Lou Feiyu noticed that people were no longer listening to him. After all, his status and backing wasn't significantly higher than the majority's. About sixteen hundred of them had charged toward the oceanic star, singlemindedly homing in on Tianming. Including their lifebound beasts, there were about four thousand enemy targets charging toward the white-haired youth.
"Damn.... Are you really going to make such a huge gamble?" Ying Huo said, a little stunned at the sight.
"Yes. We have to get rid of as many as possible while we're within the sealing formation. This will greatly change the outcome of future battles." As he spoke, countless branches sprouted from his body. The Radix World Tree took root and began growing all over the oceanic star.
"Killing so many will considerably increase the weight of your sin, though."
"We don't necessarily have to kill them. Just destroy their saint palaces and they'll no longer be able to harm anyone." Tianming was opposed to senseless killing.
"That’ll just make this even harder. Are you sure you want to do that?" Meow Meow asked, just awakening.
"Let's at least try. If we can't win, we can still run. It's not like they can catch up to you," Tianming said.
"Eh? Why am I always the one to clean up after your reckless actions?"
"That's the burden of those with power, my brother."
"It's no excuse to get yourself into reckless situations!" Meow Meow continued cursing him in his mind.
In actuality, he would mainly be counting on Xian Xian for this insane battle. Xian Xian dominated in group battles, so Tianming wanted to test the limits of its performance while they were within the sealing barrier. There was little doubt that he alone posed more of a threat than the two thousand. If the eighth-level samsarans wouldn't be able to defeat Ye Bodhi even with his level suppressed, they would be no more a threat to Tianming than normal seventh-level death samsarans.
"Fine. As your brother, I'll indulge your recklessness for once! Those mutts have been chasing us for quite a while. If we deal with them here, it'll be a huge blow to Nonahall. More and more will come, and we'll continue crippling as many as we can!" Ying Huo declared, slapping Tianming's head excitedly with its wings. "You have guts."
"I don't. Without the four of you here with me, I'd never do something like this. I'm just being dragged along into the limelight by you four," Tianming said.
"Not bad. You finally know your lowly place—"
"Haha, now get to work, chicken!"
Before Ying Huo finished, Tianming grabbed it by the neck and flung it away.
"Oh fuck!" it cried when it was tossed into the midst of the enemy lifebound beasts. "Li Tianming, you ain't human!" It hurriedly used Infernal Haze to avoid being vaporized.
With Ying Huo attracting much of the enemies’ firepower, Xian Xian managed to dominate the battlefield with her roots.
"Everyone, fight with Xian Xian at the center. Help each other out. Run if you can't defeat them!" Now, Tianming was far more daring than before, having reached the fifth-level life phase. He really wanted to do as much as he could for Archaion and Feiling. "You wanna try to harm my girl?! Then die, you shameless old fools!"
If this worked out, it would be the beginning of something beautiful. He would become the nightmare of the Kilostar Domain! After gaining the ability to see sin with Eyes of Judgment, he no longer dared to kill as he pleased. However, merely crippling them shouldn't be counted as a sin, right? Not to mention, there were at least two hundred heavy sinners among the two thousand. Those were the ones who charged at the very front.
"Die!" Tianming activated the Imperealm Sword Formation with the Grand-Orient Sword still on his back, covering the entire battlefield with stray sword ki. Having a portable formation was a huge asset in a group battle like this. Anyone who stepped into his formation's range would constantly have to be on watch for sword ki strands.
Then, water splashed all over the place as Lan Huang's meat grinder activated. It was just laying in wait for the enemies to come. As for Ying Huo and Meow Meow, they were small, indistinct blurs that were more than capable of taking care of themselves.
However, the one Tianming relied on the most was Xian Xian. The Evernight Rose glowed brightly on the main body of the tree; it had used Evernight Curse at the same moment the Imperealm Sword Formation had been deployed. Tianming was counting on the rose's pollen to drive the two thousand plus enemies wild so that he would stand a chance against all of them at once. Such was the might of Primordial Chaos Beasts!
The fine pollen spread throughout the battlefield, seeping into the tribulation elders' bodies through their skin and orifices. A small amount wouldn't really change their behavior much, but as the battle progressed, they were sure to lose their reason.
