There was nowhere to hide in the cauldron. Most of Tianming’s enemies had already fallen under the effects of the Trisoul Fiendsong and Evernight Curse. Even without Tianming to kill them, they were already useless in battle, allowing Ying Huo to easily cull them in job lots. Their totems couldn't stand up against Meow Meow or Lan Huang, either.
"Whoa!"
"Don't kill me! Please!"
The cries were growing more and more infrequent as time went on. The strongest of them had been Prince Fengyue and the seven city lords. Those outside the cauldron were mostly third-level ascendants or below in power. By then, everyone within the cauldron was dead aside from Tianming, and the cries had finally stopped. The Grand-Orient Swords were covered in so much blood that no amount of wiping could get them clean.
He closed his eyes for a moment before turning back to look at Ying Huo, Meow Meow, Lan Huang, and Xian Xian. Though tired and injured, they had survived the deathly battle with him. After going through countless battles, they understood each other better than anyone else in the world.
"I'm so tired.... It hurts..." Xian Xian said.
"You've worked hard. Too bad the battle isn't over yet," Tianming said, shaking his head.
They still had ninety thousand people to deal with outside. Every single one of them was capable of unleashing great destruction to the continent. There was no longer any point in hoping that they would hold back out of mercy; it was a laughable notion to Tianming.
"Then let’s continue," Ying Huo said.
"Yeah. Keep fighting."
The enemy had lost their core members, but ninety thousand people was still no joke. There was little chance that they would run away just because over a thousand of them had been killed.
......
Out in the wilderness, people could see the gigantic cauldron floating in the sky and the ninety thousand gods beside it. They didn't take any action, since the prince hadn't given them further orders.
"Sis Xueyi! Does something feel off to you?" a girl asked.
"Are you talking about Tianming?" Jian Xueyi said with a blank look, standing on snowy ground.
"That's right. My Everfrost Will seems to have a weird connection with him. I'm not sure what it is, but it feels like I belong to him. It's really mystical. I can feel his anger, do you feel it too?"
"I do, more than you do."
"We feel it too!"
"So we all have it. I thought it was just me."
"The anger was so real. I even had a feeling that he was slaughtering them inside the cauldron."
"Is it because he's the Human Emperor?"
Everyone was curious as to why they seemed to have resonated with Tianming. Countless others on the continent were talking about a similar experience.
"I have another feeling." Jian Xueyi looked at the cauldron with a fanatic expression.
"What is it?"
"My heavenly will seems to have grown."
"Whoa! Mine too!"
"Same here!"
"Did he cause it?"
"In fact, I feel smarter too!" said a burly youth as he rubbed his head.
"You? You have your pants on the wrong way! In what universe did you become smart?" Jian Xueyi said as she rolled her eyes and the rest laughed.
......
The gods that remained outside the cauldron had it completely surrounded in an airtight encirclement.
"Why does it sound like there’s a lot of panicked cries coming from within?"
"You heard it too?"
"It's normal. Li Tianming is rather capable, after all. There's no way he wouldn't resist at all."
"Just give it a little longer."
"Come to think of it, why didn't we get the order right away? I can't wait any longer."
"I don't know. Maybe His Highness wants to torture him a little after the loss of most of his family?"
"I see. Then I guess we'll wait a little longer then."
Right when they hit peak boredom and someone decided to leave to sneak a bite, the cauldron's lid opened up a crack. They expected the prince to rush out, but nothing came out.
"What's going on?"
The inside of the cauldron was pitch black, and nothing but a strong scent of blood could be detected coming from within.
"Go take a look."
Everyone manifested their totems. Some of them curiously peeked at the opening that slowly opened up.
"Lord Prince, shall we strike now?"
All of a sudden, the lid opened fully and exposed the thirty-thousand-meter-wide opening of the cauldron as it swallowed many of them within.
"Run!"
They quickly moved away like fish swimming away from a net. However, Tianming still managed to trap more than ten thousand curious kittens within before closing the lid, far more than he had expected. Even combined, though, their abilities paled in comparison to the first thousand. He trapped ten thousand of them inside and came out from the cauldron, facing the remaining eighty thousand.
He marveled at Sovereign Xi for sending out a full hundred thousand ascendants to deal with him. If she had only sent ten thousand, Tianming would have dealt with them already. Even if a few thousand of the remaining ascendants escaped, it would be a nightmare. He wasn't worried about them ganging up on him, but scattering instead.
The rest stared at him intently.
"Why’d he come out?"
"What about His Highness and all the city lords?"
"Why’d he take in another ten thousand people?"
They couldn't even begin to imagine that Tianming had killed their prince. As they watched, Tianming tossed out a few corpse parts and assembled them into the prince, utterly flabbergasting them.
"Prince Fengyue wanted to kill my lifebound beasts inside the cauldron, so I slaughtered him and the rest that were with him." Tianming's voice echoed throughout. "Too bad. I thought the divine moonrace was really powerful. I didn't think that you'd all be weaklings, the prince especially. Open your dog eyes, everyone. He knelt and begged for mercy as I was killing him and even acknowledged that the divine moonrace is nothing but pathetic losers. As much as I hate to say it, I agree with him. Look at how I brought his corpse out. I'm even stomping on it, yet not a single one of you has any reaction. And to think you call yourselves superior lifeforms."
He proceeded to laugh heartily. "Are you going to make me wait? If you don't start fighting, I'll go back into the cauldron and slaughter the ten thousand sobbing flies I’ve caught."
