Tears started falling from Su Yiran’s eyes.
“Don’t worry, Yiran. With the three of us, we’ll definitely make the rest of his life a pleasant one if he dares to enter the Prime Tower,” Gongsun Chi said.
“How so?”
“As an example, we can let my Sky-blazing Locusts nibble on his flesh bit by bit,” Gongsun Chi said.
“That’ll be a sight for sore eyes. What a pity I won’t be able to see it.” Su Yiran still couldn’t let go of her grudge.
“That can’t be helped. However, what I can do is help describe the entire process to you as you’re eating!”
“Get lost, that’s disgusting!” Su Yiran had finally started laughing.
Chen Xiaoji and Gongsun Chi exchanged a smile, then Chen Xiaoji asked, “Zhenxing, why aren’t you saying anything?”
Yuwen Zhenxing lifted his head, revealing slightly bloodshot eyes. Frowning, he said, “I’ve been making calculations. His rate of improvement is just too fast. I’m afraid he’ll make another breakthrough before entering the Prime Tower.”
“A breakthrough? That won’t be possible. Even for us, the fastest it’ll happen is a level a year in the Unity stage.”
“Right. He may have been a little fast, I admit. I think he took half a month per level? But you can’t linearly calculate increases in cultivation levels like that. Also, his pentabane can only provide him so much aid in fighting above his level. That advantage will slowly vanish. Even if he does make another breakthrough, at most, he’ll be on even footing with us. However, don’t forget the Prime Tower was designed by our seniors. He’ll surely die, having to face all three of us!”
“The higher the cultivation level, the harder the breakthroughs. Heh, if he could proceed at the pace of half a month per level, that wouldn’t be a pentabane but a centibane!”
“You’re right. That wouldn’t be a genius, but a god. Anyway, as long as he’s not a god, he’s dead meat when he steps into the Prime Tower. A heaven-defying pentabane? What the hell does that matter once he’s dead?”
“Does everyone still remember? We have the perfect specimen of Li Wudi to see for that!”
Everyone burst out into laughter. Their only worry was that Li Tianming would hide himself like a mouse.
“A god?” Yuwen Zhenxing clenched his fists and looked at Su Yiran. “Even if he were a god, that doesn’t change anything. I still need to behead him.”
……
Back on Azure Dragon Sword Mountain, there was no moonlight. However, the stars in the sky were many and resplendent. They came in all colors, with purple and blue being in the majority.
Such beautiful stars were the most resplendent of creations in the world. However, according to Ye Shaoqing, the very purpose of the Voidgod Sword Intent’s second move, Starfall, was to bring down those stars. It was far more powerful than Countercurrent.
There were still fourteen days left until the Prime Struggle. In other words, Li Tianming had been working on Starfall for sixteen days! Training Starfall needed clear imagery; hence, Li Tianming had switched up his schedule. Now, he spent his days in the Li Mausoleum and nights on Azure Sword Mountain.
Ye Shaoqing would often be at his side, watching and correcting his errors. With the Kunpeng Sacred Seal, comprehending sword intent was nothing difficult. However, to achieve mastery and unleash its true power, what was needed was practice and practice.
Starfall!
Under the starlight, Tianming held on to Onyx Dragon as draconic blood seethed on its surface.
Every time he flicked his sword, a violent streak of sword ki would shoot out toward the stars.
“The endless stars are a representation of how vast the world is, and how microscopic and insignificant man is! Hence, for that insignificant man to hold the desire to bring down the stars is in itself heaven-defying! From fighting against the current, to fighting against the stars is a qualitative leap in might!” It sounded easy to possess this kind of spirit, but in practice it was another matter.
How could a mortal body have the spirit to fell the stars? They could only keep striking out with their sword, viewing the stars as something to remove, until the knot in their hearts were untied.
The stars only served as an image for something impossibly vast and distant, an analogy for the Voidgod Sword Intent’s growth.
Under the starry sky, Tianming had a special feeling. It wasn’t hopelessness—instead, he was thinking of two scenes.
An Aeternal Infernal Phoenix swallowing sun after sun, and the Genesis Chaos Thunderfiend roaming a sea of lightning and using the lightning to refine worlds.
That was truly the vast world!
What did minor beastmasters count for by comparison?
That was why he didn’t feel hopelessness, but instead became fired up in the face of those distant stars and the vast world. He was grateful to these stars for opening his eyes!
He would bring down the stars and change his fate, so that he could one day step on the same stage as the stars and live as long as heaven and earth!
When his thoughts found the correct path, everything became smoother. That night, over a thousand streaks of sword light soared into the sky, seeming to reach infinitely close to the stars.
Until, finally, one streak pierced through the clouds.
“Not bad. You’ve achieved great mastery in Starfall!” Now, Tianming had mastered two of the four stances. While on the surface, Ye Shaoqing was clapping, he was cursing up a storm inside. Freak. I used to think the tetrabane Li Wudi was hot stuff and an unparalleled genius. But now I know, only Li Tianming deserves those descriptions!
Ye Shaoqing had originally planned on not letting Tianming risk himself in the Prime Tower. However, he was now more interested in seeing how many worldviews Tianming could topple during the Prime Struggle.
“Many people think that even if you can maintain your previous rate of improvement, death is still a foregone conclusion for you,” Ye Shaoqing said.
“Oh. Next is Cosmic Break, right?”
“Aren’t you worried?”
“Cosmic Break, huh. That’s a scale even larger than the stars. So, it needs even an even more heaven-defying will to support it. Am I right?”
Tianming had absolutely no interest in the Prime Tower or his life and death. Immersed in the profundities of the Voidgod Sword Intent, his mind was only focused on advancing.
Ye Shaoqing was speechless. Weirdo!
However, there was no way for him to know that Tianming held no interest in surpassing others. In Tianming’s heart, his only targets were fate and himself.
Everyone else thought that as long as he survived, his future would be limitless. However, he alone knew that if he didn’t become a saint in three years, Lifesbane would kill him.
That was the true specter of death that loomed over him!