A Chaotic World

Lu Tianzi was currently in an extremely unsightly state.

Devoid of his strength, Lu Tianzi was now lying helplessly on the floor, staring at the Origin Core realm martial artist with despair in his eyes.

This was the end of the line for him.

In his current state, he would probably lose even if he had to face an Essence Building realm opponent, not to mention someone at the Origin Core realm!

The Origin Core realm martial artist looked at Lu Tianzi with indifference in his eyes.

But contrary to Lu Tianzi's expectations, the Origin Core realm martial artist did not attack. Instead, he merely took a glance at Lu Tianzi before slowly pointing out towards him.

When he did so, as though abiding by his will, a cloud of grey smoke started to form up in the air.

Without any warning, this cloud of grey smoke suddenly rushed into Lu Tianzi's weakened body, entering through the millions of pores on his body.

Yet strangely, Lu Tianzi did not feel a thing. It almost felt like this cloud of smoke was simply disappearing upon contact with his body.

The next thing Lu Tianzi knew, his wounds started recovering at a rapid pace, and even his strength was quickly returning to him.

Lu Tianzi watched in awe as his body returned to its peak condition within a matter of moments, as though the fights before had never happened.

"You have done well to get to this stage," the Origin Core realm martial artist spoke monotonously.

"You can speak?" Lu Tianzi asked as he slowly climbed to his feet.

Before this, none of his opponents had spoken a single word. Since this Origin Core realm martial artist bore the exact same facial features as the rest, Lu Tianzi was surprised to suddenly hear him speak.

"Naturally," he answered. "All your previous opponents would have been able to speak too if I had wished for them to do so. After all, this is my world."

"This is your world?" Lu Tianzi focused as he eyed the figure before him. "Could it be… are you the treasure spirit of the Grand Mirror?"

All treasures, after reaching a high enough level, were capable of forming their own consciousness over time. Upon gaining its own consciousness, a treasure would be able to act autonomously even without someone actively controlling it.

This consciousness was generally referred to as the treasure spirit, and was the very manifestation of the treasure's own thoughts.

Only by establishing a connection with the treasure spirit would a martial artist's command over the treasure truly become seemless, allowing the treasure to bring forth its strongest might.

In extreme cases, the treasure spirit might even be willing to sacrifice itself for its owner!

The Grand Mirror had belonged to the Nine Suns Sect for generations. Seeing that this figure looked nothing like the Sect Master, and had also referred to this world within the Grand Mirror as his own world, Lu Tianzi naturally guessed that he might actually be the treasure spirit of the Grand Mirror.

"This is nothing but a form that I have chosen to appear in, but the one speaking through this form is indeed me," the figure answered.

Hearing the confirmation of his guess, Lu Tianzi immediately he clasped his fists towards the treasure spirit, "This junior greets senior!"

Even though the other party was nothing but a treasure spirit, it was likely that it had lived for at least thousands of years. In that sense, it would not be entirely wrong for Lu Tianzi to refer to it as senior.

After all, upon gaining its own consciousness, a treasure could no longer be considered in the same category as other inanimate objects anymore.

"You have been greatly aided by the treasures in your possession during your trial," the treasure spirit spoke emotionlessly.

Those words caused Lu Tianzi to startle. Was he getting scolded now?

Indeed, Lu Tianzi clearly understood that he had only succeeded because of his weapons.

Even if he did not have the Sword of Ivory Rock, he would still be able to perform the Howling Wraith Sword, albeit with less strength before the attack.

But if he did not possess the Torrential Sabre, it would have been impossible for him to defeat his last group of opponents.

The treasure spirit continued without stopping, "A martial artist's background is an important source of strength as well. However, this is ultimately a test of talent, so you will naturally receive a reduction in points because of that. Or at least, that is what would have happened usually."

"Usually?" Lu Tianzi's ears perked up in anticipation.

Since the treasure spirit said that was what happened usually, it naturally meant that this time was an exception!

"That's right. Challengers who are stopped at any stage of the trial will receive a corresponding number of points. After which, points will be deducted depending on the degree of their reliance on any external factors," the treasure spirit nodded.

"However, you actually succeeded in clearing all seven storeys of the pagoda. This means that your potential has yet to be fully tested. In this case, I will have to give you one final test. Go ahead and use all the means at your disposal, all you have to do is receive one all out strike from me without dying," the treasure spirit explained.

Lu Tianzi took in a deep breath as he heard that.

Without dying?

Why did it sound so ominous?

But Lu Tianzi naturally understood that the treasure spirit would not truly harm his life. That would defeat the purpose of the Nine Suns Trial.

Even if Lu Tianzi failed the test, it was likely that the treasure spirit had its ways to save him at the last moment.

Receiving an all out strike from an Origin Core realm martial artist, eh?

Would he be able to do so?

The strength difference between an Origin Core realm martial artist and a Peak Essence Condensation realm martial artist was not small by any measure.

Back then when he managed to subdue Hu Yuanbo, the latter had already been greatly weakened by the poison that Lu Tianzi concocted with the Lion Hemlock. This caused Hu Yuanbo to be able to display only a small fraction of his full strength.

If Hu Yuanbo had been at his peak state, then Lu Tianzi would have failed miserably even with the help of the paper talisman in his possession.

On top of that, since he was told to receive the all out strike of the treasure spirit, the movement technique that he had so painstakingly improved would not be of any help either.

But in any case, there was no way that Lu Tianzi would just give up here without trying!

Lu Tianzi drove his Spiritual and Slaughter Essence to the limit, drawing upon all the Essence energy in his inner world.

By combining the concepts of the Undulated Currents Breathing Technique and the Astral Way Inscription, he would rely on his strongest move yet again!

He had already done it once, so what was so difficult about doing it twice?

