A Chaotic World 153 The Situation in Shadowfront Fortress

Yet despite the continuous condensation of the rotating sphere of Spiritual Essence, the actual size of the sphere would not change. That was because even more Spiritual Essence particles were being refined into it, thus increasing the total mass and density of the sphere of Spiritual Essence.

As compared to during the Essence Building realm, now that the rotating sphere of Spiritual Essence had already formed, it was at least a hundred times more difficult to further refine Spiritual Essence particles into the inner world.

This was the reason why Lu Tianzi had been stuck at the Primary Essence Condensation realm for months.

Still, due to the highly condensed state that his Spiritual Essence was in, every bit of increase in Spiritual Essence now had a far greater impact on his strength than before.

This meant that while each step was far more difficult, the reward was well worth the effort.

And when this rotating sphere of Spiritual Essence reached a critical mass where that it could no longer hold up its own weight, it would finally collapse on itself, forming an ultra condensed orb of pure Spiritual Essence, widely known as an Origin Core.

At that point, a martial artist would have finally broken through into the Origin Core realm.

Right now, Lu Tianzi was about a quarter of the way to that point.

In fact, even without the energy gathering formation, the Spiritual Essence in his inner world was already more than sufficient for him to easily break through this hurdle.

After all, it had reached a point where Lu Tianzi even had to forcefully suppress his cultivation in order to prevent himself from breaking through back then in the Lifebrand Courtyard.

However, Lu Tianzi was not contented with a simple breakthrough.

Instead, he wanted to rely on the momentum of the breakthrough to charge towards the next boundary. This way, he would at least be able to save himself quite a bit of cultivation time!

Lu Tianzi drove his Spiritual Essence according to the Undulated Currents Breathing Technique, allowing the Spiritual Essence in his inner world to synchronise with the World Origin Energy that was wildly churning around him.

In such a manner, the energy within slowly aligned itself with the energy without.

Right at the point of synchronisation, Lu Tianzi finally released the suppression on his cultivation, allowing the Spiritual Essence energy in his inner world to freely impact the boundary of the Intermediate Essence Condensation realm.

At this moment, the World Origin Energy gathered by the energy gathering formation sunk into his inner world as well, joining the flow of energy within his body.

This stream of energy combined as one, immediately breaking through the quarter-way mark!

Intermediate Essence Condensation realm in the Spiritual Essence system!

But it did not end with just that. This powerful surge of energy continued pushing on after that, reaching as far as it could towards the halfway mark!

After another hour or so, Lu Tianzi slowly let out a deep breath and opened his eyes.

Even though he was nowhere near reaching the boundary of the Advanced Essence Condensation realm, his was still quite satisfied with his current progress.

Lu Tianzi closely examined both of his hands.

With his increase in cultivation level, Lu Tianzi's physique had also become stronger, nourished by the Essence energy in his inner world.

However, it was not just his strength that had become better.

With the nourishment from the Essence energy in his inner world, Lu Tianzi's muscles had become more defined, his complexion had become flawless, and his facial features had become slightly sharper as well.

This was something that would happen to most martial artists as they progressed along their martial paths. Thus, except for some rare ones who cultivated some strange cultivation technique, most martial artists possessed looks that far outstripped their mortal counterparts.

Likewise, Lu Tianzi had gradually become more attractive as his cultivation level increased!

***

The largest celebration that the Nine Suns Sect had seen in decades commenced right before dusk.

Held in the main courtyard of the Outer Sect Grounds, both Inner and Outer Sect members were invited to join in the festivities.

Countless tables were set up to accommodate the thousands of sect members, lined with food and beverages of the highest quality.

Fanciful lanterns hung overhead, illuminating the courtyard for the numerous sect members as they indulged in food and laughter.

In this celebration banquet, the five young representatives of the Nine Suns Sect had been seated near the front end of the courtyard, where the Elders and Sect Master Nanhui were.

But at this moment, they had left their seats and were gathered before Sect Master Nanhui, respectfully waiting for his address.

"I cannot stress further on how proud we are of you," Sect Master Nanhui said. "Nancheng Shu, Nanqing Haowen."

"Here!" the two of them answered in unison.

"You might not have advanced to the second stage of the Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet, but do not be too disheartened. After all, you are still young, and the road ahead of you is long. Thus, there is nothing holding you back from overtaking your peers in the future," Sect Master Nanhui tried to encourage them a little. "Treat this not as a failure, but as a valuable lesson. Use it as a source of motivation as you strive for greater heights."

"Yes, Sect Master!"

"Yes, Sect Master!"

"As for Nanlu Tianzi," Sect Master Nanhui hesitated for a little. "Elder Xingmeng has already informed me about what happened at the Lightning Crow Sect."

What happened at the Lightning Crow Sect?

Piqued by their curiosity, Nanhuang Jiansheng and Nancheng Shu immediately sneaked a glance at Lu Tianzi.

Nanlan Qianxue and Nanqing Haowen, who already knew what happened, could not help but perk up their ears, waiting to hear just what the Sect Master had to say.

Lu Tianzi did not speak, and merely continued looking at Sect Master Nanhui.

"I have heard his side of the story, and I am now giving you a chance to state yours," Sect Master Nanhui said.

"Nanlu Tianzi doesn't see the need to," Lu Tianzi replied without hesitation.

With the number of witnesses present that day, the facts of the event would definitely spread sooner or later.

