Based on what happened to Dongyang Fengxiao and the others, Tianming reminded himself that what he saw wasn’t necessarily true. But what if it was? Tianming was very uncomfortable.
Were Bai Xiaozhu and Situ Yiyi dead, and their bodies eaten clean? What about their lifebound beasts? Tianming didn’t see them around.
"Are they really dead?" Ye Lingfeng asked, his voice hoarse.
"Not necessarily, don't believe everything you see." Tianming could only comfort himself and Ye Lingfeng. He couldn’t bear seeing them end up like this. For a while, an irritable Tianming breathed heavily.
Just then, footsteps sounded ahead. Tianming and Ye Lingfeng looked up to see two figures appear.
"It's you again!" the man exclaimed, surprise and delight filled his voice.
It was Dongyang Yunyi.
By his side was a man in purple robes. He was similar in height and size to Dongyang Yunyi, with long dark purple hair that hung loose and eyes that burned with flames. An aloof man with excellent temperament, he was the twelfth son of Autarch Yun, Dongyang Zizhen, Dongyang Yunyi's half brother.
He was a year younger than Dongyang Yunyi, but had reached first-level Sky Saint and could fly. Both the twelfth and tenth princes were better than Dongyang Fengxiao. In that instant, the two instantly locked on to Tianming and Ye Lingfeng. When they noticed the bodies on the ground, they were obviously startled and drawn by the ants.
"How did they die?" asked Dongyang Yunyi.
"Perhaps our ninth brother killed them?" replied Dongyang Zizhen.
“Yes."
"Our ninth brother attacks swiftly, but his luck isn’t as good as ours," added Dongyang Zizhen.
"Be careful, they may still have another Hallucination Tome in their hands. They used one to escape me," sneered Dongyang Yunyi.
"How ridiculous. A coward feigning courage. Now that no one’s sheltering him, what else can he do besides abandon his dignity and flee?" As Dongyang Zizhen spoke, he approached Tianming step by step.
"Brother Tianming, should we run?" asked Ye Lingfeng.
After all, they were two first-level sky saints. Together, they were even more difficult to deal with.
"We won’t run this time. We haven't tested the power of fighting together. Little Feng, when the time comes, listen to my commands." Tianming's eyes were grim. The two corpses on the ground, as well as their conversation agitated him. All that was left was the look of carnage in his eyes.
"Move aside and don't touch them," said Tianming, referring to Bai Xiaozhu and Situ Yiyi.
As they quickly turned into a passage, the two princes naturally assumed they were going to escape.
"Get them!"
"Tianming, show the same courage you had in the final battle of the Earth Ranking. Don't make us look down on you!"
"You and your father, Li Muyang, are dogs that can only run away with your tail between your legs. Haha!"
They would say anything just to keep the two from fleeing. After all, killing Tianming would be a great contribution.
Not long after Tianming fled, he suddenly stopped and turned around, eyes murderous. Bai Xiaozhu and Situ Yiyi lay behind Dongyang Yunyi and Dongyang Zizhen. Tianming continued retreating, leaving a distance of more than two kilometers between them and the corpses. Soon, Dongyang Yunyi and Dongyang Zizhen stood before them.
It turned out there was a dead end behind them, which was very rare and the first time Tianming had come across one. There was finally an end to this dense and complex labyrinth.
Dongyang Yunyi and Dongyang Zizhen both laughed. “Looks like you have terrible luck. Even if you have a Hallucination Tome, you can't escape. You’re dead!"
As Dongyang Yunyi spoke, the two Golden Hellthunder Hydras unleashed their abilities, forming a golden net made of lightning that completely blocked the only escape path.
"Caught them like turtles in a jar. Perfect," said Dongyang Zizhen.
One end of the passage was a dead end while the other was sealed off by lightning nets. With the brothers standing there, how could Tianming and Ye Lingfeng escape this time?
"Have you ever considered that the turtles might be you?" Tianming retorted.
They laughed despite themselves. Meanwhile, Ying Huo, Meow Meow, and Lan Huang had emerged from Tianming’s lifebound space. Including Ye Lingfeng and Feiling, Tianming had quite a few on his team.
