"Hehe, child, do you think you can escape that way? With the heartscourge worm inside you, there's no need for you to overthink things in the small part of your life that's left," Xue Yi said. Even though it wasn't a direct answer, it was clear enough to Tianming.
Only he could enter the Kilostar Formation, or it would destroy itself and wipe out the ultimate tribulation manna. Since the manna had appeared, all nine divine realms began paying attention there. However, it wouldn't be easy for Nonahall to control the whole place by themselves, so that was how the Number One Summit was conceived. The Archaion Sect was the one that had come up with the Kilostar Formation. Little did they know it would cause Nonahall so much trouble down the line.
If I'm the only one who can enter.... Tianming was feeling much more relaxed.
"You’re free to make the choice yourself. I'll let you taste the power of the heartscourge worm for a day. If you become obedient after that and open the barrier, I'll shorten the remaining nine days of your 'bliss' into one. But that way, you'd be needlessly suffering for another day. Young man, heed your senior’s advice. Don't do something you'll come to regret."
Tianming took a deep breath and said, "I'll go in."
"That easily?" Xue Yi was a little startled himself. He had thought that Tianming would stubbornly resist up until the very last moment.
"I believe in how cruel you are. It's definitely far beyond my imagination."
"Not bad, you understand your situation clearly after all. I've underestimated you."
"Yeah."
Just like that, Tianming stepped into the Kilostar Formation as everyone watched. Feng Qingyu, Li Caiwei, Long Cangyuan, and the rest eagerly watched the youth walk toward his death. Once the formation was deactivated, he would be dead for sure. After all, the ghoul king's lifebound beast, the heartscourge fiend, was rather notorious. Now that Tianming had been infected by the worm, death was his only recourse. The rational choice would be to end his suffering as soon as possible; to do otherwise required the kind of bravery that many seniors didn't have. Most people had to first suffer through a lot to truly know the extent of the world's cruelty.
Standing before the Kilostar Formation, Tianming stretched his hand out to touch it. The formation heart within him appeared and he was absorbed inside. Now, he was completely surrounded by it. He suddenly burst out laughing as the pent-up pressure within him vanished, replaced by unending rage. He turned back and glared at all the rest, before finally resting his gaze on the red-robed man.
"Ghoul King Xue Yi!" Tianming snapped with savage fury.
"What's up?" Xue Yi asked with a cold smirk.
"Fuck your mother!" His insult seemed to cause the stars around them to shimmer.
Everyone was stunned. The ghoul king's jaw dropped, then he chuckled and burst out laughing.
Everyone quickly joined in the laughter.
"You're more of a comedian than anyone gave you credit for!"
"Calling you 'special' would be a huge understatement."
"Ahaha, forget it. Let him throw his tantrum. Young folk like him always think themselves to be their seniors' betters, after all. They simply haven't seen what society is truly like."
"He really pulled one over on you, Xue Yi!"
The atmosphere was livened up by what Tianming had said. After laughing hard for a good while, Xue Yi waved and said, "Fine, alright. I'll let you get away with that. It's not like you can unsay that insult. Just get to work and deactivate the formation."
"If there's anything I'll deactivate, it's your mother's balls!" Tianming said with a serene smile without a hint of anger. They were all shocked once again, but this time nobody laughed.
"Did a tumor grow in your brain or something? You can't truly believe that we have no way to handle you just because we can't enter the formation, do you? Aren't you forgetting about the heartscourge worm?" Xue Yi said.
"What worm? You mean that pathetic little noodle you call your dick? Ah, that's a new low even for me."
They stared daggers at him, not one of them laughing. He really didn't know what was coming for him. Even Xue Yi seemed less conversational than before.
"Xue Yi, you overestimated him."
"At the end of the day, he's just a brat who hasn't learned his lesson. Give him a taste of it."
"He's too young, after all. He probably broke due to the pressure."
"Just give him a taste and he'll know what the right thing to do is."
The elites were all of the same mind. Xue Yi's heartscourge fiend was the terror of the entire Flameyellow Continent. Even the other ghoul kings feared it. Once a heartscourge worm entered the body and began feasting on the heart, death wouldn’t occur immediately. It would fuse with the heart as it slowly devoured it. Effectively, no mass was lost at all; the target’s heart would just be converted to a part of its body. When the feeding process was finally over, the worm would effectively function as the heart of the host, but it would no longer be the host's own.
Tianming knew how terrifying something like that was. However, the others weren't aware that the Dragonhide was covering his heart. They also didn't know that he had a Primordial Chaos Beast that specialized in feasting on flesh!
Right as the worm was about to begin eating, a branch suddenly sprouted from Tianming's chest, upon which a blood lily bloomed. The hellish flower looked like thousands of swords tightly bunched together. However, the truly shocking thing was the bloody worm impaled by the petals! It was still struggling in pain.
The next moment, countless black roots sprouted from Tianming's chest and pierced the heartscourge worm, instantly devouring it and leaving nothing behind. The elites of the five divine realms were completely flabbergasted at the sight, dead silent even after the roots reentered Tianming's body.
"Thank you, Xian Xian," Tianming said with a relaxed smile.
"No need! If you have more delicious meat for me to eat, tell me sooner! That bug tasted so good! Even though it can hide well, it can't run from my little mouths! Hehe, even if he sends in ten thousand of them, I can eat them all up and still want more!" It puffed out its cheeks, as if it was still not satisfied with the meal.
"Haha, you saved my life! I'll definitely reward you handsomely."
"Yay! I'm so happy! This is the greatest day of my life!" Xian Xian said as it happily danced around in his lifebound space. Granted, the others outside weren't privy to the telepathic conversation he was having with Xian Xian.
Tianming's heart was protected by the Dragonhide in the first place, so the heartscourge worm wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway. However, it could still feast on his other organs. But with Xian Xian's help, there wasn't anything it could do but be eaten.
The elites dumbfoundedly looked at his smiling face as their expressions turned grimmer and grimmer. Xue Yi in particular seemed to be about to vomit blood.
"Well? Come on, then! Beat me up! Oh wait, you can't, you dumb pigs!" Tianming snapped, looking straight into his eyes, raising his voice.
The bloody aura around Xue Yi boiled to a peak. He kept his wide mouth shut as his face visibly contorted. Everyone knew how infuriated he felt. Now that the heartscourge worm was gouged out, there was nothing he could do. There was nothing any of them could do.
"Ghoul King Xue Yi, I'm talking about you. Fuck you and all your ancestors. You're so pathetic. Why put up that front if this is all you can amount to? Come in and kill me, why don't you? Oh wait, do you even have the balls to do that? What? Unhappy? Wrinkly turtle-dick."
Tianming was the only one speaking, making his insults even harsher to the ear. The rest could only rage without being able to do a thing.