Nonstop clanging could be heard as the two luxgladii clashed against the Kilofold Rings, letting out countless sparks. The gigantic beast even bit one of the two glowing sword totems, too.
"What?!" Huiyue Yu immediately retrieved his two sword totems, only to drag Lan Huang along with them. Had he not avoided it in time, his throat would have been torn to shreds by the spinning rings. What was worse were the countless vines in the sky that entangled the other three luxgladii, completely dominating them in terms of power. No matter how much he willed it, he wasn't able to pull his swords free. How could his lifebound beasts be so powerful?! He doesn't have astralforce!
He didn't understand it at all. Lan Huang didn't only have tribulation force from the Primordial Terraqua Codex, it also had its impressive body. As for Xian Xian, while it couldn't match Lan Huang in strength, it was far ahead in terms of its sheer number of vines. In terms of total power, Xian Xian would win out.
Within a single exchange, Tianming had sealed off five of the luxgladii with his two lifebound beasts, completely putting the inferiority of totems on display, at least as far as combat was involved. Though, any advantage when it came to cultivation speed afforded by totems was completely dwarfed by Tianming's insane rate of progress.
Huiyue Yu was still stunned from the turn of events, and Tianming, Ying Huo, and Meow Meow didn't give him a chance to snap out of it. "Huiyue Yu, you went overboard in messing with Shishi!"
He was fighting in Huiye Shi's name, so he didn't need to hold back. Ying Huo used Sixpath Infernal Lotus while Meow Meow struck with Chaos Disaster. No matter whether specters, totems, or lifebound beasts were stronger, that didn't matter when Tianming was involved. The two abilities blasted out at full power before Huiyue Yu could snap out of it and use his astralforce.
"Come and help me!" he yelled in his moment of crisis. Huiyue Yan and Huiyue Xiao were both flabbergasted. They quickly snapped out of it and went to Huiyue Yu's aid. The two of them were some ten years older than him, being near their fifties, though the two of them had one bane-ring fewer. Even so, their cultivation level was roughly the same.
Huiyue Yan's totems were oxenflame fiends. When he drew his flaming war blade, four flaming ox-headed humanoids appeared and charged toward Tianming. Huiyue Xiao, on the other hand, had plant-like totems like Yusheng Luo's, called maplewoods terrors. They were orange-red maple trees that seemed to grow from his body, with their leaves serving as hidden weapons. He shot them toward Lan Huang and Xian Xian.
In essence, Tianming was fighting one against three, the three of whom had thirteen totems in total. It had started off as an inconsequential act of bullying, but now it was a grand show. Though some seniors wanted to come up to stop them, when they saw Tianming using such odd methods, their interest to watch the battle unfold grew. As they assumed Tianming to be around a century old, they didn't give his power too much thought. Had they known his real age, they would be freaking out. Instead, they watched as Tianming faced off against enemies far more than his number.
Tianming had Ying Huo and Meow Meow take on Huiyue Yan and Huiyue Xiao and got Lan Huang and Xian Xian to release the two sword totems to face off against the oxenflame fiends and maplewood terrors instead. He himself, on the other hand, would take on Huiyue Yu and his five luxgladii, which seemed to wound Huiyue Yu's ego greatly. "I’ve never seen an outsider act so arrogantly in the territory of the divine moonrace!"
"Oh? There's a first for everything." Tianming didn't bother arguing too much.
"Insolent!" Huiyue Yu roared as he charged along with his totems with weapon in hand, executing the Millennium Starflash. The sword he held had a powerful thrust, while his five sword totems had a wide reach. Tianming basically had nowhere to retreat to. The move seemed to let the characteristics of the swords shine even more than the Hexapath Samsara Sword. It was as if Tianming had been brought to a world filled with twinkling stars, all of them akin to a fatal sword strike. There were so many stars that it was blinding to the eye, along with sharp sounds of slashing.
Comparing Huiyue Yu and Huiyue Yin, who were both on the Brightmoon Sky level, he felt that the former was a little stronger. However, Tianming had made two breakthroughs since his arrival a few days ago and was far more powerful than before. He triumphantly raised his sword as the six swords came toward him.
