A Chaotic World

Chapter 72: Contract Beasts

"Hahaha!" Nanqing Haowen laughed out. "That is a good idea! Come on back with us, Brother Nanlu. I would like to have a good chat with you as well!"

Lu Tianzi was surprised.

He could tell that Nanqing Haowen knew Nanlan Qianxue from their previous interactions, but he never expected that Nanqing Haowen was part of the Nine Suns Sect as well.

If he knew beforehand, then Lu Tianzi would definitely have treated him with more courtesy!

After all, it would only be beneficial for him to maintain good ties with a powerful influence like the Nine Suns Sect.

Thankfully, it seemed that Nanqing Haowen had not taken Lu Tianzi's earlier attitude to heart.

As for Nanlan Qianxue's invitation for him to visit the Nine Suns Sect, Lu Tianzi never thought of turning it down.

If he played this right, this could be a chance for him to establish a connection with the Inner Sect members of the Nine Suns Sect!

Considering that they were the top influence within Bluenight City, he would probably be able to ask them about some intricate matters that he had yet to fully understand.

"Since Miss Nanlan has specially extended the invitation, then I shall shamelessly impose on you by taking you up on your offer," Lu Tianzi nodded in response to Nanlan Qianxue.

"You are too polite," a smile broke out across Nanlan Qianxue's face, dazzling everyone present.

"Well then, I shall take my leave first," Lu Tianzi suddenly clasped his fists towards Nanlan Qianxue before turning to walk away.

Seeing that Lu Tianzi was going to leave even though he had just agreed to follow them back to the Nine Suns Sect, Nanlan Qianxue was flustered for a moment.

After all, with the looks and status that she possessed, all men would wish to speak with her as much as possible. Even if they were not interested in her romantically, they would still hope to establish closer ties with the Nine Suns Sect by going through her.

This was actually the very first time that a young man had ever walked away from her while they were still in the middle of a conversation!

Not just her, but the rest of the members from the Nine Suns Sect were surprised as well.

"Wait, where are you going?" Nanlan Qianxue thoughtlessly called out in a hurry.

"Hmm?" Lu Tianzi turned around in surprise. "What do you mean? The Beast Hunt is not over yet, is it? Of course I am going to continue hunting. This is what I paid for after all!"

"Ah, r-right" Nanlan Qianxue felt a sense of heat welling up across her face.

This was nothing but the feeling of embarrassment.

There did not seem to be anything wrong with what Lu Tianzi just said, so why exactly did she act as though his actions were somewhat incomprehensible?

Nanlan Qianxue did not realise that at this point, even the martial artists watching from the side were feeling great indignance in her stead!

You young punk!

Yes, you did pay to join the Beast Hunt.

But are those few beast cores really all that important?

These Beast Hunts are organised on a regular basis, but this is a godsent opportunity to chat with the famous Nanlan Qianxue!

All of us would kill to be in your place right now, so how could you just abandon this opportunity without as much as a second thought?

Just because she has invited you back to the Nine Suns Sect, do you think that you are suddenly that big of a deal?

At this point, many of them were even hoping that out of rage, Nanlan Qianxue would choose to rescind the invitation that she just offered to this young punk!

Of course, Nanlan Qianxue would have to be incomparably arrogant for her to do that. So the outcome that they hoped for was not about to happen.

"Wait, Brother Nanlu!" Nanqing Haowen called out. "Even if you really do manage to take down another wild beast, do you even know where its beast core will be? If you don't, it would take you forever just to gather the beast cores you want!"

Lu Tianzi stopped in his steps.

Nanqing Haowen was right. If not for his help previously, Lu Tianzi would probably still be slowly carving out the Bronzehorn Rhino even now, trying to locate the small beast core.

However, so what of it?

"Just because it is difficult, does it mean that I should give up on it altogether?" Lu Tianzi answered without turning back. "Even if I am only able to obtain just one more beast core, that will still be one more beast core that will aid in my cultivation. The path of cultivation is fraught with difficulties. If I were to give up so easily at such a simple step, then what will happen when I am met with even greater obstacles? With such a mentality, I will never be able to reach the martial peak! If that is the case, what then is the point of cultivating?"

Nanqing Haowen was stumped for a moment, after which he let out a meaningful smile.

"Brother Nanlu may be right. But sometimes, there are easier ways to go about things other than relying solely on yourself. How about considering my offer from before?" Nanqing Haowen asked onec again. "I can help you with locating the beast cores as well. This way, our yield will definitely be much higher than if you go alone!"

Lu Tianzi's eyes lit up at his words.

Lu Tianzi might have disregarded the other party's offer earlier, but now that he had a greater understanding of his own lack of knowledge, Lu Tianzi was not intending to stubbornly stick to his earlier decision.

After all, Nanqing Haowen was right. With his help, Lu Tianzi would likely be able to gain much more out of this trip.

"I will be relying on your help then," Lu Tianzi replied.

"Hahaha! Leave it to me!" Nanqing Haowen laughed heartily as the two of them strolled off under the gaze of the other martial artists.

After the duo left the area, Elder Wanglei stepped up beside Nanlan Qianxue.

"What do you think of this Nanlu Tianzi?" Elder Wanglei asked with a voice conveyance.

