Chapter 609 - Empyrean Saint Stage
The Dragonmight Faction was rejoicing so much that they forgot what they had suffered at the hands of Tianming. A white-haired ghost haunted the Dragonmight Faction. One by one, the Dragonmight Faction’s disciples had no choice but to use their Scarletflame Tomes when facing death.
“Li Tianming!”
“ARGGGH!”
“Don’t kill me! I surrender!”
Tianming would charge forth with the Hexapath Samsara Sword whenever he encountered a disciple of the Dragonmight Faction, and he kept to his rhythm on the second day. Another thousand disciples were defeated that day, and his hands were trembling by the time the sun went down.
“Ling’er is in such a dangerous situation, and how can I gain a footing in the Flameyellow continent without any strength? How can I afford to relax? Furthermore, I won’t be truly free as long as I haven’t become a G.o.d. The pursuer won’t be polite with me, and at that time, it’ll be tough even if I want to die.”
The immense pressure made Tianming temper himself like a lunatic. It was all for the loved ones in his heart. Whether it was his family, lover, or lifebound beasts, they were all indispensable in his heart. That was life, and he could only bear it for his loved ones.
The number of defeated or dead Dragonmight Faction disciples began acc.u.mulating—three thousand on the third day, four thousand on the fourth day, and five thousand on the fifth day. On that day, everyone in the Dimensional Battlefield knew that he was a lunatic who was practicing his sword. It was unprecedented for anyone to defeat five thousand by himself.
“He’s gone mad!”
The Dragonmight Faction had to maintain the number of their scouts at all times to find other factions and consolidate their position in first place.
“But this person is especially targeting the scouts, which placed the Dragonmight Faction in an uncomfortable position. All the scouts are afraid of him now.”
“The Dragonmight Faction only managed to crush four factions over the past five days, and their efficiency is far lower than before. Not only did they fail to claim the first, but they also had their surrender rate increased to 5%!”
“Xuanyuan Yufeng has to get rid of this person before the Dragonmight Faction’s rhythm is affected. They have to get rid of him to suppress all the other factions and claim the top.”
“How can they deal with him? This fellow can even see through the illusion, and there’s no way Xuanyuan Yufeng can find him.”
“It can’t be resolved.”
“Let’s see how Xuanyuan Yufeng will resolve this issue, and if he wants to increase the number of scouts.”
Everyone observed for another day. They saw that after Tianming had taken out five thousand scouts, not only did Xuanyuan Yufeng not reduce the number of scouts, but he even increased the number to twenty thousand.
“Is he insane? Is he giving them to that person by having them leave the main army?”
“No. This is the right move.”
“What do you mean?”
“The scouts are the Dragonmight Faction’s eyes and ears. If they’re reduced, the Dragonmight Faction won’t be able to take out all their enemies. And by doing this, even with Li Tianming’s efficiency, he can only deal with ten thousand people in half a month at most. But the Dragonmight Faction will have eighty thousand people remaining, and they can still find their rhythm. Although they’ll lose 10% of their men, they’ll still emerge victorious.”
“So Yufeng has brains?”
“That’s right.”
……
Tianming noticed that the number of Dragonmight scouts had increased, and none of them were afraid of him. Many of them were fearlessly running around to find opponents for the Dragonmight Faction.
“Whatever!” Tianming was only focused on practicing his sword. After all, strength was fundamental to everything and he was going after two goals over the past few days. One was to reach lesser mastery in the Mortal Dao Sword, and the other was reaching the Empyrean Saint stage.
Over the past five days, he had gained some insights after defeating five thousand people, and his hunt continued. In the blink of an eye, it was already the tenth day.
“Ten thousand people.…” Tianming looked up at the clouds in the sky, which condensed together and formed words. That was the ranking right now. The Dragonmight Faction was ranked in ninth place, with a surrender rate of 11%!
At the very least, Tianming had increased their surrender rate to 10%. He still had no idea that he was now the focus of attention in the Dimensional Battlefield; everyone outside was practically talking about him.
“The Swordking Faction is ranked on the second? Not bad.” Tianming was exhausted after defeating ten thousand people. He stood atop the Azure Mountain and watched the Dragonmight Faction rampage like a giant beast.
After Tianming had taken ten thousand people and sending another twenty thousand as scouts, the Dragonmight Faction was only left with seventy thousand in their army. But even so, they could still defeat any factions out there.
Xuanyuan Yufeng had practically ignored him, treating him like a fly, and focused on crus.h.i.+ng other factions. The effect was great and they managed to reach ninth place, with their ranking improving daily.
“There’ll be a big battle in the next five days.” Tianming closed his eyes. Brightnight traced a mysterious path in the air. He could see a wider world while standing in a higher place, and he had been thinking about the sword art over the past ten days.
The blade pierced the void and couldn’t be detected. He performed all ten thousand strikes again from the beginning. After defeating ten thousand opponents, Tianming felt that he no longer needed an opponent; his opponent was now himself.
“Life is the color in the world, and my experience back in the Divine Capital is the foundation of this sword.” He recalled how Dongyang An had used his Omnisentient Will, and it was different for everyone.
“One sword that contains billions of swords.” This was the Mortal Dao Sword. At that moment, Tianming smiled because he had an idea.
“How difficult.…” Tianming stabbed out, and even split mortality. His strike finally looked similar to the Hexapath Sword G.o.d’s now.
“Finally, I’ve reached lesser mastery. But even if it’s just lesser mastery, it’s terrifying enough.” Tianming’s gaze surged. When he turned around, he saw Lin Xiaoxiao looking at him in awe.
