Upon returning to Fatepath Peak, Tianming shared Feiling’s current predicament with Qingyu. Naturally, the latter was both moved by her actions and remorseful, insisting she would wait for Feiling to regain consciousness and express her gratitude.
After saying his goodbyes, Tianming wholeheartedly prepared for the Realm Wars, which was to be held a fortnight later. In all likelihood, he would leave Grand-Orient Sect in about ten days. At that time, there would be fifteen elders accompanying them, while the remaining ten would stay in the sect to protect Qingyu and deal with important matters of the sect.
The twenty-five elders, as well as Ye Yuxi, had recently learned of Qingyu’s Pentamoon Skybane. If news of this were to spread to others, then perhaps there was a mole among the elders.
Before leaving, Tianming once again made every effort to speed up his cultivation, which of course demanded a lot from poor Meow Meow. As soon as its battle wounds were healed, Meow Meow was forced to cultivate in preparation for the Realm Wars.
"Shall we return to Vermilion Bird after leaving the Grand-Orient Sect? We don't have to fight all the time there. If we have the time, we can even cultivate our minds."
"What nonsense. Have you forgotten we only have a few years to live? If we don’t cultivate and fight, we’ll die," chided Ying Huo.
"My God, I feel as if the heavens are aiming at me!" Meow Meow rolled over in pain. The Aeonic Grandbane was the enemy of sleep.
"Oh stop being so dramatic, the good stuff is coming." Being back in the Li Mausoleum put Tianming in a good mood. The treasures before his eyes were either celestial manna or Saintbeast War-Souls.
"Wow, how generous!" Ying Huo was dumbstruck by the wealth of treasure before him.
"Have those old fogeys gone mad? They’ve sent you all their precious treasures." Ying Huo bounced up and down in surprise.
"Enough talk, it’s time to evolve," said Tianming.
In fact, his hands were trembling at the sheer number of treasures he had received. With twenty-five elders sheltering him, persisting as the ray of hope for the future of the Grand-Orient Sect felt incredible. No need to participate in the Prime Struggle; the treasures were sent directly to his door.
No other prime disciple received the same treatment. This was something only the future sect master deserved; the entire sect was his. After all, the Grand-Orient Sect was originally passed down to descendents of the Li Saint Clan. The position of junior sect master was equivalent to crown prince of a kingdom, so taking a few treasures from the "national treasury" sent by the “ministers” themselves wasn’t unreasonable, was it?
"Meow Meow, this is your Venomfiend Bloodclaw. Remember not to scratch me after you’ve evolved. There’s bloodfiend venom on this thing, all it takes is one scratch," said Tianming.
"You’ll be fine as long as you leave his balls alone," interjected Ying Huo.
"You know nothing! Have you ever raised a cat? A little thunder in the sky, and I’ll have five bloody scratch marks on me." Tianming crumpled at the thought. What a headache! He would have to guard against being scratched to death.
"I don’t want to eat this. It’s disgusting." Meow Meow switched to high alert as it fiddled with the Venomfiend Bloodclaw.
"Eat the damn thing."
Tianming couldn’t be bothered to argue with Meow Meow, so he picked up the claw and stuffed it into its mouth.
"Go, evolve."
"I refuse to accept this. You’re clearly abusing children,” argued Meow Meow.
"Keep fooling around and I’ll send you flying up to heaven." Tianming laughed sinisterly.
The black cat quivered, disappearing with the Venomfiend Bloodclaw.
"Ying Huo, it's your turn. The low-tier celestial manna, Goldflame Featherblade, is the most suitable manna for you. You’ll soar to a forty-nine-star beast."
Tianming opened the manna sphere containing the Goldflame Featherblade. Sharp and domineering, the sword ki surged forth, appearing more like a divine weapon rather than a celestial manna. He almost felt ready for battle just holding it in his hand. It was truly rare to come across manna that possessed sword ki.
"Wasn’t the treasure from the first floor a high-tier terrestrial manna? How’d you exchange it for a celestial manna?” wondered Ying Huo.
"Idiot, with my current status, it's embarrassing that my lifebound beasts aren’t at least fourth-order saint beasts," Tianming retorted.
Though speechless, Ying Huo had to admit it felt rather good… and now, it would have two more stars than Meow Meow.
The Goldflame Featherblade was the best low-tier celestial manna in the Grand-Orient Sect. A fourth-order saint beast with forty-nine stars was just one star shy of being a fifth-order saint beast.
Tianming looked forward to both Ying Huo and Meow Meow’s evolutions. How many blood fetters would they break, and to what extent would their powers grow?
All of it would benefit him. At the very least, the infernalsource and thundersource would spur enormous growth. These two manna would make up for the loss of beast ki. Additionally, Tianming had four other Saintbeast War-Souls.
Yes, four!
These Saintbest War-Souls were jointly selected by the elders from the sect’s war-soul inventory. Since the Saintbeast War-Soul was a type of war-soul, there was a risk of failure in the refining process; especially for Primordial Chaos Beasts, who required the war-soul to stimulate their blood fetters and form new abilities. Therefore, Tianming had asked for four.
Since Ying Huo and Meow Meow each had one, they should be able to form new abilities in time for the Realm Wars. Staring at the four war-souls in his hands, Tianming had to admit being the junior sect master was great.
It might appear glorious, but the path of growth is fraught with danger. These elders may stand firmly on my side today but the moment I fail to perform, they’ll immediately leave. Master alone will wholeheartedly protect me, so I mustn’t get carried away by these treasures. What I have to do is take one step at a time, maximize my talents and employ a shrewd acumen to judge the situation.
