Chapter 289 - The Ancient Black Book
As the Saintfiend Taotie roared in rage, eager to slaughter the two annoying flies buzzing about before it, its spiritual connection to Yuwen Shendu was suddenly cut off. It dully looked over, only to see Yuwen Shendu’s bisected corpse flying in opposite directions. Meanwhile, Tianming was charging towards it. At that moment, the Saintfiend Taotie issued an earth-shattering roar, heartache, misery, and disbelief apparent in its voice.
Yuwen Shendu had spent ninety percent of the battle crushing Tianming. Just a moment ago, it was Tianming who was headed for death, so how had Yuwen Shendu died instead? The Saintfiend Taotie felt its world collapse. By the time it reacted, a monstrous rage filled its being.
But did that matter?
In the time the Saintfiend Taotie took to respond, Ying Huo had flashed towards it. The little chick was covered in blood, but a blazing flame burned in its tiny eyes.
Voidgod Sword Intent, Starfall!
The Saintfiend Taotie’s eyes were its target. The little chick’s move was both swift and ruthless, reminiscent of Tianming. Seizing the opportunity, the little chick violently slashed across and pierced the taotie’s eyelids.
At the same time, Meow Meow's Chaos Disaster split open its wound, nine thunder serpents exploding as countless black lightning bolts rushed crackled in it.
Throughout the battle, the taotie had had the upper hand. This was the first time it had been injured. Obviously, the attacks weren’t enough to slaughter the taotie, only serving to anger it instead.
Full-blown hatred erupted from it.
Through its remaining eye, the taotie spotted the white-haired man before him. It roared once more and countless grey flames burst toward Tianming, each sullied—Necropossession!
In that instant, the black cat transformed into its Regal Chaosfiend form and struck from the side. The black cat wrapped its body around the taotie’s head, electric fangs chomping down on its unwounded eye.
"Die!"
As soon as the taotie opened its gigantic mouth, Ying Huo stormed in and wedged itself between the taotie’s teeth, blasting Infernal Blaze right down its throat. The raging flames spread into the taotie’s stomach and intestines. At the same time, the taotie exerted its ability and Necrosynthesis and Infernal Blaze collided in its throat. The collision between the two forces caused an explosion that blasted a huge bloody hole in its neck. Its spirit interlinked with Ying Huo’s, Meow Meow’s three-pronged electrospike plunged into the bloody hole, stabbing the taotie’s internal organs.
Although the two Primordial Chaos Beasts were still younglings, half of their combat prowess was influenced by Tianming while the other half originated from their own aggressive nature.
"Hold it down!"
In the blink of an eye, Tianming flew toward them. Upon hearing his words, Meow Meow roared, exerting all its strength to pin the taotie’s head to the ground.
Tianming soared into the sky, both hands grasping his sword, then struck out with Cosmic Break! This strike was every bit as brutal as the one that killed Yuwen Shendu.
The attack landed squarely on the taotie’s wounded eye, and Onyx Dragon pierced through its thick flesh.
Meow Meow finished the taotie off by smashing its head into the ground. Its neck severed, the Saintbeast Taotie leaned back, collapsing with a thunderous roar that swept the dust from the ground into the air. Blood gushed out like a geyser, dying all three brothers red.
The Saintbeast Taotie had breathed its last.
In the battle of life and death, the brothers acted in sync up until the last moment. They could feel the surge of passion within.
"Tianming, not bad! You’ve convinced me!" Ying Huo laughed, despite an almost completely severed wing.
"You too!" Tianming wiped away the blood from his lips, breaking into a breathtaking smile.
"Enough with the nonsense. Since we’re done here, I’m going to sleep."
Meow Meow climbed to its feet. Due to the taotie’s sharp spikes and claws, Meow Meow was covered in blood. During the last moments, as it held down its opponent's head, the latter’s claws almost tore through its abdomen.
In fact, it wasn’t just sleepy, but badly wounded as well.
Fortunately, they had the aid of the Prime Tower, otherwise Tianming would be lost.
"Meow Meow, come back and recuperate.” Glancing at Meow Meow, Tianming revealed a smile. This guy was innocent and lively, lazy and frustrating, but in fact, its heart was like a mirror. In the battle of life and death, it had fought fearlessly, never once considering retreat.
"What’s that look!"
Vigilantly glaring at Tianming, Meow Meow soon returned to his lifebound space, tail wrapped around his balls to prevent Tianming from messing with his family jewels.
Tianming threw his head back in laughter. What an interesting little thing.