With a glare, he split his sword into two and let his sword intent surge. His left hand held the black Grand-Orient Sword, which swept forth and formed nine vortices of sword ki. Each of them was darker than the deepest depths of hell, within which the cries of ghouls and demons could be heard. The golden sword in his right hand whipped up another nine vortices, within which were volcanoes, pots of boiling oil, freezing waters, bladed mountains, and windstorms. All the vortices formed the eighteen layers of Hades. This was the fifth strike of the Hexapath Samsara Sword, Hadean Reincarnation!
The moment he executed the move, its power clashed with Millennium Starflash's and completely overcame it. The luxgladii were sent flying off, with one of them breaking into two. Despite the damage sustained by the totem, it was still recoverable thanks to their ethereal nature, as opposed to lifebound beasts, who would immediately die if torn into two. Even so, the broken luxgladius was still out of commission for the rest of this battle.
As the sword ki simmering in the eighteen layers of hell overwhelmed the sword totems, Tianming himself closed the distance with Huiyue Yu almost instantly. His surging golden sword clashed with Huiyue Yu's, while the black sword in his left hand coursed toward Huiyue Yu's face with the flat, directly slapping him.
The loud clap was followed by a splutter of blood that came from the nearly complete deformation of Huiyue Yu's mouth. He was sent flying off and smashing into something along the way. When he got back up, he was battered and bloodied. Even the sword in his hand was knocked off somewhere by Tianming. It was a horrid loss!
More than the stinging pain on his face, Huiyue Yu felt utter humiliation. Never in his life had he imagined he would be defeated by a samsaran, not to mention a beastmaster who had his beasts busy taking care of other things! Meanwhile, his beasts had dealt with Huiyue Yan and Huiyue Xiao, beating them up. Tianming had fought one against three and won! Was that really a feat a samsaran was capable of?
Everyone turned to look and saw Ying Huo badly beating up Huiyue Yan. His four oxenflame fiends were entangled in battle with Lan Huang, but thanks to the Greenspark Tower, they were scarcely able to wound it; instead, they were pummeled into submission. Meanwhile, Huiyue Xiao was shocked and charred black by Meow Meow while his tree totems were overwhelmed in sheer numbers by Xian Xian's Radiant Vines and Bloodrain Swords. The maple leaves weren't able to harm it at all. The fact that they were still alive meant that Tianming had shown restraint. He couldn't just kill them in their backyard, after all. The onlookers were awed by the refreshing sight of a beastmaster and his beasts overpowering the totem users.
"A samsaran managed to dominate three disciples at the Brightmoon Sky level!"
"Huiyue Yu was among them, too, a peak disciple! How did he do it?"
"I heard that the rootbeast race were stronger at the same level, but not to this extent, right?"
"Shishi found a capable man. However, the rootbeast race's cultivation seems a bit low. He must be at least a century old by now."Quite a few people had gathered to watch and gossip about the show.
"Come to think of it, it's rather embarrassing for Huiyue Yu to lose to his love rival, isn't it?"
"It's not really a big deal. He isn't even thirty yet, so suffering some setbacks is fine. The two of them aren't really in the same league to begin with."
"Huiye Shi really was a bit short sighted."
Hearing the discussion made Huiyue Yu feel rather bad. He picked up his sword as rage simmered in him. He met Huiyue Xiao and Huiyue Yan's gazes, still intent on attacking despite their loss. Right then, Huiye Shi finally arrived. The moment Tianming had been surrounded, her friends had told her about what happened, causing her to rush here.
Nervously, she looked at Tianming and asked, "Are you fine? Are you hurt? Why’re they picking on you?"
Seeing her so anxious and angry for his sake made him acknowledge her. "I'm fine, but I don't think they're finished yet."
They would've died if it weren’t for his restraint. Yet even now, they still wanted to vent after their utter defeat.
"Huiyue Yu, what are you up to? Did you get a brain tumor? Who do you think you are to mess with him?" Huiye Shi snapped.
"Who's the one being bullied?! I was the one who was beaten up! I won't live this down!" Huiyue Yu howled.
