Beastmaster of the AgesBeastmaster of the Ages
Tianming's words made him seem terrifying to the disciples and saints of Myriadpath Valley. He had come prepared with a strategy. In the fight so far, Yumo Yuanni and Tianming hadn't had a pure clash of energy, which wasn't Tianming's forte. Given the large gap in their energy capacity, Tianming relied on his speed, divine wonder, and Yin Chen to push Yumo Yuanni back!
As he had said, if one move wouldn't do the trick, he would use ten thousand. At the same time, it was a psychological attack. While it wouldn't work on Suishen Zhao, it was really effective against an arrogant and wild young master like Yumo Yuanni. He simply couldn't stand that kind of insult, allowing Tianming to toy with his mood and feelings as much as he wanted! His ferocity made him more and more beastly.
"I thought you couldn't hate me more after getting eminents to kill me. I didn't think I could still infuriate you like this." Tianming split the Grand-Orient Sword into two and used the even faster Grandvoid Compendium and Xiaozhi Sword Art! Meow Meow controlled his body while Yin Chen held back the enemy. Xian Xian and Ying Huo focused on bombarding the enemy with their abilities!
Tianming came and went like a lightning storm, flashily streaking across the battlefield. The profound spacetime aspects of his two sword arts layered upon each other in an unpleasant fashion. The black and gold swords left marks on Yumo Yuanni every time they landed on the specter’s hide.
Countless abilities blasted away as the divine wonder continued its suppression. And all of it was driving Yumo Yuanni insane! Tianming had hit him hundreds of times, yet he hadn't been able to touch Tianming even once. All of his attacks had been neutralized by Tianming without exception.
Even though Tianming might not even be able to take a single one of Yumo Yuanni's full-powered attacks, those attacks might not even land in the first place! Tianming had far too many tricks in his arsenal that could be flexibly combined to effectively pin down Yumo Yuanni.
It was an embarrassing display for the specter, as if he was a mere beast being led around by an expert animal trainer! The entire charade lasted for half an hour before Yumo Yuanni's ferocious and tough body began coming apart after being hit by thousands of attacks. His astral organs had all been ravaged to some extent by Tianming's totems, divine wonder, lifebound beast abilities, and cosmic impulses.
"You tainted-blood miscarriage!" Yumo Yuanni simply couldn't stand it anymore.
"It’s still better than being a spineless pureblood like you," Tianming snapped back. His subtle laughter sounded especially piercing to all the specters in Myriadpath Valley, but quite a lot of people relished in it.
Tianming hadn’t had any reputation to begin with and few people would sympathize with a black ring disciple like him. Yet he alone had managed to change how all the humans viewed him, and had even earned some sympathy! The beastmasters and totemancers were humans like him, after all.
The looks of everyone in the Ascension Colosseum began to change. Tianming only dared to provoke Yumo Yuanni with his words more when he saw that people were beginning to offer him support. As the specter began dancing to the pace he set, he began looking for a proper chance to crush him.
This fellow really is tough! He's much stronger than Suishen Zhao! However, he's lost his rationality.... If it wasn’t for that, Tianming would take even longer to defeat him.
"Look here!" Tianming used Vitasteal when the battered Yumo Yuanni was confused and frantic like a wild beast. The hundred-segmented compound eyes began spinning!
Yumo Yuanni fell into a complete daze, then Tianming used the eighth-fusion form of Imperator's Mural and pierced the Grand-Orient Sword into his chest! The strongest move of Tianming’s finally broke through the beast's thick hide and ruptured his heart; only then would the myriadpath ring register a specter's defeat.
Specters were simply too tough. Suishen Zhao would have died long ago, but Yumo Yuanni had managed to hold on for so long by sheer virtue of his physical defenses, lasting an entire hour under Tianming's onslaught.
When the Grand-Orient Sword was pulled out, Yumo Yuanni let out an agonizing howl. The gold ring on his wrist flashed to signal his loss and his knees gave out, causing his bloodied form to slump to the ground into a kneeling position.
There had been nothing as humiliating as this in his entire life. It was an absolute tragedy! He would never have dreamed that such a day would come. All the blood leaking from his injuries made for quite a harrowing sight. However, nobody offered him any sympathy, as he had been defeated in a formal duel in the Fortuna Arena.
While Tianming had used tricks to defeat him, the mental fortitude and flexibility he had displayed in battle made it obvious that he was someone who often engaged in actual battles, unlike the countless disciples of Myriadpath Valley who lived in luxury and security.
That gave rise to completely two different mindsets. One of them was born at the pinnacle with hundreds of battles under his belt, while the other was weaker in terms of absolute power, but won all the same! It was no normal duel. The disciples and saints could clearly see that Tianming hadn’t scored an easy win by any means. The only ones who seethed at the sight of the most talented young specter kneeling in defeat were a small group of specters!
Tianming could see from their shocked and flabbergasted looks how much they wanted to mock him, yet no words they said now would sound the least bit convincing. Saying anything about Tianming being an early bloomer with no future potential right now would only make them sore losers.
"I heard that he’s broken through a few times since joining Myriadpath Valley! It's only been a short ten years!"
"Unless he’s been hiding his full strength since the Skyward Path, wouldn't that make him a top talent? Perhaps his potential isn't limited after all!"
"He's at least stronger than most black ring disciples."
"Based on the power he displayed when he defeated Suishen Zhao five years ago, he wasn't nearly as powerful as he is today. He must've broken through at least once! All that in five years!"
Even now, people still didn't know that Tianming had reached the point of breakthrough on the Prehistoric Path. It would be even more shocking if they did. But naturally, he couldn't be the one to break that news—it would only sound convincing from Suishen Yao and the others' mouths.
There were many trump cards that couldn't be used right away, or it would have the opposite effect. They had to be saved up for the moment when they would bring the most benefit!
Defeating Yumo Yuanni had raised his position in Myriadpath Valley even higher. The Fortuna Arena finally opened up for them to leave as Yumo Yuanni was still raging in helpless frustration.