Tianming’s words left everyone in the Dark Astral Battalion stunned. They didn’t cause a clamor, though, because he showed a strong confidence. On the contrary, they looked at him in a new light. As elders, they naturally had a sense of superiority in their age and experience.
But right now, Tianming’s words hadn’t just left an impact on Sun Xingyu, but everyone there.
“General, your confidence and pride are impressive,” Sun Xingyi laughed after a brief stun. Shortly after, the other warriors of the Dark Astral Battalion laughed along.
“Please.” Tianming went on the spacious stage.
“Arrogant or not, we’ll know after the fight,” said Bai Zijin.
“Lady Bai, don’t misunderstand. I’m complimenting him when I say he’s arrogant. After all, only geniuses are qualified to be arrogant,” replied Sun Xingyu.
“Go up,” Bai Zijin said faintly.
The surrounding atmosphere that had initially felt joyous suddenly became tense. Tianming knew this was a necessary process, if he wanted to command this battalion. In a world where strength was respected, he had to defeat his opponent with his power to subdue them.
Now that he was the Astral General, how could he get ten thousand people to hand their lives to him if he didn’t have any ability? Retrieving the Grand-Orient Sword, Tianming plunged it into the ground and said, “Deputy General Sun, please enlighten me.”
There was pressure coming from Tianming. In addition to the fact that he had cultivated the Imperial Will, he had a monarch’s natural temperament.
“Great. Please enlighten me as well!” Sun Xingyu laughed and jumped onto the stage. When he descended, the Dark Astral Battle Stage trembled.
“Make your move,” Tianming said, summoning his lifebound beasts. They were now in a territory, and they could do whatever they wanted in the future. But only after they won over Sun Xingyu.
“Defeat this fellow, and we’ll have ten thousand lackeys! Who knows, we might even have a harem of three thousand!” Ying Huo smiled.
“Brother Chick, have you forgotten the fear of being dominated?” Meow Meow advised.
“Get lost. I didn’t fight well back then. It’s just Bai Zijin!” Ying Huo harrumphed and straightened its feathers.
“Then let’s get Big Sister Bai to bring you back?” Tianming smiled.
“No, don’t!”
“Brother Chick is chickening out.” Lan Huang’s loud voice vibrated everyone’s eardrums. Listening to Lan Huang’s words, Ying Huo nearly fainted from its anger. How could something that shameful be spoken aloud? But in everyone’s eyes, they felt that Tianming wasn’t taking Sun Xingyu seriously.
“Isn’t he a little too arrogant?”
“A little. But wasn’t he like that when he shouted the Nineshades Clan’s name in the Decimo Dao Battlefield?”
“I have no idea if it’s good or bad.” The discussions weren’t loud, but they could be heard.
“Alright now. Sun Xingyu is at the same cultivation level as Dongyang Fengchen. Back then, we won by ganging up on Dongyang Fengchen with his lifebound beast held up by the Soulfiend. It’s not certain that we can win this fight. We’ll just do our best,” said Tianming.
“Just screw him up and don’t cower!” Ying Huo replied.
Roars echoed over from the two colossal lifebound beasts beside Sun Xingyu. There were two apes, covered with black and red fur. The apes had robust limbs and long fangs, and were known as Burning Starfiend Apes.
Their order might be low, but they had reached maturity, unlike Ying Huo, so they had already drawn out their full potential. Working together, they wouldn’t be any weaker than Dongyang Fengchen’s Nethersea Regalfiend Hydra.
Welding the Scarlet Flame Staff with two lifebound beasts standing by his side, Sun Xingyu looked like a war god.
“I’ll be making my move now. Be careful!” Sun Xingyu called out, charging over with his lifebound beasts. The Burning Starfiend Apes’ roars were ferocious. Everyone could tell that he had no intention of going easy on Tianming.
“Are we competing in volume here? Brother Turtle, do your thing!” Ying Huo flew to Lan Huang’s head.
Raising its heads, Lan Huang unleashed a deafening roar at the Burning Starfiend Apes. Its voice formed a violent storm upon being empowered by Primordial Soundwave, swallowing the Burning Starfiend Apes’ roars.
