Translator: BOTA Fireteam
The moon glowed brightly during the night and the stellunar source surged like it was erupting from a geyser. The entire Divine Moon Realm seemed quite unruly and chaotic as a result. Though the climate was usually warm and humid, it was currently incredibly hot. The sensation of stellunar source washing over one’s body felt rather prickly.
In the past, stellunar source pulses were celebratory occasions in Divine Moon Skycity, during which young folk would flood into the streets and make merry. The divine moonrace appreciated fine culture, performance art, and elegant gatherings. The festivities during those times were a delight for most involved. Yet the city was deathly quiet today. As long as the astral killer was still roaming about, there would be no peace in the city. The gloomy atmosphere was like dark, overcast clouds that pressed heavily on the chests of the citizens.
The Moonnight Patio at the north of the city had remained closed for the past half month. Most of the talented divine moonrace youths only dared to remain in the safety of their homes. Tianming and Bodhi didn’t see a single person as they entered the place unobstructed.
There was a cold aura that lingered about Bodhi, an incessant reminder that he was Tianming’s archenemy despite their temporary truce. If he was the slightest bit careless, he might get struck with a fatal blow.
They didn’t talk one bit along the way. After passing through the bamboo forest, Tianming came to Divine Moon Skylake once more. The residence of the imperial guide was just beside it and protected by three layers of divine formations. Bodhi already knew that Tianming could freely come and go through those barriers, so he wasn’t the least bit surprised when Tianming pulled them open to let them through. Soon, they set their sights on the lone building beside the lake.
“It looks to be twenty thousand meters wide and long,” Tianming said. Comparatively, the orderian cauldron had a diameter of forty thousand meters.
“She’s inside and alone,” Bodhi said.
“How do you know?”
Bodhi took a deep breath and said, “The smell.”
Though there were still five grand moon guides, they had probably stayed home. Since the imperial guide was alone, Tianming struck immediately. He released the orderian cauldron and used it to cover the entire building. Sovereign Xi had wanted to use it to trap Tianming, but now he was using it against the imperial guide instead. The huge cauldron came descending from the sky and covered up the entire building compound with so much force that the entirety of the Moonnight Patio shook. The cauldron even buried itself a few hundred meters into the ground from the sheer force of its weight. The shaking even caused many parts of the building to collapse, resulting in scattered debris and building materials.
Loud clashing echoes could be heard from within the cauldron. Bodhi and Tianming went full force now that they had exposed themselves. The city had more than three hundred thousand ascendants, so time was of the essence; Tianming only had one chance to capture the imperial guide. Soon, he spotted a lone woman coming out of the rubble. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and she was dressed in a long robe. Though she was alluring, she radiated a cold aura.
She immediately noticed the cauldron, as well as Bodhi, Tianming, and his lifebound beasts. So far, everyone that saw all ten of Tianming’s godswords hadn’t lived to tell the tale. Currently, he was only using seven, like he did in the wondersky realm. Though it made him somewhat weaker, he had no choice as he couldn’t be sure the imperial guide and Bodhi could be killed that easily. He didn’t want either of them to have a grasp on his ‘weakness’. Between the rulers of the humans, specters, and the divine moonrace, the one with the most weaknesses would perish first.
“So you’ve joined forces? Or were you working together from the very beginning?” the imperial guide said with a furrowed brow.
However, nobody answered her. Though she had used a transmission stone, it had been intercepted by the cauldron. Even so, she didn’t seem the least bit worried. The deployment of the cauldron was sure to cause quite a commotion outside, so as long as she could hold out, someone would soon come to her aid.
Tianming had come far too quickly. As Prince Fengyue’s lifesoul stone was all the way at the Xi Palace, she still didn’t know that the prince was dead, and twenty thousand ascendants with him. She turned her unalert gaze to Bodhi, satisfied at the current situation. “Wonderful. I can deal with you two at once.”
