All the sentinels who were responsible for saving the citizens of Aquamarine had experienced many brushes with death.
“Li Wudi! Grand-Orient Sect Master!”
“He killed the Elysian Emperor!”
“Forty years of bitter cultivation gave birth to a sudden rise. He’s invincible in the Grand-Orient Realm!”
“I’m not cultured. All my praise for Sect Master Li can be simplified with one word: bravo!”
Earth-shattering roars echoed out and swept over Li Wudi. Li Wudi smiled, because it meant the sect war had finally ended with the total defeat of Heaven’s Elysium and the Cloudmist Sword School. Only he knew how dangerous and tough the war had been. Moreover, killing Jun Shengxiao hadn’t been easy. But the smile on everyone’s faces was the reason he had fought.
“We won!” Two simple words were enough to express the delight and content he felt. As Li Wudi looked at the barrier from afar, none of the purifiers and defenders dared to make a move. All of them were dejected, especially the purifiers. They had already surrendered and taken off their armor, but they had no idea where they should go.
“Earthorigin defenders, listen up!” Li Wudi swept his crimson gaze across the barrier. Within the barrier, the defenders no longer dared to be arrogant and all of them were looking at Li Wudi with pale faces. Then, Li Wudi’s cold voice rang out, making the defenders feel so wronged that they nearly teared up.
“As I previously said, I won’t kill anyone who surrendered. But I will take you captive to force the Earthorigin Sect out of the Cloudmist Sword School’s territory. I can give you my assurance that I’ll release all of you, as long as the Earthorigin Sect complies. You can also choose not to give up, but you’ll be killed. Now, make your choice. You can feel free to carry on fighting and refuse to give up!”
However, none of the defenders dared to make a move. It had taken enormous effort to capture seventy thousand people and make them lose their fighting strength. But what Li Wudi needed most right now was time.
“Now, hand over your spatial rings! Anyone who disobeys will die!” Li Wudi warned once again.
Hearing his words, the defenders felt even more depressed. They were captives now, so how could they retaliate? If Li Wudi were to be ruthless, they probably wouldn’t be able to keep their lives.
“Give up. The vice sect master and junior sect master have been killed, and so have eighty thousand of us. They can eradicate the rest of us any time.” Elder Tian took the lead and handed over his belongings, which included his weapon. That was Li Wudi’s arrangement for the defenders. As for the purifiers, they were the last remnants of Heaven’s Elysium. Their faces were unsightly, and most of them looked as if they had lost their souls. They had already long thrown their armor away.
“As for the purifiers.…” When Li Wudi’s voice sounded out, his words instantly attracted the purifiers’ attention. “You guys are lucky. Heaven's Elysium is no more, but you’re still here. Likewise, I won’t take it too far with you guys. Since you’ve already surrendered, keep in mind that Heaven’s Elysium, and its purifiers, no longer exist in the Grand-Orient Realm.
“Heaven’s Elysium will become part of the Grand-Orient Sect, and I’ll head there personally to oversee things until Heaven’s Elysium has been incorporated into the Grand-Orient Sect. If it goes smoothly, then all of you will be part of the Grand-Orient Sect, becoming one of the guardians. The entire Heaven’s Elysium will be incorporated into the Grand-Orient Sect! There will definitely be troubles in the future, but I can tell you guys that Heaven’s Elysium is history as of today!” Shockingly enough, the purifiers took the news better than the defenders.
“Sect master!” Someone suddenly came out. He was the only Cardinal King remaining, the South Cardinal King. “Jun Shengxiao was brutal, and I’ve long wanted to leave. On the other hand, you’ve become a legend at such a young age, so your future is definitely boundless. Jun Shengxiao had a disregard for life, and it’s been proven that you’re stronger than him. He is the reason for all these corpses on the battlefield. We’re willing to join the Grand-Orient Sect and follow the sect master!”
More elders stood up and spoke for Li Wudi. Heaven’s Elysium had already been crippled, so how could the remaining few purifiers retaliate? Many of them even felt reverence toward Li Wudi, which caused him to erupt in laughter when he discovered how they felt.
“It won’t be easy, taking Heaven’s Elysium into the Grand-Orient Sect. They’ll probably need to be suppressed for years to come to get rid of any urge to rebel, and it’ll be generations before Heaven’s Elysium fully becomes part of the Grand-Orient Sect.” Li Wudi was clear about that fact. It wouldn’t be easy to use the purifiers as guardians, given the hatred that existed between the two sects.
Then again, they didn’t have any choice, since they weren’t making the decisions in the sect war. In addition to the fact that the Grand-Orient Realm was still going through troubled times, it would take them a great deal of effort to get through this period. Now that the war had come to an end, Li Wudi had to make proper arrangements.
