The participants would be fighting to the bitter end today. Everyone tensed up as the moment approached and the Skyeye Formations from all over the continent focused on the lights that circled around the thirty-two participants before it settled on a single person.
"Heptastar Aerial Sect, Changsun Xingyue, step up!"
A young man in a starry robe descended to the snowy battlefield and roared, inciting the Heptastar disciples at their home in Heptastar Cavern to cry out as well.
"We’re number one!"
Even though it sounded a little embarrassing, many of them shouted the slogan nonetheless. Who wouldn't want to be number one?
"Who’s going to be his opponent?"
As the strongest Heptastar disciple, Changsun Xingyue was impressive in his own right. The geniuses of the Heptastar Divine Realm and the seniors watching from the Heaven Branch set their sights on him. The person the second ray of light illuminated would be his opponent.
Gradually, the light slowed down and stopped, immediately ushering in a round of silence. It had landed on a white-haired youth with black and gold eyes that shone imposingly in the blizzard.
"Monorigin Sect, Li Tianming, step up!" When the Number One Battlefield's formation announced the match, Tianming descended to the battlefield as well. As he stepped forward in the snow, his eyes glinted menacingly.
"That's a horrible first match…."
Many people snapped out of it and the tension boiled over. Among the strongest disciples in the five divine realms, Jiang Wuxin, Chu Xiaoqi, and Long Xiaofan had lost to Tianming. It remained to be seen whether those from Heptastar and Nonahall would be able to match up, and now it was Changsun Xingyue's turn to prove himself.
The crowds from the two sects were incensed when the matchup was announced. This would be a test of their might, a proxy war to prove their superiority. Their gazes met each other's as the snow fell all around them.
"Do you think I'll be that easy to deal with?" Changsun Xingyue said, squinting. His eyes were rather long and thin, but the glow in them was bright and brilliant.
"Won’t you?"
"I'm sorry to tell you that I've broken through to the fifth-level life phase, so I’m not one bit weaker than Chu Xiaoqi or Jiang Wuxin. Since they couldn't take you down, it's my turn to take your life."
"Very well. It’d be boring if you were too weak."
"Hehe, do you think someone like you deserves to act so arrogantly?"
"I don't know, but I know that it isn’t up to you to decide either!" Tianming firmed his stance in the snowy ground, wielding his sword in both hands. Now that there was no hell barrier formation, he only needed one fatal strike to kill.
"You are doomed to fail. You overestimate your abilities. Today will be your last!" As Changsun Xingyue spoke, his lifebound beasts appeared above his head. They were starbeasts, which were quite unique across the Flameyellow Continent. The Heptastar Deity had relied on them to rock the entire continent during his time.
Starbeasts weren't beasts, strictly speaking. They didn't have eyes, ears, or noses, and could only communicate telepathically with their beastmasters. Changsun Xingyue’s starbeasts looked like three meteorites, one flaming, one crackling with lightning, and one with a metallic sheen. Those three 'stars' had more than four hundred stars on their surface; they weren't in their eyes but spread all over their bodies instead. It could be said that those of Heptastar cultivated with the stars themselves, rather than beasts.
The stars also had beast veins, spiritsources, saint springs, and even lifesprings and could be considered half-corporeal entities, which allowed them to fuse with one another.
The three stars fused into one and formed a superstar, with different elements exposed on different parts of its body. It looked like a whole mountain floating above Changsun Xingyue’s head and it seemed much harder and tougher than normal lifebound beasts. Like the many powerful bloodlines across the nine divine realms, those of Heptastar had their own unique advantage that had allowed them to propagate through history. Changsun Xingyue and his superstar looked utterly imposing.
"Son of Heptastar, kill him!" That was what the many fellow disciples of his sect called him. Changsun Xingyue's gaze turned cold as he charged straight toward Tianming with such speed and intensity that the entire battlefield shook. The duel was finally beginning!
Facing the pressure, Tianming didn't seem the least bit perturbed. He held his gigantic sword with both hands and, in the next instant, let his power surge with a single thought. The Imperealm Sword Formation and strands of tribulation sword ki covered the entire battlefield.
He then loosened his left hand's grip and pointed the red eye on his palm at Changsun Xingyue, using the Soulshaker Eye on him and instantly causing his vision to darken. The ghastly red eye shook the ‘Son of Heptastar’s’ soul and caused him to fall into a momentary panic. He quickly struck with his palm and shattered the illusion, only to see Tianming appear right in front of him.
"Crush him!" His superstar starbeast came crashing down with enough power to shatter the whole battlefield, but a white tower suddenly appeared above Tianming's head and pierced straight at it!
The collision sent sparks flying, causing a screeching noise to reverberate far and wide. The combined star had come crashing down with utmost force, only to crash into the immovable Prime Tower. The fatal blow had been completely stopped, but that wasn't all.
Tianming completely ignored the starbeast and unleashed his full power into the Grand-Orient Sword, slashing it downward like a wild beast with the sword intent containing the arrogance of rulers and the rage of the ruled.
Mortal Dao Sword!
"You?!" Changsun Xingyue hadn’t thought Tianming would be so ferocious. Armed with a blade and shield with seven tribulation patterns, he quickly raised them to block the strike. With a loud clang, Grand-Orient Sword crashed into his shield and shattered it. "How could this be?"
Was Tianming really that much more powerful than him, or was it just that his weapon was stronger? Nobody knew the real answer as Tianming's next sword strike came slashing down with ferocious intensity with the essence of the sword of death in rapid succession, forcing Changsun Xingyue back.
