A Chaotic World

Chapter 258: Xihuang Yuanfeng's Backup Plan

"Hahaha! You brat, I never thought you had it in you!" Xihuang Yuanfeng burst into a hearty laughter the moment Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue stepped into the rock chamber, his eyes scanning up and down Nanlan Qianxue without restraint. "To think that you actually brought someone back here, I have to say, your eye for people is not too bad at all. This one is really not too bad!"

"Eh?" Nanlan Qianxue froze from the sudden compliment.

"Master, you misunderstood!" Lu Tianzi sneaked a quick glance at Nanlan Qianxue before hurriedly explaining the situation. "There is nothing between the two of us!"

"I don't care if there is anything between the two of you, what's important is that there ends up being something between me and her!" Xihuang Yuanfeng had a big smile on his face.

"What?! It can't be!" Lu Tianzi was taken aback by the sudden revelation. "You perverted old demon!"

"You are the perverted one, you brat! What are you even thinking about?" Xihuang Yuanfeng snapped in response. "But in any case, you did well bringing her here. She will do just fine as a backup plan in case you screw up and die out there someday! Well, if you think about it this way, then the relationship between the two of you is not light at all!"

"" Lu Tianzi was speechless. Why is it that other people's masters are always so dependable, but his master is already making plans for the day he dies?

Even Nanlan Qianxue who was standing beside him could not help but blink blankly, unsure of how to respond to that.

This is the high and mighty character that she had been nervous to meet? Why does it feel like something is slightly off about the current situation?

She could not put a finger to it, but this was certainly not what she had imagined Lu Tianzi's master to be like before entering the cave!

"All right, don't just stand there, come on in," Xihuang Yuanfeng invited with a wave of his hands.

The duo did as they were told, walking deeper into the rock chamber and nearer to Xihuang Yuanfeng.

"Greetings, Master," Lu Tianzi clasped his fists and greeted, albeit slightly resentfully.

"Greetings, senior," Nanlan Qianxue did the same, but her tone was certainly more respectful in comparison.

"Little lass, how old are you?" Xihuang Yuanfeng asked.

"I am seventeen this year, about to hit eighteen," Nanlan Qianxue did not see the need to hide such information.

"Is that so?" Xihuang Yuanfeng nodded. "What is your name?"

"Nanlan Qianxue," she answered truthfully yet again.

"Mm," Xihuang Yuanfeng nodded before pointing to Lu Tianzi. "Tell me, do you think that brat is strong?"

"What are you doing, Master?" Lu Tianzi felt the corner of his lips twitch wildly.

"I am sure nobody would dare to say that Lu Tianzi is weak for someone of his cultivation level," Nanlan Qianxue replied.

"At least you know that much," Xihuang Yuanfeng nodded in satisfaction. "But do you also know that Lu Tianzi is as strong as he is all thanks to his master? Without me, he would be nothing right now!"

Lu Tianzi could not help but roll his eyes, but Nanlan Qianxue dared not be distracted.

No matter what, Xihuang Yuanfeng was a character of extreme strength. Nanlan Qianxue still could not help but feel nervous when speaking to someone like that.

Xihuang Yuanfeng ignored Lu Tianzi and continued. "And now, I, Xihuang Yuanfeng, shall grant you this rare opportunity to take me as your master as well! As long as you follow my teachings well, you won't only be as strong as that brat, but I will also make sure that you become one of the strongest people ever to walk this world!"

Nanlan Qianxue could not help but be shocked into silence, but the feeling of shock quickly turned into that of joy.

"Nanlan Qianxue pays my respect to Master!" Nanlan Qianxue answered before hurriedly getting on her knees.

Considering that this person was already Lu Tianzi's master, and that Lu Tianzi himself had said that his master was the strongest person he had ever seen, there was simply no reason for her to refuse.

Lu Tianzi was truly peerless among peers at the same cultivation level.

