Chapter 223 Passing on Karma

Trying his best to suppress his trembling, the village chief raised his hand into the air, signalling for the villagers to stay silent.

"Everyone, please leave this matter to me. You can go busy yourself with your work now."

The villagers looked at one another in response, unsure of what to do next.

"Village chief, it is not that I am trying to question you. However, why did you allow these travellers to stay in our village in the first place?" the same elderly man from before questioned. "They have never been part of Xian Village, and will never be. Even if the matters today did not happen, they have only been a leech in the village and contributed nothing, unlike the rest of us who live each day trying to improve the community as a whole."

Upon hearing his words, the villagers present turned their attention towards the village chief simultaneously, their eyes carrying hints of doubt.

The village chief was shocked at this scene.

Even though he was not the most senior in terms of age, he had always commanded a position of respect in Xian Village. Today was the first time that he had ever received such a look from the the many villagers under his charge!

However, how would he be elected as the village chief if he was intimidated by just this much?

"What do you suggest then, Uncle Bing?" the village chief asked in return. "Throw them out into the wilds just because they are not from the village and are unaware of our practices? Would you be satisfied only after I do that? Would everyone of you present be satisfied only after I do that? No matter what, they are guests of the village. Do you really want to put me on the spot in front of them, in front of everyone?"

The village chief swept his gaze over the villagers, who cowered a little upon meeting his eyes.

When the time came for him to exude an air of command, the village chief promptly delivered. Of course, a large motivation for this was due to not wanting to offend these powerful travellers.

"This matter comes to an end here!" the village chief proclaimed loudly. "I am going to say this again. I will handle this, so go busy yourselves with your matters!"

This time, the villagers did not protest.

Even though some of them were still clearly unhappy, they still obeyed the village chief's words, leaving the courtyard after shooting a few glares at Lu Tianzi.

"You too, Chen Meng," the village chief told the young man sternly.

"But… okay then," Chen Meng was clearly worried about what the village chief would tell Lu Tianzi, but relented in the end.

Before long, there were only four people left in the courtyard.

Lu Tianzi took a curious glance at Bo Xie. But since the village chief did not object to Bo Xie's presence, it was not his place to say anything.

"I'm sorry for what happened earlier, honoured travellers," the village chief clasped his fists towards Lu Tianzi apologetically. "I am truly grateful for your help in freeing Xian Village from the God of Pestilence, but unfortunately, things are not as simple as they seem."

"I guessed as much," Lu Tianzi nodded. "The villagers have not been told the truth, have they?"

"It is as you have guessed," the village chief let out an awkward smile. "In order to make it better for the villagers' mental well being, the God of Pestilence has always been portrayed as a guardian deity who protects the lands. After all, not everyone would be comfortable with offering food to a beast, especially when we are lacking in food supplies ourselves."

"I understand," Lu Tianzi nodded again.

"You really do?" the village chief was could not help but feel surprised at how acceptive Lu Tianzi was of his explanations.

"Whatever you have done in the past, it is the matter of your village and has nothing to do with me," Lu Tianzi shrugged. "What I want to know is whether you are intending to do as they said, and get rid of us?"

"This…" the village chief's expression clearly showed the distress he was in.

"I'm sorry, Sir Lu. The village chief might find it difficult to say it, but the two of you will still have to leave." Bo Xie was the one who spoke up in the end.

Just a few moments prior, Bo Xie was still fuming, intending to confront Lu Tianzi about the matter with Chen Meng. But now that he had seen this huge winged beast lying behind Lu Tianzi, Bo Xie was genuinely convinced by Chen Meng's words.

If Lu Tianzi wanted to harm them, he had no need to resort to such measures.

Instead, Lu Tianzi even got rid of this powerful beast, claiming that it was the God of Pestilence.

Bo Xie did not know if Lu Tianzi was speaking the truth, but even if it was not, his strength alone was already worthy of respect.

"After all, if we tell the villagers that we have been lying to them all the while, not everyone will be able to accept it. On the other hand, they might even choose to revolt." Bo Xie continued. "It might not be relatable to someone with your strength, but for a village like ours, such an outcome could affect our very survival. I hope you understand."

"Is this what you think as well?" Lu Tianzi turned towards the village chief.

"My greatest apologies!" the village chief bowed, and Bo Xie swiftly followed suit.

"I see," Lu Tianzi let out a light sigh. "I will leave, but not immediately."

"Eh?" the duo looked up at him in surprise.

In fact, even Nanlan Qianxue glanced at Lu Tianzi, surprised by his decision.

If he wanted to leave, then just leave!

After all, they have already recovered from their fight with Chiren. What was the point of remaining in such an undeveloped village?

However, this surprise quickly turned into concern.

"Are you injured by the God of Pestilence?" Nanlan Qianxue conveyed her voice over to Lu Tianzi.

"Don't worry, it's not that," Lu Tianzi shook his head before turning back to the duo in front of him. "Three days. I will leave within three days, but in the meantime, I want a place to stay with absolutely no distractions."

"That can be done," the village chief agreed immediately. "As for the carcass of the beast…"

At this point, Bo Xie's eyes lit up in anticipation.

As a martial artist, he knew just how valuable a powerful wild beast's carcass could be. Given how the God of Pestilence was strong enough to threaten the village for generations, surely its strength must have reached an incredible level!

"Of course we will be taking it with us," Lu Tianzi almost could not keep himself from laughing in disbelief.

