"Let's train the sword!"
Though Tianming had tried going through every idea he had, he still had no clue where to start with the third Shenxiao Sword Art strike. He decided to muster his spirits and go through the basics again.
"The power of blazing fire and lightning both rely on explosiveness, while the power of mountains relies on stability. Having a stabilizing power working in tandem with two explosive ones should make it tougher. With the mountains as a base, supporting fire and lightning, the power of the third strike should be even greater!"
He began performing sword strikes on the Infernal Soul Barrier with the Grand-Orient Sword.
"Li Tianming, are you still playing pretend?" said Qin Ding, the eldest of the Qin triplets, with a mocking smile.
"I'm really stumped. Did this guy grow up in a trash heap? Why doesn't he have a spine?" Qin Yuan said, sighing.
"Brothers, someone as shameless as him doesn't have any dignity. Watch and learn," said Qin Ming, the most handsome of the three. He turned to Tianming and let out a clear laugh. "Li Tianming, stop putting up an act. Let me tell you about the night I spent fucking your mother! She really was sensual and energetic, I'll give her that. She didn't even let me catch any rest!"
The hundreds of Qilin Clan members that remained burst into laughter so loud that many were shocked by it.
"Third Brother really has a way with words. Tell us more details! I bet it's good!" Qin Ding said, struggling to suppress his laughter.
"Everyone, listen up!" Qin Ming said, ecstatic at how well-received his comments were.
All of a sudden, Tianming suddenly accelerated into a blur and rushed in front of Qin Ming.
"He's moving!"
"Stop him!"
The Qilin Clan members were elated. They had been cursing and insulting him for an entire month, and their effort was about to bear fruit at last! The Qin triplets were even more overjoyed. As Qin Ming summoned his lifebound beast, he continued, "Well, I started by drinking some wine with his mom. The mood was getting rather toasty, if you get what I mean...."
As he spoke, his Blackgold Saint Qilin manifested in front of him to block Tianming's way. Even though he was from the Ink Branch, his lifebound beast was considered a metal-type. It had evolved to become a fifth-order saint beast, and was at the ninth level of Heavenly Will.
The Blackgold Saint Qilin, like most metal-type lifebound beasts, was covered in black and gold metal scales. Its body was huge and immeasurably tough, and most weapons wouldn't be able to pierce its hide. Its fangs and teeth were natural weapons, but even they paled in comparison to its spiked black tail. It looked like a spiked club, and it was sure to deal horrendous damage in close quarters.
"Hold him down and let me finish my story!" Qin Ming said with a chuckle, despite his savage expression. The hate he’d had to endure for years finally had an outlet. Even so, Tianming was so fast that he was taken aback.
The moment the qilin had manifested, Tianming had already made his way to his direct front. Qin Ming saw the cold, deathly gaze on Tianming’s face, fit for a reaper. He wasn't aware at all that his new method of insult had poked a hornet's nest.
There was a loud rumble and a gigantic twin-headed dragon with mountains on its back charged out from Tianming. The next moment, the two dragon heads roared at the qilin, using its ability, Primordial Soundwave. The sound waves formed a bundle that looked like a blinding light as it rammed against the qilin that was attempting to intercept Tianming.
The Blackgold Saint Qilin was struck with a force that its tough hide couldn't defend against, causing it to cry out in agony. The next moment, the Primordial Terraqua Dragon rammed into the qilin with a body three times its size, sending it flying off.
Before the qilin could struggle back to its feet, it was bitten by two dragon heads and pressed flat to the ground. Then, two tails swung straight into its head. With a loud metallic clang, the head of the qilin burst open.
The shocking collision caused many to back off in a hurry. Qin Ming had run off immediately, otherwise he would have been crushed beneath the bodies of the two gigantic beasts.
"What kind of lifebound beast is that?!" Qin Ming cried in shock. However, that was when his life was truly in danger. As he turned back, he saw a white-haired youth charging toward him.
Tianming executed Olympos Imperius, the heaviest of the five basic strikes. But as the Infernal Soul Barrier didn't have any earth or mountains, the force of his strike was somewhat weakened.
"Who do you think you are?!" Qin Ming drew his weapon, a black and gold halberd, and used a heavenly-ranked battle art to counter.
The two clashed magnificently. The terrifying force behind Olympos Imperius caused Qin Ming to kneel on the barrier, the halberd in his hand having been split into two by the Grand-Orient Sword.
"Huh?" Qin Ming was completely flabbergasted. Qin Feng had said that Tianming's power was akin to an eighth-level Heavenly Will's, but his lifebound beast had done quite a lot of work for him. Given that Qin Ming was a ninth-level Heavenly Will at the age of eighteen, he was six levels above Yueling Long, who was also about his age.
If he had gone to the Grand-Orient Realm, he would definitely be able to cause more chaos than Yun Zhenzhen ever could, and gain far more status than her. Yet, now, he had been overcome by a single sword strike and had his weapon broken. What was more terrifying was Tianming's second strike.
"Save me, brothers!" Qin Ming cried as his scalp tingled in horror from Tianming's gaze. He had spent an entire month insulting Tianming for being a coward who didn't know how to fight back. How could he actually be so powerful? In fact, Tianming hadn't listened to anything they had said, or he would have long exploded from the rage.
