A Chaotic World

Chapter 90: Malicious Rumours

Lu Tianzi had generated quite the buzz by breaking the record to become the youngest inscription master in Bluenight City's history.

Thus, it was inevitable that after he started working as an inscription master at the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower, others would also start paying attention to the inscriptions that had been placed by him.

More specifically, they were looking out for the suitability of the inscriptions as well as their overall effectiveness.

Suitability of an inscription was extremely important, as could be reflected in how Nanqing Haowen's Darkwater Grape was handled. The ability to choose a suitable inscription affected the overall strength of the item, and was a key trait required of an established inscription master.

Effectiveness of an inscription, however, was far more complicated.

This effectivess of the inscription referred to the degree of amplification that the inscription provided to the item itself, and was loosely used as a gauge for an inscription master's skill level.

Two identical inscriptions that were placed by different inscription masters could differ greatly in terms of their effectiveness.

This difference could be due to many different factors, such as the perfection of the countless inscription runes that made up the complete inscription array, or the order in which these inscription runes were combined.

From this, this difference in effectiveness could be seen as being birthed from the difference in the two inscription masters' levels of understanding into the art of inscriptions.

However, two identical inscriptions drawn by the same inscription master could also differ in terms of effectiveness.

Unless the said inscription master could ensure that the conditions for placing each inscription were completely identical, the result could be influenced by a million different factors, such as the concentration of World Origin Energy in the surroundings, or even just a slight tremble of the fingers during the inscription process.

Thus, simply by looking at the effectiveness of a single inscription that was placed by an inscription master was insufficient to judge his skill level.

It was only by observing the inscription master over time could people form a general idea of the inscription master's actual skill level.

In the case of Lu Tianzi, those people who were watching him closely could only be said to be pleasantly surprised.

He was not only the youngest inscription master in history, but his skill level was top tier as well!

It was just a pity that due to his relatively low cultivation level, Lu Tianzi was only able to place three inscriptions a day. But most people were actually relieved to know that.

Otherwise if his achievements were too overwhelming, these people would have even less time to consider how they should express their stand towards him.

But just as his achievements in the art of inscriptions were starting to shine, a certain rumour began to spread around Bluenight City.

A close aide of Lu Tianzi had apparently leaked that Lu Tianzi had grown so proud of his inscription talent that he had even dissed Inscription Master Nanbai in private, claiming that after his stint as the latter's assistant, he had realised that the latter was simply not good enough.

The only edge that Inscription Master Nanbai had over him was his Origin Core realm cultivation level. Once Lu Tianzi reached such a cultivation level in the future, there would no longer be a need for him to remain cordial towards the elder!

This piece of news shocked the entire Bluenight City, and the various influences started watching the situation extremely closely. At this moment, they could only feel relieved that they had not rushed into forging close ties with Lu Tianzi.

This piece of news might not mean much if it was regarding anyone else.

However, Inscription Master Nanbai was the very person who had stood up for Lu Tianzi against the Nanqing Family!

Not only that, but he was also an established inscription master in his own right, and one of the main pillars of the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower.

If the rumours were true, that would not only make Lu Tianzi out to be an ungrateful person who failed to appreciate the kindness shown towards him, but he would also be labelled as someone who had no respect for authority!

Being forced to bear such labels would simply be killing off all paths that Lu Tianzi could possible take in the future.

After all, who would want to waste their efforts establishing good relations with someone who was obviously an ingrate?

That would be nothing but a waste of their time!

Only a fool would spend their resources getting close to someone whom they know would betray them without batting an eye.

And without establishing ties with any various influences, the power of a single individual was simply far from sufficient to create any impact on a scale that could affect the city.

This meant that Lu Tianzi's value had decreased significantly, causing the various influences to be even less inclined to spend the time and effort to establish good relations with him.

Initially, he could still be considered as a rising star of the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower along with being a member of the Nine Suns Sect.

However, now that he had possibly offended Inscription Master Nanbai, could he still be considered as a rising star of the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower?

If the rumours were true, then it would already be good enough if he was even allowed to remain as a regular member!

The various influences within Bluenight City had learnt of this rumour, so it naturally reached the ears of Lu Tianzi as well.

When Lu Tianzi first heard of it, he only thought that it was a ridiculous matter, choosing to disregard it altogether.

Lu Tianzi had no idea how this rumour came to be in the first place. But since he did not do it, then he naturally had nothing to fear even if others wanted to continue wagging their tongues.

Such a baseless rumour would definitely die down by itself sooner or later!

But things were not as simple as that.

As time passed, the rumours not only did not die down, but they even grew more rampant.

Now, there were additional rumours stating that Lu Tianzi had claimed that the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower did not act against him despite hearing of his attitude, all because they were afraid of losing their most valuable member. In comparison to Lu Tianzi, the pride and prestige of Inscription Master Nanbai was simply not as important!

This time, Lu Tianzi started to worry.

Sometimes, words could be a much more lethal weapon than traditional blades.

Even a baseless lie could easily be mistaken as the truth when it had been mentioned for a sufficient number of times.

But while he was still thinking about what to do next, Lu Tianzi received yet another piece of news.

It seemed that a group of men had been going around the city extorting free meals and items. When confronted by the shop owners, they actually stated that they were good buddies of the genius inscription master Nanlu Tianzi, and were simply giving these shop owners a golden opportunity to forge closer relations with the future bigshot!

