Meanwhile, within the Kilostar Domain...
"Dad, I’ll be taking my leave," said a beautiful girl in a pink dress, bowing to Xue Yi.
"Stay safe," Xue Yi answered his daughter with a smile.
"Don't worry. This is our turf, not to mention Yunge is coming with me," she said nonchalantly.
"You little.... Your child is only two years old! Why are you here instead of looking after my precious grandson?" Xue Yi said, his expression one of longing for his beloved grandson.
"That little fellow misses his grandpa, but you barely spent time with him. You're hardly in a position to criticize me! There’s many treasures here, so I want to check it out with Yunge too!" Xia Ziluan said with a wink.
"Yunge, take care of her. I have no time to waste on chastising her," Xue Yi told a tall man with purple hair that stood beside her.
"Understood." He seemed like a reliable bloke.
"Did you leave the matter of Jiang Wuxin to your father?" Xue Yi asked the man.
"Yes," Gu Yunge answered.
"Alright. Your dad will definitely do well."
"Bye, Dad! It's been so long since I gave birth. About time I came out to play!" Xia Ziluan dragged Gu Yunge by the hand and left. The other tribulation elders behind Xue Yi watched them leave with a smile.
"Time really flies. Not long ago, Yunge and Ziluan were only in the top three of the disciple rankings. In only a short decade, they became second-origin tribulation elders."
"You don't say. Those two geniuses are much more impressive than old folks like us."
"Perhaps Ghoul King Xue Yi and Ghoul King Zi Xiao's successors will be these two. They’re just like their fathers, and they make the perfect pair."
The two of them eventually left their seniors' line of sight. "My dad is really overbearing.... I'm already a mother, but he still treats me like a child. I always need an excuse to be able to get out of his control," Xia Ziluan said, mischievously poking her tongue out.
"Father-in-law's just worried for you. You're his only daughter, you know," Gu Yunge said, his arms around her slender waist as they coursed through the starry aether.
They weren't in any rush at all. They had only come here to enjoy the beautiful view. Soon, two hours passed.
"I heard others say the Kilostar Domain was beautiful, but seeing it in person is another thing entirely," Xia Ziluan said with wonder.
Gu Yunge nodded. At that moment, he felt like he saw something. "What’s that?"
A meter ahead of him, a spatial tear appeared.
"Avoid it, quick! I think it is a tear in space!" she warned.
They took a few steps back, until they were around ten meters away from the crack. All of a sudden, a youth with white hair appeared in front of them. It was Tianming! He had come out of the pathway through the second black hole star and had just regained consciousness, only to see the couple staring blankly at him. "There's someone here?!" he said, stunned. "Dammit!"
He could only curse his bad luck. How could that pathway just throw him out where there was someone else?
"He's Li Tianming!" the brown-dressed woman cried as her expression turned cold.
"Didn't your dad say he died in that black hole star?" Gu Yunge said, confused. It was a fact that Tianming was still alive, so he turned his body stealthily and readied himself to attack Tianming with Xia Ziluan. It was rather risky for Tianming, as he didn't know if there were any other people nearby. He didn't care how powerful the couple was and immediately fled to the star behind him.
"Don't run!" the two cried in unison as they gave chase.
"What will you do to me if I stop?" Tianming noticed that there was nobody else in the surroundings.
"Are you dumb? Why’d you ask us that? Do you know who we are?" Xia Ziluan said with a cold smile.
"You're from Nonahall, obviously."
"Listen up! My dad is Ghoul King Xue Yi, and my husband's father is Ghoul King Zi Xiao! They’re the third and fourth most powerful among the nine ghoul kings! You think we'll let you go now that we've spotted you? I've long heard you're pretty good at running. I haven't had a chance to fight in a long time, so I'll make sure to have my fun with you."
"Wow, you really come from a privileged background!" Tianming shot her a thumbs up.
"Little flea, surrender to your fate now. Your luck just ran out." Gu Yunge wielded a scimitar with ten tribulation patterns. It was a fine weapon, no doubt. "Luan'er, let's not waste words with him. If we can't take him alive, we can just kill him and get lots of merit for it."
"Alright!"
