A Chaotic World

Chapter 70: A Peculiar Sword Strike

In comparison to other martial artists, Elder Wanglei did not appear intimidating at all.

The short beard on his face, coupled with his thin body frame, made him look more like a wise middle aged man who sought the scholarly path than a powerful warrior on the martial path.

If it was not because they recognised his looks, the martial artists here might even have assumed that he was Nanlan Qianxue's manservant!

"Elder Wanglei! Senior apprentice sister!" the five men from before immediately went up to greet them.

"Senior apprentice sister?" Lu Tianzi could not help but mutter in surprise.

While the five men did not look too old, they were all at least in their mid to late twenties, obviously older than Nanlan Qianxue. Yet they were actually referring to her as senior apprentice sister?

"You are not from around here, are you?" someone casually remarked from beside Lu Tianzi. "The Nine Suns Sect is divided into the Inner Sect and the Outer Sect, with the Inner Sect members possessing a far higher level of authority. Those five men belong to the Outer Sect while Nanlan Qianxue belongs to the Inner Sect, thus they naturally have to address her as senior."

Lu Tianzi was just about to thank the man's kind explanation when he suddenly heard a clear voice being transmitted directly to his ears.

"I am Nanlan Qianxue of the Nine Suns Sect, and I will be the one leading the Beast Hunt this time round," Nanlan Qianxue said. "I believe that everyone here already knows the rules, but I will just reiterate two key points for the sake of those who are first-timers. Firstly, no attacking, stealing or robbing of beast cores from other martial artists. Secondly, always listen to the orders of the members of my Nine Suns Sect. If there is anyone who dares to go against these two rules, we will not give him any face no matter what his background is!"

Rather than shouting out, Nanlan Qianxue had opted to directly convey her voice to every individual present. This way, nobody would be able to deny having heard her words of warning.

The group moved out almost immediately, not wanting to waste precious time that could be better spent hunting for wild beasts.

Departing from the Eastern Gate of Bluenight City, the group traversed the vast plain towards the northeast. There, they entered the Bluenight Forest, an area more densely populated with wild beasts.

Despite them moving forward at a relatively fast pace, this journey still took them a couple of hours.

During this time, most of the martial artists here could not help but steal glances at Nanlan Qianxue, admiring her beauty from afar.

Even Lu Tianzi was unable to hold himself back from stealing a glance or two at this peerless lady.

However, Lu Tianzi's gaze was still locked onto Elder Wanglei most of the time.

Right now, it could be said that Elder Wanglei was the one holding onto Lu Tianzi's fate. If Elder Wanglei were able to see through Lu Tianzi's cultivation realm, then Lu Tianzi would have to expend all his means to escape!

Thankfully, they had already left Bluenight City.

In such a situation, at least Lu Tianzi would not be hindered by the city gates when making his escape.

Thus, if Lu Tianzi ever wanted to test if the jade pendant given by Xihuang Yuanfeng was truly able to block out the perception of Origin Core realm martial artists, then this Beast Hunt would be the best time to do so!

But Lu Tianzi naturally could not just walk up to Elder Wanglei and ask the latter to perceive his cultivation realm.

Even if the other party was truly unable to do so, Lu Tianzi might still be condemned as a lunatic for doing so!

Lu Tianzi decided to hold back and bid his time.

After all, the priority now was to earn beast cores for his cultivation.

When the group finally arrived at the borders of Bluenight Forest, Nanlan Qianxue stepped up to address the crowd once more.

"The Nine Suns Sect will be waiting at this spot. If there are any emergencies that require our attention, feel free to look for us here. If nothing else, we will see you back here in six hours."

The purpose of a Beast Hunt was to provide safety in numbers for martial artists who wished to hunt beast cores. However, the martial artists were required to do the hunting themselves.

But since the Nine Suns Sect chose to organise the Beast Hunt, they naturally would provide some sort of protection to the ones who joined the Beast Hunt as well. This way, they could continue to attract unaffiliated martial artists to join in on these Beast Hunts, maintaining a constant stream of income.

That was the reason why Nanlan Qianxue and the other members of the Nine Suns Sect had went along. Even so, they usually would not lift a finger until the situation was truly dire.

