A Chaotic World

The next day, Nanqing Haowen once again arrived at Lu Tianzi's accommodation early in the morning.

Unfortunately, Nanqing Haowen was occupied today and would be unable to accompany Lu Tianzi to the Pagoda of Knowledge.

There was only one reason for him to look for Lu Tianzi this early, and that was to collect his Darkwater Grape.

Nanqing Haowen was all smiles upon receiving his Darkwater Grape from Lu Tianzi, but he still quickly bid Lu Tianzi farewell and left. Apparently he would be going on a mission and would be leaving the sect grounds for a period of time.

Lu Tianzi did not take such a small matter to heart.

He knew that as members of the Nine Suns Sect, they had the obligation to accumulate contribution points, and the easiest way to do so was by completing missions given by the sect.

In any case, Lu Tianzi was fully capable of making his own way to the Pagoda of Knowledge.

Unlike the training facilities that were ran by other sect members on a roster system, the Pagoda of Knowledge had an Elder of the Nine Suns Sect personally take charge of it.

This was due to the sensitivity of the contents stored within.

Each of these manuals might not be among the best in the sect's possessions, but they still represented the basis of its power. Thus, the sect naturally had to impose stricter measures when it came to handling these manuals.

Elder Jingren was a scrawny looking man whose hair had already turned completely white. If not for the fiery vitality that could easily be seen in his eyes, he could easily be mistaken for just another frail and elderly man.

In order to enter or exit the Pagoda of Knowledge, each sect member had to first go through Elder Jingren.

When Lu Tianzi saw the Elder, he could not help but be impressed in his heart.

Ever since he came to Bluenight City, Lu Tianzi had encountered a few Origin Core realm martial artists. Yet no matter who it was, each of these Origin Core realm martial artists possessed the same vibrant vitality that simply could not be missed.

But by just sitting behind the counter in meditation, Elder Jingren seemed to have almost reverted back to a non martial artist, only giving off an extremely faint aura that only the most sensitive of perceptions were able to pick up.

In order for a martial artist to be able to completely retract his aura, the martial artist would first require an absolute level of control over his Essence energy.

Elder Jingren's current state was not far from such a level, meaning that he had almost reached this absolute level of control.

With that, it could be seen just how deep Elder Jingren's foundations were.

In a fight at the same cultivation level, most others would no longer be his match!

"Member token," Elder Jingren spoke with his eyes still closed when he felt Lu Tianzi approach.

Lu Tianzi placed his member token on the counter as he was told.

With a sweep of his perception, Elder Jingren immediately read the contents of the member token. After which he suddenly opened his eyes to take a close look at Lu Tianzi.

"So you are Nanlu Tianzi," Elder Jingren quickly closed his eyes once again, obviously unimpressed with what he saw. "You may enter. As a new member, you are allowed to borrow one cultivation technique manual, one movement technique manual, and one combat technique manual. Show me your choices before you leave with the manuals."

"Yes, Elder!" Lu Tianzi nodded and made his way in.

Lu Tianzi was not concerned about the Elder's dismissive attitude.

All he was interested in right now was to explore the large collection of manuals within the Pagoda of Knowledge. As long as as Elder Jingren did not deliberately make things difficult for him, Lu Tianzi hardly cared about how the Elder thought of him.

One cultivation technique manual, one movement technique manual, and one combat technique manual.

Those were what Lu Tianzi was entitled to.

Of the three different categories, cultivation techniques reigned supreme.

There was no doubt that a martial artist's cultivation technique was what determined the basis of his strength. In fact, it was not uncommon even for a martial artist's personality to be inclined towards the nature of his cultivation technique as well.

A savage cultivation technique would cause the martial artist to turn more ferocious in nature, while a righteous cultivation technique would cause the martial artist to despise evil.

This was because martial artists had to fully believe in their own martial path in order to wholeheartedly strive towards the pinnacle. The moment their conviction was shaken, their future accomplishments would be affected as well.

In this case, by wholeheartedly believing that his savage cultivation technique was the right path, it was not surprising that a martial artist would develop savage tendencies because of that as well.

Thus, when most martial artists chose their respective cultivation techniques, their choice did not simply depend on the level of the technique, but also on the nature of the technique.

After all, unlike combat or movement techniques, it was impossible for martial artists to practise multiple cultivation techniques at the same time.

Even if a martial artist wanted to switch over to a higher level cultivation technique, he would have to either assimilate the higher level concepts to improve on his current cultivation technique, or he would have to find an extremely similar one that would not conflict with his current cultivation technique.

Both of which were extremely difficult and required a certain level of luck to accomplish.

By ignoring both methods and forcefully practising another cultivation technique, a martial artist risked suffering a sudden drop in cultivation level or, in more serious cases, severe internal injuries.

But of course, there were also martial artists who, in the pursuit of strength, cared not about the nature and only about the level of the cultivation technique.

However, this was not the sole reason why choosing the ideal cultivation technique was the most important decision of all.

Due to the sheer complexity of a cultivation technique, the more insightful martial artists might even be able to deduce brand new movement and combat techniques from their own cultivation techniques!

Thus, everyone who first entered the Pagoda of Knowledge would always focus on finding a cultivation technique that was most suitable for themselves.

However, Lu Tianzi did not even consider taking a look at the section containing cultivation technique manuals, completely bypassing it to head towards the section containing combat techniques.

No matter how impressive the cultivation techniques here were, could they beat the Heaven Devouring Divine Art?

One had to know that this was a cultivation technique that could allow the martial artist to at least reach beyond the Origin Core realm!

What kind of concept was that?

Even the Elders of the Nine Suns Sect were all only at the Origin Core realm.

How would that be possible if they possessed cultivation techniques that could guide them beyond this stage?