While Nanlan Qianxue doubted that Lu Tianzi's accomplishments were purely due to his master, there was no doubt that part of his monstrous strength had to be attributed to his master's teachings.

Now, a golden opportunity had surfaced for her to be exposed to such teachings as well.

If she missed it this time, she might never get another opportunity again!

Should that happen, she would probably continue to fall further and further behind, never to catch up to Lu Tianzi!

"Hahaha! Good! Very good!" Xihuang Yuanfeng laughed in satisfaction.

That's right! This is the way it should be!

It is only natural for people to be thrilled when he offered to take them in as his disciple!

"You'd better reconsider this. He is stingier than he looks, and there is a catch to being his disciple as well," Lu Tianzi commented from the side.

Those words caused the smile to vanish from Xihuang Yuanfeng's face.

"You ungrateful brat! Rather than to say that I am stingy, it is more like you are too greedy!" Xihuang Yuanfeng snapped.

"There is a catch?" Nanlan Qianxue asked. "What is it?"

"Ahem!" Xihuang Yuanfeng cleared his throat loudly. "What I am offering is a heritage that could allow you to become unmatched under the heavens. No matter what you do with this power, I will not interfere. All I ask for is that you return and help me break the sealing formation in this cave when you grow strong enough in the future."

"See? I was right. Here comes the catch," Lu Tianzi remarked.

Xihuang Yuanfeng continued looking at Nanlan Qianxue expectantly, choosing to completely ignore Lu Tianzi.

"Sealing formation?" Nanlan Qianxue repeated in confusion.

It was only after she took a good look around did she finally notice the countless ancient looking runes engraved into the rock walls, with lines of weird symbols drawn out below each of them. The dim glow from these ancient looking runes was actually the only source of light within the rock chamber.

From the sound of it, something like this is actually able to keep Lu Tianzi's master trapped in this rock chamber?

So this is why Lu Tianzi's mysterious master has never left the mountains!

"But if even Master isn't able to break out, how is it possible for me to be able to break apart the sealing formation?" Nanlan Qianxue asked.

"Don't worry. As long as we work together, it is not impossible to break it. When the time comes, you just have to do as I say, and you will be able to do it without a hitch," Xihuang Yuanfeng assured her. "But if you truly wish to take me as your master, I would need you to make a Heaven's Oath, swearing to return after you obtain sufficient strength to aid me in breaking apart the seal!"

Nanlan Qianxue took a glance at Lu Tianzi, who smiled with a nod.

Despite his earlier attitude, Lu Tianzi knew for a fact that Xihuang Yuanfeng was the real deal. With his guidance, Nanlan Qianxue would certainly become much stronger.

As for the Heaven's Oath, Lu Tianzi was already intending to fulfil it anyway. As far as he was concerned, there was actually no need for Nanlan Qianxue to worry about it at all!

Nanlan Qianxue let out a faint smile before turning back to Xihuang Yuanfeng. "Nanlan Qianxue swears that once I obtain sufficient strength to help Master break through these ancient seals, I will certainly treat it as my utmost priority, doing my best to aid Master in breaking out of this place I call upon Heaven's Will as my witness! Should I break the oath, the earth itself shall swallow my body and extinguish my life!"

Xihuang Yuanfeng nodded in satisfaction. "I, as your master, swear that I shall impart upon you my martial knowledge with your best interest at heart, doing my best to nurture you to my utmost ability! I call upon Heaven's Will as my witness! Should I break the oath, I shall forever be trapped in this chamber, doomed to never see the light of day again!"

Nanlan Qianxue kowtowed to Xihuang Yuanfeng thrice, "Disciple Nanlan Qianxue greets Master!"

"Good!" Xihuang Yuanfeng exclaimed in joy. "Rise!"

"Yes, Master!" Nanlan Qianxue quickly got to her feet.

"Now then," Xihuang Yuanfeng continued. "Do you have your cultivation technique manual with you? If so, let me take a look. And what is your weapon of choice?"

