“Xuanyuan Muxue is approaching Fang Xingque of her own will?” Jian Lingchen had also noticed it. Fang Xingque didn’t seem to be moving much, and it was Xuanyuan Muxue who was approaching him.
“That’s right. This way, everyone left will all be gathered at one spot,” said Tianming.
“That’ll save us trouble,” said Jian Lingchen.
“But it makes the situation even more chaotic,” the four ladies pondered. They were concerned with Jian Lingchen’s situation.
“Let’s go. Hurry up or we’ll miss the fun if we’re late,” said Tianming.
“Why are you in such a hurry? The mantis preys on the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. We can wait for them to fight among themselves and show ourselves when they’re almost done,” said Jian Nichang. Her tone had gotten a lot softer.
“Problem is, are you the oriole? How can you do anything to the mantis if you’re an ant instead?” Tianming turned around and looked at her with a smile.
“Why are your words so insulting?” Jian Nichang said with a grimace.
“Big Sister Nichang, we just have to follow Tianming,” said Jian Lingchen.
At that moment, Jian Nichang felt the urge to pinch Jian Lingchen for helping an outsider instead of her. Tianming had already gone far ahead when they spoke.
“Catch up! Catch up!” Jian Lingchen called out.
“Lingchen, you’re the son of Tribulation Artifact Hall’s palace lord and a Quadrasword Talent of our Draconis House of Jian. So why are you following around him like a lackey?” Jian Nichang reprimanded.
“That’s because I have foresight, unlike you guys. He might be insignificant right now, but it’ll be different when he becomes Her Eminence’s disciple,” said Jian Lingchen.
“Talk again when he actually becomes one!” The five of them quickly followed Tianming.
……
There was some logic to Jian Nichang’s idea. They would have an advantage if they made their move later, but that wasn’t Tianming’s style. Along the way, he saw many people gathering towards the two rays. They were those who wanted to try their luck.
“But that won’t be so easy….” Tianming headed directly toward Fang Xingque’s location. Everyone would gather there on the last day, and they had to be close to the mantis if they wanted to be the oriole. The spectators outside held their breath when everyone in the Deepstar Battlefield began gathering; they were waiting for the final battle.
“Fang Xingque is already prepared.”
“He found a place that’s easy to defend. This valley is very suitable for them to defend themselves after sealing it up.”
“The hundreds of Sterling House of Fang’s disciples even exceed the number of other disciples on the battlefield. In addition to the fear of Fang Xingque, his spot is practically guaranteed.”
“Did you guys see that? Many people are going after Xuanyuan Muxue.” Their gazes fell on Xuanyuan Muxue. She had frozen all her pursuers into ice sculptures.
“Why is Xuanyuan Muxue looking for Fang Xingque? There should be two battlefields, but it’s one now.”
“We’ll know eventually. Just continue watching.”
……
The Deepstar Battlefield was massive, and Tianming spent half an hour traveling before he finally got close to Fang Xingque. Along the way, he got rid of everyone he encountered.
The ranking was constantly changing on the last day, especially Xuanyuan Muxue’s points. That meant she had been defeating those coming after her. On the contrary, there weren’t many changes to Fang Xingque’s points.
Tianming finally saw the valley up ahead. Hundreds of phoenixes flew in the sky above, constantly emitting cries to intimidate the disciples outside. The phoenixes were massive to begin with, so it was a spectacular scene having hundreds of them gathered together.
This placed those who came in a difficult position. There were many people gathered outside the valley, but none of them dared to enter the valley first.
The more people like them, the safer Fang Xingque will be because there will be fewer people with the courage to go against the Sterling House of Fang’s disciples. Tianming immediately noticed the problem and saw Fang Xingque standing in the crowd of Sterling House of Fang’s disciples.
He looked arrogant as he fearlessly spoke out, “Listen up, you people. I, Fang Xingque, will deal with anyone who dares to touch those from my Sterling House of Fang. You can be bold now, but you’ll realize how miserable life can be when you go out. I’m not joking here, and everyone knows what I’ve done to those people in the past. Do you people want to snatch the Deepstar Pool spot from me? Are you stupid?”
A wild burst of laughter echoed out from the valley, and even the phoenixes joined in. They were looking at those who surrounded the valley with contempt.
“Fight me? Do you believe that no one will utter a word if I cripple you, throw you out of the Archaion Sect, and kill you?” Fang Xingque smiled disdainfully. Even the Judgment Hall’s palace lord belonged to their Sterling House of Fang, so who could hand out judgment to them?
The entire valley fell into silence under his threat. Everyone remained where they were, and no one dared to raise their heads before the five hundred Sterling House of Fang disciples.