All these Elders were martial geniuses in their own right. Should there be such a cultivation technique available, it would not make sense that not a single one of them was able to break past the Origin Core realm!

Lu Tianzi believed that even if the Nine Suns Sect truly posessed such a cultivation technique, it would be so well guarded within the sect that not even the Elders would be able to gain access to it easily.

For such a cultivation technique to appear in the Outer Sect Grounds?

Impossible.

Thus, Lu Tianzi decided not to waste his time with the cultivation technique manuals.

There were even more combat techniques than cultivation techniques, encompassing all sorts of fighting methods, from traditional weapon combat to even using the demon tail as a lethal weapon.

However, just one look at each of them made Lu Tianzi frown in dissatisfaction.

After he started practising the Eternal Wraith Sword Art, Lu Tianzi's horizons had been widened and the standard in his mind was now set at a far higher level than before.

If this was back when Lu Tianzi was still studying at the Ivory Rock Martial Academy, he would probably have marvelled at the potential of these combat techniques.

But to the current Lu Tianzi, these combat techniques stored in the Pagoda of Knowledge could only be considered as crude and filled with plenty of flaws.

Lu Tianzi let out a huge sigh of disappointment.

To think he had been so expectant about coming to the Pagoda of Knowledge. This trip had turned out to be quite the waste of time.

It seemed like he had overestimated the Nine Suns Sect after all.

No, that was not it.

Lu Tianzi clearly understood that the Nine Suns Sect was indeed a powerful influence that could hold up its own piece of the sky.

However, this only allowed Lu Tianzi to realise just how monstrous his master Xihuang Yuanfeng truly was. So much so that everything that came from him would be of an extremely high level, far beyond the means of even the influential Nine Suns Sect!

Still, Lu Tianzi did not give up immediately, and continued to the section that held movement technique manuals.

Back then in Ivory Rock City, Lu Tianzi had practised some movement techniques that allowed him to remain light on his feet during battle. However, what he learnt were just basic sets of movements, and they were slowly starting to fall off in terms of actual practicality.

Unfortunately, this was also the one area where his master Xihuang Yuanfeng had not given him any guidance in.

Thus, Lu Tianzi was still slightly hopeful that he would be able to come across something that was at least better than his original set of movement techniques.

This time, he was not disappointed.

Each and every movement technique here was far more profound than the basic movement technique that he learnt back in Ivory Rock City.

Eagle Soaring Through the Sky – After practising it to perfection, a martial artist's movements would seem untouchable like a flying eagle, letting him stay completely out of the reach of his opponents.

Tiger Hunting Seven Steps – Allows a martial artist to approach any opponent within seven steps without being noticed, perfect for sneak attacks.

One with the Wind – By relying on the stirring of the wind, a martial artist who practised this movement technique would be able to charge forward with such speed that it was impossible to avoid, perfect for landing a powerful frontal strike.

Lu Tianzi rubbed his forehead helplessly.

The number of movement techniques in the Pagoda of Knowledge was simply too many.

With just the brief description of the techniques to rely on, it was quite impossible for him to decide on exactly which movement technique to practise.

At the same time, it was not as though he could just try out every single one of them.

Unexpectedly, this was starting to become a bit of a headache…

But at this moment, a specific movement technique caught his eye.

Flowing River Silent Strides – Allows a martial artist to move as though being carried by a flowing river, traversing wide distances in a swift but effortless manner.

It was apparent from a single look that this movement technique was closely related to the element of water, and that was what instantly drew Lu Tianzi's attention.

Having comprehended the Law of Water, Lu Tianzi was confident that he would be able to better simulate the effects of a flowing river, thereby amplifying the effectiveness of the movement technique.

As for exactly how much difference this would make, he would just have to try it out for himself in order to know for sure!

Lu Tianzi picked up the jade slip containing the full Flowing River Silent Strides manual and decisively headed out of the Pagoda of Knowledge.

"Are you done?" Elder Jingren was slightly surprised that Lu Tianzi was already out.

First timers usually spent the entire day in the Pagoda of Knowledge trying to look for the manuals that best suit them, yet Lu Tianzi left barely after a couple of hours.

Of course, there were also people who carelessly picked whatever sounded cooler and left within an hour, so Lu Tianzi was not exactly the fastest either.

"Yes, Elder," Lu Tianzi placed the jade slip on the counter for Elder Jingren to inspect.

"Flowing River Silent Strides," Elder Jingren was indifferent as he recorded what Lu Tianzi borrowed. "And?"

"I will only be borrowing this," Lu Tianzi shook his head.

"You will only be borrowing this? Are you not going to work on your cultivation and combat techniques as well?" Elder Jingren frowned.

There might be people who exited faster than Lu Tianzi did, but all of them picked up cultivation and combat technique manuals as well.

This was the first time that Elder Jingren had ever seen someone who only choose one manual from the Pagoda of Knowledge, and it was not even a cultivation technique manual!

"I think that the cultivation and combat techniques within the Pagoda of Knowledge do not suit me too well," Lu Tianzi replied honestly.

Who knew that his words would only serve to anger Elder Jingren?

"What arrogance! Having just joined the Nine Suns Sect, you should be grabbing every chance to improve yourself. Yet not only are you not feeling grateful for the opportunity, but you are even looking down on the heritage of the Nine Suns Sect?" Elder Jingren snorted in disdain. "Do not suit you too well? Next, are you going to say that only the cultivation and combat manuals in the Inner Sect Grounds are fit for your grand stature?"

"This…" Lu Tianzi was stunned speechless for a moment.

What Elder Jingren just said truly did resonate with his thoughts, causing his mind to turn blank for a moment out of guilt.

However, Elder Jingren was wrong about one thing.

Even for the manuals in the Inner Sect Grounds, Lu Tianzi was still only interested in the movement technique manuals!