Beastmaster of the Ages

Just as Tianming had grown stronger, so had Bodhi. He stood tall at the opening of the orderian cauldron and stared down at Tianming. "It's almost time. I'll let you turn to ash alongside your precious Flameyellow Continent."

He didn't choose to escape. Instead, Bodhi rapidly descended toward Tianming as a beam of silver light, using his abilities and battle arts at the same time. He assailed the young emperor with the force of a thousand dragons.

Though Tianming had many things to say to Bodhi, he could only utter one word now: "Die!"

Everything was at stake and resting on Tianming's sword—the whole continent, all the life there, and the history that came before it. But the heavier the burden, the more power he seemed to be able to channel.

"Break!"

With a roar that represented the will of omnisentient life, Tianming's swords gathered together and tore the air apart, forming a torrent of sword ki that smashed toward Bodhi and his dragons. The enhanced providence swords clashed and emanated magnificent power, tearing apart the dragon illusions like paper. It was a complete domination. Tianming was far stronger than before, now that he was closer to the continent.

Though Bodhi had factored many things into his calculations, including the trajectory of the moon's fall, this was something he hadn't taken into account. "How could a single human suddenly become so strong?!"

Like Sovereign Xi, he was completely baffled and didn't have the luxury of remaining shocked. The instant his expression changed, the eight thousand providence swords rushed toward him like a wave.

"This…"

His eyes widened at the sight of their sheer speed. He saw Tianming in the midst of the sea of swords. The entire time, he had never underestimated Tianming and regarded him as a fearful existence, but now that wasn't even an apt description for him. "You seem destined to soar through the astralscape and become an unparalleled god. However, the destruction of the Flameyellow Continent will be an eternal scar on your legacy! It will come to haunt you countless times in your life!"

Bodhi could already taste death. Once he was dead, nobody would be left to control the fusion formation of the Ninefold Hell, so there would be no way to contain the stellunar source that came bursting out of the moon. However, his desire for destruction had far surpassed that for a home since Little You's death. He didn't feel any more regret or pain, even knowing that he would lose. Instead, he started laughing at Tianming's desperate, yet futile struggle against fate. He would fail to save the continent and his people!

"Little You, Daddy's really happy too. Don't go too far in the afterlife. Wait for me. I'll watch you grow up there by your side." He opened his arms wide and closed his eyes, welcoming the embrace of death. He had won, even in death. His ancestors no longer desired a home for themselves, either. The fact that they had their revenge was enough to calm their souls.

Thousands of providence swords pierced straight through Bodhi's powerful body, crushing his hearts and drawing much blood. He was now deader than dead, and wouldn't survive even if he had ten thousand more hearts. However, not even all of that damage could take the smile off his face; it was a smile of victory. From now on, Tianming would spend the rest of his life in pain. That would be a fate worse than death. Even though Bodhi didn't get to fully enact his plans, he still hadn't lost! The moon now covered half of the continent's sky and the power of its stellunar source was so close that the human-shaped continent began shaking, nearing its breaking point.

"Aaaaagh!" Tianming took the Moondream Soul, his eyes completely bloodshot with desperation. Bodhi was right. He had finally bested Bodhi, but it was too late! In the mooncore, he could see what his people saw from the outside through his connection to them. Ironically, he was at the safest place possible, right at the center of the moon. The sound of the world breaking apart filled his ears and caused him to go numb.

On the brink of his subjects' complete annihilation, his Imperial Will once more reached a breaking point and began fracturing as the Omnisentient Threads were being severed. He was now an integral part of his people and the continent. Once the continent was gone, he would struggle to rise back up.

Bodhi's deathly smile plagued his mind like a nightmare. Even so, Tianming had done the best he could against such a foe. As quickly as he could, he tossed the Moondream Soul to the Archaionfiend. "Quick!"

The beast took the sword, still a little wordless. It only moved toward the formation core after Lin Xiaoxiao urged it to. Perhaps because it was feeling safe, since it was in the mooncore, it did its best to salvage what it could.

"It says it's too late. There is almost no chance for everything to survive. All it can do is its best, so please don't blame it if this fails," Lin Xiaoxiao said with a crestfallen expression.

Tianming didn't respond. He kept looking for something he could do from within the mooncore, but he realized that there was nothing he could help with. His arm could pierce any formation, so it was like having countless keys. But as a result, that meant he didn't have to study much about formations to understand and get through them, since he could easily tear into them.

The Archaionfiend pierced the Moondream Soul into the formation core and tried to divert the moon's trajectory, but the heavenly patterns within shook without budging. All it could do was turn back and say, "Give up. It's already beyond our control, there's nothing I can do."

Those words sounded like a death sentence for both the Flameyellow Continent and the Divine Moon Realm.