Thankfully, the items that they took were not considered too expensive, and the loss incurred by the shop owners could still be considered as within tolerable levels. Despite that, these shop owners were still completely enraged by the brazenness of these people.

But no matter how displeased these shopowners were, they could only reluctantly allow these people to leave.

After all, they were only small shop owners.

The possibility of retaliation from the two powerful influences that this Nanlu Tianzi belonged to was definitely not something that they could afford to bear!

When this piece of news spread, people started discussing just how arrogant and lawless this Nanlu Tianzi had become!

He might have been highly regarded by various influences in the city, but that was only due to his future potential.

As of now, he was still nothing but a small shrimp that was swimming among sharks!

If he already dared to act in such a tyrannical way right now, then just who would be able to hold him in check when he finally grew to realise his potential?

This time, it seemed like Inscription Master Nanbai had finally reached the limits of his tolerance as well.

"Nanlu Tianzi! Get out here right now!" Inscription Master Nanbai's voice bellowed through the entire Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower.

Everyone in the tower, from inscription masters to assistants, from servants to customers, not a single one of them was able to remain calm at this point.

Without a doubt, a confrontation between the two was finally about to take place!

Even Lu Tianzi himself had to take a deep breath to calm his nerves.

By now, he would have to be a fool to not realise that someone had been intentionally targeting him.

The only thing that he was indignant about was that even up till this day, he still had no idea who exactly was trying to deal him.

His foundation within the city was far too weak. Without the help of Nanqing Haowen and Nanlan Qianxue, his ability to gather information on something like this was almost non existent.

Yet it just so happened that these two people had been far too busy with preparing for the upcoming Nine Suns Trial.

Since that was the case, Lu Tianzi had chosen to immerse himself in his daily routine, taking the time to grow stronger rather than waste energy worrying about this matter.

But at this moment, what he feared had finally come true.

Lu Tianzi swept the materials on the table back into his spatial ring before stepping out of the private inscription room.

The moment he exited the room, Lu Tianzi was faced with a livid Inscription Master Nanbai who glared at him with coldness in his eyes.

Inscription Master Nanbai was not the only one waiting for him out there either. Further back, other members of the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower were standing around to watch.

Lu Tianzi sighed helplessly.

He had no doubt that if they were at the first floor where even non members had access to, the number of people in the audience would definitely increase by countless times.

"What a good Nanlu Tianzi! Now that people have started calling you a record breaking inscription genius, you sure are letting things get to your head, aren't you?" Inscription Master Nanbai threw a jade slip straight towards Lu Tianzi. "Just take a good look at what you have done!"

Catching a normal toss should have been extremely easy for Lu Tianzi, to the point of even being able to do so with his eyes closed. However, Inscription Master Nanbai had chosen to imbue part of his Origin Core realm strength behind this toss.

This little action of his caused the speed of the jade slip to skyrocket as it shot straight towards Lu Tianzi. On top of that, the jade slip was even enveloped in a layer of Slaughter Essence!

Without a doubt, Inscription Master Nanbai had already started to put Lu Tianzi in his place!

Understanding this, the people who were watching could not help but smirk in a gloating manner. After all, Lu Tianzi's fame made him a natural target of jealousy for many inscription masters.

Even though this Nanlu Tianzi managed a breakthrough in his cultivation recently, there was still no way that a mere Peak Essence Building realm martial artist would be able to receive such a powerful projectile and come out unscathed!

Lu Tianzi's eyes narrowed in focus.

A thin film enveloped Lu Tianzi's hands as he raised them in front of him to receive the incoming jade slip.

"That is!"

"Materialisation of Slaughter Essence! And while only at the Peak Essence Building realm!"

The people watching could not help but exclaim in shock.

At this moment, the jade slip collided against Lu Tianzi's open palm.

Bang-!

It was as though a huge battering ram had just slammed into a city gate, sending out a thunderous clap.

Lu Tianzi was sent sliding back by a metre, but appeared to have emerged completely fine apart from that.

Merely witnessing such a result was already sufficient to send tumultuous waves through the hearts of the people in the audience.

Even though Inscription Master Nanbai did not exert all of his strength, that could still be considered as an attack by an Origin Core realm martial artist.

Yet this Nanlu Tianzi was actually able to block it perfectly, despite being more than an entire realm lower in terms of cultivation level!

Lu Tianzi cared not about what others were thinking. Without hesitation, he sank his perception into the jade slip.

He had already heard about most of the rumours, but he still wanted to know if there were any other incidents that he had missed.

However, the moment Lu Tianzi's perception swept through the information in the jade slip, his expression immediately darkened.

Before this, Lu Tianzi believed that he had already prepared his heart.

No matter how bad it was, Lu Tianzi would have been able to laugh it off, treating it as nothing but bullshit spouted by others.

However, the information stored within the jade slip was actually completely different from what he had expected!

Within the jade slip, Lu Tianzi was unable to find any examples of just how he had been acting arrogantly, or how his 'buddies' had been borrowing his name to terrorise others.

Instead, what Lu Tianzi saw within the jade slip was actually evidence on how Nanqing Haowen and Nancheng Wei had instructed others to do these things, ultimately pinning the blame on Lu Tianzi!