The Attack of the Wastrel

Lu Yuan sighed as he reprimanded Lu Heng. He continued to talk about the various power dynamics in the Lost Lands.

The Lost Lands had cut off contact from the Tianyuan Continent a long time ago and the rules and laws that worked in the continent did not apply there. With no spiritual energy, they could only go down the other path of strengthening themselves - physical training.

Those that trained their physical bodies were called Warriors, and there were seven ranks in this Warrior system.

They were the Steel, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Amethyst, Glaze and Chaos Class. The higher the class of a Warrior, the harder it was to raise their class. In the entire Lost Lands, there were only six Warriors who managed to reach the Glaze Class.

Four of them were the governors of the four major cities and the other two resided in the Spirit City. The captain of the Langya Troop was a Gold Class Warrior, and possessed physical strength equivalent to that of a Martial Sage on the Tianyuan Continent, and he was already considered a top expert in the Forgotten City. This showed the difficulty of training the physical body.

Men had to adapt and change according to their circumstances. Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan exchanged a look, they had not expected that even though they could no longer cultivate in the Lost Lands due to the lack of spiritual energy, another new path of physical training opened up for them. They wondered who would win if a Warrior and a Martial Artist of the same standard fought against each other.

“So? My captain has explained it so thoroughly to you two, how about you join us? As long as you agree to it, we will make sure you do not regret this decision!” Lu Heng’s eyes sparkled brightly and he stared at Rong Yuan with excitement, “Our troop is the third strongest troop in the Forgotten City. The two troops ranked above us got their placing only by taking all the things from Smelt Mountain.”

Seeing Lu Heng’s enthusiasm, Gu Lingzhi turned towards Rong Yuan and laughed, “We just came here and we do not have anywhere else to go. How about we join them?”

Gu Lingzhi was not against joining the Langya Troop since their understanding of the Lost Lands came entirely from Lu Yuan and Lu Heng and the couple wanted to learn more about the situation there. If the troop truly wanted them to join out of good intentions, they were lucky. But if they were greedy and only wanted the couple to join to obtain the items from the outside world they had on hand, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan would not hesitate to be merciless towards them.

With Gu Lingzhi’s consent, Lu Heng smiled brightly and he turned towards Rong Yuan, anticipating his reply. At the sight of Rong Yuan’s slight nod, Lu Heng beamed with joy. He envisioned that the Langya Troop would become the strongest in Forgotten City because of the couple’s arrival.

Lu Yuan was also joyful, he believed that the two joining the troop was a blessing.

Lu Yuan reached into his bag and placed a small bottle on the table before Rong Yuan. Raising his eyebrows, Lu Yuan said, “Lu Heng should not have taken what is yours.”

Rong Yuan reached forward for the bottle and opened it. It was the Spiritual Medicine he had given to Lu Heng before. He frowned, “What do you mean?”

Calmly, Lu Yuan explained, “Since you agreed to join the Langya Troop, you are our brother. We cannot demand for returns on favours. You should keep this Spiritual Medicine and use it to exchange for things in the future.” Lu Yuan kept his eyes focused on Rong Yuan, picking up on any change in expression.

Rong Yuan’s eyes flashed and he knew that Lu Yuan was trying to figure out if he had other outside world items with him.

Nothing came free in the world and no one had purely good intentions. Lu Yuan did not hide his real intentions of inviting Rong Yuan to join the Langya Troop and he tried to guess how many other valuable items Rong Yuan had with him. Rong Yuan smiled, “Since I gave this to Lu Heng, I have no intentions of taking it back. If anyone in the troop needs anything in the future, they can exchange their items with me.” After all, Rong Yuan had plenty of top weapons and medicines with him.

The moment Rong Yuan finished, Lu Heng reached out for the Spiritual Medicine on the table at lightning speed and he carefully hugged the bottle to his chest. Treating it like a baby, he pouted, “You forced me to take it out even after he gave it to me. The spiritual energy must have escaped from the medicine… I wonder if the effectiveness of the medicine has decreased.”

Lu Yuan took in Lu Heng’s complaints and stared at Rong Yuan with a complicated look in his eyes, “Brother, I think you do not know the value of spiritual energy here. Spirit Plants that are abundant in the outside world are non-existent here. This means that everything you have from the outside world cannot be replaced.”

“I understand.” Rong Yuan laughed lightly, “I have my own considerations, don’t worry about me.”

