Chapter 159 Standoff at the Officials Distric

The inhabitants of the Academic District were of an entirely different breed from those of the Workers District.

This was where the Ivory Rock Martial Academy was located, and it was crawling with aspiring martial experts who were young and hot blooded!

Realising that Ivory Rock City was under attack by demons, these young men and women readily took up arms, charging right out to face their mortal enemies in battle.

By the time Lu Tianzi arrived at the Academic District, it had already fallen into complete chaos.

Fights had broken out all over the Academic District, with the defensive line being pushed further and further back by the advancing demons.

The human forces here were not the same as the helpless workers in the Workers District, and the demon forces were no longer able to rampage through the streets effortlessly.

However, the demons still possessed a significant advantage in terms of cultivation level.

After all, the students of the Ivory Rock Martial Academy were all at the Essence Building realm.

Even though it had a bit of risk involved, most of the demons gladly welcomed the increased amount of primordial Slaughter Essence that could be harvested from these trained opponents, charging forward with renewed vigour.

With a quick glance, Lu Tianzi was actually able to recognise most of the humans who were fighting desperately around him.

However, just like with the case with Uncle Ye, Lu Tianzi turned a blind eye to it.

Today, he was not here as a previous student of the Ivory Rock Martial Academy.

He was here as part of the invading demon forces.

In fact, as he headed towards his destinattion, Lu Tianzi even casually harvested the lives of a few people who stood in his way.

With his current strength, these students of the Ivory Rock Martial Academy were not even able to see how they died.

However, the inhabitants of the Academic District did not solely comprise of students.

Killing intent!

Lu Tianzi hurriedly dodged to the side, just in time to evade an attack from above.

"Damn it!" the attacker cursed out loud as his spear smashed into the ground.

However, he did not hesitate simply because of that.

The spear in his hands bent slightly before it shot out from the ground, sweeping upwards as it threatened to part Lu Tianzi from below!

The speed of the spear strike was extremely fast, but Lu Tianzi was unfazed.

Instead, Lu Tianzi laughed in his heart as he looked at the man standing before him.

Instructor Nie.

This was a teacher at the Ivory Rock Martial Academy who possessed a cultivation level at the Peak Essence Building realm.

He was the person responsible for guiding Lu Tianzi on his movement techniques when he first joined the Ivory Rock Martial Academy.

Coincidentally or not, he was also among those who had berated him in front of the city's populace on 'that day'.

Was it fate that had allowed Lu Tianzi to meet him once again on this chaotic battlefield?

Lu Tianzi swung his hand down to meet the incoming spear.

Bang-!

A loud collision occurred as Lu Tianzi slammed his palm against the spear right below the spear head.

The spear shaft bent from the impact, but it did not snap. From the looks of it, the craftsmanship had been quite extraordinary.

However, the good craftsmanship did nothing to change the result of this fight.

Lu Tianzi closed his hand, tightly gripping around the spear. Holding the spear in place, Lu Tianzi slowly advanced towards Instructor Nie.

"Damn it!" no matter how hard Instructor Nie tried to free his spear, it simply refused to budge even a single inch.

Instructor Nie released his spear decisively.

Rather than to stubbornly hold on to his weapon, he might as well fall back and retain his life for the time being.

But right as Instructor Nie released his spear and was about to retreat, Lu Tianzi glided forward with exceptional speed, grabbing him by the neck with his other hand.

"What?!" Instructor Nie widened his eyes in shock.

His opponent was so fast that it was simply ridiculous!

In an instant, he had not only lost his spear, but also failed to escape from the clutches of his opponent!

It seemed that he had finally met a demon that he could not handle.

Was this the end for him?

However, Instructor Nie never expected that what came next would end up shocking him even more.

"Have you been well, Instructor Nie?" a familiar voice sounded out in his head.

Familiar, yet cold and emotionless.

That voice!

Instructor Nie instantly turned pale.

He felt the strength in his body quickly draining away as he took a good look at this masked man in front of him.

No way…

"Lu- argh…!" blood bubbled out from Instructor Nie's mouth before he could even complete a single word.

Even so, Instructor Nie kept his eyes fixed on the masked man in front of him, not even bothering to take a look at the sword that had been pierced straight through his lungs.

Instructor Nie shuddered from fear.

Not because he saw his end swiftly approaching, but because he had played an active role in raising this monster in front of him.

A monster that had finally become a part of this hell that had descended upon them all.

Lu Tianzi released his grip on Instructor Nie's neck, allowing him to fall limply to the ground.

"Farewell," Lu Tianzi walked away, leaving Instructor Nie lying on the ground as his consciousness slowly slipped away.

By this stage, the entire city had already transformed into a chaotic scene.

Almost everyone had rushed to the Officials District.

The strong sought to regroup and make their final stand, while the weak sought the protection of the strong.

Only a few brave ones remained behind in other areas to delay the advance of the demon forces.

In such a situation, the usually heavily guarded Ivory Rock Martial Academy was now left completely without a soul.

When Lu Tianzi arrived at the deserted Ivory Rock Martial Academy, he immediately headed for the library, where all technique manuals were stored.

The variety of techniques of the Ivory Rock Martial Academy was nowhere near as impressive as that of the Nine Suns Sect, but it was still nothing to be looked down upon.

Having been a student of the academy, Lu Tianzi was already familiar with the layout of the library. He quickly arrived at the second level, where the Essence Condensation realm cultivation techniques were stored.

There were around fifty different manuals, each with varying profoundness and properties.

Lu Tianzi did not bother screening through them one by one. Or at least, now was not the time to do so.

