A Chaotic World

Chapter 213: Guidance

While Chen Meng was thinking about how to breach the subject to Lu Tianzi, they had already arrived at the river.

Due to the incredibly fast pace that they had been moving at, Chen Meng was left gasping for breath and immediately stopped by the riverbank to recover.

At the same time, Chen Meng could not help but notice that Lu Tianzi was looking completely fine, his face not even slightly flushed after all that running.

This is what an expert should be like!

He could not help but praise in his heart.

From the riverbank, Chen Meng watched on as the relaxed Lu Tianzi walked into the river, making his way deeper and deeper until half his body was submerged in the water.

Chen Meng had almost regained his normal breathing by now. But when he saw Lu Tianzi produce a sword out of nowhere, Chen Meng felt his breathing hastening once again.

He was not excited because of the magic that he had just seen.

He was excited because of the magic that he believed he was about to witness.

What did it mean for Lu Tianzi to draw a sword in the wilderness despite the lack of enemies?

Surely he must be about to practice his sword arts!

This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness the sword arts of someone who was at least at the Essence Condensation realm. How could Chen Meng not be excited?

Chen Meng gathered every last bit of his focus as he watched on intently, not wanting to miss a single second of what was to come.

Even blinking too many times would be considered a waste in this situation!

Lu Tianzi stood in the flowing river, his hands grasping onto his sword.

He naturally had not produced the sword out of nowhere, but had simply drawn it from his spatial ring. At the same time, this was not the Sword of Ivory Rock, but a spare weapon of his.

Feeling the flow of water around him, Lu Tianzi closed his eyes, immersing his thoughts in this tranquil sensation.

Just like that, he stood there for a full minute.

Chen Meng frowned.

How long was Lu Tianzi planning to stand there for?

With all his focus placed upon Lu Tianzi, Chen Meng was starting to tire himself out despite just staring at the motionless Lu Tianzi.

What Chen Meng did not know was that Lu Tianzi had once experienced thousands of years of just staying still when he lived out the memories of the Lifebrand Ancient Tree.

Not to mention standing still for a minute, Lu Tianzi would not feel the slightest bit of discomfort even if he had to stay still for a day or two!

Indeed, time dragged on.

A minute turned into five minutes.

Five minutes turned into an hour.

Just like that, three hours passed. Chen Meng had long lost focus by now, and his eyes were wandering around in boredom.

At this moment, Chen Meng suddenly perked up, turning his attention back to Lu Tianzi.

That was because Lu Tianzi had finally moved!

Unfortunately, Chen Meng felt disappointment crashing down upon him the very next moment.

Yes, Lu Tianzi did move.

However, Lu Tianzi was only moving to get out of the river after keeping his sword.

What the hell?

Did Lu Tianzi have nothing better to do?

Why would he come all the way here just to stand in the river?

Even if the weather today was quite warm, this still did not make much sense!

"Let's go."

Lu Tianzi's words made Chen Meng sink into depression once again.

Was that it?

Lu Tianzi really came all the way here just to stand in the water for a few hours?

Truth was, he really did.

Since Lu Tianzi was looking to incorporate the Law of Water into his combat style, he needed to first get used to the sensation of water around his sword.

This might be the most primitive method to gain inspiration, but it was also the most effective way that Lu Tianzi could think of.

"W-Wait!" Chen Meng called out to stop Lu Tianzi who was about to leave.

"Hmm? What is it?" Lu Tianzi turned to look at him.

"The thing is"

Chen Meng hesitated for a moment here.

After all, he had never seen Lu Tianzi's abilities before. If he irresponsibly asked Lu Tianzi for a favour and ended up getting him killed, Chen Meng will not be able to live with it.

But even so, when he thought back to what he had seen all this while, Chen Meng immediately steeled his resolve.

No matter what, he had to try!

"Sir Lu, I have a favour to ask of you!" Chen Meng decisively knelt down before this young man who appeared to be even younger than himself.

"What is it?" Lu Tianzi turned to look at Chen Meng.

In his heart, Lu Tianzi could already guess what this was about.

"Please help us eliminate the God of Pestilence!" Chen Meng pleaded.

As expected.

Lu Tianzi's expression did not change. Instead, he gave Chen Meng a good lookover, scrutinising him from head to toe.

Faced with the silent treatment, Chen Meng felt that his request was being rejected and hurriedly continued. "If you do so, I will do anything to repay your kindness!"

At this point, Lu Tianzi was getting curious.

What could be the reason that made Chen Meng this desperate for his help?

"The village chief told me that as long as you offer food to the God of Pestilence, it will not bother the village. Is that a lie?" Lu Tianzi asked.

"No, that is the truth," Chen Meng shook his head helplessly. "But the food offering in itself is the problem! We barely have enough to feed ourselves, so how can we afford to set aside food offerings to the God of Pestilence?"

"So that's why," Lu Tianzi nodded in understanding. "But still, I am just a traveller. I might be grately for your hospitality, but the problems of your village have absolutely nothing to do with me. Considering that, why don't you tell me one good reason why I should risk my life to help your village?"

"This" Chen Meng was stumped.

Indeed, what could he offer in return for Lu Tianzi's help?

An uncomfortable silence befell the duo.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

But just as Chen Meng was starting to panic, Lu Tianzi was the first to end the silence. "I want full access to the entire martial heritage of your Xian Village."

"Martial heritage?" Chen Meng looked up in surprise.

"That's right," Lu Tianzi nodded. "I want to look through every last bit of information that your village has on martial arts. Be it cultivation techniques, combat skills, movement techniques, abstract comprehensions from predecessors, I want to see everything."

