In the Vermilion Bird palace in Ignispolis, Jun Niancang was leaning against one of the pillars as he waited. Soon, his fifth brother, Jun Yifeng, landed before the palace on a pale blue dragon. The dragon had a sturdy pair of wings, making it a fast mount. In terms of its size and threat, it was perhaps two thirds of Ye Shaoqing’s Azureflame Dragon.
“Are you done?” Jun Niancang asked.
“Yeap. There were five of them, four of them in Heavenly Will and an Earth Saint stage Grand-Orient Sect elder called Li Ling. I killed all of them, so no news will leak from this place. What about your side, Niancang?” Jun Yifeng asked.
“Finding them was a piece of cake, since most of them were in this palace. Zhenzhen checked—one of them is Li Tianming’s father-in-law, one is his lover’s sister, and we also caught his grandfather from the Wei Manor. Those three should be sufficient.” Jun Niancang said, a little gloomily. He questioned his father’s methods, but he also wouldn’t forget his vengeance. This was the best opportunity he could find.
Together with his brother, he walked into the palace and found three people tied together by Yun Zhenzhen using a lightning-type chain. They were Wei Tiancang, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Qingluan. Their expressions were pale, and any movements from them would send electricity from the chain into their body, causing them to wince in pain. This was especially intolerable for Jiang Qingluan.
“Who exactly are you? If you want to threaten Tianming, shouldn’t such dirty methods be disgraceful for someone in your position?” Wei Tiancang asked the moment Jun Niancang stepped in.
“You’re right, but I have no other ways to kill him but taking you as hostages,” Jun Niancang replied indifferently.
“So, what’re your plans?” Yun Zhenzhen asked.
“Bring them back to Heaven’s Elysium. With them as hostages, I’ll have plenty of ways to make Li Tianming fight me,” Jun Niancang said.
“Let’s go,” Jun Yifeng said as they walked toward his beast, a fourth-order Wind-Riding Azure Dragon. Yun Zhenzhen casually tossed the three hostages onto the dragon’s back, then hopped on. Outside the palace, almost all of Ignispolis’s powerhouses could only watch helplessly. To them, Jun Yifeng was an unstoppable force.
“Fifth Brother, do you think he’ll succeed?” Jun Niancang asked with a trembling voice as he stared southward. He’d spent quite some time in Ignispolis, so the outcome should have been determined by now.
“It should’ve gone according to plan. Li Wudi and the Grand-Orient Sect barely had any time to react. As for Weisheng Tianlan, father knew that he’s a righteous, but indecisive, person, so he’ll definitely save those people,” Jun Yifeng explained.
“So we’re using his kindness to slaughter an entire sect?” Jun Niancang snorted. “Once we’re done with Tianming, I’ll be leaving Heaven’s Elysium for good.”
"Alas..." Jun Yifeng sighed. “Let’s return.”
Once they got back, they could plan a way to lure Tianming out.
“Tianming is a very sentimental person who’s loyal to those he trusts. I’ve heard about how important these three are to him, so he’ll definitely meet us, even if he knows it’s a trap,” Jun Yifeng explained.
Jun Niancang shook his head with a bitter smile.
“Father used Weisheng Tianlan’s righteousness against him, while I exploited Tianming’s loyalty. Truly, like father, like son,” he mocked. However, that didn’t stop him, and his eyes still reddened as he grasped at the crystal powder in his hand.
As the dragon rose into the air, another azure dragon of about the same size suddenly approached from the south and instantly locked on to them. The dragon approaching them was covered in blue fire and looked like a smaller Azureflame Dragon. It was Ye Yuxi’s lifebound beast, an Azurefeather Dragon.
The appearance of the Azurefeather Dragon stirred quite a commotion among the crowd of Ignispolis residents. The battle just now had already destroyed quite some buildings in the capital, but now it seemed that there would be a turn of events.
“Look, that’s Li Tianming on that dragon! He’s finally back!”
True enough, Tianming had come back to Ignispolis together with Ye Yuxi in order to fulfill his promise and take Jiang Qingluan with him. However, seeing Jun Niancang in Ignispolis, as well as Wei Tiancang, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Qingluan, who had been abducted, wasn’t something he had expected. In fact, Tianming had assumed that Jun Niancang had died during the battle at Southsky Sect.
“Halt!”
Tianming’s shout was of course heard by Jun Niancang’s group. They turned back and found a familiar white-haired youth sitting on the back of the Azurefeather Dragon.
“Li Tianming!” Jun Niancang felt himself flare up almost instantly. “The gods must’ve heard my wishes!”
They turned their dragon around and charged toward Tianming.
“Fifth brother, can you deal with the person beside him? That’s Ye Shaoqing’s sister, Ye Yuxi, and she is a fifth-level Earth Saint. You don’t have to kill her, just keep her away from Li Tianming,” Jun Niancang asked.
“Perfect, this saved us the effort of looking for them.”
