Outside the Voidsky Flame Pillar, those of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect observed Lingfeng with marked curiosity.
“You chose to throw the match to keep the Divine Worldeater Cauldron, right? That way, one of them will have a chance to become a member of the Sky Palace, right?” Long Wanying asked.
Lingfeng, seeing Xiaoxiao safe beside them, felt relieved. “That’s right.”
“Li Tianming’s opponent won’t be easy to deal with. Given the prowess he showed against Longlong, he stands less than a ten percent chance of winning,” Long Wanying said.
“Senior, I can’t predict how things will turn out, so we’ll have to see how it unfolds. At the very least, there’ll be no chaos for now since the cauldron isn’t out yet.”
“That does make sense… however, you kids really are brave.” She looked at Lingfeng and Xiaoxiao, impressed. To think that they dared to make decisions such as these that would affect the entirety of Orderia. How could kids in their twenties have such gall? Lingfeng was right in that his decision had managed to delay any outburst until the final trial of the Sky Palace had passed.
……
On the other hand, Long Longlong and his mother glared at Lingfeng with obvious hostility. They had wanted to see Yu Ziqian come out so they could take the cauldron and leave Tianming and the rest to fend for themselves. Lingfeng’s decision had ruined their plans. The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect was now deep in a quagmire. The billions of elites in the area were itching to act, but they had to wait in ambush as the cauldron still wasn’t out yet.
“Notify the sect to send more reinforcements. Have the Violetdragon Empress and Greendragon Emperor come as well,” the Saintdragon Emperor instructed. Things were changing, and Lingfeng and Xiaoxiao were under Long Wanying’s protection.
“With the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect holding the place here, the situation’s far better than I had imagined,” Lingfeng said.
“Yeah. Thankfully, you were the one who came out. There are people in the sect who want to take the cauldron and abandon the three of us,” Xiaoxiao said. The implication was that they would have to get on the Whitedragon Empress’s good side to survive this ordeal.
“Alright, though losing the Dragonblood Desecration is a bit of a shame.”
“It’s fine. He’s going to meet her in battle soon.” Xiaoxiao lowered her gaze. From the countless skyward eye broadcasts, they could see what was happening within the arena. The final battle of the Voidsky Skirmish was about to begin. Everyone looked forward to seeing whether the second candidacy would go to the Dreamless Celestial Nation or the Azuresoul Palace.
……
The wind blew wildly amidst the clouds. Within the sea of clouds swam a creature large beyond bounds. Not even the skyward eyes seemed able to capture the entire creature due to its sheer size. Its eyes alone were like two large lakes, within which were more than seven thousand stars. It used to be called a dreamless whale, the lifebound beast with the highest star count in the entirety of the Voidsky Realm. But now it was a seven-star divine beast called a serene dreameater whale. It was far larger and had an even more ancient bloodline; its aura was completely different. Even its song sounded extra empty and distant compared to before, yet it was still able to shake one’s mind. Its white body seemed to blend together with the clouds.
On the whale was a girl in a black dress, seemingly sleepwalking. She held a blood-colored dragon spear in one hand and pressed down on the back of her whale with the other, transforming her power into countless threads that flooded into the whale to securely bind it. The whale moaned in pain throughout.
“All this suffering is for a better future for your sake, got it?” Weisheng Moran smiled. Though her eyes seemed empty, her smile was still insidious. “The little fish transferred the Azurespirit to a scapegoat when the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb appeared. Did she think she could escape me this way? My other half is truly innocent… far more than I had anticipated.”
She looked ahead, searching for her opponent in her arena. “I thought the little fish would be able to join the Sky Palace on her own accord and get me another position of power. I didn’t think I’d have to step in myself. That poor little insect that got in my way truly has bad luck. I’ll take the Azurespirit back and destroy the little fish’s hopes entirely. It’s too bad that I won’t be fighting the one that wields the cauldron…. That disciple called Yu Ziqian obviously won’t be able to join the Sky Palace. Looks like I’ll have to rely on my actual body to take it for myself.”