"This" Chen Meng looked troubled. "I'm afraid I can't agree to that."

"Oh? Weren't you willing to do anything just a while ago?" Lu Tianzi raised an eyebrow.

He had stated his terms precisely because he believed that Chen Meng would agree to it. Now that he had been rejected, Lu Tianzi could not help but feel genuinely surprised.

"It is not that I don't wish to agree, but I can't," Chen Meng sighed. "In the village, only Master Bo Xie has full access to the martial materials. However, he would never agree to this. After all, he is extremely loyal to the village chief."

"So he naturally will not go against the village chief's wishes of continuing the offerings," Lu Tianzi nodded in understanding. "That's fine as well. After all, I have never seen this God of Pestilence, and am not a hundred percent certain that I will be able to get rid of it anyway. Get up."

Chen Meng did not do as he was told, choosing to remain knelt in front of Lu Tianzi.

"Is there nothing else that you want?" Chen Meng continued to ask. "If that is the case, what if I ask you for martial guidance instead of asking you to get rid of the God of Pestilence? After getting stronger, I will do it myself!"

Lu Tianzi smiled.

He could see the determination in Chen Meng's eyes, and it even ignited a small fire of passion in his own heart.

About a year ago, Lu Tianzi was just like that as well. No matter how lonely or how tough the road ahead was, he had still been willing to carry the hopes of his comrades on his shoulders.

But now, he no longer cared about the greater good.

To the current Lu Tianzi, only the interests of himself and those close to him mattered. Anyone else might just be willing to betray them in a heartbeat, so why bother about them?

Then again, those close to him probably only really included Nanlan Qianxue as of now.

In any case, Lu Tianzi naturally would not force his own beliefs upon Chen Meng.

He chose his own path, and Chen Meng was free to choose another.

Who could say which path was the right one?

"In that case, tell me all about your cultivation technique, combat skills, and movement techniques. Let's see what we can do," Lu Tianzi nodded.

"Thank you, Sir Lu!"

Overwhelmed with joy, Chen Meng quickly bowed his head, to the extent that his forehead even came into contact with the grassy riverbank.

"Stand up," Lu Tianzi helped Chen Meng to his feet. "This is a trade, so you don't have to thank me. I will be receiving information about all your martial secrets just to give you some pointers that might or might not help. Surely you can tell that this is an advantageous trade for me?"

"Haha, that doesn't matter! What matters is that there is now hope for the village!" Chen Meng exclaimed in excitement.

Seeing Chen Meng's joyous mood, Lu Tianzi could only laugh along.

"All right then, it is getting late. Let's return to the village for now. We can return here tomorrow," Lu Tianzi suggested.

"Return here? Can't we go elsewhere?" Chen Meng's joyous mood crashed in a moment.

"Hmm? What's the matter with this place?" Lu Tianzi asked.

"Could it be that you are intending to just stand in the water for hours again?" Chen Meng asked timidly, causing Lu Tianzi to startle a little.

It probably looked like he came all the way here just to stand in the water, didn't it?

"A-Ahem!" Lu Tianzi cleared his throat to dispel the awkward atmosphere. "Fine, let's go somewhere else then. You can choose the location!"

***

When Nanlan Qianxue learnt from Lu Tianzi that he was going to spend the next few days giving guidance to Chen Meng, she became quite curious as well.

The next day, a curious Nanlan Qianxue ended up going along with the two of them to a quiet place in the woods.

After Chen Meng realised that Nanlan Qianxue was a martial artist as well, he naturally welcomed her to join.

Be it in terms of cultivation level or martial prowess, Chen Meng did not know the difference between Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue. All that he knew was that Nanlan Qianxue was definitely at a higher cultivation level than himself.

In his eyes, Nanlan Qianxue coming along only meant that he could be receiving double the guidance!

They trained till dusk before returning to the village, repeating the routine the next day.

Just like that, two days passed.

During this time, Nanlan Qianxue might not have given a single input, but Chen Meng had still benefitted greatly from Lu Tianzi's guidance.

With his Law of Origin, Lu Tianzi's comprehension ability was extremely high. Thus, he was able to quickly break down a skill into its fundamental components, clearing things up for Chen Meng and making it such that he could understand it better than before.

A clearer understanding of his own techniques also meant that Chen Meng would now be able to execute each technique to greater effect, improving his overall combat prowess.

The martial path ahead of him had also cleared up greatly, lighting up the path towards the next boundary.

Chen Meng's benefits could not be considered small at all.

In return, Lu Tianzi was benefitting from learning about Chen Meng's entire skills arsenal.

Since Chen Meng was the greatest talent in Xian Village, it was only natural that he would have been heavily nurtured.

It would not be surprising if Chen Meng had been given the best that Xian Village's martial heritage had to offer.

With that in mind, Lu Tianzi wanted to understand more about Xian Village's martial heritage through him, and perhaps glean some inspirations for improving his own Undulated Currents Breathing Technique.

Their daily activity caught the attention of several individuals in the village.

Ye's family was the first to notice. After all, they were the ones hosting Lu Tianzi and Qianxue.

However, the one who kept the closest watch on this matter was someone else.

"Chen Meng has been out all day with the travellers again?" Bo Xie frowned upon hearing the report from his subordinate. "Where did they go?"

"I'm not too sure either," the middle-aged man admitted. "If we follow after them, Chen Meng will surely notice."

"Understood. Continue to keep an eye on them," Bo Xie waved for the man to leave.

The door closed gently behind the man, leaving Bo Xie sitting alone in the room, pondering deeply over the matter.

Just what were the travellers trying to do to Chen Meng?

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