“I remember the Shenxiao Sword Art is a sky saint-ranked battle art. You sure you can master it?” Li Wudi asked. Sky saint-ranked battle arts were meant for sky saints, two whole stages above Li Tianming.
The Voidgod Sword Intent he had exhibited before was an advanced earth saint-ranked battle art. Ye Shaoqing himself knew no sky saint-ranked battle arts.
“I’ll give it a shot. The difficulty and power of its five basic strikes are much higher than Myriad’s Only. However, the hardest part is fusing them together,” Tianming responded seriously.
“You have the lightning and fire types. If you can fuse them, you can use the second phase of the sword art. No one throughout the Theocracy can master this level of battle art in your age group,” Li Wudi said.
Tianming laughed.
“Don’t laugh now. Wait until you actually master it first! Even I’m still taking a crack at it.” Li Wudi curled his lips. His Infernalblood Strike was a sky saint-ranked battle art from the second ancestor, Li Xinghe. “Historically, the Shenxiao Sword Art was ranked number one, while the Infernal Blood Strike ranks second. You’ll really have surpassed your seniors if you actually master it!”
“Godfather, would you be unhappy if I master it?”
“Haha! Who, you? I’m a heptabane! I’m the real number one genius!” Li Wudi said smugly.
Tianming only continued laughing.
In truth, Tianming had begun a new path of cultivation after breaking through to the Heavenly Will stage. Heavenly Will was the true stage for unearthing the Aeonic Grandbane’s potential.
The spirit’s heavenly will and the body’s beast ki were two different components. Heavenly will was the understanding of heaven and earth, and lifted up the soul. Beast ki was the level of the lifeform and raw power.
The Saint stage was the transformation of the body’s beast ki, and had nothing to do with the spirit’s heavenly will. Spiritsources would change and beast ki would evolve to a new level. After stepping into it, the beastmaster and lifebound beast would see their lifespans greatly extended.
However, while great changes would be on the horizon for the body’s beast ki in the saint stage, the spirit’s heavenly will would remain on the same level for Heavenly Will, Earth Saint, and Sky Saint.
Tianming had now laid a strong foundation after becoming a Heavenly Will cultivator.
The difficulty of mastering the Voidgod Sword Intent during Unity might have been higher than mastering a sky saint-ranked battle art now.
“Alright, I won’t keep you from giving me grandchildren. I’ll make a move.” Li Wudi gave a dirty smile.
“Don’t talk nonsense, we’re cultivating!” Tianming hurriedly replied.
“Haha, I’ve been there too! Don’t worry, I understand.” Li Wudi even chose to give a wink.
“Right, one more thing.” Li Wudi turned around after taking just a few steps.
“Let whatever you want out.”
“I don’t know your plan, but the Southsky Barrier does have ninety-nine azure dragon pulses. However, that’s the barrier’s foundation. It’ll weaken by half if you take them away. We’re in a dangerous period now, so don’t go there, lest you harm them.” Li Wudi was finally serious.
“Don’t worry.” Tianming nodded. In truth, it hadn’t been his choice that time to swallow up the imperial dragon pulses.
“Godfather, does that mean the Grand-Orient Barrier has been weakened? Will the sect be in trouble?” Tianming asked.
“Don’t worry! Your old man has tons of trump cards. Nothing will happen,” Li Wudi said arrogantly.
“So badass?” Tianming was half believing, half distrustful. He also had the sense this man wasn’t reliable.
“Fiiiineee. I’m currently still in the late stages of overcoming my Lifesbane. So, my cultivation will increase again. This rise will probably last a year before stopping. What I’ve shown you is just the tip of the iceberg!”
“One year?” It was no wonder that Li Wudi could cultivate so fast as a Sky Saint. It turned out he was still in the beneficial period of overcoming his lifesbane.
In that case, how long would Tianming’s last when he overcame the Aeonic Grandbane?
“And look around you.”
Tianming looked up. The only thing around was the blood mist. “What’s interesting about the bloodbane barrier?”
“Heh, think on it.” Li Wudi smiled confidently. Flicking his sleeve, he left.
……
For an entire month, Heaven’s Elysium didn’t make a peep.
However, the Grand-Orient Sect, Onyx Sect, and Southsky Sect were still making their preparations for battle.
The Grand-Orient Realm couldn’t settle down, as if everyone was aware that the Elysian Emperor and Heaven’s Elysium wouldn’t take their defeat lying down.
However, protecting the sect was Li Wudi’s matter. Tianming continued focusing on cultivating. He needed to seize every moment to accelerate towards the Saint stage. Otherwise, he would die!
One month later...
A white-haired young man held the Grand-Orient Sword up on Shenxiao Mountain and unleashed a shocking slash.
Hephaestus Imperius!
The power within his infernalsource surged out, turning into a conflagration filled with countless strands of Grand-Orient Sword Ki. Then, it swept out like a fiery dragon!
