Dongyang An had been paying Tianming too much attention and ignored the little Ying Huo, only to be dealt a fatal blow by it.
"Aaagh!" It was hard to describe to others the extent of the pain he felt. What was worse was that he had been slashed by the Grand-Orient Sword at almost the same time. As he vomited blood, his eyes shook; his will had completely crumbled.
"Die!" He thrust with Onyxfiend Seagod, only for it to be parried by the Grand-Orient Sword. The sword struck between the prongs of the trident, slashing one prong completely off.
"You're the one who's dying, Dongyang An!" Tianming roared with rage. He slashed downward, emitting so much sword ki that it swallowed Dongyang An whole, tearing him into pieces and scattering them across the ocean.
"Congratulations, Dongyang An. You're not even cremated, but your ashes are already scattered in the sea."
Before Dongyang An had died, he seemed utterly shocked and fearful. By then, his mental state had completely collapsed from sheer terror and fear of the end of the Theocracy’s reign.
With a flick of his wrist, Tianming caught Dongyang An's eyeball on his sword. It was still looking at Tianming with fear.
"Well, am I a god?" Tianming asked as the glow from the eye gradually faded. "Treat others better in your next life. We’re all born equal as living things, after all."
The 'others' Tianming was referring to were the despairing denizens of the Grand-Orient Realm who had been stuffed into the warships. While it was a 'sin' to be weak, there was nothing inherently wrong with being alive in and of itself. Tianming had climbed to where he was despite being weak once. He knew better than anyone how horrible it was to be weak and powerless.
"Life proliferates and prospers under a just ruler!" The birth and rise of will was the most powerful thing in the universe. This was the creed he lived by that fueled his struggle against the Theocracy.
......
With Dongyang An dying to Tianming and his beasts, his hydra had attempted to flee, only to be hunted down and killed all the same. Even a gigantic beast like it disappeared when its corpse was swallowed by the boundless sea. Once that was dealt with, Tianming got back on Lan Huang's back and looked back.
"It's a god!" cried millions of people from the decks of the warships. Tianming saw the fervent gazes they shot him. Some people even bowed or knelt in worship.
"What’s this?" Tianming was flabbergasted. He saw an ethereal form of energy gather around his body. It resembled a kind of white mist, but it wasn't souls. Every person had a bit of this white mist in their bodies, which gathered into a large concentration of mist and entered his sea of consciousness.
After that, something even more wondrous happened. His Imperial Will grew even further, as if nourished by the white mist. The rate of growth was unbelievable, and much faster than his usual cultivation. Throughout the whole process, he also felt each and every one of their feelings. They had fallen to the pits of despair and were awaiting death on the warships, yet Tianming had shown up and became their icon of hope. The sight of him dominating Dongyang An with his sword ki had been engraved in the hearts of many.
Tianming heard countless voices in his heart; the feelings of parting and joyous reunion he saw in their souls caused him to tear up. Each and every one of them was a living being, just like him. They all had people they loved, aspirations in life, strong passions, responsibilities, and a desire to protect their families.
"They're all living beings. Just because someone is stronger, does it give them the right to see them as little fish? No matter what, one day, one of these fish will grow big enough to swallow you whole!"
His black and gold eyes shone as he realized that the third eye on his arm couldn't see the white mist coming from these million people. It also meant that other people had no idea that kind of mist existed, either. Only the eyes of the Primordial God-Emperor allowed him to see it.
"Tianming, this is called Omnisentient Will. Only with it supporting Imperial Will can you embark upon the most righteous path! Only by forging the most prosperous empire the world has ever seen can you become the ultimate sovereign! But just as the waves can carry a ship across the sea, they can also flip it over. You have to commit this to memory!" said a voice that rang loudly in his head. At that moment, Tianming had an epiphany.
"Sovereign!" His tears flowed nonstop, even though the voice of the Primordial God-Emperor was long gone. However, Tianming knew that it marked the moment he had truly unlocked the legacy of the sovereign.
He was able to absorb Omnisentient Will and convert it to his own Imperial Will without harming the sentient beings from which he absorbed it one bit. It wasn't like using the Cyclic Mirror, which required the sacrifice of millions. In fact, Tianming's heavenly will could also trigger a spark of comprehension in the sentient lifeforms, resulting in their eventual transformation. However, this was only the start, and the effects weren't obvious.
This was the true imperial path.
"Just as the waves can carry a ship across the sea, they can also flip it over." He remembered the words well. Now, he felt really lucky. The Li Saint Clan had taught him to defy fate and change his destiny, and Imperial Will allowed him to not stray from the righteous path. These two factors formed the core of his being. Now he could see the path he would have to tread to reach sovereignhood with the eyes that were given to him.
"The most important thing to a cultivator is an eternal will!" His actions were powered by his soul. This night, he had saved a million people, who in turn had taught him much. "My Imperial Will alone grew so much. I suppose I'll be able to break through to the fourth level now, right?"
The key to breaking through usually resided in heavenly will, so now that he had enough of it, it wouldn't take long before he advanced to the next level. However, he had to settle the million people down first.
"Now that Dongyang An and Meng Yifeng are dead, Autarch Qian's plan has failed. However, they captured at least ten million hostages. My mission is still not over yet."
