Qing Ming's small eyes opened far wider than he had previously thought possible. While he seemed calm on the surface, killing intent could be felt seeping from his eyes. He didn't respond to Tianming's words, however, but instead looked at his surroundings. This was a rather remote area, with the closest star some distance away. In other words, Dugu Jin couldn't be hiding nearby.

Even if Dugu Jin were here, I’d still have enough time to leave after I kill this brat. Qing Ming was still unaware of how Tianming had just crippled fifteen hundred tribulation elders. The green liquid flowing within his eyes made it seem like he had completely seen through Tianming. He had always been a cautious person, and never fought battles he wasn't certain he could win. While this situation was weird to him, he decided to fight after thinking it through thrice. There was no way he could live down the humiliation of running from a junior that had challenged him to a suicidal fight, after all. Curse this sealing formation for making me so paranoid even though I'm only dealing with a stupid, naive brat!

When he decided to not run, he plainly told the youth about his intentions. Then, Tianming's four lifebound beasts appeared. There was a fiery phoenix, a black cat surrounded by lightning, a gigantic two-headed dragon, and a towering tree with three grand flowers. They immediately spread apart and surrounded Qing Ming.

I never would’ve imagined I’d be hunted down by a brat a month ago! Qing Ming was so dumbfounded by the turn of events that he didn't know how to react. Did that brat not know how terrifying the ghoul kings were in the eyes of the billions of inhabitants of the Nonahall Divine Realm? "Li Tianming, you are but a newborn baby in my eyes. You still haven't learned to walk properly, and your intelligence is akin to a small animal's. Are you sure you’re in your right mind?" Though he hadn't intended to speak, he couldn't help but ask. It was taking him too much effort to figure out Tianming's thought process.

"Being old isn’t an excuse for being a dipshit. Even though I'm young, slaughtering you is no more difficult for me than slaughtering a chicken for my meal," Tianming said. Though he wasn’t usually one for trash talking, he was worried that he would scare Qing Ming away, so he decided to provoke him to ensure he would stay.

"I see.... So you haven't truly faced any consequences for your behavior before."

Tianming could tell that he was getting mad. "You're not wrong. You see, I've been doing so many suicidal things, but I just can't seem to die. Maybe you'll be the one to finally put me to rest."

As he spoke, he drew the Grand-Orient Sword and split it into two, one representing dignity and the other representing rage. He held the black sword in a reverse grip and pointed the gold one toward Qing Ming. "Listen up. I’ll be taking your ugly head and hanging it outside Taiji Peak Lake. Your head will be preserved by the icy temperatures for at least half a year. Who knows? Maybe your flesh will still be fresh when the snow finally lets up, so I can use it as pig feed."

"Hehehe...." While he didn't seem like the type to let words like those get to him, his actions revealed his irritation. Angered, he finally made a move—Tianming's goal had been achieved. Now that Qing Ming wouldn't run, he wouldn't have to risk chasing him down; a risky move given how near they were to the black hole star.

"Very well. I’ll show you what the adult world is like, child," Qing Ming snapped. What he meant were the cruel methods he employed. "Eat those four little animals."

A gigantic, horrifying beast emerged from his lifebound space. Tianming turned to look and saw that it was a giant bug. It had a rather long, green body with black armor plates. Its head and horns were rather huge, and the armor on its chest looked as tough as mountains, stretching out on both sides like a saddle. Its legs were well developed, especially the ten rear ones that were long and muscular. Its tough exoskeleton seemed to double as a sharp weapon, making it look like a machine created for war. There were traces of rotting flesh still on its saw-like mandibles. It had a pair of translucent, blade-like wings that would allow it to take flight and maneuver in the skies with great agility. However, the most terrifying part was still its mandibles that looked harder than even the best tribulation artifacts. It could no doubt chew through any flesh and turn it into minced meat.

