The little chick was getting worn out. The battle had sapped quite a lot from it. After it killed the taotie, it slumped onto the ground and panted, but it still came up to check on the cat.
"What are you looking at, Chicken Bro?" the cat asked as it frantically groomed itself.
"You aren't injured at all!" Ying Huo complained. It appeared that most of the blood on Meow Meow was that of its foe. To think that it had gotten mad for the lazy cat's sake.
"Well of course. This cat isn't a pushover." Despite its cute appearance and googly blue eyes and pink toe beans, it was the same beast that had savagely pinned the taotie to the ground and rapidly stabbed its eyes with its tail.
"Darn it! I feel like my feelings were wasted on you!" Ying Huo chirped. It really did feel rather mad now, but seeing Tianming back with them made him feel more relaxed. It put both its wings behind its head and laid on the ground with its claws crossed. Somehow, it managed to find a toothpick to bite on as it began to watch the show.
"Chicken Bro, you're too dirty. Let me lick you clean," said the black cat once it finished cleaning itself.
"Hey, phrasing! Other people might misunderstand!"
Each time the cat licked, its rough tongue took a few feathers off it. If it continued, Ying Huo would go bald.
"Stop, Meow Meow!" the little chick cried in pain.
"Hold on. You'll be clean in a jiffy."
"Stop licking! My hairstyle! No! Now my horn is exposed!"
"I think it looks good, meow."
"Really? Then keep licking."
Thus, Tianming's two lifebound beasts slacked off while he continued his desperate battle. Though, calling it desperate did nothing but to add to the drama of the situation, for as far as he was concerned, Yuwen Zhenxing could do naught but lose. That was especially the case after he witnessed the death of his lifebound beast and freaked out.
"Li Tianming!" It almost seemed like his eyes were going to ooze blood.
"Congratulations, you're crippled. I hope you enjoy the retired life," Tianming said as he whipped the chain of eyeballs toward Yuwen Zhenxing from afar.
"Killing my lifebound beast is akin to killing me! You’ll pay for this a thousandfold! Even if you manage to leave this place, you're dead!"
"Yuwen Zhenxing, aren't you the naive one? I can hear the fear in your voice. I'm sure even you can't believe you're feeling this way. You thought that with your family backing, I wouldn't be able to kill you even if I was stronger, huh? Too bad you don't understand me well. I’m a reasonable person, you see, but if you look down on me and try to plot against my life time and again, as well as my brothers' lives, I’ll send you to hell no matter who you are just for the rush I get! Do you fear me now?!" His lips curved into a sinister smile that chilled even a killer like Yuwen Zhenxing.
With his lifebound beast dead, it was over! Even though he had given it his all fighting Tianming, he couldn’t manage to kill him. That was proof of the junior sect master's strength. He was so strong it made even Yuwen Zhenxing shudder. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, his shaking legs revealed his fear.
He had killed more than a thousand people, but even that wasn't enough for him to resist Tianming's sheer will. He had finally been awed by a pentabane. The endless fear brewed into a storm in his head, causing him to feel chills.
"Huff! Huff!" It took all he had just to control his breathing. As Tianming approached, he frantically backed away.
"Are you really the murderous demon others say you are?" Tianming said, dragging the spiked Archfiend behind him as he approached Yuwen Zhenxing.
"If you dare touch me, my grandfather, uncle, and father will make sure you die a horrible death!"
Even the toughest of people would mentally crumble at the brink of death.
"It's a shame you won't live to see it then."
"Die!" Yuwen Zhenxing finally snapped. He used all his energy on a unity-ranked battle art, God of Slaughter's Blade Mantra, and sliced toward Tianming. A dense buildup of ki surged toward the junior sect master. This blade strike was much stronger than Gongsun Chi's attack.
"Yuwen Zhenxing, watch carefully!" At that moment, Tianming's eyes almost resembled his black-eyed alter ego's. Having practiced the Life-Death Whip Art countless times, he was able to effortlessly unleash it. He would transcend life and death with a single whip!
Archfiend shot out and wrapped around the Bloodsea Fiendblade and Yuwen Zhenxing. When the whip tightened, all of the spikes on Archfiend pierced into his body.
In an instant, he had been turned into a pincushion and his battle art had been neutralized by Transcendence. With all the different, complex forms Transcendence was capable of, Tianming could easily use it to kill Yuwen Zhenxing. However, he wanted to show him something instead. He dragged the man toward him as he shrieked in pain, then slammed him onto the ground.
"Do you see it?" Tianming brought his left arm closer to Yuwen Zhenxing. In an instant, the man gasped and paled. He had been shown death through Transcendence, and though he had taken the lives of many, when time came for his own life to be claimed, he broke down.
"What... is this...?" He saw a few black words on the arm.
"These are the bane-rings of my clan. I wonder if you still think I'm really a pentabane."
"Ten!" It was as if lightning was coursing through his body. He turned to Tianming with a gaze of fear and terror. He knew about the five bane-rings on Tianming's right arm, but seeing the other five on the left told him Tianming was in fact a decabane! His eyes were shaking so much they were about to burst. He knew from the revelation that he definitely wouldn't be left alive, and his guess was right.
"Forgive me..." he said, his gaze now empty.
"Maybe next time." Tianming took the spike at the tip of Archfiend and ended it without the slightest bit of hesitation. "Live well in your next life and be sure to not go against me."
Withdrawing the spike, he let Yuwen Zhenxing fall to the ground unmoving. Even now, his eyes were still widened in shock. It was all over.
Tianming took a deep breath.