A Chaotic World

Chapter 161: The Panicking District Heads

In this battle among Origin Core realm martial artists, the likes of the four District Heads originally had no right to participate in any way whatsoever.

However, it was a completely different matter if they possessed treasures at the Origin Core rank.

These paper talismans were single-use items created personally by Hu Yuanbo, each capable of summoning a burst of flames that could completely engulf its target.

Even though they were not as powerful as the Lightning Crow Seeds made by Sect Master Leiba, when used correctly, it was still possible for them to deal a significant amount of damage to an Origin Core realm martial artist!

Lu Tianzi turned his gaze towards the three Origin Core realm demons who were battling Hu Yuanbo at the moment.

At this point, Hu Yuanbo already seemed to be at the end of his rope, with strike after strike connecting squarely on his body. All he could do was to evade the lethal attacks as he tried to search for a way out of this desperate situation.

Seeing that the end was near, the Origin Core realm demons were filled with bloodlust as they continued their relentless assault.

It seemed as though the actions of the four District Heads had completely gone under their radar. They were either completely oblivious to it, or they simply did not care.

Either way, Lu Tianzi decided that it was finally his turn to act.

He had intended to keep a low profile during this operation, leaving most of the heavy lifting to the Origin Core realm demons as he watched from a point of safety.

However, it was impossible for him to completely stay out of it as well.

In a way, he needed to live up to others' expectations if he wanted to continue enjoying the benefits that came along with his current prestige level.

If he failed to show off once in a while when he had the chance, people's impression of him might start to fall, and that meant he might lose precious connections that could have indirectly translated to better cultivation resources.

Of course, Lu Tianzi only acted because he had the utmost confidence in ensuring his own safety.

Having decided on his next course of action, Lu Tianzi immediately shot forward!

He was unable to fly, and thus had to go straight past the lines of human soldiers if he wanted to reach the four District Heads.

This was a suicidal move no matter how others looked at it, something that would result in him being stranded behind enemy lines and surrounded by enemies.

However, that was exactly what he did.

With the Flowing River Silent Strides, Lu Tianzi glided forward, weaving in and out of the soldiers as he quickly advanced through the thick of battle.

When the human soldiers saw this random person charging towards them from the front, they immediately registered him as an enemy as well, mercilessly striking towards him.

But Lu Tianzi's movements were just too strange and unorthodox.

One moment he was moving left, and at the next moment, he would suddenly move to the right. There was simply no fixed pattern to how he was moving.

This completely unpredictable movement technique caused all the human soldiers' attacks to miss their target, many of them only by the slightest of margins.

With how close they were to hitting Lu Tianzi, the human soldiers were filled with endless frustration. But before long, the harsh reality finally struck them.

It did not matter how close it looked.

The fact was that none of them was able to stop him!

In the blink of an eye, Lu Tianzi had swiftly passed through the multiple lines of human soldiers, emerging alone from the other end.

And at the very moment he pierced through the defensive lines of the soldiers, the District Heads immediately turned their attention towards him.

Hmm?

How did that guy break past the human wall?

They hesitated for a moment, their hearts filled with doubt. But they quickly regained their senses.

It did not matter who or how that guy managed to reach where they were.

The most important thing at hand was still to rescue the City Lord!

Rui Xucheng, the Head of the Officials District, was the only one among them who had not been distracted since the beginning.

He had always possessed the greatest mind among the four of them and knew his priorities well. This was something that Hu Yuanbo had acknowledged, and even the other District Heads had begrudgingly accepted it as a fact.

From the start, he had always known that the key in this battle was the fight among the Origin Core realm existences.

It was extremely simple.

If they wanted to survive, the City Lord must emerge victorious.

Only by giving their all to aid the City Lord would they stand the greatest chance at victory.

Never faltering and always making the right choices, this was the man known as Rui Xucheng!

He was the first among the District Heads to have thrown out the paper talisman in his hand. At this point, his sword was already piercing straight towards the paper talisman that was floating freely before him.

No matter how fast Lu Tianzi was, it was no longer physically possible for him to reach Rui Xucheng in time to stop him.

But just as Rui Xucheng's sword was about to connect with the paper talisman, a silvery light flashed through Lu Tianzi's eyes.

The paper talisman in the air flickered.

Whoosh-!

Rui Xucheng's sword pierced out, hitting nothing but thin air.

What?

Rui Xucheng's furrowed his eyebrows as he turned his gaze towards the paper talisman that was still slowly falling through the air, barely inches away from his blade.

The paper talisman was just slowly floating downwards in the air. So how on earth did he miss?

From the side, the three other District Heads instantly narrowed their eyes.

All of them were shrewd individuals, and they naturally did not believe that someone like Rui Xucheng would miss an easy target like a falling slip of paper talisman.

The only reason for that must be because Rui Xucheng had missed on purpose!

But why?

Now that the odds were stacked against them, had the right hand man finally decided to give up and betray the City Lord?

Did he manage to see another way that would grant them a greater possibility of survival?

If that was the case, did that mean they no longer stood a chance in this battle for Ivory Rock City?

No matter how they acted on the surface, all of them fully trusted the foresight and analytical abilities of this man.

Now that things had made a turn for the worst and the City Lord had been forced into a corner, if there was somebody who could lead them out of this perilous situation, it would have to be him!

