Li Muyang's appearance was only enough to hold Xuanyuan Xu temporarily at bay. Now that Li Wudi was heavily wounded, nobody could stop the rampaging autarch. All Tianming could do was watch the despairing folks in the swamp stare at the Cyclic Mirror that began to shine a bright white. Soon, their souls would be converted into nourishment, and all three million of them would die a horrible death. Li Wudi, being right above the mirror, would no doubt be the first one to die. The autarch was laughing maniacally as he held the kunpeng at bay.
"Save me! Save me!"
It was only just starting, but many of them were already suffering from a headache as they rolled around in the swamp. They let out harrowing shrieks as their faces turned pale.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaagggggghhhh!"
The shrieks continued to no end. All of Richwater City seemed to have turned into hell on earth. One might be convinced that the water in the swamp was actually boiling oil instead.
Right at the peak of despair, a white-haired youth smashed the heavenly pattern formation with his fists before charging inside it.
"It's useless! Your soul will only be sacrificed to the Cyclic Mirror!" the autarch said with glee.
By now, the autarch beast had hidden on the surface of the mirror, which had already begun absorbing souls. It was said that nothing would be able to halt that process. This was the highest level of mastery the Nineshades Clan had of the mirror.
Right as the autarch's words landed, Tianming rammed into the mirror’s surface, his eyes laser-focused on Li Wudi. "Godfather!"
While they weren't blood relatives, they were no doubt family. Seeing Li Wudi with the Cyclic Stigma on his forehead as he was tossed into the Cyclic Mirror at the brink of death caused him to seethe with rage.
"Cyclic Mirror!" That was the root of all evil. Something like that should never deserve to be called a divine artifact. Right after Tianming entered the formation, he felt a pull at his soul that resulted in mind-numbing pain. However, he was aided by Prime Tower and Soul Tower. Almost instantly, the Soul Tower stabilized Tianming's soul and mitigated the effects of the pull.
"Tianming, smash it with the three divine artifacts! The mirror is really weak in its vortex state!" Li Muyang's voice rang in his mind somehow.
"Alright!" He had initially come in to try to interrupt the ritual, but now, it seemed he could destroy the mirror itself, and he was all too ready to oblige. He wielded the Grand-Orient Sword in one hand, and Prime Tower floated beside him thanks to the soul servant. Ye Lingfeng, on the other hand, had been dragged inside by him. He and his Soulfiend had strong souls which allowed them to resist the mirror's pull.
"Go, Feng!" This was a one-in-a-million opportunity for them to destroy this demonic item that had caused utmost grief across aeons. The Grand-Orient Sword, Prime Tower, and Evil Suppression Pillar landed on the mirror’s surface simultaneously.
All of a sudden, a clear cracking sound could be heard. Tianming actually saw a hairline crack on the mirror spread across its surface before it shattered the next moment. This was a momentous occasion. Tianming couldn't help but yell as he rejoiced, venting his pent-up rage and frustration. "The mirror's now gone. Autarch Qian is nothing without it!"
Then, he lifted Li Wudi to check on him. Fortunately, his pulse was still there despite him being unconscious. The Soulfiend immediately came to swallow him up. At the very least, his wounds wouldn't worsen as quickly when he was within its body.
Next, something even more wondrous happened: the shattered mirror pieces gathered together and shot towards Li Muyang.
"No! My Cyclic Mirror! My mirror!" the autarch yelled like a madman. The pain he felt was far worse than when he found out about his clan's extinction.
"Waaaaaaah!" He actually broke into tears as ultimate despair filled him. His heart was broken a dozen times over as he watched the pieces of the mirror enter Li Muyang's eyes. Only he knew what was going on now. Even so, that didn't change how angry the autarch felt about it. He had officially lost everything and vomited blood on the spot.
"I'm going to kill you! Kill you!" he yelled as he charged over like a demon, but the Primordial Bloodbane Kunpeng wouldn't let him touch Tianming.
Right after, Tianming received the Omnisentient Will coming from the three million citizens of Richwater City. They had witnessed him coming to their rescue as they despaired and saw him shatter the mirror and save them. Ironically, their primeval autarch was the one who was trying to kill them all. The supposed child of sin, Tianming, was their hero and savior, and he received the Omnisentient Will of the staggering three million lives he helped save.
"He is Li Tianming!"
"He saved us! He broke the mirror!"
"He's the true sovereign!"
Tianming could see the burning passion in their tears and felt it wash over him. His eyes could see the Omnisentient Will gather up and nourish his Imperial Will, fueling its rampant growth. Shattering the Cyclic Mirror was the best thing that had happened to his soul.
"The Nineshades Clan came to prominence thanks to the Cyclic Mirror, so they shall fall with it too!"
