There was no sense of achievement in defeating opponents like these. After finally making it to the top ten of the imperial star ranking, it would be a pity if he was driven out of the tournament by these dragon golems. Perhaps this was the price of obtaining the Dragonblood Desecration. Even if someone else had encountered the dragon golems, Tianming was certain they would suffer heavy casualties. 

"I’ll try something else.” 

In this desperate situation, Tianming wrapped the Lifesteal Silverdragon around his left arm and sprang forth like a beast, clinging to one of the largest dragon golems. The colorful dragon was several thousand meters long and was at least a grade-four formation. This dragon golem alone was as difficult to deal with as the Seablood Formation. 

"Isn’t breaking formations all the same?" At the thought of this, he stretched out his black arm, sinking his sharp claws into the dense celestial patterns on the dragon. Just as he had done with the Millionblade Formation, Tianming grasped its vitals and the dragon golem roared, struggling violently. 

“Die!” It was as if he had grabbed it by the balls, breaking the foundation of this formation. With one final roar, the dragon golem turned dim and a complete metal dragon fell to the ground. 

The sky plunderer race…. At times like this, Tianming felt a strong sense of pride. Awesome! he couldn’t help exclaiming inside. What kind of bizarre race were the sky plunderers? How could they possess such a heaven-defying ability? This approach was no faster than using the Lifesteal Silverdragon, because he would still have to destroy the dragons one by one. However, he was no longer passively taking a beating, but attacking. Thus, his tiny figure flew from one dragon golem to another. Some formations were of a lower grade and could be dealt with in the blink of an eye, while the more complex ones took longer. Even so, every moment was a race against time. 

“Hold on!” 

Tens of thousands of dragons swooped down to inflict a devastating blow. Tianming charged into their midst, leading many of them away. Even when he broke the formations, the other dragon golems could still cause damage to him. All he could do was rely on the Greenspark Tower to heal him and keep going. The others huddled together, defending one another under Lingfeng's Evil Suppression Formation. 

“Kill!” They fought shoulder to shoulder in this intense struggle between life and death. As long as they looked up and saw Tianming flying across one dragon after another, metal and rock continuously crashing down, they would still have hope. 

“You guys are amazing. You’ve certainly won me over!" Despite the fear, Yu Ziqian was influenced by their bravery. 

They bit the bullet and held on. Time trickled by, and soon two hours had passed. By this point, they were exhausted and covered in blood. Toward the end, Tianming’s lifebound beasts protected the others within the circle; this was their last stand. 

Tianming was still going. Even though his black arm could break the formations, he could only handle one at a time while still being attacked by the dragons. The formations’ power was everywhere. His body was numb and close to falling apart. Even a fourth-level constellier would perish here. 

"Bloody hell! Did they expect thousands of disciples to gather here and face the dragon golems together? Perhaps we arrived early and were given a test meant for tens of thousands of people?" 

Tianming believed that was likely the case. Who could survive such a difficult challenge? After two hours, there were still more than three thousand dragon golems remaining. Xian Xian was close to being completely bald from all the attacks; fortunately, Feiling’s flower was well-protected. 

The other lifebound beasts were using their bodies to protect the others and they were at their limit. Like Tianming, they were dizzy with exhaustion. The power of the dragon golems was one contributing factor, and the fact that Lingfeng, Xian Xian, and the Dragonblood Desecration had no effect on the dragons was another. Otherwise, Xian Xian wouldn’t be troubled by such a fight. 

Keep going, you can't lose.... Tianming grit his teeth, dragging his weary body into battle after battle. Just as they were about to collapse in despair, the remaining dragon golems began losing power and crashed to the ground as the light within them dimmed. When he looked down, the floor was covered in dragon golems, metal, and rock. 

"What happened?" Tianming asked in amazement. 

"They’ve used up their nova source!" Yu Ziqian cried with joy. 

“We made it!” 

In that instant, they all collapsed to the ground, including Tianming. Yet another deadly battle was finally over. Persevere, and if they won, there would be gains. At the very least, these metal and lightning divine ores would be Fifth’s food. As soon as the battle ended, Tianming let it out. Tens of thousands of little silver eggs spread out through the Blooddragon Palace and began nibbling away at the metal. 

"What the hell?" Yu Ziqian was bewildered. The eggs were devouring divine ores?

“Why are you asking so much? Do you want to be silenced?" Tianming smiled. 

"The weather is great." Yu Ziqian quickly changed the subject. 

Xian Xian lay on Tianming's shoulder, crying. "Why is Fifth eating, but I can’t? I’m about to starve to death!" The Radix World Tree was almost completely depleted. This was the first time Xian Xian had been so heavily injured, and more injuries meant more hunger. Tianming could tell it was about to collapse. 

