Chapter 867
Outside the Sun-Moon-Star Formation, a gigantic black beast came flying from the distance, illuminated by nothing but starlight. It opened its fleshy wings wide, causing the starlight to reflect coldly off its black scales. Mounted atop its neck was a girl dressed in black, hiding in the beast's shadow. Even the light of the stars had a hard time reaching her.
Upon closer inspection, one would see that her skin was covered in complicated, lightning-shaped patterns of bloody color. They almost seemed like circuits that had come from the gigantic beast, like chains binding girl to beast.
Tianming would no doubt be shocked to see it, as he had already seen them not long ago using Fatesteal. They were Lin Xiaoxiao and the Archaionfiend, but the latter was a few times larger than it was when it had first left the Archaion Sect. Its dark crimson eyes, which Tianming had ruptured, had recovered. Now, there were more than nine hundred stars within, proof that it had benefited greatly at Nonahall's expense. Now, it seemed far more threatening than before, unlike its timid, rat-like self back in the Archaion Sect.
As it flew across the skies, it cast a huge shadow on the ground, but none of the fighters below took note of its presence. Then it looked down and opened its mouth wide. "I haven't tasted caeli for a long time. It smells far too good. There's no way I'd be able to enjoy such a delicacy if not for this war. I wouldn't have been able to find my way back to prominence without it."
The girl sitting on its back merely moved slightly, causing the blood-colored circuit patterns on her to shine brightly and turn into actual electricity before instantly swallowing her entirely.
"Xiaoxiao, I already told you to cease your useless struggle. Why even bother? The Trisoul Boltchains no doubt feel rather unpleasant, right? I spared quite a bit of effort to get that idiot Di Zang to let me learn it to be used on you. Ever since you’ve been sealed by the chains, you have become nothing but a decoration. All you need to do is to sit on my back like a potted plant. Who cares about the bond between a beastmaster and lifebound beasts? I’m the Archaionfiend, some might say a royal one too. There is no way I'd tolerate being at your beck and call."
It opened its mouth wide and continued to suck a kind of formless mist into its body. "Among the trinity of souls, caelum is the one that allows normal humans to commune with the heavens and earth. Half of it belongs to the heavens while the other half belongs to the person. The heavenly will of people is intuited through their caelum and later infused into their vita. That's why the foundation of insight and comprehension of cultivators lies in the caelum. The Old Deepstar Path is a divine artifact that absorbed the caelum of those long past so the memories contained within can be used to guide future generations," it explained as it continued sucking away with a joyful expression.
"Caelum is the most tricky of the trinity of souls. It never enters the body, belonging to both the person and the world itself. It occupies a higher vantage point to observe one's life experience. When we try recalling something, we’re in fact trying to look through our memories using caelum as a lens of sorts, almost as if we're seeing things in the third person. Only vita has a first person point of view.
"I once told you that we Archaionfiends are soulvores, that is, we consume souls. The reason we’re so powerful is our ability to consume caelum! Back in the Archaion Sect, if it weren’t for the fact I was too weak and didn't wish to cause a commotion at the Old Deepstar Path, I could've eaten my fill of caeli there.
"At the time of death, the caelum returns to the heavens and continues to exist temporarily. That’s when they can be eaten. However, you’re far too useless. I consumed tens of millions of caeli at Pentaphase to nurture you, yet you were actually holding back my growth. Your bloodline is far too inferior, and isn't a good base for me at all.
"No matter. As long as the war continues, the dead will only keep piling up. At the rate I'm consuming them, I'll make you stronger even if you're a completely useless pig! Hehehe.... It's a shame that you offended me too much. Even if you end up reaching the Ascension stage, you'll never get to experience that power for yourself. From now on, you're just a vessel for my power! You don't have to speak or move. Just watch as I climb to the peak and consume you entirely. I will one day free myself from the chains of symbiotic cultivation.
"It's laughable, when I think about it. The people of this world actually think that the symbiotic cultivation technique of the rootbeast race was invented by a human ascendant... hahahaha!"
It burped audibly from its lavish meal. "Not bad. Let the killing resume, then." It didn't even need to lift a finger. "Working together with Nonahall is amazing. Their founding ancestor is of a race much nobler than the rootbeast race.... Xiaoxiao, I really did consider coexisting with you properly. It's a shame that you weren’t compatible with me and wasted quite a bit of my time. I really can't stop laughing at the thought that an ignorant brat like you would actually try to fight and resist me... With what? I told you that I’d bring you all over the universe to see mysteries and wonders you can only imagine. Now, seeing is all you can do."
......
Within the Sun-Moon-Star Formation, Tianming turned his gaze to the two million warriors that had entered after the two beasts from before had been vaporized. There were only around a million defenders left on the south side. The enemy’s forces now numbered close to three million in total; including beasts in that count would only further inflate the numbers. If it weren’t for Origin Phoenix and Arcana Sword Legions having reached their positions beforehand, the south gate would definitely have fallen by now.
While others still couldn't see the rays of hope yet, Tianming knew it was time for the counterattack. Now that the heartscourge fiend was being held back by the formation moon, it wasn't a threat to anyone else. Tianming charged back to the south gate.
"Palace Lord Yi, I need your help!" His bloodied white hair was rather eye-catching.
"Alright."
"I'll control the crowd for you to kill with the formation!" Tianming yelled, then turned to the horde of troops coming their way. Beastmaster and lifebound beast alike, all of them were engaging in a killing frenzy.
"Don't be afraid of him!"
"We have more on our side than they do!"
"Once we cross that, we'll be able to massacre the civilians to weaken the formation! The city will fall!"
"They can't possibly stop all of us!"
The army of millions charged toward Tianming as he took a deep breath. "I don't care if they're ghouls or humans, good or evil. I don't even care if I'll be the biggest sinner after the end of this battle."
A true hero feared nothing. He grit his teeth and stretched out his black arm. The red dot on the Plundering Eye once more fused into the Taiji Eye as he used Vitasteal. Formless hands reached out to more than a million people.
Once more, Tianming was able to peer into the seas of consciousness of every one of them. Then he gave a rapid pull to separate the driving spirits of the lifebound beasts and beastmasters, leaving only tribulation elders at the Samsara stage unharmed. Though they were able to resist it, their vitae were still jumbled, causing them an intense headache.
The charging people and beasts suddenly collapsed into a huge pile on the ground. It was an ungodly method that was beyond the imagination of everyone on the battlefield.
"Kill them!" Tianming cried. As if on cue, the formation blasted into full power, wreaking havoc and destruction.