Beastmaster of the Ages

Lan Huang recalled the times when it had played with the Archaionfiend and was pumped with excitement. It stopped spinning and planted its humongous claws on the ground, then suddenly bumped two of the hexachromic deergods into the sky with its heads, almost sending Huiye Yin herself flying as well. Lan Huang alone seemed to be able to take on six totems at once.

Even though the totems' kicks and slashes had managed to pass through Kilofold Rings to cut it and leave wounds behind, Lan Huang was so engaged in the battle that it ignored the pain. As long as the enemy's attacks couldn't kill it in one hit, the wounds would automatically heal up. The Greenspark Tower's effects allowed Lan Huang to be a gigantic shield for Tianming to stave off the totems' attacks with.

Huiye Yin was already furrowing her brows at Lan Huang's ferocity. She had been told since childhood that the rootbeast race were all simple fools. Who knew that having an actual corporeal body, as opposed to ethereal bodies of totems, would give them so much leverage? Putting aside their abilities, Ying Huo was even able to use battle arts, something that should have been exclusive to totems.

Totems didn't need to train to use battle arts at all, since they were basically extensions of the user's body. The hexachromic deergods, for instance, were agile and finely controlled, so they were able to use blades and swords together. Not to mention, there were usually more totems than lifebound beasts.

With two totems sent flying, only two were left to hold back Lan Huang while another two worked with Huiye Yin to attack Tianming. But at that moment, countless roots sprouted from the ground of the Shiyu Compound and tied down those two totems, rendering Huiye Yin without help as she faced off against Tianming, now equipped with the Dragonhide.

The Shiyu Compound had almost entirely been destroyed. Tianming's sheer power once more worried Huiye Yin. She noticed that the battle had been fought on equal footing so far, and that unnerved her. Like Tianming, she was able to use sword arts with both weapons at the same time. With Frostmoon Heart, she used Chillstar Nether. With Galemoon Sky, she used Sixmoon Blade Rampage.

Chillstar Nether left a trail of ice wherever the sword passed. While they were small and fine, they were fatal. The ice could freeze and kill Tianming in an instant. It was almost a sure-kill move. As for Sixmoon Blade Rampage, that reflected Huiye Yin's nature better. She held the blade in her right hand and mobilized all the astralforce in her body to form six moons that were in essence countless blade slashes that shot toward Tianming. Her totems also used those two battle arts against Lan Huang in retaliation while the ones bound by Xian Xian's roots were cutting themselves free.

"Die!" Huiye Yin went in for the kill. She knew that they were gathering an audience, and if she couldn't settle this soon, someone would come to save Tianming. While she didn't really mind, she had to go all out to not lose any face after receiving such a provocation.

Currently, four of her six totems had recovered their combat capability, and all of them used those two battle arts. Countless strands of sword ki and blade slashes seemed to swallow Tianming up entirely. At the same time, the hexachromic deergods flashed with six colors. When the colors intertwined, a piercing sound was produced. The sound waves seemed to form into solid light and shoot toward Tianming's head.

That wasn't a battle art. Instead, it resembled abilities more. These were totemic calamities, special techniques similar to a lifebound beast's abilities. Only the bane race's totems had them, and even then, only pentabanes or above could awaken them. Their totems could only have one totemic calamity at most, but that alone greatly boosted their power.

Huiye Yin's totemic calamity was called the Sacred Hexachromic Tune. Totemic abilities were exceedingly rare, with less than five percent of the divine moonrace actually managing to awaken them. However, they were exceedingly formidable. That was the basis of the confidence of totem users. Not only did they have many totems, but they could cultivate much quicker and even use their totems to execute battle arts, as well as awaken totemic calamities. Even having only one calamity was enough to turn the tables.

Tianming felt that totems did indeed have many advantages, but to him, lifebound beasts with abilities were far more powerful. When the light-formed sound came shooting toward him, Lan Huang raised its head and roared. A Primordial Soundwave slammed against the solidified sound, the waves canceling each other out. The ability of a Primordial Chaos Beast had actually managed to neutralize the calamity of a totem!

