A Chaotic World

Chapter 63: Cast Aside By All

"What?!" Lu Tianzi was completely caught off guard.

He never thought that at the very last moment, the attack from the Formation of Heaven's Blade would switch target to aim at him instead!

But Lu Tianzi no longer had the luxury of time to think about why that happened.

Just by being near the storm of energy, Lu Tianzi was already able to feel a powerful spiritual pressure being emanated from the formation itself. Now that the glowing sword was charging right towards him, this pressure was being completely directly towards him, making it feel ten times greater than before!

If ordinary Primary Essence Condensation realm martial artists were to be subjected to such spiritual pressure, not to mention evade the attack, they would find it difficult to even move!

As for Lu Tianzi, even though he could manage to move, he would still feel a great resistance that served to slow down every movement that he took. It was as though the air around him had turned viscous, holding his body firmly in place.

At this rate, it was simply impossible for him to escape from the glowing sword that was charging towards him.

In fact, if Lu Tianzi played his cards wrongly, he could very well die right here!

Seeing that it was highly unlikely for him to evade the attack, Lu Tianzi decisively abandoned the idea altogether.

Two blades appeared in his hands, a sword in his right and a sabre in his left.

Driving his Spiritual and Slaughter Essence to the limit, Lu Tianzi decisively slashed out with all the strength that he could muster. Both blades turned deep blue in colour as Lu Tianzi enveloped them within the materialisation of his Spiritual Essence.

If it was impossible for him to avoid the attack, then he would stand against it with all his might!

The glowing sword arrived before Lu Tianzi in an instant.

As the two blades in Lu Tianzi's hands collided with the glowing sword, a huge burst of light was emitted, temporarily blinding every non martial artist who was present.

Even the martial artists present had to focus their Spiritual Essence to protect their eyes in order to retain their sense of sight.

Next came a thunderous clap as the collision sent out a shockwave in all directions!

Bang-!

Without having to be told, the guards immediately stepped forward to block the crowds from this shockwave. Had it not been for them, the non martial artists among the crowds would have surely been severely injured if they were left to fend for themselves.

Even so, these Essence Building realm guards felt themselves being pushed to their limits simply by guarding against this shockwave.

That sent a chill down their spines.

If they were subjected to such a pressure simply from the aftershock that came from the collision, just what kind of power was Lu Tianzi putting on display as he stood directly against the might of the glowing sword?

One had to remember that just a month ago, Lu Tianzi was still at the Intermediate Essence Building realm!

Upon impact, the ground beneath Lu Tianzi's feet cracked in the form of a spiderweb as he sought to forcefully withstand the attack.

However, the might harnessed by the Formation of Heaven's Blade was truly too profound. It felt as though the attack was a sword strike performed by a top tier expert, infusing within it the highest levels of sword arts.

Simply indomitable!

Under the might of the glowing sword, Lu Tianzi's twin blades were directly smashed apart by the glowing sword, shattering into pieces!

Even though Lu Tianzi had already struck out with the entirety of his strength, all he managed to do was to stop the glowing sword for a mere moment before it continued on its path, mercilessly piercing into Lu Tianzi's chest.

Stab-!

The glowing sword was not a true blade, but energy that took the form of a sword.

Thus, it directly pierced through Lu Tianzi before dissipating into the air, leaving nothing but a hole on his body as the only evidence of the attack.

Due to the collision, the trajectory of the glowing sword had been altered slightly, causing the attack to just barely miss Lu Tianzi's heart. But even so, this injury was not one that he could simply shrug off.

His vision blurred, and all his strength was rapidly drained from his body.

Pu-!

Lu Tianzi spat out a mouthful of blood as he fell to his knees. His breathing turned heavy and he could only barely keep his eyes open. Every beat of his heart resulted in a small spurt of blood that escaped from the hole in his chest.

But even as his hands was laying limp by his sides, his fingers still stubbornly maintained their grip around the two hilts of his sabre and sword.

