Chapter 923
"Tianming!" Xuanyuan Dao cried out in the midst of chaos.
"Sect Master...." Tianming saw how Xuanyuan Dao was looking at him with a passionate gaze while being guarded by the desolate imperial dragon.
"Don't fight with Jiang Wuxin, focus on stopping Dugu Jin and Di Zang! The specters must not be allowed to return! As for Dugu Jin, there'll be more than enough chances to kill him!"
"Got it!" Tianming nodded.
As they spoke, the dragon spirits charged toward Jiang Wuxin to hold him back and Li Caiwei doubled down with her Dreamheart World. They already had some experience from trying to stop Jiang Wuxin back then, and managed some degree of success this time around as well. The reason they didn't chase down Di Zang instead was because he and Dugu Jin had already made their way into the inner formation, making it hard for the dragon spirits to stop them.
"Come back!" Tianming glared at the rampaging Jiang Wuxin before having Ying Huo and the rest return to his side. Then he flapped all three pairs of his wings and zipped toward Di Zang and Dugu Jin as quickly as he could.
The wind was blowing strongly. Tianming used the Plundering Eye and located the two of them precisely. Fortunately, they were still entangled with one another. Dugu Jin was managing to hold Di Zang back, otherwise he would have already made his way to Soulburn Hall. Not only that, their lifebound beasts were also engaged in battle.
They sent the water in Xuanyuan Lake blasting all over the place, causing countless buildings to collapse. This was the home of the Xuanyuan house, and now it was experiencing unprecedented destruction. The hope of humanity now lay with Tianming alone.
As he made his way to the location of the battle, he recalled how Yi Xingyin had sacrificed himself to cause Tianming City’s formation to self-destruct, protecting everyone in the city, then he thought of how Xuanyuan Dao had suffered the destruction of his saint palace in an attempt to hold Jiang Wuxin back. Even though the chances of victory were slim, many had already paid the price.
Then a blurry face covered in blood flashed across his eyes. Slowly, it began shifting with the winds. Tianming soon saw Great Emperor Xuanyuan standing in front of him on Xuanyuan Lake, his caelum shining brightly like the sun. While there were many things that were still mysteries to him, they seemed to begin shining in his sea of consciousness at this time of crisis.
"Only when one concerns themselves with the welfare of the entire world can they be the emperor of all humanity!" The memory fragments from Great Emperor Xuanyuan's caelum slowly became clearer and clearer. He was the brave rebel that had led his fellow slaves to rebel against the oppression of the specters. After countless deathly experiences, humiliations, and defeats, he still bore the heart of forging forward without ever stopping. Eventually, he had managed the grand feat and brought about two hundred thousand years of freedom.
"The founding ancestor didn't know the odds of success either. He had no control over most things and faced countless crises, including the betrayal of the Blooddragon Clan that had almost caused all he had worked for to fail. Even so, anyone who walks the true path of the emperor should be like him, keeping the flames of his bravery and fighting spirit burning no matter what! They should always be ready to upend the status quo! The reason everyone holds out so much hope for me is because they consider me to be Great Emperor Xuanyuan reborn! They treat me like a ruler that will never fall! Only then can a truly eternal clan endure through the ages! I have to be like him! This is the path I must tread!"
The Human Emperor’s Dragonhide manifested around Tianming’s body, as if it had been born for the first time ever. Like a shining beacon, Tianming illuminated the way through the battle. The time to rebel would always come to everyone, and the only ones that emerged victorious were dedicated people with unquenchable righteous rage!
Tianming's chase made him feel like he had returned to the Old Deepstar Path. He wasn't chasing his enemies, but rather the emperor who had changed everyone's fates two hundred millennia ago! The moment he reached the burning sun, his Imperial Will once more reached the peak and crossed the borderline. He reached the ninth-level life phase!
During that rapid burst forward, his Imperial Will had grown to new heights, far exceeding any of his previous achievements! Nobody would ever be able to imagine that he would find the answer as he was giving chase. The foundation of cultivation was the psyche. Only true comprehension could lead to growth.