There was nowhere to hide in the cauldron. Most of Tianming’s enemies had already fallen under the effects of the Trisoul Fiendsong and Evernight Curse. Even without Tianming to kill them, they were already useless in battle, allowing Ying Huo to easily cull them in job lots. Their totems couldn't stand up against Meow Meow or Lan Huang, either.
"Whoa!"
"Don't kill me! Please!"
The cries were growing more and more infrequent as time went on. The strongest of them had been Prince Fengyue and the seven city lords. Those outside the cauldron were mostly third-level ascendants or below in power. By then, everyone within the cauldron was dead aside from Tianming, and the cries had finally stopped. The Grand-Orient Swords were covered in so much blood that no amount of wiping could get them clean.
He closed his eyes for a moment before turning back to look at Ying Huo, Meow Meow, Lan Huang, and Xian Xian. Though tired and injured, they had survived the deathly battle with him. After going through countless battles, they understood each other better than anyone else in the world.
"I'm so tired.... It hurts..." Xian Xian said.
"You've worked hard. Too bad the battle isn't over yet," Tianming said, shaking his head.
They still had ninety thousand people to deal with outside. Every single one of them was capable of unleashing great destruction to the continent. There was no longer any point in hoping that they would hold back out of mercy; it was a laughable notion to Tianming.
"Then let’s continue," Ying Huo said.
"Yeah. Keep fighting."
The enemy had lost their core members, but ninety thousand people was still no joke. There was little chance that they would run away just because over a thousand of them had been killed.
......
Out in the wilderness, people could see the gigantic cauldron floating in the sky and the ninety thousand gods beside it. They didn't take any action, since the prince hadn't given them further orders.
"Sis Xueyi! Does something feel off to you?" a girl asked.
"Are you talking about Tianming?" Jian Xueyi said with a blank look, standing on snowy ground.
"That's right. My Everfrost Will seems to have a weird connection with him. I'm not sure what it is, but it feels like I belong to him. It's really mystical. I can feel his anger, do you feel it too?"
"I do, more than you do."
"We feel it too!"
"So we all have it. I thought it was just me."
"The anger was so real. I even had a feeling that he was slaughtering them inside the cauldron."
"Is it because he's the Human Emperor?"
Everyone was curious as to why they seemed to have resonated with Tianming. Countless others on the continent were talking about a similar experience.
"I have another feeling." Jian Xueyi looked at the cauldron with a fanatic expression.
"What is it?"
"My heavenly will seems to have grown."
"Whoa! Mine too!"
"Same here!"
"Did he cause it?"
"In fact, I feel smarter too!" said a burly youth as he rubbed his head.
"You? You have your pants on the wrong way! In what universe did you become smart?" Jian Xueyi said as she rolled her eyes and the rest laughed.
......
The gods that remained outside the cauldron had it completely surrounded in an airtight encirclement.
"Why does it sound like there’s a lot of panicked cries coming from within?"
"You heard it too?"
"It's normal. Li Tianming is rather capable, after all. There's no way he wouldn't resist at all."
"Just give it a little longer."
"Come to think of it, why didn't we get the order right away? I can't wait any longer."
"I don't know. Maybe His Highness wants to torture him a little after the loss of most of his family?"
"I see. Then I guess we'll wait a little longer then."
Right when they hit peak boredom and someone decided to leave to sneak a bite, the cauldron's lid opened up a crack. They expected the prince to rush out, but nothing came out.
"What's going on?"
The inside of the cauldron was pitch black, and nothing but a strong scent of blood could be detected coming from within.
"Go take a look."
Everyone manifested their totems. Some of them curiously peeked at the opening that slowly opened up.
"Lord Prince, shall we strike now?"
All of a sudden, the lid opened fully and exposed the thirty-thousand-meter-wide opening of the cauldron as it swallowed many of them within.
"Run!"
They quickly moved away like fish swimming away from a net. However, Tianming still managed to trap more than ten thousand curious kittens within before closing the lid, far more than he had expected. Even combined, though, their abilities paled in comparison to the first thousand. He trapped ten thousand of them inside and came out from the cauldron, facing the remaining eighty thousand.
He marveled at Sovereign Xi for sending out a full hundred thousand ascendants to deal with him. If she had only sent ten thousand, Tianming would have dealt with them already. Even if a few thousand of the remaining ascendants escaped, it would be a nightmare. He wasn't worried about them ganging up on him, but scattering instead.
The rest stared at him intently.
"Why’d he come out?"
"What about His Highness and all the city lords?"
"Why’d he take in another ten thousand people?"
They couldn't even begin to imagine that Tianming had killed their prince. As they watched, Tianming tossed out a few corpse parts and assembled them into the prince, utterly flabbergasting them.
"Prince Fengyue wanted to kill my lifebound beasts inside the cauldron, so I slaughtered him and the rest that were with him." Tianming's voice echoed throughout. "Too bad. I thought the divine moonrace was really powerful. I didn't think that you'd all be weaklings, the prince especially. Open your dog eyes, everyone. He knelt and begged for mercy as I was killing him and even acknowledged that the divine moonrace is nothing but pathetic losers. As much as I hate to say it, I agree with him. Look at how I brought his corpse out. I'm even stomping on it, yet not a single one of you has any reaction. And to think you call yourselves superior lifeforms."
He proceeded to laugh heartily. "Are you going to make me wait? If you don't start fighting, I'll go back into the cauldron and slaughter the ten thousand sobbing flies I’ve caught."
