A Chaotic World

Chapter 7: Essence Stone

"Hah" Uncle Ye froze up for a moment upon hearing Lu Tianzi's introduction, then awkwardly let out a dry laugh.

Zhan from the word executing, Yuan is the same as Hu Yuanbo's Yuan?

Isn't Hu Yuanbo the full name of City Lord Hu?

Doesn't that mean his name was equivalent to executing City Lord Hu?

Why would anyone in the right mind introduce himself like that? This kid is truly ignorant of the ways of this world

"All right then, Ah Zhan. Let us return to my house!" Uncle Ye shook off the bad feeling and led the youngster to his house.

As per most other workers, Uncle Ye stayed at a small wooden house in the Workers District. The house might be small, but it was still well equipped with all the necessities.

He stayed with his wife along with their daughter aged 17, 2 years older than Lu Tianzi. Even then they still had a spare room which they used as a storeroom to hold their tools. This was not because they were any richer than others, but because they only had a single child in the family.

"Wife! I have brought someone back with me today!" Uncle Ye called out the moment he entered the house.

"Welcome home, hubby. Oh my, who is this young man?" a middle aged lady rushed out of the kitchen to greet them.

"I met Ah Zhan out at work today. Help prepare a bath so that he can wash all that dirt off himself!" Uncle Ye explained after kissing his wife on the lips.

"Of course, of course. Wait here for a moment, Ah Zhan!" the lady hurried off.

"There is really no need for that," Lu Tianzi stopped them immediately. "I would not want to impose on you any further."

"How is it imposing on us? It's just a little water! Just sit tight and wait!" Uncle Ye ushered him to his seat.

"There really isn't any need to" Lu Tianzi was not just standing on ceremony with them. With the dirt removed, then there might be a chance that these workers would recognise him as well!

"Since you are already here, you are considered a guest. How can you reject my hospitality then?" Uncle Ye continued to insist.

Lu Tianzi let out a helpless sigh. He would just have to find some other way to hide his features after taking a bath then.

Just as he planned, Lu Tianzi found a piece of cloth to wrap around one of his eyes. When asked, he simply told Uncle Ye that it was one of the traditions passed down in his family to cover an eye when living under someone else's roof.

This way, Uncle Ye had no other choice but to accept it.

After all, there were all sorts of traditions and beliefs in this world. Imposing his ideas on a guest would only appear overbearing and rude.

They had a simple dinner that night, prepared by Uncle Ye's wife and daughter. His daughter, while not exceedingly beautiful, was definitely considered above average in terms of looks. On top of that, she was friendly and well mannered, treating Lu Tianzi as her little brother right from the start.

From the proud boastings of Uncle Ye, Lu Tianzi learnt that she had quite the list of suitors as well.

After dusk arrived, the family quickly cleared out the spare room for Lu Tianzi, and everyone went to bed early. Even in Ivory Rock City, candles were expensive, and most people chose to sleep the night away.

However, Lu Tianzi was not intending to do so.

Spreading his perception to cover the small house was not a difficult task. After making sure that everyone had fallen asleep, Lu Tianzi slipped out of his bed and silently left the house without anyone's notice.

Tonight, he intended to retrieve the items that he had left in his own residence. This was also one of the reasons why he decided to return to the city.

It was a risky move that might expose his identity, but it was also a necessary one if he wanted to continue staying in Ivory Rock City without worries.

Unlike the Workers District that went to sleep at dusk, almost every residence in the Academic District lit a candle at night. After all, if the students had to attend classes in the day, then the only time for study and practice would naturally be at night. To the young men and women with great aspirations, time was far more valuable compared to the mere cost of candles!

On top of that, there were even aspiring martial artists practising in the open courtyards, or hopeful scholars reciting poems under the moonlight.

All of these showed the promising future of the younger generation. But right now, these people staying outside of their residences were making Lu Tianzi's life that much more difficult!

Thankfully, these people were still in the minority, and it was not too difficult to bypass them as long as Lu Tianzi took a few detours.

He weaved through small alleys to avoid the main streets, patiently observing for an opportune time when he had no choice but to cross open courtyards. For a journey that should have taken only around an hour, Lu Tianzi actually spent twice that duration in order to get to where he used to stay.

