The center of her longsword was red in color, and both of its sides shone like moonlight. A peak-grade new moon divine pattern appeared on the sword, surrounded by four other grade-three divine patterns beside it. The new moon divine pattern was considered grade four, so the Moondream Soul was a grade-four divine artifact like an orderian cauldron.
Sovereign Xi had used this very weapon to fight Bodhi, and had even wounded him somewhat. The only reason she wanted to capture Feiling instead of fight him wasn’t because she was afraid of him, but rather because she wanted more assurance about the whole matter. But now that a fight was inevitable, she put the power of the Constellation stage that a constellier like her wielded on full display. The heptastar moongods in the sky attracted quite a lot of attention.
“Do you guys all see it? She’s the one that sent four hundred thousand gods down and killed so many of us!”
“She has blood on her hands, and we’ll collect this debt now that she’s come down of her own accord!”
How long would they have had to wait to have a chance to face off against her for real if she hadn’t come down? The fire in Tianming’s heart was already bursting to come out, just as that of everyone else was simmering at the boiling point, too. They had lost friends and family to the disaster, and the sovereign’s personal appearance had only inflamed them even further. Everyone had suffered from the invasion of the gods, but now they finally had a chance to vent and get even! The power from the Omnisentient Threads came surging powerfully into the providence swords, causing them to pierce toward Sovereign Xi and her totems.
Tianming couldn’t be sure whether he was the one controlling the swords, or if all of his subjects were controlling them with him. It wasn’t just his swords; his albi were filled to the brim with power from all sentient life on the entire continent. Wielding the Grand-Orient Swords, he clashed with the angry sovereign.
“Pierce through!” Tianming’s first strike was accompanied by a flow of providence swords. As they fought, more and more providence swords came back to join the rest. Tianming’s gaze met the sovereign’s; his was filled with killing intent, while hers was as cold and calculating as always. Her heptastar moongods formed a large formation in all directions around her to block the providence swords, executing the same battle arts she did.
“You don’t know your limits,” she mocked with full self-confidence. “Even though you have that many swords, do you think you can deal with me with your split totems?”
The total amount of power in totems was fixed. Even though Tianming had ten thousand providence swords, the total energy they contained couldn’t possibly rival that of her seven totems. Using a single heptastar moongod, she was able to block Tianming’s five thousand swords. The totem’s sword slashes were rapid and heavy, forming a kind of shield. In an instant, the providence swords were all stuck on the totem’s giant sword.
Then a sharp ringing sound rang out as the providence swords pierced straight through the totem’s sword manifestation like divine artifacts would and continued straight toward the sovereign, completely tearing through the totem. One of the seven heptastar moongods had been put out of commission just like that, as was shown by one of the stars on the sovereign’s chest dimming. Even though the terra of her totem was recovered, it would take at least a month for her damaged totem to recuperate from the incapacitating damage.
Sovereign Xi widened her eyes at the sight of her totem being torn to shreds and she was pale and speechless. The power of the providence swords had completely exceeded her imagination! “Impossible! Even totems of a level four constellier shouldn’t have that much power!” she shrieked with disbelief.
It didn’t make any sense! She knew how old Tianming was, and his cultivation level was still far from the Constellation stage. Most importantly, each individual totem unit only became weaker after splitting, yet Tianming’s thousands of small totems each seemed as powerful as a single one of his godswords. It was like seeing an ant lift a whole elephant. No matter how flabbergasted she was, it wouldn’t change the fact that Tianming could dominate her on the Flameyellow Continent.
“There’s no real reason for it apart from your incompetence,” Tianming said with a smirk. By now, there were already seven thousand providence swords near him. The ten thousand gods that had come to the continent were more or less taken care of.
“Die!” He would take advantage of this chance to claim her life. If he didn’t, she would slip away and be much harder to deal with. His previous move had completely crushed the sovereign’s confidence, leaving her in a fatal peril. He could tell she was in a completely different state now, having cast away all of her pride and arrogance and joining the fight as a normal opponent.
She tightly gripped Moondream Soul and glared at Tianming as she executed her totemic calamity. “Die!” Her six remaining totems glowed blindingly and rose into the sky like bright moons. The Divine Moon Realm shed a beam of moonlight onto those six smaller moons from high above, causing her totems to grow even more powerful.
This totemic calamity was called Moongod Radiance, and it would be even more powerful if they were fighting in the Divine Moon Realm. Under the illumination of the moonlight, the remaining heptastar moongods looked even more divine, like aloof goddesses, though their formation lacked a little impact due to the absence of one of them.
“You’ll never escape Our palm!” Even now, she was still obsessively yearning after the eighth bane-ring. Then she executed a battle art with her totems. Unsurprisingly, it was the Moonnight Subdued Strike, the ultimate battle art from their ancestor, the Eightmoon Swordsage, albeit the full fifth-realm version of the art. The six moons in the sky surged with sword ki as tens of thousands of other moons rose around Tianming, making the night sky immeasurably bright.
“Do you think you’re the only one who knows that move?” Tianming’s laughter shook the air around him. Amidst the blinding moonlight, he struck with all of his providence swords, using the Moonnight Subdued Strike as well. The countless providence swords flew among the moons in a manner that could only be described as ordered chaos. Though they were small, they contained substantial power.
“Die!” Seaborne Moon and Sight Across Shores were subsequently executed. Though the sovereign only wanted to subdue and capture Tianming, he wanted to kill her, so he struck without holding back. “Nobody can dictate my fate! Not even you, Sovereign Xi!”
The power of his dynasty exploded; he had no choice but to funnel it all into his providence swords and send them piercing through the moons in the sky, which they did almost too easily. The heptastar moongods crumbled from the strike that Tianming and the rest of the continent had unleashed. They all watched the fatal blow as it unfolded above them, which climaxed in a loud explosion.
“Break!”
Four more of the sovereign’s totems were wiped out, leaving two that returned to her side, having reverted to their normal form after expending their totemic calamity. This was an utter and complete loss, and countless sword cuts could be seen on her fair skin. Her damaged totems resulted in a great weakening of her combat prowess. At least seven providence swords had pierced her body, but none had struck her vitals. Even so, she was pale and bleeding out, her hair a complete mess and her dress stained red with blood.
She was already at death’s door, and no words could describe her shattered expression. Like the many gods that had come before her, she had been completely shattered in mind and body. She didn’t understand that Tianming had risen above normal bounds of power in this world, nor did she know that she hadn’t just lost to Tianming, but a whole world combined. The misunderstanding vexed her greatly, and she began feeling fear at the sight of Tianming.
“To think that a puppet of Our design could kill Us with a single slap…” she cackled pitifully as tears of blood flowed.
“You’re exaggerating. I’m using my full power, you know.” Tianming sent his providence swords to surround her. Since she had come and offered her head up on a platter, there was no sense in holding back.
She laughed as her tears continued to flow. Someone of her high birth had been reduced to such a pitiful state. Even now, her beauty inspired pity in many others. It looked like she had still held on to her pride. “I’m not convinced of my loss! Something is odd about this battle! You’re my destined person! I will have you, no matter what!”
She said that with the utmost conviction, her eyes lustfully fixed on Tianming.
“Dream on!”
