It was yet another sneak attack, but this time it came from the sea instead of the forest. Elysian Yao's Gale Drakehawk was doing its best just to catch up to Jun Tianyi, so it wasn't expecting someone to come charging out of the ocean.
Tianming used Cosmic Break during his ascent, sending his sword coursing through the air like a rising dragon toward the hawk. It was only when Elysian Yao cried out that her hawk reacted, its eyes immediately glinting gold as it zoomed to intercept Tianming.
Tianming was fully prepared for it and evaded the hawk's attack before striking its wing. Sparks flew when his sword struck the armored wing. Even so, the force of Cosmic Break was not to be blocked. The strike that had once killed Yuwen Shendu had almost taken a wing off of the drakehawk entirely. Blood spurted everywhere as it let out a shrill cry and crashed into the ocean, leaving the terrorized Elysian Yao on the water’s surface.
She stood on the sea and maintained her balance, but her abilities as a metal-type beastmaster were sure to be impacted while she was on the ocean. Before she could find stable footing, Tianming turned into a shadow and charged toward her.
"How dare you sneak attack me, Li Tianming?! You're really courting death!" she arrogantly cried, not knowing how the others had ended up.
Tianming replied with Trivita Fiendfist, Skyshaker, Godringer, and Cataclysm, instantly turning into the avatar of a mad god. He wasn’t giving her any chance at all. Elysian Yao drew her weapon, only to be sent flying. Even then, she managed to block Tianming's second blow.
"You shamele—"
Before she could finish, Godringer landed on her abdomen. The golden chain mail she wore was a defensive beastial weapon, but it didn't stop her from spewing bile from the punch.
"Uuurghh!"
Her eyes widened as she curled around Tianming’s fist like a cooked shrimp. Her body tensed and twitched from the sheer pain as blood and chunks of flesh gushed out of her mouth. That punch alone had heavily damaged her internal organs. Without saying another word, Tianming pierced her tongue through with his sword.
"Agh!" she cried with tears all over.
"Hand me the ball." Tianming didn't waste time and struck with the intent to terrorize the aloof elysian child.
"Mmmfw!" She kept her spatial ring away in a hurry, intent on not giving it up. Tianming immediately cut her finger off and took the ring, only to find that the gold ball wasn't within. He then patted her down and didn't find it either. Since the ball couldn't be ten meters away from each participant, that meant that she had already given it to Jun Tianyi.
"This is a huge pain!" Tianming had wanted to get five balls one at a time, but he didn't think she would have given the ball to Jun Tianyi out of desperation. He would have no choice but to fight him for it. As Archfiend was tied on the Greenwood Dragonwhale, he didn't have time to waste tying her behind it.
"Buzz off!" Tianming slapped her head, sending her spiraling into the ocean, then left to rescue Weisheng Ruosu.
Everyone saw how horribly Elysian Yao was treated. They would no doubt criticize Tianming for being mean to women, but elysian children didn't care about the gender of those they tortured. Had Tianming been weaker, she would have been the one horribly abusing him, instead.
Tianming read in the files that Elysian Yao was one of the crueler elysian children. There were records of what she had done in the files as a warning to all prime disciples. Many prime disciples had suffered spiritual death in the Realm Wars, and crushing Elysian Yao wasn’t nearly enough to pay for that. If he had more time, he would've made sure she joined her other pals surfing behind the whale.
By now, Ying Huo and the rest were already outside his field of vision, but he could tell where they were thanks to their connection. He immediately went after them.
"Jun Tianyi!" The big fish was finally here. Tianming's eyes burned with passion.
......
"Elysian Jin! Elysian Yao!" After witnessing the two elysian children suffering horribly at the hands of Tianming, the audience turned silent. Jun Yuanjin had even been humiliatingly defeated by a mere lifebound beast! Tianming downing Elysian Yao with three punches and penetrating her tongue with his sword nearly sent the audience into a full-blown riot. It seemed all three hundred thousand of them were riled up.