“Don’t run. Let’s play together!” Lan Huang looked at the two apes without fear. Clearly, Lan Huang considered the apes as friends, seeing how they looked like the Soulfiend. Whenever it played with the Soulfiend, the commotion they created wasn’t inferior to that of a fight.
With that, a colossal twin-headed dragon collided with the two apes. The two heads were like two miniature beasts, and the apes would make a mistake if they ignored them.
At the same time, a bolt of black lightning flashed out. A black cat charged forth with rumbling lightning, taking on the Regal Chaosfiend form and pouncing on an ape. As the Ninefold Chaos Thunderscape on its body electrocuted its enemy, the Regal Chaosfiend bit the ape’s arm.
“Tough!” Meow Meow cursed. But its Myriadfiend Venomfang still managed to dig into the ape’s flesh, sending poison into its system. When the poison entered, there was nothing the ape could do to stop it from spreading.
The ape waved its arm and flung Meow Meow away. When it got back to its feet, Ying Huo’s attack came. The ape was confused by Ying Huo’s Infernal Haze, but it let out a ferocious roar and breathed fire that formed flaming spheres that attacked the clones.
“Are you giving me a shower?” Ying Huo laughed and charged out of the ape’s ability, executing Pyros Imperius with its Wings of Agni, along with the Thousand-Demise Sword.
Ying Huo’s cultivation of the Invincible Sword Body might be lacking, compared to Tianming, but it still managed to complete the Thousand-Demise Sword. Its achievement even surpassed Li Shenxiao and shocked Weisheng Yunxi.
The ape was suffering from Meow Meow’s poison to begin with, so it was already weakened. When Ying Huo’s Wings of Agni pierced its abdomen, a bloody hole was left behind. The hole wasn’t enormous, but it was deep enough to reach the ape’s stomach.
The Burning Starfiend Ape screamed and backed away. Its companion was being held up by Lan Huang, while Sun Xingyu was facing Tianming and Meow Meow. No one could save it. All of a sudden, a blue chain reached over and bound it. The ape was furious and tried to escape, but as it struggled, the chains dug deeper into its flesh.
“Get up!” a roar echoed. The spectators were shocked to see the Burning Starfiend Ape being lifted off the ground and brought smashing back down. When the ape crashed to the stage like a meteor, the ground trembled. The impact from the smash had broken the ape’s bones.
“Stop!” Sun Xingyi executed the Firefiend Staff Canon. He charged over to Tianming, trying to stop him from continuing his attack. But before he could even reach Tianming, a chick and cat came at him from both directions, forcing him to defend himself.
Otherwise, even if he could stop Tianming, it would be at the cost of being heavily injured by the two lifebound beasts. Ying Huo’s Invincible Sword Ki could even pierce the Burning Starfiend Ape, and Sun Xingyu’s physique was nothing in comparison to that.
As a result, everyone watched on as Tianming poured thousands of Invincible Sword Ki strands into the Three-Thousand Starfield. The Burning Starfiend Ape screamed, but it was tightly bound by the chain, no matter how it tried struggling. If it wanted to break free, it would have to snap the Three-Thousand Starfield.
Tianming lifted the ape once more and swung it around before smashing it on the ground again. He repeated it three times, and the final time, he smashed the entangled Burning Starfiend Ape against the other one.
The other ape was fighting Lan Huang. But just when it had managed to break through Lan Huang’s Mountainsea World, it was smashed by its brother and dropped to the ground.
Tianming executed the Ninesilver Astral Art—Brilliant Stars. It increased his speed to a whole new level, bringing him before Sun Xingyi in an instant.
Ying Huo and Meow Meow were trying their best to hold Sun Xingyu back. During the fight, Meow Meow had suffered a blow, shattering its Ninefold Chaos Thunderscape. But it had also ignited the cat’s ferocity.
The Three-Thousand Starfield dazzled, turning into a stream of stars. The Invincible Sword Ki and astral ki contained in it exploded.
At that moment, Sun Xingyu was facing three opponents at the same time. Among the three, the long-distance attacks from Tianming were the most lethal. In the end, he could only bite the bullet and swing his staff at Tianming’s attacks.