He shouldered the burden of Feiling, Ying Huo, Meow Meow, and his own life, as well as their futures. As the leader of the team, he was responsible for every decision. Even if none of them placed such expectations on him, he would personally assume the responsibility alone, taking each step with the utmost attention.
I don’t believe Yuwen Taiji will do nothing.
Ye Shaoqing and the others were also contemplating the same problem.
But right now, preparing for the Realm Wars takes precedence.
This was his only shot at seizing the Grand-Orient Sword from Heaven’s Elysium. If he missed this, another opportunity would come in ten years, but by that time, he would be ineligible for the Realm Wars. Therefore, Tianming was set on obtaining the sword.
While his lifebound beasts evolved, Tianming practiced his battle arts.
At present, I’ve mastered the Life-Death Whip Art and Voidgod Sword Intent, just short of the last step, that is, Myriad’s Only. I’ll have to prepare other moves for the Realm Wars.
Tianming’s thoughts were interrupted by Li Wudi’s sudden appearance.
"Haha, Tianming my child, drink with me. For some reason, Fatepath Peak is bustling today. I’ve asked those oldies for a lot of good liquor!"
"I don’t have the time," replied Tianming.
"Well, aren’t you hardworking! You definitely take after your old man, truly worthy of praise. Tell me what you want. Anything’s fine... except for liquor," Li Wudi chuckled.
"What do you have?" Tianming smiled.
"Whatever treasures; the sun, moon, and stars. You can get it from Huangfu Fengyun. Just mention my name."
"Hahaha!" Tianming knew he was bragging again.
"Godfather, please introduce another ancestor to me. I’d like to learn a boxing technique, so I have more tactics I can use in the Realm Wars," said Tianming.
In his battle with Yuwen Shendu, Tianming had managed to block his opponent’s Necrodiabolus and injure him with his dark arm alone. Tianming had only realized then how tough his arm was. Perhaps there were other formidable powers to be unearthed. None of the weapons he had come across could hurt his arm.
Since he had been focusing on swordsmanship, Tianming wanted to test how far he could increase his strength by practicing a top-notch boxing technique and incorporating heavenly will into his punches.
"Boxing? Come, I’ll take you to meet our tenth ancestor, Li Xiaozhang, who’s known as the Trivita Pugilist."
"Li Xiaozhang? That’s his name?" Tianming was tempted to laugh.
"Is there something wrong with giving his name a little personality? What should he be called then? Long Chen? Meng Hao? Yun Che?"
"Forget it. Just toss a stone down the Grand-Orient Sacred Mountain, and you’ll hit ten of those," laughed Tianming.
"How naive. You’ll hit more than twenty!”
With Li Wudi leading the way, Tianming climbed a majestic blood-red mountain. On the peak, a black tombstone was engraved with the words: the tomb of the Trivita Pugilist!
The tombstone was bold and mighty, rougher than the strange, cold tomb of the Grim Reaper. Just looking at it gave Tianming goosebumps. It bore a domineering and unyielding will, rather befitting of the title Trivita Pugilist.
Boxing was a form of close combat, the path of the strong and unruly. Fist against weapon was a risky gambit, hence the need for a ferocious and desperate fighting spirit.
"I’ll be honest with you. If you weren't my son, I wouldn't take you to see this old bandit. He drinks like a fish and only accepts good wine," grumbled Li Wudi.
With that, he poured the wine, a move that seemed to agonize him.
"You old devil, take your time drinking. Damn it, you’re too much! Oh ancestor, leave a little for your descendent. I'm about to be drained by you! There’s not even a drop left. You’ll die from overdrinking!”
Beads of cold sweat dotted Tianming’s forehead. Had he not been watching, he would have assumed their ancestors had done something untoward to Li Wudi.
On and on Li Wudi chattered, until the moment a fierce, Godlike will erupted from the Trivita Pugilist’s tomb. Tianming felt an invisible fist slam into his chest, knocking the breath out of him.
Trivita Fiendfist! On the tombstone, the black words radiated and reformed.
First Lifetime: like a Beast, Skyshatter.
Second Lifetime: like a Fiend, Godringer.
Third Lifetime: like a Fiendgod, Cataclysm.
Trivita Fiendfist: Beast, Fiend, and Fiendgod!
The Trivita Fiendfist landed on the tombstone, one punch at a time. The first fist shook the firmament; the second fist shocked gods and demons; the third fist devastated the world!
Rude, incorruptible, and crazy, advancing courageously.
Tianming was delighted. The Trivita Fiendfist was very similar to the Voidgod Sword Intent. Both were created by the spirit of defiance. Comparatively speaking, the Voidgod Sword Intent was steady with an incisive burst, while the Trivita Fiendfist was rough and turbulent, possessing a boundless fighting spirit and facing death with equanimity. By comparison, it was more explosive.
The three punches had Tianming so awestricken he had yet to react. However, his eyes were feverish as he decided to practice the Trivita Fiendfist with his dark arm.
Three lives, three worlds, the fist of madness, born from but not born of defiance. Just one glance was all Tianming required to comprehend its core. And all of this was because he was the Li Saint Clan’s descendent.
1. Trivita is pronounced try-veeta. It sounded cooler than three-lives or three-reincarnations, which was what it was in Chinese.
2. Xiaozhang means “arrogant” in Chinese, so Li Wudi is calling him “Arrogant Li”. Which is a rare reference that even works as a joke in English, since it’s a homonym for “arrogantly”, heh.