Currently, he had fought his way to Qin Ming, with Qin Ding and Qin Yuan rapidly catching up. However, a fiery chick and black cat blocked their way, attacking just as furiously as the two-headed dragon had. Ying Huo used Infernal Haze and all four strikes of the Voidgod Sword Intent, easily driving Qin Ding back. By the time he summoned his lifebound beast, it was already too late.
Qin Ding and Qin Yuan watched as Tianming smashed Qin Ming to the ground with his sword, causing him to crack open bloodily.
"Save me, quick!" Qin Ming said, his face pale. Right as he said that, the Grand-Orient Sword was pierced into his mouth. "Mmmmwwwwffff!" He let out a shrill cry from the pain.
"Now, where were you? Continue telling me about that night," Tianming said as he clutched Qin Ming’s neck and punched his chest with his left arm, driving it completely through.
Qin Ming's face contorted and reddened like cooked seafood. He slumped in Tianming’s grasp and cried out, "Save... save..."
Wham!
"Come on! Go on talking!" Tianming's slap sent Qin Ming groaning in agony once more. He couldn't speak a word now, even if he wanted to.
"Now, you’d better watch it when you open that mouth of yours." Tianming smashed him to the ground and separated Qin Ming from one of his arms with a stroke of his sword.
Yet another cry of utter torment rang through the area.
"I don't care who you are, nor do I care what kind of status you have. Today, I’ll give you all a chance. If I ever hear something like this again, I'll take your head instead of your arm."
Tianming drew the sword out and sent the wailing Qin Ming flying into the crowd with a kick. He then turned back and faced the angered Qin Ding and Qin Yuan.
"You're courting death!" They had seen how horridly Qin Ming had been treated, yet they were too late to stop it. Their rage simply couldn't be contained. The two of them, one with a blade in hand and the other armed with a sword, prepared to fight. One had a Five-Peak Divine Qilin that sported five divine mountains on its back. It was entangled in a fight with Ying Huo. Meanwhile, the Chaos Regalfiend Meow Meow was taking on a Sea Tempest Qilin.
Tianming had long been sickened by the presence of mindless fools like these. Beating up Qin Ming hadn’t been enough to vent his anger. He knew that the other two were also ninth-level Heavenly Will, and would be considered ultimate geniuses in the Grand-Orient Realm. However, all he could see before him were pathetic cockroaches. Before the two were able to curse him another time, Tianming was already charging up to them.
"Kill him!"
"The others don't need to interfere! Let the Qin Clan handle this!"
It seemed they were so confident they even worried others would take their prey from them, depriving them of a chance for revenge. Qin Ding executed the Five-Peak Blade Mantra, while Qin Yuan came charging in from Tianming's flank with his newly-mastered saint-ranked battle art, Eighteen Maritime Swords.
Eighteen consecutive strikes came furiously one after another, all of them bearing the power of the sea. Tianming clashed with the two of them at once. Though the others had wanted to join in, they refrained from doing so after Qin Ding's proclamation. They also saw Bai Zijin nearby, and figured she would attack them if they ganged up on Tianming.
"End it quickly!" they cheered.
The moment they said that, a loud ringing could be heard as Tianming broke Qin Yuan's sword with his crude technique and power at the sixth level of Heavenly Will.
"What?!" Qin Yuan was stunned. Tianming attacked with Fulguros Imperius, so Qin Yuan had no choice but to block with his arms, losing one of them in the process. "Aaaaaaagh!"
"You shut up, too!" Tianming stomped him in the face, leaving a mark on it and causing Qin Yuan to shut up as he tumbled into the crowd. He was so busy groaning in pain he couldn't even get up.
Then, Tianming turned back and blocked Qin Ding's killing move with his left arm. Sparks flew from the friction, accompanied by an ear-piercing, metallic clashing sound.
"What?!" Qin Ding was shocked. Tianming’s hand should've been cut off!
"It's nothing much. You're just too weak!" Tianming took ten steps back, then charged again, executing the second strike of the Shenxiao Sword Art. Lightning and fire sword ki intertwined, generating explosive force. Qin Ding forced himself to resist, but he wasn't able to at all. Not only was his blade knocked flying, he also lost one arm.
"You’d better remember that the next thing I’ll cut off will be your head." Then, Tianming grabbed his head and smashed it against the Infernal Soul Barrier, causing it to bounce back up. Qin Ding's eyes rolled as he passed out.
The battle had only taken ten breaths of time. Many people were still stuck wondering if they should give the three Qin brothers a hand, but little did they know, the battle was already over.
The triplets had all lost an arm, and Qin Ming's mouth was bleeding so profusely he could barely speak. As for their lifebound beasts, they had been taken out one after another and were at the brink of death.
Ying Huo's opponent was so terrified it ran away, and kept on running, Meow Meow's was electrocuted so badly it was foaming at its mouth, and Lan Huang's foe, the Blackgold Saint Qilin, had almost been crushed flat.
There wasn’t a sound to be heard in the Infernal Soul Purgatory.