Jun Niancang thought he could almost see Yueling Long beside him, watching over him and saying, This is the perfect opportunity to kill him!
“Kill, kill him!” Jun Niancang almost turned into a beast as he roared, his eyes bloodshot. The sight of Yueling Long dying during the Realm War was like a nightmare that would never go away.
“Zhenzhen, watch these three here. Should Li Tianming try to run away, just do what you have to do,” Jun Niancang instructed.
“Do I kill them?” Yun Zhenzhen asked.
“That won’t be necessary. Just start with her.” Jun Niancang pointed at Jiang Qingluan, causing her to pale instantly.
“Don’t you touch her! Take me instead, I’m Tianming’s father-in-law, and I’m way more important to him.” Jiang Cheng howled.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be your turn soon.” Yun Zhenzhen took the chain with her as she leapt off the Wind-Riding Azure Dragon and landed back on the roof of the palace.
When Ye Yuxi’s Azurefeather Dragon tried going for Yun Zhenzhen, the other dragon had already appeared in front of them and blocked their way.
“Ye Yuxi, how’re you doing?” Jun Yifeng sneered.
“What should I even expect from Jun Shenxiao’s sons? Too bad, you’ll end up just like him!” Ye Yuxi was fuming.
“What do you mean?” both Jun Yifeng and Jun Niancang asked nervously.
“I see the news hasn’t reached you yet,” Ye Yuxi smirked.
“Hold it there,” Tianming hurriedly whispered to her, afraid of what the brothers would do to their hostages.
“Right.” Ye Yuxi’s reactions were just as fast.
“Jun Niancang, I should’ve known better about your personality.” Tianming’s gaze was cold. He needed to handle this situation with delicacy.
“What happened to my father?” Jun Niancang persisted.
“Let them go and I’ll tell you.”
“Niancang, don’t waste your time with his bullshit. Get it done before their help arrives,” Jun Yifeng interrupted.
“Understood! Listen, Li Tianming, as soon as you disappear from my sight, I won’t hesitate to kill them,” Jun Niancang said coldly.
“Ye Yuxi!” Jun Yifeng was even faster, as he dashed toward them with the Wind-Riding Azure Dragon, toppling many of Ignispolis’ buildings in his path.
“Run!”
As Tianming dispersed the residents around him, the gust from the dragon blew toward him and Ye Yuxi, blasting them toward the Vermilion Bird palace. As soon as they recovered, the Jun brothers were already in front of them.
“Tianming, hang in there and wait for me!” Ye Yuxi frowned. She wanted to get rid of Jun Niancang first, but Jun Yifeng was standing in her way.
“Don’t worry about me,” Tianming answered.
At that moment, Jun Yifeng launched a series of deadly attacks against Ye Yuxi, so that Jun Niancang could have an opportunity to personally take revenge. He couldn’t care less for Ignispolis, and destruction reigned wherever he went. Left with no other choice, Ye Yuxi had to deal with him first.
As for Jun Niancang, he stood atop a pile of debris with his eyes locked on to Tianming. The next instant, he approached Tianming with a white spear in his hands. The spear was covered in golden scales and had a total of twenty-three saintly heavenly patterns traversing its body. That meant it was worth even more than the Imperial Ninefold Gates, and was about the same level as Ye Shaoqing’s Azureflame Empyrean. It was the Royal Elysian Spear.
Simultaneously, Jun Niancang’s lifebound beast left his lifebound space and inserted itself between Tianming and Ye Yuxi, making sure that Tianming was isolated. It was a beast that Tianming was familiar with, and in fact, had just seen a while ago. It was a sixth-order saint beast, the Firmament Saint Dragon. Compared to the emperor’s dragon, it had yet to fully mature, but that didn’t make it any less magnificent. Not only was it equal in size to Ye Shaoqing’s Azureflame Dragon, but it also radiated a holy glow.
Jun Niancang was in the saint stage, meaning that his body had evolved from that of a mere mortal’s. For all those who had reached the saint stage, their spiritsource would transform into a saint palace, and inside of that palace rested the fountain of life. The fountain was also where saint ki was formed. Unlike beast ki, saint ki was on a totally different level, in terms of quality, and it was even fused with the power of a beastmaster’s heavenly will.
What were Tianming’s odds against an earth saint with a sixth-order saint beast?
“This is a crisis that I can’t overcome by myself. I just have to stay alive and wait for aunt Yuxi to come and save me after she kills Jun Yifeng.” Tianming’s brows were locked together as he faced an opponent that was just way too many levels ahead of him.
He wasn’t given much time to think; and escape wasn’t an option either, or his loved ones would die.
“Damn it!”
As Tianming blocked a blow from Jun Niancang’s spear with his sword, he was knocked back into Vermilion Bird palace and sent crashing through the walls.
“It’s a shame that I have such an unfair advantage over you, thanks to my age and beast. But that’s fine, since you won’t be complaining about it once you’re dead.” Jun Niancang approached once again, his eyes as cold as a demon’s.