Lu Tianzi had put the carcass out on display so as to let them know of the death of the God of Pestilence.

Did they really think that Lu Tianzi was a samaritan who would donate the valuable carcass that he had obtained through his own hard work?

"Haha, naturally, naturally…" the village chief let out a dry laugh.

The village chief led Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue to an empty house right behind his own, where the duo was to stay for the next three days.

Lu Tianzi immediately got to work.

He sealed all the windows and doors before setting up a simple concealing formation.

After he was done, Nanlan Qianxue passed over two items – an orb and a spatial ring.

These were the belongings of Chiren, the Origin Core realm expert who had fallen to Lu Tianzi's blade just before they escaped to Xian Village.

Since they were in a human village with low level martial artists, Lu Tianzi had earlier decided not to rush into inspecting these items. He was worried that any uncontrolled energy fluctuations could end up scaring the villagers, and possibly giving rise to complications.

Now, he no longer had any such concerns.

However, what Lu Tianzi looked into first was neither the orb nor the spatial ring. Instead, he swept his spatial ring and took out a white spiritual flower.

The thing about plants was that after they were removed from their source, they would start to lose their medicinal efficacy and energy reserves over time. Only an experienced herbalist who knew how to treat the specific plant would be able to preserve or at least slow down such an effect.

Lu Tianzi might be a skilled herbalist, but even he was unable to devise any methods to preserve this spiritual flower that he had never seen before. Thus, he wanted to look into it as soon as he could.

This seemingly harmless flower radiated a refreshing aura that calmed the minds of people. But this mysterious aura was not what Lu Tianzi was targeting.

Rather than that, Lu Tianzi drove the Spiritual Essence within his inner world, channelling his Essence energy to probe directly into the vast energy reserve within this little white flower.

Badump-!

His heart almost skipped a beat when he finally realised just how much spiritual energy was welled up within the small body of the white flower.

Is this really an amount of energy that could be stored within such a small amount of space?

Just what is this flower?

Lu Tianzi quickly retracted his perception from within the white flower, a look of excitement appearing in his face.

"Is something wrong?" Nanlan Qianxue asked from the side.

"Mm, I might have to make some adjustments to the formation," Lu Tianzi answered with a smile.

That evening, the villagers in Xian Village felt like their bodies had become lighter, and their breathing had become smoother. As for the martial artists among then, they could not help but gasp in wonder, looking enviously towards the house that Lu Tianzi was in.

Xian Village had been enjoying a high density of World Origin Energy all along.

This not only made cultivation slightly easier, but living in such an environment also made the villagers relatively healthier.

This time, the density of World Origin Energy in the village had suddenly increased multiple times, with the highest concentration based in Lu Tianzi's house. From that, it was obvious just who the cause of this sudden change was.

Before long, Chen Meng found himself standing before the door of Lu Tianzi's house.

However, he did not step forward to knock on that door.

After what happened earlier, Chen Meng was worried that Lu Tianzi would have gotten quite a bad impression of the villagers, and that his visit would only be a nuisance to the other party.

But right at this moment, the door creaked open slightly, and a beautiful figure emerged.

"Lady Lan!" Chen Meng exclaimed in surprise. "I'm sorry, is my presence here bothering you?"

"Don't worry, your presence is not nearly strong enough for that," Nanlan Qianxue answered expressionlessly. "However, Tianzi has something for you."

"He has something for me?" Chen Meng blinked blankly as Nanlan Qianxue placed a small flower in his hands.

This was naturally not the white flower that Lu Tianzi had just obtained from the God of Pestilence's nest.

Instead, it was a lotus flower with seven layers of petals, each layer with a different colour. The centre region was bright red in colour. As it tended towards the outer petals, the colour slowly changed through the colours of the rainbow.

At the same time, it gave off a sweet fragrance that energised people by scent.

Chen Meng could sense his blood pumping in exhilaration when he held the flower in his hands, as though his body bore a natural desire for this colourful flower.

"Sir Lu said that seeing you stand up against the villagers just now reminded him of a friend he used to hang out with. This Rainbow Lotus is something that he had obtained from that friend, but he never had the chance to use it. Thus, he decided to pass it to you instead," Nanlan Qianxue explained. "He also said that it will be useful if you wish to make a breakthrough in your cultivation. The instructions on how to use it are here."

Nanlan Qianxue slipped a small note into Chen Meng's open hands. "I have conveyed his message. The rest is up to you."

After saying her piece, Nanlan Qianxue turned and returned into the house, not bothering to wait for Chen Meng's reply. As she was closing the door behind her, Nanlan Qianxue could faintly hear Chen Meng thanking her from behind.

"Thank you," the words immediately came from in front of her as well.

Just in front of Nanlan Qianxue, Lu Tianzi was sitting cross-legged in the hall of the house, his eyes closed in meditation.

"That's nothing, but I don't understand why you wanted to help him," Nanlan Qianxue asked while taking a seat at the table. "It doesn't seem like you are all that attached to this place after all. Is it really because he reminds you of your friend?"

Lu Tianzi answered without moving, his eyes still closed as well. "You know, I never had the chance to repay my friend for his help. This might seem meaningless to you, but let's just treat this as though I am passing on the karma that I have received."

"Do you really believe in karma?" Nanlan Qianxue chuckled jokingly.

Lu Tianzi merely smiled in response, sinking back into deep meditation as he consolidated his newly attained cultivation level – Advanced Essence Condensation realm in the Spiritual Essence system.