Beastmaster of the Ages

The variety of Tianming's lifebound beasts had pushed Li Haochen to his limit. He channeled his newfound willpower, giving the ones who were watching him worriedly hope once more. This was probably why the celestial orderians and the sun emperor were so feared. They watched as the eight totems returned to Li Haochen, but they didn't enter his bane-rings. Instead, they rammed into his body, their golden divine patterns gathering around him and resulting in eight subsequent explosions.

His totem ki and astralforce blended together, causing a pillar of flame a thousand meters high to blast off from his body and form a blade-wielding giant. This was the totemic calamity, Vastsun Truegod. It was a second totemic calamity, something thought to be impossible. It looked even more terrifying than his first totemic calamity. Now, he really seemed like a god descending from the heavens. The flames around his body were conjured from pure totem ki, radiating immeasurable power.

The waves of flames looked like waves of a vast ocean, sweeping past the entire area and burning all of the plant matter to a crisp down to the roots. The sheer amount of fire coming from the giant sounded like a booming roar. The gigantic titan of flame looked like it had three eyes with how bright the eight overlaid bane-rings looked. Li Haochen raised his blade high and the giant above him mimicked the movement. "You ants will be turned to ash by my Vastsun Truegod!" The giant echoed his exact words as he said it.

"This looks really hard to deal with." This battle was easily three times harder than Tianming had thought it would be. Even after Xian Xian had gotten gravely injured and Yin Chen had lost thirty thousand bodies, he still hadn't managed to defeat Li Haochen, who by now was at a new height of power with his second totemic calamity.

"Scared? What a wimp," Ying Huo said.

"What? I'm not scared!" Tianming tossed the Lifesteal Silverdragon to Lan Huang and tightly gripped the Grand-Orient Sword with both hands. There was a firm look in his eyes as he said, "Same deal. Take down the main target. Meow Meow, Lan Huang, and Yin Chen, do all that you can to hold back the Vastsun Truegod. Ying Huo and I will crush Li Haochen as quickly as we can."

They exchanged glances, convinced that that would be their only recourse. Everyone's hearts beat quickly in anticipation, watching the flames of battle burn. "Go!"

They were only able to fight in a coordinated fashion due to their symbiotic relationship; each member of the group had to fulfill their own role for the survival of everyone. "This isn't something you would understand, Li Haochen!"

Though the Vastsun Truegod was insanely powerful, it had a weakness: Li Haochen himself. Lan Huang, the Regal Chaosfiend Meow Meow, and Yin Chen that took the form of countless centipedes that combined into one large one, charged in. They heavily leaned on their abilities, speed, and the Greenspark Tower's endless healing, ready to weather the attack of the gigantic totem. Even if the three of them lost, Tianming and Ying Huo had to win no matter what or it would be complete defeat!

There was nothing but a cold smile on Li Haochen's face as he watched them struggle. He looked straight at Tianming with his blade raised, gathering boundless amounts of power for his strike. Unlike Solitary Slash, this move's range spanned far and wide, using even more power and force. The sheer force of the move caused Li Haochen's hair and robes to wildly flutter. The blinding light coming from his bane-rings was cast straight on his blade.

At the same time, the titan of fire used the same move against Meow Meow, Lan Huang, and Yin Chen. It was the clash of the century! No matter if Li Haochen won or lost, his performance had completely convinced most people of his power. Nobody felt that it was the least bit inadequate for the son of the sun emperor. However, Tianming was an outright miracle. Faced with the impressive incoming onslaught, not only did he not retreat, but he instead charged straight in with four of his beasts to counter the move!

Meow Meow unleashed all of its lightning once more, neutralizing the first wave of power from the titan's slash by scattering some of the flames in it. Yin Chen spread out as well, losing around thirty thousand bodies in the process before colliding against the Vastsun Truegod. Then Lan Huang followed up with its Daybreak Worldslash to intercept Worldspanner Slash, forcibly pushing back the strike. It was clear from what happened that Li Haochen still couldn't control his totemic calamity that well. Even so, the impact greatly injured the two-headed dragon and had caused Yin Chen to lose quite a few bodies. But they had still survived without issue. If it weren't for them, Tianming would have definitely lost if the titan and Li Haochen's slashes both reached him.

