Beastmaster of the Ages

The imperial guide's blood splattered all over Tianming's body. She was still smiling as her blank gaze was focused on the sovereign, but her pulse was gone. His hostage was now a corpse, and Sovereign Xi no longer had any weaknesses.

Tianming was rather shocked and couldn't figure it out. Based on how deep their relationship was, the imperial guide should be just as important to the sovereign as Feiling was to him. So why would Sovereign Xi kill the imperial guide herself right after he stated his terms? Tianming couldn't imagine himself doing the same to Feiling.

It appeared that his boundaries and limits were completely different from Sovereign Xi's. She was a narcissist that justified her tendencies with the responsibility of a ruler.

"So your anger at me and the pain you showed is just a self-consolation, huh? The imperial guide can no longer see it, so cut the act," Tianming said as he shook his head. He had finally come to know someone who would do anything, even killing their only beloved, to achieve their goals. It would be like Tianming killing his lifebound beasts to achieve his.

"You used your so-called love to disguise your cruelty and even managed to trick yourself with it. How laughable. You should look into a mirror and see what you look like right now. You'll see nothing but a venomous serpent in the reflection."

Tianming couldn't stand the fact that she was grieving even though she was the one that had killed her. He let go of the imperial guide's body, and the sovereign pulled it back and hugged it tightly.

"We are not acting. This has nothing to do with you. It's fine as long as she understands." She gently closed the imperial guide's eyes and wiped the blood off her face. Then she looked at Tianming and completely unleashed her hate. "You were the one who killed her. We will avenge her and bury you and everyone you care for as an offering for her death!"

He now knew how truly twisted this insane snake was. "You were the one that did it yourself, but you're pinning the blame on me? Perhaps I'd even respect you if you were honest about what you wanted. The only thing that's worse than someone who can even kill their own loved ones is a hypocrite."

Tianming had thought he could turn things around with the imperial guide as his hostage, but his understanding of love was different from the sovereign's. His love was one of mutual giving and protecting. Hers was second to her own self-interest and was something that could be sacrificed when needed. Tianming refused to acknowledge that as a form of love.

Right now, there was no longer anything holding the sovereign back. She couldn't turn back now. All the divine moonrace elites summoned their totems and sealed off the entire area, and Tianming was a fish on their chopping block. Not to mention, the nova source pulse Sovereign Xi had been waiting for was taking place right now.

"We shall strip away every fiber of your being and pave a new path for the divine moonrace." Sovereign Xi put the imperial guide down as boundless power flooded into her body. All signs pointed to her being virtually invincible, especially in her enraged state. "Li Tianming, you're a mere rat that can never escape from the palm of Our hands."

She smiled vilely and added, "We will devour you."

Then she rose into the air as astralforce gathered in her body. Tianming felt a huge pressure crushing down on him. She was the strongest person on the moon, and even without moving, Tianming felt like the entire universe was pressing down on his body. Perhaps that was the power of the Constellation stage. The Ascension stage was only the start of godhood, and one could only break free from the Orderian Sky once they reached the twelfth level.

"Follow Us back to the palace. As for your kin, they'll continue atoning for your crimes."

Even if Tianming could help her make the breakthrough, she wasn't willing to spare the Flameyellow humans. She was no different from Autarch Qian in Tianming's eyes, now. The tens of thousands of others had surrounded them so completely that there was no escape. There was only one way for Tianming to break out of her control: the Prime Tower. He had been prepared for this even before Sovereign Xi made her move. He immediately summoned it and hid inside. Sovereign Xi didn't manage to react in time, having not expected it at all.

"What kind of divine artifact is this? You're hiding inside it, I see?"

The Prime Tower rose into the sky, but Sovereign Xi pressed it back down with terrifying force, as expected. Tianming was now technically half in her control, though as long as he didn't come out, Sovereign Xi wouldn't be able to make her breakthrough. Even so, Tianming was the one who was pressed for time. He had only come back to the Divine Moon Realm to stop the ongoing massacre in the first place.

Sovereign Xi rapidly struck the tower, but it remained unmoving like a mountain. It was a divine artifact that was powerful beyond her imagination. In a fit of rage, she continued the assault for a couple of minutes before finally giving up.

"Looks like this nondescript tower of yours is a pretty powerful treasure." She put her weapon away and pondered. The nova source pulse was now peaking. "However, We have Our ways of forcing you out. You might hide because killing one hundred million of your cockroaches down there isn't enough. So how about I cleanse the entire continent of everyone?"

While she wasn't sure she would resort to that yet, she was keen on exploiting Tianming's weakness to the limit. She could destroy her own weakness, but he couldn't. At the very least, he couldn't destroy it as long as he had Imperial Will. It would go against everything he stood for and cause his cultivation to collapse.

"Don't even think of threatening Us with Orderia. This is the Divine Moon Realm, and nobody's word but Ours is law! We have no weaknesses while you fashion yourself a ruler of benevolence, and that will be your downfall!"

She took the tower into the palace. Before she left, she ordered, "Ready the imperial guide's funeral rite!"

"Understood!" everyone chorused and knelt.

......

The divine moonrace didn't leave the palace compound. Instead, they remained there to defend their ruler, even though they didn't know what she was up to. They only cared about serving her.

In a hidden corner far away, a girl observed the whole thing with a blank gaze. There seemed to be a hint of annihilation leaking from her eyes bit by bit. She didn't give chase, but instead turned around and disappeared into the night.