A Chaotic World

Chapter 84: A Difficult Customer

Seeing the guilty look on Lu Tianzi's face, Elder Jingren was filled with disappointment.

Even after he had said so much, Lu Tianzi still had no signs of changing his mind.

When Elder Jingren first heard about this rare genius from the Elder Wanglei and Nanlan Qianxue, he had still been quite curious. Yet now that he finally met Lu Tianzi, what he saw was a far cry from what he had expected.

"Forget it!" Elder Jingren tossed the jade slip back to Lu Tianzi in a fit of anger. "If you don't want to listen to the advice of your elders, then you can just do whatever you see fit! With the way that you handle things, even if you originally had the talent to enter the Inner Sect, you will never be able to do so, and just continue rotting in the Outer Sect! Get out of my sight!"

Lu Tianzi felt slightly regretful at the moment.

Who knew that this trip to the Pagoda of Knowledge would actually end up offending the Elder?

If he had known, then he would have simply grabbed any random cultivation and combat technique manual to act as a guise.

But what's done is done, and it was now too late to change his mind.

Lu Tianzi could only leave with his newly acquired Flowing River Silent Strides manual. Since it was nearing noon, Lu Tianzi decided to head directly to the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower to report for work.

The rest of the day went by in a similar fashion as the day before.

At the end of the day, Inscription Master Nanbai once again demonstrated the placement of an inscription for Yueya and Lu Tianzi.

Lu Tianzi frowned as he watched.

Each inscription rune was drawn in such a well practised manner that it simply did not make sense for the combination process to be so haphazardly done.

Lu Tianzi understood that inscription masters generally did not pay too much attention to the combination process, only focusing on achieving a successful final product.

However, with his years of experience, and fame as an established inscription master of the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower, Inscription Master Nanbai should definitely have acquired some insights on the matter.

How could it be that he was this bad at it?

It was almost as though Inscription Master Nanbai was screwing up the process on purpose!

When Lu Tianzi thought about this, realisation finally struck him.

Could it be that Inscription Master Nanbai had been holding back deliberately, not wanting to reveal all his secrets in front of his inscription assistants?

After all, the drawing of the inscription runes was just a standard procedure.

On the other hand, the process of combining all these inscription runes varied from inscription master to inscription master, depending on their understandings of the rules governing the art of inscriptions.

Thinking back, Inscription Master Nanbai had always only allowed them to observe the least important inscription of the day.

If Lu Tianzi's conjecture was correct, then this particular arrangement would make absolute sense. The other inscriptions that he placed in private should be of a much higher quality, and that was why he saved them for the more important tasks.

But it would be difficult to ever confirm if this was truly the case.

Even though inscriptions could vary in quality once they were placed, it would be almost impossible to tell the difference without actually activating the inscription using the item itself.

This was why people tend to approach established inscription masters whose works had already been recognised by the inscription world to have reached a certain level of effectiveness.

This was also the reason why inscription masters usually left a small personal mark on their inscriptions, acting as a signature to let others know that they were the ones who placed the inscriptions.

It was a symbol of having pride and confidence in their work.

Nevertheless, Lu Tianzi believed that he had made the right assumption. After all, everything made absolute sense when he thought about it.

This wily old fox!

Lu Tianzi cursed in his heart, but he could also understand the rationale behind doing so.

An inscription master's understandings into the art of inscriptions contained his life's work of research and experimentation.

It would not be a long shot to consider it as an inscription master's greatest treasure.

How could he be willing to share something like that with others?

Lu Tianzi and Yueya were simply his inscription assistants, and not his disciples. Inscription Master Nanbai had no obligations whatsoever to show them the way.

In a way, his willingness to show them the drawing of inscription runes was already an act of kindness.

Or perhaps it was to plant thoughts of gratitude in their hearts so that they would work harder for him, at the same time creating a faade of generosity that others would praise.

After all, almost everyone in this world was making use of others in one way or another. Lu Tianzi had learnt that lesson the hard way.

Then again, there were also people like Yueya who seemed like she would be clueless even if she was being made use of

But no matter what the reason was, it seemed that Lu Tianzi would have to rely on himself for this portion!

The following days passed quickly, and Lu Tianzi repeated the same routine process on a daily basis.

In the morning, he would delve into his combat and movement techniques, attempting to reach a higher level and truly assimilate them within him.

In the afternoon, he would be working as an inscription assistant as well as reading up on the various jade slips in the open library.

After returning from the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower, he would practise drawing inscription runes in preparation of becoming an inscription master.

When he expended his inscription materials, he would then start cultivating, never stopping throughout the night.

Over time, Lu Tianzi's comprehensions into his current techniques deepened and his control over them rose sharply, especially when it came to his inscription and movement techniques which he placed a greater focus on.

As for his inscription techniques, the more he practised, the faster his rate of improvement was. After two weeks, Lu Tianzi was already able to effortlessly maintain more than a dozen inscription runes at the same time.

In fact, if not for the lack of inscription materials, he would have been able to draw up even more of them. Instead, all he could do for practice was to try and maintain these inscription runes for as long as possible before they finally dispersed.

Now that he had reached this stage, Lu Tianzi finally started to look into the second stage of combining these inscription runes.

While it was possible to just haphazardly put them in their respective places, Lu Tianzi would not settle for anything less than perfect. Even if he was unable to reach perfection, Lu Tianzi wanted to reach as close to perfection as possible.

Thus, he buried himself in the concepts written in the jade slips, trying his best to glean new insights into the art of inscriptions.

