Ye Lingfeng had gone mad, but Tianming understood him. He had seen the dying struggle of the Infernal Soul Race that spanned twenty thousand years, as well as the amalgamation of the blood and tears of eighty thousand souls. Killing any Theocrat would make his blood boil.
"Brother, there’s another one." Tianming's cold gaze locked on to Dongyang Zizhen, who was entangled in battle with Ying Huo.
Ye Lingfeng didn’t need a reminder. He swept across the water and two figures quickly drew closer to Dongyang Zizhen.
"Feng's strength lies in the suppressive power of his soul, while mine is the ability to finish. When we work together, we have a certain synergy."
Dongyang Yunyi had perished too quickly. Since Dongyang Zizhen’s line of sight was obscured by the water, he wasn’t aware of his brother’s demise. All he heard was the miserable cries of the two Golden Hellthunder Hydras.
"What happened?" With the Allspike Skywheel in his hand, Dongyang Zizhen executed the Cyclic Sutra.
This sky saint battle art was a balance between offense and defense, and could block Ying Huo’s Invincible Sword Ki and attack at the same time. The Allspike Skywheel rotated at lightning speed in the air, tearing apart Ying Huo’s Infernal Haze.
"Big Brother, where are you?” Dongyang Zizhen had a bad feeling.
"He can no longer hear you." Cold laughter sounded.
Crossing the water, Tianming and Ye Lingfeng appeared before Dongyang Purple.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean it’s your turn to die," said Tianming.
Ying Huo went over to assist Meow Meow and Lan Huang, who were struggling. Tianming and Ye Lingfeng had to be quick.
Like a wildbeast, Ye Lingfeng’s eyes shone with bloodlust.
Beside him, Tianming's Grand-Orient Sword had been split into two. He held one sword in each hand and spread his wings, which spanned a kilometer, white hair fluttering in the wind. The black and gold Grand-Orient Swords in his left and right hands respectively gleamed with cold light. Three hundred strands Invincible Sword Ki converged on the gold Grand-Orient Sword.
Lightning, fire, sea, and mountain—four types of Invincible Sword Ki merged, resulting in a deafening buzz.
"Die!!”
A cold glint flickered across Tianming's eyes as he swung the gold Grand-Orient Sword. Dongyang Zizhen possessed the power of a sky saint, which was far superior to an earth saint. Still composed, he spun the Allspike Skywheel in his hand.
Cyclic Sutra—Caustic Chaos!
"Merely an earth saint? You’ve overestimated your abilities."
Dongyang Zizhen flicked the spinning weapon toward Tianming, The gold Grand-Orient Sword clashed with the wheel, the force of both weapons evenly matched. Dongyang Zizhen managed to resist Tianming’s attack.
However, Tianming swung out the black sword the moment the gold sword shook off the wheel. The sword contained three hundred Invincible Sword Ki and the power of the Shenxiao Sword Art’s fourth strike.
The sword aimed for his heart.
"What?!"
Shocked, Dongyang Zizhen quickly tossed his weapon aside and dodged. Unfortunately, Ye Lingfeng was behind him. In an instant, the world before him became a sea of blood, and countless bodies fell from the sky.
"An illusion!"
He shook his head, trying to wake himself up, but the result was a sudden stabbing pain in his head, as if there were countless spikes boring in from the top of his skull through his chin. This kind of pain was simply a nightmare.
Soul Crushing Art—Lifeless!
Ye Lingfeng's Infernal Bloodsoul Daggers pierced Dongyang Zizhen's back. Dongyang Zizhen’s pupils enlarged as he stared down at the two daggers that stuck out of his chest.
"You’re courting death!”
Face twisting, he roared. Under his control, the Allspike Skywheel flew toward Ye Lingfeng from behind. Just then, three hundred Invincible Sword Ki gathered on the Grand-Orient Sword and pierced Dongyang Zizhen’s saint palace.
The sword ki erupted, tearing a bloody hole in his abdomen. At that moment, Dongyang Zizhen was sandwiched between Tianming and Ye Lingfeng.
"Ugh...." He stared wide-eyed, voice hoarse, and unable to control his weapon, which crashed into the water.
Now that his saint palace was destroyed, he was completely crippled. The shadow of death hung over him. Dongyang Zizhen spat a mouthful black blood, staring blankly at Tianming.
"Sooner or later, you—.."
Before he could finish his sentence, he felt as if he was being choked and couldn't make a sound.
"You’re number two!"
Ye Lingfeng pulled out the Infernal Bloodsoul Daggers and repeatedly stabbed Dongyang Zizhen until he was completely dead. Dongyang Zizhen’s blood-stained corpse fell into the sea.
"Don't relax just yet. Their bodies are likely to change. Let’s kill their lifebound beasts, first." Tianming said.
This was the experience they had gained by killing Dongyang Fengxiao and Jiang Fengyue.
"Alright."
The Oceanspirit Tome couldn’t hold up for much longer. The sea waters gradually disappeared and the three lifebound beasts, who were under great pressure, lost their terrain advantage.