Even if Elder Xingmeng wished to lessen his involvement in the matter, all he could do was deny the harsh words and tone that he had taken with Lu Tianzi. But if that was the case, there would be no way for Sect Master Nanhui to verify the facts just from Lu Tianzi's side of the story.

After all, it would be Elder Xingmeng's words against his.

Who could be sure about which person was speaking the truth?

Thus, Lu Tianzi would rather not say a single word in defence.

This way, if Sect Master Nanhui was truly on Lu Tianzi's side, he might even feel pressured by Lu Tianzi's actions, or lack thereof in this case. In such a situation, Sect Master Nanhui could even end up meting out a greater punishment on Elder Xingmeng than necessary.

However, if Sect Master Nanhui had been on Elder Xingmeng's side all along, Lu Tianzi's decision would also avoid a situation where he could possibly get into trouble with the Sect Master.

Sect Master Nanhui frowned upon hearing Lu Tianzi's reply.

Even so, he chose not to press Lu Tianzi for an answer.

"Very well, I will see to the matter myself then." Sect Master Nanhui nodded. "But in any case, you deserve a reward for announcing the name of our Nine Suns Sect in the presence of His Majesty the King. You can name any request, and I will see if I will be able to grant it to you."

Lu Tianzi perked up immediately.

He indeed had a request to ask of the Sect Master!

"If it is possible, I would like to be granted entry into the Grand Mirror Courtyard!" Lu Tianzi declared.

This time, it was not just Sect Master Nanhui who was taken by surprise.

Even the Elders gathered around them, as well as the youngsters standing beside Lu Tianzi, stared blankly at him.

"Hmm? Do you intend to challenge the Nine Suns Trial again?" Sect Master Nanhui asked.

After all, that was the only thing that could be done in the entire Grand Mirror Courtyard!

"Think it over, Nanlu Tianzi," Elder Diansheng advised from the side. "The Nine Suns Trial might be a good tempering trial, but you don't have to rush it since you will be given another chance to undergo the Nine Suns Trial the following year. Don't you have anything else that you wish to request of the sect?"

"That is not what I meant," Nanlu Tianzi shook his head. "I do not intend to challenge the Nine Suns Trial. What I want is to spend some time in the Grand Mirror Courtyard. I believe that doing so will be of great aid to my cultivation."

"This…" Elder Diansheng turned to look at Sect Master Nanhui, who had a similarly confused look on his face.

Throughout his many years leading the Nine Suns Sect, Sect Master Nanhui had never heard of the Grand Mirror Courtyard being a good cultivation ground.

The other areas in the sect grounds were mostly covered with energy gathering formations to aid the sect members in their cultivation. As for the Grand Mirror Courtyard, they did not do so for fear of interfering with the activation of the ancient Grand Mirror.

Thus, the Grand Mirror Courtyard could even be considered as the worst location to cultivate in the entire Nine Suns Sect!

"If you really want to do so, then I will naturally allow it," Sect Master Nanhui sighed helplessly. "But this can hardly count as a reward. If you have no other requests, I shall have a separate reward prepared for you."

"Nanlu Tianzi thanks Sect Master for the kindness!" Lu Tianzi immediately bowed in gratitude.

***

Upon returning from Scarlet Moon City, General Nanbai Zhaoyu did not even take the time to visit his father at the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower.

Instead, he decided to head straight for the Shadowfront Fortress!

When General Nanbai Zhaoyu left all those months ago, he had thought that it would be a short trip that would not exceed two weeks.

After all, he was only heeding the summons of the King to discuss some administrative matters regarding the upcoming war.

Who knew that on this supposedly short trip, he would coincidentally come across the news that Formation Master Beimu had in her possession an item that he had been looking for all this while?

In fact, this item was so important to General Nanbai Zhaoyu that in order to persuade Formation Master Beimu to sell it to him, he had unexpectedly spent almost half a year in the capital!

Because of that, General Nanbai Zhaoyu was feeling a certain degree of guilt for leaving everything to his subordinates during this period of time, but what's done is done.

He could only hope that they would be appeased with some random stuff that he bought from the capital.

The Shadowfront Fortress was not too far away from Bluenight City.

Soaring throught the sky at top speed, it took only a few hours for General Nanbai Zhaoyu to arrive at the Shadowfront Fortress.

"The General had returned!"

"The General had returned!"

Similar shouts echoed throughout the Shadowfront Fortress as the soldiers were surprised by the sudden return of their leader.

General Nanbai Zhaoyu landed in a spectacular fashion, right in the middle of the training courtyard where countless soldiers rushed into a hurried salute. He did not say a word, and merely remained standing in the courtyard as he waited patiently for his men to organise themselves.

Before long, most of the soldiers in Shadowfront Fortress had formed up neatly in front of him. Those who were not present were either on guard duty or had other active roles.

In front of the neatly formed soldiers stood five men, all of them at the Peak Essence Condensation realm.

"Welcome back, General!" the five men saluted.

But faced with this reception, General Nanbai Zhaoyu frowned in response. "You are supposed to be the six guardians, so why are there only the five of you? Where is Captain Nanhong Yechang?"

The five men shot nervous glances at each other, all of them unable to find the right words to answer.

"What? Don't tell me you ostracised him just because he has a lower cultivation level?" General Nanbai Zhaoyu probed.

"That's not it, General," one of them finally mustered the courage to speak up. "Captain Nanhong Yechang, he… is no longer of this world."

"What did you say?" General Nanbai Zhaoyu frowned immediately. "Tell me exactly what happened, and you'd better not miss a single detail!"

Chapter end