"Ghoul King Si Ling departed not long ago. Their army has spread out and sealed off the city. It's obvious that they're trying to stop us from getting any more reinforcements and intend to wipe us out in one go," Xuanyuan Xie said.

Tianming stood on the wall and looked into the distance. All directions were indeed filled with people.

"Tianming, do you have any thoughts?" Jian Wuyi asked.

"Yeah." He firmed his gaze, making up his mind.

"What’s it going to be?"

"If I can rush to Fufeng City in time, I might be able to deal with Ghoul King Si Ling. Cut off the blight at its source. How powerful are the Five Wraiths of Shoal Mountain?"

"They're all third-origin tribulation elders at the tenth-level death phase," Jian Wuyi said.

"What about the forces in Fufeng City?"

"There's an army of a hundred thousand keeping an eye on the captives."

"Then Ghoul King Si Ling shouldn't be that powerful if her main abilities come with making corpse puppets. The five wraiths aren't that powerful either, and I'll be able to handle them without issue. As long as Ghoul King Si Ling is preoccupied with capturing me, she won't have time to make corpse puppets. Not to mention, I might be able to do much more than that."

"The problem is we'll have a hard time leaving. If we gather our elites to carve out a path for you, it'll be obvious to them that you're heading toward Fufeng City. No matter how many we send out, they'll definitely have more elites than us. Not to mention, it'll be even more troublesome if they attack while we’re outside the city," Jian Wuyi said.

"I don't need you to follow me, I can go alone. I want to see if I can shake them off."

"You alone?"

"That's right. I’m their biggest target, so no doubt I'll draw a lot of attention. The moment I lose them, I'll head to Fufeng City. They definitely won't be expecting that, and instead they’ll think I retreated back to Taiji Peak Lake out of fear."

"Can you really lose them?"

"Sect Master Jian, I've improved since you've last seen me."

Everyone looked to Tianming with respect and admiration.

Xuanyuan Xie patted him on the shoulder and said, "Since you've made up your mind, I wish you the best of luck."

The crux of Tianming’s plan was escaping the encirclement. One thing was for sure: if he really managed to lose his pursuers, they would definitely assume he left for Taiji Peak Lake rather than that he was charging into the fray at Fufeng City. Once he reached his destination, he would be able to cull the blight at its roots before anyone could notice.

"Wait for my good news, everyone!" Tianming got onto Meow Meow, now in its Regal Chaosfiend form. "We're going to face off against Ghoul King Si Ling, an eleventh-level death phase samsaran. Additionally, Fu You, Lan Yi, and You Ying are at the eleventh-level life phase, like Long Cangyuan. Do you think you’re faster than them?"

"Worry not, brother. I’m the fastest cat alive," Meow Meow casually boasted.

"Alright, you said it. If I get captured, I'll definitely cut off your balls," Tianming said.

"I'm not afraid! I have the Greenspark Tower to regenerate them for me!"

"Dammit..."

Electricity crackled around Meow Meow and it stretched its platinum bones on the walls while the others watched. "I'm much faster than before thanks to Venus Fiendbone."

It was one star short of a thousand, after all. After getting ready, it looked ahead from the south gate.

"Ghoul King Si Ling's army is in the south. Even though she isn’t here, Feng Qingyu might be. No matter how hurt he is, his lifebound beasts are still there. As for the north, Ghoul King Fu You is there. Taiji Peak Lake is north of us, while Fufeng City is to our northeast." After he made his decision, Tianming bade Jian Wuyi, Xuanyuan Xie and the others farewell before turning toward the north gate.

"Take care, Imperial Son."

Their admiration and respect could scarcely be put into words.

"You too."

Tianming gave Meow Meow a pat, prompting it to roar like a fierce tiger and charge out at a blazing speed. Since leaving the Kilostar Domain, Tianming had risen by two levels, and that had helped Meow Meow's speed grow to terrifying new heights. A bolt of black lightning shot into the distance and turned into an electrical storm. Most people only saw a flash of lightning and nothing else.

"Someone left!"

"Who is it?!"

Almost instantly, the millions of troops blocking off the north of the city were shaken. But Meow Meow was far too quick, looking like nothing but a vague blur that was hard for the eyes to follow. By the time they noticed it, Tianming had passed them over.

