The Prime Tower managed to block Jiang Wuxin's fatal blow. There were too many people around Jiang Wuxin, including Xuanyuan Yucheng, who was in the same cultivation realm.
All Tianming had to do was resist Jiang Wuxin’s attack. Xuanyuan Yucheng led the others in encircling and attacking Jiang Wuxin. They didn’t dare to get too close to him, but their lifebound beasts could continue using their abilities to bombard the enemy, Tianming’s beasts included. Jiang Wuxin's sunscourge fiendwolf made for a huge target and had to resist dozens of abilities.
Wind, fire, thunder, and other forces swept across the swamp. The sunscourge fiendwolf was amazing; using its abilities, it formed a black flame shield. The surface of the shield resembled a vortex that absorbed its opponents’ abilities, devouring or dispelling them. However, the Archaion Sect’s attacks were too powerful, resulting in the shield exploding.
"You dare charge in all by yourself? Don't you consider us people?” With a black dragon halberd in his hand, Xuanyuan Yucheng roared, angrily overtaking Jiang Wuxin.
There were more than twenty people attacking, including Fang Chenjing, who was at the fourth life phase. He sat on a phoenix, bow and arrow in his hand, and shot nine arrows that attacked from all directions with each pluck of his bowstring. Jiang Wuxin was still seething with rage, all of anger focused on Tianming.
Tianming had already left the Prime Tower, having decided to make his move while Xuanyuan Yucheng and the others besieged Jiang Wuxin, his eyes icy-cold.
Tianming, Ying Huo, and Meow Meow shot in the same direction. A thousand tribulation strands of tribulation sword ki condensed within the Grand-Orient Sword, which had been divided into two.
When Jiang Wuxin was covered in blood and beaten into a miserable state, Tianming's Mortal Dao Sword descended from the sky.
Amidst the whistling sword ki, Tianming exploded with Mortal Dao sword intent that possessed terrifying lethality. His sword intent was far more destructive than Jiang Wuxin’s, suppressing his sword intent to a certain extent.
Like an afterimage, Jiang Wuxin quickly moved, blocking Tianming's Mortal Dao Sword. At that moment, the black Grand-Orient Sword came slashing down and the Archaion Sect disciples launched their attacks at Jiang Wuxin.
He had almost hit Tianming with his first blow, but was blocked by the Prime Tower. Now, the opportunity was gone and Jiang Wuxin was trapped in their encirclement. There was no way he could aim for Tianming. Once again, Jiang Wuxin deflected the black sword, but this time, Xuanyuan Yucheng's halberd struck him in the back. Due to his hardy flesh, the attack failed to tear him in half; however, his hell barrier formation was almost exposed.
On the other side, the sunscourge fiendwolf was covered in blood from the joint attacks of more than twenty beastmasters and lifebound beasts. Now that it was trapped, roaring was useless.
"Jiang Wuxin, have you gone mad and started dreaming?” Xuanyuan Yucheng's words were ruthless.
Smashed to the ground, Jiang Wuxin’s entire body was stained with blood, yet he threw his head back in laughter.
The sunscourge fiendwolf quickly returned to his side. After returning the beast to his lifebound space, Jiang Wuxin turned around and fled.
“Get him!”
They chased after him. In an instant, Tianming and Meow Meow charged out, intercepting Jiang Wuxin. He was the one Jiang Wuxin wanted to kill. Without a doubt, the latter had hoped that Tianming would stop him.
Tianming didn’t think there was anything wrong with Jiang Wuxin seeking revenge. That meant he had truly loved his two wives and had thus fallen into madness. His desire to kill had even surpassed the importance of his own life.
His performance was astonishing. However, he was still a little short of killing Tianming. In the case of failure, he had chosen to flee, indicating that he still had some sense. If something happened to Ling'er, Tianming believed he wouldn’t even possess that last bit of reason.
"Li Tianming, if I, Jiang Wuxin, fail to kill you in this life, then I’m not a man. One day, I will destroy the Monorigin Divine Realm and bury you all with my wives.”
When Jiang Wuxin swung the black sword in his hand, the glint from the blade seemed to dazzle the eye. The strange trajectory of the Wuxin Sword Art didn’t make any sense, but his words sounded familiar.
"Yes, you have the right to do so, and so do I. Your revenge is justified. But then again, we’ll have to see if you make it out of here alive today!” Tianming dodged his attack.
Jiang Wuxin’s strength mainly lay in his unpredictability. That was something beyond the level of his battle art, and Tianming felt that fighting him came with great risks. He was still chasing after Jiang Wuxin, but there was quite a distance between Tianming and the people behind him. The entire Archaion Sect team had dispersed, which was a very dangerous sign. Xuanyuan Yucheng and Fang Chenjing were the only ones who were close and there was probably no one left at the hell tree.
"It seems only a death phase samsaran can stop him. But it’s still uncertain whether or not we can intercept and kill him!” Tianming remained on Jiang Wuxin’s tail.
After a moment’s hesitation, he was about to make the risky decision of entering the death phase when he was suddenly stopped.
"Damn it. Xian Xian and Lan Huang are still near the hell tree. They’re too far away for symbiotic cultivation!” If the lifesbane’s ten characters entered his death springs, they could accelerate the process of entering the death phase. However, that required both beastmaster and lifebound beasts to cultivate at the same time for it to be truly effective.