The three beasts had reached their limit neutralizing the giant totem's slash, so now it was Tianming and Ying Huo's turn. They flanked Li Haochen from both sides. Tianming focused the power of his pandemonium constellation on his target's head, causing him to spit out some blood.

There was still a small number of ants gnawing away at his bones from within, but he endured the pain and followed through with his slash. Laughing, he said, "We'll never lose, got it?"

"Yeah, sure." Tianming and Ying Huo both used Quaddragon Tribulation. The move was already beyond a sixth-realm divine art in power, not to mention the strands of grade-six divine hazard sword ki in their bodies blasting out of them. The silver, black, blood, and blaze dragons entered the sword strikes, granting them speed, savagery, explosive power, and many abyssal spikes sprouting out of nowhere. The combined damage of the moves wasn't one bit inferior to Li Haochen's ultimate move.

On one end was the scion of a ruler that dominated everything. And on the other was the favored son of the heavens that had risen up from the most humble beginnings, treading a path of righteousness. One used a blade, the other a sword. The moment the lifebound beasts took the hit, Tianming and Li Haochen clashed for real. Li Haochen's sweeping slashes came down heavily while Tianming reacted to them as flexibly as water.

Then a resounding clang resonated throughout as Tianming's four-fusion strike collided with Heavenly King's Judgment. Fortunately, the annoyance from the bonegnaw ants had significantly worn Li Haochen down. Everyone expected the Grand-Orient Sword to break, but it didn't—instead, Ying Huo struck from the other flank, completely unabated, continuously using more and more abilities to wound him. The two of them had managed to stop the Crimsoncloud Dragonbane, breaking Worldspanner Slash midway!

Tianming raised his sword once more, ready to strike. "Li Hoachen, you lose." Those words caused Li Haochen to feel a chill throughout his whole body. "Perhaps you might come to understand one day that there's no such thing as an ultimate cultivation method, only cultivators of different leagues. And dare I say that you're out of my league!"

There was no way Li Haochen could deny that. There were less than two thousand bonegnaw ants remaining; it was only a matter of time before he wiped them all out, but they had already substantially damaged his skeleton. Not to mention, Ying Huo's repeated sword strikes had turned his back into a bloody mess. Then the grade-six sword ki pierced through his chest.

"Accept your loss already!" Tianming swung his sword horizontally. There was no way Li Haochen's blade could parry the strike now, and it was struck flying from his grasp.

"Huh?" Stunned, he noticed at the next instant that Tianming's sword was right against his head where the bane-rings were, but it didn't go through.

The little phoenix hung by his throat with its sharp feathers held fast against it. "Don't move, or I'll send your head flying," Ying Huo said with a snicker.

With but a single thought, Tianming could end the life of the son of the sun emperor. There could be no argument about who had won. The Crimsoncloud Dragonbane eventually plunged into the ground, still wobbling, as if dissatisfied with its master's defeat. Li Haochen let his arms weakly hang from him.

"This...." His eyes contorted with chaotic emotions. The entire battlefield was shocked and silent. Though Tianming and his lifebound beasts had paid a huge price, with their injuries and the number of bodies Yin Chen lost, he had crushed the best of the celestial orderian juniors on behalf of the Myriad Solar Sects. All three celestial orderians had lost! It was a huge stain on their pride and dignity, and would have far-reaching consequences. Even Li Haochen could do nothing but blankly stand there. He didn't dare to contemplate the consequences of today's events at all. At the very least, he would become a laughingstock among his race. The mere thought of returning to face his seniors, kin, and that man almost caused his mind to collapse. "Uuuaaagh!"

It was far too terrifying. His eyes widened as he slumped weakly to the ground, kneeling as tears of blood gathered in his eyes. "Father... I have dishonored you!"