Chapter 2007 - One Wielding a Sword, Two Carrying a Coffin (5)
Tianming and his lifebound beasts had managed to survive what was almost certain death. Waves of relief washed over them right after. What was even more significant was the fact that the sun emperor would never be able to muster such a destructive blow a second time, as his totems were now entirely wiped out!
Tianming had suffered the least damage thanks to the protection of his lifebound beasts. Apart from Xian Xian, all of them looked to be in rather poor shape. Ying Huo was completely charred and had suffered the most injuries. There were countless holes all over its body where the feathers were burnt to a crisp, making it look like a roast chicken. If not for the Greenspark Tower helping it hold on to its last breath, it would very well perish. It had never suffered so much damage.
Meow Meow didn't fare any better, either. Despite its usual lackadaisical attitude, it had still fulfilled its responsibility as an older sibling to protect Xian Xian. With all of its fur gone, it looked even darker than it usually did. Plus, there was a slight charred smell coming from it.
While Lan Huang was mostly fine, thanks to its thick skin, and Xian Xian hadn’t suffered much damage, all of them were completely worn out. Tianming quickly took them back into his lifebound space.
"My young friend, I've done all I can! At the end of the day, it's youths like you that determine the fate of the future! I'll leave the sun emperor to you!" Ying Huo said, gesturing with its charred wing.
"Oh, stay quiet!" Tianming immediately charged in the direction of the Flameyellow Coffin. "Sun Emperor!" His eyes were turned toward the enemy, radiating pure furious rage. While he was also blackened by the flames, his eyes shone with divine radiance! Boundless flame swirled around him as the entire world seemed to be moving because of him.
The flaming beasts within the formation, however, seemed to have changed their tune. After Tianming had survived the final strike of the Flameyellow Coffin, they seemed to gather and worship him. The entire formation opened up a way for him, with the beasts roaring at the sidelines. The scene looked like the coronation of a new ruler!
Tianming could clearly feel it. His sword raised, he fell toward the sun emperor like a meteor as the impetus of the sun gathered around him. Every single one of his movements matched the pulse of the star and the energy in his body began resonating with the nova source of the world. A true ruler must convince the world as well as the people! Before this, the sun emperor and I each only dominated one aspect, but now.... When the Flameyellow Coffin had refined the eleven totems for an attack that’d still failed to destroy Tianming, the momentum of fate that was gathered around the divine artifact seemed to shift toward him. Nova source contains both fundamental cosmic forces and divine ordered patterns. Everything in this world, ranging from divine ores, to herbs, to hazards, all stem from nova source. Even divine celestial patterns were developed from divine ordered patterns. Given all that, why wouldn't nova source have its own will? That's why nobody’s been able to control all the nova source of an entire world. Only nova source itself can pick the rightful ruler that’ll allow it to perpetuate, and the one who’s picked will gain the impetus of the world!
The puzzle pieces began clicking into place once the impetus of the world had gathered around Tianming. Unlike the sun emperor, who dominates out of an obsessive desire to fulfill his own ambitions through subjugating the star, I’m far more willing to listen! This is just like the Azurecloud Divine Tree's case! If a divine tree could have a will of its own, why not a nova source world? The people who didn't respect the tree all died in the end, scattered as flowers across the wilderness. "There’s a will or a soul in all things. That's why they deserve respect. The righteous path is one of mutual resonance."
The epiphany shook Tianming's mind. Some of his thoughts were even unconsciously expressed when he spoke, and the more he did, the more certain he felt about them. The insights were really important, and each of them caused the impetus of the sun around him to grow while the sun emperor's continued to recede. The sun would choose its apostle through the duel!
"Sun Emperor!" Tianming charged through the sea of clouds and astral flame, emerging before the sun emperor once again.
When the sun emperor saw that he had survived, his expression contorted once more, which only worsened once he noticed that the impetus of the sun around Tianming was stronger than before. "This is a mistake! Something’s wrong somewhere!" He turned back and looked at the Flameyellow Coffin with rage and disappointment. Teeth grit with rage, he snapped, "I didn't let you down, so why do you no longer trust me?!"
"That's because your way is wrong. You're also weaker than me," Tianming said.
"Shut up, brat!"
"Oh, so your only edge over me is your age, eh? How pathetic."
"You sound like the duel’s already been settled," the sun emperor said, smirking.
"Of course. Do you have any other trump cards? By all means, use them." Tianming pointed the Grand-Orient Sword at him as the power of the Flint Infernal Impulse gathered, triggering the Imperealm Sword Formation once more. Death would swiftly come!
"What if I destroy that clone of mine and let you fall into despair?" The sun emperor smirked, knowing that he no longer had any totems and that Tianming's sword was an adequate counter to his coffin. It was already impossible for him to kill the brat.
"If that's the case, I’ll indeed despair. But it won’t change the fact that you'll be destroyed. The stewardship of the sun will be handed over to me." Tianming stood there, eyes shining through his charred face. Solar impetus gathered above him, giving him an imperial aura.
"Hahahaha!" Every time the sun emperor laughed, he had a trick to pull out of his sleeves.
Tianming was already prepared to take it, but he didn't expect the sun emperor's reaction was to run away. The two sped off like a meteor with the coffin, heading downward.
"Looks like we won't be able to settle our duel today. I'll come back for a fight to the death. Your lifebound beasts must’ve died out from that blast just now. Once my totems return, I'll come back for your life." The sun emperor did indeed believe Tianming's beasts to be stronger than totems, but the deaths of lifebound beasts and totems were fundamentally different. The former meant a permanent decrease in might, while the latter was only a temporary setback.
The sun emperor still had some confidence left. As long as the death of Tianming's beasts dragged him down a notch, he would still have a chance. Even if he refused to accept that Tianming had already overcome him, he’d still made the right choice. Given the speed of the coffin, Tianming would only be able to chase him down using the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb.
"As expected of the sun emperor. If you can't defeat me, you'll simply flee! How shameless is that?" Tianming furrowed his brows in disgust. As the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb was still high up in the sky, he had no choice but to give chase himself, however futile that may be. Yet there would be no better chance than now to end the sun emperor.
"Dammit!" Tianming continued speeding downward. By now, the coffin had passed through the Flameyellow Guard Formation and was visible to the people below, no longer looking as brilliant as before after having lost the impetus of the sun.
"I can still rise back up. Don't panic. Panic is the greatest taboo!" The sun emperor was fraught with worry, his heart pounding. His only hope was that he would be able to disappear, yet the more he ran, the more the impetus on him scattered. Everything was beginning to crumble around the sun emperor, dealing blow after blow to him.
"As long as I survive, there’ll always be a chance!" Despite his pride and arrogance, he had still chosen to flee. Tianming had already done it once himself, so why not him? However, he was suddenly shocked to find that he could no longer escape. The Flameyellow Coffin was seemingly set in space and he was unable to budge it in the slightest.
The sun emperor's bronze face contorted even more. He snapped his gaze backward and glared glare at the other person behind the coffin, whose head hung quietly down, as if he had nothing to do with anything that was happening. However, he tightly held down the coffin with his hands.
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