That was when Tianming counterattacked. Meow Meow had already dealt with its foes and joined the fray as a gigantic Regal Chaosfiend, biting down on one of the hexachromic deergods by the neck. Then it used Myriad Thundernet to entrap another, taking on two totems alone. But that didn't stop it from sending Hellchasing Soulthunder Huiye Yin's way. The sudden burst of lightning affected her moves.

At the same time, Xian Xian's Radiant Vines came whooshing in. Not only were they able to tie down two of the totems, they also thoroughly whipped them to the point that she snapped one of the arms of a hexachromic deergod!

Without her totems at her side, Huiye Yin's offensive capabilities tanked by at least two-thirds. However, she should be proud, for she was able to cause Tianming to use three of his lifebound beasts against her. Ying Huo was left behind taking care of the rest, while Meow Meow, Lan Huang, and Xian Xian were focused on her totems.

Tianming used the fifth strike of Hexapath Samsara Sword, Hadean Reincarnation, and clashed with her. In his hands were the eighteen layers of hades. Flames, frost, lightning, galestorms, seas of blood, lost souls, and hungry ghosts were concentrated in those blades, rendering a demonic aura around Tianming. "When humiliating others, be ready to be humiliated yourself!"

Reason no longer mattered. He was enraged enough that she had tried to have Feiling killed. Without Huiye Yin's totems protecting her, she was completely engulfed by the vortices of hell.

"Open your eyes and see who's stronger!" Tianming had made rapid progress for the sole reason of being able to control his own fate when the time came. If a samsaran defeating a first-level ascendant wasn't flashy enough, how about a third-level ascendant?

The Human Emperor's Dragonhide shone brightly as he clashed with Huiye Yin. The two of them fought without their totems or lifebound beasts, though Huiye Yin had been struck by Hellchasing Soulthunder. Her moves had already been affected by the lightning and she was completely dominated by Tianming.

"Aaaagh!" No matter how hard she tried to resist, Tianming's attack assaulted her in waves. Even with her astralforce, she felt like driftwood in a raging sea! As her form crumbled, Tianming pierced through her flurry of attacks with his black sword and thrust it into her lower abdomen, drawing blood.

Tianming could have killed her just then, but she was still the daughter of the clan leader, after all. While he was mad, he hadn't lost all reason yet. All he wanted to do was to teach them a harsh lesson, not kill them.

Huiye Yin shrieked from the stab and flung her sword and blade away. Though she wanted to retaliate, Tianming slapped her face with the flat of the gold sword, knocking a few teeth flying. Then his sword flashed once more and cut off her short hair before carving a turtle-shell pattern on her face.

"You!" she raged, despite the pain in her belly. Having reached the Ascension stage, there was no longer a saint palace in the abdomen, so an attack there wouldn't cripple her and could be recovered from. However, Tianming used the Imperial Sword Prison, infusing it in her body. With his mastery of the skill mature, he could hide it in his opponent's body and keep it dormant. Once he activated it, it would claim Huiye Yin's life!

"Now scram!" Before she could cuss more, Tianming drew his sword out and kicked her in the face, sending her flying. Then he turned to attack her totems. As long as she didn't unmanifest them, they would be able to crush the totems, which would take her a month or two to recover from. Tianming and Meow Meow made quick work of the first totem, tearing it to pieces.

When Huiye Yin got up and saw it, she freaked out. "How dare you?!"

She was terrified of him and knew she couldn't win, so she quickly withdrew her remaining totems to prevent any more damage. The battle had finally ended. Tianming landed lightly on the ground, looking at her battered form, with blood flowing out of her belly, her head bald, and her face disfigured. She was entirely covered in blood. She even vomited, contorting her face even more.

Many people had witnessed the battle, thinking it to be much more shocking than Tianming's last. A samsaran with lifebound beasts had just crushed a third-level ascendant. Each level of progress in the Ascension stage represented a humongous gap, far more than each level of the Samsara stage.

The onlookers were all stunned by Huiye Yin's defeat, except for one person, who smiled: Jie. He had been there from the beginning with his Moonsoul Blooddragon. He smiled because Tianming, an unparalleled genius, was the perfect scapegoat for him. "If he doesn't shock the entire Huiyue City, there's no way Sovereign Xi will lust after him."