At the same time, Lu Tianzi realised that by practising the drawing of inscriptions, it not only improved the strength of his perception, but it also allowed him to master a greater control over his Essence energy. With the same amount of Essence energy, he was now able to bring forth a greater strength than before.

These unexpected benefits greatly improved Lu Tianzi's combat prowess, causing Lu Tianzi to be overjoyed.

Even if he never succeeded in becoming an official inscription master, just these benefits alone would have been worth his efforts!

On this day, Lu Tianzi once again headed to the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower for his daily work.

But unlike any other day, before Lu Tianzi even stepped into the tower, he was already met with a large commotion at the front lobby.

It seemed like there was a conflict going on and many people had crowded around to watch.

Oh?

Lu Tianzi was genuinely surprised as he joined the crowd to see what was going on.

As a powerful influence within Bluenight City, it was definitely not common for anyone to dare to cause trouble for any members of the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower, much less right at their front lobby.

But when Lu Tianzi saw what was going on, his eyes widened in shock.

"What is happening?" Lu Tianzi immediately squeezed through the crowd to get to the front.

"Tianzi! You are finally here!" Yueya's eyes lit up when she saw Lu Tianzi arrive.

"Oh? Are you a friend of hers?" a menacing voice came from a young man who was dressed in full battle robes.

"Who is he? What is going on here?" Lu Tianzi ignored the man and asked Yueya instead, causing the man to frown.

"He is just someone who is here to get an inscription placed," Yueya's tone turned cold as she shot a hateful glance at the young man. "I was just standing behind the counter waiting for you to arrive when he asked me to get the best inscription master for him. When I told him that I am an inscription assistant and told him to ask a counter staff instead, he flared up and asked me to do as he said, or else my safety might be in peril!"

"Is that enough complaining?" the young man asked in a mocking manner. "Even a clueless girl like you dares to claim that you are an inscription assistant? Don't make me laugh! As long as you are unable to draw up inscriptions, how are you any different from a counter staff? In that case, I do not see anything wrong with me asking you to handle my request!"

Lu Tianzi turned towards the young man and carefully observed him from head to toe.

Since the young man dared to cause trouble at the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower, it was highly likely that his background should not be simple either.

He looked to be in his earlier twenties, and was dressed in full battle robes. His long black hair was tied up in a ponytail and his looks were considered passable. All in all, he gave off the aura of a wealthy scion.

The young man was already at the Peak Essence Building realm despite his relatively young age. But what truly drew Lu Tianzi's attention was the yellow hound that sat obediently beside him.

Sun Chasing Hound!

Nanqing Haowen had shared quite a bit of knowledge on wild beasts with Lu Tianzi before, and Lu Tianzi managed to recall the description of this beast. Known for its fire element attributes, an adult Sun Chasing Hound was able to reach a level of strength that could at least match a martial artist at the Peak Essence Condensation realm.

Judging from the size of this particular Sun Chasing Hound, it seemed to be in its adolescent stage. But even then, it should still possess the ability to easily overwhelm ordinary Advanced Essence Building realm martial artists.

"My senior already told you that she is not a counter staff, yet here you are still trying to taunt her. By doing this, are you deliberately setting yourself against the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower?" Lu Tianzi spoke up, emphasising on the name of the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower.

He was hoping that by bringing up the name of Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower, the young man would at least hesitate to continue pursuing this matter.

After all, it would be for the best if this matter could be resolved peacefully so that Lu Tianzi could proceed with his day's work as well.

"Senior?" the young man raised an eyebrow in surprise before directly bursting into laughter. "Hahaha! Are you an inscription assistant as well? Only a retard like you will take someone like her as your senior!"

"You!" Yueya pointed angrily towards the young man but Lu Tianzi raised his hand in front of her to keep her from moving further forward.

Even if the young man did not intend to take action, there was always the risk of the Sun Chasing Hound attacking if its beastial instincts were triggered.

"Me? What about me?" the young man glared at Yueya and Lu Tianzi menacingly. "Don't even think about using the name of the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower to pressure me. The two of you are merely a couple of inscription assistants, how are you qualified to represent the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower? I, Nanqing Zhengxian, am not so easily frightened! Not to mention the strength of my Nanqing Family, my elder brother is even an Inner Sect member of the Nine Suns Sect! In any case, I am here as a proper customer asking for an inscription to be placed. So go ahead and tell me, just why would the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower ever choose to stand on your side instead of mine?"

Hearing those words, Lu Tianzi was stunned for a moment.

The Nanqing Family?

Elder brother was an Inner Sect member of the Nine Suns Sect?

Lu Tianzi could not help but be reminded of the carefree Nanqing Haowen.

Come to think of it, Nanqing Haowen did mention that the Nanqing Family had always believed in nurturing a contract beast from young, and this Nanqing Zhengxian indeed had a Sun Chasing Hound right by his side.

Could it be that this Nanqing Zhengxian was truly Nanqing Haowen's younger brother?

"The elder brother whom you speak of, is it Nanqing Haowen of the Nine Suns Sect?" Lu Tianzi asked in confirmation.

"That's right! You can be considered to have some basic awareness to know that at least!" Nanqing Zhengxian harrumphed in arrogance. "Now do you finally understand who you are speaking to?"

After obtaining the confirmation from Nanqing Zhengxian's own mouth, Lu Tianzi subconsciously let out a wry smile as he superimposed the images of the two Nanqing siblings in his mind.

They indeed have similar traits in their appearances, but just how could this Nanqing Zhengxian's personality be so damn different from his elder brother's?