They had reached the end of the Throughpath. Instead of exiting immediately, the Onyx and Cloudmist disciples had remained there. Tianming knew exactly what their purpose was—they were waiting for the disciples of the Southsky Sect and Grand-Orient Sect.
This was an event in every Realm War. It used to be Heaven’s Elysium and Cloudmist Sword School jointly hunting disciples of the Onyx Sect, Southsky Sect, and Grand-Orient Sect. But now that there was less prey and more hunters, the prey became precious.
There were seven places, so only that many from the Southsky Sect and Grand-Orient Sect could participate in the Realm Wars. Weisheng Qingluan, Zhao Lingzhou, and the other Unity stage disciples were the main prey targeted by Sikong Tianchen and the other hunters. As for Weisheng Ruosu, they would leave her for the Realm Wars.
Tianming swept his gaze across the group. Aside from Weisheng Qingluan, there were five others—two disciples from the Cloudmist Sword School, one man and one woman; and three from Onyx Sect, two men and one woman.
There are a total of five onyx disciples, two of whom are twin brothers at Heavenly Will. The remaining three are at ninth-level Unity. Since the twin brothers weren’t present, they had most likely made it out of the Throughpath.
Sikong Tianchen and four ninth-level Unity disciples had made Weisheng Qingluan kneel while waiting for other Southsky Sect and Grand-Orient Sect disciples to show up. After all, the battle on the Throughpath was still ongoing. Their prey would eventually reach the Throughgate and welcome humiliation!
At this moment, fiery gazes from both sides instantly collided.
"Big Sister, save me!" Weisheng Qingluan shouted.
"Shut up!" Sikong Tianchen glanced at him with cold, gloomy eyes that eventually boiled as they swept over Tianming.
"Let him go," said Weisheng Ruosu. She had been prepared for Onyx Sect and the Cloudmist Sword School to attack them, but she never expected it would be Sikong Tianchen. This man had just tried giving her a gift yesterday!
"That’s impossible. The Southsky Sect doesn't know what’s good for you and can't see the situation clearly. As Weisheng Tianlan’s son, he has to crawl his way out of here!" said Sikong Tianchen.
"Would I need to do that as well?" asked a cold-eyed Weisheng Ruosu.
"Of course. Who do you think you are? Brother Tianchen presented you with a gift, yet you behaved all lofty. You chose the hard way! What’s the point in us waiting here, if not to humiliate you?"
The speaker was the charming, pretty young woman next to Sikong Tianchen, the second Cloudmist disciple, Jing Xuan. Unhappy to see Weisheng Ruosu and Tianming journey together, Sikong Tianchen didn't refute her words.
"If that's the case, there’s nothing left to say. If you’re a man, let Qingluan go. You and I will fight,” Tianming interjected.
Although most of Qingluan’s injuries were surface wounds, he was in a miserable state. How was he to explain this to Ye Shaoqing? Unfortunately, looking for Weisheng Qingluan on the Throughpath wasn’t easy.
"Who do you think you are? Do you think you’re worthy to fight Sikong Tianchen?" scoffed one of the Onyx Sect disciples.
Prior to this, they were prey, but now it was their turn to vent countless generations of humbling on others. The three onyx disciples appeared strange and gloomy, one with dark skin, the other pale and bloodless, and the last tinged with blood.
At a glance, they could tell Tianming was still at Unity. Although they were uncertain as to which level, as long as he wasn’t at Heavenly Will, he would come to a miserable end.
"My Snow Silkworm has just taken a dump. Shall we get these three to enjoy it together? Why, Sikong Tianchen, have you been so mesmerized by the beauty that you’re afraid to hurt her?" mocked another onyx disciple.
Glaring at her in reply, Sikong Tianchen kicked Weisheng Qingluan toward Jing Xuan. "Watch him. I'll deal with Weisheng Ruosu. As for this nobody, I'm curious to see how you onyx disciples play with him."
The onyx disciples roared with laughter.
"Sikong Tianchen, is he your rival in love? We won’t go easy on him then! We’ve prepared a lot of interesting games. If you hadn't taken the lead, we would’ve tried it on this young man first. Come on then, let’s give the Grand-Orient Sect’s prime disciple a taste of our methods. Our poisonous insects will bore into his body and suck on his bone marrow. Their larvae will flood from his bloodstream into his head and feast on his brain matter. It's finally our turn to have some fun.”
The Elysian Children used to give them all hard times. After all, the Realm Wars were no ordinary confrontations. Humiliation and torture was par for the course, since the Theocracy of Ancients didn’t care. Why did generations of prime disciples return shrouded in so much fear they never awoke from their nightmares?