Even so, his mission could be said to be a success. The deaths of Dongyang An, Huang Chonghuan, Zhao Shenhong, Wei Ji, and Chong Yang meant that, apart from the autarch's two ninth-level sky saint sons, he no longer had any top-tier experts he could count on.
......
Qin Jiufu and Bai Zifeng were settling the million people down on the shore. Then, they took over the warships so they could use them to ship the people back home.
"Hall King, are they all dead?" Tianming asked when he returned.
"Yes. We can't afford to let any of them escape just in case," Qin Jiufu said. That was a sign that the Decimo Dao Palace's seniors were no longer as even-tempered as they used to be.
"I will go see my family first." Tianming then flew to where they were.
"It's the god! God!" Many people who didn't know him watched him with a passionate gaze, some kneeling and shedding tears of gratitude.
"I'm not who you think I am, I'm just a normal cultivator. I was the junior sect master of the Grand-Orient Sect. I wonder if you've heard of it before?"
"We have!"
"You're amazing, Big Brother!"
Tianming was completely satisfied at seeing their smiles. Feiling then manifested beside him and the two of them headed to Li Jingyu.
"Grandmother, Grandfather!" Tianming said as he approached. No matter how amazing he was, he acted no different than a child before the two of them.
"Oh, grandson of mine, I’m so proud of you! Give granny a hug!" Li Jingyu said as she teared up from the emotions she felt.
"I should be the first, right? He's my biological grandson!" Wei Tiancang said.
"Don't you know ladies come first?" she said, rolling her eyes.
"Fine..." Wei Tiancang was already rather moved to be able to see him at all. Tianming and Li Jingyu hugged each other tightly.
"Let go, let go you little runt! You're going to squeeze the air out of my lungs!"
"Does that mean you're the big runt?" Tianming asked, causing the rest to laugh.
Meanwhile, Feiling reunited with Jiang Cheng and Jiang Qingluan. They were also crying from the pent-up emotions. Tianming saw that Sage Chen and Xue Lan were there, too.
"Uncle Chen," Tianming greeted with a smile.
Sage Chen shot him a thumbs up. "Tianming when are you going to return the heavenly pattern crystals you owe me?"
"Uncle, they're worth too much. I'll give you a few celestial manna later," Tianming said.
"I see. Then you can pay it back in full another time. I'll make do with celestial manna for now."
Sage Chen then continued, "Tianming, even though you've experienced all kinds of dangers, you're still that good child deep inside. Never forget who you originally were. If you can do that, your future path will be bright."
"Wow, keep that up and I'll blush," Tianming said.
"Don't make me beat you up!"
Beside Sage Chen, Xue Lan stood like a silent fool. "Tianming... I never found the chance to apologize to you...."
"Auntie, don't worry. After all I've experienced, I've learned that there are people who are far more infuriating than you."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
"You can take it as such."
Xue Lan then turned to her own two sons. She felt so bad that she wanted to cry.
Apart from her, Wei Guohao and Wei Lingxuan also felt rather horrible.
"Cousin!" they cried, lowering their heads.
......
Meanwhile, Qin Jiufu had the dao palace send more people over to move the denizens of the Grand-Orient Realm back to the Skyreach River. Tianming also began breaking through to the fourth level. He had gained far more than he expected, but it was bound to come sooner or later. As the successor of the Primordial God-Emperor, it was only a matter of time before he embarked on the path of Omnisentient Will. Right after he broke through, Li Wudi came to him.
"Did you break through?" he asked. While others saw him as a monster, the true monster in his eyes was Tianming.
"So what? Are you convinced yet, Mister Runner-up Genius of the Grand-Orient Realm?" Tianming asked.
"Dammit.... Do you wanna bet that I'll eventually grow powerful enough to beat you up?"
"Then you’d better prepare to be bedridden for the rest of your life."
"Wow, somebody's grown arrogant. Would you really dare to beat up your godfather? You wouldn't, would you my wubby bubby?" he said as one would to a baby.
"To hell with you! Don't tell me this is what you were doing with Ye Shaoqing the whole time I was at the Divine Capital!"
"Shut up! I'm a ramrod straight man!"
"So you claim."
The two grumbled for quite a while before Li Wudi got to the point.
"Tianming, before we left, you didn't tell me you broke through. Let me ask you now how powerful you really are. The dao palace needs to know, so we can plan for the future," he solemnly said.
"I’ve broken through quite a lot lately. If not for your Bloodfiend Transformation, I'd be able to fight on the same level as you now."
"What in the world.... How will I be able to stand tall and proud with you around now?" Li Wudi was as disappointed as he was glad.
"Just get used to it."
"Monster! Oh well, that's good news too. The Theocrats have their sights on me, but I bet they wouldn't expect you to grow so quickly. Now that you've killed Dongyang An and Meng Yifeng, almost all the elites from the Divine Capital have been wiped out. They won't have many people left to do their bidding, and they don't know I'm here since I haven't fought yet. That should mean that the fact I know the autarch's location hasn’t been revealed yet."
Autarch Qian had secretly left. If Li Wudi dared to show up at Skyreach River to kill Dongyang An, it would tip the autarch off. It was different from the time they had killed Huang Chonghuan, who’d left the army in a suicidal attempt to have a different kind of ‘fight’.
Normally, there was no way Li Wudi would leave the Divine Capital if he thought the autarch would still be there; after all, he was the autarch's prime target. He was worth far more to the Theocrats than the million-man army of the dao palace.