As long as there was a way out of this mess, it did not matter even if they had to abandon the City Lord!

After all, their lives were the most important thing of all!

Thinking that Rui Xucheng had a plan in mind and that he had decided not to act according to the plan, the other District Heads immediately followed suit.

All of their attacks sliced through the air, narrowly missing the paper talisman that they had thrown out!

Seeing this, Rui Xucheng opened his eyes wide in shock.

Just what on earth was happening?

It was one thing for him to have missed, but how could all four of them miss at the same time?

There must be some strange powers at work here!

Of course, if he knew that the other District Heads had missed on purpose, he might have been angered to the point of vomiting blood!

But he no longer had anymore time to think.

Because at this moment, Lu Tianzi had finally arrived before him.

Lu Tianzi was similarly shocked that the other District Heads had all missed their respective paper talismans. He had been prepared to act in order to stop them, but it turned out that it was completely unnecessary for him to do so.

He did not fully understand what was going on. However, he was not intending to let this precious opportunity slip by no matter what!

Rui Xucheng hurriedly defended with his sword, blocking Lu Tianzi's Torrential Sabre that had slashed out towards him.

When the two blades clashed, Rui Xucheng's sword crumbled almost instantly.

Be it the quality of the weapon or the strength of the user, he was far too inferior as compared to his opponent.

Lu Tianzi's Torrential Sabre was originally a Peak Essence Condensation rank treasure. With the Astral Way Inscription placed upon it as well, it had reached the level of a half-step Origin Core rank.

Ordinary treasure blades could no longer stand in its way!

The Torrential Sabre continued on its unstoppable momentum, directly robbing Rui Xucheng of his entire right arm from the shoulder onwards, causing blood to spurt out in the form of a crimson fountain.

"Aaaahhhh!" Rui Xucheng screamed in pain as he fell to his knees. After losing his right arm, Rui Xucheng was no longer capable of wielding his sword!

"District Head Rui!" the other three immediately exclaimed in alarm.

"Kill him! Save District Head Rui!" Wen Ping, Head of the Academic District, shouted in a panic.

This was probably the first time that Wen Ping lost his cool in the past century.

Damn it!

Rui Xucheng was their beacon of hope right now!

If even Rui Xucheng fell here, who was going to save them from this mess?!

At the back, Hu Yuanbo was truly angered to the point of vomiting blood!

"What the fuck are you idiots doing?!" Hu Yuanbo roared in rage.

This thunderous voice immediately woke the three panicking District Heads from their daze.

They really were idiots!

Even though Rui Xucheng had fallen, all it meant was that they were back to square one.

Right now, they still had the City Lord to rely on!

The three remaining District Heads immediately picked up their paper talismans and threw them into the air once again.

"I will handle the masked demon. You two aid the City Lord!" Wen Ping instructed.

At this point, all of them did as instructed, none of them bothering to argue.

But now that Lu Tianzi was this close, how could he allow them to do as they wished?

A silver light flashed through the air as the Star Reaper Spear was thrown like a javelin, headed straight for Gong Tiesha, Head of the Workers District.

At the same time, Wen Ping felt every last bit of light slipping away from the world around him. Before he knew it, his consciousness was already lost in a world of complete darkness.

Cui Yuanping, Head of the Military District, was the one to face the Torrential Sabre as it bore down on him in a frontal slash.

"In your dreams!" Cui Yuanping yelled as he slashed out with his own sabre.

As the Head of the Military District, Cui Yuanping had absolute confidence in his strength. He believed that as long as his opponent was beneath the Origin Core realm, there was no one whom he could not triumph over in a frontal clash.

However, this belief of his was destined to be trampled upon today.

Before the might of the Torrential Sabre, there was simply no difference between Cui Yuanping's sabre and Rui Xucheng's sword.

Slash-!

Cui Yuanping's sabre shattered.

The Torrential Sabre could have gone on and easily split Cui Yuanping's body into two clean parts, but Lu Tianzi held back his strength deliberately.

He carved a deep diagonal line across Cui Yuanping's torso, with blood splattering out and staining the ground red.

Pu-!

Cui Yuanping spat out a mouthful of blood as he fell backwards, falling onto the ground facing upwards. Lying on his back, Cui Yuanping's breath might be extremely faint, but it was undoubtedly still present.

Months ago, Cui Yuanping had personally delivered a deep slash across Lu Tianzi's body.

Now that months had passed, Lu Tianzi had kept this debt in mind, and was directly returning the favour!

In order for Cui Yuanping to fully experience the pain for himself, Lu Tianzi naturally allowed him to retain his life for the moment.

Bang-!

Despite blocking the Star Reaper Spear that had been thrown towards him, Gong Tiesha was still sent tumbling backwards from the impact.

When he finally recovered, Gong Tiesha looked up only to see that Cui Yuanping had fallen to the ground.

By the side was Wen Ping, standing as still as a statue, as though he had nothing to do with everything that was happening around him.

What on earth was going on?

Had Gong Tiesha not sensed the Slaughter Essence energy in the masked demon's attack, he would have sworn that they were facing an Origin Core realm demon.

Only then could his strength be justified in any logical sense!

And at this moment, Gong Tiesha felt his throat go dry.

That masked demon was now slowly making his way towards him!