The soil on the mountain was scorched black as the attack passed through, carving out a long and deep gorge.
“It really is stronger than Myriad’s Only, especially when I use the Grand-Orient Sword and the vortex inside.” Tianming’s eyes shone. “Also, I’ve made strides in understanding the golden heavenly patterns, and I have the enlightenment I had during the sect war again. Finally, I reached second-level Heavenly Will!”
The Heavenly Will stage was indeed much tougher to cultivate than Unity. Tianming had made great gains during the sect war. However, even then, he had spent a full month bitter training on the golden heavenly patterns before successfully comprehending his Imperial Heavenly Will.
“I’ve also mastered Pyros Imperius.”
The main contributor of that achievement had been Ying Huo. It didn’t need any urging, and the two had thrown their all into the sword art. Success had naturally followed.
“Meow Meow!” Now, Tianming and Ying Huo’s passionate gazes landed on Meow Meow, who was busy lying down asleep on Li Shenxiao’s tombstone.
“What!” After being startled awake, it leaped up three meters into the air. Shielding its privates, the cat looked warily at the two.
“What about Fulguros Imperius?”
“I’ll work super duper hard on it. It’ll be mastered within three days! ...starting tomorrow!” The cat started yawning.
“You nugget, you’ve been saying that for an entire month! If you slack off any more, there won’t be a tomorrow for you!” Ying Huo hollered and started chasing after Meow Meow.
“Chicken Bro, don’t be impulsive! Give me one last chance. A quick nap to revitalize myself, and voila, you’ll have one super duper hard working cat!”
“You’ve said that tons of times!”
“Meoowww? Did I?”
“Eat this!”
“Pervert! Why are you going for that part!”
Tianming rubbed his forehead and exchanged a wry smile with Feiling. He couldn’t count on Meow Meow. Apart from them, there was also another egg on Shenxiao Mountain, filled with cracks.
The two-colored egg was already over three meters in size.
As Ying Huo and Meow Meow horsed around, the egg excitedly chased after them. However, it was too heavy, and it caused the entire Shenxiao Mountain to shake as it rolled around.
“I’ll finally get a mount.” Tianming finally saw his lost dream reawakening after seeing the egg’s size.
“Big brother. That time, you described it as a dragon, with its body being used as a world itself?” Jiang Feiling asked.
“That’s right. I can’t put it into words how shocking and massive it was!” Tianming couldn’t forget that scene of the Primordial Mountains and Seas World.
“I suddenly have a premonition.” A naughty smile appeared on Feiling.
“What?”
“Your description reminds me of a small pet.”
“Pet?”
“Right, what carries a mountain on its back and has a sea inside?”
“What?”
“A little tortoise….”
Tianming shook as an ill feeling took over him.
“Hey… don’t speak nonsense! That was a dragon, it’s not going to be a tortoise!”
“Big brother, are you sure you want it as a mount?” Jiang Feiling asked, her smile widening.
“Of course.”
“Then, let me gift you a title.”
“What title?”
“The Tortoise Knight.”
Tianming saw the giant egg and felt a bout of anxiety. The mightiness of the Primordial Chaos Beasts had done nothing. It hadn’t even stopped a phoenix from becoming a chicken....
The title ‘Tortoise Knight’ shook Tianming to his core, and he could only pray.
……
Heaven’s Elysium continued showing no activity, and Tianming continued training. With the carrot and the stick, he finally made Meow Meow train the Fulguros Imperius with him.
However, Tianming still mainly focused on raising his cultivation level, as that was the only way to overcome his bane. The days passed, and the Grand-Orient Realm seemed to enter a period of peace.
“Heaven’s Elysium’s disciples now keep sighing and have pale faces. Their higher echelons are staying sealed off, surely plotting something. However, godfather is getting stronger and stronger.”
Now, it was down to who could grow more in this time.
Like that, another two weeks passed.
Today, Tianming, Feiling, and Qingyu were idly strolling through Sacred Mountain’s Fortune Street. Fortune Street was much more crowded than in the past, now that the outer disciples and Onyx Sect disciples were all clustered in the thirty-three immortal mountains.
The street had many stores and a wide assortment of goods. Many people were trying to guess Feiling’s identity.
“That lady by the junior sect master’s side is even more extraordinary than Su Yiran.”
“Are you blind? They’re on completely different levels.”
“Looks like the title of Grand-Orient Sect’s number one beauty should change hands.”
“Su Wuyou?” Tianming remembered that three elders from her clan had died. Now, the Su Clan had fallen from grace and no one cared about them anymore.
Speak of the devil, as several girls just happened to pass by. Tianming scanned through them. Su Wuyou, Su Yiran, Su Tao, and Su Li. All of the girls in the Su Clan’s current generation were there; however, the present was unlike the past.
“Big brother.” Qingyu looked extremely uncomfortable when she saw Su Wuyou. Su Wuyou carried some responsibility for Guo Xiaofu’s death!