Chapter 299 - Interference

"Be careful," Lu Tianzi cautioned.

"Hahaha!" Elder Xiquan burst out in laughter. "Be careful? Are you warning our beautiful Lady Qianxue here? Unfortunately for her, it doesn't matter what she does. No matter how careful she is, how can a mere Essence Condensation realm martial artist escape if we don't allow her to?"

"I think you are mistaken," Lu Tianzi's tone was cold. "I am warning your subordinates instead."

Upon completing his sentence, the Moon Culler appeared in Lu Tianzi's right hand, and the Torrential Sabre in his left. A silvery light flashed across his eyes as his gaze landed upon the six figures in front of him.

Yes, six of them.

But in Lu Tianzi's eyes, Elder Xiquan was the only true opponent here.

Apart from that, the one worry he had was that the other five might just target Nanlan Qianxue while he was engaged with Elder Xiquan.

Just as Elder Xiquan had said, there would be no way for the Peak Essence Condensation realm Nanlan Qianxue to put up any substantial resistance if that ever happened.

Lu Tianzi had considered grabbing Nanlan Qianxue and escaping into the air, but that option had its own limitations as well.

He might be confident of his speed on the ground, but Lu Tianzi had absolutely no movement techniques for moving through the air. The only way he could boost his flying speed was through activating his beastial bloodline, but that was a last resort.

Everytime he activated his beastial bloodline, his body would be put under a huge physical strain. Even though he had been able to swiftly recover each time, Lu Tianzi did not want to risk harming the foundations of his physique.

After all, he still did not fully understand the limits of this beastial bloodline activation. There could very well have been some underlying damage that he was simply unable to detect at his current level.

That said, it was not as though he was against activating his beastial bloodline if it was absolutely necessary.

But if he was really pushed to such an extent, then instead of using it to escape, he might as well just use it to take out everyone here instead!

"Oh? You are asking us to be careful?" Elder Xiquan let out an amused smile before turning to the five around him. "You guys heard that? Go take care of him, but take note – be careful! Hahaha!"

The Five Shadows snickered before stepping forward, drawing their weapons in a casual manner.

In their eyes, they were not going to be fighting Lu Tianzi. All they were going to do was to teach him a lesson.

After all, there were five of them against one, and one of them was even at the Second Cycle Origin Core realm.

This was going to be a walk in the park, nothing difficult at all.

What they did not know, however, was just how abnormal this First Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist standing before them actually was!

"Why are you just standing there?" one of the Five Shadows taunted, waving his sword carelessly in front of him.

"Yeah, aren't you all full of yourself just now? Telling us to be careful too," another chimed in.

The five of them slowly approached Lu Tianzi, fanning out to seal off any exit routes.

Lu Tianzi did not respond. He continued standing in place, waiting patiently for them to get closer. Given the current situation, he was unwilling to step forward and leave Nanlan Qianxue unguarded.

The distance between them narrowed more and more, until the two groups finally came within striking range.

But before either side could move, a voice sounded out from above, catching every single one of them by surprise.

"What beautiful landscape. This is a really good angle for admiring the scenery."

The voice was calm and pleasant. But most importantly, it was familiar to everyone present.

It was none other than the voice of the supreme genius Wuye Mingxuan!

His sudden appearance drew everyone's attention upwards, only to see the handsome figure floating in the sky with his hands clasped behind his back. His high ponytail and long fringe fluttered gracefully in the wind, along with his loose red robes.

He was as dazzling as ever.

However, Lu Tianzi was certainly not in the mood to admire his brilliance.

With the appearance of the Overlord realm Wuye Mingxuan, the situation had taken a sudden turn for the worse.

Their cultivation levels were simply too far apart. So long as Wuye Mingxuan willed him to die, there was absolutely nothing he could do to stay alive.

No, that was not it.

Even if he had to die, he would not do so without a fight!

Lu Tianzi's palm sweated a little as he adjusted his grip on his blades, but he was actually not the only one feeling uncomfortable right now.

"Sir Wuye, what brings all the way out here?" Elder Xiquan forced out an awkward smile while asking.

"I am glad I came, the scenery is so beautiful that I can't help but feel like painting," Wuye Mingxuan answered, his eyes still looking into the distance. "Elder Xiquan should have told me that there is such a beautiful view here on Wondertrap Mountain."

"It is good that Sir Wuye likes it," Elder Xiquan said, but he was quickly finding it difficult to keep up with Wuye Mingxuan's thoughts.

It was fine if he wanted to enjoy the scenery, but could he not tell that they were busy here?