Lu Yuan fell silent at Rong Yuan’s reply. He had said all that he could and it was Rong Yuan’s own problem if he was so wasteful with the resources he brought from the outside world.

After a day of rest, Gu Lingzhi woke up and wanted to take a bath with water-based spiritual energy like she was accustomed to. However, she felt her surroundings and the lack of spiritual energy in the air before she realized where she was.

As she thought of Lu Heng having to fetch water from the well yesterday, she could not help sighing, “How troublesome.”

With a blank face, she inched her way beside Rong Yuan and instructed, “Go and fetch the water.”

Chuckling softly, Rong Yuan pulled Gu Lingzhi’s forehead to his lips before he said, “Yes, madam.”

He held a pail in one hand and a basin in the other before he headed for the well.

Gu Lingzhi stared after Rong Yuan’s figure and laughed to herself. Who would think that such a proud person like Rong Yuan would fetch water like any regular human being? If his underlings saw him then, they would think they were dreaming.

The morning breeze was cooling and refreshing. Gu Lingzhi smiled in amusement as she saw Rong Yuan’s amateurish attempts to fetch water from the well. People beside him guided and directed him.

Splashing sounds of water echoed from the well as Rong Yuan pulled the water up with much effort. He did not want to fetch water from the well a second time and hence he ensured that he filled the pail to the brim. However, his hands slipped from the wetness and the bucketful of water splashed back into the well with a loud splash. Everyone burst into laughter at his actions.

Nonetheless, Rong Yuan did not show any signs of embarrassment even after such a foolish deed and he humbly sought help from others beside him.

The air was filled with a cacophony of sounds as the men from the Langya Troop talked and chattered. All of a sudden, a clear blare of a trumpet could be heard.

“Toot…… Toot…..” The blaring sounds rang twice, signalling the arrival of enemies.

Everyone’s expressions darkened and they placed down everything they were holding and ran in one direction.

Without hesitation, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan followed the crowd and arrived at a scene of chaos.

On a large piece of grassland, two troops stood distinctly apart. The Langya Troop that was led by Lu Yuan was in a confrontation with another troop. Stern and fierce looks were worn on everyone’s faces and the anger and animosity between the two groups could be felt in the air.

“Lu Yuan, do not make things difficult for yourself! Hand the two people from yesterday over. Otherwise, you will not be able to hold your ground against our captain’s Wheel of Fire!” A man boomed with rage.

As the good-for-nothing advisor of the strongest troop in the Forgotten City, this man, Jia Haiye, loved to gloat about his troop’s power in front of others.

“What a joke, I obviously found the two people first. Why would I hand them over? If you are jealous, why don’t you dig up Smelt Mountain?” Lu Heng scoffed but his heart clenched in nervousness.

Although he had quickly brought Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan back to the Langya Troop the previous day, news had spread. He had not expected the other troops to move so quickly after getting the news. What should he do? If the two people wanted to leave or they were tricked into leaving with the new troop, how would he get his valuable Spiritual Medicine in the future?

No way! For the future of the Langya Troop, he must not let the two people leave. 

Jia Haiye looked at Lu Heng’s brave front and mocked, “Are they your men just because you found them first? They have not seen my captain. If they had seen him, they would not join you bunch of trash.”

“Who are you calling trash?!” Lu Heng immediately shouted in anger. “If you are truly capable, fight my brother yourself! Why rely on others?”

Seeing Lu Heng agitated by Jia Haiye’s picking, Lu Yuan commanded, “Get back!”

Lu Heng frowned and pursed his lips. He had a natural pleasant face and he would often be mocked when he tried to act like a gangster.

Jia Haiye’s plan had failed, he wanted to infuriate Lu Heng such that Lu Heng would initiate the fight between the two troops. Jia Haiye scanned the people around him and suddenly, his lips curled into a malicious smile, “Hey, these two people must be the ones that arrived at the Lost Lands yesterday. I am the advisor of the best Expedition Troop in the Forgotten City, the Tanlang Troop. Greetings to you two.”

Rong Yuan coldly nodded and acknowledged Jia Haiye’s greeting. Leading Gu Lingzhi towards Lu Heng, he boomed, “I was wondering which devil barged in just like that and interrupted my morning water fetching. So it is this mouse who is squeaking so loudly. He must not be afraid of being stepped on by others.”