Beastmaster of the Ages

Chapter 4171 - Astral Fire

Outside of Grand Xia Voidback hovered a boundlessly large metallic ship covered in a cloaking formation that made it invisible in the dark of space. The miniaturized nova source that powered it gave off no signs at all. This vessel had nine dragon heads and it had rapidly made its way towards the collapsing world. Nobody would've expected Tianming to come knocking at their doors while they were preparing a large-scale deployment.

The white-haired youth watched the butterfly-shaped astral hole with his arms behind his back. Its cloaking formation had already failed, revealing its imperial splendor to anyone close enough to see it. While the world was collapsing, it was still the brightest celestial object within the Primordial Sands. One could only imagine how much more impressive it looked in its heyday. While the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb was large, it was nothing but a tiny bug on a scale of this world, which, in its current stage of collapse, looked even larger than usual with countless crimson storms of flame bursting from within out into the stars. It was a magnificent sight, filled with awe and miracle.

Even Tianming didn't know what forms life could exist in away from nova-source worlds, whether they be humans, specters of lifebound beasts. Perhaps they wouldn't exist at all. Looking at the brilliant world in collapse and back at the dim transmission stone in his hand, he said, "Granny Yin is harsh indeed. She's not even giving me a chance to speak."

"Perhaps the specters all hate you because of Xi Xi. I'm sure the disruptions to their ghouls put a lot of pressure on them," Moran said, sitting on one of the dragon horns of the ship next to Tianming. The brilliant lightshow coming from Grand Xia Voidback added a beautiful tint to her ink-green hair and dreamy eyes. She hugged Xi Xi's spiritform, which still looked like a tiny infant. It nestled deeply in Moran's embrace, looking curiously at Grand Xia Voidback with its large eyes.

The ninety million troops of the Tian Jiu Cult were also inside the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. Tianming had told them they would only go to the enemy base to try their luck. If not for 'Tian Jiu' herself being there with them, they would definitely not dare to take any action so bold. The members of the cult looked at their former home tearfully. They were also Grand Xia imperials, after all; the Primordial Sands only housed them and the primalwingers. Both factions had an internal rift which separated each into two sides.

"Even if she isn't willing to meet, it doesn't change anything," Tianming said.

"The fact that they used it as an excuse to gather a hundred million troops instead means that they're not just here to watch. They must have other plans," Moran said.

"That's right. The devas are nothing but normal specters right now, and they don't really get along with the specters of the Virtue Pantheon. The Eightpart Pantheons are wary against them now. This is our chance."

"It's not surprising that she doesn't want to meet you. Betraying the Eightpart Pantheons is too big of a deal. Unless we force them into a corner and make them see that we're their only hope, they wouldn't do something so drastic."

"That's understandable. Even the slightest misstep can doom their entire race, after all." The folks of Grand Feng, Grand Yue and Grand Meng caved before absolute power, and the devas were no exception.

Moran turned to him and said, "By the way, Yin Chen said that the Comma Girl is looking for you again."

Tianming's lips pursed when he heard that name. "It isn't likely for anyone else to be calling themselves that, so it must be the same person." As he spoke, he searched his spatial ring for an old bronze bangle, the chaos worldbangle.

"What do you plan to do?" Moran asked.

"If she has a way to help me destroy the Eightpart Pantheons, I wouldn't mind going to the Realm of Chaos to check it out."

"I see..." The Realm of Chaos and the chaos umbral race were far too mysterious to them.

Tianming's attention was still occupied by everything that was happening before him. "They're going to send an army of more than a billion to attack Ling'er. How can I deal with this without asking the flameyellow voidkin for help and not being to pull the devas to our side?"

Everyone was wondering how to solve this problem. Apart from trying to talk to the devas, Tianming was also exploring other possibilities. "You should stay here while I get closer to Grand Xia Voidback for a look."

"Stay safe and be careful of the defensive formation," Moran said. She was growing more and more caring.

"I'll be fine." Tianming left the ship and flew towards the astral hole.

"He's really going there!" The cult members watched as he flew there. Apart from the leader and the paladins, the others didn't know about Moran's existence, so they were incredibly puzzled by why they were even here. Many of them wanted to rush back home!

Tianming approached Grand Xia Voidback more and more, seeing the brilliant flames up close. "The fusion formation has been twisted and torn, but its structure remains, which the imperial bloodline modified into the Xiavoid Stareye... As for the defensive formation, it's still intact but much smaller than before and only protects the astral hole. It's about the level of an imperial-class formation..."

The imperial-class Grand Xia Guard Formation was why Tianming couldn't just use the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb to erase the problem for good. With the troops of the Eightpart Pantheons there guarded by the formation which Empress Xia could wield, it was as secure as an imperial-class world.

However, Tianming had a final gambit to make. He could simply bring the Sun over as the Flameyellow Divine Path had these coordinates. All he needed to do was use the solar lances on the rear of Grand Xia Voidback, slipping through the cracks of the shrunken astralguard formation, to suck away the remaining nova source, which would also cause the Xiavoid Stareye to collapse. However, there were two complications: First, Empress Xia and the Eightpart Pantheons wouldn't just let it happen and would attack the Sun. Second, collapsing Grand Xia Voidback would kill all cosmic and astral gods within.