the assault party and engage the demons in the absence of Nanbai Zhaoyu.

However, these two weeks were almost up, and Hu Shenwei was yet to return!

There were still a few days remaining, but Hu Yuanbo could not help but to worry. After all, there was always a chance that Nanbai Zhaoyu could return earlier than expected.

Should that happen, any Essence Condensation realm martial artist would not stand a chance against him!

Thus if Hu Shenwei still did not return by the end of tomorrow, then Hu Yuanbo might have to send out a rescue party. As for the lineup within this rescue party, he might have to start thinking about that…

At this time, another knock came from outside of the door, causing Hu Yuanbo to frown as his train of thoughts was disrupted.

"Enter," Hu Yuanbo called out.

The door opened, and a man stepped into the room, promptly closing the door behind him.

Upon seeing this man, Hu Yuanbo's eyes opened wide in shock!

"You are…!" Hu Yuanbo stood up in agitation.

"Lu Tianzi pays my respect to City Lord Hu," Lu Tianzi clasped his fists respectfully towards Hu Yuanbo.

Seeing this, Hu Yuanbo was stumped for a moment, not knowing how to react.

"You… why are you here?" Hu Yuanbo only barely managed to maintain his composure as he asked.

Even so, Hu Yuanbo's mind was currently in a complete state of chaos.

Was Lu Tianzi not supposed to have been sent to Shadowfront Fortress as a sacrifice almost a month ago?

How was it possible for Lu Tianzi to still be alive?

And how did Lu Tianzi appear in his City Lord Manor without his knowledge?

Could this be a ploy by the demons?

After all, by letting the betrayed Holy Guardian return to Ivory Rock City, the demons could be seeking to rattle the masses' trust in his leadership, possibly shaking the foundations of his city!

This would make the defence of Ivory Rock City that much more difficult if the demons chose to take advantage and attack at that time.

"Holy Guardian Lu Tianzi has returned to the city after a while, and decided to immediately visit City Lord Hu to report my return," Lu Tianzi answered, looking straight into Hu Yuanbo's eyes. "However, City Lord Hu doesn't seem to be too happy about my return?"

"How could that be? I definitely welcome you, perhaps even more than you think I do!" a smile spread across Hu Yuanbo's face. "Why don't you tell me about what you experienced over these past few weeks?"

Seeing Hu Yuanbo regain his composure this quickly, Lu Tianzi could not help but sneer in his heart.

"I'm happy to see that I am still welcomed in Ivory Rock City. As for my experience, I believe that it would be better to share it with the masses at the same time. After all, there is too much to say, and I'm sure they are all dying to hear of it as well," Lu Tianzi answered. "For today, I am just here to report of my return and dare not disturb City Lord Hu for long. For that reason, I will be taking my leave for now."

"Wait, Tianzi. Since you are already here, why don't you stay for a while longer?" Hu Yuanbo shook his head.

"It is already late and I am tired, so perhaps I should do that tomorrow instead," Lu Tianzi turned to leave, choosing to completely disregard Hu Yuanbo's words.

"I said wait!" Hu Yuanbo stepped out from behind his desk and reached a hand out as he grabbed towards Lu Tianzi.

At this moment, Lu Tianzi suddenly spun around to face Hu Yuanbo, his sword appearing in his hands as he retrieved it from the spatial ring.

A thin film of dark blue enveloped the blade of the sword as Lu Tianzi drove both his Spiritual Essence and Slaughter Essence at the same time, putting all of his strength behind the sword.

In one swift motion, Lu Tianzi decisively slashed down towards Hu Yuanbo's outstretched hand!