“It just so happens that both sides have the same number of lifebound beasts. We’ll pick our opponent and see who wins first!” Ying Huo said excitedly. When Meow Meow heard that there would be another competition, its eyes brightly lit up. After all, having a competition would completely ignite their fighting spirit.
“I choose this one!” Ying Huo had already decided on its opponent. Its small body charged toward the Hurricanemoon Sacred Qilin and faced its spiritsource ability head-on. In the next moment, Ying Huo turned into flames that seemed to have enlarged its size. When it charged forth, the flaming bird separated into six, forming six enormous flaming lotuses. Each lotus formed a closed-loop as it clashed with the Hurricanemoon Sacred Qilin. It was Ying Huo’s new ability—Sixpath Infernal Lotus.
Their collision caused wind and fire to flash out into the surroundings. Team fights usually involved single or gang fights, as well as coordination. With four against four, there would be more variables in this battle, and anyone could even hurt one of their own by accident. But the moment the balance was broken, it would usually turn into a situation where one side would overwhelm the other with numbers.
So it was basically a one-on-one battle, but everyone had to be wary about any sudden changes in the fight. As triple beastmasters had three lifebound beasts’ power, they were strongest when they were together. Tianming had to hold back Ning Wushuang, or she might cause harm to his three brothers.
Judging from the current situation, Ying Huo and Lan Huang could cooperate together and watch each others’ back. On the other hand, Tianming was more familiar with teaming up with Meow Meow. After all, the support of Meow Meow’s ability, and its high-speed attacks, were a great help to Tianming. On the other hand, the lifebound beast that was fighting together with Ning Wushuang was the Flowerymoon Sacred Qilin. It was a rare illusion-type lifebound beast, and the moment they clashed together, the Flowerymoon Illusion had enveloped the entire battlefield.
Tianming suddenly found himself in a sea of flowers. It was a gorgeous place, and felt comfortable at the same time. Being in the sea of flowers was distracting, but Tianming had his Insightful Eye, so he wasn’t affected by this ability at all.
“Deal with it using the Soulchasing Hellthunder!”
“Meow!” Meow Meow was affected by the illusion and couldn’t find its opponents. Suddenly, crimson lightning started brewing up in its eyes and they seemingly turned into two lightning pools. In the next moment, the lightning in Meow Meow’s eyes clashed together and a bolt of crimson lightning shot out. That was Meow Meow’s new ability—Soulchasing Hellthunder. It was powerful, and had a homing function that tracked blood as long as there were enemies within the range. So it wasn’t affected by the Flowerymoon Illusion.
That bolt of lightning attracted Ning Wushuang’s attention when she slashed forth, but she had been caught by surprise. A crimson bolt flashed by and landed on the Flowerymoon Sacred Qilin that was standing behind her. It was something she hadn’t expected. When the bolt stabbed into the Qilin, it started traveling through its Qilin’s bloodstream. The more powerful the Qilin’s vigor, the more powerful the lighting would grow. It was like a poison. It wouldn’t kill its victim immediately, but slowly spread through its body like the bloodfiend venom, dealing damage over time. When the Flowerymoon Sacred Qilin roared out in pain, the illusion collapsed on itself.
“The combination of your lifebound beasts aren’t bad,” Tianming exclaimed. It was a powerful combination, offense and illusion together.
However, Ning Wushuang didn’t seem interested in talking and responded to Tianming by swinging her saber. She executed the Cherry Illusory Saber, an earth saint battle art. The technique emphasized speed, and at the same time, unpredictability, like an illusion. In the saber’s path, afterimages would be left behind, along with cherry petals filling the surroundings. It was a gorgeous scene, and danger arrived before Tianming.
Tianming held on to his sword with both hands and executed the Shenxiao Sword Art’s fourth strike, Oceanos Imperius. This strike seemed to contain the entire ocean, massive and vast. When Tianming executed his technique, Ning Wushuang felt as if she was slashing into the ocean; she couldn’t bring out the full power of her sword at all.
Oceanos Imperius was an attack that first defended before launching a counterattack. Out of the Shenxiao Sword Art, it was a unique move. It wasn’t ferocious, but it could dissolve an attack, and even launch a counterattack. The counterattack seemed slow, but knocked Ning Wushuang into the air from the impact. This was only his first move, yet Ning Wushuang’s arms were already trembling.
“Not bad. You’re an ordinary second-level Earth Saint, but now you’ve lost,” said Tianming. He didn’t mock his opponent. On the contrary, he treated this opponent as someone worthy of respect.
“Again!” Ning Wushuang sneered. She clearly wasn’t convinced of her loss to Tianming as she executed the Cherry Illusory Saber—Cross Chop! She made use of her descending momentum and slashed down. This time, her saber was faster than before and she launched two consecutive slashes, which looked like two saber slashes that formed a cross.
Facing such a well-matched opponent, Tianming’s fighting spirit raged as he unleashed his second sword strike. Thunder and fire collided as two elements enveloped the Grand-Orient Sword, and Ning Wushuang was knocked into the air once more as the violent sword ki caused several cuts on her body.