Unlike Lu Tianzi who had started from a clean slate in terms of his Slaughter Essence system, Nanlan Qianxue had already been cultivating for some time.

In order to find the best way to guide Nanlan Qianxue, Xihuang Yuanfeng had to first understand everything about Nanlan Qianxue's cultivation process so far.

Cultivation techniques were not simply tools to gather Slaughter Essence with. After practising a certain cultivation technique, a martial artist's mind and body would be attuned accordingly, slowly adopting traits similar those of the cultivation technique.

As time passed, the martial artist would find it tougher to learn any other techniques that had traits that conflicted with the original cultivation technique.

For example, someone who practised an ice type cultivation technique in the Essence Building realm would find it much more difficult to follow up with a fire type cultivation technique upon reaching the Essence Condensation realm. In certain cases, the conflicting energies within the body could result in severe injuries, or even death!

"I use the sword, but as for my cultivation technique, it is supposed to be a secret of the Nine Suns Sect" Nanlan Qianxue hesitated.

As a rare genius of the Nine Suns Sect, she had been given the privilege of perusing rare cultivation technique manuals privy only to the core members of the Nine Suns Sect. In return, she had promised the elders that she would never reveal the contents to any outsiders.

"Is that so? How admirable," Xihuang Yuanfeng nodded in understanding. "Then we will not talk about your cultivation technique for now."

"Thank you for understanding, Master," Nanlan Qianxue answered apologetically.

"How obedient, I already like you so much more than that brat," Xihuang Yuanfeng smirked. "Take a look at this."

With a wave of his hand, one of the many shelves behind him opened up. A jade slip flew out of it and straight into Nanlan Qianxue's hands.

Nanlan Qianxue's eyes widened in surprise, but she did not waste any time before sinking her perception into it.

The moment she did, four words surfaced in her mind Shifting Blossoms Sword Art.

Nanlan Qianxue read on excitedly. The more she read, the more she felt her heart beating heavily inside her chest.

As the name suggested, it was a combat technique that utilised the sword. But it was no ordinary sword technique.

In fact, the profoundness of this sword technique was far higher than anything she had ever seen!

"What is it?" Lu Tianzi could not help but feel curious.

"It is called 'nothing to do with you'," Xihuang Yuanfeng snapped in irritation.

Lu Tianzi felt the corner of his lips twitch once again. "This is where your problem lies, Master. How can you blame me for calling you stingy when you always act like that? You are already letting her learn it, so what's so difficult about letting me learn it along with her?"

Xihuang Yuanfeng could almost feel a vein pop in his head. "What do you know? That is a combat technique designed for females! If you want to get stronger, just concentrate on your current techniques! Have you already mastered the Eternal Wraith Sword Art?"

"Heh," Lu Tianzi let out a confident grin.

With a controlled stomp onto the ground, Lu Tianzi sent a small pebble flying up into the air. In a flash, the Moon Culler had already appeared in his hand, slashing out at an incredible speed.

The sword strike was just short of reaching the pebble, harmlessly cutting through the air. However, a secondary sword light immediately converged behind the pebble, slashing down before it could even start falling back to the ground.

Bzz-!

The small pebble completely disintegrated upon coming into contact with the secondary sword light, as though it had been nothing but a bubble all along.

"Not too bad," Xihuang Yuanfeng could not help but praise.

That was not perfect, but it was pretty damn close to it.

"Naturally," Lu Tianzi still had the same confident grin on his face.

He had been through so many battles in the past months, honing his skills in the process. If he still could not do this much, then he would really be letting himself down!

"And? What's next?" Xihuang Yuanfeng urged.

Lu Tianzi raised an eyebrow. "That's it? What do you mean what's next?"

This time, it was Xihuang Yuanfeng who felt the corner of his lips twitch wildly. "You damn brat, are there only two stages to the Eternal Wraith Sword Art? You have the sword manual with you as well. Do you not know how to start practising the next stage by yourself?!"

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