Tianming continued onward at full speed. Ying Huo flew through the forest even faster than him, like a fiery beam that blinked from one point to another. It was now at the seventh level of Unity and had undone a lot of its bloodline shackles. Not to mention, it now had a top-tier ability, Infernal Haze.
Back during the fight against Yuwen Shendu, Meow Meow and Ying Huo had been oppressed, thanks to their low level. They had survived by relying on nothing but their will. Now, they had finally gotten a chance to grow. Funnily enough, some people thought that Tianming easily won the fight, not knowing about his near-death struggles in the least; not to mention his lifebound beasts, who would still be injured if it weren’t for the Prime Tower's powers.
Yuwen Shendu was only killed due to his own carelessness. Otherwise, Tianming wouldn't have stood a chance even if he had mastered Myriad's Only. While one's survival relied mostly on their own abilities, the slightest variable could completely change the results. But if they fought again now, without taking the Spiritburn Tome and Feiling into account, Tianming would stand a real chance.
"There's someone on our flank," Ying Huo suddenly said.
"Xi Menglin, huh...." Tianming looked in Ying Huo's direction and saw a man, who also met his gaze. He was a southsky disciple Tianming had met at the inn the day before. He figured Xi Menglin was an ally. Tianming recalled that he didn't particularly seem willing to ally with him, so he decided to go his own way. Ye Shaoqing said that helping the Weisheng siblings was enough, after all. What he didn't think was that Xi Menglin would speedily come toward him as he was trying to move away. In fact, he jumped onto a green rock ahead of Tianming with his arms crossed, looking down on him.
"Go your own way. I wish to be alone," Tianming said, then turned away.
"Who said I was going to travel with you?" he said before he blocked Tianming's way again and checked him out.
"What's your deal?" Tianming was getting irritated. Due to the history between their sects, Tianming would never go out of his way to cause trouble for them. They weren't worth his time anyway.
"First Elder Gu Qiuyu is my maternal grandfather. He asked me to check out your bane-rings if I see you. Li Tianming, my guess is that you're only making things up, and backed yourself into a corner when you were asked to show your bane-rings. You got exposed," he mocked. Most people in the Grand-Orient Realm knew about the legendary pentabanes, so they all wanted to see the bane-rings for themselves. Seeing was believing, after all.
"What if I don't want to show you?"
"Then I can only press you down and strip your sleeve for a look. You really know how to boast. Even our sect master believes you, but I don't. I'll prove it to them."
"Sure. I'll let you see all you like." Initially, he didn't want to trouble them on account of Weisheng Tianlan. He might even help them out. But now, Xi Menglin was blocking his way and wasting his time. He might not make it as one of the first seven as a result. So, he decided to let his fists do the talking.
He would show him how powerful he was now. Xi Menglin was planning to 'expose' him to let his sect master learn of his mistake. Since time was short, he summoned his lifebound beast from his lifebound space. With a bright flash, a gigantic black beast appeared beneath him and charged toward Tianming.
The Southsky Sect was situated near the sea, so the lifebound beasts of their members were usually aquatic. That didn't mean they weren't hardy at all. The beast was a giant crab, even larger than the Bloodfiend Taotie. Its black shell was at least ten centimeters thick and as hard as steel. Worst of all were its razor-sharp, saw-toothed pincers that looked like they could easily tear flesh apart. Each of its long legs looked like blades, and its back shone conspicuously in five or six colors. While the beast itself was ugly, the lighting effects made it quite good looking. It was a third-order saint beast, an Astral Crab.
Tianming didn't know where this beast's eyes were, but he could feel danger emanating from it. If that beast was allowed to develop to the saint stage, it would definitely reign supreme on the high seas. That was probably why Xi Menglin was so confident.
"Li Tianming, there's no point in being stubborn. It's all the same for me to defeat you and get a look at your bane-rings even if you don't want to show me!" he said as he charged with his beast. Despite the beast's size, it was blindingly fast. Its sharp legs came chopping down like many kitchen knives.