However, all that remained of the two weapons were just a small portion of the blades that remained attached to the hilts. Large parts of the blades were already shattered into pieces from the collision, scattered across the main square.

At this moment, the formation lines slowly lost their luster and the churning of World Origin Energy in the air over the main square came to a gradual halt.

Apart from Hu Yuanbo himself, the four District Heads were clearer than anyone else about the might behind the Formation of Heaven's Blade.

Seeing that the attack had struck Lu Tianzi squarely, they sneered in contempt as they pulled back from their respective spots.

After all, maintaining such a powerful formation was extremely draining on their stamina as well. Now that their goal had been achieved, there was no reason to continue exerting their strength in such a manner.

The crowd was silent in shock as they watched the four District Heads walk over to Hu Yuanbo's side. There had been far too many twists to the story today, and the crowds found themselves not knowing how to react for the time being.

While Cui Yuanping moved to unseal the lock on Hu Yuanbo's vocal chords and help him to his feet, Rui Xucheng stepped before Lu Tianzi in an imposing manner.

"As a Holy Guardian, Lu Tianzi betrayed the city's trust in him," Rui Xucheng peered down at the kneeling Lu Tianzi smugly as he announced out loud. "He colluded with the demons, taking instructions from them to sow discord among the citizens of Ivory Rock City and the city's leadership. On top of that, he even assaulted the Lord of Ivory Rock City with unknown means granted by the demons, creating chaos within the City Lord Manor. In fact, the reason that our city received the first attack in history was because of him as well! With all that he has done, I declare Lu Tianzi guilty of treason against humanity, and hereby sentence him to death!"

As the Head of the Officials District, Rui Xucheng was truly a quick thinker.

Seeing that the situation was in their favour, he was able to instantly weave together a different story that stood opposed to Lu Tianzi's own version. With this, it lent weight to the legitimacy of their actions even if they were to kill Lu Tianzi right before everyone's eyes.

Given their authority as the top leadership within the city, even anyone who found something amiss would be hesitant to help Lu Tianzi.

As for investigating the matter after today, who would do so against the top leadership within the city?

Hearing the crimes pinned onto him, Lu Tianzi sighed deeply in his heart.

At this moment, he definitely understood that the four District Heads had never been on his side.

All along, Lu Tianzi had imagined that Hu Yuanbo's absolute strength was what allowed him to do as he pleased. So long as he was able to take down the symbol of power that was Hu Yuanbo, the others in the city would no longer be afraid to stand with him.

Lu Tianzi did not know if it was because the four District Heads did not believe in his side of the story, or if they had always been working with Hu Yuanbo in the first place. However, that no longer mattered at this point.

The four District Heads had made their choice, and in a resounding manner as well!

Lu Tianzi had been far too overconfident, far too trusting, and especially far too greedy!

If he had just killed off Hu Yuanbo when he had the chance, things would have ended completely differently.

Instead, Lu Tianzi wanted to expose Hu Yuanbo before the entire city, forcing him to take personal responsibility for his actions and crushing his pride with the help of public shaming. That was something born from his greed for the greatest revenge.

In the end, this greed of his had backfired on him, and he now ended up as the one who was in a weaker position.

The winner was king, the loser an outlaw.

Now that he had played his cards wrongly, the only fate awaiting him was to be subjected to the whims of the victors.

But even so, he was unwilling to submit to his fate!

Even if he had to die, he would at least try to take his enemies down with him!

Just as Lu Tianzi was thinking about what to do next, a familiar figure stepped out from the crowd, drawing the attention of everyone present.

If Lu Tianzi had the strength to do so, his eyes would have widened in astonishment as well.

This familiar figure was none other than Instructor Nie whom Lu Tianzi had encountered in the wilderness a few days ago.

After Nanhong Yechang first displayed his Blades of Darkness, the group had been split up, with Lu Tianzi leaving with Hu Shenwei. Lu Tianzi had no idea what happened to the rest of the group, but apparently Instructor Nie had managed to return to the city, albeit with multiple injuries.