These were the two that had caused the divine moonrace the most trouble so far. One of them had to die, while the other was useful to the sovereign. Did they think they had her trapped in the cauldron? They’ve only trapped themselves inside with me, she thought.
They broke out into a fight right after exchanging a glance. Bodhi and Tianming came at her from both sides, with Bodhi charging from the front while Tianming took the back. As the imperial guide had only recently broken through to the twelfth level, she wasn’t as powerful as she could be. However, the difference in energy capacity alone made her harder to deal with. She instantly summoned her totems, which were gigantic loti. They stretched out from her forehead through their vines. Each flower was five hundred meters wide and looked much larger than Xian Xian’s own. It was a plant-type totem.
While the six lotus flowers were all white, there were subtle differences. Energies of different attributes flowed about their petals. Some were surrounded by flames, while others were covered in lightning, strong winds, frost, and a glimmering metallic sheen, respectively. The final flower glowed brightly with moonlight, illuminating the dark cauldron.
Tianming had heard of them before. They were said to be among the strongest totems possessed by a hexabane, the hexamoon white loti, and each of them had their own attribute. Having both offensive and defensive capabilities that complemented each other, the totems allowed the user to fight long battles. Oddly, it was a fitting trait for plant totems.
When the twelfth-level totems appeared, Tianming felt their power first hand. They were much stronger than Prince Fengyue’s godwheels. The imperial guide’s aura had completely changed, thanks to the glow from the loti, making her look like a pure and lofty saint that was not to be violated. Her twelfth-level astralforce also began colliding with the cauldron.
With Tianming’s new breakthrough, the cauldron’s boost wasn’t as potent as it had been before, so he would have a hard time taking the imperial guide down, even with the cauldron. His choice to team up with Bodhi was a correct one. The imperial guide and four of her totems faced off against Bodhi, while she only used two to intercept Tianming. Bodhi was a specter and had a body as tough as lifebound beast’s, as well as peak abilities to match. He could also use battle arts, so he was a powerful fighter despite being at a numerical disadvantage. Meanwhile, Tianming and his beasts combined had twelve fighting units. Since the guide had only used two totems to deal with him, it was a good opportunity.
He charged toward the flame and lightning loti. Meow Meow and Ying Huo both clashed with the lotus that corresponded to their attributes. Lan Huang slammed toward the fire lotus and Xian Xian used its Radiant Vines to wrap around the lightning lotus, completely sealing it off. Then Tianming came in with his seven totems and used the Moonnight Subdued Strike. The sword formation formed, causing countless moons to rise and fall. The Grand-Orient Sword, three of Tianming’s totems, and Ying Huo’s Death Inferno struck the fire lotus, while the other four totems struck the lightning lotus along with Meow Meow’s Cosmic Lance and Misty Hellthunder. It was a swift and hard counter!
The imperial guide isn’t weak, but her distribution of totems was problematic. Tianming smirked. Did she really think she had a chance of stopping Tianming with less than a third of her total might? It wouldn’t change anything even if she sent out one more totem to deal with him.
“Break!” The two totems were almost immediately pierced through. His totems and beasts’ abilities were already quite potent against other totems in the first place. Even though the two loti were rather durable, they couldn’t even use their totemic calamities to counter the attacks, thanks to Xian Xian and Lan Huang’s suppression, allowing Tianming to scatter them immediately.
Bodhi and Tianming had come to settle things as quickly as they could, and didn’t intend to drag anything out. Tianming had immediately found a chance to take out two of the imperial guide’s totems, much to her abject horror. She turned back and stared blankly at Tianming.
“Remember to send another totem to deal with me next time,” he gloated as he renewed his assault.
Bodhi glowed bright white in front of her; he looked like a monster. With a simple punch, he seemed to generate the image of a dragon with two heads, each of which slammed into one lotus respectively. It took all of the imperial guide’s power to hold Bodhi back, and now she had lost two totems to Tianming.
“This is troubling…”
She was about to be overwhelmed.
