Beastmaster of the Ages

The two fourth-level life phase samsarans from the Tai'e House of Jian that had swordbeasts were working together to attack the hell tree's heavenly pattern formation. It might just shatter after a few more strikes. The hell tree was the lifeline of the disciples of the Archaion Sect during the Number One Summit. As a result, the disciples of the Sterling House of Fang went all out. Their opponents were double their number, but only third-level life phase samsarans and above, so not too far off from their own level. Even if Fang Yuewei and Fang Chenjing could each hold off three or four of them, they still wouldn't be able to adequately protect the tree.

"It's over!"

Seeing the barrier formation around the hell tree shake, they despaired. At that moment, a black chain of eyeballs came striking from far away. The whip seemed to zip around like an angry black dragon. Almost in an instant, it came crashing down toward Feng Lingyin and Feng Shuoyu's heads. The two of them were ecstatic as they were almost done breaking the barrier formation, but quickly reacted when they felt the incoming danger.

"Who is it?!" Feng Lingyin cried as a windstorm manifested around her, causing her clothes to flutter. Butterfly wings manifested at the tip of the rainbow-colored sword she wielded, around four pairs of them. With each flap of the wings, a windstorm that made a special sound was created and rampaged through the battlefield. The storm and the sound were launched toward the direction the black whip had come from.

Tianming had used Eight Desolation Fienddragon Whip, Centurius Dragonslay!

Feng Lingyin's swordbeasts were butterflies, all four of which had near four hundred stars. She was now twenty-seven and was a fourth-level life phase samsaran. She was a good match for Jiang Wuxin in terms of both looks and talent. The technique she used was known as the Swordsong Way, which utilized her sword and swordbeasts to make damaging soundwaves that would first devastate an opponent's ears, then their body.

She changed her sword stance and went in for a thrust using Windlift Song. The moment that strike was unleashed, the roar of the wind, the flapping of the butterfly wings, and the whoosh of the sword piercing air combined and formed thousands of sword ki strands that came piercing toward the incoming attack. However, the chain was so fast that it managed to deflect all of them. Even more terrifying was the fact that the chain looked like a string of countless eyes that sent chills down her spine. Her head hurt merely from looking at them, and her body shook. The chain crushed her sword ki and came rushing back once more.

"Who is this? It can't be someone from the Monorigin Sect!" She knew all the Archaion Sect disciples who could put up a fight with her, and it was clear that she wasn't fighting Xuanyuan Yucheng or Beigong Qianyu.

"Sis, I'll hold them back. You just keep attacking the hell tree!"

"Alright!"

The moment she said that, the chain began slowly pushing her back, much to her dismay. Soon, Tianming arrived before her while on the back of Meow Meow, having swapped Archfiend for the Grand-Orient Sword and splitting it into two. The white-haired youth had both swords raised up high, the black and gold colors paralleling those of his own eyes. It was an unmistakable look.

"Li Tianming?!" Feng Lingyin and Feng Shuoyu couldn't believe their eyes.

"Did I imagine how powerful those strikes were?" Feng Lingyin remembered feeling pressured by the chain attacks from before. Her swordbeasts were already within her sword; she thought she was fighting someone a level higher than her.

She didn't have any time to think it through, though. Tianming's four lifebound beasts had begun their assault. The moment he got off Meow Meow, it shrank in size and began deploying nets of lightning with Ninefold Chaos Thunderscape before pouncing toward Feng Shuoyu. A loud explosion of electricity followed, forcing her to back off from the sudden onslaught.

Then the Radix World Tree came bursting out of Tianming's lifebound space and took root in the swamp right next to the hell tree, defending the place with its long, black roots that spread out to a thousand meters. Wherever its roots spread, red and white flowers bloomed brilliantly. In almost an instant, it had surrounded the hell tree within its roots, as if it was swallowing it whole. Now, others would have to destroy it first before they could get to the hell tree. Xian Xian was basically a mobile bunker.

