An area of three thousand meters was far too wide. Few in the danger zone were able to pinpoint Tianming's whereabouts from his long chain attacks. Usually, before they even saw it coming, the chain would've already pierced through their mouths.
With every single swing of the chain, hundreds fell.
"Are there any more?" Tianming was covered in the blood of the Nineshades Clan.
"The dao palace will fall after we break their formation!"
"Charge"
Their foes were still rather high spirited.
"Burn the Decimo Dao Palace down to ash! Drown them in a hellish sea of blood!"
"The Ancient Theocrats shall never perish!"
Countless people had their sights set on Tianming.
"Never perish? Not if I have anything to say about it!"
He used the Ninesilver Astral Art—Nine Stardust. The Three-Thousand Starfield lashed out in a random, zig-zagging path that nobody could follow as it pierced through heads and bodies. A mountain of corpses was building up in front of Tianming, but Lan Huang soon submerged it underwater.
All of a sudden, a mysterious voice came rising from the bloody ocean below. "You definitely looked like you enjoyed all that killing. But I've finally found you, my thirty million saint crystals!"
Tianming saw a man of huge stature in magnificent golden armor staring at him with dark gold eyes.
"I know who you are, Second Grand Marshall of the Theocracy and former North Hall King, Zhao Shenhong. What's wrong? Want to take my head to get your masters to throw you a bone?" Tianming mocked.
"You guessed right."
"I worry you won't be alive to eat it."
"So you think a child like you with some talent can act arrogantly without consequences? To think that you dare to show up on the battlefield.... If you don't die horrifically today, may my skull be made into your chamber pot!" He immediately charged at Tianming.
Zhao Shenhong was a seventh-level sky saint on the level of Wei Ji. Back then, Tianming had had to work with Ye Lingfeng to survive their encounter with Wei Ji and kill him. Back then, he truly wasn't his match, but there was no way Wei Ji would be able to kill him either, thanks to Temporal Field's speed boost.
Tianming didn't even bother with him and turned to leave. He had Feiling use Temporal Field and Spatial Wall to keep Zhao Shenhong at bay as he continued his killing streak. With his amazing chain, he was ten times more effective than any seventh-level sky saint could be on the battlefield.
"Is running all you know how to do, you coward?!" Zhao Shenhong cried.
"Of course not. I just don't like fighting risky battles. Please try to survive for a few more days. By then, I'll be able to take you out easily," Tianming said.
"You and your big mouth!"
Tianming ignored his insults and flew even faster on his Celestial Wings, shaking his foe off. With a swipe of his chain, another rain of corpses fell toward Zhao Shenhong.
"Freshly roasted meat for you, Zhao Shenhong! Oh, this must be your son, Zhao Feihong. Make sure to catch him."
The corpses raining toward Zhao Shenhong caused his expression to sour.
"You wretch! I don't know what you're so arrogant about. His Majesty will eventually wipe you all out!"
"Stop boasting. He can't even protect himself. He killed half a million of his own subjects and destroyed the Divine Capital. It's so hilarious that your descendants will be rolling on the floor laughing when they read it in the chronicles in hell."
"Shut up!" Zhao Shenhong tasted blood in his mouth. This matter hadn't just shown the failings of the autarch, but also how wretched Zhao Shenhong and his ilk were. It was a mark of shame for the Theocrats and their allies. For the sake of serving the Theocracy, they had learned to act ruthlessly and rampantly like those monstrous masters they served.
Even so, they felt horrible on this day. Their will to fight would never reach the level of the dao palace's warriors, who were trying to protect their loved ones and homes. That was the reason they were able to hold on, despite being outnumbered.
The Theocracy’s troops, on the other hand, were badly coordinated. They could scarcely even be called comrades. Some even hid near the rear without daring to fight on the front lines. It now seemed that Tianming and the others had the complete upper hand, given how many casualties the Theocracy was suffering.
However, the outcome of battle still rested on the autarch's shoulders as he fought the Evil Suppression Formation. It was a tug of war between him and the three hundred thousand beastmasters led by Ye Yi in support of the formation.
Two gigantic beasts formed from Primitive Demon Ki waged an epic battle with Autarch Qian. The most troublesome part of the beasts was that they were formed from ki that wouldn't die. Even after they were dispersed, they could easily reform again. Not only was the autarch unable to breach the formation, he wasn't able to cover up many of his army's weaknesses.
The battle was a gruesome affair for him. Even though he had lost many men in this battle, he still didn't have anything to show for it. If this continued, his faction would suffer even more, which came as quite a shock to the autarch, who thought that everything would go his way.
