Chapter 1100

Tianming stood opposite Sovereign Xi at the blood lake, surrounded by bloody mist. The chaotic moonlight made her skin look pale as snow. Her lips curved into a smile as she relished in being the victor of this match.

"How many times have We said that you’ll never be able to escape Our grasp?" There were still some tears in her eyes as she thought of the imperial guide, the one who had accompanied her for her entire life. She knew she would be alone from now on, now that her beloved was gone. Though she hadn’t felt any pain when the guide had passed away, the grief and despair at the notion of never ever seeing her again caused the sovereign’s psyche to contort in unexpected ways.

During such a beautiful night, she had finally managed to force her prey out of the hole. She scrutinized him from top to bottom like a young girl would her idol, passionate and mischievous. She had never thought it would take a few centuries for her to finally find her true soulmate back when she was a young teen.

There was nothing romantic about all this; she was basically consuming him in one go. It wasn't a lovemaking festival, but a bloody sacrifice! The mood of the surroundings had already been set, though the bird on Tianming's shoulder seemed to ruin it a little. It intensely looked at the sovereign.

"Beautiful, like we talked about last time.... You wouldn't mind if little old me spectates your precious session, would you? Now, let's not leave anyone waiting and start the action! I've been waiting for ages!"

Sovereign Xi was quite impressed that they were still in the mood to crack jokes. "Have your bird go back."

"Go back? I thought you were craving a bird!" Ying Huo said.

Even though this was a heavy moment for Tianming, Ying Huo had completely disrupted the mood. The sovereign was rather impatient and couldn't wait any longer.

"Come here!" She pulled Tianming over, but he retreated when he saw something.

"Are you still testing Our patience?" It happened again and again. She didn't forcefully stop him at all. "Do it again and I'll send the three hundred thousand troops down there!" she threatened.

Her entire attention was focused on Tianming, and she didn't notice that Ying Huo was no longer on his shoulder. Instead, it was flying above the blood lake and using Death Inferno and Infernal Haze. Countless cloned phoenixes spread out and fell like meteors, much to the sovereign's shock. She didn't know what Tianming was resisting for at this point in time.

"Don't you know what's at stake? Your playing dumb will cause all the humans to pay for your sins!" She mentioned sin again like she truly believed it. She quickly blocked Ying Huo's attacks with much of her astralforce, but she wasn't able to stop all of them. A third of the falling flames struck the blood lake and more than a thousand skeletons were burned to ash. At least half of the lake was ruined now, sending her into another fit of rage.

"Very well, Li Tianming. You forced Us to do this." She glared at the fearless youth with a deathly gaze, breathing heavily from the anger.

"I didn't force you to do anything. I only learned from you. You're right, a real ruler shouldn't have any weaknesses. If you don't care about the death of your precious imperial guide, then I'll stop caring about the deaths of the Flameyellow humans. You mocked me for treasuring life, so I just stopped doing so. From now on, feel free to kill whoever you want. I won't even bat an eye. But I will let you know that since you're unable to kill me now, I’ll make sure to bury the dead humans under the entirety of the divine moonrace in time. I will personally make sure that you die the worst death of all your pathetic race. I really have to thank you for pushing me to become a heartless person. Thanks for teaching me how to turn the tables completely. I'm going to use what you taught me to crush your entire race," he said plainly.

Ying Huo landed on his shoulder with a mocking smile. "You really are a fool. Did you think you could do anything you wanted? Have you not heard of never pushing a desperate animal into a corner? You just made it so that there's nothing left for us to lose, so now your breakthrough is completely ruined. Not only that, you are ruined. It's a shame that you were still dreaming about achieving greatness until now."

Sovereign Xi's expression completely changed. Tianming was now someone without any weaknesses, like her. She had witnessed his rise within the short time she knew him and shuddered at the thought. Now that he was an unbridled force that couldn’t be reined in by anything, anyone would fear him.

"You really think your childish bluff will work? Then We'll send our troops down now. You’d better not beg for any mercy. Not to mention, destroying the lake is pointless. We've bathed in it for centuries, and it’s already served its purpose. If you know what's good for you, you still have one chance to turn back," she said with her chin raised high.

"Go ahead," Tianming said with a smile and his hands tucked neatly behind him.

"Hmph." She didn't budge one bit. She was certain she knew Tianming's personality. He was just making a final, desperate struggle! "Once this transmission stone is sent, the three hundred thousand troops will mobilize right after gathering."

"Do it."

"Daring, aren't you?" She really felt terrified that Tianming would no longer have any weaknesses. Her fingers shook for a bit, but she still sent the transmission stone off. This was a disaster, and she felt even more nervous after committing to the act. Tianming's current expression made her feel fear.

"You’re the one who forced Us! It's your fault!" she screamed, clawing madly at her hair. But as her emotions were going wild, a white-robed man appeared out of nowhere.

Tianming had seen Bodhi long ago, as he could see behind her. Bodhi launched a sudden punch with an afterimage of a golden lion, slamming his fist into the sovereign's back. She wasn't able to react at all from being rattled by Tianming and was sent smashing into the lake, crushing even more of the skeleton pillars there.

"Leave!"

This was his best chance. Tianming knew that with the Latticeheart Curse still in effect, Feiling would get Bodhi to help him. Meow Meow instantly appeared and he got on it before zipping off the moment the sovereign was in the lake. She came bursting out with rage a moment later. Given her power, Tianming couldn't just escape from under her nose that easily, but Bodhi was there to stop her. He continued going east without a word while Bodhi went west. The two of them split up, causing her even more confusion.

One of them was the key to her breakthrough, while the other was someone the divine moonrace had a deathly grudge with. He was the one that kept her anchored to the city. Though a dilemma it was, she quickly made her decision. While the destroyed lake wasn't that big of a deal, it still needed to be restored somewhat, and that would take the other half of the night. Not to mention, the fact that Tianming had escaped instead of hiding in the Prime Tower meant that his behavior from before was just a bluff.

"He was only acting tough, after all."

So as long as she had a grasp on the Flameyellow Continent's survival, there was nothing for her to worry about even if Tianming ended up more powerful than her. However, Bodhi had only appeared before her once. If she killed him, she might even be able to go to the Flameyellow Continent herself.

"Where could you be going?" Even though Tianming had escaped, she felt more relaxed now. She wasn't worried about him escaping, only that he would become as heartless as she was. Thus, she rushed after Bodhi and began closing the distance.

"Looks like you're already close to the Constellation stage. Very well. Today is the day you die!" She attacked in the midst of giving chase, manifesting all of her totems and causing the surrounding buildings to crumble. She had been waiting for him to show up for far too long. Even though she had mentally distanced herself from her parents, she still desired vengeance for them. Their battle caused quite a lot of commotion, with the buildings in the west crumbling one after the other. He was mounting a fighting retreat, as Tianming had expected.

"She really thinks that I have no way of escaping from her as long as she holds the continent hostage." Tianming turned and looked back, finally safe for the moment. He closed his eyes and felt his countless Imperial Will fragments all cracked up. The power in his body was close to going wild. The Omnisentient Threads that he was connected to felt so weak that he could barely see them now.

"Weakness? How could billions of people be the weakness of a single person? Those who had that many people believing in them can only rise nonstop."

That shouldn't be the rule of this world. While Sovereign Xi claimed that to be a weakness, it sounded horribly wrong to him.

"This isn’t how hierarchies should be formed." He took a deep breath. While his Imperial Will was crumbling, he felt surprisingly calm. He heard the voices from the threads and fell into deep, meditative thought like he never had before. "Though the dynasty crumbles, my heart beats on."