Tianming saw nine hundred and twenty-one stars within its eyes, making it one of the few ninth-order tribulation beasts to exist on the Flameyellow Continent. However, the main focus of the beast was the fact it was at the eleventh-level life phase. If it weren’t for the sealing formation of the Kilostar Domain, it would definitely be able to kill Lan Huang in a single bite. It was known as the greenvoid skydevourer.

Rumor was that it consumed a nigh-endless supply of meat every day, which was why those within the divine realm had to keep feeding it wildbeasts they hunted, lest it devours their own lifebound beasts. It was also said to consume almost anything, even spirit herbs and ores. Anywhere it passed, it would raze everything into a desolate waste. As a broodmother-type lifebound beast, it could also give birth to many high-grade children, with its peak number being four hundred million greenvoid bugs, enough to make its arrival look like the beginning of a doomsday scenario.

Tianming squinted at it and said, "Isn't this a locust?"

He had seen a similar locust beast user before called Gongsun Chi during the Prime Struggle, but that locust couldn't be compared to the greenvoid skydevourer in the slightest. The greenvoid skydevourer was something capable of wreaking absolute destruction across the entire Flameyellow Continent.

The moment it showed up, a buzzing drone was heard as countless greenvoid bugs came flying out of its rear. Each was only around two centimeters in length, but they could eat many times their weight. Almost immediately, they blocked out the view of the sky and their numbers didn't seem to be diminishing one bit. The Kilostar Domain's sealing formation had suppressed the level of the greenvoid skydevourer, which affected its ability to birth its brood, so it was a little lackluster compared to its normal peak. With there being no food to sustain its children, it had no choice but to use tribulation force to sustain them after their birth. However, if they managed to devour Tianming's four lifebound beasts, they would be able to keep fighting for quite some time.

Countless little bugs came flying toward Tianming and the rest, sealing off the entire area. They formed a sphere that trapped Tianming and the others within.

"Eat them all up and leave only the head," Qing Ming coldly said. He knew everyone was already aware of the treasures Tianming had stolen, but what if he had something else nobody knew about? Maybe he could claim it for himself if he was lucky.

He took out a huge green scythe from his spatial ring. It had a black handle and nine agonized faces on the blade, as well as fifteen tribulation patterns. It burned with green flames and echoed with the cries of beasts and ghouls, making it particularly sinister. It was named the Greensky Ghostscythe. The ghoul king stood impressively on the head of his beast with his scythe resting on his shoulders. His green, boil-covered face wore a sinister smile and his left shoulder, like his face, was covered in boils that popped and unleashed a stench into his surroundings as well.

As expected of a ghoul king. He looks as terrifying as his reputation suggests, but no matter. He's now only the equivalent of a seventh-level death phase samsaran and can't rival me. As for the other aspects, whether it be weapons, battle arts, or lifebound beasts, I'm not one bit inferior! The only edge he has on me is his three centuries of combat experience. That was the reason why Tianming had dared to make his move on Qing Ming. Not to mention, Xian Xian was about to die from hunger.

"Xian Xian, do you see all those bugs? It's an all-you-can-eat buffet!" Now, it was a competition of appetites between the Radix World Tree and the greenvoid skydevourer. The greenvoid bugs rushed toward Xian Xian's petals, leaves, branches, and vines, attempting to consume them. However, Xian Xian's roots were even more savage in her hangry state. They charged straight into the fray, easily piercing countless greenvoid bugs without even needing to aim. While Tianming thought the roots were too thick to be used on the bugs, he didn't think they would be able to split into countless thinner strands numbering in the tens of millions. The hair-thin root strands were far more efficient at piercing through those small bugs.

If there was one thing Xian Xian wasn't afraid of, it was fighting off a huge group of enemies that were individually weak. Broodmother-type lifebound beasts mainly relied on their children to overwhelm the enemy with numbers, but their natural enemy was the Radix World Tree. The countless fine root hairs moved like Xian Xian's own arms. Tianming didn't know it was capable of manipulating so many tendrils at the same time; each of them was able to accurately pierce through countless greenvoid bugs.

"It must be a special inborn talent!"