A Chaotic World

Chapter 139: Declaration of War

Faced with Sect Master Leiba's questioning, the excited City Lord Nanlan was suddenly confronted with the harsh reality of the situation, instantly popping his dream bubble!

Shit!

Since earlier, Sect Master Leiba had been bearing a huge grudge against Nanlu Tianzi for eliminating Beihua Wanlei.

As if that was not enough, he had even assured Sect Master Leiba that he would help to find out who this participant was!

Now that the participant turned out to be Nanlu Tianzi from his own city, how exactly was he supposed to respond?

It probably appeared as though he had deliberately hidden the truth from Sect Master Leiba!

Damn it, what kind of coincidence was this?

How unlucky!

In any other situations, City Lord Nanlan would have instantly apologised, following up with a promise to hand Nanlu Tianzi over for Sect Master Leiba to deal with as he wished.

However, the current situation was unlike any other.

Right now, Nanlu Tianzi was no longer just a member of the younger generation whom he had brought along to the capital.

He was also the top ranked participant in the entire Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet!

With that alone, it would not be too much of an exaggeration to state that his future was immeasurable!

In the future, he might even be pulled into the Scarlet Moon Palace, acquiring a position of such influence that dwarfed that of Sect Master Leiba and his Lightning Crow Sect!

Having the victor coming from his city should have been an occasion worth celebrating, but he just had to offend such a powerful influence while he was at it

Trapped in between them, City Lord Nanlan really had his work cut out for him if he wanted to defuse the situation.

"My apologies, Sect Master Leiba, even I was not aware that he is from my Bluenight City," City Lord Nanlan tried to separate himself from the situation first. "After all, you heard what he said earlier too, he does not come from my Bluenight Palace. It will be difficult for me to recognise him when his characteristics were hidden so well."

"That had better be the case!" Sect Master Leiba harrumphed, obviously still unhappy. "Now then, how does City Lord Nanlan plan to handle this matter?"

"What does Sect Master Leiba have in mind?" City Lord Nanlan forced a smile.

As long as Sect Master Leiba's conditions were not too difficult, City Lord Nanlan could at least try to convince Nanlu Tianzi about the matter.

After all, Nanlu Tianzi would probably not want to offend a powerful influence for no reason either, right?

"Don't worry, my Lightning Crow Sect is not unreasonable either," Sect Master Leiba crossed his arms authoritatively. "As long as Nanlu Tianzi publicly apologises to our Wanlei, admitting that Wanlei is the superior one, I will naturally let this matter go!"

City Lord Nanlan felt the corner of his lips twitch wildly in response.

Not unreasonable?

Even with such a request, he dared to say that he was not unreasonable?

Nanlu Tianzi had just obtained the prestigious top rank in the Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet, but this of his request was almost equivalent to asking Nanlu Tianzi to relinquish his newly attained status!

How overbearing!

It was not just about the glory either. Doing so might even cause Nanlu Tianzi to evoke the wrath of the Scarlet Moon Overlord!

After all, the Scarlet Moon Overlord had personally overseen the entire fight.

For Nanlu Tianzi to admit that he was inferior to Beihua Wanlei despite obtaining the top rank, it was as good as saying that the Scarlet Moon Overlord had either failed in designing the competition, or that he had failed in judging the fight!

Doing so was as good as seeking death.

From the looks of it, Sect Master Leiba seemed to have no intentions of making peace whatsoever!

"I will give you time to think about it, but don't take too long. I am not a man of patience!" Sect Master Leiba added coldly.

"Understood. I will discuss the matter with Nanlu Tianzi then," City Lord Nanlan sighed in his heart. This was going to be a huge problem.

At this moment, the Scarlet Moon Overlord spoke up once again. "Now that we have revealed the identity of the top ten, please allow me to say a little something."

With his words, the cheers quickly died down.

Everyone turned their attention towards him, be it out of respect or curiosity.

"Many of you must be surprised that I would suddenly want to hold an event like the Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet. And as many of you have guessed, it is not completely without reason. This Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet provides a chance for us to share our insights, for the young to show their skills, and also for me to make an important announcement!" the Scarlet Moon Overlord paused for a short moment being continuing. "In three months' time, the Scarlet Moon Kingdom shall be going to war against the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom!"

Gasps of shock immediately sounded out among the spectators.

Shock.

Fear.

Excitement.

A multitude of varying emotions swept across everyone who was present.

Many of the spectators were powerful leaders of their respective influences, yet even they were unable to calm their hearts.

Among the younger generation, a few of them were surprised as well. But most of them were simply unable to relate to the magnitude of the situation.

After all, for many of them, this was the first time that they had even ventured out of their own cities.

To these youngsters, the term Dragon Cauldron Kingdom was nothing more than just another unfamliar name.

In terms of military strength, they similarly had no idea who had the upper hand.

Lu Tianzi was one of these clueless people.

All he could imagine was another powerful territory similar to the Scarlet Moon Kingdom. But if two kingdoms like that go to war, surely they would not go all out?

Otherwise, the scene of carnage would be unimaginable!

But rather than being horrified by the prospect of such a future, Lu Tianzi actually felt a slight thrill running through his veins.

"Some of your may already know, but the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom has always been encroaching on our territories," the Scarlet Moon Overlord added. "This time, I want to deal a swift blow to their forces, so that they would never dare to eye our lands ever again! Let's show them what the Scarlet Moon Kingdom is capable of!"

"Let's show them what the Scarlet Moon Kingdom is capable of!" cheers echoed after the Scarlet Moon Overlord.

