Chapter 255 No Witnesses

The Northern Gate was the most fortified gate of Bluenight City. It was necessary in order to withstand the attacks of any wilds beasts that strayed from the forests to the north of Bluenight City.

For the same reason, the number of guards on duty at the Northern Gate was always more than those at the other gates.

Well, almost always… with the exception being today.

When Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue arrived before the Northern Gate, Lu Tianzi was appalled to see that not a single guard was on duty. As if that was not enough, the group that was supposed to have gathered here to go on the Beast Hunt together was nowhere to be seen either.

This meant that his initial plan of using the eyes of the masses as a form of deterrence had failed miserably.

Not just that, but it also meant that those plotting against him were more than those currently pursuing him. They must have split into two groups; one group to chase after him, while the other group was responsible for getting rid of all possible witnesses.

Whether the possible witnesses had been lured away or killed, that he had no way of finding out.

"How is this possible?" Nanlan Qianxue could not help but feel panicked at this point. "How can there be no one here?"

"Not just that, take a look at the gate itself," Lu Tianzi pointed out.

Following which, Nanlan Qianxue could not help but widen her eyes in surprise. "The gate… it is open!"

With no guards around to tend to the Northern Gate, she had thought for sure that they had run straight into a dead end.

Who knew that the Northern Gate would actually be left slightly ajar?

This meant that there was a way out for them, and it was not a dead end like what she had thought earlier!

But Nanlan Qianxue's excitement quickly died down as well.

Their assailants had meticulously gotten rid of the guards, gotten rid of the group gathered for the Beast Hunt, and yet they had carelessly left the gate open?

How could it be so convenient?

No matter how she looked at it, this situation was unnatural!

Lu Tianzi's gaze was extremely cold at this moment.

He knew just as well as Nanlan Qianxue that this was most likely a trap.

From the looks of it, despite how seemingly blatant their assailants were acting right now, they were still slightly concerned about being found out. That was why they had bothered to make sure there were no witnesses along the way, and now they wanted to lead him out of Bluenight City before taking action.

Once they went beyond the walls, it would be far more difficult for any help to find him!

But with his pursuers closing in from behind, Lu Tianzi had no other choice but to go along with their plan and escape through the open gate.

"Damn it!" Lu Tianzi cursed under his breath as he left the protection of the city walls, just loud enough for his assailants to pick up on it as well.

The Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist could not help but let out a grin.

That's right, this is the way you should have acted from the start, like the powerless junior you are!

Under the cover of darkness, two groups, one running and one pursuing, dashed through the open fields and entered the forest to the north of Bluenight City.

"This is far enough, do it!" the Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist ordered right after they stepped into the forest.

They were a group of six.

The leader was the strongest one at the Fourth Origin Cycle, one of them was at the Third Origin Cycle, while the remaining four were all at the First Origin Cycle.

Not wanting to draw too much attention, they had been restraining their speed all along to keep pace with Lu Tianzi. Now, they finally had no reason to hold back any longer.

Upon hearing his order, their speed rose sharply, overtaking Lu Tianzi and surrounding him in an instant.

Surrounded on all sides, Lu Tianzi stopped in his tracks, placing Nanlan Qianxue down before taking a good look at these people who had surrounded them.

All of them were dressed in uniform black overalls that hid everything but their eyes.

"What's with that serious face?" the Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist laughed. "Aren't you the great Nanlu Tianzi who isn't afraid of anything? Why? Do you finally feel scared now?"

"Who are you?" Lu Tianzi asked in return.

"Haha, I guess there's no harm in letting you know who I am before you die," The Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist pulled down the cloth masking his face without hesitation.

Neither Lu Tianzi nor Nanlan Qianxue was surprised to see the face underneath. It was none other than Elder Beiqian Zuo of the Flying Dragon Hall.

If there was something that they did not expect, it was the fact that he had taken action personally.

"By doing this, are you not afraid of the retaliation by the Beimu Clan?" Lu Tianzi furrowed his brows. "The Scarlet Moon Overlord will not stand for this either!"

"Not to mention the Nine Suns Sect as well!" Nanlan Qianxue added.

"Miss Nanlan, maybe you should stay out of this," the Third Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist spoke up at this moment.

His familiar voice caused both Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue to frown.

"Deputy City Lord Nandian?" Nanlan Qianxue blurted out in disgust. "You are actually working together with the Flying Dragon Hall? Is this the City Lord's intention as well?"

"Don't worry, Miss Nanlan. You are not our target," Deputy City Lord Nandian chose not to answer her question directly.

"Why are you doing this? Simply because of the incident two weeks ago?" Nanlan Qianxue was filled with disbelief.

"Just stay where you are and we will not hurt you," Deputy City Lord Nandian avoided answering once again.

No matter how obvious it already was, he would still refuse to admit that they were feeling threatened by the existence of a single Nanlu Tianzi.

The fact that Nanlu Tianzi had called City Lord Nanlan out on the incident with the Lightning Crow Sect in front of everyone was the final straw. From that moment on, City Lord Nanlan had fully registered Nanlu Tianzi as someone who would hold grudges, a ticking timebomb if left unchecked.

When Elder Beiqian Zuo came to them in secret, City Lord Nanlan had agreed to cooperate immediately. Deputy City Lord Nandian felt that it was the best decision as well. Rather than to allow Nanlu Tianzi to grow any further, the safest way out was still to put an end to him as soon as possible!

