The ranking appeared in the sky with a tremor. This time, it would stay until the whole event had come to an end. Everyone could see the entire ranking, even the spectators outside.
The first place Fang Xingque had two thousand one hundred and eighty-nine points; second place was Xuanyuan Muxue, with one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight points; third was Jian Lingchen, with nine hundred and ninety-nine points; fourth place was Xuanyuan Yutuo, with eight hundred and seventy points; and so on.
Every point represented one eliminated person. So there weren’t many people remaining. But the pinnacle confrontation was even more exciting.
“Xuanyuan Yutuo, Jian Chenzhong, and Jian Mugucare are disciples of the tribulation elder, Dugu Jin, and all three of them are performing greatly.”
“All three of them are in the top ten on the rankings. Dugu Jin’s seven disciples are all in the top twenty, and they’ll definitely be the second strongest group if they come together.”
“They’re actually together, all seven of them.”
“Holy s.h.i.+t!”
“Dugu Jin is truly worthy of being the youngest tribulation elder who went through tribulation. Rumor has it that he only lost to Fang Taiqing by one move when he competed for the position of Heaven Branch’s sect master back then. With his strength, challenging to become the Human Branch or Earth Branch’s sect master will be easy.”
……
Jian Lingchen stood together with the four ladies and looked at Tianming, who was cultivating his sword art in the river. Tianming held the Grand-Orient Sword and entered into a meditative state.
“What is he doing? Making a final attempt? It’s already the last three days, and enemies will discover us the moment they’re in range. Yet he wants to cultivate now?” the short-haired Jian Liuli said in an unhappy tone.
“Is he pretending to be cool in front of us? This fellow seems a little stupid. Doesn’t he know that we only have Lingchen in our eyes?” Jian Yini said bashfully.
“Should we go first? We’re wasting time here.” Jian Nichang said.
“Hey, why aren’t you guys listening to me at all? Have some patience,” said Jian Lingchen.
“Yell at us again and I’ll twist your ear,” said Jian Liuyang.
“No, don’t. I’m sorry!” Jian Lingchen started sweating. He might have all the affection gathered on him, but he didn’t have any right to speak in this relations.h.i.+p.
“Let’s just wait. We’re not in a hurry,” said Jian Lingchen.
Tianming wasn’t pretending to be cool. The Grand-Orient Sword was undergoing drastic changes internally because the fourth black gate had opened.
Tianming awakened the Imperealm Sword Formation on the third gold gate back in the Divine Tomb, and it had already been some time since then. So as he had gradually grown more familiar with the Grand-Orient Sword, his effort had finally paid off.
“I initially wanted to put my bet on the Tribulation Sword Body, but it’s more stable now.” Tianming’s consciousness was standing before the fourth black gate. After unlocking this gate, Tianming was only left with the last one, the transparent door right at the center.
Tianming looked at the black gate and gently pushed it open. Everything began unfolding before his eyes, and he was stunned when he looked at it. There was a stone plaque in the door, one side black and the other gold. The heavenly patterns were densely packed together like a prison.
Three words appeared in Tianming’s mind: “Imperial Sword Prison?” The Grand-Orient Vortex, mult.i.task, Imperealm Sword Barrier, and now the Imperial Sword Prison. When Tianming opened his eyes, he saw densely packed black heavenly patterns on the Grand-Orient Sword gathering on the sword’s body, forming a sword-shaped prison.
“How powerful is it?” Tianming still needed verification. “Everyone, please wait a moment.”
Tianming entered the river. Aside from powerful demon beasts in the river, there were still some ordinary demon beasts, like second-order demon beasts. Tianming fixed his target on an azure dragon and thrust the Grand-Orient Sword toward it.
He was trying to see how powerful the Imperial Sword Prison was. In that split second, the sword-shaped heavenly patterns on the Grand-Orient Sword poured into the dragon and formed a prison on its scales. The black and gold heavenly patterns began wandering on the dragon’s body and instilled tremendous pressure on it. The dragon couldn’t move and gradually sank.
“Mhm?” Tianming was pleasantly surprised when he saw this scene. “Being hit by Imperial Sword Prison binds and seals the energy flow. Even…”
The Imperial Sword Prison flared up with a single thought, converting into Grand-Orient Sword Ki and wreaking havoc in the dragon’s internal organs, ultimately killing it.
“Anyone the Imperial Sword Prison hits will be crippled on the spot. My opponent won’t be able to use their saint ki, and their lives will be under my control. Not even the seniors of the Sterling House of Fang can remove it. The Imperial Sword Prison will kill its host if anyone tries to remove it.” Tianming’s thoughts gradually cleared up. Those weren’t just speculations, but he had tested personally.
