Beastmaster of the Ages

Meow Meow immediately infused Blitzbane into its abilities. It didn't turn into a Regal Chaosfiend, allowing it to maintain even higher speed and agility. Instead, it hid on Lan Huang's body to exploit its defenses while it blasted away with its abilities at the blazing firegods.

Lan Huang then leapt to engage the enemy totems. Even so, Prince Zhuoyang was capable enough to hold on despite that barrage of attacks; but it did make him furrow a brow.

"This doesn't seem to match his power level." He had no time to hesitate. If he didn't fight back, he would immediately lose, so he decided to use his totemic calamity, Skyscorch Fiend. The six totems hovering above his head took Meow Meow's bombardment and began fusing into one. Then it swung its sword and sent the charging Lan Huang Flying with golden flames filling the air.

"Die!" Prince Zhuoyang went on a rampage using his Sungod Cycle in tandem with his totem. "You blood-pact trash, how dare you compare yourself against my totems?!"

Tianming couldn't help but laugh when he heard that. How could the prince still maintain any semblance of superiority when he was being pushed back so hard?

"Are you calling me trash?!" Lan Huang got up; there was a huge bone-deep gash on its back, but it was recovering at a rate the eye could see. It charged forward and used Daybreak Worldslash. The nine kui mountains on its back, as well as the sword on its tail, blurred into a slashing wheel as Lan Huang spun before colliding with the six fused totems. A huge explosion resulted. While the prince was charging forward, his fused totem was sent flying back with wounds to the chest and broken swords, but that was only the beginning.

Two bloody spears shot out from Lan Huang's body; it was Meow Meow's strongest ability, Cosmic Lance. One of them was aimed at the giant totem's head, and the other at its heart. Then the blood lightning began sparking with the power of Blitzbane as it instantly pierced through the fused totems. The head burst open and a hole was made in its chest. The totems that had just fused moments before were split into six again, marking the interruption of the prince's totemic calamity.

While the prince was still in a stupor, tens of thousands of flaming birds appeared in the sky, all of them identical. Like flaming meteors, they fell from the sky and struck the six totems, as well as him and Yueshen Qi. Even though he was four levels stronger than Tianming, the power of Death Inferno, as well as Ying Huo striking with its Cosmic Blade feathers, tore the totems completely apart, and that wasn't all.

While the totems were being mauled, all the prince could think of was getting back at Tianming. But when he looked up, he saw Tianming menacingly wielding his swords and the four cardinal godswords. During the day, he had thought that Tianming was a dead man for sure, but now he finally understood just why Sovereign Xi favored him so much. Tianming had tons of tricks at his disposal!

"Die!" Prince Zhuoyang roared as his totems were weakened by the debilitating wounds. He was still resisting the Trisoul Fiendsong's influence. "If I wipe him out in one strike, I'll still have a chance!"

There was no turning back if he made a single wrong move. He had spent many years training the Moonnight Subdued Strike just so he could have an advantage against opponents of the same level. In terms of raw power, Tianming couldn't compare to him, as astralforce quality increased greatly as one rose in level. At best, Tianming's astralforce was barely comparable to someone at Hexaunity Sky and couldn't even match up to Yueshen Qi.

This was Prince Zhuoyang's last stand: Moonnight Subdued Strike, Seaborne Moon! Instead of rising moons, his strike manifested tens of thousands of rising suns. His battered totems managed to execute the move with him. The seven swords formed an ultimate killing sword formation that shot toward Tianming.

"This move, eh? Great! Perfect time for me to practice." Tianming had been pondering the move the entire day, and smirked when he saw it used against him. He immediately struck. The Grand-Orient Sword shifted in his hands while his totems matched the form and began circulating the astralforce in his body. His sword stance changed, causing bright moons to rise.

The moons in his sword were gold and black. Eastdivinity Acme's moons were infused with its special properties, making them red suns, while Northapex Perpetuity's were frost moons. This was a third-realm divine art meant to be used in tandem with totems. However, two godswords were already enough for Tianming, as the prince's totems had already been badly battered by his lifebound beasts. It would be a miracle if they could still use a fifth of their power.

The Moonnight Subdued Strike was a move to kill. In a flash, bright moons appeared, completely crushing Prince Zhuoyang's prideful heart.

"How could this be possible?!" Being pushed so hard by Tianming had already wounded his pride somewhat, but now he learned that Tianming had mastered 'his' move in a single day. He immediately came to understand that only Orderia had geniuses of this caliber; the prince was merely a joke compared to people in that league.

With Prince Zhuoyang's confidence crushed, his move was no longer a threat no matter how powerful it was. With Ying Huo and the rest having vaporized eighty percent of them, the two godswords alone were enough to hold off the six weakened firegods and cause them to completely dematerialize back into terra. While the prince himself was still in peak fighting form, Tianming had countered him with the same move and slapped his face with the flat of his sword. The next moment, he felt searing pain as his sword arm was sliced off by Tianming.

"Aaaagh!" he cried as he was sent flying. His arm was severed and his totems were neutralized, so he was no longer in any condition to fight.

Tianming's gaze met the prince's. "Are you convinced of your loss?"

"Amazing, truly amazing! Too bad... too bad!" he said while shaking his head. He was indeed convinced, but he knew what Tianming's fate would be.

"Want to guess whether you'll live?"

"I'm guessing yes. I'm the sovereign's brother—if you kill me, there'll be endless consequences!"

"You guessed wrong then." Tianming zipped in front of him and sent his head rolling on the ground. He was about to leave the city, so he couldn't afford to let the prince make a fuss. He would never show mercy to those who would kill him without a second thought.

The prince's eyes were still wide open; he probably hadn't expected Tianming would be so ruthlessly thorough. Tianming's gaze then fell on Yueshen Qi, whose totems had been completely crushed by Xian Xian. However, she was foaming at the mouth on the ground with her eyes rolled back.

"What's up with her?"

"She's under the control of my Trisoul Fiendsong. She'll be out for a few days," Xian Xian said gleefully.

"Good. Guess she gets to live." Tianming was going to become a fugitive for trying to leave the city anyway, so killing or not didn't really matter.

"Let's go!" Right as he was about to leave, the surrounding air turned cold. He rapidly turned back and saw a woman in a blue dress with a cat mask appear by Yueshen Qi's side. She stretched out her hand and caused a few blue light swords to pierce into Yueshen Qi, killing her before she could even shriek in pain. She pulled her mask a little higher and sucked on her bloodied fingers.

Then, turning to Tianming, she said, "It's getting late, darling. Let's go back to the palace."

Tianming was troubled. He needed to know how long she'd been stalking him. Even though he had been really careful, he had no idea at all. She was using a really powerful method. "Why kill her?"

"They're a sinful couple. We each killed one, so we match," she said with a smile.

"Oh, that makes sense!"

In other words, she had witnessed the entire battle. Since they weren't close to the city walls yet, Tianming wondered if she would suspect him of trying to escape. If she did, he was in big trouble. She was careful and crafty indeed. If she wasn't aware he was trying to leave, then his encounter with Prince Zhuoyang and Yueshen Qi might work in his favor. If I can't leave, hiding in the Prime Tower will be the only method at my disposal....

His heart quickly pumped as he awaited Sovereign Xi's judgment. She slowly approached him and put her bloodstained finger on his chin. The cat mask in front of Tianming's face gave off a really sly impression. "I'm going to the mooncore. Will you accompany me?"

That was the center of the stellunar source, where the pathway to the xenomemory space was located!