Tianming's hair fluttered in the wind as he rode Meow Meow, rapidly zipping through the terrain. Chu Xiaoqi was following closely behind along with all the other Biritual disciples. Meow Meow raised its tail, dragging the hostages up to face the strong winds and causing them to moan in agony, making for a rather cruel sight to behold. Their cries, along with Tianming's callous words, sent the remaining disciples into a frenzy to the point that they stopped considering everything else and singlemindedly gave chase. However, they would soon discover why Tianming had dared to come provoke them. His lifebound beast was unbelievably fast! Part of the reason for that was its latest evolution, while the other was its nature as a speedy lightning demon.
"You shan't escape!" Chu Xiaoqi yelled. Swallowing his little brother? The words were so humiliating that she felt a volcano erupting within her.
"Don't worry, Junior Sister Chu. As long as he drags the hostages with him, the hell barrier formations will make sure he can't hide."
"That's right! We still have a week to get rid of him!"
"I won't be able to quench the hatred I feel unless we cut him into a thousand pieces!"
"He dares act so arrogant just because he's a little fast? Let's see how he runs when the other sects come."
They had more than enough time to slowly wear Tianming down. Just like that, the chase continued across the windy plains. The hostages were all bundled together into a glowing lump where Meow Meow was. They looked like a bright lamp, behind which a trail of seventy or eighty figures, beastmasters and lifebound beasts alike, followed. Chu Xiaoqi maintained a set distance behind Meow Meow and seemed like she would be able to catch up. However, the ones behind her were lower level and their beasts had different speeds, so some were left behind. The hell barrier formations were glowing so brightly they looked like a chain of pearls that was being slowly pulled apart.
Despite all that, if Chu Xiaoqi was a little further ahead, she would notice that Tianming wasn't riding Meow Meow at all. It was running away alone with the hostages tied behind it. The moment they’d started running, Tianming had left Meow Meow and delved into the darkness. Naturally, he hadn't come to negotiate with them. Instead, he was there to wipe them all out, and first he needed to split them up by taking advantage of their speed difference.
Though it sounded like a simple plan, it required a dastardly mind and guts to pull off. Once he angered his enemy, they wouldn't be able to think as clearly. Not to mention, the key to pulling off the plan was making sure he could fight quickly enough. He was hiding and waiting for the strongest disciples to run far ahead so that he could pick out the weaker ones at the back first. All of a sudden, he made his move.
"You?!" There was no time to react after the third-level samsaran disciple let out that cry. He wasn't able to take Tianming and Ying Huo's strikes at all. The Grand-Orient Sword pierced him, causing the hell barrier formation to manifest. Then Ying Huo's tribulation sword ki swiftly broke it, allowing Tianming to follow up with the killing strike. It was a clean, instant kill. Unlike Qin Chaotian, whose barrier formation still glowed even though he had been killed by the Imperial Sword Prison, this disciple's simply faded.
"Next."
Tianming no longer played around like before and had nothing but one thing on his mind: if he didn't kill these people, Xuanyuan Yucheng and the others would die. The moment that happened, the Archaion Sect would feel pressured and Feiling would be in a dangerous position. That was reason enough to not show any mercy.
"Next!"
"Next!"
He slaughtered his way from their rear. The most people he faced at once were three, and they weren't able to take his onslaught at all.
"Time to train my swordsmanship!"
Now, he was trying to master Animacorpus Eradication, causing heads to fly off as he harvested their lives. Soon, the ones at the front noticed what was happening and immediately turned back, but it was too late. Their hell barrier formations were far too obvious for Tianming to miss and they weren't able to see him either.
"Who is it?! Who's killing our comrades?"
"Quick, regroup!"
"Turn around! We fell for a trap!"
They were beginning to panic. The killer was hiding in the shadows and instantly killing them with no reprieve. Death could come from the shadows at any moment; it was a terror like no other. Some came back and saw the whole area littered with headless corpses and carcasses of man and beast.
......
"Xiaoqi, something happened!" someone called out from behind.
"What is it?" she snapped. She was just about to catch up to Meow Meow and vent her pent-up rage.
"The number of people behind us is decreasing! Someone sent a signal to regroup! There might be an attack coming from behind!"
Stunned, she instantly realized what was happening. "We've been fooled!"
"Don't go, Big Sister! My feline balls are delicious too, you know!" Meow Meow jeered, seeing that she was no longer chasing it.
Chu Xiaoqi felt like she was about to blow up and immediately turned tail, sending a signal for everyone to gather where she was. She felt like she had lost all sensation. "How did we lose so many in such a short time?! She could see their lights being put out one by one. There were only a dozen left, belonging to beastmasters and their beasts alike, and they were disappearing at a staggering rate! Tianming was too quick when he was able to strike without being seen. That was the real reason he had destroyed the hell tree.
Her eyes were about to pop out as she rushed toward one of the lights, only to see a corpse laying there. "Xiaowei!" she cried. Her good friend's head and body had parted ways. She located the head and saw the eyes still wide open in terror.
"Li Tianming!" she cried hoarsely as she slumped to the ground, her long hair all messed up.
"Quick, quick!" The remaining lights gathered around her. It had only taken seconds for sixteen of their group of thirty to be wiped out.