Without a second thought, he swept all fifty of them into his spatial ring.

After which, Lu Tianzi immediately left the library, heading straight for the treasury.

As expected, it was locked. But that was not something that could stop him.

Bang-!

Lu Tianzi easily kicked down the door, entering in a grand manner. With no one else around, he could simply do as he wished.

Upon entering, Lu Tianzi could not help but frown.

There were all sorts of weapons, but all of them were either at the Essence Building rank or below. In other words, they were worthless to Lu Tianzi.

He searched through the room, trying to find anything of use at all.

But there was nothing.

In terms of treasures, the level of the Ivory Rock Martial Academy was simply too low for the current Lu Tianzi. Even the Essence Stones that Lu TIanzi had been hoping to find were nowhere to be seen.

Lu Tianzi could not help but curse under his breath.

What a waste of his time!

At this moment, Lu Tianzi felt the World Origin Energy in the surroundings tremble slightly, as though every bit of energy in the air was being summoned towards the north.

The way in which this was happening… it was a familiar feeling that Lu Tianzi had experienced only once before in his life.

It was the activation of the Formation of Heaven's Blade.

The confrontation at the Officials District had begun!

Lu Tianzi immediately shot out of the Ivory Rock Martial Academy, joining everyone else as they rushed towards the north.

***

In the Officials District, rows of soldiers stood firm in the main square, readying their battle stance as they prepared for the fight that was to come.

Beneath their feet, a bright glow shone straight through from under the ground, forming a complex emblem of light around them.

This was proof that the Formation of Heaven's Blade had been activated, and its very existence brought the morale of the soldiers to a sky high level.

Hovering calmly in the air above them was a shining sword of energy.

Months ago, everyone in Ivory Rock City had personally seen this shining sword in action as it completely destroyed the enemy of humanity.

Now, it was time for it to show its prowess once more!

Not too far away from the rows of soldiers was a group of demons, led by two Origin Core realm martial artists who stood right at the front.

The two groups were staring down one another, both unwilling to make the first move.

Right now, General Nanbai Zhaoyu wore a dark expression on his face.

He could clearly sense the power behind the shining sword of energy in the air, and it was something that could even pose a threat to him!

It was not surprising that Hu Yuanbo would have some sort of tricks up his sleeves, especially when it was his homeground.

However, this was still a little more than what General Nanbai Zhaoyu had expected.

Thankfully, he had taken such unexpected matters into consideration, and had enlisted the aid of the various influences of Bluenight City in this attack. With the help of the Origin Core realm martial artist beside him, it should not be a problem to handle this shining sword of energy.

Even so, it was still better to be safe than sorry.

"Elder Diansheng, how are matters on your end?" General Nanbai Zhaoyu spoke into his communication ring. "We need your assistance here if possible."

"I am a little busy here, things are trickier than I expected," Elder Diansheng answered immediately.

"Is that so?" General Nanbai Zhaoyu sighed. "All right, since the human leader is contained here, we no longer have to rush as much. We will try to delay until Elder Diansheng arrives so we can strike at once."

"The human leader is there?! All right, I will be there immediately after I am done on my side…" Elder Diansheng replied.

General Nanbai Zhaoyu could almost swear that he sensed quite a bit of disappointment in the other party's voice, but it was probably just his imagination.

He then flew into the air, looking down at the human army that had assembled before him.

But his attention was neither on the soldiers nor the shining sword of energy this time.

General Nanbai Zhaoyu turned his gaze towards a man standing right at the back, a man whom he was quite familiar with – Hu Yuanbo.

"Stop putting up a useless struggle, Hu Yuanbo! You know that you cannot escape the fate of death today!" General Nanbai Zhaoyu yelled. "What you are doing is just wasting everyone's time!"

Hearing his words, Hu Yuanbo merely snorted in contempt.

If surrendering meant death, then obviously he was going to fight to the end!

"You can stop with your wishful thinking!" Hu Yuanbo shouted back. "Until the final moment, nobody knows what the final outcome would be. Why aren't you guys making your move if you are so confident of your own strength? Isn't it because you are afraid of us as well?"

"Afraid?" General Nanbai Zhaoyu laughed. "Just look at yourself! Who is the one hiding behind your men in cowardice? You dare talk to me about being afraid? How about this? If you surrender your life, I will spare the lives of all your men, allowing them to remain in this city of theirs for good! In the future, I will not tough them, and even prevent them from coming to any harm! Are you brave enough to sacrifice yourself for the people under you?"

"As if your words can be trusted!" Hu Yuanbo snapped.

"How about if I swear a Heaven's Oath?" General Nanbai Zhaoyu added with a smile.

Upon hearing the enemy leader's terms, there were some among the human soldiers who felt their throats go dry and their wills waver.

Anyone could see that they had the absolute disadvantage in this battle. Even if they had a chance at victory, it would definitely come at a great cost.

It was not that they were cowards who valued their lives above the City Lord's, but the lives of their loved ones were at stake as well!

They could not help but think to themselves. If they could sacrifice themselves to save everyone else, would they do so?

But at this moment, their respectable City Lord broke them from their daze.

"Do not try to ensnare us with your beguiling words! Who knows what vile means you demons have to bypass the Heaven's Oath?" Hu Yuanbo directly shot down the proposal. "Since you have already gone this far, killing our people as you wished, there is no longer a way for us to back down! Only one side will remain while the other shall perish! At this point, there is no need for all this idle talk! Now, let's just see who will end up as the final victor!"

General Nanbai Zhaoyu sneered in response.

"As you wish! Everyone, advance! Let's show these idiots just how futile their resistance really is!"