Indeed, he continued acting as though he was completely oblivious.

"I like it indeed," Wuye Mingxuan slowly descended to the ground before turning towards Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue. "My apologies, but I would like to paint the scenery and you are in the way. Would it be possible for you to leave?"

Lu Tianzi blinked blankly.

At this moment, Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue were standing right in the middle of the gap opened up by the dense vegetation. They really were blocking anyone else who wanted to enjoy the view.

In any other situation, Lu Tianzi would have found that request arrogant and overbearing. After all, they had arrived first, so what right did others have to ask them to leave?

However, the current context changed the entire meaning of Wuye Mingxuan's words.

Is Wuye Mingxuan trying to help him out of this predicament right now?

"Since Sir Wuye is in the mood to paint, I shall not ruin it with my presence," Lu Tianzi clasped his fists towards Wuye Mingxuan. "Farewell."

"Mm," Wuye Mingxuan nodded.

Lu Tianzi grabbed Nanlan Qianxue's hand and led her away, his gaze remaining on Elder Xiquan all along.

The last thing he wanted was let down his guard only to be stabbed in the back.

"Let's take our leave as well. It would not be nice if we disturbed Sir Wuye while he paints," Elder Xiquan called out to the Five Shadows, jolting them from their daze.

"Understood, Elder Xiquan." The five of them answered in unison before turning to chase after Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue.

"Hold on," Wuye Mingxuan's words stopped them dead in their tracks.

"Is there anything you need, Sir Wuye?" Elder Xiquan asked awkwardly.

"Why don't you and your subordinates stay and have a chat with me?" Wuye Mingxuan smiled. "It would be such a waste to enjoy this beautiful scenery all by myself!"

"This…" Elder Xiquan felt the corner of his lips twitch wildly.

Since when had Wuye Mingxuan ever cared about the company of others when he was in the mood to paint?

In the past, everytime Wuye Mingxuan began painting, he would not bother with anyone else at all until he was done.

For Wuye Mingxuan to say such a thing, something must be up.

Elder Xiquan glanced at Wuye Mingxuan before letting out a helpless sigh. "Sir Wuye has a point. Let's enjoy this beautiful scenery together then."

At this point, Elder Xiquan would have to be a fool to not realise Wuye Mingxuan's intentions.

From the start, Wuye Mingxuan had been against him going after the two imposters. That was the reason why they had sneaked out without informing Wuye Mingxuan.

But who knew that Wuye Mingxuan would follow them out without them realising it?

He must have guessed that they were going after the two imposters, and came along to stop them.

Since Wuye Mingxuan had already gone to such lengths to stop them, if Elder Xiquan still insisted on doing so, his actions could be considered a slap on Wuye Mingxuan's face.

Elder Xiquan was relatively sure that Wuye Mingxuan would not act against them because of this, but it was certainly not worth straining his relationship with the supreme genius over two nobodies!

As for the two imposters, count them lucky this time. They would just have to pray that they do not cross paths again in the future!

***

Lu Tianzi hurried down the mountain with Nanlan Qianxue in tow, this time no longer taking his time to appreciate his surroundings.

Now that Beiwei Jinguo had left the group, their movement speed was much faster than before.

Within a couple of hours, the duo had already reached the stream that ran along the foot of the mountain.

At this point, they finally stopped to take a breather.

"Why did Sir Wuye help us out there?" Nanlan Qianxue asked. "Did he tell you anything?"

Nanlan Qianxue had been there as well, but there was always the chance that Wuye Mingxuan could have spoken to Lu Tianzi through voice conveyance.

"Who knows? He didn't tell me anything either," Lu Tianzi shrugged. "Maybe he was drawn in by your beauty?"

"Ah! I guess I shouldn't have left then!" Nanlan Qianxue pouted. "Is it too late to turn back now?"

"Only if you want to meet that Elder Xiquan again," Lu Tianzi smiled.

"Hahaha, that doesn't sound like fun," Nanlan Qianxue laughed. "But in all seriousness, that was quite surprising."

"Yeah," Lu Tianzi agreed. "This Wuye Mingxuan is really quite the unpredictable fellow. But at the same time, I can't help but have a good impression of him."

"Indeed," Nanlan Qianxue nodded.

"Well then, enough about him. Let's head over to our next destination," Lu Tianzi said.

"Where is our next destination though?" Nanlan Qianxue asked. "We still don't have any idea where Bog Town is, do we?"

Lu Tianzi turned to look at her with a confident smile.

"That's simple enough. We go east."