295: Lord Er

Lord Er

Lord Er? So that's his name?

Lu Tianzi mused.

As he was thinking that, Lu Tianzi's vision blurred, and the scene around him slowly changed.

***

He opened his eyes once more to find himself in a wide courtyard, surrounded by tall walls almost the height of five men.

Numerous ingredients were laid out on the ground, left to dry under the blazing afternoon sun.

Guo Ming was strolling through these ingredients, carefully inspecting their current conditions and ensuring that they had not been left out for too long.

"Remember, Guo Ming," Lord Er called out. "See with-"

"See with your own eyes, not your perception. Only then will you be able to truly understand the intricacies of each ingredient," Guo Ming recited in a resigned manner. "You have said that at least a thousand times already, Teacher. I can already remember your words by heart!"

Lord Er nodded in satisfaction. "Since your memory is so good, are you able to remember exactly what you should be looking out for right now?"

"Of course I do!" Guo Ming answered confidently. "Marshstone Weed has to be seventy percent dry. The interior must remain damp even as the exterior is dried to a flaky texture. The flower of the Blood Vine has to maintain an exact balance between the interior and exterior, so that the medicinal efficacy of the flower is not lost in any way. The Cobra Root has to be…"

One by one, Guo Ming patiently listed down the properties of each ingredient, showing off his absolute understanding when it came to the poison arts.

"Hahaha!" Lord Er laughed. "Not bad! Not bad at all, Guo Ming!"

Lu Tianzi's surroundings slowly faded out, and the scene around him changed once again.

Again and again, the scene before his eyes kept shifting.

Just like that, Lu Tianzi experienced various snippets of this Lord Er's life, and slowly understood more and more about him.

Lord Er, his actual name being Er Chong, was the leader of the powerful Thousand Venoms Sect. It was the one influence that ruled over not just the majestic Thousand Venoms City, but also dozens of other cities that were only slightly smaller in comparison.

Be it in terms of resources, heritage, or military might, none others could challenge the dominance of the Thousand Venoms Sect.

Still, even though Lord Er was the sect leader, he left the majority of the administrative matters to his subordinates. Instead, Lord Er spent most of his time with his favourite student Guo Ming, indulging in the research of the poison arts.

Through their works, Lu Tianzi was able to learn more and more about the ancient poison arts heritage, as well as better understand this Lord Er.

He did not put up airs even when speaking to the lowest of servants, and any accidental transgressions against him was forgiven without issue.

In fact, even during the rare occasions when someone actually dared to commit a major transgression against him, Er Chong would not be too offended.

After all, his strength was far above everyone else's. There was not a single person in these lands who had the power to harm him in any tangible way.

There was simply nothing for him to fear.

Instead, it would usually be his subordinates who were angered by these incidents, acting out in his place to defend his honour.

If there was any one word to describe Lord Er, it would be none other than 'carefree'.

***

Lord Er had his eyes closed, enjoying the tranquility as the birds sang the song of nature.

He was lying down at his favourite spot on the edge of a cliff, the same spot where Lu Tianzi had first woken up at.

But right at that moment, Lord Er frowned.

His eyes shot open, and he quickly sprang to his feet.

With a tap of his feet, Lord Er leapt off the edge of the cliff, soaring through the sky towards the Thousand Venoms City below.

His speed was extraordinary.

In a flash, Lord Er had already arrived at the entrance of the Thousand Venoms Sect.

"Tell me, who did this to him?!" Lord Er bellowed as he landed on the ground.

"Lord Er!" the people present trembled in horror.

There were ten of them in total, all of them at the Origin Core realm.

Yet despite their cultivation level, their clothes were dishevelled and in tatters. Not just that, but many of them were heavily injured, with some requiring the support of others just to remain standing.

In fact, there was even one person among them who was completely unconscious!

If it was any other time, seeing Lord Er appear before them would have caused their eyes to light up in reverence and hope.

But this time was an exception.

Instead, there was fear in their eyes, all of them terrified of what was to come.

And they had good reason to be.

With a wave of his hand, Lord Er sent a wave of energy into the midst of these men, reaching for the one unconscious man.

His energy engulfed the unconscious man, lifting him up from the arms of the others and bringing him closer to Lord Er.

Lu Tianzi was surprised when he realised who this unconscious man was.

He was none other than Lord Er's favourite student – Guo Ming!

Right now, his vitals were weak, and the breath of life was rapidly slipping away from him. No matter how he looked at it, Guo Ming was already on the verge of death. If left untreated, there was no doubt that he would perish.

What could have possibly happened to the favourite student of the powerful Lord Er for him to end up this way?

Guo Ming's eyes remained closed as his body floated before Lord Er.

Lord Er placed his palm on Guo Ming's chest, channelling energy into his student's body to stabilise his condition.

Colour immediately returned to Guo Ming's pale face, and his breathing soothed. His vitals recovered at a rapid pace and within a matter of moments, his life was no longer in danger before long.

"Are you people deaf or mute?" Lord Er did not forget about the others standing around. "Are you not intending to answer?"

Unlike his usual carefree self, his tone was now cold to the extreme. Just hearing his voice brought chills to everyone present.

"Reporting to Lord Er, we were assaulted outside the city!" one of them finally replied hesitantly.

Lord Er frowned. "Do you think I can't tell that much? I am asking you who did this!"

"Demons, Lord Er!" the person answered. "Demons did this!"