Just as Tianming was about to fight back, the surroundings abruptly changed. A third person was heading toward them, thanks to the summoning of the crab. He was a youth carrying a heavy greatsword on his back that was taller than most people, marking him as a member of the Cloudmist Sword School. They had sent three representatives in total, and this one was named Fan Wutian. As Tianming had gotten a glance of them during the night of the banquet, he had a rough recollection of them.
As for Fan Wutian, his first reaction was to run. As far as he was concerned, the Southsky Sect and Grand-Orient Sect were their enemies. It would be troublesome for him to be attacked by both of them at once. Little did he expect that Xi Menglin didn't care about him and instead charged toward Tianming.
"This is interesting. To think that they'd fight among themselves... they truly are bumpkins." Fan Wutian gladly hid himself to watch their fight. He wasn't pressured to win at all, since his sect hadn't come for the Grand-Orient Sword. Their mission was only to humiliate the disciples of the Southsky Sect and Grand-Orient Sect. Little did he know, Tianming had immediately noticed him.
"Want to reap the benefits after we duke it out, huh? Then I'll deal with you both at once. Ying Huo, Meow Meow, end it quickly."
"Hey, I'm the boss of you, not the other way round! You don’t get to order me around!" Ying Huo snapped, flapping its wings as it charged toward Fan Wutian.
Meow Meow seemed a little drowsy, but snapped out of it, since Tianming said it would be able to relax after the Realm Wars when his position as junior sect master was secure.
Fan Wutian thought of the two cute animals as pets, rather than lifebound beasts. He didn't know better, since not even Heaven's Elysium had bothered to research the candidates the Grand-Orient Sect would be sending, since they had fallen from grace, to say no more about Cloudmist Sword School. While Tianming's killing of Yuwen Shendu was a big deal in his sect, nobody else in the realm cared about it.
"I thought Yuwen Shendu broke through to Heavenly Will. Why isn't he here? Why did they send three rookies here to die?"
"Too bad those Elysian Children and Senior Brother Tianchen won't even have anyone to mess with. We’re more than enough to deal with small fries like this." Fan Wutian immediately felt like the battle was getting boring. He didn't even bother to draw his greatsword as the two critters charged toward him, yet he didn't think the little chick would appear before him with terrifying speed.
Given its infernalsource at the seventh level of Unity, Skyscorch Featherblast caused thousands of fiery needles to explode outward, much to Fan Wutian's dismay. He immediately sent out his ninth-level Unity lifebound beast to block the needles using its feathers.
Yet not even this third-order saint beast, a Trihead Gale Condor, could resist the Skyscorch Featherblast after the little chick's bloodline powers had been further unlocked. The three-headed bird shrieked in pain as its wings began burning, but that was only the start!
"You're so dead!" Fan Wutian screamed. His lifebound beast was gravely injured, thanks to him underestimating his opponent, and he was all the madder for it. Just as he was about to draw his sword, a thundercloud formed above him and sent nine lightning serpents swirling down toward him. Meow Meow had used Chaos Disaster as Ying Huo took on the condor.
The poor condor was once more ordered to take the hits and was grounded by the lightning. Just as it was about to get up again, a gigantic black beast of thunderous fury pressed it back down on the ground. Meow Meow's red claws pierced its feathers and flesh. All twenty of its toxic claws sank into the bird, causing it to struggle and shriek despite it being more massive than Meow Meow in its Regal Chaosfiend form.
With the toxin entering its bloodstream, it would no doubt be taken out soon. They weren't nearly as powerful as Ying Huo and Meow Meow to begin with, yet they dared underestimate their enemies, only to be humiliated like Su Yiran. Before Fan Wutian could understand how his condor was defeated, he yelled and came charging at Meow Meow with his greatsword, intent on taking its head.
"Hey, look here when I'm teaching you what it really means to use a sword," said a voice all of a sudden.
Fan Wutian would never forget what he saw when he turned back. The little chick's wings were like two flaming golden swords radiating sword ki. With a snide smile, it struck with the Voidgod Sword Intent, Countercurrent.
"Impossible!" He could immediately tell it was a battle art above heavenly rank.