A Chaotic World

Chapter 152: Return to Bluenight City

The rest of the entourage from Bluenight City had already been informed that they would be leaving the capital today. By the time Lu Tianzi returned to City Lord Nanlan's residence, most of them were already prepared to leave.

Even so, they were surprised to see Lu Tianzi returning to the residence along with City Lord Nanlan, Elder Xingmeng, and Nanlan Qianbing.

"Go get ready, young brother Tianzi. We will be leaving for Bluenight City in a while." City Lord Nanlan spoke with a smile. "Qianbing, you should get ready to leave as well."

"Yes, City Lord," Lu Tianzi nodded and turned to leave, with Nanlan Qianbing quickly following after him.

Quite honestly, Lu Tianzi was already fully prepared to leave. After all, all of his belongings were safely stored within his spatial ring.

However, he gladly welcomed the idea of not sticking around with the three of them anymore. At this moment, he just wanted to go sit around and wait for the time of departure.

But he did not get to go far.

Right after turning a corner, Lu Tianzi was immediately intercepted by Nanqing Haowen who grabbed him by the arm.

"Come with me!" Nanqing Haowen whispered.

Lu Tianzi could roughly guess the reason behind Nanqing Haowen's actions, and allowed himself to be led away without a struggle.

Nanlan Qianbing, who was intending to take this opportunity to talk to Lu Tianzi, could only watch on helplessly as he was dragged away by Nanqing Haowen.

***

"All right, speak up!" Nanqing Haowen finally asked after entering Nanlan Qianxue's room with Lu Tianzi in tow.

"What happened?" Nanlan Qianxue quickly added. She had been waiting in the room all along for Nanqing Haowen to return with Lu Tianzi. "Ever since you returned from the Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet, you have been holing up in your room. The moment you leave your room, you ended up going elsewhere with the City Lord, Elder Xingmeng, and Qianbing. Where exactly did you guys go today?"

"Well, we went to the Lightning Crow Sect," Lu Tianzi answered honestly.

"As I thought" Nanqing Haowen sighed. "Is this about the marriage arrangement between Nanlan Qianbing and that Beihua Wanlei? I guess City Lord Nanlan brought you along to boost his morale? After all, you are the top ranker of the Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet. So how did it go? Did Beihua Wanlei insist on wanting to marry Nanlan Qianxue instead?"

Nanlan Qianxue similarly looked at Lu Tianzi with anxious eyes.

"Hah," Lu Tianzi could only let out a dry laugh.

"As expected, things didn't go so well eh?" Nanqing Haowen frowned upon seeing Lu Tianzi's reaction. "Does that Beihua Wanlei still insist on choosing Nanlan Qianxue? What a troublesome bastard."

"I will never agree to this!" Nanlan Qianxue said firmly.

"Don't get all worked up for now. The City Lord did not bring up this matter at all," Lu Tianzi laughed upon seeing their reaction. "This trip is about me instead."

"About you?" Nanqing Haowen raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What about you?"

Since he was asked, Lu Tianzi quickly gave a brief account of what happened earlier to the duo, not hiding anything from them.

After all, there were so many witnesses, and thus it was only a matter of time before the news spread.

"Hahaha!" Nanqing Haowen laughed. "Now that Beihua Wanlei is in such a state, I doubt he will be able to marry anyone anytime soon! I guess you can finally rest assured!"

Nanlan Qianxue let out a relieved smile. "But then again, the City Lord is really getting from bad to worse! And that Elder Xingmeng is truly a letdown as well. Thankfully you managed to gain the support of that Formation Master Beimu, otherwise things might have turned out badly."

Nanqing Haowen shot her an awkward look.

Getting from bad to worse?

Was it really appropriate to say this of your own father in front of others?

"This is the harshness of reality," Lu Tianzi shrugged. "In the world, only those who possess sufficient strength are able to decide their own fate."

Despite being younger than them, Lu Tianzi had already gone through a lot more than the two of them combined. Therefore, he was not too surprised by City Lord Nanlan and Elder Xingmeng's actions.

"Let's hear what Sect Master Nanhui has to say about this when we return." Nanqing Haowen rubbed his chin in contemplation. "Come to think of it, are you sure you do not know that hidden expert?"

"Yeah, is that hidden expert not your master?" Nanlan Qianxue added.

"My master?" Lu Tianzi was lost for a moment.

What master?

Were they referring to Xihuang Yuanfeng?

"Yeah, your master," Nanlan Qianxue nodded. "He might have been a hermit who does not want to vie for fame or power, but perhaps he has been following you without your knowledge, protecting you from the shadows?"

"A-Ah! My hermit master!" Lu Tianzi exclaimed in realisation before laughing awkwardly. "Hahaha I didn't even think of it. Maybe it really is him?"

Lu Tianzi had almost forgotten that he had told them that his master was a hermit who had been leading a secluded life in the wilderness.

The two of them eyed Lu Tianzi suspiciously. His reaction was obviously unnatural.

But at this moment, all of them received a message from their communication rings.

It was finally time for their departure.

Even though Lu Tianzi appeared to be acting suspiciously, the two of them decided to let him off for now, and the three of them started making their way towards the courtyard.

In the courtyard, City Lord Nanlan's flying ship was already prepared, along with the two Green Beak Giant Falcons that would be pulling the ship along.

City Lord Nanlan did not bother making any fancy departure speeches, and everyone quickly boarded the flying ship.

"Farewell, Master!" the servants in the residence bowed in respect.

City Lord Nanlan nodded to acknowledge their greeting, and then called out after the door closed. "Let's go!"