Lu Tianzi dared not openly enter the residence even if he did not see anyone in the vicinity. Slipping to the back of the small house, he climbed in through the only window and landed silently on the wooden floor within.

Each martial artist of the Ivory Rock Martial Academy was given their own house to stay in. Due to resource constraints, these houses were nothing impressive, but they still gave them the necessary privacy. After all, even if they were merely students, most martial artists had their own habits and secrets that they did not want others to learn of.

The moment Lu Tianzi landed in his room, he felt a wave of melancholy sweep through him.

This was where he had spent the past years of his life, grinding through the hardships of cultivation.

But to what end?

In the end, he was betrayed by the City Lord whom he respected, sacrificed to the very demons that he hated, and was even personally delivered by the very people whom he had sworn to protect!

Thinking about this renewed the hatred brewing within him, steeling his resolve once more.

Lu Tianzi quickly sprang into action, but the moment he opened his wardrobe, his eyes widened in shock. Unable to believe his eyes, he immediately moved on to his drawers, opening them one by one, but the result was always the same.

It was completely empty.

Even though he was prepared to leave the city as a Holy Guardian, Lu Tianzi never had the chance to return to his residence and retrieve the items he needed.

By right, all his belongings should still be right where they were. But now, his wardrobe and drawers had been completely emptied out, no doubt by the very people who mercilessly sent him to his death.

Damn it!

Lu Tianzi punched the wall in frustration. He was still too nave after all.

To think that he actually thought those bastards would leave his possessions untouched. What a retard! He had really underestimated the darkness of this world!

There was only one more place that he had not checked. If they had found this secret hiding place as well, then he would truly be left at a loss as to what to do next!

Lu Tianzi carefully pushed away the wardrobe before kneeling down to remove some of the wooden planks on the floor, revealing a small hidden compartment underneath. When he reached his hand into the small compartment, his face immediately lit up in excitement.

Everything was still there!

Lu Tianzi picked up the few flags and a couple of books from the hidden compartment before placing everything back as they were. After taking one last look at his room, Lu Tianzi turned and left, as silently as he had come.

After another two hours of sneaking around, Lu Tianzi finally returned to the spare room in Uncle Ye's house. Latching the doors and windows close, he proceeded to lay out all his possession on the bed.

It was finally time to take stock of what he had.

After all, it was not like he could return to Ivory Rock Martial Academy to ask for resources, nor could he join the military to earn wages. Both methods would just mean a quick exposure of his identity.

First was the long sword taken from the demon leader. It was well crafted with nothing to pick on. If there really was something that Lu Tianzi was unhappy about it, it would be that the demon carvings on the hilt were too flashy. While Lu Tianzi had always wanted to wield a spear as his main weapon, this was a well-balanced sword that Lu Tianzi would be able to rely on in the meantime.

Second was the concealed knife that his parents had given to him. It was plain looking but extremely sturdy. On top of that, Lu Tianzi had learnt well from his previous lesson. Even with the long sword in his possession, Lu Tianzi would definitely keep this knife hidden within his clothes for emergency purposes.

Third were the formation flags he had retrieved from his previous residence. There were many different types of formations, but most of them needed formation flags into order to activate. Lu Tianzi was not too familiar with formations, but he did know of a basic one that helped with gathering Spiritual Essence. This formation was a legacy passed down by his father when he was young, and was able to speed up a martial artist's cultivation speed while conserving resources at the same time.

Fourth were the two books that he had just recovered. These were not mere books, but manuals, both passed down by his father as well. One of them was the "Undulated Currents Breathing Technique" which was a cultivation manual, while the other was the "Thunderbolt Torrential Fists" which was a combat technique. While they were not exactly top tier manuals, they were still considered relatively good. Lu Tianzi had been practising these two techniques since young, and was intending to continue doing so.

Last but not least was the Essence Stone that he had taken from one of the demon underlings. This was also the item that Lu Tianzi was most in awe of!

While he was still training at the Ivory Rock Martial Academy, he and his peers had to accumulate countless contribution points only to exchange them for a one hour session to cultivate in the Seclusion Hall. Even at the Seclusion Hall, they would only be able to bask in the light of an Essence Stone, not allowed to so much as touch it!