"Our apologies for not being able to protect Sir Guo Ming!" all of them shouted in unison.

This was the favourite student of Lord Er!

For allowing him to end up in such a state in their presence, they had truly failed in their responsibilities!

"Demons?" Lord Er's frown deepened. "Where are they? Bring me to them!"

Lord Er passed the men medicinal pills which helped them recover abit of their strength.

A servant brought the unconscious Guo Ming back into the Thousand Venoms Sect, while the remaining men led Lord Er out of the city.

It did not take long before the group brought Lord Er back to where they were previously assaulted.

"Lord Er, they are over there!"

One of them pointed into the distance, towards five figures who were currently seated along the banks of a small river.

"Is that so?" Lord Er harrumphed in anger.

"Who's there?"

The figures turned towards them immediately, alert enough to discover their presence even from such a distance.

"Look, it's them again."

"Haha, you're right! It looks like they are back for another round of beating!"

"How bothersome, let's stop toying with them and just kill them this time. I am already sick of them!"

The five figures flew into the air, their long tails waving behind them.

Indeed, it was as the men had said.

All of them were demons!

One by one, Origin Totems shimmered into existence behind the five demons. They might have sounded like they were treating this lightly, but that could not be further from the truth.

They were confident, but not careless.

Faced with the heavy pressure that they were currently emitting, ordinary Origin Core realm martial artists would lose all ability to resist!

"Lord Er…"

The men around him flinched nervously.

The nine of them were Origin Core realm martial artists, but they knew just how powerless they were before these enemies.

After all, there was an Overlord realm powerhouse among the enemy!

Lord Er did not bother replying his men. With a flick of his long sleeves, he flew straight towards the five demons.

At this moment, Lu Tianzi suddenly felt something churning within him.

There was no doubt that Lord Er was drawing upon a source of power in his inner world, yet this sensation felt nothing like driving ordinary Spiritual Essence particles or an origin core.

It was something completely different, and yet it felt strangely familiar…

"Wait, something is wrong!" one of the five demons called out in alert when he noticed Lord Er rushing towards them. "That guy, he is-!"

Pu-! Pu-! Pu-! Pu-!

Before the demon could complete his sentence, his four companions suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, the light in their eyes fading away to the abyss.

He watched in horror as the four of them fell from the sky, their limp bodies slamming into the ground below.

Yet even after falling to the ground with a loud thud, the four of them did not react at all.

They neither flinched nor groaned in pain, but that was only natural too.

Because they had died even before they landed on the ground.

The remaining demon widened his eyes in shock, unable to believe the scene before his eyes.

Lord Er appeared before him in a flash.

Grip-!

Before the demon could even react, Lord Er's hand had clamped down on his throat, squeezing it so hard that the demon felt all strength drain from his body.

"There is not a single soul in the area who would dare challenge my Thousand Venoms Sect, not even the foul demons. Speak, where the hell are you bastards from?" Lord Er questioned in rage.

"Y-you are a Transcendent!" the demon exclaimed in horror. "Argh-!"

Lord Er tightened his grip around the demon's neck. "Are you going to answer, or do you want me to kill you right now?"

"Heh, you want me to succumb to your threats? Dream on," The demon forced a smile despite his pain. "You can kill us all, but the result will still be the same. In the end, all of you will perish!"

Splatter-!

Blood burst out like a fountain as Lord Er crushed the demon's neck without hesitation.

But he was not satisfied with just that.

Tossing the demon's corpse away, Lord Er rose higher into the sky, his cold gaze piercing through the clouds.

With a wave of his hand, Lord Er released a stream of green smoke that split further into five smaller streams before forming into five faces in the sky.

These were the faces of the five demons he had just killed, displayed in the sky for all to see!

Driving the power in his inner world, Lord Er bellowed in a voice that reverberated for tens of thousands of kilometres.

"I, Er Chong of the Thousand Venoms Sect, hereby issue a challenge to anyone who dares fight me. Whoever you are and wherever you are from, no matter if you are demon, human, or beast; as long as you defeat me, I will willingly give up the Thousand Venoms Sect to you, never to bother you again in the future. But if you dare not show yourself right now, never appear before me or my men again. If you do, I will surely seek you out and kill you, along with every single one of your friends and kinsmen. I will show no mercy, and I will get rid of them just like how I have gotten rid of these five idiots who dared infringe upon my territory!"

Lu Tianzi could not help but be awed by the means of Lord Er.

Using the very sky as his canvass, his voice reaching the ears of millions, just how powerful was this Lord Er?

At the same time, realisation dawned upon Lu Tianzi.

Earlier, he had thought that the power within Lord Er felt strangely familiar, and now he finally understood why.

That was because this was not the first time he had experienced it for himself.

Back then when he was drawn into the memories of the Limitless Reality Mirror, he had experienced the memories of Shafeng, who was probably the original owner of the Limitless Reality Mirror.

Even though it was only for an instant, Lu Tianzi had clearly experienced Shafeng drawing upon a similar source of power as well!

Now that he thought about it, one of them was able to command Overlords to do his bidding, while the other was able to kill Overlords with ease.

Could it be that the two of them had a similar cultivation level?

But right at this moment, Lu Tianzi's contemplation faded away, instantly replaced by thoughts of pure disbelief.

Before his eyes, a figure was rising quickly into the sky, heading straight towards Lord Er.

Speak of the devil.1

This figure heading towards them was actually none other than Shafeng himself!

pqdm.com