Everyone near Dongyang An on the fifth warship was a Theocrat, and they easily identified Tianming based on his white hair and oddly-colored eyes. They were at the delta where the Skyreach River met the ocean and were shocked to see their archenemy there.
"It's the corpse of the Dazzling Pavilion Lord!"
"He killed Meng Yifeng!"
Frightened cries rang out all over the place.
"Who's in there? Come out and die!" Tianming yelled as he struck out with his chain the moment he got on the deck. The sparkling chain pierced through tens of Theocrats at a time. With a heavy swing, the corpses were flung away. "Come out!"
Right at that moment, the door blasted open as Dongyang An, clad in a black robe, appeared before him. "Li Tianming... the path to heaven is wide, but you kicked in the gates of hell instead...." Back when Dongyang An was the Death Hall King, he was only inferior to Bai Mo alone. Now, he was an eighth-level sky saint and still had a decade or more to improve.
"It's you?" Tianming immediately turned and left when he saw him, though it was but an act. Tianming was far too important to the Theocrats, so Dongyang An didn't even stop to think about the details. If he caught Tianming, he would be able to force the Decimo Dao Palace to their knees. There was no way he would let him leave. Without another word, he immediately gave chase.
Two figures whooshed through the sea at blinding speed. Dongyang An seemed like a storm as waves formed wherever he flew past. When Tianming turned back, he saw that Qin Jiufu and Bai Zifeng had taken the chance to board the fifth warship. They immediately launched into a slaughter. The Theocrats didn't have many elites remaining, and couldn't hold up against them at all.
Soon, Tianming spotted Li Jingyu and Wei Tiancang and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they were fine. However, that didn't quell the rage he felt in the slightest, having had his loved ones taken from him.
Dongyang An was flying across the ocean so quickly that the waves splashed all over him. "What in the world are you up to...." Something immediately occurred to him and he turned back and saw the hostages being rescued. He couldn't help but laugh as he turned back to Tianming. "A bait and switch, eh? Tianming, don't you know that one of you alone is worth far more than a million of them?"
"Of course I do. But I bet there's something you don't know, Fifteenth Highness." Tianming wielded the Grand-Orient Sword in one hand as he spoke. All of a sudden, a gigantic beast surfaced from the ocean and propped Tianming up and a fiery phoenix landed on his shoulder. When Dongyang An turned back, he even saw a little black cat standing on the surface of the ocean with black lightning surrounding it, sealing off his escape route.
Dongyang An chuckled and said, "Is that all?"
Back during the battle for the Decimo Sky and Earth Ranking, Tianming was only on the same level as Dongyang An's grandson, Jiang Chengfeng. Yet here he was, coming right for him a few months later. "I know you progress really quickly. You even defeated Wei Ji with Ye Lingfeng. If you really did break through to the eighth level of Sky Saint, I'd mistake you for a god."
Dongyang An took out his saint beastial weapon from his spatial ring. It was a trident called the Onyxfiend Seagod. Like its namesake, it was pitch black all over. Its prongs were razor sharp, and it bore eighty-three saintly heavenly patterns. Wielding the impressive trident, Dongyang An seemed like a demonic ocean spirit.
With a loud splash, an eight-headed hydra fell onto the ocean surface. It was covered entirely in black scales that were adorned with spiky bones that poked out from its body. The number of heads it had meant that Dongyang An was exceedingly talented. But the most terrifying part about this hydra was its tails—not only were they thin and long, they had stingers and numbered in the hundreds. The spearlike tips also sported barbs that could easily allow the tails to tear out chunks of flesh. The tails looked like they could function like Tianming's Three-Thousand Starfield; each of them were twenty meters long, and they spread out like the hair of a demon.
The beast was called a Hundred-Tailed Blackhell Hydra and had eighty-one stars. It was an eighth-order saint beast and was rare even in the Divine Capital. As it had attributes of water and poison, it was quite adept at fighting at sea. Its wide paws allowed it to efficiently paddle through the water and its tails were functionally like torpedos, striking from the hidden ocean depths.
"You'll know if I'm a god if you test me out." Tianming flapped Celestial Wings and Feiling controlled the whole region with Temporal Field. His white hair fluttered from the ocean breeze as he charged toward Dongyang An, all three of his lifebound beasts joining in the attack in unison.
"Don't you know how to spell the word 'death'?" Dongyang An said with a smile.
