The east, west, and north were in a similar situation as the southern battlefield. At the powerhouse level, the two sides barely maintained a balance relying on the Sun-Moon-Star Formation. The enemy had gained an advantage due to their sheer numbers.
“Li Tianming, if you hadn"t killed the nightmare soulworm, we wouldn"t have slaughtered so many people today. In fact, we could take the city without a single warrior! Do you understand? This is the difference between Archaion and Nonahall. Your name is very interesting; you share the same name as this crumbling city! Listen carefully, Li Tianming. Destiny favors the strong! Now that the heavens have called for the destruction of Archaion, all you can do is obey. I know you’re a brave man. You’re good at running, but can a man like you watch as we slaughter millions of your compatriots? When our legion enters the city, that’s when the show begins! Keep your eyes open and witness the law of the jungle and what it means when they say that the losers are sinners. History is written by the victor. After ten thousand years, no one will remember the Monorigin Divine Realm!”
The skyscorch bloodfiend revealed a humanlike smile. Since it couldn"t defeat Tianming, it would remain in a stalemate with him. It seemed like the older you get, the wiser you become. Having seen through Tianming’s character, they knew he would stay and were pleased that he would die here.
They didn"t have to do anything. Just by relying on their legion which was four times as large as their opponents’, they could devour them. At least seven hundred thousand of the Fienddragon Legion and city guards had perished in battle. There were less than three hundred thousand warriors left. These warriors and their lifebound beasts fought beneath the four walls of the city, using their lives to stop the enemy’s fierce onslaught. Even if the Nonahall Ghost Sect lost close to a million troops, they would still be considered victorious as long as they took down the city.
There was no glory, only b.l.o.o.d.y tears and hearts that yearned to protect their homeland so that this city wouldn’t be trampled on by the wicked, so that their mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters wouldn’t be humiliated by these ruthless men.
On this night, the Sun-Moon-Star Formation no longer shone like it did in the past. The dark clouds gathered above. These demons and monsters would eventually engulf this s.h.i.+ning jewel and turn this place into h.e.l.l. Who could stand up against them?
On the battlefield, Tianming withstood the light rays condensed by the flames of the skyscorch bloodfiend. The terrifying force slammed him into the ground. His body was almost falling apart, half of his bones broken.
Despite the warm current of the Greenspark Tower coursing through his body, he was still subjected to the most gutwrenching pain. But he didn"t utter a word as he crawled to his feet, his twisted arms and body returning to their original state in the process.
The Nonahall warriors could already smell victory. Their laughter swept across the battlefield as if they had won.
“Tianming....”
A weak voice drifted into his ears. Tianming looked down. At his feet, a woman covered in dirt was calling out to him. She was stained with blood, her body covered in wounds, fresh blood still gurgling out. Her red lips had turned pale, icy blue eyes struggling to stay open as she nestled on a severely injured blue dragon.
“I’m sorry. I only managed to kill three hundred of them....”
Tears flowed down the corner of her eyes and pooled with the blood on her cheeks.
"Leave now. When you return, please tell my mother... I won’t make it back. I’ve failed to honor her. If there’s an afterlife, I’ll make it up to her... I will.... Please take the Frosty Mercurius. I"m sorry, I-I don"t deserve it...."
Bones were strewn all over the battlefield and blood had formed a river that flowed between them. With all her strength, she pulled out her spatial ring and handed it to Tianming.
“We’ve lost.” She forced a smile.
Tianming"s white hair was covered in blood. He, too, did his best to smile.
Instead of taking the Frosty Mercurius, Tianming turned around and charged at the skyscorch bloodfiend. Despite remaining silent, he gave it his all. In his chest, anger surged like a volcano. He felt as if he would be torn apart by the rage.
He flew across countless nameless corpses. But were they really nameless? Weren’t they like Xuanyuan Muxue, people who had come with pa.s.sion and courage? Didn’t they have relatives and loved ones? They wanted to use their own strength to protect their home and the people they loved.
Tianming City was a border city, an isolated island that had already been abandoned. However, it had been standing in the south for tens of thousands of years and would always symbolize the dignity of Archaion.
For the first time, Tianming felt as if he was burning. There was no flame, no blazing heat. It was his heart that ignited.
