Within the stadium, Wei Tiancang exchanged blows with Yueling Hong. After curing Wei Jing of her Lifesbane, he had exhausted his strength. He was currently at fifty to sixty percent strength, not even as strong as Wei Qing.
Now, Lightning Manor and the Yueling Clan were profiting from his misfortune. It was shameless, yes, but who could stop it?
“Sire, don’t be angry with me. I just wish to test out how much strength you have left.” Yueling Hong wasn’t dumb. He wasn’t too strong, at most at Lin Sheng’s level. His goal was simply to effortlessly seize a Heaven’s Sanctum, and he wouldn’t put his life on the line for it, especially since the inspectors found so many people willing to do so for them.
Although the inspectors claimed that the Yueling Clan could defeat the Wei Manor, Lightning Manor was aware that in truth, they were at most capable of winning for the younger generation’s segment.
This Yueling Hong couldn’t even beat Wei Qing!
Such a clan wouldn’t be able to control a sanctum if they didn’t have someone backing them. Similar to Yueling Ji, Yueling Hong’s lifebound beast was a Blizzard Dragon, except that the dragon was already at its twilight years.
Due to symbiotic cultivation, a lifebound beast’s lifespan was roughly their beastmaster’s.
According to legend, only through breaking out of the Heavenly Will stage and into the ‘Saint stage’ could one exceed their mortal body and extend their life.
However, that stage was distant even for Wei Tiancang, who was formerly Vermilion Bird’s strongest. He was already getting on in years as well. If he couldn’t enter it, he could only accept the natural order of life and death, passing away like a extinguished candle.
Similar to him, Wei Tiancang’s lifebound beast was quite old. However, it drew cries of alarm when it made its way out of the lifebound space, for one reason. It was an eight-star imperial beast. Even though it was merely low-tier, the fact remained that it was an emperor of lifebound beasts. The moment it appeared, all beasts must submit!
That was the Twelve-Winged Goldroc!
Unlike its Eight-Winged brethren which were royal beasts, this was an imperial beast that could be said to be world-shaking when fully matured. In comparison, the high-tier seven-star Blizzard Dragon looked a tad unremarkable.
Regretfully, the Twelve-Winged Gold Roc wasn’t in peak condition today as well. It too, had expended its strength to cure the Lifesbane. It had been in a deep sleep until today, but it was only at seventy percent of its full strength now.
However, Wei Tiancang’s willpower didn’t waver. Holding a light gold longsword, his white robes gradually turned gold under the sunlight.
Then, without a word, the battle began!
Wei Tiancang was clearly stronger than Wei Qing. When the sword descended, golden sword ki spread for hundreds of metres. However, with his current weakness, it was too difficult for Wei Tiancang to muster his combat power of the Heavenly Will stage!
Yueling Hong had long since noticed that. He pursued a similar strategy as Lin Hao, choosing to focus on grinding down Wei Tiancang’s energy. Wei Tiancang was already so weak that he could actually die to this strategy.
Wei Tiancang was clearly aware of this as well, and he had only one recourse, which was to defeat Yueling Hong in one fell swoop. Hence, in the midst of the sword ki and golden flashes of light, Wei Tiancang and his roc started the battle with a fierce bombardment. With its spiritsource ability, the roc turned the battlefield into a purgatory of metal, and piercing blades of light filled everyone’s view.
“I admit defeat!” Not even a minute later, a battered and exhausted Yueling Hong gave up. The exit immediately opened up below his feet, with Jin Yixuan incredibly punctual for once.
Yueling Hong wasn’t really injured, and gave Wei Tiancang a smile. “And now, you can’t even show forty percent of your strength.”
Wei Tiancang had paid a price to quickly defeat him. Still, if it had dragged out, it would be even harder when he faced the Lightning Seigneur. After all, Yueling Hong was still a Heavenly Will powerhouse.
Now, only the two old enemies, Wei Tiancang and the Lightning Seigneur, Lin Tao, were left. Their battle would be the highlight of today. However, the result was already set in stone, so a truly exciting and spectacular battle wasn’t in the cards for the audience.
“Wei Tiancang. I bet that in so many years of arrogance, you never once dreamt you would meet your eventual end in your own institute’s entrance!” Lin Tao jumped down as Yueling Hong scaled the wall, landing right in front of Wei Tiancang.
“Truly shameless, taking advantage of other’s weakness. Lin Tao, me treating you as my enemy for all those years... they seem to be wasted.” Wei Tiancang frowned.
“Laughable. When it comes to a life and death battle, of course I’ll do it when you’re sick! Why are you saying such naive things at this juncture?” As he spoke, his lifebound beast soared up.
In Vermilion Bird, avian beasts reigned supreme, whether it came to the royal Vermilion Bird Clan, Wei Manor or Lightning Manor.
The Lighting Seigneur’s lifebound beast was a massive eagle, one that was both tyrannical and ferocious, with four eyes on its head. It was also an eight-star imperial beast, the Four-Eyed Divine-Lightning Eagle!