Five of the elysian children had been utterly shamed by Tianming, sending shivers down the audience’s spines. Who would remember the arrogant mockery they had spouted before the battle started? Who would remember the kind of mindset they had come with? They had never felt so frustrated and pent up. It was as if their sect had suffered seven slaps to the face, completely snapping them out of their delusional high. And just as they were about to rage like babies over it, more slaps had come from Tianming in the form of Elysian Jin and Elysian Yao's crushing defeats. They could curse and shout all they wanted, but there was little else they could do.
Though many of them refrained from cursing, it didn't help the crowd’s mood one bit. Jun Dongyao, for instance, was grimacing the whole time. The two hundred elysian elders watched the white-haired youth with murderous intent. At least there were no disciples from the Southsky Sect or Grand-Orient Sect there, or Heaven's Elysium would really be reeling in shame. But even then, it wasn't something they could be happy about.
"This Li Tianming actually dares to seek Tianyi out? What a fool!"
"I guess this is the end. Let him be arrogant if he wants! There's no way he'll be able to take Tianyi's two gold balls anyway."
"He's practically giving Tianyi the Grand-Orient Sword."
"Does he think defeating Jun Yuanjin and the rest makes him invincible?"
Tianming continued approaching Jun Tianyi with great speed. A fight was about to break out, one that the members of Heaven's Elysium had been eagerly awaiting.
"Kill him!" they cheered. Their seething contempt could be felt by the spectators from the Grand-Orient Sect and Southsky Sect.
"Tianming should've fought more conservatively and avoided clashing with Jun Tianyi," Ye Shaoqing said.
"Why?"
"All he had to do was get Ruosu's black ball. All he’d lack then is one more gold ball. He could've hidden inside Ruosu's Stillocean Godwhale for some time. Perhaps he’d be able to make some progress."
"He can still improve? Isn't he already at the ninth level of Unity? There's no time for him to comprehend Heavenly Will during the Realm War," said Weisheng Tianlan.
"Ninth level?" Ye Shaoqing chuckled.
"Isn't he?"
"Haha, just watch."
"Stop putting up airs."
......
The gold-robed Jun Tianyi stood atop a large golden dragon with thick limbs and sharp, blade-like claws. It had horns that didn't look like antlers, but rather two sharp spears. Golden scales covered its body; they were true dragon scales, and much tougher than the Gale Drakehawk's. Its most eye-catching part, however, was its golden, sword-like tail. A simple swipe from it seemed capable of splitting rivers and mountains in two. This was a fourth-order saint beast, the Golden Helldragon.
It sported forty-nine stars, and was much more powerful than a Goldwing Dragon. Not to mention, Jun Tianyi was a twin beastmaster, which was what really helped him outshine Jun Yuanjin. Currently, he was riding one of his Golden Helldragons as it flew across the sea while another one charged into the ocean depths in pursuit of Weisheng Ruosu.
There was a white silhouette under the ocean’s surface quickly speeding forward. The two Golden Helldragons' horns shot out golden beams toward it from time to time; it was a spiritsource ability, Sacred Beam. It was said to be able to breach even heavenly pattern barriers, so it could definitely pass through the ocean waters without losing much steam.
There was nothing the white silhouette could do but evade.
"Weisheng Ruosu, you won't be able to escape me," Jun Tianyi said with a snicker, looking much like an eagle playing with its prey. "I knew you’d be hiding underwater, so I came here looking for you. You don't need to run. My mission this time is to treat you nice and well, not to find the Grand-Orient Sword. Even if you try escaping, the sword won't show up. I'll keep chasing you down just like this. The Realm War is a cruel event; that much, we both understand. However, if you're open to it, we can make our time here fun and joyful. Don't worry, I have lots of experience. I've lain with more than eighty beauties, so I'm sure to satisfy you! Come to me, baby!"