Beastmaster of the Ages

Chapter 928 - Battle of Rulers

Translator: BOTA Fireteam

Tianming was indeed looking down on Di Zang a little when he used that technique. After all, Po Suo had perished rather quickly, which gave the wrong impression that the same would happen to Di Zang. Little did they know that even though his lifespan was almost running out, he had exchanged it for a final burst of power. In his last moments, he would be at peak power. Now, the Archaionfiend already had one key, so it only needed to be able to defeat the girl and take the other key, then Di Zang would win.

"So what if I die? It matters not as long as my kin are able to return. It’s been two hundred thousand years. We underestimated our enemy back then and have suffered too much for it. Li Tianming, you’re just like Xuanyuan from way back. The two of you are capable of defying fate. People like you have to perish, or it would be pointless even if the specters return. We’ll never repeat this mistake a second time!”

As Di Zang was rampaging, Dugu Jin smiled. Even though he hadn’t gone all out, he was still applying pressure on Tianming so that he would be unable to fully defend against the ghoul king. Once Li Tianming is killed by Di Zang, his lifebound beasts will surely go mad for revenge. Then, my two brothers and those four can kill Di Zang together! Di Zang's already burning himself out. Killing Li Tianming shall be his final act! Once he is dead, Li Tianming's lifebound beasts might even help me take out the Archaionfiend. They’re more fearful of the specters returning than me, after all. I’ll benefit the most at the end of the day! It was all a bet on fate.

"Hundred-thousand Bloodfiend Eyes, open!" Dugu Jin spread his arms wide the moment Di Zang went in for the kill. The eye between his brows glowed bright crimson, sending out a hundred crimson dragons that turned into ropes that bound Tianming, stopping him from moving.

At the same time, Di Zang weathered Meow Meow's abilities and turned charred and black before he charged to Tianming's back while executing four battle arts. "Young man, you were too prideful! Your love of the spotlight will be the reason for your doom!"

Di Zang's eyes arranged themselves in a circular ring, letting out a terrifying glow. It was his ability, Sixeye Reincarnation, a terrifying mental ability! It could instantly lock an opponent's vita in a loop. After the ability hit Tianming, Di Zang came striking with his four arms. "Die, Xuanyuan's reincarnation!"

This was the most crucial moment. He was about to complete his mission. Unsurprisingly, the black cat turned into a gigantic Regal Chaosfiend and tried to act as Tianming's shield.

"You shall perish too!"

Tianming was now completely bound by both the Hundred-thousand Bloodfiend Eyes and Sixeye Reincarnation, so Di Zang would only need one weapon to kill him. He shattered Meow Meow's Ninefold Chaos Thunderscape with his Ninefirmament Skyslash Halberd and slashed down on its spine with Ghostly Bladeworks. The strike caused a huge sound to ring out, seemingly slashing halfway through the cat’s spine and causing it to howl in pain.

"Don't touch him!" Meow Meow's eyes sparked with black lightning as it sent Soulchasing Hellthunder striking at Di Zang's chest, blasting large chunks of flesh away. However, the ghoul-king-turned-specter had long been ready for it and still had a sword and a lance on the way. Cherry Blossom's Dreamlance was really hard to grasp, and coupled with Grandslaughter Sword and Sixeye Reincarnation, it was nigh impossible to block.

Abruptly, the Prime Tower came smashing down on Di Zang's head, causing him to bleed profusely. Meow Meow then turned around and sent its tail piercing toward the hole in Di Zang's chest, but not even that stopped him from approaching. After shattering countless Spatial Walls, he came to Tianming's back.

That instant, Tianming broke the bindings on him and grabbed the lance with his left arm, then blocked the Grandslaughter Sword with the Grand-Orient Sword in his right hand. However, that move's main power lay in the piercing spiritual damage it dealt. Sixeye Reincarnation was also a spiritual attack like that, but both of them had been neutralized by the Soul Tower. Once more, the mysterious tower had saved Tianming's life.

Even so, the sheer power of Cherry Blossom's Dreamlance still forced the weapon through Tianming's grip until it pierced his body and aimed straight at his saint palace! However, the tip was blocked by the Purple Tower, which caused it to swerve a little sideways. The sensation of being pierced by a spear was something that could only truly be understood after one experienced it. Comparatively, however, it wasn't as damaging as almost having one's spine severed, like Meow Meow.

