Chapter 380 – A Three Hundred And Thirty Thousand Strong Army (1/2)

On Shenxiao Mountain in Li Mausoleum.

When Yuan Chen attacked me that day, he was even stronger than Su Mu, which was why one punch from him could make me cough blood. But now that I have mastered sky saint-ranked battle arts, things will be different. If I can learn the second phase and understand the concept behind it, I will be much stronger, Tianming thought to himself. After all, even the first ancestor had only reached the third phase.

In the Theocracy of the Ancients, the Grand-Orient Realm is but one of the many regions. Yuan Chen is about the same age as me, and he’s already the number one prodigy in the Earthorigin Sect. Even then, Jun Niancang and him have limited power in the Theocracy. I should aspire to compare with the geniuses of the Theocracy instead. Even though Tianming had never seen that land before, he set it as his goal.

If G.o.dfather is capable of crus.h.i.+ng Heaven’s Elysium and bringing peace to the sect, I should really take a trip to the Theocracy. Tianming was extremely curious about what kind of powerhouses and geniuses walked the land of that ancient regime. In terms of talent, no one in the Grand-Orient Realm could match him, other than Jun Niancang, who was a few years older.

As time pa.s.sed by, tension continued brewing in the Grand-Orient Realm as if the battle would restart at any time. Tianming spent most of his time inside the Li Mausoleum, studying the golden heavenly patterns on the golden gate of his Grand-Orient Sword. Under Ying Huo’s supervision, both Tianming and Meow Meow mastered Fulguros Imperius. They had reached a point in their cultivation where Tianming, who was in charge of leveling and battle arts, became the trio’s main focus. On top of that, he needed to have a good understanding of the fusion strikes in order to understand his Imperial Will.

Studying heavenly patterns was a mentally draining process, and Tianming would practice the fusion strikes of the Shenxiao Sword Art in the Mausoleum with the Grand-Orient Sword when he was tired.

This is a fusion of fire with lightning. At least this is easier than trying to fuse fire with water. The trick to this sword art isn’t just physically merging the two elements, but making sure that every bit of the two elements can exist in harmony, Tianming thought. The fusion of lightning with fire was something that even the first ancestor hadn’t done before, meaning Tianming had no one to learn from this time.

Recently, Meow Meow had been having the time of its life. Ever since it finished learning Fulguros Imperius, it spent most of its time sleeping. It had even slept on every single one of the ancestors’ graves, or as Ying Huo put it, slept with every single ancestor.

At that moment, Tianming approached and lifted it up by its neck.

“What do you want?” Meow Meow growled but could do nothing to resist as its neck was its weakness.

“Get down here and help me with my sword arts.”

“No meow!”

Sadly, Meow Meow had no room for negotiation, as a sword-wielding Tianming chased it and Ying Huo down.

“Use Pyros Imperius and Fulguros Imperius, I’ll take the both of you on at the same time.”

“Are you an idiot? Where’d you even get your confidence from?” Ying Huo scorned.

“Brother Chicken, Ling’er is with Qingyu now. Shall we teach him a lesson?” Meow Meow was equally angry at having its rest disturbed.

“Let’s go, it’s time to bring down Tianming!”

Ying Huo could use Pyros Imperius with its Goldflame Featherblade, whereas Meow Meow needed to use its claws in place of a sword. While Meow Meow’s claws were weaker in terms of strength, the venom from the Venomfiend Bloodclaw made up for it.

The battle between the three almost turned the Mausoleum upside down. It was a tough fight for Tianming, as Ying Huo and Meow Meow were fearsome foes. Still, he battled on in order to understand the fusion of the two sword arts better. The two beasts stuck to using Pyros Imperius and Fulguros Imperius, while Tianming would intermittently switch between the two. As he practised, the time he needed to switch became shorter and shorter.

“If I can use both sword arts at the same time, it means I’m one step closer to fusing them. It doesn’t matter how many times I need to practice it, or how long it takes!” Tianming had plenty of time until Heaven’s Elysium made their next move.

“Even with my talent, figuring out the fusion strikes is proving to be an incredibly difficult task. I doubt my G.o.dfather can do it.”

Tianming was learning battle arts of the same level as Li Wudi, and they weren’t simplified, as the Demise of Man-Earth-Heaven had been. Ever since he had reached Heavenly Will and gained Imperial Will, Tianming was capable of using the three demises and the VoidG.o.d Sword Intent to their fullest potential. In terms of battle arts, he was already miles ahead of his peers. But that wasn’t enough to satisfy Tianming, and he yearned for something challenging, like the fusion strikes.

Their battles carried on for days without stopping, causing Ying Huo and Meow Meow to plead for mercy.

“We’re sorry, boss, we shouldn’t have laughed at you.”

“Please, have mercy, we’re only a year old!”

“That’s right, how dare you do such things to me when I’m still underaged meow!”

Why did that sound… wrong?

“Stop whining. Get up and fight me!”

“Meow…” Meow Meow purred with tears in its eyes. It had no choice, or it might just be stabbed in the b.a.l.l.s.

Fuse, fuse! Tianming couldn’t even count the number of hours he spent. His mind was fixated on the image of lightning merging with flames, each collision resulting in an overwhelming burst of energy.

Many days later, Tianming’s efforts finally bore fruit. As he swung the Grand-Orient Sword just as he had tens of thousands of times before, he could tell that he’d succeeded. It was the second phase, with the power of fire and lightning completely unified as one. When he pointed his sword toward the sky, a beam of sword ki shot through the Bloodbane Barrier and into the heavens. It even managed to punch a small hole through the barrier. If one were to look closely, the beam was made of both fire and lightning entwined together.

“Finally!” Tianming was overwhelmed by a sense of achievement. On the other side, the two little creatures were panting and wailing on the ground, as if something unspeakable had been done to them.

“Get up, it’s time to study heavenly patterns,” Tianming instructed.

“I demand a change of beastmaster! Preferably someone soft and fluffy, like our superior mount!” Ying Huo cried.

“I agree meow!”

Days slipped by, and Tianming did a rough estimate.

“It’s been eighty days since my G.o.dfather defeated the Cloudmist keepers and Elysian purifiers. I’ve finally reached third-level Heavenly Will.” In other words, nearly three months had pa.s.sed, which was equivalent to three years for Tianming. While he still had a youthful look and showed no signs of aging, his body was equivalent to that of a twenty-eight year old.