"He looks to be around my age. Considering that, his Advanced Essence Building realm cultivation is pretty decent, but nothing impressive," Nanlan Qianxue analysed. "However, his combat ability is unfathomable. It is embarrassing to say this, but that sword strike earlier seemed to contain some profound concepts behind it that even I am unable to make sense of. With just that move alone, I believe that he must have hailed from some sort of powerful influence or have at least inherited the skills of a supreme master. But what confirmed it was the fact that even Elder Wanglei is unable to sense his cultivation realm without him driving his Slaughter Essence. That means he must have received a protective charm to conceal himself. No small influence would be able to obtain something like that!"

"Indeed," Elder Wanglei nodded in agreement. "That sword strike earlier coupled with the protective charm is more than enough proof that he is not just any common unaffiliated martial artist. Your decision in inviting this young man back to the Nine Suns Sect is a good one. You can spend some time with him exchanging your insights about cultivation. Despite his strong background, he is still so dedicated towards cultivation, determined to obtain every smallest advantage that he can. This is a good trait that you could learn from as well."

"I understand, Elder Wanglei," Nanlan Qianxue answered respectfully towards the elder.

Hearing that Elder Wanglei had come to a similar conclusion as herself, Nanlan Qianxue was now even surer that Lu Tianzi was no simple martial artist.

Earlier when Lu Tianzi had taken down the Bronzehorn Rhino, Lu Tianzi had used the Howling Wraith Sword, the first level of the Eternal Wraith Sword Art.

The illusory layer of the Howling Wraith Sword had completely deceived the wild beast, causing it to be unable to even sense the incoming attack, dying without even knowing how it happened.

In the end, the result was one that had shocked everyone present.

However, what nobody here knew was that Lu Tianzi had even held himself back with that sword strike!

The Howling Wraith Sword comprised of two different layers.

Other than the illusory layer, the Howling Wraith Sword also consisted of an offensive layer, one which Lu Tianzi decided that it was unnecessary to include this time round.

Had he done so, even Elder Wanglei would have been shocked by the sheer profundity of the sword technique!

Six hours was not considered a long time at all, and everyone soon gathered back together before the group started making their way back to Bluenight City.

This time, there were quite a few who were injured from battles with wild beasts, but no one died or suffered any severe injuries. Even though there were some unlucky ones who failed to obtain any beast cores, this was still considered a good result in general.

After all, fortune played a part in the obtaining of beast cores as well.

So long as one remained healthy, one could always join the next Beast Hunt to try again.

But if one sustained any severe injuries, even obtaining a few beast cores might not even be able to make up for the time and resources required to recover!

Lu Tianzi's luck was not too bad, and with the help of Nanqing Haowen, managed to obtain five more beast cores.

As per their agreement, Lu Tianzi had passed three of them to the latter, keeping the other three beast cores for himself.

On the way back, the two of them chatted in a friendly manner as Nanqing Haowen shared with him the traits of different wild beasts.

From their conversation, Lu Tianzi was able to tell that Nanqing Haowen was extremely familiar with the different species of wild beasts, almost to the point of being obsessed about it.

"I am currently considering which to choose for my contract beast!" Nanqing Haowen explained.

"Contract beast?" Lu Tianzi was surprised.

He had read about contract beasts before as well.

Contract beasts were unlike tamed beasts.

They were beast companions that shared a blood connection with the martial artist. They would fight alongside their master with absolute loyalty, adding to the overall combat strength of the martial artist.

However, the records in Ivory Rock City were vague and possessed little to no information on how to go about contracting a beast companion.

As a result, no one in Ivory Rock City possessed a contract beast, not even Hu Yuanbo.

"That is right!" Nanqing Haowen nodded. "My Nanqing Family has always believed in nurturing a contract beast from young. I am already way past the usual age to contract a beast companion in our family, and my parents have really been pressuring me about it over the past few years."

"So that is why you are out here instead of staying in the sect," Nanlan Qianxue interjected from the side.

"Otherwise, did you really think that I would come all the way out here just because I am feeling bored?" Nanqing Haowen sighed. "There are plenty of places that will be a hundred times more fun than being in the wilderness!"

"Looks like you are still undecided," Lu Tianzi could tell from Nanqing Haowen's depressed sigh.

"Brother Nanlu, it is not like you don't know. Choosing a contract beast is a lifetime commitment! How can I treat it lightly and just choose any random beast?" Nanqing Haowen shook his head in a depressed manner.

"That is indeed the case," Lu Tianzi nodded in agreement, acting as though he could relate to the other party's feelings.

"You have it easy, Nanlan Qianxue," Nanqing Haowen grumbled. "You are so talented that your Nanlan Family would never dare to impose any of its rules on you."

"That is only what you see on the surface," Nanlan Qianxue's eyes dimmed a little, her cold response startling both Lu Tianzi and Nanqing Haowen.

A moment of silence fell over the trio as neither of them knew how to continue the conversation from there.

"We are about to arrive in Bluenight City."

In the end, Nanlan Qianxue was the one who took the initiative to break the silence, "Nanlu Tianzi, do you have anything that you need to tend to now? Otherwise if you don't mind, you can follow us straight back to the Nine Suns Sect. Seeing that it is turning late, we will naturally arrange guest accomodations for you."

"That sounds good," Lu Tianzi nodded. "I will follow you guys back then."

In any case, it was not as though his inn room was especially comfortable.

Rather than wasting time returning to the inn, he might as well just go check out this famous Nine Suns Sect that he had been hearing so much about!