Weisheng Moran had intended to take the Azurespirit back and join the Sky Palace. “The only troublesome thing now is that I have to be careful about what tricks I use. Otherwise, those old goons will see through the little fish’s trick. It’ll all be over then.”
The whale continued swimming about. “The prey is there!” Finally, she saw her prey through the gaps in the clouds.
……
When Tianming heard the whalesong, he looked up and saw the sky itself descending toward him. It was pale, ancient, and vast. No doubt, it was the king of all beasts with seven thousand stars. Its bloodline and boundless power were enough to crush any other kind of beast. Its cry alone would cause most of them to tremble in fear. This was the effect of sheer bloodline suppression. The whale was far too domineering; it was like a floating island, on which fortresses could be constructed.
“Are you afraid?” Tianming asked Ying Huo and the rest. There were a couple of silver eggs on Lan Huang and Xian Xian’s back, excitedly jumping around. Though whenever Lan Huang and Xian Xian tried touching them, they would escape. They loved to remain near Lan Huang’s abdomen the most, where there was lots of water. Everytime they finished swimming, their shells would be so reflective it would hurt to look at them.
“It’s huge, but lifeforms like that usually have a gentle nature. All they know is some weird tricks. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Ying Huo said. Being a Primordial Chaos Beast, no bloodline of other beasts would ever terrify them.
“A whale? Gentle, eh?” Tianming recalled whale beastmasters he had encountered some time ago, namely Weisheng Ruosu and Weisheng Yunxi. They were both gentle girls. Weisheng Moran seemed to be an exception to the rule.
When Tianming met her gaze as she stood atop the whale, he felt a terrifying pressure coming from her. Looking into her gaze felt like looking at the visage of a god. It was a gaze that would dominate everything, similar in some vein to his own Imperial Will.
The whale bellowed as it approached Tianming and his four beasts, then began circling around. The ink-green-haired girl stood up, one hand holding the Dragonblood Desecration and the other holding a green umbrella-spear that was slightly soaked in blood. She pointed the latter at Tianming. It was a grade-seven divine artifact called the Greendeath Gardenia. It was said that the dreamless celestial emperor had used it before, when he was around a century old. Its original form was a green paper umbrella, but it was actually a tool of killing. Countless people had died from being impaled by it.
Excitement was growing as tensions rose within the arena. The wind blew so strongly that many twisters formed. Tianming watched her with all three of his eyes, scanning her entire body, ranging over her facial features, her curves… all the way to her feet and comparing it with the girl he remembered seeing. The thought of her calling him big brother and her shy demeanor completely contrasted with how she was acting now. “You aren’t her,” Tianming said with full certainty. Even though he didn’t know how someone could do that, he knew for sure that this wasn’t the same person he had met last time.
“You’re mistaken. This is the real me,” Weisheng Moran said as her whale dove down. The whole arena seemed to shake. Her words didn’t clear any of Tianming’s doubts at all, but it made him sure that the girl before him now was an opponent that could kill him. He had to fight back with all he had or he would be wasting the opportunity Lingfeng had created for them by dropping out.
“Return the Azurespirit to me and leave the Lifesteal Silverdragon behind. That’s all you need to do to be allowed to escape,” she said with a wry smile.
“How do I give it back?” Tianming himself wanted to get rid of the green fish in his left eye too.
“Simple. Give me your left eyeball.” By now, the humongous whale was already directly in front of Tianming and the air suddenly shook as the battle began. Weisheng Moran was looking at him mockingly, like a senior would. Though she attacked, she didn’t seriously consider Tianming an enemy at all. He could see full well how highly she felt about herself.
Am I fighting someone far older? Such a thought had occurred to him.
Though Ying Huo had called whales gentle creatures, this felt like an entire mountain falling toward him. Xian Xian shot out its Radiant Vines and sword-shaped petals. At the same time, it tried to stop the whale’s descent by breaking its momentum with its branches.
