Fang Xingying raised his dull eyes and said, “Alright, I’ll leave then.”
He was a direct descendant of the Sterling House of Fang and should have a high status, but it was pathetic how he was today. Fang Chenhuan and Fang Shuyu were the leaders of this team. He had originally gathered this team, but everyone abandoned him for the two of them when they came.
“Get lost then. We’ll look for Junior Master Xingque ourselves.”
“Junior Master Xingque’s ranking is rising, but he hasn’t reached first place yet. He probably doesn’t have many people around him, and we have to gather with him quickly. It’s already been ten days,” Fang Shuyu said anxiously.
“No problem!” Fang Chenhuan smiled and strode forth happily after getting rid of Fang Xingying.
“That guy is ridiculous. It’s better to die than live like a lazy worm.” Fang Shuyu turned back to look at Fang Xingying’s figure with contempt in his eyes.
“He’s a direct descendant, after all,” said Fang Chenhuan.
“Junior Brother Xingque is keeping him around for fun. That person is an oddball. I have no idea how he endures being humiliated every single time.”
“I bet you don’t know about that. Even an animal has the urge to live.”
“Haha!”
Just when the group of nineteen were laughing, someone suddenly said, “There seems to be someone in front!”
“Quick, it’s prey! Don’t let him escape!”
“We’ll gather more points and give them to Junior Master Xingque before the Deepstar Battle ends.”
“Chase after him!”
The commotion created by the group was large, and the prey in their eyes seemed to be walking, then ran when he saw them.
“It’s that Li Tianming!” someone yelled.
“Quick, capture him! It’s a huge merit!” Fang Shuyu rejoiced.
“Capture him and give him to Junior Master Xingque. He’ll be happy!”
“Everyone, be careful. Don’t accidentally activate his Astral Formation!” Fang Shuyu warned.
“His lifebound beast is fast. Quick, encircle him!”
Fang Xingying, who was far away, heard their conversation. “Li Tianming?” He was briefly stunned as he quickly chased the group. He raised his head and saw a white-haired youth being encircled by nineteen disciples from the Sterling House of Fang. They were afraid of Tianming’s lifebound beast’s speed, so they encircled him to block his escape. Nineteen of them, including their lifebound beasts, practically sealed off all of Tianming’s routes.
He’s finished. He can’t even escape, Fang Xingying thought. He was feeling conflicted as to whether he should save him. “Forget it. I’ll take a look at the situation first. It’s fine if they accidentally activate his Astral Formation and eliminate him.”
Right at that moment, Tianming summoned his lifebound beasts, which caused everyone, including Fang Chenhuan and Fang Shuyu, to be shocked. “So many stars?!”
“How in the.…” Fang Xingying was speechless. This battle was interesting, so the Deepstar Hall shifted to Fang Xingying’s vision. From Fang Xingying’s perspective, they could see the entire battle.
“Three lifebound beasts with over three hundred and ninety stars! One with three hundred and ninety-four stars, one with three hundred and ninety-seven stars, and one with four hundred and eighteen stars!”
“Who the hell is he?”
“I think he’s called Li Tianming.”
Tianming’s name was being discussed, and many people were looking at him. He finally made his move. After a brief exchange, Tianming had a rough evaluation of their strength, “Two in the eighth level, ten in the seventh level, and the remaining in the sixth level of the Empyrean Saint stage.”
Even the weakest among them could be a faction lord in the Human Branch, and they all had various types of phoenix lifebound beasts. All of them were tribulation beasts with at least a hundred and fifty stars. The highest was Fang Chenhuan’s lifebound beast, the vajra radiant phoenix, with two hundred and forty stars.
It was a golden phoenix, with claws and beaks that could be used as weapons. Furthermore, there was also Fang Shuyu in the eighth level of the Empyrean Saint stage, whose lifebound beast, a whitejade phoenix, wasn’t any weaker. Whitejade was considered a variant earth-type, and it had a body like white jade that looked like a living statue. The phoenix was gorgeous, which instantly attracted Ying Huo’s attention.
“Leave those two phoenixes to me.” Ying Huo patted its chest.
“What are you going to do?”
“Steal her from him!” Ying Huo turned into a fiery streak and disappeared. The lifebound beasts in the surroundings were all phoenixes, which made for a spectacular scene. But being besieged by so many beastmasters under the lead of two eighth-level empyrean saints wasn’t a simple matter.
Tianming could be eliminated if he wasn’t careful. He had no idea how many people were watching his fight, but he knew it was time to show his strength to the Archaion Sect.
