Beastmaster of the Ages

If there were nine dragon palaces within the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, there should be nine different treasures. Tianming was aware of the Lifesteal Silverdragon, Dragonblood Desecration and yinyang skyscorch pill so far. While the former two were defended by grade-four divine formations, this pill of the Blackdragon Palace was actually hidden in the body of a gigantic nine-headed dragon golem. The young man Zhan Yuance, who fought like a beast with his kin, had lifebound beasts hundreds of meters tall with thousands of stars. They were definitely going after this pill as well.

"When did he obtain the yinyang skyscorch pill?" Tianming asked the Azuresoul Palace disciple.

"Not too long ago. He defeated quite a number of dragon golems and obtained a wardrum formation. Then we started to hear drumming somewhere else and secretly followed it. The resonance from the war drum actually came from that black dragon."

"Wardrum formation?" That must mean that Zhan Yuance had come to this place through the same means they did, just sooner because he was nearer to the place. Interestingly, Tianming didn't hear the resonance from Zhan Yuance's wardrum formation, only his own. He couldn't really figure out the secrets of his drum for now. Instead, his attention was captured by that grade-seven divine pill. "Do you see it clearly now?"

"More or less. If I'm not mistaken, it's a grandpath fiend pill. It's no less impressive than a yinyang skyscorch pill and its main ingredient is the fruit of the sacred fiend tree. Those have grade-seven divine patterns called fiendpath worlds. Patterns like those contain arcane mysteries of the fiendish path." Yu Ziqian finished speaking and turned to look at Lingfeng. Obviously, a pill like this was suited for him.

"Understood." No matter what, allowing Zhan Yuance to get the pill would mean Tianming would have little chance to stay on top of the ranking.

"Are you planning to fight? It's a little risky. He's no Lan Feilin, and I'm not in peak condition. Zhan Yuance is also strong beyond imagination at the fifth level," Yu Ziqian said, worried.

Tianming observed a little while longer and had a rough idea. That three-meter-tall youth was no doubt the strongest among the billion participants—definitely stronger than Weisheng Moran based on his performance now. He struck with his fist and staff and nobody seemed to be able to stop him.

"Going against him head-on might not work. I need a chance to sneak in an attack. You guys stay here and wait. If things get out of hand, run."

It wasn't that Tianming was overestimating himself. Instead, he had considered many factors. First, the divine pill was far more tempting than divine artifacts in the short term. Second, if it was someone else, they could have the pill for all Tianming cared, but Zhan Yuance had already won one pill. If he was allowed to get this one as well, there would be no stopping him in future conflicts. Tianming's main goal was to join the Sky Palace, so he couldn't just sit and watch them take the pill.

"Taking action is a must, but it must be careful and planned." After he told them his intentions, he had them wait together while he, Ying Huo, and Meow Meow waited for a chance. So far, the wargodeans had stopped everyone else from interfering. The moment anyone took a step forward, they would be cruelly ganged up upon. They didn't even bother with verbal threats like the Blueblood Ocean; instead, they struck without warning and made sure to terrify those watching into inaction. There was no chance to approach them undetected at all.

I'm sure Zhan Yuance knows about me. If I lose, he'll get the Lifesteal Silverdragon too. It was a really high-risk move. Right as he thought that, his chance arrived. The paths leading to Blackdragon Palace weren't closed off. At that moment, the sound of drumming came from all around. Then all kinds of chaos broke out as roaring dragons appeared.

"Move aside!"

"Dragon golems!"

"So many of them!"

The golems swarmed into the Blackdragon Palace as the crowd panicked. Some of them passed through the crowd without harming them, going straight for the wargodeans within. In almost no time at all, tens of thousands of them had come in, like what had happened at the Blooddragon Palace. But this time, the wargodeans were also facing off against the nine-headed dragon golem.

Chaos immediately broke out as the wargodeans were forced to deal with the new dragon golems. As they weren't as strong as the main black dragon, the wargodeans were able to hold on even against ten thousand of them for a short time with their lifebound beasts. However, many disciples who were just watching also thought this was their chance. Those from second-rate sects also had their own sense of pride. Having been completely oppressed for so long, they immediately spotted the chance to rebel together.

"Charge!"

"Everyone deserves the right to fight for that treasure!"

"Let's go together!"

This time was completely different from the time with Lan Feilin. It was hard to suppress others' desires in obtaining a treasure of this caliber with threats alone. When the status quo tipped, the crowd immediately erupted all at once. Putting aside the wargodeans, even the dreamless celestials couldn't hold on. There were nearly ten thousand others beside them.

"Perfect." Tianming hid himself in the crowd and charged in with them. No matter how elite those that tried to stop them were, they immediately crumbled from the sheer numbers. Fortunately, the dragon golems saw new people entering their range and diverted some of their own to take them on. It was a complete free for all within the Blackdragon Palace. Most disciples had their eyes on the divine pill and desperately swarmed toward the huge dragon.

There were so many beasts and people in the surroundings that Tianming could barely make out what he saw; he couldn't even tell where the nine-headed dragon was. All kinds of roars and sounds of weapons clashing could be heard. Ying Huo and Meow Meow were shocked back into the lifebound space from the sheer chaos.

"It's there!" Tianming finally saw the black dragon's tail amidst a cacophony of totemic calamities. Immediately, he swung the Lifesteal Silverdragon thousands of meters away to wrap around the tail. Then he pulled, causing the chain to shrink and quickly closing the distance. Just like before, far too many people were gathered near the dragon, though many of them were flung away, the force from the impact destroying their imperial star formations. When Tianming gripped the blades on the dragon, his hand was immediately cut. Then, black flames from the dragon enveloped him whole.

"Trying to escape, huh?" Tianming grabbed the dragon's body with his black arm. As it was flinging other people off of itself, Tianming secured himself by wrapping his chain around its body. Attacks were fired off nonstop amidst the chaos, with some having seen Tianming and trying to take the chain from him, only to be killed.

"Head toward its heart!"

That was the spot most people were looking at, as it was where the pill was located. Tianming knew that the advantage he had over so many others was that he could simply bypass formations.

"Scram!"

No matter how much the dragon struggled, the person that worried it the most was still there: Zhan Yuance. He already had a winning strategy to use against the dragon golem, but the sudden inclusion of all those disciples and smaller dragon golems had ruined it. His current mood was far from pleasant, though the wargodeans still managed to hold on somewhat as the dragon golems also targeted some of the other participants.

"Make way! Let's end it quickly!" he roared. Any wargodean that could afford to back off did so and protected him. They had been battling for half an hour and so far, and the black dragon was battered and had even lost two heads. It was on its last proverbial legs. Even the divine patterns on its golem formation were messed up. Zhan Yuance and the rest were on the brink of victory.

"As long as I get another grade-seven divine pill, nobody will stop me from entering the Sky Palace! Quick!"

The wargodeans' blood boiled, as victory was within their grasp.

"Even if we give our lives away, we have to take the divine pill for the Nine-five Prince!"

"Drop everything and stop the black dragon with our bodies if we need to!"

They fearlessly charged in with their beasts. The strongest fighters near Zhan Yuance were none other than his five beasts. They all had really high levels and around four thousand and eight hundred stars. One of the savage beasts was even past five thousand. They were all called goldenmane skyapes.

The apes were humanoid in build and covered in golden muscles, much like Zhan Yuance himself. However, they had an extra layer of golden fur that burned with a kind of flame and their limbs had curved talons as sharp as divine artifacts. Each claw strike they unleashed on the black dragon created blinding sparks.