A Chaotic World

Chapter 6: Double Cultivation Systems

Towards the sudden appearance of the two traces of energy, Lu Tianzi felt a deep sense of apprehension. But at the same time, somewhere within him was a feeling of longing, as if the two traces of energy before him had always been an integral part of him.

Lu Tianzi curiously reached out with his hand, and to his surprise, found out that he was actually able to manipulate these traces of energy!

This sensation was almost like driving the Spiritual Essence in his body, just that this energy possessed a completely different trait to it.

With a mere thought, Lu Tianzi drove these two traces of energy to form up into one, bringing it into his own body in an attempt to absorb it. Even though he should have been wary since he had no idea what this energy was, there was a subconscious part of him that strongly urged him to disregard the risks.

As the combined trace of energy entered his body, Lu Tianzi immediately sank his perception into his inner world. He was initially intending to drive his Spiritual Essence to receive this energy, converting it into Spiritual Essence particles and reinforce his cultivation.

However, it was as though the two forms of energy existed in two completely different worlds, passing each other by without any form of interaction whatsoever.

This left Lu Tianzi feeling perplexed, but not for long.

Instead of forming up with his Spiritual Essence, this newly introduced trace of energy started spreading through his body, reaching out to every corner. As though activated by the presence of this new energy, his body cells started trembling in excitement, refining this energy of its own accord.

Slowly but surely, this energy was being refined into particles that Lu Tianzi was very familiar with.

Slaughter Essence particles!

They were the basis of the demons' Slaughter Essence cultivation system!

As he witnessed the whole process of his body refining the Slaughter Essence particles, Lu Tianzi's eyes widened in shock, unable to believe what was actually happening.

Was this because of the assimilation of the demon cells from last night?

It seemed that without him even realising it, the process that had tortured him for an entire night actually served to form a foundation for cultivating the Slaughter Essence system in his body!

But what was going to happen to him from now on?

Humans cultivated the Spiritual Essence system, while demons cultivated the Slaughter Essence system. This was a rule that had existed since the beginning of time, long before Ivory Rock City even existed!

What kind of concept was it to be able to cultivate both systems at the same time?

Would this affect his cultivation of the Spiritual Essence system?

No one would know. After all, there had never been anyone who was able to accomplish this!

Lu Tianzi hurriedly looked around to see if there were witnesses, and only felt better after realising that no one else was around. He then proceeded to search the two demon corpses.

It was just a symbolic search, not wanting to let anything of use go to waste. As expected, the first demon corpse possessed nothing valuable. However, what he found on the other demon was completely out of his expectations.

An Essence Stone!

This was an extremely rare resource for cultivation, but it was only useful for human martial artists! Why would the demon carry one on him?

Even though he was filled with questions at the moment, Lu Tianzi knew that there was no way of getting any information out of corpses. Not wanting to dally any further, he quickly changed his attire with those of the demons before proceeding to throw the demon corpses down the cliff.

The reason why he changed his clothes was simple he needed to gain more strength.

At his current cultivation realm, he might be able to survive out in the wild by carefully avoiding the stronger beasts, but that would not be a life that was conducive for further cultivation. If he wanted to fully concentrate on getting stronger, then the only way was to do so without having to worry about food and safety.

No matter how much he hated to admit it, the only place he knew of that fulfilled such conditions would be Ivory Rock City.

In order to return to Ivory Rock City without drawing too much attention to himself, Lu Tianzi definitely could not don the clothing of a Holy Guardian. Thus, he had no choice but to switch his attire.

By now, he could feel that the Slaughter Essence particles in his body had been completely refined.

Primary Essence Building realm of the Slaughter Essence system!

Different from the Essence Building realm of the Spiritual Essence system which involved a mass of Spiritual Essence particles swirling around a centre in his inner world, the Essence Building realm of the Slaughter Essence system had Slaughter Essence particles spread throughout the body.

However, the concept was the same. The denser and greater the amount of particles, the stronger the foundation would be, having a certain degree of impact on a martial artist's future accomplishments.

But instead of being excited about having hit Primary Essence Building realm of the Slaughter Essence system, Lu Tianzi frowned upon seeing this.

He was about to return to the Ivory Rock City where there were many martial artists abound. Just like how he had been able to detect the Slaughter Essence in demons, each and every one of these martial artists would be able to detect the Slaughter Essence in his body!

While they might not necessarily think that he was a demon, they would definitely want to find out more about him. He might even end up being a subject of research in the city!

Even though Lu Tianzi was revered as the youngest Holy Guardian in history, it was mostly due to his talent rather than his strength. In Ivory Rock City, there were still many martial artists who had a higher cultivation realm than himself, able to suppress him with pure combat power.

If he were to encounter any of them, then it would take all his strength just to escape!

Even though most martial artists would not spread their perception to probe everyone they encountered, meaning that it was possible for him to mix into the crowds, but did he really want to take such a risk?

Lu Tianzi hesitated for a moment as he weighed his options.

On one hand, he could cultivate in the underground cavern, risking the dangers of hunting for food in the unexplored wilderness. However, he would definitely not be detected by any martial artists.

On the other hand, he could sneak into Ivory Rock City, which had a layout and system that he knew inside out. Though he might encounter martial artists occasionally, it was still an unknown as to whether they would probe him with their perception.

Both options had their pros and cons, but Lu Tianzi ultimately decided on the latter.