This was something Weisheng Ruosu understood. Fortunately, the one they faced was Sikong Tianchen, otherwise it wouldn’t be as simple as a few bruises. But would Sikong Tianchen really show mercy? Of course not.
"Ruosu, you can head directly to the Throughgate, but not Weisheng Qingluan. This Grand-Orient Sect trash stays as well." Pointing his sword at Weisheng Ruosu, Sikong Tianchen handed Tianming over to the Onyx Sect disciples in a show of contempt and resentment.
"I choose to fight a hypocrite like you!" Her eyes were glazed with frost.
"Very well!" Sikong Tianchen smiled.
He had given her chances time and again, yet Weisheng Ruosu showed no appreciation and had even joined another man. How could he bear this? Every rejection was seared into his heart. The moment he pointed his sword at Weisheng Ruosu, he’d already made his decision. Just as his grandfather said, there’s no point being sentimental. Patiently practice the sword and the results would be apparent.
A storm had been brewing in the Grand-Orient Realm since the submission of the Onyx Sect.
"Ruosu, we’ve always been neck and neck with each other. However, we’ve been fighting on Southsky Island, your home ground. This time, I have the advantage." Sikong Tianchen glanced at the barren hills nearby. After crossing the river, there wasn’t a drop of water in sight.
Weisheng Ruosu simply ignored him. Fortunately, Weisheng Qingluan suffered no further injuries from Jing Xuan.
Smiling insidiously, the three onyx disciples approached Tianming and quickly surrounded him. Weisheng Qingluan was the first prey to step into their trap, but had been taken away by Sikong Tianchen. Right now, Tianming made the perfect subject to test out their many interesting games. Everyone watching couldn’t wait to see how Tianming crumbled.
"You’d better not cry too early. We won't kill you, just play with you until the end of the Throughpath battle. You’ll have all the time you need to slowly enjoy this."
All three of them were at ninth-level Unity. Their purpose wasn’t to defeat Tianming, but to torture and humiliate him. Therefore, they didn’t care that it was three on one.
As they spoke, their lifebound beasts crept out from the jungle behind them—all third-order saint beasts! The first was a Nonapoison Lizard, a huge, rough-skinned lizard with nine different toxins and colorful poisonous bumps all over its skin.
The second beast had thousands of fiery legs from head to toe—a Thousand-Legged Flame Centipede.
And the third was a Snow Silkworm, enveloped in a dreadful chill that froze its surroundings. These lifebound beasts were of the poisonous insect variety.
The northwest, where the Onyx Hole was located, was a place that poisonous insects and snakes abounded. The three onyx disciples and their lifebound beasts surrounded Tianming, staring down on him with pity.
"You’ll be the first pathetic bug to experience our gifts," they laughed. It came as no surprise that their elders above the Throughgate were laughing along with them.
Sikong Tianchen flashed a sinister grin. "You should thank me, or the first one to be tortured would’ve been your brother."
"So you wounded him with your sword?"
"That’s nothing," scoffed Sikong Tianchen.
"I never imagined you were such a lowlife."
"Lowlife? You’ve truly misunderstood me. But then again, you’re too naive," replied Sikong Tianchen.
Her younger brother was being held captive while she had to confront Sikong Tianchen in the most unfavorable environment. Additionally, Tianming faced certain peril. The only thing that reassured her was Tianming’s wordless calm. His expression revealed no fear or awe, but... ease? She believed Sikong Tianchen had noticed it as well.
"I thought you had a good eye but to think you’d fall for such pompous, shallow trash who even dyed his hair white,” laughed Sikong Tianchen.
Weisheng Ruosu couldn’t be bothered to explain the misunderstanding.
His right hand holding Archfiend and left hand clenched into a fist, Tianming stood firm, his two lifebound beasts on his shoulder. Their tiny appearances drew laughter from the crowd.
"Get him!" The three onyx disciples swarmed.
At that moment, Archfiend shook.
"Each person to a team. The fastest wins!" Ying Huo had been obsessed with competing lately.
"You got it!"
The two lifebound beasts darted out, leaving afterimages in their wake.
Tianming was delighted to compete. Would he lose?
Since Ying Huo and Meow Meow had chosen their targets, Tianming directly locked on to the third onyx disciple, whose name didn’t matter. His lifebound beast was the Thousand-Legged Flame Centipede. Tianming took a step forward and the whip in his hand flew out at a dazzling speed.
Soul Hook! Death Requisition! Transcendence!
Three lashes in a row. The first shattered the beastmaster’s weapon. Then Death Requisition Hook was unleashed upon the man, leaving a bloody trail as the beastmaster was tossed thousands of meters away, his figure disappearing in the distance. Transcendence accurately hit the centipede, causing a resounding click. With that single move, the centipede was almost torn in two, its halves only connected by a bit of flesh.