He had always longed to have an Essence Stone of his own, wondering how it would be if he could cultivate with one in hand, and now his wish had been fulfilled!

Now that he possessed his very own Essence Stone, if his cultivation speed still remained at the same speed as before, then he really had to do some serious introspection.

Lu Tianzi only had 5 items, but each of them was useful in its own way. From now on, Lu Tianzi would have to rely on these 5 items to score an advantage over the rest of his peers.

Only then would he be able to rise above all and stride towards the pinnacle of strength.

He was not intending to waste any more time, immediately proceeding to set up the formation flags in the room.

While the room was cramped compared to his previous one, he would just have to make the necessary adjustments to the formation in response.

Sitting down cross legged on the bed, Lu Tianzi held the Essence Stone in his hands as he closed his eyes and started practising the Undulated Currents Breathing Technique.

The moment he started doing so, it was like a strong breeze had picked up within the confines of the room, causing his hair to rustle and his clothes to flutter. Lu Tianzi then began driving his Spiritual Essence in accordance to the instructions given in the Undulated Currents Breathing Technique as well.

Under the glow of the Essence Stone, his cultivation speed was also sped up, allowing twice the results despite half the effort.

But Lu Tianzi was still not satisfied with the current situation.

It was expected for cultivation speed to be slower back at the academy when they were only allowed to bask in the light of a shared Essence Stone, but now he had the Essence Stone all to himself!

How could it still be this slow?

At this rate, how long more would it be until he was able to break into the Essence Condensation realm?!

How long more would it take until he broke into the Origin Core realm and was finally able to take revenge on Hu Yuanbo?!

10 years?

15 years?

He could not afford to wait this long!

Even if he somehow managed to hide from the City Lord Manor for this long, his hardened resolve would have failed him by then!

If anyone else were to hear of his thoughts right now, they would probably vomit blood in frustration. After all, for mere brat at the Intermediate Essence Building realm to think about surpassing the esteemed City Lord, even taking 30 more years would be nothing more than a pipe dream!

It had to be known that as one progressed in cultivation, each subsequent realm would become more and more difficult to break though. So how would it be possible to reach Origin Core realm from Essence Building realm within a matter of 15 years?

That was the almighty Origin Core realm they were talking about!

In the whole of Ivory Rock City, only the illustrious City Lord Hu was able to reach such a cultivation realm, and even then it took City Lord Hu over a hundred years to finally step into the Origin Core realm!

Only Lu Tianzi was unconvinced.

Without trying for himself, he simply would not believe that there was no way to overcome this massive divide in terms of age. Otherwise, he might as well just give up on revenge right then and there.

Driving his Spiritual Essence to the extreme, he repeatedly tried to directly probe the Essence Stone in his hands.

It was not an easy task. The Essence Stone was like a concentrated cluster of pure energy encased securely within a safe, impervious to any external influences. Every attempt to break into this container took a toll on his mind, and within a couple of tries, he had already broken out in a cold sweat.

Still, Lu Tianzi refused to give up because of that.

If one try was not enough, then he would try ten times. If ten tries were not enough, then he would try a hundred times, a thousand times, or tens of thousands of times!

No matter what, he had to increase his speed of cultivation!

After thousands of unsuccessful attempts, Lu Tianzi finally broke through this seemingly unbreakable shell!

Even though he was overjoyed, Lu Tianzi dared not allow himself to be distracted at this moment.

By establishing a connection with the Essence Stone, Lu Tianzi steadily drew a small wisp of energy from the Essence Stone into his body.

This small wisp of energy entered Lu Tianzi's inner world, providing a direct leap in the amount of energy within his body that he would then be able to refine into Spiritual Essence particles through the Undulated Currents Breathing Technique.

Even though it was only a small wisp of energy, it was still considered extremely luxurious as compared to before, increasing his cultivation speed by more than tenfold in just that one moment.

Compared to the martial artists of the Ivory Rock Martial Academy who were only allowed to bask in the light of an Essence Stone, it was simply a difference of heaven and earth!