Upon hearing Nanlan Qianxue's words, most of the martial artists dashed into the forest.

Even though it was tempting to stick around and appreciate Nanlan Qianxue's beauty for a little longer, none of these martial artists succumbed to that temptation.

After all, six hours was not a long time by any means, and they naturally had to make full use of this time to hunt as many beast cores as they could!

Who knows?

If they ended up being the one who returned with the greatest number of beast cores, they might even end up catching the eye of Nanlan Qianxue and Elder Wanglei!

Should that happen, not to mention obtaining a chance to befriend such a peerless beauty, it could even mean a direct entry into the Nine Suns Sect!

Having already built such a perfect outcome in their minds, how could these martial artists not work hard towards it?

Lu Tianzi dashed in along with them as well, hoping to yield the greatest benefit out of this trip.

But with hundreds of martial artists fanning out into the forest, how could it be easy for Lu Tianzi to find a wild beast to himself?

For that reason, he moved further and further into the depths of the forest, instead of staying around the safer outer perimeters of the forest like most others did.

At the same time, Lu Tianzi could sense that there were some other martial artists who chose to do so as well. One of whom stayed close to him, causing Lu Tianzi to frown.

As though noticing Lu Tianzi's displeasure, the man smiled amiably before speaking, "You don't have to be wary of me. My name is Nanqing Haowen, and I merely thought that it is safer to stick in pairs rather than hunt alone. How about this? Let us move together, and we can split our loot by alternating who the loot goes to."

"Not interested," Lu Tianzi answered coldly without a second thought.

"Hey don't be so quick to reject me! How about this? You can have the first beast core while I will take the second. Sounds like a better deal now?" Nanqing Haowen offered once more.

Lu Tianzi paused in his steps as he gave this man a good lookover.

Nanqing Haowen looked to be in his late twenties, and was already in the Primary Essence Condensation realm, making him one of the strongest martial artists participating in this Beast Hunt. Even though he was here on a Beast Hunt where a single careless mistake could cost him his life, he seemed ever so relaxed even as he halted his steps to smile back at Lu Tianzi.

"What if we only come across one wild beast in the end?" Lu Tianzi asked.

"Then the beast core shall go to you," Nanqing Haowen answered without hesitation.

"That sounds too good to be true," Lu Tianzi voiced his concerns in a straightforward manner.

"Sometimes, small sacrifices have to be made in view of the big picture," Nanqing Haowen shrugged.

Lu Tianzi eyed this man suspiciously and weighed his options in his mind.

"I think I still prefer to go alone," Lu Tianzi finally decided.

When a deal was too good to be true, it usually was.

That was the reason why Lu Tianzi rejected the other party. After all, he still knew far too little about the demons in general.

Who knew what tricks they could have up their sleeves?

"That's a pity then," Nanqing Haowen shook his head in disappointment. "But since you have already made up your mind, then I shall not insist. Best of luck to your hunt!"

But at this moment, a loud roar suddenly came from nearby, causing both of them to instinctively turn their heads in that direction.

"Sounds like someone has encountered a wild beast, and a relatively strong one as well!" Nanqing Haowen exclaimed.

"Looks like it," Lu Tianzi agreed before leaving in the direction of the roar.

"Hey, I am coming as well!" Nanqing Haowen quickly followed.

It did not take long before Lu Tianzi and Nanqing Haowen came across what they were looking for.

It was not the wild beast that they wanted, but they saw a path of devastation stretching straight through the forest grounds.

However, it was obviously not the scene of a battle, but more like the scene ofa reckless pursuit.

Evidently, whoever came across this beast had no intention of facing it in a frontal battle, deciding to retreat back towards the outer regions of the forest instead.

"Damn it!" Lu Tianzi cursed as he sped up, following after the trail of destruction.

If this martial artist was truly unable to handle the wild beast, then perhaps Lu Tianzi could move in to take the kill!

However, now that the wild beast was being lured to the outer regions of the forest, Lu Tianzi would have to hurry if he wanted to do so.

As long as he was even slightly too late, the wild beast would be discovered by the hundreds of other martial artists who were currently combing the outer regions of the forest.