Heeding the order, the two Green Beak Giant Falcons took off with a single flap of their wings, pulling the huge flying ship along with them as they soared into the sky.

A single trip between Bluenight City and Scarlet Moon City took four days in total.

This time, Lu Tianzi chose not to spend most of his time cultivating in his own allocated room.

After being crowned the top ranker of the Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet, the other youngsters of the entourage were practically vying among themselves to befriend him.

And now that there was no longer the pressure of the Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet looming over their heads, Lu Tianzi saw no harm in taking this chance to expand his network.

Thus, he spent most of his time chatting with the various youngsters and getting to know them better.

Of course, Lu Tianzi took care not to reveal too much about himself, and the conversations were mostly shallow and perfunctory.

But even so, just from these casual conversations, Lu Tianzi managed to gain a much better understanding about the different influences within both Bluenight City and Scarlet Moon City.

***

On this day, Sect Master Nanhui was personally waiting along with most of the Elders from the Nine Suns Sect, gazing at the sky as they patiently waited.

Apart from them, also present were experts hailing from other influences.

They were currently gathered in front of the entrance to the territory of Bluenight Palace, the exact same location where City Lord Nanlan's flying ship had taken off when it headed for the capital previously.

All of them were gathered here for just one reason, to welcome back the youngsters who had left with City Lord Nanlan for the capital.

"Sect Master, they are back," Elder Diansheng remarked.

Up in the sky, the silhouette of a flying ship had appeared from the clouds. With the speed that it was moving at, it certainly would not take long before it reached their location.

"Indeed," Sect Master nodded with a smile. "Prepare to welcome back our young stars!"

Not just them, but the rest of the experts had looks of expectations in their eyes.

Indeed, in a matter of minutes, the flying ship descended under the guidance of the two Green Beak Giant Falcons.

When the door opened, City Lord Nanlan was the first to exit.

"Greetings, City Lord!" the various experts immediately clasped their fists towards City Lord Nanlan.

"Hahaha! Please dispense with the formalities," City Lord Nanlan returned the greeting before turning around. "Come on out and meet your seniors."

Heeding his orders, the youngsters of the entourage quickly exited.

Excited to see the seniors of their respective influences, the youngsters hurried over, wanting to share with them their gains and benefits from this trip.

Even for those who did not manage to rank well in the Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet, just the experience itself would prove to be an invaluable benefit for their future path.

"Greetings to Sect Master and Elders!" Nanhuang Jiansheng led the group of five from the Nine Suns Sect and went up to their seniors.

"You have done well," Sect Master Nanhui answered with a smile. "Especially you, Nanlu Tianzi. It is truly an understatement to say that you have exceeded our expectations this time."

"Junior Nanlu Tianzi thanks the Sect Master for the kind words," Lu Tianzi replied.

"Well then, the five of you must be tired from the long trip, so let us return for now," Sect Master Nanhui said. "We will be holding a celebratory banquet for you tonight. We will be asking you to share with us your experiences then!"

After bidding farewell to City Lord Nanlan, who unexpectedly promised to pay a visit and send gifts in the near future, the group returned to the sect grounds of the Nine Suns Sect.

There were still a number of hours until the celebratory banquet, and the youngsters all returned to their assigned houses to get some rest.

Upon returning to his assigned house, Lu Tianzi did not hesitate to set up an energy gathering formation before meditating to adjust his mental state.

He had been suppressing the Spiritual Essence within his inner world since the visit to the Lifebrand Courtyard, and it had already been quite a number of days.

Now that he finally had some time to himself, Lu Tianzi was intending to aim for a breakthrough to the Intermediate Essence Condensation realm!

Lu Tianzi took out a bunch of Essence Stones and laid them around him.

The Essence Stones in his possession were all retrieved from the spatial rings of Hu Yuanbo and Hu Shenwei. Their private stashes had truly lasted him for a long time. But even so, these were already the last of them.

Lu Tianzi could not help but let out a sigh.

After today, he would have to find a way to obtain more Essence Stones without drawing the suspicions of others.

But that was something to be left for later.

With a single thought, Lu Tianzi channelled his Essence energy and activated the energy gathering formation.

World Origin Energy stirred.

Lu Tianzi's house was instantly transformed into the core of a huge vortex, violently drawing in World Origin Energy from the surroundings!

Even though each Inner Sect member had their personal house, these houses were not located too far apart. Thus, this phenomenon that stretched across the sky easily drew the attention of everyone living in his vicinity.

After all, the World Origin Energy in the surroundings was churning so wildly that it was simply impossible to miss!

"What is going on?" the Inner Sect members quickly stepped out of their houses and looked at the sky in confusion.

"Did an energy gathering formation go out of control?"

"No, that's not it. Can't you sense it? All the World Origin Energy in the surroundings is being drawn towards that house. This is probably done on purpose!"

"Who does that house belong to again?"

"How can you not know?! It is the house of Nanlu Tianzi!"

Word spread quickly, and even those who stayed further away came over to take a look. Among them, there were a few who felt a sense of dj vu when they saw this scene.

Nanqing Haowen let out a dry laugh. "So it had been his doing."

When they went over to Scarlet Moon City, there was a night when the exact same thing happened in City Lord Nanlan's residence.

Back then, Nanqing Haowen had thought that City Lord Nanlan was truly resourceful to have such a formidable energy gathering formation in place, and was slightly envious of those from the Bluenight Palace.

But from the looks of it now, that energy gathering formation had nothing to do with City Lord Nanlan at all!

So this was what a student of that famous Formation Master Beimu would be capable of?

Nanqing Haowen let out a helpless sigh.

Indeed, people must not keep comparing themselves with others. Otherwise, they would only end up being filled with endless grievances!