"Of course. I used Dongyang Fengchen's corpse to spell that word, after all. He didn't know how to spell it, so I taught him by example."
Dongyang An felt his head begin to ache. "For the Decimo Dao Palace to produce such a cruel father and son... I see that they've gone against their principles."
"You're wrong. We're not cruel. We just don’t regret meting out heaven's judgment! The Nineshades Clan deserves to be exterminated for the evil deeds you refuse to stop committing! Dongyang An, I’m not the one here to claim your life—the heavens will it!"
A fierce battle erupted at sea. Dongyang An's hydra roared and dove underwater to execute Blacksea Hell, causing the waters around them to swirl into a black vortex. The hydra let its venom seep into the water, causing it to bubble, emit black smoke, and even burn with poisonous black flames that began surrounding Tianming.
With a great roar, Lan Huang also dove into the ocean with its huge body. Its Mountainsea World allowed it to temporarily stave off the effects of the venom, but that didn't stop the hydra from sending its hundreds of tails coursing toward Lan Huang, Tianming, and the rest.
An explosion rippled underwater, sending countless waves rising up toward the skies. Lan Huang struck out with Annihilation Godsword and cut off one of the hydra's tails, causing it to shriek in pain. However, the tails still managed to break through the Mountainsea World and pierce Lan Huang's abdomen. The nine kui seas around its abdomen spun rapidly to disperse the fearsome piercing power of the tails, however. Lan Huang had a shell into which it withdrew its heads, talons, and tail, thus avoiding most of the damage.
At the same time, Ying Huo's Sixpath Infernal Lotus set Dongyang An's body alight, forcing him to separate from his hydra. As he and his beast were only two fighters, ganging up on them was the best tactic.
Misty Hellthunder then came thundering down on the Blacksea Hell vortex, surrounding the hydra and giving it a good fry. Meow Meow went in again with its venomous fangs, causing it to shriek even harder.
Being besieged by a triple beastmaster was a truly unique nightmare.
The hydra unleashed a few abilities in succession when it hit its limit, but to no avail. Its hundreds of tails weren't able to do much damage to Lan Huang, and Dongyang An fared even worse, as he was the one bearing the brunt of Tianming and Ying Huo's attacks, one from the front and the other from behind.
"I only need one move to kill you!"
The sea rumbled as Tianming wielded the split Grand-Orient Sword in his hands. Strands of his hair began to float as more than seven thousand strands of Invincible Sword Ki burst out of him like a colorful rainbow, giving him a godly halo. The Grand-Orient Sword triggered his Imperealm Sword Formation, which expanded to a range of fifty plus meters and instantly enveloped Dongyang An within. Tens of thousands of strands of black and gold sword ki rampaged about within the formation.
"Die!" With a roar, he executed the fourth strike of the Shenxiao Sword Art, a combination of Olympos Imperius, Pyros Imperius, Fulguros Imperius, and Oceanos Imperius, coupled with Invincible Sword Ki of corresponding types and the sword ki from the Imperealm Sword Formation.
That sheer sight caused Dongyang An's scalp to tingle. He grit his teeth and stabilized his mental state, a skill he had picked up after years of experience in battle. However, he still couldn't help but feel a primal fear. Why was a kid in his twenties making him feel true fear? Did the heavens really send a messenger to wipe out the sinful existence of the Theocrats? He was filled with despair at the thought. "The heavens aren't fair! I shan't yield to them today! What’s so wrong about taking back control of my own fate from heaven? So what if the heavens kill me? That doesn't amount to anything at all!"
He was so fueled by rage that his body was about to explode. He mustered boundless fighting spirit and managed to reach a peak fighting condition he had never before attained throughout his entire life. The trident in his hand shimmered in a dance-like manner as he attacked with Oceanfiend Rampage, Encroaching Demon! He fought like a rampaging berserker, roiling up the waves like a gigantic beast as he charged toward Tianming. Amidst the seas, he reigned supreme with his trident.
Yet....
"Damn it! How dare you ignore this chicken?!" Ying Huo charged at Dongyang An like a mad fowl. It had tasted the bitterness of being ignored and wouldn't allow it to continue, instantly lashing out with Infernal Haze.
Then, using its Wings of Agni, it shot out more than three thousand strands of Invincible Sword Ki. No amount of defensive gear could help Dongyang An block that strike. Countless holes were punched through his body, out of which leaked blood and piss. His expression was utterly contorted as his face was flushed white by the sudden leakage of blood.