Chapter 929
The difference between the two showed in their clash of wills. There were some people who only wanted an end to all the fighting, while others wanted to rule no matter what, even if that meant risking the return of the specters. Dugu Jin had formed the Flameyellow Imperial Sect to get others to work for his cause. However, it was nothing but a pipe dream. Nobody would truly bother defending his plans and ambitions.
Compared to that, Tianming's firm will was exuded with full force from his eyes and sword, igniting the flame of passion in the hearts of many. Everyone all turned to look at Dugu Jin, who had the support of nobody but the hundred thousand dragon souls of his ancestors.
"Your ancestors have betrayed humanity for their own ends! Their demise was well deserved!"
Even though Dugu Jin claimed that his ancestors weren't that sort, he had shown that he was willing to work with specters to kill Tianming through his actions. At the end of the day, he was no different from them. Even if Dugu Jin was currently stronger than Tianming, it was a close difference. Di Zang was being held back by Feiling and Meow Meow. The aura of the Primordial God-Emperor coming from Tianming made Dugu Jin feel that while he was standing on the peak, he didn't have a stable foundation.
No matter what, even if Tianming fell, the Archaion Sect would still fight to its death. That was the key difference that shook Dugu Jin to his core. It was as if Tianming was destiny incarnate.
"Two hundred millennia ago, your ancestors betrayed humanity for glory and earned their righteous punishment. Now you’re working with the specters for your own glory, but even so, you're fated to be crushed by me! Do you understand now? The Xuanyuan house is the true eternal clan!"
Tianming once more felt the power coming from the masses. His proclamation seemed to resonate with the whole of humanity, giving him a rush of power so huge he had never felt it before. He felt like he was about to explode from the sheer will of the masses that flooded into him. It felt like the souls of billions of people were flooding into his sea of consciousness, making him shine like a true sovereign that dominated and blessed all of his subjects. The sovereign existed for his subjects; every one of them made up part of his authority. There would be no ruler if there was nobody to be ruled, and that was the epiphany Tianming had gained.
"Humans are no doubt weaker than specters, especially when we talk about our bodies. However, we have a long legacy of culture and wisdom. We have kindness and empathy. We aren't afraid of hardship, and we work hard and persevere. In times of disaster, we band together and let our souls resonate! True strength lies in the spirit of humanity! When we put our powers together, we’ll never have to fear all manners of ghosts and demons!"
Two hundred millennia ago, Great Emperor Xuanyuan was there to lead humanity in a rebellion against their fate. Now they had Tianming, inheritor of the legacy of the Primordial God-Emperor, to lead the masses in a fight for their own lives! His will alone was enough to cause other humans to spiritually resonate with him. Such was the power of a true sovereign! Tianming's swords began humming as he charged toward Dugu Jin. "I’ll send you off to the afterlife, Dugu Jin!"
He struck with his swords and executed the Asura Fiendgod Formation with the boost granted by the Dragonhide, causing two kilometer-tall fiendgods to manifest. They were both formed of sword ki alone. Had the Hexapath Sword God witnessed it, he would realize that Tianming's Hexapath Samsara Sword was already different from the one he had invented. His fiendgods looked cruel and savage, while Tianming's seemed to brilliantly glow with gold and black. Each strand of sword ki seemed to contain part of the people's will and had resonated to form a completely different Asura Fiendgod Formation. While it wasn't as savage and terrifying, it seemed stronger in comparison.
That resonance made Tianming feel that a being like the Primordial God-Emperor was definitely far beyond the Flameyellow Continent. He seemed to bless and nourish this sword strike. Amidst the dense sword ki, Tianming glowed bright and gloriously, as if he was truly the reincarnation of Great Emperor Xuanyuan, and swung his swords down. The amazing display had long extinguished the flame in Dugu Jin's heart. He had never had the will to rule in the first place; all he had was untamed power and dissatisfaction.