No one wanted to stand out. After all, if someone stood out and no one supported them, he or she would be targeted by Fang Xingque, and it would be troublesome.
“Why don’t we go after Xuanyuan Muxue? We still have hope if we go after her.”
“There’s no hope in taking out Fang Xingque, and no one dares to stand out. So who dares to go up without anyone taking the lead?”
“Xuanyuan Muxue is coming in this direction. We can just wait here. There’s no need to go looking for her.”
Everyone had their own thoughts, shrouding the entire battlefield in silence.
“Go!”
“Go and fight Fang Xingque. What the hell are those guys doing?”
“A bunch of cowards!”
The spectators were all growing anxious because they naturally wanted to enjoy an exciting battle. Everyone was waiting for the battle to break out. But it wasn’t, because no one dared to provoke the Sterling House of Fang, so those laid in ambush outside fought among themselves.
There were many Heaven Branch disciples there, and most of them had points ranging from tens to hundreds. So they still had a gleam of hope if they took all the points for themselves. That was also part of the reason why the situation started getting out of hand. There were lifebound beasts everywhere, recklessly launching their abilities.
“What a bunch of cowards,” Fang Xingque sneered.
Right at that moment, Tianming’s group appeared. “It’s him! And he’s really in the Empyrean Saint stage!”
“He’s together with the Draconis House of Jian’s Jian Lingchen, who’s in fourth place!”
“Their rankings have been rising violently over the past two days. Even Xuanyuan Yutuo, Jian Chenzhong, and Jian Mugu were eliminated by them. I calculated, and Li Tianming obtained Xuanyuan Yutuo and Jian Chenzhong’s points. That meant he’s the one who dealt the last blow to them.”
“What’s Jian Lingchen doing? He’s letting Li Tianming, an empyrean saint to take third?” They naturally didn’t believe that Tianming took out Xuanyuan Yutuo, since they hadn’t watched it.
“Wait, that doesn’t seem right. There’s no way Jian Lingchen and his wives could defeat Elder Dugu’s seven disciples!” As the only possible group to go against Fang Xingque, the appearance of Tianming’s group naturally attracted everyone’s attention.
Fang Xingque was also looking at Tianming, and the first thought that crossed his mind was to attack. But the Heaven Branch disciple, Fang Chenyun, stopped him, “Xingque, not now.”
“I’ve spent days looking for him. What are we waiting here for instead of killing his lifebound beasts?” Fang Xingque asked with a sinister face.
“Let’s take a look at the situation first. It’s easy to cause chaos if we attack,” said Fang Chenyun.
“I’m afraid that he’ll be expelled from the Astral Formation by others!” Fang Xingque said unhappily.
“He won’t. I find him rather cunning.”
“Alright, I’ll wait then.” Fang Xingque narrowed his eyes with a murderous aura when he looked at Tianming.
Right at that moment, Tianming looked over, and their gazes collided. Tianming smiled and raised his hand, drawing his thumb across his neck. His bold provocation instantly dropped a bomb in the Sterling House of Fang’s crowd.
But right at that moment, someone launched an attack at Tianming. Someone charged out from the corner and attacked without even speaking.
“Li Tianming has two thousand points! Defeat him and we might surpass Xuanyuan Muxue on the ranking!”
“Oh, yeah! Li Tianming and Xuanyuan Muxue only have a difference of five hundred points. I have four hundred points now, so I’ll be close to the second rank after defeating him.”
“Who’s attacking?”
“That’s the fifth on the current ranking, Yi Yuxuan. She has six hundred points, and she’ll be able to surpass Xuanyuan Muxue by defeating him!”
“Quick, don’t let her get it!”
The situation plunged into chaos. Tianming never expected that he would be treated as a pushover and get targeted by everyone when he had just arrived. But then again, it was understandable, since he was only an empyrean saint, and the disciples attacking him were all disciples from the Heaven Branch.
“I’d be under the impression that I’m in the top two, if the ranking wasn’t shown,” Tianming smiled. He was naturally unafraid and targeted the disciple who attacked him first. It was a woman with a voluptuous figure. She had a baby face that made her look innocent, but her voluptuous figure was eye-catching.
Her lifebound beast was a black cat. The cat was enormous and moved like a flashing illusion. It was probably a dark-type lifebound beast who could fuse into darkness. She was the fifth on the ranking, Yi Yuxuan.
“Quick! Don’t let Yu Yixuan take it!” But just as everyone was calling out, Yi Yuxuan appeared before Tianming. Jian Lingchen and the four ladies were nearby, but everyone realized they showed no signs of helping at all.
“I’ll be taking your points.” Yi Yuxuan smiled.