Li Tianming recognised this beast; a three-eyed version of it had been the one to rip off Midas’ feathers then.
The Lightning Seigneur stood atop it, carrying a purple sword wreathed in lightning, his presence like a god!
“Die!” The moment he attacked, it was clear the Lightning Seigneur was much stronger than his brothers, at least thirty percent stronger than Wei Qing.
“I’ll force you to pay a price if you want to kill me!” Wei Tiancang shot into the sky. Working with his roc again, golden light filled the area once more. Pulsing with a heavenly will that threatened to sunder the world, the stage below was full of craters in an instant, with even the clouds above the barrier swept away.
His destructive prowess, even in his current condition, was evidence of how powerful he would be in his peak!
However, the Lightning Seigneur wasn’t someone easy to deal with either. The incredible speed of his lifebound beast left countless afterimages in its wake.
As the two clashed, the inside of the Heavenly Pattern Barrier devolved into a mess.
The spectators naturally all felt gratified.
“Even in such a state, Wei Tiancang is still so strong?”
“Doesn’t that mean that the Lightning Seigneur isn’t his match if he were at peak condition?”
Wei Tiancang had brought them even more shock than Wei Qing. Even if he lost today, the two brothers had still done enough to astonish the crowd, based on their achievement of defeating four people.
The Lightning Seignour might not win after all! The Wei Clan members were incredibly excited, watching the golden sword intent that filled the barrier with clenched fists.
The roc unleashed a spiritsource ability that let out piercingly bright golden light that dyed the entire barrier into a golden hemisphere, blotting out the battle inside.
Everyone watched on nervously as the fight continued on for an hour. This fight had gone on even longer than Wei Qing and his three opponents had. By the end of it, everyone’s heart was in their throats.
Finally, the radiance within subsided. Wei Tiancang fell from the sky and slammed onto the ground, his sword stabbing into the ground and vibrating ceaselessly.
The Twelve-Winged Goldroc was covered in injuries as it landed beside Wei Tiancang. However, that didn’t stop it from using its body to ward off a thick lightning bolt that flew towards Wei Tiancang.
“Wei Tiancang! Enjoy your trip to the Yellow Springs!” The Lightning Seigneur descended from the sky. His body was riddled in wounds as well. One eye was bleeding, and his whole body was drenched in blood.
A large gash was on his lifebound beast’s back, blood spurting out from it in a fountain every time it flapped its wings.
But despite those injuries, it was clear that the Lightning Seigneur still had some fight left in him! Wei Tiancang had being knocked down, not from subpar skill or strength, but from exhaustion.
“I can’t believe you still almost defeated me. But what a pity, Wei Tiancang!” The Lightning Seigneur roared with deranged laughter. He didn’t care if people mocked him for taking advantage of Wei Tiancang’s weakness. This was a pragmatic world. So what if you were strong? You still have to die, now that times are changing!
“Henceforth, Vermilion Bird has no Wei Clan!”
Everyone watched as the blood-drenched old man in white robes rose, a pair of golden eyes locking onto the Lightning Seigneur. He burst out laughing a moment later. “So what if you defeat me, Lin Tao! My descendants and disciple will still end your line! History will ridicule you as useless and as a coward. You could kill me, but you won’t be considered my match!”
This heroic roar left many moved, and stirring up some contempt towards Lin Tao for his pettiness.
“Your trash descendants? Don’t make me laugh. Today, you'll die. Tomorrow, your sons will follow, and the day after, it'll be your whole line!” The Lightning Seigneur’s sword thrust out, intent on reaping Wei Tiancang’s life.
“How vicious. When did my Wei Clan ever offend you so?” Wei Tiancang couldn’t understand. While they had been enemies for a long time, it had always been through fair competition. Mu Yang had even helped train Lin Xiaoting.
“You’re too naive, despite your age. Your Wei Clan is in the way of my Lin Clan’s path to glory. If we don’t kill you, how do we proceed?”
Why was it necessary to wipe them out?
Firstly, today an irreconcilable grudge had been formed, so the remnants of the Wei Clan finding trouble with them one day had to be avoided. Secondly, they had already crippled Wei Qing, so they might as well go all the way, so that the Lightning Manor could sleep peacefully in the future.
If the Wei Clan weren’t exterminated, they would help the Vermilion Bird King and get in their way once more when the Lightning Manor tried to seize control of the country.
“Give me your life!” The Lightning Seigneur forced away Wei Tiancang’s lifebound beast that was protecting him, before his sword swept out towards Wei Tiancang’s head. He no longer had the strength to resist. Death was staring him in the eye, but he refused to admit defeat, not to vile people like this.
In the face of such scum, death was the preferred course of action!
“MU YANG! Kill every single son of the Lin Clan!” Wei Tiancang roared, a cry that tugged at everyone's heartstrings.