For now, the hell tree was no longer in danger, much to the others' relief. Then Lan Huang came charging in, turning the entire area around the hell tree into an ocean with its Azure Oceanic Purgatory, allowing it to move about far more easily than most other lifebound beasts. This was it and Xian Xian's home ground. With them protecting the tree, Ying Huo and Meow Meow engaged Feng Shuoyu, but they weren't alone. Lan Huang had already submerged Feng Shuoyu with its ability, and Xian Xian's Radiant Vines and Bloodrain Swords were all over the battlefield. It wasn't just the Feng sisters; all thirty of the Hexapath Sword Sect disciples and their lifebound beasts were busy fending off the vines and leaves that had appeared out of nowhere. Xian Xian alone was controlling the whole battlefield.

"Li Tianming, you’re the one who killed Daoyi! The Hexapath Sword Sect shall claim your life for that!" Feng Shuoyu said the moment she burst out of the water, only to be met with Meow Meow's Misty Hellthunder. The water all around them only helped the lightning bolts spread around much faster.

Grimacing, she raised her sword high up toward the sky. The sword was made of a beautiful, pearlescent material that almost seemed transparent to the eye. The glow it radiated suggested the presence of swordbeasts; however, she seemed a little pressured by the Azure Oceanic Purgatory.

At that moment, four lifebound beasts emerged from her sword; she also had Quadrasword Talent, something that was far more prevalent in the Tai'e House of Jian than the Draconis House of Jian. They were four large shelled creatures, each about a hundred meters in length. Their shells were thick and lustrous as their name, jadesea tonneshell, suggested. Beasts of this species were rare, to say the least. They surrounded Feng Shuoyu and used their abilities all at once, blocking Meow Meow's attacks like four shields and deploying a defensive layer on Feng Shuoyu herself. Her defense would soon be impenetrable. She had decided she needed the swordbeasts to fight in their normal states, letting them hold Tianming back while she turned to attack the hell tree. "That plant beast is annoying, but I can just cut it down."

The hell tree was right before her. Apart from Tianming, the other disciples of the Archaion Sect were occupied, so she couldn't give this chance up. She would never let them have their way. But right as she was heading toward the Radix World Tree, she noticed that she had severely underestimated it.

The two-headed dragon was far more agile than her clamshells could ever be, causing them all to be stopped by the dragon and Radiant Vines. Xian Xian's black roots, in particular, dug their way into the grooves in their armor before piercing through their flesh. When the roots started sucking them dry, they let out a piercing cry underwater.

Feng Shuoyu's Oceansong Way was just as mystical; it was a combination of the sound of the waves. It was like a siren's song that could bewilder many, but it was nothing before Lan Huang's even louder Primordial Soundwave. The sheer volume was enough to overwhelm the song of confusion sung by the clamshells.

Lan Huang and the clamshells were beasts with immense defensive power, but the dragon was able to work with Xian Xian to trap the four of them underwater. As for Feng Shuoyu, her hands were busy fending off Ying Huo and Meow Meow. Without her swordbeasts in her sword, her combat capabilities had severely decreased and she wasn't able to break through their defenses at all. Even with the defensive layer around her, Ying Huo's Skypiercer Ki still managed to hurt her badly. Not even her Oceansong Sword was able to do much to the two critters, despite it being suited to the oceanic terrain.

"How could Li Tianming be so powerful?!"

While she was being ganged up on by Tianming's lifebound beasts, Tianming had engaged her sister in combat with both his swords. Though Feng Lingyin had a mischievous personality, her attacks were no less fierce. She always struck to kill, and not for petty points.

"You fools who don't know what's good for yourselves... I shall take your head with my sword as a sacrifice for my dead junior brother!" Feng Lingyin cried. Using Windlift Song, her sword wailed each time it pierced the air, sending soundwaves targeted at his eardrums. Her four swordbeasts' enchanting radiance made her sword even harder to follow by sight.