"You’re truly laughable! Do you think saying all that bull will make you strong?!" Blood seemed to leak out of his eyes. First his third eye let out a blast of bloody light toward Tianming. Then he swung Godbane as the blood within him boiled, using Deicide Mantra. The first move, Ashless, contained the will to destroy everything with such thoroughness that no ash would remain. It was followed by the second move, Insurmountable, symbolizing the state of achieving peak and unrivaled power. Finally, the third move, Godless, was the most terrifying.
"There are no gods, so only I reign supreme!" Dugu Jin's moves were actually a little stronger than Tianming's Asura Fiendgod Formation, yet he would never understand the fact that a person so much younger than him understood the true meaning of being a sovereign far more than he did.
The two titans were just about to clash. Boundless sword ki gathered and descended from the skies towards Dugu Jin. Shades of black and gold swallowed up the entire Xuanyuan Lake, causing endless destruction and vaporizing much of the lakewater.
"Reign supreme my ass," Tianming mocked. It hit far harder than ever. Asura Fiendgod Formation's amazing suppression not only broke through the Hundred-thousand Bloodfiend Eyes, but also continued pushing back against Dugu Jin's three strikes. Despite the heaviness of Godbane, it seemed easily deflected and swayed by the Grand-Orient Swords.
"Deicide? You think that’ll make you king?"
That was the core reason for Dugu Jin's loss! Tens of thousands of sword ki strands washed over him, much to his shock; he didn't have any time to ponder it at all. Those words seemed to burn painfully in his mind. "Was I... destined to die by the fate of the heavens?"
The looming reality of the matter seemed to cause him to shudder once more. "No, fuck this fate! Fuck Tianming! I will—"
Before he could finish, his heart was pierced through by a sword that was followed quickly by all the sword ki strands.
"So you still didn't understand at the very end. Or rather, you understood, but refused to acknowledge it and continued to lie to yourself!" Tianming appeared from the sea of sword ki, standing before Dugu Jin, who was nothing more than a bloody pincushion now.
He glared at Tianming with all three eyes wide open, completely unconvinced of his loss. "You... you!"
He raised his finger and pointed at Tianming, his gaze filled with hate as he fell into Xuanyuan Lake. Once submerged, he seemed to see Tianming's three bloodied lifebound beasts appear. However, they were carrying two huge dragon heads and attempting to join up with Tianming above. The two ancient bloodvoid dragons had lost at the same time he did. "It's... it's completely over for me...."
He sighed and closed his eyes for good. "The eternal clan...."
Back then, he would laugh whenever he heard something like that. It was nothing more than a self-praising fantasy of humanity, he’d thought. Yet now, he could no longer scoff at the notion.
......
Back above Xuanyuan Lake, Tianming turned around and faced the six-eyed specter, Di Zang, who was staring back at him in fear. "It's your turn."
......
A loud cheer erupted from within the Nine Dragon Formation, causing the battles in the surroundings to stop. "Everyone, our imperial son killed Dugu Jin!"
Everyone looked at the battlefield with blank gazes. Some felt their hearts skip a few beats and their legs shudder, while others were completely wide-eyed and had their jaws agape, unable to believe their eyes. Weapons slipped from grips and fell to the ground. They were just as shocked as they were basking in joy.
Many of them immediately relaxed and hugged one another. The death of Dugu Jin meant the squabble between humans was over, just as Tianming had predicted. With Dugu Jin and Fang Taiqing both dead at the imperial son’s hands, the Flameyellow Imperial Sect that had just been formed twenty-four days prior had collapsed. Their submissive gazes were a sign that they had given up, including those of the Sterling House of Fang and the former Nonahall Ghost Sect.
"The battle has been decided!" Xuanyuan Dao yelled passionately with all he had. "Do you understand now, everyone? The Flameyellow Imperial Sect is gone! From now on, the Flameyellow Continent has a new ruler: Li Tianming!"