“The stronger I show myself to be, the more resources Feiling can give me. Tribulation crystals are only a beginning!” Who knows, maybe Feiling could even decide the Deepstar Pool’s places.
“Lan Huang!” Lan Huang had three hundred and ninety-four stars with the Infinite Stardragon Diagram dr.a.p.ed over his body. There was a lake nearby, and Lan Huang didn’t even need to use his Azure Oceanic Purgatory. It jumped into the water and a bunch of lifebound beasts followed it in.
Meow Meow remained beside Tianming in its original form. Its Ninefold Chaos Thunderscape had been greatly boosted. It might be small, but the power it could put on display was terrifying. Chaos Disaster swept over and punished anyone who dared to approach. Then the cat shuttled around like a bolt of lightning, leaving lightning in its wake.
“So fast!” The Sterling House of Fang’s disciples were dumbfounded. Nineteen of them were ganging up on Tianming, but why did their opponent look full of fighting spirit?
Fang Chenhuan smiled when he saw the scene. “He must have a screw loose in his head to clash with us. This is our chance.”
“Quick, go up!” Fang Shuyu said.
“Shuyu, watch closely!” Fang Chenhuan was excited and charged at Tianming. He even instructed the others to hold their attacks. “Li Tianming, I saw your battle with Xuanyuan Yufeng, and you’re pretty good. But are you even worthy of having such lifebound beasts with your pitiful cultivation?”
Fang Chenhuan held a long spear that shot forth like a bolt of lightning. His cultivation was in the eighth level of the Empyrean Saint stage, five complete levels above Tianming.
“Oh?” Tianming smiled indifferently and separated the Grand-Orient Sword into two. He executed the Mortal Dao Sword with both swords, one life, and one death. His attacks were fast, and it seemed like the entire world was suppressing Fang Chenhuan when he brandished his swords.
The golden Grand-Orient Sword’s tip pierced through the spear, shattering the tribulation weapon. Fang Chenhuan watched with his eyes wide, dumbfounded. “What?!”
Tianming’s sword pierced Fang Chenhuan’s chest. The Astral Formation was around anyways, so he could use his full strength to fight. And it was just as he had expected; the Astral Formation was activated and switched to the protection state.
Starlight began radiating out and enveloped Fang Chenhuang. He was spared from death, but eliminated.
“You! How are you so strong?!” Fang Chehuan’s face twisted in the Astral Formation. Most importantly, he felt greatly humiliated for being defeated.
“We have the advantage in numbers. You’re still finished!” Fang Chenhuan said with a sinister expression. But what made him feel even worse was the fact that Tianming paid no attention to him and went after another opponent.
Right at that moment, the Astral Formation dragged the Vajra Radiant Phoenix into the formation as well. The formation was designed to expand until it enveloped the entire lifebound beast and waited for it to return to its lifebound space before shrinking back down.
“Hey, be careful with it!” Ying Huo yelled.
Tianming turned his gaze over and saw a spark exploding in the Vajra Radiant Phoenix’s body. Ying Huo had planted the Infernal Blaze into its body earlier, and it exploded when it entered the Astral Formation.
Everyone was shocked by that, because the explosive power was intense. Furthermore, the flames also devoured Fang Chenhuan alongside his beast. When the Astral Formation finally stabilized, Fang Chenhuan and his lifebound beast were missing.
“Chenhuan!” Fang Shuyi and other disciples from the Sterling House of Fang yelled. They were dumbstruck, and in disbelief over Fang Chenhuan’s death.
They belonged to the Sterling House of Fang, and they also had Astral Formations to protect them. So they didn’t believe that they could be killed in the Deepstar Battlefield.
But now, not even Fang Chenhuan himself could react and was killed by the Infernal Blaze. They suddenly realized that despite being in the third level of the Empyrean Saint stage, Tianming was unbelievably strong.
“Kill him!”
“Take revenge for Chenhuan!”
None of them escaped. On the contrary, they charged at Tianming together. But Tianming could even kill Fang Chenhuan with a sword, so why would he be afraid of them?
His lifebound beasts had already divided up the enemies, and wherever Tianming went, Astral Formations were being activated. In the end, he was surrounded by eighteen Astral Formations.
“Where’s the last one?” Ying Huo asked.
“Ran,” said Tianming.
The one who ran was the other eighth-level empyrean saint, Fang Shuyu. When she discovered that they couldn’t defeat Tianming, she ran away while Tianming was dealing with the rest. The seventeen people were dumbfounded while they looked at Tianming in their Astral Formations.
“Is his cultivation rising?”
“How can he possibly possess that speed in the Empyrean Saint stage?!”
“Even Chenhuan was defeated by him!”