"Why are you wasting so much time on her? It is not like she has the ability to do anything in this situation anyway," Beiqian Zuo snorted in disdain.

"Even so, it would be best not to hurt her. The City Lord will not be happy about that," Deputy City Lord Nandian shook his head in disapproval before turning to one of the other four in their group. "You, make sure she stays where she is, but make sure that you don't hurt her too much."

"Got it," the one he spoke to nodded before taking a step towards Nanlan Qianxue.

At this very moment, there were grins on everyone's face except for Nanlan Qianxue.

Beiqian Zuo and Deputy City Lord Nandian were grinning in triumph. They could already see the end of this. No matter how monstrous of a talent Nanlu Tianzi was, there was no way he could take on all of them at once!

The other four First Cycle Origin Core realm martial artists were grinning in excitement. From the looks of it, the plan was going to be a huge success. After this, they would surely be greatly rewarded for being willing to help with this job that most would have considered dishonourable. More importantly, they will likely be heavily trusted with greater responsibilities in the future as well.

But apart from them, a faint grin had also appeared on Lu Tianzi's face.

Elder Beiqian Zuo and Deputy City Lord Nandian had gone to such lengths just to make sure that there would not be any witnesses, but little did they know that by doing so, they were actually making things more convenient for Lu Tianzi as well.

After all, only when there were no other witnesses could he truly go all out without restraint!

Ding-a-ling-!

The tinkle of a bell caused everyone's expression to freeze.

Beiqian Zuo, especially, was taken aback by it. After all, he was the only one present who recognised the source of the chime.

The Isolation Chime Bell!

This was a treasure that he had passed to Beiqian You for the sake of handling Nanlu Tianzi previously. He could understand how it had fallen into Nanlu Tianzi's hands, but why would Nanlu Tianzi use it right now?

Is he stupid?

World Origin Energy in the surroundings gathered rapidly, materialising into the shape of a giant bell.

Bang-!

The giant bell fell to the ground, caging all eight of them within, the only remaining source of light being the unnatural glow of the inner walls.

Indeed, the Isolation Chime Bell was a treasure meant to lock in a weaker opponent together with oneself, preventing the opponent from escaping.

By using it now, Nanlu Tianzi was simply sealing his own fate!

At this point, Beiqian Zuo could no longer hold in his laughter. "Hah-"

Just as he was about to mock Lu Tianzi, the latter seemed to have suddenly transformed into a completely different person.

Slaughter Essence energy burst forth from within him, and so did Spiritual Essence energy. The two surges of Essence energy entwined, forming an explosive force far greater than the sum of its parts.

As though that was not enough, a familiar sense of danger swept across the space within the giant bell. This was a feeling that Beiqian Zuo had felt once before during the battle at Rockfall Plain.

It was an instinctual fear ingrained into one's bones, something that surfaced naturally upon coming face to face with an apex predator.

Not good!

But before Beiqian Zuo could react, Lu Tianzi had already charged out towards one of the First Cycle Origin Core realm martial artists, the single wing behind his back blurring into a white afterimage due to how fast he moved.

Sword light flashed as Lu Tianzi slashed out towards his target, who instinctively brought up a broadsword in self defence.

Slice-!

The Moon Culler slashed straight through his target's broadsword as though it was nothing but paper, and it did not stop there either. It continued without losing any momentum, directly splitting the Origin Core realm martial artist into two through the torso.

One down.

Fresh blood spurted out like a fountain, dyeing Lu Tianzi's entire front red.

Beiqian Zuo froze.

The other three First Cycle Origin Core realm martial artists widened their eyes in horror.

"Wha-?!" Deputy City Lord Nandian was rendered speechless.

Before they knew it, one of them had already died!

But how?

Origin Core realm martial artists were not supposed to die this easily!

All of their thoughts were in turmoil, but they did not have the luxury of time to calm down and reorganise them.

Because Lu Tianzi was not intending to stop just there.

Even before the Moon Culler had fully passed through the body of his first opponent, Lu Tianzi's eaglelike eyes were already locking onto his next target.

The earlier grin had completely vanished from his face, replaced by an unnatural calmness.

"G-Get him!" Beiqian Zuo was the first to break out of his bewilderment. His verbal warning served to wake up the others, but it was too late for one of them.

Lu Tianzi had already arrived before his next target.

This time, Lu Tianzi's target had the time to summon his Origin Totem at least.

The illusory image of a dragon shimmered into existence behind him, summoned forth by the Slaughter Essence in his inner world. Yet ironically, he was the only one who could not see it.

The entire world around him had rapidly descended into darkness, leaving only the image of a ghastly apparition charging right towards him.

He gaped helplessly at the approaching devil, fear completely paralysing his entire function of thought.

The night had always been the time of the day when Yin energy was at its peak, when darkness and illusions reigned supreme.

As for the moon, it was none other than the symbol of the night, the very signature of these nether powers.

At this very moment, the sun had yet to rise, which meant the the moon energy produced by Lu Tianzi's Moon Culler was currently in its strongest state. Borrowing the power of this moon energy, the illusory aspect of Lu Tianzi's Howling Wraith Sword had inevitably reached a greater degree of potency.

Faced with this improved Howling Wraith Sword, his opponent's psyche was far from enough to defend against it.

Just like that, he stood absolutely still, his eyes unfocused even as the Moon Culler pierced straight through his skull, passing in between his eyes only to reemerge from the back of his head.

Two down.

In a matter of moments, only four of the six who had came for Lu Tianzi remained!