The two princes watched enviously as Tianming thrust the Grand-Orient Sword into the ground. This wasn’t the dao palace. Who would find out if they slaughtered Tianming and stole his sword? Dongyang Yunyi and Dongyang Zizhen exchanged a meaningful glance.
"Last time, it was just me and the two were scared half to death. But now they want to fight?" Dongyang Yunyi shook his head.
"There’s no way out but a dead end. So of course they have to fight. They need this meaningless struggle to convince themselves they died bravely," said Dongyang Zizhen.
Dongyang Zizhen was also a twin beastmaster. His two lifebound beasts were Purplesky Deathflame Hydras.
They were huge purple beasts that blazed with purple flames, just as terrifying as the two hydras enveloped in golden lightning beside them. Four lifebound beasts with seven heads each, all of them equally fierce and ferocious. That meant five against six, not including Feiling. Tianming had one fewer fighter on his team.
"Little Feng, are you afraid of water?" asked Tianming.
"A little, but it doesn't matter. I’m fast," replied Ye Lingfeng.
Generally speaking, only large lifebound beasts were greatly influenced by seawater.
"Alright." He threw Ye Lingfeng two Mountshield Tomes, which could save his life at a critical moment.
At the same time, Tianming pulled out three Oceanspirit Tomes. Although the passage was wide, it couldn’t compare to the Decimo Dao Battlefield. Thus, three tomes would yield enough water. The passage was shaped like a cube, of which five sides were sealed. All Tianming had to do was close off the last side to prevent the water from flowing out. Then, he activated the Oceanspirit Tomes, which instantly turned into immense blue waters and engulfed the passage.
Tianming left a little space for Ying Huo, so it could fly above the water. This tiny space was too small for his opponents’ lifebound beasts.
"You dare resist?!" Dongyang Yunyi was both angry and in disbelief. The Oceanspirit Tome reminded him of the day Tianming had defeated Dongyang Zhuo.
"Kill him!”
Together with Dongyang Zizhen and their four lifebound beasts, Dongyang Yunyi broke through the waves and attacked. With each movement of the Primordial Terraqua Dragon, the waters swirled, forming countless vortices, a violent power enough to sweep its six opponents away.
Feiling’s Temporal Field covered the entire passage. With the improvement of her abilities, the effect of deceleration and acceleration had increased. Additionally, the sea would even be a headache for sky saints, if they couldn’t adapt. Since their numbers and individual combat prowess were inferior to their opponents, then what should Tianming and Ye Lingfeng do? They had to find a breakthrough point.
"Ying Huo, you deal with Dongyang Zizhen and keep him occupied! Lan Huang, drag the two Purplesky Deathflame Hydras into the water! Meow Meow, with your thunder abilities, can you deal with the two Golden Hellthunder Hydras?”
This was a dangerous battle. Their opponents were stronger, so Tianming had to use his lifebound beasts to the best of their abilities. Thus, he left the most difficult tasks to them.
With an Invincible Sword Body, as well as its abilities and battle arts, Ying Huo could take on the fire-type beastmaster, Dongyang Zizhen, without an issue. The Oceanspirit Tomes had created a suitable battlefield for Lan Huang, so holding up against the two Purplesky Deathflame Hydras, which were afraid of water, should be easy. The Golden Hellthunder Hydras would do little damage to Meow Meow, who was the master of lightning. Additionally, Meow Meow possessed Soulchasing Hellthunder and Myriadfiend Venomfang to resist its opponents. As long as they could hang in there, Tianming and Ye Lingfeng were sure to form a demolition team.
"No problem!" the three replied in unison.
"Lan Huang, manipulate the water to control your opponent’s position,” said Tianming.
On the battlefield, their opponents couldn’t fight whomever they wanted. When the battlefield was controlled by Lan Huang, it could roil the sea and impact it’s opponent’s position, thus controlling the battlefield.
"Kill!”
Tianming surged with killing intent. Well aware of what Tianming had in mind, Ye Lingfeng followed.
"Ling’er, watch the battlefield. If any of us are having trouble, use Spatial Wall to support them first."
"Alright."
Tianming brought everyone's strengths into full play. It was actually quite rare for him to remain this rational and calm, despite his anger.