He was so preoccupied with chasing Jiang Wuxin that he had forgotten about Xian Xian and the others.
However, Tianming’s reaction was normal. He wasn’t given any time to think, but had left as soon as Jiang Wuxin made his quick escape. Jiang Wuxin was hoping Tianming would chase after him. Not even Xuanyuan Yucheng could keep up with his speed, much less Fang Chenjing, who was already out of sight.
"Tianming, come back!” Xuanyuan Yucheng shouted from behind.
Right now, they were too far away from the hell tree. They wouldn’t even know if they were ambushed. If they continued pursuing Jiang Wuxin, there might be trouble when someone snuck an attack on the hell tree. Thus, Tianming was forced to stop.
"Li Tianming, you avoided my fatal blow. You’re very strong, I’ll give you that. But when I return, I will kill you. There’s no doubt about that.” Jiang Wuxin's cold, beast-like voice echoed throughout the swamp layer. Then, he disappeared.
In an instant, Xuanyuan Yucheng arrived beside Tianming.
"Jiang Wuxin's body-refining art is very powerful. He is said to have cultivated a type of Kiloflash Sword Body, which is designed for speed. Only your lifebound beast can catch up to him. He’s strong, and the Wuxin Sword Art is brilliant. Tianming, we have to quickly return. If this was a diversion, we’re finished,” said Xuanyuan Yucheng.
"Alright.”
"Under the influence of anger, Jiang Wuxin originally assumed he could kill you on his own. After all, we aren’t familiar with him. He never imagined you would possess such a tower that could block his attack and deprive him of the opportunity to kill you. With so many of us besieging him, it’s a testament to his power that he was able to escape. I can’t help but feel ashamed of myself,” said Xuanyuan Yucheng.
Although they stood on equal cultivation levels, Xuanyuan Yucheng’s self-reproach showed that he was truly convinced by his opponent’s strength.
"Now that he’s escaped, he’ll certainly return with others next time,” Tianming said.
"You’re right,” said Xuanyuan Yucheng.
Tianming rather regretted his actions. If he had thought about it before, he would immediately enter the death phase and kill Jiang Wuxin despite everything. But he had hesitated because of how terrifying it would feel when his flesh and bones started rapidly aging.
...
They soon returned to the hell tree. Fortunately, there had been no attacks while they were gone. However, Beigong Qianyu and Fang Yuewei were a little dejected.
"Is Feng Xiaoli dead?” Tianming asked.
"No. He was aware of our intention to kill him and escaped very quickly. His lifebound beast is able to drill into the swamp, so it’s difficult to locate him. That was exactly how he escaped last time,” said Beigong Qianyu.
In other words, even if Tianming had entered the death phase and killed Jiang Wuxin, the crisis would still remain. However, Tianming had strengthened his resolve.
"Death phase it is! If I have to age a hundred times faster than I do now, then so be it! Why should I hesitate if I'm not afraid of death!” Tianming shouted.
"I know you’re afraid of aging too quickly and becoming a disgusting, middle-aged man who can’t get it up!” Ying Huo laughed.
"Dammit! I’ll kill you!”
...
Somewhere in the swamp layer, Jiang Wuxin slowly staggered, dazed and desperate. Fresh blood dripped from his body; the wound on his back was so deep his bones were visible, yet he didn't seem to notice it.
"Xiaoyu, Xiaoyin... I'm sorry I failed to protect you.... It’s all my fault. I deserve to die. I made so many promises to you, but I’ve yet to fulfill any of them. It was I who arranged for you to investigate the swamp layer, resulting in such an accident.... The future we once imagined, traveling the world, bearing children… that’s all gone. Yet I’ve failed to avenge you. I’m so useless. I’m sorry. Forgive me...."
He lay in the swamp, face buried in the mud, crying miserably. In this deserted place, he rolled around, like a helpless child, crying his heart out. In the end, the blood and mud mixed together.
He recalled his childhood—being bullied, stepped on, and even having his head urinated on. Wasn't he just as miserable now? The nightmare of watching as his entire clan was killed still made him tremble with fear.
"Master says that the Heavenly Dao is indifferent. He says I need to be heartless and ruthless in order to understand the great dao of the sword and embark on the path of godhood. Only now do I know how painful it is to have loved and lost. It seems Master is wise... but I’m nowhere as good as him. I’m grateful for Yu and Yin’s respect, their commitment, and all they’ve done for me to achieve all I have today. Monorigin Divine Sect! If I don't kill every last one of you, I’m worse than a pig. I don’t even deserve to die!!” he roared, pulling out an ordinary wooden box from his spatial ring.
Inside the wooden box was a transparent bottle. There was a drop of unremarkable black blood in it, without any sort of breath. Jiang Wuxin resembled a madman.
"You changed my destiny and gave me the opportunity to grow from a tiny speck of dust to everything I am today. But now I’ve lost everything! I was afraid and only dared absorb a tenth of you, because I know how terrifying you are. But now that I have nothing, why should I fear? Make me the kind of man that even I'm afraid of!”
Without another word, he opened the bottle and swallowed the black blood.