All of this had proven that Tianming was suppressing her. The scene looked hilarious, almost like Tianming was like a spring. Every time Ning Wushuang descended, she would be knocked higher into the air. However, Ning Wushuang didn’t find it amusing. She wanted to give Tianming an appetizer before his main dish, but in the end, she was being suppressed by him instead. She now represented the dignity of the Ancient Qilin Clan’s younger generation, and everyone expected her to defeat Tianming. Otherwise, she would only embarrass the clan.
“Die!” Ning Wushuang executed another move of the Cherry Illusory Saber—Flower Burial Dance. It could form two layers of illusion, if it was paired with the Flowerymoon Sacred Qilin’s ability. But unfortunately, the Flowerymoon Sacred Qilin was currently running away from Meow Meow. It was still being tormented by the Soulchasing Hellthunder, not to mention that Meow Meow could still take on its Regal Chaosfiend form. In terms of close combat, it was even stronger than the Qilin!
Meow Meow was also in the eighth level of Heavenly Will, three levels below the Qilin. But for a Primordial Chaos Beast, the gap wasn’t that big. At the very least, it was close to the Qilin, who was using saint ki, in terms of strength. Without the Flowerymoon Sacred Qilin, Ning Wushuang’s Flower Burial Dance was completely revealed before Tianming’s Insightful Eye.
Tianming was like an immovable mountain in this battle, while Ning Wushuang’s movements were more exaggerated. It was especially so for the Flower Burial Dance. With a beauty dancing, it amazed the audience. When the saber descended and reached Tianming’s head, he unleashed another sword strike. This time, he directly found Ning Wushuang’s location with his sword intent.
He executed the third move of the Shenxiao Sword Art. As his sword intent integrated with this move, it shattered all the illusions with a strike; the Hurricanesnow Sabre was utterly no match for it. The moment the location of the Hurricanesnow Saber was found in the Flower Burial Dance, Ning Wushuang had already lost the fight. When the Hurricanesnow Saber flew out, Tianming smacked the flat of the Grand-Orient Sword on Ning Wushuang’s forehead. But the sword was heavy, which forced Ning Wushuang to her knees, bleeding from her knees and forehead at the same time.
“Urghhh…” Ning Wushuang felt a splitting headache, and the entire world was spinning. She felt as if her brain had been entirely torn apart, which made her scream. What was more humiliating was the fact that not only was she kneeling down, but her knees had almost been shattered as well. Moreover, she even had the Grand-Orient Sword’s patterns imprinted on her forehead, which added to the humiliation.
As Ning Wushuang threw up a mouthful of black blood, her knees were still trembling. Honestly speaking, she really thought that the sharp edge of the sword would hit her. And if that were the case, she would’ve been split in half. For a moment, she was terrified by the vision of her death. In other words, if it weren’t for Tianming’s mercy, she would have already lost her life by now.
“Ning Wushuang, you’re like a fly buzzing in front of me. But in the end, all it takes for me to kill you is a slap,” Tianming laughed as he used a metaphor to describe her Cherry Illusory Saber, which caused her to gnash her teeth and look at Tianming with a pair of ferocious eyes.
“However, I have no grievances with you, and you’ve never insulted me. What happened today was just an ordinary spar between us,” said Tianming. He withdrew the Grand-Orient Sword and waved his hand at Ying Huo and the rest, who were having fun fighting. But when they saw Tianming beckoning them, they immediately felt depressed.
“It’s over, Tianming won.” They could handle their opponents, but Tianming didn’t feel that there was any point for them to continue the fight. Defeating Ning Wushuang would surely be more than enough to scare these people so that they wouldn’t provoke him again, right? When Tianming swept his gaze over the crowd, everyone who met his eyes subconsciously took a step back.
“They’re finally behaving. It looks like Ning Wushuang is pretty strong in their eyes.” It was a pity that Tianming, who was in the eighth level of Heavenly Will, couldn’t be judged with common sense. Seeing the younger generation of the Ancient Qilin Clan looking at him with resentful and helpless gazes, Tianming knew that he had already achieved his goal. After all, no one wanted to be insulted all day long, not to mention that they even included his mother in those insults.
“Everyone, honestly speaking, I have no intention of being your enemy. I’ll be leaving in four months, and there are many unnecessary hatreds towards me. I can’t stand insults, and I’ll beat whoever does it again. But I’m not a tyrant. If everyone makes it easy for me, I’ll make it easy for everyone else. But if you want to keep pestering me, then Baili Zhuixing can be your example. Do think carefully,” Tianming said, and this time, everyone kept their silence with no one daring to rebuke him.
But Tianming naturally knew that they wouldn’t let him off. He could even guess that many of them must be cursing him in their hearts. But right now, Tianming had already defeated Ning Wushuang, deeply imprinting his strength in the hearts of everyone.
Sure enough, you can only reason with people with strength. If you’re weak, you’ll only be bullied. Only the strong will be respected, and that’s the harsh reality of this world. Don’t expect the kindness of others, but rely on yourself. Tianming had even defeated Ning Wushuang, so the next four months would be peaceful ones, right? He got Ying Huo and the rest to return to the lifebound space and wanted to leave the volcano to try his luck with a hunt.
“Li Tianming!” Suddenly, Ning Wushuang called out to him.