With Lan Huang’s manipulation, the six opponents were pulled into the water. Among them, Dongyang Zizhen was most afraid of water and immediately crashed toward the surface, then flew up in the air. Out of nowhere, Ying Huo’s Invincible Sword Ki came racing toward him.
"I declare your balls are gone!" Ying Huo’s Infernal Haze covered the sky with flame phoenixes.
"I’ll cut off your chicken head. See if you can still make any noise then! Stupid bird!!" Sneering, Dongyang Zizhen had never imagined Tianming would use his lifebound beast to deal with him.
Dongyang Zizhen's weapon was rather strange. It was a chakram known as the Allspike Skywheel, and had eight spikes that would rotate and cut through everything. Its surface could also be used as a shield to block Ying Huo’s attacks.
Man and bird turned the world upside down with their battle. At the same time, Meow Meow, in its Regal Chaosfiend form, took on two opponents. The Ninefold Chaos Thunderscape, coupled with deliberate provocations, kept the two Golden Hellthunder Hydras occupied.
Although its opponent was stronger in terms of cultivation level, its golden lightning couldn’t break through Meow Meow’s Ninefold Chaos Thunderscape. The cat’s Myriadfiend Venomfang posed an even greater threat. As the battle progressed, Soulchasing Hellthunder entered the hydras’ bodies and targeted their vitality, giving Meow Meow more of an advantage.
Underwater, the two Purplesky Deathflame Hydras were entangled by Lan Huang. Each of Lan Huang’s heads bit one hydra as it whirled wildly in the water, smashing the two beasts to the ground. At that point, all three of the beasts were trying to complete the tasks assigned by Tianming. And their opponents were most suited for them. This made Dongyang Yunyi gloomy.
He had assumed that with one more fighter on his side, all that was left to do was take a shot in the dark. Unexpectedly, as soon as he left the water, he was faced with Tianming and Ye Lingfeng. The two youths fought together for the very first time.
"Hahaha! Trying to corner me? You think I’m a weakling and easy to kill?" Dongyang Yunyi couldn't help bursting out in laughter. He was one of the strongest!
As his opponent charged toward him, the Aurora Arrow-Spear in his hand suddenly transformed from an arrow to a pike.
Thunder Disaster Spear Art!
Dongyang Yunyi was not only an expert archer, but also great at close-quarters combat. Covered in golden lightning, Dongyang Yunyi floated above the water, unleashing countless golden lightning rays upon Tianming. Amidst the rain of lightning, Dongyang Yunyi flashed, aiming for Tianming eyes. This was the sky saint battle art, Thunder Disaster Spear Art.
"Little Feng!” Tianming roared.
Suddenly, a bloody-eyed youth appeared beside Dongyang Yunyi.
"Ahh!!” When attacking Tianming, several bloody lines appeared in his sea of consciousness. This was the first time he had suffered such agony.
In that instant, Tianming gathered all six hundred Invincible Sword Ki on the Grand-Orient Sword and exploded with his full power. The Invincible Sword Ki converged on one point, releasing a shrill noise that had them breaking out in goosebumps.
"Die, Dongyang Yunyi!!”
Shenxiao Sword Art’s fourth strike! Six-Hundred-Demise Sword! Two swords in one.
Having just reacted to the stabbing pain, Dongyang Yunyi was suddenly faced with Tianming's attack. In a panic, he jabbed his spear forward. The chaotic sword ki instantly penetrated the spear and the Grand-Orient Sword made a hole the size of a head in Dongyang Yunyi's chest.
"Uh… my contribution...."
Dongyang Yunyi had never expected the end would come so quickly, and was still fantasizing about taking credit for killing Tianming. Staring blankly at Tianming, his face twisted in an ugly grimace, eyes so wide they might fall out of their sockets. The moment before his death, he felt the most terrible despair in the world.
"Tian—" Tears streaming down his cheeks and face pale as a sheet, he received a dagger to the throat from the figure behind him.
The dagger sliced across and a headless corpse dropped into the water. Ye Lingfeng held the head in his hand, roaring as he smashed it on the ceiling. In an instant, all that was left was smithereens.
Eyes bloody, Ye Lingfeng grit his teeth, gloomily stared at the scene before him, and roared, “The first of the Theocrats!"