Should that happen, then there would simply be no easy way for Lu Tianzi to claim the kill anymore!

Alas, he was still too late.

As Lu Tianzi had guessed, the wild beast had been charging right after a martial artist who accidentally ventured into its territory. Chasing after its prey with outright bloodlust, the wild beast directly entered the outer regions of the forest, only to find itself surrounded by martial artists.

"Save me!" the poor victim was driving his Slaughter Essence to the maximum, running at his fastest speed ever as he tried in vain to escape from the beast behind him.

"It is a Bronzehorn Rhino!"

"Save that guy!"

"Are you crazy? Why do you think he is running? And you want to go in?"

"There are so many of us here, surely we will be able to beat it?"

"Why don't you be the first to lead the counterattack then?"

"This I think I will pass"

The Bronzehorn Rhino was slightly larger than a regular rhinoceros, with a horn that appeared bronze in colour, which was where it got its name.

Its horn was actually white, but only appeared to be bronze due to the large amount of energy that the Bronzehorn Rhino condensed within it when the wild beast got provoked. When slammed into by the horn of the Bronzehorn Rhino, non martial artists would find their body completely pulverised into a mangled mash!

Even though the Bronzehorn Rhino might be a wild beast that possessed strength only within the lower tier of the Essence Condensation realm; but in comparison, most of the martial artists present were only at the Essence Building realm.

Out of consideration for their own safety, none of them dared to step forward.

"Where are the guys from the Nine Suns Sect when we need them?" someone shouted in anger.

As though answering his question, a group of people suddenly rushed out from the forest ahead. When the martial artists there saw who they were, they were all surprised.

It was actually the entire group from the Nine Suns Sect, including Nanlan Qianxue and Elder Wanglei!

From outside, the members of the Nine Suns Sect had sensed the huge commotion caused by the destructive chase, and had made their way over just in case there was an emergency that required their aid.

And there truly was such an incident waiting right here for them.

"Thank god!" the victim beamed in joy as though he had just seen his only lifeline, changing direction to head straight towards them.

"Let me handle this!" Nanlan Qianxue drew her sword, ready to battle the Bronzehead Rhino.

However, Elder Wanglei patted her on the shoulder and shook his head, indicating for her not to get involved.

"What is the matter? Does Elder want us to continue waiting even though the man is about to become prey for the Bronzehorn Rhino?" Nanlan Qianxue frowned in displeasure.

Did Elder Wanglei truly not intend to save the poor soul who was desperately running for his life?

"Prey or predator, that is still an unknown," Elder Wanglei shook his head.

"What does Elder mean by-" Nanlan Qianxue was asking halfway when she noticed a young man suddenly charge out from behind the Bronzehorn Rhino.

With a powerful leap, it was almost as though this young man directly flew over the Bronzehead Rhino to land before it, standing firm right in its path.

This young man was none other than Lu Tianzi.

The victim ran right past Lu Tianzi, but the Bronzehorn Rhino was only more angered by the sight before him.

After all, Lu Tianzi's calmness felt like nothing but a direct challenge to its supremacy in terms of the raw strength behind its frontal charge!

Lu Tianzi immediately noticed the group from the Nine Suns Sect standing right behind him, and could not help but feel slightly anxious. With Elder Wanglei watching him, Lu Tianzi had to be doubly careful not to reveal any hints that he was a human!

Driving his Slaughter Essence to its peak, Lu Tianzi slashed out with his sword.

At this very moment, every martial artist had their attention focused on Lu Tianzi. They wished to see just what this young man who charged out of nowhere was capable of exactly.

However, none of them was able to understand what happened next.

Lu Tianzi's sword strike was as ordinary as it got, slashing directly towards the Bronzehorn Rhino's nose.

However, it was as though the Bronzehorn Rhino did not even see the existence of the incoming sword strike, and charged right into the path of the blade!

Slash-!

The Bronzehorn Rhino groaned in misery as it crashed into the ground, only stopping a dozen metres away due to the inertia from the full speed charge.

After crashing into the ground, the Bronzehorn Rhino simply lay there motionlessly, its face completely slashed apart by Lu Tianzi's sword, revealing even the skull underneath!