"Make sure to protect your little sister!" Tianming said as Infernal Armor started forming around him. Ying Huo was still cursing Tianming, but it hadn't forgotten to manifest the armor around him. It was a softie indeed.
"I don't need you to tell me that! Anyone that dares to touch my sister will be bitten to death by me, Tortoise Supreme!" Lan Huang roared with such volume that it hurt the ears of those around it.
"Since when do you call yourself that?!" Tianming snapped. He continually had to convince others that Lan Huang was a dragon, only for it to call itself a tortoise.
"Chicken Bro said that makes me sound more formidable! Don’t you think so too?" Lan Huang earnestly asked.
"No way!" Tianming felt the cringe from how daft Lan Huang could be sometimes.
"Fine!" Lan Huang's nine kui seas rapidly spun, propelling its huge body through the ocean toward a huge group of enemies. Its Kilofold Rings were going at full rumble; not only were they an effective means of offense, they also provided a strong defense that most would find hard to pierce through. Lan Huang left a wake of minced meat and blood, while Ying Huo and Meow Meow tore through the enemy ranks beside it. With a crackle of lightning and a flash of platinum, Meow Meow tore through the enemy's defenses, allowing astral pollen from the Evernight Rose to more easily seep through, sowing even more chaos.
"Die!" Xian Xian's spiritform cheered with its fists raised, oddly cute despite its genocidal utterances. Its main body began raining down Bloodrain Swords and Radiant Vines all over the battlefield. Coupled with its roots, it could take on far more enemies than the other three beasts combined. Thanks to it, Tianming was able to remain calm and collected. He stood atop of the Radix World Tree and was so small in comparison that the elders had a hard time spotting him. Every time Archfiend lashed out, tens of saint palaces would be pierced through. Tianming welcomed their approach and continued harvesting their saint palaces.
"We must hold on!" The reason Tianming had picked the oceanic star to fight, rather than fighting in space, was so that he would have one less direction to worry about enemies coming from. Here, he was akin to a mobile fortress. Despite the sheer number of enemies, he and his beasts were only engaged with two to three hundred at any given time. Most of them were sixth-level death samsarans, so even the weakest of them weren't to be scoffed at.
The first clash between the two sides actually managed to force Ying Huo and the rest back. While the enemies’ abilities weren't that strong, the force of a few hundred of them combined was far from something they could ignore. Even Lan Huang couldn't quite take it with its Kilofold Rings. Tianming knew it was risky, but he was still counting on Xian Xian’s Evernight Curse as his trump card.
"Once more!" Lan Huang continued the slaughter with Ying Huo and Meow Meow. Every time they were in danger, countless strands of black and gold sword ki would force their enemies away. At the same time, a bloody chain continued dancing above the sea, taking down enemies at a frightening rate.
Countless glowing shields formed of Radiant Vines protected the Radiant Daffodil and Evernight Rose, while the Scarlet Lily continued firing Bloodrain Swords nonstop, easily overwhelming one opponent after another. While Xian Xian was weaker than the other three when it came to single combat, it made up for it by being able to suppress a huge number of enemies at once. Countless Scarlet Lilies were constantly firing off barrage after barrage of Bloodrain Swords.
"Cut that tree down!"
"Once that tree is gone, this brat will be done for!"
"Burn it! Let that cursed brat die! How dare he be so impudent as to challenge all of us at once?!"
"Does he really think Nonahall is so easy to deal with?!"
The elders were soon able to pick the right target to focus on. The tree was too big to miss, and many of them attempted to switch their focus away from Lan Huang to Xian Xian.
"Anyone who dares to try will be killed!" Tianming dropped everything, putting Archfiend away and splitting the Grand-Orient Sword into two before charging in with the Dragonhide equipped. He unleashed a slash that manifested a dragon of about a hundred meters long, sending it charging into the hundreds of lifebound beasts and their masters that were attacking Xian Xian, slicing many of them in two.
"You want to see who's more savage?!" Tianming wielded his swords in both hands as he engaged in fearless slaughter, filling his foes with terror. He was going on a killing frenzy. He had planned to run if he couldn't take them out, but his fighting spirit had suddenly swelled. He had a feeling that he could well cripple more than a thousand of them!