Lu Tianzi decisively named it the Astral World Slash.

Lu Tianzi was intending to pump all of his Essence energy into this one move. He did not believe that by doing so, he would not even be able to resist just a single attack from his Origin Core realm opponent!

On top of that, unlike earlier, this time he was going to use the Astral World Slash while still in his peak state!

"Brace yourself," the treasure spirit's voice was as monotonous as always, as though this was nothing important at all.

But as soon as he was done speaking, the figure of the treasure spirit immediately burst forth with an aura of absolute suppression. This overbearing pressure pressed down hard on Lu Tianzi, as though trying to force him to his knees.

Lu Tianzi frowned. He had underestimated the strength of an Origin Core realm martial artist.

Facing such an opponent, he had no choice but to divert a huge portion of his strength just to resist this aura of suppression. This meant that he now had that much less energy that could be channelled into his own attack.

The Slaughter Essence within the figure of the treasure spirit gathered, all of his strength cumulating within his fist. The punch smashed out mercilessly, heading directly towards Lu Tianzi's chest.

At this stage, Lu Tianzi similarly put his all into the sabre in his left hand.

Astral World Slash!

It was sabre against fist.

But this fist was also a full power strike from an Origin Core realm martial artist!

Bang-!

The deafening clap marked the outcome of the clash that had instantly sent Lu Tianzi flying through the air!

At the same time, the collision sent out a powerful shockwave that slammed directly into Lu Tianzi's body. This was a secondary impact that struck Lu Tianzi mercilessly!

Apart from the energy needed to resist his opponent's suppression aura, Lu Tianzi had pumped in every last bit of his strength into the Astral World Slash. By doing so, Lu Tianzi had left his body unprotected, and thus this shockwave alone managed to rattle his eardrums and injure his internal organs.

Step-!

Lu Tianzi landed on his own two feet before stumbling backwards and going down on one knee to regain his balance.

A streak of blood flowed out uncontrollably from the corner of his lips, proof of how he had been the one on the losing end of that exchange.

Pu-!

Lu Tianzi finally could not hold it in any longer, and spat out a full mouthful of blood.

Being on the losing end of that exchange was a gross understatement. After expending every last bit of his Essence energy to withstand his opponent's attack, it was already taking all the strength he could muster just to not fall flat onto the ground right now!

But even so, the fact that he was able to do this at all meant that Lu Tianzi had fulfilled the condition set by the treasure spirit.

He did not die.

"Stand," the treasure spirit instantly retracted the aura of suppression.

At this moment, other than the treasure spirit, everything around them once again turned into a cloud of grey smoke.

Lu Tianzi stood up, his injuries having instantly recovered.

The first time might have awed him, but experiencing such a sensation again actually gave Lu Tianzi an unsettling feeling. It felt like he was nothing but an ant that was dancing in the palms of the other party.

This was a feeling of someone who no longer had control over his own life or death.

At this moment, the grey smoke cleared up, and Lu Tianzi found that he was standing in a purely white world, facing the figure of the treasure spirit.

Behind the treasure spirit was none other than the Grand Mirror. But Lu Tianzi naturally knew that this was not the actual mirror itself, but a form conjured up by the treasure spirit.

Just as Lu Tianzi was wondering what would happen next, the bronze frame of the Grand Mirror started to glow. A wave rippled out from the corners of the mirror surface, slowly converging towards the centre.

When the wave finally met at the centre point, a beam of bronze light suddenly fired out from the Grand Mirror, shooting straight towards Lu Tianzi's solar plexus!

This beam of light was far too fast, not leaving Lu Tianzi any time to react whatsoever.

All he could do was widen his eyes in surprise as he felt a strange energy accompanying the beam of light as it flowed into his body.

Even without consciously inspecting his inner world, Lu Tianzi could feel this energy flow through his meridians freely, making its way up towards his eyes.

But after this strange energy splited into two separate streams that flowed into his eyes, it suddenly dispersed altogether. No matter how Lu Tianzi tried, he was no longer able to find any traces of this energy.

At that moment, a surge of information flooded his mind.

Facing this sudden surge of information, a mortal's weak mind would have been unable to withstand it, possibly even causing him to go crazy.

Even for a martial artist like Lu Tianzi, he only barely managed to retain his consciousness after his mind was assaulted by this gargantuan surge of information.

Lu Tianzi tried to calm himself down as he scanned through the new information in his head, but there was simply far too much for him to browse through everything in such a short time.

Even so, he could still roughly make out what it was.

This was… an eye technique?

"Having passed the Trial of the Fist in its entirety, you have proven yourself worthy of practising the Limitless Mirror Eye," the voice of the treasure spirit rang out once more. "Work hard and practise it well. The day that you manage to practise this pinnacle technique to perfection, will be the day that you become one of the peerless figures who can stand at the very peak of this world."

"Limitless Mirror Eye…" Lu Tianzi clasped his fists towards the treasure spirit in gratitude. "Thank you, senior!"

Lu Tianzi might not know just what exactly this Limitless Mirror Eye was going to be like, but from what the treasure spirit was saying, it should at least be better than the manuals available to ordinary Inner Sect members.

As for it being a pinnacle technique that will allow him to reach the very peak of this world, Lu Tianzi naturally took that with a pinch of salt.

Still, Lu Tianzi decided that he would definitely go through this new but huge stockpile of information in his head when he had the time. That would be the only way to find out more.

At this moment, the figure of the treasure spirit himself turned into a cloud of grey smoke, and the Grand Mirror started to drift towards him.

Lu Tianzi understood what this meant.

When the Grand Mirror was finally right before him, Lu Tianzi stepped out without hesitation, directly passing through the surface of the Grand Mirror.

With that, the Nine Suns Trial had finally ended for Lu Tianzi.