"It's Li Tianming!""He's trying to escape! Stop him!"

It was no exaggeration to say that the reason they were there with so many troops was to get rid of Tianming while he was there to begin with. There wouldn't be a point to their encirclement if he left. Killing him was far more important than taking out Jian Wuyi, after all. In an instant, countless lifebound beasts appeared alongside those who tried to stop him, blasting away with all kinds of abilities.

"Seal the whole area!" cried Ghoul King Fu You and many other third-origin tribulation elders.

"Understood!"

The dark sky was turned bright by the blinding flashes of abilities.

"Where is he?"

"Over here!"

"Stop him!"

The whole area broke down into chaos.

"Taste my thunder twister!" Meow Meow snapped as it sent a vortex swirling with black lightning bolts using Misty Hellthunder, immediately electrocuting thousands. The only reason it was so daring was thanks to its newfound powers that had been granted to it by the Greenspark Tower. No matter how Tianming attempted to defend it, though, it still managed to take quite some damage in the form of a few bloody holes.

"Hey, stop messing around and run!" Tianming roared.

"Sit tight! Don't worry, I'm practically immortal now!" Meow Meow enjoyed the prickling sensation of its new healing ability as it picked up speed, shaking off many pursuers at a time. Tianming alone had thrown an army of millions into chaos.

"Think you can run?!" Fu You said as he popped out and gave chase.

"Go!" Tianming yelled. Meow Meow immediately changed directions and ran for real.

"As if I'd let you!" Fu You smirked as countless others came blocking from all directions.

"I don't recall needing your permission." Tianming smirked. "Ling'er!"

"Ready!" She deployed Temporal Field right next to Meow Meow. Now enhanced, it made those in the surroundings slow down so much they seemed to be moving in a quagmire. While the others thought Tianming's confidence had stemmed from Meow Meow's speed, he was actually counting on Feiling's Temporal Field as well. Otherwise, he might not be able to outrun Fu You and the rest.

With Feiling’s Temporal Field covering a radius of a kilometer around them, it formed a Temporal Lock at the center of the field. The lock was formless and secured on Fu You's body, causing him to slow down to the point that he couldn't keep up with the third-origin tribulation elders around him.

"What in the world is this power?!" Fu You was completely flabbergasted. Still confused, he slammed straight into an invisible wall. "What the hell is this?!"

Many others, like him, also felt resistance out of nowhere from the enhanced Millennium Fort! Thousands of Spatial Walls made up a grand labyrinth that surrounded the pursuers. Every instant they spent trapped in it was enough for Tianming to widen the distance between them by leagues.

"Give chase!" Fu You cried, but Tianming's figure was no more. Only three third-origin tribulation elders were still on Tianming's tail, but they had already lost their chance. "This will be troubling!"

Even though so many of them had come for Tianming's sake, he was now gone. Worse, Fu You would definitely be held accountable for allowing this to happen. And now that things had developed to this point, they would have to take Tianming City regardless. The arrow was already nocked and it had to be fired all the same.

"If we can't catch up to him, not even killing all the captives in the city will quench my rage!" What made Fu You feel even worse was how he had thought he had a grasp on Tianming's capabilities and character, and was sure that there was no way he would desert the city in its time of need. Yet now, both of those assumptions had been completely overturned. Though, to be fair, he didn't judge Tianming's character wrongly, for he wasn't a deserter. Instead, he headed northeast and soon reached Fufeng City.

"Wait for me, everyone...." He had Meow Meow return to his lifebound space as he carefully approached the city ahead.

......

Within Fufeng City, six million people were held captive. The cold night air blew across the streets, carrying pained cries and wails throughout. The captives were so densely huddled together that no end to the sea of people could be seen. They all looked at the center of the city with a terrified expressions.

Each of their faces were pale. Their gazes seemed shaken and their mouths were wide open, yet no sound came out. It was almost as if their very souls were filled to the brim with terror.

However, the piercing sounds of crying were music to some people's ears. There was a gloomy-looking girl in a long dress with her feet bare. The dress draped over her sensual and alluring curves, and her charm was only further highlighted by the dark-purple lips.

Everyone seemed to fear her, but more than that, they were utterly petrified at the sight of the fleshy grey insect next to her that seemed to be a kilometer long and covered with around a hundred thousand grey eyes densely packed together.