"What is it?" Rui Xucheng frowned at this sight, but he hesitated to stop Instructor Nie by force.

Right now, he was trying to regain the absolute confidence of the citizens. If he were to hurt an innocent bystander while doing so, it would definitely damage his cause.

It was as though Instructor Nie did not hear Rui Xucheng's question, silently continuing to walk up to Lu Tianzi.

Seeing the familiar figure, Lu Tianzi could not help but think back to the time when this man had been his instructor. Instructor Nie always had a smile on his face, never losing his patience as he guided Lu Tianzi along on his movement techniques when he first joined the Ivory Rock Martial Academy.

Had it not for Instructor Nie, Lu Tianzi might not have been recognised as the genius that he was, gaining the focused grooming of the academy.

Memories flashed within Lu Tianzi's mind, including the most recent ones when he had stepped in to rescue Instructor Nie from the attack of an Essence Condensation realm demon after Instructor Nie's spear had broken into two.

Had it not for him, Instructor Nie would have already joined the ranks of the dead by now.

Both of them had a great impact on the other party at some stage in life. Between the two of them, it could be said that neither would be where they were right now had it not been for the other party.

Instructor Nie stopped right in front of Lu Tianzi, and after taking a deep breath, actually proceeded to spit on him!

"No wonder your strength has improved by such a huge degree in such a short time, it was because you have been colluding with the demons! So this is the true reason why you had been unwilling to share your experiences from after you became a Holy Guardian!" Instructor Nie bellowed in rage. "To think that you actually pretended to be clueless about the demon attack on the city, acting as a good guy and playing both sides. What a good hypocritical student I have!"

Lu Tianzi had initially thought that by stepping out at this moment, Instructor Nie should be trying to help him. Now that the reality unfolded completely contrary to his expectations, it actually caused his mind to blank out for a moment.

"If I am not wrong, in the chaos back then, you have escaped with Sir Hu, Hu Shenwei. Where is he now? Did you collude with your demon comrades to kill him off just like what you were about to do to City Lord Hu? How ruthless you are!" Instructor Nie continued.

Hearing this, Hu Yuanbo let out a few weak coughs in agitation.

He already had his own guesses about his son's fate, but Instructor Nie's words had just increased the odds of the worst possible outcome.

At this moment, a voice sounded out from another direction.

"So you are actually Lu Tianzi!" Uncle Ye exclaimed solemnly as he stepped out along with Ye Xiangyuan towards Lu Tianzi.

Lu Tianzi turned to look at the familiar figures of the people whom he had come to treat as his own family over the past few weeks, and could not help but feel ashamed in his heart.

Despite the family having selflessly taken him in, Lu Tianzi had never been truthful with the family, even hiding his real name from them.

It seemed like only yesterday that Uncle Ye generously took him into his house, going to all lengths to help resolve his dispute with Gong Shengjie. Later, he even shared his knowledge on herbalism, allowing Lu Tianzi to gain a skill that had helped him survive through quite a few situations.

Ye Xiangyuan had always treated him as her own younger brother, making sure to keep his share of food when he had been busy studying Uncle Ye's collection of books.

In return, Lu Tianzi had been there to protect Uncle Ye during the recent demon attack, ensuring his safe passage back within the city walls.

Even though the time they spent together was short, but the bond forged between them was definitely unmistakable.

Seeing Uncle Ye and Ye Xiangyuan step out at this moment, Lu Tianzi could not help but be filled with worry in his heart.

He might have been reduced to a pitiful state, but he still did not wish for Uncle Ye's family to be implicated by any means!

However, what came out of Uncle Ye's mouth next caused Lu Tianzi to completely freeze up.

"I should have known your character from how you introduced yourself!" Uncle Ye pointed at Lu Tianzi in rage. "What do you mean by dropping out of the martial academy to become a worker so as to earn your keep? You have just been using our family as a refuge from your crimes! From the very start, you have been nothing but a liar!"