“Wow, this is surely a powerful sealing technique!” His opponent would be under control as long as the Imperial Sword Prison was planted, and Tianming rejoiced. He then sat down to comprehend the heavenly patterns on the black gate.
“Imperial Will is the Grand-Orient Sword’s foundation, and these heavenly patterns can quickly enrich it.” Tianming realized that the effects of the fourth gate were significant. It complemented the gold heavenly patterns from the third gate well, which significantly improved his Heavenly Will’s growth, and he made a breakthrough an hour later.
“Fifth level of the Empyrean Saint stage now. Three stages in a month, even faster than when I was in the Unity stage!” Tianming’s thirst began growing. He knew that everything he had right now was due to his hard work, and that was the reason why he worked harder than anyone else.
He didn’t have a choice, because he had loved ones to protect. Cultivating was a tedious ch.o.r.e, especially comprehending Heavenly Will. The whole process was taxing, but it felt great when he made breakthroughs.
“My effort finally paid off. There’s no end to Heavenly Dao.” Cultivating felt the same as absorbing tribulation sword ki, and he continually had to tell himself to persist.
“I’m finally qualified to s.h.i.+ne the brightest in this battlefield now.” Tianming smiled. He had already unlocked his empyrean gold body, and this breakthrough would allow Ying Huo, Lan Huang, and Meow Meow’s physiques to grow stronger. As he was feeling happy about his progress, he saw the four ladies standing beside Jian Lingchen with their faces darkened.
“What’s the matter?” Tianming asked. “Did Jian Lingchen cheat on you guys? I’ll beat him up for you guys.”
“Bulls.h.i.+t! We’re all irritated because we had to wait for you. Lingchen might be embarra.s.sed to tell you honestly, so let me do it. We all regretted bringing you along with us,” Jian Liuyang said.
“We’re not rus.h.i.+ng to reincarnate, so why are you guys in such a hurry?” Tianming smiled bitterly.
“How can we not be in a hurry? Someone almost caught up to Lingchen!” Jian Nichang said.
“Oh? It’s all my fault then. Alright, I’m done. I won’t cultivate anymore starting now,” Tianming smiled. It was his fault for making them wait for him, not to mention that they were ladies.
“You’re the one who said that! Do you really mean it?”
“Yes, yes.”
Jian Lingchen then finally felt relieved and said with a bitter face, “Brother, it’s not easy bringing you along. We initially planned to find a few helpers over the past few days, but you spent all the time cultivating.”
“Haha, it’s fine. I alone am equivalent to a hundred,” said Tianming.
The four ladies laughed. Jian Yini said, “Go ahead and boast all you want.”
“Let’s go. Time to leave!” They finally started their last three days in the Deepstar Battle.
“It’s easy for us to b.u.mp into someone with the Astral Formations lit up. The battle has already started, so let’s join in quickly.”
“We have five Heaven Branch disciples, so we might be able to catch up to Xuanyuan Muxue if we go all out.”
“That’s right. She’s alone.”
“Yeah! Let’s catch up to her!”
The ranking kept changing all the time, and the Deepstar Battle had grown a lot more exciting. Half an hour later, their Astral Formations reacted and pointed them in a direction.
“Over there!”
“It seems to be a group of seven.”
“Quick, chase up to them!” Of the four ladies, there were three who had impatient personalities. So they immediately went after the group without a second thought.
The other party had clearly discovered them as well, because both parties were getting closer to each other.
They’re practically invincible on the battlefield with five Heaven Branch disciples. Two more days. It’ll be fine when Fang Xingque and Xuanyuan Muxue’s locations are exposed on the last day, Tianming thought. He wasn’t in a hurry and followed behind, studying the sword-shaped heavenly patterns on the Grand-Orient Sword.
Right at that moment, Tianming suddenly heard Jian Lingchen yell, “Run!”
“You want to run? Dream on!” a cold voice sounded out that left Tianming dumbfounded. Who could scare five Heaven Branch disciples from the Draconis House of Jian to this extent? Well, there shouldn’t be anyone aside from Fang Xingque’s group of hundreds, right?
“Brother, run! We’re finished!” Jian Lingchen ran back anxiously.
“It’s all your fault! Just what kind of luck is this?” The four ladies’ faces looked ugly.
“What do you mean?” Tianming asked.
“It’s Dugu Jin’s disciples up ahead! All seven of them!” Jian Lingchen said morosely.