Next would be the Onyx Sect returning to the Onyx Hole and setting up their barrier once more. As for the Cloudmist Sword School’s territory, Li Wudi had to rely on the defenders that he’d captured to get it back. In short, there were many things that Li Wudi had to do. From this moment forth, despite not being recognized by Theocracy of the Ancients, he was the ruler of the Grand-Orient Realm.
“It’s finally come to an end.” Tianming was relieved. Honestly speaking, he had been under tremendous pressure during the last battle, and fortunately, Li Wudi didn’t disappoint.
“Congratulations, big brother! You’re now the crown prince of the Grand-Orient Realm!” Jiang Feiling teased.
“Congratulations to you as well, crown princess.”
The Prime Tower had long returned to Tianming’s lifebound space, and he’d also kept the Grand-Orient Sword.
“Big brother, it’s a great merit to save a life, so you’re already a saint, in terms of your contributions!” Jiang Feiling said with reverence in her tone. If she weren’t in her spiritual form, she would’ve been bawling her eyes out after witnessing so many deaths. But when she saw Tianming saving lives, she felt that there was no one more handsome than him.
“Don’t talk nonsense. It was all thanks to the Grand-Orient Sword and Prime Tower,” said Tianming. He was feeling a little embarrassed by being praised by Jiang Feiling. After all, if those merits were considered his, then his lifespan would become that of an immortal.
“I bet you know nothing about this. The Grand-Orient Sword and Prime Tower are prideful artifacts, so why would they save everyone, if it wasn’t for you?” Jiang Feiling replied.
“Where’d you get that nonsense from?” Tianming smiled bitterly.
“I read it in a book, so don’t look down on me. I know everything in the world, and you’re illiterate compared to me.” Jiang Feiling snorted.
“Alright, fine. You’re the best.”
“So behave yourself next time!”
“Got it.” Now that the ocean had calmed down, everyone was still busy cleaning up the aftermath.
“Tianming, you’ve done a great job! The merit you earned this time simply cannot be measured. I bet the citizens of Aquamarine will probably make a statue of you when they go back.” Tianming suddenly felt someone slapping the back of his head. When Tianming turned around, he saw Li Wudi looking back at him with gleaming eyes.
“Father.” Tianming laughed as well.
“You made me proud there. If I didn’t bring you here, I’d probably regret it for my entire life. You, my son, are the manifestation of miracles. Throughout the tens of thousands of years, the Grand-Orient Sword and Prime Tower have fallen into the hands of many, but no one’s ever heard of the two artifacts lowering themselves to save lives. By the way, you haven’t done anything shameful with the Grand-Orient Sword and Prime Tower, right?” Li Wudi laughed.
“Screw you! Then let me ask you, did you go into the first ancestor’s grave and sleep with him to gain such power? Or did the ancestors spoil you?” Tianming glared at Li Wudi.
“Holy shit, you’re shameless!” Li Wudi’s eyes were widened when he heard that. Behind Li Wudi stood the Onyx Emperor, Weisheng Tianlan, Weisheng Cangyuan, Huangfu Fengyun, and all the rest of the masters. They were all looking at Tianming in amazement.
“Tianming, it’s all thanks to you that the Southsky Sect made it through this disaster today. All your father did was just clean up the aftermath. I don’t respect him, but I respect you.” Weisheng Tianlan looked at Tianming with his eyes aglow.
“Tianlan is right.”
“If heaven knew about your merit, you’d definitely be at least in the Empyrean Saint stage!”
“Hahaha!”
When Tianming heard that everyone was attributing the credit to him, he felt a little stressed. He’d never considered himself to be a good person, especially all the killing he had recently done. So he felt a little confused at suddenly being called a saint. After all, he was still too young. But just as everyone was still praising him, the Prime Tower suddenly trembled in the lifebound space, along with the third Primordial Chaos Beast egg!
“Holy…!” Tianming received the shock of his life when he turned around. The ninety-nine azure dragon pulses were staring right at him, then they charged over.
“Don’t be impulsive, my friend—” The ninety-nine azure dragon pulses devoured Tianming before he could finish his words. When Weisheng Tianlan and the rest saw that, their faces drastically changed and they started panicking. Their expressions weren’t much different from Li Wudi as they yelled out, “Tianming!”
“Relax, relax.” Li Wudi waved his hand. Only when they saw that Li Wudi wasn’t panicking did everyone relax, but they could still feel their scalps going numb. After all, they would be dead if they were in Tianming’s position.