Usually, that took form as a result of endless observation, application, pondering, and repetition, the culmination of which would result in a breakthrough. Naturally, his current breakthrough was also thanks to the efforts of the past dozen or so days he had spent pondering the insights from the caeli of the specters. And just now, he had received the final spark of insight from witnessing Xuanyuan Dao's sacrifice and continued efforts to fight, mirroring what the founding ancestor had done himself.
"Having guides on the path of cultivation must be the luckiest thing ever!" Great Emperor Xuanyuan truly had a huge influence on the growth of Tianming’s Imperial Will. He managed to convert his death tribulation force into life tribulation force as he continued flying, his body reverting in age once more as his vigor refilled. He had once more exceeded himself, a monstrous feat indeed. Now, his Aeonic Grandbane helped the samsara rings expand, giving him access to rampaging life tribulation force. He was far more powerful than he had been in the eighth-level death phase.
"With Ling'er by my side, I'm at the very peak of the Flameyellow Continent! Now, my fate is my own to shape!" All he hoped for was that he wouldn't let others down. "It would be ideal if there was a way I can help restore those two's saint palaces one day."
After his breakthrough, his speed received another boost. He rapidly approached Di Zang and Dugu Jin, leaving behind a trail of splashing water on the surface of the lake. Lan Huang leapt into the water and began moving faster with the spinning nine kui seas as well. Apart from Xian Xian, all his beasts were by his side.
"Kill them and restore peace to the world!"
While Dugu Jin was trying to stop Di Zang from leaving, the two of them turned back when they felt a presence approaching them from behind.
"Li Tianming?" Dugu Jin said with a worried look.
"Why does he look like he's back in the life phase? Did he grow stronger again?" Di Zang muttered.
"That monster!" Dugu Jin's expression turned grim.
"Wonderful. Now even if I lose, your grand design is done for," Di Zang mocked.
"Didn't you say that this brat was the most unpredictable variable of all? Even if you let your specters out, as long as he lives, he'll eventually end up like Great Emperor Xuanyuan and vanquish you once more," Dugu Jin snapped.
"So you evaluate him so highly, huh?"
"Think about it. It started from the Number One Summit, then Qing Ming, Xue Yi, and eventually the twelfth-level life phase Fang Taiqing. They fell to him one after the other, and he's only in his twenties. When he’s a hundred years old, no matter how many specters there are in the Ninefold Hell, you’ll be wiped out for sure. As long as he lives, his potential is limitless. What I regret now is not having paid him any attention when he was still a sky saint."
"So? What’re you trying to say?"
"Let’s team up to kill him first. After he's dead, we'll fight it out to see who's the last one standing. How does that sound? I can promise that neither of us will live, let alone win, if he's alive, Di Zang."
"Fine, let's do just that," Di Zang finally agreed.
Immediately, they stopped fighting and turned to Tianming together.
"Hand over the key," Tianming said.
"I'll trade it for your life."
"Fine." Tianming glared at Dugu Jin.
Dugu Jin shrugged and said, "You have fun. I'm fine with anything."
"You won't get to leave either," Tianming said.
"So you're going to force us to work together to kill you first?" Dugu Jin said. As he spoke, his blood dragons returned to his side. His black and red robe began fluttering with force.
Down in the lake beneath Di Zang, a gigantic beast with countless tentacles spread them all over, seemingly turning half the surface of the lake black. In a hidden corner of the lake, one of the hell soubeast's tentacles suddenly broke off. The tentacle was holding the black key and was headed in the direction of Soulburn Hall. Neither Tianming nor Dugu Jin had expected that Di Zang would have another helper near Soulburn Hall.
......
Within Soulburn Hall were Ouyang Jianwang, the sect master of Pentaphase, Jiang Yuanjun, as well as some tens of tenth-level death phase tribulation elders, including Xuanyuan Xiao and Xuanyuan Yu. It was the safest spot in the hall.
"I heard when the formation here is active, it can only be broken by someone in the twelfth-level death phase," Jiang Yuanjun said.
"Of course. It's where our goddess is protected, after all," Ouyang Jianwang said.
"I wonder what's going on outside."
They all looked outside worriedly. At that moment, a black beast poked out of the lake and appeared outside the formation.