Without sufficient strength, he did not wish to risk his safety in the wilds. He knew for certain that other than demons, there were beasts lurking in the wild that surpassed even Hu Yuanbo in strength. If he were to encounter any of these beasts, then the only way out for him was death!

---

Ivory Rock City was strategically positioned on a mountaintop, overlooking a cliff to its north and surrounded by forests in the other three directions. There were three gates, one to the East, West, and South respectively. Rather than calling it a city, a fortress would actually be more apt to describe it.

Of the three gates, the South Gate was the largest, and also the most heavily fortified. Sentries were stationed at regular intervals on the city wall, overlooking the surroundings and ready for any form of occurrences.

While they were always on alert, the truth was that there really had not been much for them to do.

After all, this was their Holy City, blessed by the gods themselves!

The demons had never so much as appeared in the vicinity, and all they ever encountered were wild beasts straying too near. But even these wild beasts would usually not attack the city itself as long as everyone stayed within the walls and out of their sight.

Thus, the main job of the sentries was actually to warn people of incoming beasts so that the people working outside of the city could quickly return to safety.

With this system in place, it was no longer considered too dangerous for the citizens of Ivory Rock City to venture out for work. This was also necessary as they needed to collect timber, find herbs, and hunt small animals for food.

Lu Tianzi was obviously aware of this point, and had sneakily joined up with some of these workers as they returned to the city after a day of working.

His heart was thumping as he got nearer and nearer to the gate.

The gate master was a martial artist at the Intermediate Essence Building realm, more than sufficient to detect the Primary Essence Building realm Slaughter Essence in his body if the martial artist so wanted to!

"Good work out there!" the friendly guards called out to the workers as they entered the city.

"Oh? I have never seen you before?" one of the guards approached Lu Tianzi curiously.

"This is my first day working indeed," Lu Tianzi gave the guard a respectful bow in response, his actions not betraying his heart that almost skipped a beat in shock.

While most of the city members had seen him during the naming of the Holy Guardian, it was mostly from afar, and most people did not manage to have a clear view of his face. However, just this fact alone was not enough for Lu Tianzi. In order to blur his facial features, he had further applied mud and dirt on his face so the current him looked like a mess to say the least.

"But you don't seem to be carrying anything?" the guard raised an eyebrow as he looked at Lu Tianzi.

Indeed, the other workers were all carrying baskets of herbs, timber, or even hunted animals. Lu Tianzi, in his hurry, had actually overlooked this small detail!

"Uh it has not been a fulfilling day" Lu Tianzi barely managed to mutter while his mind worked on overclock, trying to come up with a good excuse.

"Hahaha! Don't feel bad about it! I can tell that you have been working hard! Keep it up and tomorrow will be better!"

Much to his surprise, the guard gave him a pat on the back before quickly moving on to the next person.

"T-Thank you," Lu Tianzi hurried into the city after that close shave.

"Young man, you really are a mess! What have you been doing all day?" a middle aged man carrying a basket of herbs called out to him.

Not wanting to draw further attention by shouting, Lu Tianzi walked over to the man before answering in a melancholic tone, "I have been trying to hunt for small animals, but it seems that it is not as easy as I thought"

"Haha! How would it be this easy? You are still young and inexperienced, so won't you be better off doing easier work like chopping of timber or finding herbs?"

"Now I realise how difficult it is" Lu Tianzi nodded as they continued walking along. "Do you go out to find herbs every day?"

"How else would I survive?" the middle aged man let out a self-deprecating laugh. "My legs are bad after an accident years ago so I can't exert much strength. The only thing left going for me is my little bit of herbal knowledge. Thank god for the safety of Ivory Rock City! Otherwise I would definitely have died if left out in the wilds!"

"Is that so?" Lu Tianzi smiled politely in response, choosing not to ask further.

"Where do you stay anyway? Is your house in the Workers District as well?" the middle aged man inquired.

"The Workers District?" Lu Tianzi was stumped for a moment before answering. "Yes, I am living there, though it is not really like I have a house or anything"

Ivory Rock City was divided into four main districts the Military District, the Workers District, the Academic District, and the Officials District.

As the name suggested, the Workers District was where most workers stayed, as well as where the processing and trading of materials would usually take place. As a student of the Ivory Rock Martial Academy, Lu Tianzi used to stay in the Academic District. However, it was not like he could just return to his house right now.

Hearing Lu Tianzi's words, the middle aged man nodded in understanding. Even though Ivory Rock City was welcoming to all of humanity and provided them with safety within the walls, their resources were still limited after all.

There were far too many homeless people in the city who were unable to afford a house of their own. These people would usually sleep in the streets, or in times of winter, seek shelter at a public hall.

"Well then, it is also a form of affinity that brought us together today. If you don't mind, do you want to come over to my house instead? We happen to have a spare room right now!" the middle aged man cheerfully exclaimed.

"Is that really okay?" Lu Tianzi was still worrying about this matter when he was suddenly offered a roof over his head, so he was definitely delighted.

"Of course it is! Let's go! My surname is Ye, so you can call me Uncle Ye," the middle aged man was pleased to see the happy expression on Lu Tianzi's face. "What is your name, young man?"

"I am Zhanyuan, Zhan from the word executing, Yuan is the same as Hu Yuanbo's Yuan," Lu Tianzi smiled.

"But you can just call me Ah Zhan."