Now, his eyes burned with a glorious light. He was already on the brink of breaking through, and his sudden surge of the heavenly will caused him to reach the fifth level and near the sixth. His saint ki was filled to the limit with the sudden influx of spiritual energy.
Tianming took out a saint crystal and swallowed it. This was the method he had used with Ying Huo to absorb spiritual energy. While it was crude, he didn't bother with keeping up an image at this critical juncture.
The energy within his body surged before he reached peak power. All the while, the autarch was still entangled with the kunpeng ahead of him.
"Autarch Qian!" Tianming's eyes blazed with anger. He stood beside the dying autarch beast that was desperately trying to wriggle away before hacking away at its heads. In almost an instant, all eight of them were slashed off, but it was still alive. "You have also committed grave sins, but it's not time for you to die yet."
After that, he joined Ye Lingfeng, his Soulfiend, his three beasts, and the kunpeng in ganging up against the autarch.
"Feng, activate the Evil Suppression Formation."
"Got it!" He knew the most optimal thing for him and the Soulfiend to do now was support them. The main fight counted on Tianming and the kunpeng, who was on par with Li Wudi as far as battle capability was concerned.
"Autarch Qian, I had never imagined I would be the one to face off against you. It must be ordained by the heavens. I am the one anointed to purify your sinful existence! I shall repay you a thousand times over for the Cyclic Stigma you gave my godfather!" Tianming roared like a beast as he charged towards the empyrean saint. Meanwhile, the three million victims scrambled for the chance to escape.
Bai Mo and Ye Yi were still there. They couldn't bring themselves to leave. By the time Tianming made his way before the autarch, Ye Lingfeng had deployed the formation with the help of the Soulfiend in a practiced manner. He sat cross-legged on the pillar and shot towards the sky while the Soulfiend remained at the other end of the pillar near the ground. Before long, the black formation spread out over a kilometer, locking the autarch in.
Tianming had just broken through, and his Sword Imperealm Formation's range increased to three hundred meters. Anyone beside him now would be attacked by the two types of sword ki that raged within it. Coupled with the Primitive Demon Ki of the formation, it was truly terrifying.
"Is Ye Lingfeng also part of the Li Saint Clan?" the autarch asked with a hoarse voice, seemingly aging years within moments.
"No, he's a member of the Infernal Soul Clan!"
Twenty thousand years, eighty thousand souls, all infused within the soul of a single youth. Ye Lingfeng's cultivation wasn't particularly high, so all he could do was give it his all to maintain the formation. Primitive Demon Ki gathered around the Soulfiend as it grew in size. Its three heads roared as it blocked the autarch's path of retreat alongside the kunpeng. Then, Tianming, Ying Huo, Meow Meow, and Lan Huang surrounded him.
"Infernal Soul Clan?" He seemed to pale at their mention. It was as if he had tasted the same thing he had done to their clan, with his Cyclic mirror gone, lifebound beast at the brink of death, descendants all wiped out, and Li Muyang coming back to life to take on Xuanyuan Xu. Yet, on top of all of that came the Infernal Soul Clan.
"Aaaah! Aaaaaaaah!" he groaned as he spat out even more blood. "So, it's now my turn to fight to my bitter death, huh? I'll bury you all with me! Darn you, heavens, and your stupid fate!"
He gripped his sword—Primeval Styx—hard and fixed his gaze on Tianming. Without warning, his sword swept towards him, but Tianming had struck first. Lan Huang unleashed Azure Oceanic Purgatory, causing the waves to slam against the autarch. At the same time, Ninefold Chaos Thunderscape slammed down the moment the autarch stepped into the area walled off by Feiling. She threw in Temporal Field for good measure. Chaos Disaster was also unleashed a few times alongside Soulchasing Hellthunder, burrowing into the autarch's body.
"Take this, you old monster!" Ying Huo came descending from the skies with countless Infernal Haze clones and Sixpath Infernal Lotus, clashing together with Lan Huang's ability and eliciting a fierce reaction of polar opposite forces. It then unleashed sword strikes with its clones, infusing them with some five thousand strands of Invincible Sword Ki.
Then, the Soulfiend carrying all that Primitive Demon Ki appeared before the autarch. Its angry, bestial face roared as it hammered out nonstop with its six fists. The punches, infused with the ki, could corrode the flesh and dazzle the soul. Meanwhile, the formation gave the Soulfiend a further boost. While it wouldn't be enough to take on Xuanyuan Xu or his dragon, it was still potent enough against the autarch.
Then, the Primordial Bloodbane Kunpeng used Bloodfiend Disaster, causing thousands of bloody bird figures to manifest before slamming against the autarch, leaving him no room to take a breather. Each and every attack in the barrage was quite powerful.
"Hahahahaha!" The autarch laughed madly and focused on nobody but Tianming alone. He ignored all the incoming abilities with the goal of killing nobody else but him.