“Only after walking through the world of mortals, crossing over life and death, do I know the meaning of life. Human life is very short. We must recognize what makes us boil with pa.s.sion. Some people deviate from their beliefs, while others lose their reason. Then they must be burned to make up for the inadequacies of the heavenly laws, to fight for the dignity of every life. Father, is this the man you hoped I would be?”
He looked up to the sky, not sure where Li Muyang was.
“Archaionfiend Eye!”
His gaze flickered between the Archfiend and his third eye.
“I worked hard to obtain you, yet I’ve failed to use you. If I die here today, what’s the point of owning you?"
He tried countless ways to use the Archaionfiend Eye but failed.
“There’s only one thing that I haven’t done....”
He didn"t need to embark on such a risky path before this. But now, it didn"t matter anymore.
“Even tribulation artifacts can’t pierce this eye. I wonder if Archfiend can.”
Without destruction there could be no construction!
“If I can’t change my fate today, what harm is there in being blind?”
Of course, with the Greenspark Tower, he wouldn’t be blinded even if he gouged out his eyes, would he? Grabbing the tip of Archfiend, he stabbed the eye in his left hand without hesitation.
“Ahh!!”
To his surprise, it actually went through. The piercing pain made him grit his teeth. But at that moment, his dark arm suddenly radiated with starlight. Opening his hand, Tianming found hundreds of millions of stars condensed in his third eye, the starlight exploding. His dark arm burned, his third eye felt as if it would burst, and his scalp tingled. What on earth happened?
“Have I succeeded?”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Without the Greenspark Tower, he wouldn’t have dared stab his eye.
At that moment, a majestic voice echoed in his mind!
"My child, do you believe that a group of humble people possess the courage to plunder fate, steal life and death, fight a catastrophe, and save the lives of the common people?"
Tianming was all too familiar with this voice. Wild with joy, he looked around but the man he wanted to see didn’t appear.
“Father!”
He wasn"t actually familiar with his father, the tenth incarnation, the man with his audacious schemes. What had he ever done?
Amidst the starlight, his voice sounded once more. "I love this vast, profound world. How can I allow outsiders to trample on our freedom? How can I watch as the strong slaughter the innocent? Even plunderers have a code of conduct. Stealing fate, comprehending life and death, seizing good fortune, and peering into the future are the unique abilities of our kind! Gentlemen are fearless and wise. History will prove our greatness!"
Those last words would move even the most apathetic of hearts.
The voice faded away. But the moment the stars converged, the red mist from the Archaionfiend Eye on the Archfiend finally flowed into his third eye.
Despite the searing pain, Tianming was ecstatic.
What was the sky plunderer race? These words had given Tianming the answer. Plunderers had a code of conduct, and gentlemen had nothing to fear.
“These are our innate abilities. The most important thing is what our hearts beat for, why we give our lives.”
Tianming’s blood boiled in this cruel war. At that moment, the Archaionfiend Eye had truly entered his third eye and he felt a transformation that transcended the soul. He had finally become one of the sky plunderer race. However, no one knew the earthshaking changes he had undergone.
“I’ve returned to my origins and transformed into my true self!”
With the inheritance and name that came from his father, no matter how exceptional he became, he would always be a member of the sky plunderer race.
After integrating the Archaionfiend Eye, his third eye had undergone drastic changes. One glance sent his scalp tingling. The eye was no longer a monotonous blood-red, but had become very complex. First of all, it was round with two parts—an inner and outer circle. The inner circle was a taiji yin yang pattern in the exact shape as Taiji Peak Lake. Black and white, it appeared cold and detached. On the outer ring were nine spots of light that formed a ring enclosing the taiji yin yang fish. All nine spots were gray and dim, lacking brilliance.
Right then, two spots suddenly lit up. The first went from gray to crimson, while the other turned from gray to pure white. For the time being, there were no changes in the other seven gray spots.
“Could these nine spots of light be the nine abilities of the sky plunderer race? And these two have been activated?”
Tianming knew how to use the abilities the moment he thought about them. It was mysterious and inexorable. His gaze fell upon the red light. “Vitasteal?”
The memory within his bloodline told him the answer. Then, he turned to the white light. “Fatesteal?”
There was no time to further contemplate the spots of light. His lifebound beasts had been under the bloodfiend’s attack for quite some time, and the warriors on each battlefield were close to collapse.
Tianming had a strong feeling in his bones.
“Vitasteal!”