"What?!" Two of Di Zang's ultimate moves were blocked by the Soul and Purple Towers respectively. Then the Greenspark Tower began to heal Tianming's body with unlimited vigor. The fact that Tianming was still able to pull the lance out and Meow Meow could still attack Di Zang's flank with Chaos Disaster was a sign that Di Zang hadn't managed to harm him for good, let alone kill him.

Di Zang was sent blasting away, stunned. "He's still alive after all that? He took Sixeye Reincarnation! He isn't an ascendant and doesn't have a divine soul yet. How could that be possible?"

Interesting to note was that everyone who knew about Tianming's 'strong' soul had already perished.

"Not to mention, how did his saint palace stay intact?"

The toughness of a saint palace was mostly dependent on fate itself, not defense. Even a normal sword strike would be able to pierce through a saint palace. Di Zang was suddenly filled with doubt and rage at Tianming's lucky escape from death.

"Meow Meow, are you alright?" Tianming asked as he caught it, now in its small form once again. It was covered in blood. Had it not been for its tough bones, its head would've been cut off already.

"How could I be?! I almost went to sleep for good! I wouldn't be cute anymore without my head!" it snapped. It had taken that strike for Tianming, saving his life. By now, its bones were starting to reconnect thanks to the Greenspark Tower, but at a slower rate compared to its flesh's recovery.

The wound Tianming had suffered in his abdomen was more or less fully healed by now. Meow Meow struggled out of his hand. "What’re you doing?"

"Getting revenge! I want to cut his head off! Those six eyes are really bothering me!" Despite just having a close brush with death, this Primordial Chaos Beast seemed even more ferocious than before.

It was one thing for Di Zang to want to kill him, but another for Dugu Jin to not even be willing to do the deed himself! Dugu Jin's plans were clear to him. Even though Di Zang had almost succeeded, Tianming turned to Dugu Jin all the same. After that mistake, he was even more careful than before.

Not to mention, Di Zang was hurt. He was entirely charred, and even had a bloody hole in his abdomen out of which blood leaked, having paid a huge price in his attempt to kill Tianming. His head had also been slammed into by the Prime Tower. Right now, he was no longer as threatening as he was before.

Dugu Jin was a little surprised to see Tianming turn towards him once more. "I thought you were dead for sure. You sure are a tough one."

"Satisfied now, Dugu Jin? Accept your fate. You aren't capable of ruling the world. I am Tianming, the fate of the heavens!"

What Dugu Jin hated the most was fatalistic proclamations like that. He turned and saw that his lifebound beasts were still being badly suppressed by Ying Huo and the rest. Who wouldn't be afraid of an undying super genius? Di Zang had almost died trying to kill Tianming, only for his wounds to recover in almost an instant. Instead, the ghoul king himself seemed to be on the verge of falling from the effort! They hadn't known true terror until now!

Tianming, having just had a close brush with death, was even angrier and more frenzied than before. Meow Meow and Feiling began limiting Di Zang's movements again as Tianming's eyes turned bloodshot and his rage boiled. Seeing his partners fighting with all they had and Lin Xiaoxiao being slammed to the ground time and again by the Archaionfiend, his rage reached a boiling point.

"Dugu Jin, you’ve messed with people for your own profit for far too long. You didn't care about the wellbeing of others at all. You accuse the founding ancestor of being a tyrant, but all I can see after someone as selfish as you becomes a ruler of the Flameyellow Continent is becoming a tyrant yourself!"

Tianming raised his two Grand-Orient Swords and summoned the Dragonhide once more; its main purpose was still to boost his combat power. "You think you're invincible, but you're nothing more than a parasite of the world! You can do nothing but eat up all the rot! You don't even know how to go with the flow. All you have is tricks and manipulation! You’re not worthy enough to fight me for supremacy!" action

Only those who walked the path of the saint and garnered the support of the population as a hero deserved to reign as the sovereign emperor of humanity. This was a battle for rulership. Only the one who wins the hearts of all shall be sovereign!

Tianming had garnered quite a lot of popular support and rendered many good deeds along the way. His power contained the blessings and hopes of countless people, completely unlike Dugu Jin. What Tianming wanted was eternal peace and stability, while all Dugu Jin cared about was absolute domination!