Beastmaster of the Ages

The synergy between the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb and the flaming clouds made for an impressive combination. Had it been only the single astralguard formation that the sky plunderers left behind, they wouldn't have been able to fend off the two billion or so specters!

"Kill!"

A climax was brewing across the entire battlefield. On the Azurecloud Continent, people could see blood and body parts raining down from the sky. Cries and shouts sounded like resounding thunder, a cacophony of war cries and howls that sent chills down the spine of those that heard it.

The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb charged toward the pillars of people, straight into millions of specters. The sheer force of the impacts caused their innards to splatter out all over. The beasts and cultivators that followed behind the ship slaughtered the rest without mercy. Right that instant, a white mechanical wolf appeared from the side. It turned into a spear formation that hung in the air and shot toward the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, too fast for it to block! The ship received heavy damage as the spears pierced into the dragon scales around it before exploding. The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb uncontrollably shook as its scales crumbled from the explosion, resulting in the divine astralship formation being pierced. Tianming didn't scoff at the shocking damage the surprise attack done by the Sanctquility Ghostrain had managed to deal.

"If they have to rely on surprise attacks to damage us, there's no way we won't be able to give them a good beating!" The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb suddenly turned around without hesitation to chase down the enemy ship. As it did, it charged up another blast at a terrifying pace.

"You shall not run!"

The Sanctquility Ghostrain had immediately bolted after the surprise attack, only for it to enter the zone of influence of the Flameyellow Guard Formation once more. As if it had entered an abyss, it was immediately assaulted by the flaming beasts within the boundary. They bit the ship from all directions; no matter how it struggled, it wasn't able to run far. Meanwhile, the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb flew faster than it normally did as it metamorphosed. A sharp horn had manifested at the very front of the ship thanks to the divine astralship formation. The more Tianming learned about it, the more surprised he was by it. The ship now looked like a swordfish in the sea, emanating a nine-colored light as it accelerated faster and faster toward the escaping mechanical wolf!

That's right! Bust through his metal ass! Let's goooo!" Ying Huo chirped excitedly, as if that was the ship's sole and true function. "Wait, Tianming, hold on! Sovereign Sanctquility is a woman, so her ship's a female wolf too! You're aiming for the wrong hole! Don't defile the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb!"

"Can you shut up for once?!" Even at a moment like this, that birdbrain would never miss a chance to play the fool. If it weren’t for the fact that both his hands were occupied, Tianming would have tied Ying Huo to the tip of the ship to be inserted into the mechanical wolf.

The Sanctquility Ghostrain howled and ran even more desperately as the gigantic swordfish approached from behind. It struggled and unleashed even more of its rain attack, putting out many of the flaming beasts around it. However, they had already played their part.

"This is payback for the surprise attack!" Tianming's rage fused with the rage of the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb and that of the flaming beasts! The Sanctquility Ghostrain had only freed itself from the beasts, only to feel a chill down its back. The sovereign inside looked back and turned pale at the sight of the nine-colored storm behind it. The light at the very tip of the enemy ship alone seemed able to vanquish them from the inside.

"Huh?!" The eyes of the sovereign suddenly changed as she was swallowed up by the nine-colored brilliance. The many specters around them witnessed a shocking sight of the gigantic ship burrowing itself into the rear of their own ship using the spike at its very front. At the same time, it unleashed a Ninedragon Apotheosis. The impact from the spike alone had pierced through at least two-thirds of the mechanical wolf, and the blast that soon followed wrought fatal devastation. The entire rear of the wolf, including its hind legs, instantly blew apart. Countless shrapnel was scattered by the energy of the blast, piercing through countless specters. Even the aftershock of the blast caused explosions and fires all across the ship, which now seemed completely charred inside and out. Even worse, its hind legs, tail, and a third of its body were gone, having been unmade into their constituent parts. Though its divine celestial patterns desperately tried to undertake repairs to maintain the integrity of the ship, they weren't much help.

It was a blow the likes of which the specters had never experienced before, far more humiliating than the death of Sovereign Greenvoid! After all, sovereigns appeared every generation, while divine astralships were treasures inherited through the clan! The wolf was nothing more than a dog with broken legs and a missing tail now, and all it could do was howl and crawl.

Sovereign Sanctquility seemed to be trying to flee, having completely neglected to consider the mere possibility that her ship would be this badly damaged. The danger they were experiencing during this expedition had far outstripped their initial projections. According to the original plan, the voidheart worm would have taken care of the astralguard formation. Not to mention, the ongoing civil war of the Orderians would have also resulted in countless casualties, giving Skywolf the perfect opportunity to invade. Yet one after another, those expectations had fallen like dominoes in her mind. They had come to do some 'fishing', only to lose an eye to a seagull and a finger to a shrimp.

In terms of flexibility, the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb was inferior to the Sanctquility Ghostrain. However, the Flameyellow Guard Formation was too powerful in suppressing the wolf-shaped astralship's capabilities. On the other hand, Tianming's ship was made from far more robust materials than the enemy's, and it possessed a better divine astralship formation to boot.

"How could you be so rough? The enemy's a fair lady, you know! Yet you just mercilessly snapped her legs off!" Ying Huo gasped.

"Scram!" This was a chance to strike at a fallen enemy, and Tianming knew all too much how important it was to stack their odds. His intervention had completely overwritten the strategic edge Skywolf had by deploying the Sanctquility Ghostrain. No doubt, the war would only intensify from there.