People really shouldn't be judged by their appearances. While Yuwen Zhenxing sported a huge physique, he was a rather complicated fellow who often kept to himself and his books. On the other hand, while Tianming looked like a refined gentleman, all Su Yiran could see was a brute who didn't know what was good for him.
"People like you usually don't live long," she said, correct in a way she wasn't aware of. Tianming really didn't have long left to live. She communed telepathically with her Hundred-eyed Winged Serpent and it charged forward, causing the ground to shake as its eyes burst with flames. The flames were the color of blood, and seemed like a kind of toxin. It was its spiritsource ability, Heartburn Toxiflame. Surrounded by the poisonous flame, Su Yiran laughed confidently and executed Firegod's Raging Slash.
I only used seventy percent of my power. He won't die just like that, right? she thought as she attacked.
Right as Tianming was about to be swallowed up by the flames, he finally drew Onyx Dragon, put his finger on the dragon eye, and instantly felt the dragon's blood boil. His strike was quick, accurate, and ruthless. Stepping forward as he drew his sword back, he gave it a quick slash. The movements looked simple, but the crowd burst with fervor when they witnessed it. Voidgod Sword Intent, Countercurrent! Su Yiran was the river he was trying to go against.
Su Yiran was the first to feel the razor-sharp will emanating from the strike. The headstrong, ruthless, and chaotic will formed a terrifying attack that instantly stunned her. A hundred-meter-long sword ki in the form of the Onyx Viledragon shot out, the might of the strike shaking the whole arena. The moment the swords clashed, the crowd watched as Su Yiran's sword was sent flying. Not only that, she herself was blown back until she rammed into the heavenly pattern barrier before she collapsed, unmoving. It only took Tianming one strike to reduce Su Yiran to a miserable mess. By the time she got up, she was helplessly coughing out blood.
"She's this weak?" Even Tianming hadn't expected that his strike would be that powerful. Little did he know that Su Yiran wasn't fighting with her full power. Otherwise, while she would've lost, she wouldn't have fallen so pathetically and end up so haggard. It turned out that holding back had only unnecessarily doomed her.
Tianming didn't stop at all, as the winged serpent was before his eyes by now. It opened its mouth and spat venomous magma toward him; that was its second spiritsource ability, Magma Toxiflow. Even the slightest touch could cause poisoning so severe that it would put one at the brink of death. However, Tianming now had the Voidgod Sword Intent. In the past ten or so days, he had performed more than ten thousand strikes and grown even stronger.
Sword ki filled the area around Tianming once more as he executed Countercurrent again. The wave of magma was intercepted by the draconic sword ki and cut in half, then it splattered back on the head of the winged serpent and caused such severe melting damage that its skull was revealed. The Hundred-eyed Winged Serpent shrieked as it spat magma around in a panic without hitting Tianming at all, for he was protected by Infernal Armor.
The little chick had only come out for a look, activated Infernal Armor, then went back into Tianming’s lifebound space, leaving him alone to fly in the skies with Celestial Wings and give the airborne serpent another slash. He left yet another huge, bleeding wound on the serpent's body, grounding it proper this time. By now, Su Yiran had only just crawled back up, right in time for the serpent's body to fall onto her head.
Her whole skeleton was about to fracture from the sheer force as she tumbled away from the collision. Struggling to push her serpent away, she cast a burning gaze at Tianming.
"You...!" Yet, she couldn’t find any words to say to him. All she could do was glare at him hatefully. Meanwhile, Tianming descended to the ground without a single stain on him, as if he hadn't been in a fight at all.
"What about me? Are you sure you're at the seventh level of Unity? You couldn't have been holding back on me, could you?" he mocked, causing her scalp to tingle with fury. He had actually seen through her ruse! What infuriated her even more was that she hadn’t even had an opportunity to switch gears and use her full power at all. With her lifebound beast squirming on the ground in pain, and a few of her bones completely shattered, she was at the point of fainting from pain like she had never experienced in her life before. The shame and humiliation only compounded her rage.
"I didn't know someone like you could be so glad even though you're about to die. I admit it was my loss today, but just you wait. You're a goner for sure!"
"So you're saying you want me to go to Prime Tower so you can deal with me? Thanks for the reminder. I won't be going then," he replied, smiling.
Su Yiran froze. She couldn't stand this at all. Did that mean all she had done was in vain? Once the Prime Struggle ended, their seniors would be going to participate in the Realm Wars. Who would be left to deal with Tianming then? Not to mention, the one to ruin Yuwen Zhenxing's plan would be her and her big mouth!
"Li Tianming, don't think you managed to escape. It's my loss today, but I’ll make sure your whole family is wiped out if I get that opportunity!" She was so angry she was losing breath over it.
"You want to kill my whole family?" Tianming had long known that his future was sure to be a path full of obstacles and struggles. From the moment Yuwen Taiji had cut off one of Ye Shaoqing's fingers, he knew things would only grow far worse. However, there were some things he would be willing to risk death for. A true man wouldn't kneel and beg their foes to spare them, no matter what.
"That's right. The Li Saint Clan's so-called Apex Branch will be completely wiped out! Just you wait!"
Tianming merely smirked. All of a sudden, he extended a beam of sword ki from his fingers. It was so savage that it resembled the demonstration Ye Shaoqing had shown him. Before Su Yiran could react, the sword ki streaked past her right hand.
She squealed, her face contorting in pain. When she looked back down, she found that her pinky had been vaporized by the sword ki and left without a trace. Her prized sword fell to the ground once more. At that moment, tears and snot flowed endlessly from her pale face.
"It hurts! It huuuuuurts!" she cried as she shuddered nonstop.
"Su Yiran, go tell Yuwen Zhenxing I know he's watching. Tell him that I’ll take his hand in the Prime Tower a month from now!" Tianming said, ignoring her cries. Even if he knew he might die, he would still join the fight at Prime Tower in a month. By the time Su Yiran looked back at him, the white-haired youth had turned and left the arena.