"I need to recuperate as well. You can handle the rest," Ying Huo said. Although Yuwen Shendu was dead, the subsequent consequences would be a challenge.
Outside the barrier, a fight was close to breaking out. After a brief spiritual communication, Tianming had the beasts return to his lifebound space. As soon as Ying Huo and Meow Meow returned, light from the Prime Tower enveloped them. Although they weren’t immediately lively and hopping, they would recover in time. Tianming noticed that the light had the ability to remove the residual death energy, similar to purification.
"The Prime Tower is amazing! Not only can it heal their injuries, it also provides endless spiritual energy for my lifebound space. I can’t help but wonder how remarkable the Grand-Orient Sword is."
The Grand-Orient Sword was likely a weapon for attacking.
Outside the barrier, the audience was buzzing, adding to the chaos. However, Tianming turned a deaf ear and stood there waiting with Ling’er’s Love in his hand instead.
Right then, two light rays emerged from Yuwen Shendu's body that eventually combined and flew straight toward Tianming. The brilliant light rays paused, and in that moment, Tianming seemed to catch a glimpse of Feiling’s beautiful smile. When the light entered Ling’er’s Love, a golden symbol appeared on the gem, magnifying its brilliance.
"What’s this symbol?" It appeared to be an amalgamation of the seals on Feiling’s fingernails. "I wonder what sort of secret could be hidden within Feiling’s body...."
Although Feiling was weak and possessed no lifebound beast, Tianming was convinced there was more to her birth than met the eye.
"Ling’er, sleep well. You mustn’t use Soulburn without my consent in the future,” he said, lovingly caressing the necklace. With how long they had been together, being unable to see or speak to her for a whole month would be almost too much for him to bear.
Fortunately, Soulburn wouldn’t cause any damage to her.
The necklace trembled slightly, as if responding to his reluctance. Although she was sleeping, she wasn’t fully unconscious. Perhaps she could even perceive Tianming’s thoughts in this state.
"Too bad, I wanted to take advantage of your absence to flirt with a few other girls. I didn't think you’d be able to monitor me after falling asleep," teased Tianming.
The necklace smacked his palm several times, as if to vent her dissatisfaction. And this was called lying dormant? It was equivalent to resting from an injury. Fortunately, recovery was possible.
"Ling’er, rest well." Upon wearing the necklace around his neck, Tianming felt as if they were joined to each other. It seemed he had taken advantage of her.
Such a beautiful necklace obviously looked sissy on a grown man.
"This time, we worked together to escape from peril." If it weren't for Feiling’s Soulburn, Tianming might have failed to defeat Yuwen Shendu, even if he employed Cosmic Break.
"Soulburn’s power is outrageous, but she can't take any more risks." This was Tianming's principle. Although men and women were equal, he would rather risk himself a thousand times than allow her to take risks.
"The desperation I faced today wouldn’t have happened if I was strong." The battle deepened his insight. After undergoing the metamorphosis of life and death, both feelings between Feiling and Tianming, as well as the wonderful connection between beastmaster and lifebound beasts, were strengthened.
Right then, the conflict outside seemed to intensify. But at present, the barrier remained intact.
"I’m afraid the Yuwen clan will shed all pretense of cordiality." Tianming fled in Ye Shaoqing's direction, in fear of losing his life.
"What’s this?"
As he was about to leave, he discovered Yuwen Shendu had something in his hand–a black book. With a flick of Archfiend, the book reached his hand. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was covered in heavenly patterns.
Could heavenly patterns be drawn on a book? Who could have created this?
He sensed a terrifying power from the book, similar to the heavenly pattern barrier. Perhaps it possessed special effects.
"Just before I slaughtered Yuwen Shendu, he urgently pulled out this book, as if to save his own life. Unfortunately, he wasn’t fast enough." Perhaps this was the trump card he was prepared to use in the Realm Wars.
"Unfortunately for him, he died before he could use his trump card.” Tianming shook his head. Indeed, those who defied destiny would never underestimate their opponents, much less allow them to seize an opportunity. Once that happened, only one ending awaited them: death
Just as he put away the ancient black book, the heavenly pattern barrier above his head finally shattered.
"Danger!"
Most of the thirty-three elders had joined forces to stabilize the barrier, so Tianming had the chance to slay the Saintfiend Taotie and secure the book. However, the heavenly pattern barrier was now broken, and the ones behind it were of course the Yuwen clan and their cronies.
How would they feel now that Tianming had killed Yuwen Shendu?
However, Tianming couldn’t care less. At the exact moment the heavenly pattern barrier was broken, he darted toward Ye Shaoqing.