Tianming and Ye Lingfeng descended from the air. Their presence meant there would be no suspense to the outcome.
Even with the death of their beastmasters, the four hydras didn’t escape. They were fiercer and more violent, instead, fighting desperately in hopes of taking an opponent with them.
Tianming and Ye Lingfeng first assisted Meow Meow. Together, they dealt with the two Golden Hellthunder Hydras. Three against two; no matter how ferocious the hydras were, they perished under Tianming's Grand-Orient Sword and Meow Meow's Myriadfiend Venomfang.
"Any injuries?" Tianming asked.
"Yes!" Meow Meow had several wounds on its hind legs, some of which even had bones visible. It sighed, "In order to protect you, I paid a heavy price. I’m applying for a month's vacation to recuperate!"
"Get out."
Together with the Ye Lingfeng, Tianming dealt with the two Purplesky Deathflame Hydra. This was the case with mixed battles. Once the balance between the sides was broken, they could crush their opponents with numbers.
In this team battle, Tianming and Ye Lingfeng cooperated perfectly. Of course, it was rather remarkable that the three lifebound beasts could withstand the force of their opponents. Sky Saint Lifebound beasts were truly a challenge. Having received many injuries, Lan Huang’s skin was almost completely charred.
"Be careful." Tianming pulled them away.
He was waiting for the bodies to fuse and form a monster. This wasn’t considered victory yet—a fierce battle still awaited them.
Strangely enough, fifteen minutes passed in dead silence.
"Why isn’t there any movement?" Ying Huo asked.
"I don't know." Tianming shook his head.
"Didn't the two people we killed last time become monsters and turn into blood spheres after we burned them to ash?" added Ying Huo.
"Yes."
The problem was, Dongyang Yunyi and Dongyang Zizhen hadn’t changed, and they seemed to really be dead, including their lifebound beasts. There was no change at all.
"In that case, let’s go." Tianming immediately made a decision.
He placed Meow Meow and Lan Huang back in his lifebound space, so the Prime Tower could heal them. With Ying Huo on his shoulder, Tianming looked like an old bird walker. This terrifying and bizarre tomb obviously frightened Ying Huo, yet it was eager to prove itself. Tianming could certainly understand the sentiment.
……
Tianming quickly approached Bai Xiaozhu's body and soon found that the ants dispersed. With only skin and bones remaining, the two corpses instantly deflated, becoming mere skin and bones.
At the sight of such a frightening scene, Ying Huo quivered and looked up to the sky. "Don't be afraid, Ling’er. It's no big deal. You just have to get used to it. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. "
The others ignored it.
In an instant, the skin and bones suddenly merged into blood and formed two numbers on the ground!
Seven and six!
After the two words appeared, they quickly condensed into blood spheres. Tianming picked them up, only to find a face on each of them, namely Bai Xiaozhu and Situ Yiyi. They stared blankly at Tianming, their faces frozen in a cold expression. This sent goosebumps prickling on his skin.
"What’s going on? I can't figure it out," said Feiling.
"Yes." Tianming was also a little confused.
"Dongyang Fengxiao and Jiang Fengyue became monsters and eventually turned into blood spheres with the numbers nine and eight. These two princes haven’t changed, but Sister Yiyi and Brother Xioazhu have become blood spheres?"
Feiling couldn’t help but sense a mystery in all of this.
"There’s one difference that’s particularly obvious," Tianming said.
"What?"
"Dongyang Fengxiao and Jiang Fengyue were very strange when they appeared, and they spoke abnormally, but the tenth and twelfth princes seemed normal. I think that the first two were either fakes, or had been transformed by the tomb, or perhaps they are dead and their bodies were being controlled by the tomb?” analyzed Tianming.
He wasn’t sure if Bai Xiaozhu and Situ Yiyi were really dead. But everything pointed to disaster.
"Big Brother, as I recall, there wasn’t anything this strange when they entered the tomb in the past. All they did was hunt for treasures. At most, the dangers they encountered were spirit hazard remnants," said Feiling.
"Yes, there’s a difference this time."
"Could it have something to do with me?"
"It’s possible."
"What should we do...?"
"There’s nothing we can do. We’re not strong enough, and we don’t understand what’s happening. For now, we can only take one step at a time," Tianming said.
He raised his head and looked around at the dark and gloomy tomb.
"Things will eventually come to light.”
The tomb exerted much pressure and fear upon them. It was a place where people fell into madness. That hidden being was even more dangerous than Dongyang Fengchen, but he wasn’t ready to give up.
"We’ll survive as long as we’re together!" Tianming said confidently.
"Calm yourself, young man. A truly powerful opponent won’t resort to such tricks. Just leave it all to me." Ying Huo coughed.
"Ying Huo, you usually fool around, but that actually made sense." Tianming's eyes lit up.
These strange things added together seemed deliberately mystifying, didn’t they? So, what was there to be afraid of?
"Whatever you are, I’ll kill you if I get the chance!" His eyes turned ferocious.