They immediately summoned their lifebound beasts. Xia Ziluan's was a gigantic red scorpion with a tough carapace. There were around seven hundred stars in its eyes, proof that its master was highly ranked in Nonahall. Usually, only third-origin tribulation elders had seventh-order tribulation beasts. Gu Yunge's, on the other hand, was a gigantic purple snake with two wings that were so wide they seemed to block out the sun and fangs that poked out of its mouth. It was also a seventh-order tribulation beast.
The two of them were in their forties. While they were about ten years older than Yama, at least they were in the seventh-level life phase. No doubt, they were among the top disciples in Nonahall just a decade ago, and they probably had more than one lifebound beast. After all, if Yama could have four, they definitely had more than one. In fact, their beasts were far from as simple as their looks suggested. Both the bloodweep puppet scorpion and the purplewing imperialfiend snake were broodmother-type lifebound beasts! They let out tens of thousands of little scorpions and snakes that sealed off the battlefield and swarmed toward Tianming.
"The children of two ghoul kings, huh?" Even though Tianming wanted to run, he stopped when he heard their identities. Not to mention, they weren't willing to give up the chase. There was no way he could forget how he had been humiliated by Xue Yi not long ago. Not to mention, the cold Gu Yunge and his feisty wife, Xia Ziluan, were eager to serve themselves up to him.
"Ghoul King Xue Yi, you dared to treat me like a shark in a tank, huh? I'll show you what I can do then!" He immediately turned around and summoned all four of his lifebound beasts and clashed with the two of them.
"Why are you struggling?" Xia Ziluan immediately made some distance and drew her blood-colored longbow, Bloodfiend Eyes. It was adorned with countless little eyes, making it somewhat resemble Archfiend. She nocked a nine bloodsucker arrow on the bow and fired it. The single arrow split into countless more and rained toward Tianming and his beasts.
Ying Huo and Xian Xian used Skyscorch Featherblast and Bloodrain Swords at the same time, piercing not only the countless little scorpions and snakes, but also the countless arrows. Ear-piercing grating noises sounded out all of a sudden as Lan Huang's rings began spinning. With the Radiant Vine's help, it managed to entangle itself with the gigantic scorpion and began fighting it in a melee.
Then, Ying Huo and Meow Meow attacked, one going after the giant snake and the other after Xia Ziluan, preventing her from sneaking around to snipe them. Tianming always went all out whenever he engaged. With his lifebound beasts paving the way, he charged straight for Gu Yunge. Gu Yunge's blade, Purple Crescent, looked just like its namesake as it came slashing toward Tianming.
"Were you the one who got number one in the Number One Summit around a decade ago?" Tianming asked.
Gu Yunge didn't even humor the question. His scimitar slashes were faster than the eye could see, backed up by an endless swarm of little snakes that lashed out in tandem with the slashes. He used Skyflash Deathmoon, covering the sky with snakes with each swing of his scimitar.
"If you don't tell me now, you'll lose your chance in the future." Tianming went on a rampage with two Grand-Orient Swords in hand. Then, he used the Soulshaker Eye, fully intent on going all out to kill them. He tapped the hilts of both his swords together, manifesting the Dragonhide and fighting at peak form!
He glowed bright like a brilliant dragon. As he was still mastering the Ninesky Beastsoul Formation, he chose to use the Mortal Dao Sword on the stunned Gu Yunge instead. The sword of life took on countless ethereal forms as it slashed apart the snakes that charged at him, and the sword of death pierced straight toward its target without mercy.
As fast as Gu Yunge was, Tianming was even faster and more ferocious! He had refined his killing skills when he went on his sinner hunt, always going straight for a fatal strike. With a loud screech, the black sword clashed with the purple scimitar, causing sparks to manifest before piercing straight through Gu Yunge's heart.
Tianming quickly withdrew his sword and backed off. His kill was quick; this was the best move he had now. As expected, Gu Yunge could no longer stand. He clutched his chest, his other hand still looking like it was trying to take something out of his spatial ring to save himself. But Tianming didn't give him that chance; he was already long dead.
Tianming quickly turned to Xia Ziluan. "It's your turn now."
Xia Ziluan had just nocked a second nine bloodsucker arrow on her bow, only to see Gu Yunge looking forlornly at her with his hand to his bleeding chest. "My dear.... My dear!" Her eyes shook from the horror as she witnessed the turn of events.