"Retreat!" he uttered with shaky resolve. Many of his men couldn't believe what they were hearing. It just didn't seem possible that the autarch that had just come back from the dead would have to say something so humiliating on his first day back in the limelight. Everyone remembered how effortlessly he crushed Weisheng Yunxi and hunted down Li Wudi, but now he was only capable of making a haggard escape.
"Buzz off!"
"Go back to your kennel, Autarch Qian!"
"Five hundred thousand subjects and the Divine Capital were ruined for nothing! Ultimate laughingstock! Hahahaha!"
Hundreds of thousands joined in the laughter, sending chills down the Theocrats' backs.
"Retreat!"
They all began to escape frantically.
"Retreating twice in one day? Is this a prank or something?"
Ruthless laughter crushed what remained of their horribly trampled dignity.
"Pursue!" Ye Yi's cry rang throughout the battlefield. Even though the autarch had left, the Primitive Demon Ki was still around. Not to mention, the autarch's forces would need time to completely leave, thus forcing the autarch himself to go back to the formation and take the brunt of the pursuing forces to aid his army’s retreat. Otherwise, hordes of them would fall when the Primitive Demon Ki hit.
Ye Yi's order caused the Astral Legions to shift from defense to attack. No matter what, they had to make sure the Theocrats felt the pain of this loss, and maybe even lose an arm for it.
"Hey, we still haven't shown our guests our signature Decimo hospitality! Look at those comfortable graves we dug for you!"
Tianming rampaged on with his long chain. His arm was quite worn out from all the killing, but that didn't stop him from picking out a few more enemies during the final stages of the battle. Even as the masses fled, the starlit chain came streaking through and skewered many of them. The light in their eyes faded as their spirits left their bodies.
"Autarch Qian, you senile old moron!" Ye Yi cursed. All of the Theocrats shook from the killing intent that surged within them. The blow hadn’t just hurt their bodies, but also their hearts.
I think another hundred thousand died...
Coupled with the ones lost in the civil war, near a million of us have died...
What kind of imbecilic plan is this?
They had many thoughts that they didn't dare to even whisper. Once they left the formation and saw how angry the autarch was, they all fell silent.
This was the Theocracy’s worst day.
......
By now, the dao palace was finally at peace. The lookouts report that their foes had already retreated far away and were laying low, but that didn't mean they had given up. But at least they wouldn't return to get themselves killed in the short term.
"I heard Autarch Qian was so angry that his descendants almost pissed themselves," Ye Yi mocked. The Hall Kings and Tianming were monitoring the battlefield and dealing with the spoils. They still couldn't afford to let their guard down yet.
"His reputation was ruined in a single day. He might as well off himself to prevent further embarrassment," Tianming said.
"That's one way to put it, but someone as prideful as him won't just take this lying down. We're still not in the clear yet. I worry that the autarch will pull out all the stops to exterminate the dao palace like a mad demon," Bai Mo said with worry on his face.
"We have to remain vigilant against even more dastardly methods for him. He's gone too far to back out now. It’ll only get worse from here on," Ye Yi said.
"Thankfully, Tianming said that Li Wudi might stand a chance of breaking through to empyrean saint. Feng also has good control of the Evil Suppression Formation, and he'll only improve from here. We have a very good chance of prevailing."
"That's right."
"Tianming, your godfather mentioned knowing the position of the autarch beast at all times, right?" Bai Mo asked.
"That's right."
"Then we can locate the autarch at any time without him knowing. We can make some preparations that way."
"That sounds good."
As they continued their discussion, Tianming said, "Hall Lord, Hall King, I shall go back to cultivate." After all, the Theocrats wouldn't return anytime soon.
"Go ahead. I know you're anxious, given our predicament, but make sure not to rush your cultivation. You must progress at your own pace at all times," Bai Mo said.
"Alright."
Tianming had lived through another deathly battle and his understanding of Imperial Will was transforming by the moment. The appearance of Autarch Qian had left a lot for him to ponder. First, he went to visit Weisheng Yunxi. She seemed to be sound asleep, and Situ Qinghe and Weisheng Yumo were taking care of her.
"Can the Cyclic Stigma only be removed using the Cyclic Mirror?" Tianming asked.
"That's right. It came from the mirror, after all," Weisheng Yumo said.
"So only by killing the autarch can we take the mirror and wake her up." Tianming was fraught with worry at how pale the palace lord looked.
"That seems to be the case," she said. "Tianming, don't worry. We’ll all stand strong and defend the dao palace. Now your godfather is the hope we're all counting on. We might be able to win with him around."
"Alright," Tianming said. However, he didn't tell them that he wanted to be able to help out more.