“Xiaoxiao, look out for me,” said Tianming.
“What are you trying to do now?”
“I’ll be making a breakthrough into the Empyrean Saint stage here.”
“Ah? Okay.” Tianming sat under a cedar tree and went into meditation.
He’s really daring. After all, the Dragonmight Faction’s scouts might come any time, Lin Xiaoxiao thought to herself.
“Xiaoxiao!” The Archaionfiend’s voice sounded out.
“What’s the matter?”
“Take this opportunity to kill him!” the Archaionfiend said emotionally.
“No.”
“You’re messing with me?”
“I don’t dare, and I can’t kill him. You can do it if you’re capable. Don’t use ‘them’ to threaten me. It won’t be good for anyone if I struggle with my life on the line, right?” replied Lin Xiaoxiao.
“You’re a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t.”
……
Spiritual energy began converging and formed a vortex that poured into Tianming. His flesh and blood was transforming. Making a breakthrough into the Empyrean Saint stage required the growth of his Imperial Will, and Tianming’s comprehension of his sword art had brought his Heavenly Will to the Empyrean Saint stage.
“First level of the Empyrean Saint stage!”
“I now have five hundred—wait, fifty years of lifespan!” It sounded sad, but Tianming had finally broken free from the Aeonic Grandbane. At the very least, he wouldn’t be dying anytime soon. But he had no idea how his Aeonic Grandbane would torture him with the samsara tribulation added to it.
At the very least, when the spiritual energy poured into his body and he formed the empyrean body, he sensed the transformation in his flesh and blood. His sky saint ki was converted to empyrean saint ki, becoming more powerful and condensed. It could now support Tianming to challenge someone at higher cultivation.
Saint ki surged from his three saint springs. Not only him, but Ying Huo, Meow Meow, and Lan Huang were all making unprecedented progress in their cultivation. They were still weak. They wouldn’t gain empyrean gold bodies until the fourth level, and empyrean saint springs to empower their abilities until seventh level. If they could evolve into tribulation beasts, they could even fight with him, relying on their physiques.
“The future is full of hope.” Tianming had never felt so powerful before when his empyrean saint ki coursed through his body.
“Hey,” Lin Xiaoxiao called out.
“What’s wrong?”
“The commotion you caused is too big, and someone was attracted over,” Lin Xiaoxiao replied.
When Tianming looked back, he saw a hundred people rus.h.i.+ng toward him, with Xuanyuan Ganggang leading the party. He even had two hall lords beside him, and they seemed to be called Tang Lingshan and Wen Haocheng. Tianming saw their ‘tombs’ back in Dragonmight Hall, and they were all Xuanyuan Yufeng’s trusted aides. Three hall lords with over a hundred empyrean saints at least in the second level.
“He doesn’t have a Scarletflame Tome! Gang up on him!” Xuanyuan Ganggang yelled as they came over.
“Are we going to run?” Lin Xiaoxiao asked nervously. There were too many people, and it would be troublesome if they were besieged. Just the abilities of lifebound beasts being thrown around were enough to be a headache.
“Why are you so timid?” Tianming sneered.
“Then I’ll take my leave first. You hold up!” Lin Xiaoxiao turned and ran. But Tianming didn’t retreat when he turned back. On the contrary, he even rushed toward the incoming enemies.
“Hey!” Lin Xiaoxiao suddenly turned around.
“Remain where you are and bask in my awesomeness!” Tianming said.
“Oh.” Lin Xiaoxiao held her forehead. She had no idea that Tianming wasn’t only telling her that, but was also telling everyone in the Dimensional Battlefield. After all, he had finally reached the Empyrean Saint stage.
I can finally do whatever I want now, right? Tianming stared at Xuanyuan Ganggang, who was riding a golden dragon with more than a hundred and thirty stars. It was clearly a tribulation beast called the Three-Headed Saintfire Dragon.
It had a total of three heads, one more than Lan Huang. The dragon was entirely gold, which made Xuanyuan Ganggang look like an incarnation of a golden warG.o.d. Under the power of his body-refining battle art, Xuanyuan Ganggang dazzled with a golden radiance that blinded many people’s eyes. Suddenly, dragon scales began appearing on Xuanyuan Ganggang’s body, transforming him into a draconian. One could imagine how tough his body was, and he was charging forth with a saber.
“Li Tianming, you defeated ten thousand of our brothers, and today I’ll kill you!” Xuanyuan Ganggang’s roar caused an avalanche. Behind him were over a hundred people, along with their lifebound beasts.
“Keep it down.” In the next second, Tianming clashed with Xuanyuan Ganggang. Brightnight flashed, executing the Death Sword of the Mortal Dao Sword. It was a sure-kill sword.
His sword flashed like a bolt of lightning, cras.h.i.+ng down on Xuanyuan Ganggang. The intent behind it far exceeded the Empyrean Saint stage, and Xuanyuan Ganggang couldn’t react in time even with his body-refining battle art.
“Uh?” Xuanyuan Ganggang dazed off. He wasn’t even able to raise the saber in his hand before he was reduced to dust by Tianming’s sword ki. Before his death, Xuanyuan Ganggang felt like he was in a nightmare, and his face was colorful.
Was he insta-killed? He didn’t even have the time to scream! His blood splattered around and drenched the faces of those behind him.
“Hall Lord Xuanyuan!” Everyone stopped right where they were and looked at Tianming in fear. Their knees immediately went soft, and they knelt on the ground.