"Down with the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom!"

"Begone with them!"

The Scarlet Moon Overlord gestured with his hand, and the cheers died down once more.

"For this war, I will not be taking action personally," the Scarlet Moon Overlord announced. "Otherwise, this war might escalate into a fight at the Overlord level. Once that happened, the number of casualties will skyrocket to immeasurable levels, and that is not what we want. I believe that our enemies will not want that either. Thus in this coming war, Origin Core realm experts will be the core of our forces, bolstered by the Essence Condensation realm martial artists as officers. Finally, Essence Building realm martial artists will make up the bulk of our soldiers. Unfortuntely, against a kingdom, we need the strength of a full kingdom. Just the forces directly under my charge are insufficient! For this reason, I hereby beseech everyone to lend me your strength! Send forth the experts of your respective influences! Let's make the Dragon Cauldron bastards regret ever offending us!"

"Let's make the Dragon Cauldron bastards regret ever offending us!" the spectators chanted the words of the Scarlet Moon Overlord again and again.

Everyone had felt a little apprehensive about the coming war initially, but the Scarlet Moon Overlord's words contained a powerful influence, capable of stirring their very souls.

Now, they could not help but feel excited by the idea of war!

After all, all of them had been in high spirits after watching the battle royal. The demon blood in their veins had been yearning for battle, and needed but a spark to erupt!

The Scarlet Moon Overlord nodded in satisfaction. "Do inform your respective City Lords or any Generals regarding the registration of your forces. For now, let us turn our attention back to the youngsters who just finished their fight. I believe it is now time to hand them the rewards for their wonderful display!"

Lu Tianzi finally let out a smile.

All that talk about war earlier might have sounded interesting, but what he was most concerned about was still increasing his strength!

"This time, I will give everyone a choice," the Scarlet Moon Overlord let out a kind smile as he regarded the youngsters below. "You can either receive beast cores as your reward and leave, or you can take this rare opportunity to cultivate in the Lifebrand Courtyard for up to a week!"

"The Lifebrand Courtyard?"

"Cultivating there for up to a week!"

"What an unexpected reward!"

The spectators immediately broke out into heated discussions, and the various participants did not bother concealing the excitement that was shown clearly on their faces.

All of them seemed to be riled up by the announcement of the rewards, almost as much as the declaration of war earlier!

However, Lu Tianzi was lost.

What exactly was this Lifebrand Courtyard that was capable of stirring the thoughts of others to such an extent?

Thankfully, there was someone he could ask standing right next to him.

"What is this Lifebrand Courtyard?" Lu Tianzi conveyed his voice to Beimu Fei.

"You even don't know this?" Beimu Fei almost rolled her eyes in disbelief. "The Lifebrand Courtyard is the top cultivation ground in the entire Scarlet Moon Palace! No, it is probably the top cultivation ground in the entire kingdom! But from what I heard, what makes it so special is actually the Lifebrand Ancient Tree that grows within the courtyard. It is said that even Origin Core realm masters will be able to benefit greatly from cultivating under the Lifebrand Ancient Tree!"

"Even Origin Core realm masters will be able to benefit greatly from cultivating under the Lifebrand Ancient Tree? This tree is actually that amazing?" Lu Tianzi widened his eyes in surprise.

"That's right," Beimu Fei added. "Even core members of the Scarlet Moon Palace won't get to enter the Lifebrand Courtyard without first accruing a significant amount of merits!"

Lu Tianzi nodded.

That explained why everyone was so riled up when the Lifebrand Courtyard had been mentioned.

So the two options were to either receive beast cores, or gain access to a cultivation ground that would even benefit Origin Core realm martial artists?

Since that was the case, wasn't the choice rather obvious?

Beast cores might be precious, but access to the cultivation ground was even more so!

Who would choose to only receive beast cores when there was such a rare opportunity placed right before their eyes?

And then he caught on.

There was a catch to it, and it was directly related to what the Scarlet Moon Overlord had mentioned right before this.

If they chose to enter the Lifebrand Courtyard, they would be indebted to the Scarlet Moon Overlord, and would thus be obliged to join the war against the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom.

If they chose to take the beast cores, they would naturally not be bound by the same restrictions. But at the same time, they would miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to increase their strength, as well as possibly fall out of favour with the Scarlet Moon Overlord.

And on top of all that, by allowing them into the Lifebrand Courtyard, the Scarlet Moon Overlord would also be able to enhance the strength of these geniuses under him, which further contributed to the success rate of winning the upcoming war.

The Scarlet Moon Overlord had truly planned this out perfectly!

However, despite knowing that this was just part of the Scarlet Moon Overlord's plan to tie them into the war, the geniuses present would still gladly accept it!

After all, even without the lure of the Lifebrand Courtyard, most of them would still have gladly sign up for the war.

One needed tempering in order to progress smoothly along the path of cultivation, and the fastest way of tempering oneself was through countless life or death battles.

In that regard, what better way was there than an all out war if one wanted to experience as many life or death battles as possible?

Lu Tianzi grinned as well.

In his mind, he was already looking forward to slaughtering enemies on the battlefield, absorbing primordial Slaughter Essence while refining his combat capabilities!

Of course, great rewards were almost always accompanied by a proportionate level of risk.

There would definitely be dangers involved, but worst comes to worst, Lu Tianzi still had his trump cards to rely on.

If it came down to it, Lu Tianzi was confident that as long as he pulled out all his stops, even escaping from Origin Core realm martial artists should not be completely impossible!