“Just a few more days and I promise you’ll be full!" Tianming said. 

"I’m so hungry...." Xian Xian seemed quite uncomfortable as it sobbed on Tianming's shoulder.

"If you’re really hungry, you can take a few bites from me. I have tons of flesh!" Stretching out its claw, Lan Huang patted Xian Xian's head. 

"Thank you, Tortoise Bro, but your flesh tastes bad. I don’t want any." Xian Xian was amused. 

“Tastes bad....” Lan Huang looked dejected.

After comforting Xian Xian for a while, Tianming allowed her to fall into a deep sleep. Fifth was still feasting and the metallic luster on each egg grew more and more intense. Tianming picked up several eggs and found that their shells were as hard as a brick. 

"Metal-type divine ores can only increase Fifth’s hardness. It’ll need a metal-type nova source to reach our current level." Ores and energy were completely different. However, devouring these dragon golems would be enough to give Fifth a tough physique once it was born. 

"That’s right!" Yu Ziqian was puzzled. 

“What’s the matter?” 

"In the beginning, what we heard was the sound of war drums. What about them? Are there only dragon golems?" 

Tianming recalled it as well. When he had first heard the sound, he thought someone was beating the drums, but it was dragon golems that appeared. Just as they were voicing their doubts, the celestial patterns detached from the dragon golems and gathered together, forming a colorful enchantment shaped like a war drum. The drum shrank down to the size of an apple. Rushing over at once, Tianming reached out, grabbed the war drum and tapped it with his fingers. The thunderous sound sent his hair flying. 

"What’s this?" With curiosity, the others surrounded Tianming. 

"I wonder what the formation does." The echo of a war drum sounded above his head. He tapped the drum again and another echo sounded from the distance. 

"It’s showing us the way." Tianming said, staring at the passage above. 

……

The Myriad Solar Sects were boiling with excitement once more. Another terrifying change in the imperial star ranking had occurred. Today, the rankings were as follows: First place: Li Tianming (Azuresoul Palace) with 530,000 points; Second place: Lin Xiaoxiao (Azuresoul Palace) with 330,000 points; Third place: Weisheng Moran (Dreamless Celestial Nation) with 310,000 points…. Sixth place: Ye Lingfeng (Azuresoul Palace) with 150,000 points…Seventeenth place: Yu Ziqian (Azuresoul Palace) with 70,000 points. The Azuresoul Palace must be ecstatic. Tianming’s 530,000 points basically guaranteed him top ten in the final ranking. 

The Dragonblood Desecration was worth two hundred thousand points. Xiaoxiao had fused with the exalted blood which determined their points. She originally had about a hundred thousand points and had overtaken Weisheng Moran with the addition of two hundred thousand more. The other thirty thousand was probably awarded for her fight against the dragon golems. Having destroyed thousands of dragon golems, Tianming rose by a hundred thousand points while Lingfeng rose by more than forty thousand. 

"Who can surpass Li Tianming now?” 

"What did he do in the tomb? What has he obtained?" 

There was no end to the audience’s discussion. A second-level constellier who had never shown his face was somehow leading by a wide margin. This was simply an unsolvable mystery. 

"And what about Lin Xiaoxiao? An increase of two hundred thousand points in one go? That’s exactly what happened to Li Tianming last time." 

"It means they obtained some sort of treasure." 

“What could it be?” 

"God knows! Everything turned strange the moment the tomb emerged." 

"There’ll be a good show to watch if the current ranking is maintained until the end. I heard the Whitedragon Empress of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect directly asked for these three disciples." 

"What magical powers do those children have? How did Jiang Qingliu cultivate them?" 

Everyone was puzzled.

"If Yu Ziqian makes it to the top ten of the imperial star ranking, the Azuresoul Palace would occupy four places. That would be unprecedented." 

“It would cause a sensation on the sun. That’s awesome!” 

"Forget about that. What I want to know is, what was the treasure worth two hundred thousand points? Is it useful to us?" 

While they were discussing, an old man approached. Chuckling, he said, "Don't you know?" 

“What?” 

"There are disciples who have already been eliminated from the tomb. Many people have learned that the two-hundred-thousand-point treasure was the Ninedragon Emperor’s Lifesteal Silverdragon." 

“Lifesteal Silverdragon!” 

In that instant, they were all riled up.

……

In the tomb, an army of dragon golems quietly opened their eyes. The army had yet to move; the war drum had sounded first. At the same time, seven dragon palaces were surfacing.