Beastmaster of the Ages

Chapter 4078 - The Most Crucial Step

"Ninefold Hellstar! How could it...." Ming Xingwang's eyes darted around the surroundings like a madman's. It was a world that he had defended for tens of thousands of years, yet all of a sudden, it had turned into something completely foreign to him. His territory had suddenly been taken over by someone else. It was insane! "This is impossible!"

Even a sweep of his cosmic sense told him that the black nova source that had been around him had fundamentally changed; the color change wasn't just superficial and reflected something deeper. Though the color seemed much gentler than before, it seemed to react with even wilder energy!

"Well, it's impossible for you, at least." Tianming's gaze didn't waver in the slightest, seemingly burning away at Ming Xingwang. His fluttering white hair and black andgold eyes made Ming Xingwang closely acquainted with an unfamiliar kind of terror. He had never felt this kind of emotion for tens of thousands of years.

"You have to die! Nobody can be allowed to resist the Eightpart Pantheons!" Even at a moment like this, his faith in the Eightpart Pantheons was absolute. He snapped around and tried to get out of Tianming's control, yet no matter where he went, he would be surrounded by pink storms that went against the flow.

All Tianming needed to do was take a single step to arrive behind the gigantic deva. Without saying anything else, he swung his sword! Tianming's entire body was infused with omnisentient power and Ji Ji's nova source. He used both swords, one for life, one for death. The golden sword carried the Lifedragon as it laid a path of flowers, while the black sword carried the Deathdragon and paved a path of destruction. Life and death intersected incessantly in Ming Xingwang's crumbling body.

Ming Xingwang groaned in pain as his body was cut into three distinct parts. The countless streams of order and the power of life and death finally dealt enough damage to turn him into fireworks that expanded tens of millions of meters away!

"As expected of the second-in-command of a maniverse-class world. He's so hard to kill!" Tianming was rather shaken from that. If not for the omnisentient threads and Sacredstar Spirit, the gap would've been far too wide for him to cross. As he witnessed a titan tens of thousands of years old explode before him, his blood seemed to boil. He had achieved the unlikeliest of feats.

"Gaaaaah!" The middlekin astrons congealed back into a cosmic god essence that had a diameter of hundreds of meters. It was pitch black and nigh impenetrable even by godshaker-class cosmic relics.

"It's finally over!" Tianming fused the swords into one and raised it up high before swinging it down with so much force that it could rend a world apart. With a rumbling explosion, sparks flew across the cosmic god essence as it was parted into two halves like an egg.

"Noooo!" Ming Xingwang roared in disbelief that he had been slain by a mere youth. Before his vita was completely scattered, it sensed the gigantic dead fish eye that appeared on Tianming's chest. Through it, Ming Xingwang could make out a misty gray prison! The judgment ghoul that had fused with him shrieked nonstop as if it was scared of something. Though it tried to run off, it appeared like it was drowning as the eye swallowed it whole. No matter how terrifying it was before, it was nothing more than livestock on a chopping block. Scrambling as it tried, it couldn't escape the fate of being gulped down and turned into an image on the gray coffin.

"What in the...." Ming Xingwang's consciousness faded away after he witnessed the puzzling sight. His vita was completely gone. No matter how powerful he had been, he simply couldn't comprehend how Tianming had managed to defeat him. The Primordial Chaos Beasts and omnisentient threads were things that were far beyond anyone's common sense.

"Ji Ji, let's lay low." Tianming finished the most crucial phase of his plan and it was now time for the most nerve-wracking phase. First, he stopped Ji Ji from taking over the Ninefold Hellstar completely.

"Okay." Ji Ji pulled back and caused the nova source of the world to return to its original black color, at least the ones near the outer surface. The shocked devas finally calmed down, not having a clue as to what was going on. Yin Chen said that they were discussing what happened with great intensity.

Tianming claimed everything that had belonged to Ming Xingwang, including the Brush of Dead Souls and Tome of Armageddon. These were two elite cosmic relics that would serve Zi Zhen well. Then, he turned his attention to the Ninefold Hell Cauldron.

It was really difficult even for other devas to take control of the relic as it was protected by a hundred thousand formation locks. Without the previous master handing the relic to their successor, it was basically impossible to conquer it. Though it wasn't a cakewalk by any means for Tianming, he was at least used to formation cracking already. It was something he had to do time and again. Without another word, he placed both hands on the Cauldron and started to unlock the formations.

"The centuroptic beast's eye doesn't seem to be enough. I'll need quite a bit of time." Tianming furrowed his brows as he teased the formation threads apart. "Yin Chen, help me find fifty thousand people in the Ninefold Hellstar with the most impressive hell-ring talents."

"Sure thing." It was an easy task for Yin Chen. Seeking out high-tier ghouls would greatly contribute to Eighth's growth, not level or cultivation stage. Even though Ming Xingwang's ghoul had been powerful, it had only a limited effect on Eighth and couldn't compare to Princess You You's ghoul.

By seeking out the top fifty thousand talented ghoul users, it would no doubt be much more efficient. As it was not easy to remain undetected for too long in a maniverse-class world. Both he and Yin Chen were racing against time.

Not long after, Tianming managed to take over the Ninefold Hell Cauldron, absorbing all its divine patterns within the core. He finally had control rights over the fusion and astralguard formations of the Ninefold Hellstar! 'Only the final phase remains...."

Tianming let the storms around him cleanse him, closing his eyes as he meditated about the formation core. Soon, he found a rather large problem: the activation of the astralguard formation.