Chapter 1103
Tianming was functioning as a formation core right now. Through the Omnisentient Threads, he was linked to his subjects. When their heavenly wills melded with his divine will, it formed a superformation that encompassed the entire human-shaped continent. Tianming was located near the 'heart' of the continent, his Imperial Will the focus of all the threads that served as capillaries. The sleeping giant of a continent's heart started beating as if it was awakening.
"Maybe the entire continent, even the chaos skyjail, is a special place on the Welkin plane." Tianming was only guessing, as he couldn't be sure.
Each thread began sending power to his albi, with each albus connected to a single subject. Their saint springs and heavenly wills were all connected. No matter how weak they were, they were terrifyingly powerful in large numbers. The continent had more than enough people, and they were angry at the senseless invasion of the divine moonrace.
"Kill them!"
"Kill the dastardly divine moonrace!"
Everyone felt Tianming's presence through the threads. He was like a blazing sun high above the continent. They could even feel him going to the Divine Moon Realm and the crisis he faced from his crumbling divine will. They shared in his sense of danger and were intent on coming to his rescue.
"Human Emperor Tianming, don't let all of us down!"
"Since we've found a way to contribute to you, take our power, however meager it is! Never stop fighting no matter how hard it gets!"
"The divine moonrace must pay for treating us like our lives are nothing!"
"Count me in!"
Tianming heard billions of voices ringing out at the same time, but he wasn't the least bit confused. The cracks in his divine will quickly recovered, and it was like they were never there in the first place. The near-crumbling and rebirth had stabilized his Imperial Will even further and the sword-shaped will within his albi all shone brightly.
His chaotic astralforce stabilized once more. Then a brand new vortex, created by the power of all sentient life, began forming in every single albus below the other astral discs. They were energy from the various peoples of the Flameyellow Continent, causing his own power capacity to skyrocket. Even the boost from the orderian cauldron couldn't compare to this. His body radiated with sheer power and the Grand-Orient Sword began resonating at the same time. There was an ancient voice coming from deep within that said, "Bearing the intent of all sentient life, you shall overcome astral gods to become world gods. Though both are gods all the same, the difference between astral and world gods is sky high."
Those words had come from the Primordial God-Emperor. Tianming felt the burst of power from his subjects and was deeply moved.
"Only those that accept the feelings and offerings of his kin and worshippers are true gods!" Astral gods probably referred to those that roamed the astralscape once they reached the Ascension stage, but world gods were those that formed a whole with their own kin and worked together in times of crises to repel their enemies!
"Even the weakest of life shall contribute their power to the greater whole. Thus, never lose sight of even the most insignificant of life!"
Within a few short hours, Tianming had agonized over the pain the people of the Flameyellow Continent were suffering. The rampage of the eighty thousand divine moonrace elites saw the deaths of many as if they were nothing but insects. They even laughed and joked around while committing atrocities. Many people had lost family and loved ones; they were all precious people with lives and histories, not mere numbers. Not to mention, another three hundred thousand gods were even now descending to the continent to sow even more chaos. Nobody could possibly accept that kind of unreasonable violence.
It was almost as if suffering was a necessary aspect of existence! But even though this world had too many imperfections, it was still made up of others who were fellow kin. At this moment, Tianming wasn’t just himself, the individual. Instead, every single albi was like its own person. His countless albi, linked to countless people, formed a singular entity that embodied the will and intent of an entire race for the very first time.
The influx of so much power all at once was a little tough to handle. Even though their own heavenly wills could help Tianming stabilize some of that power, he was still filled to the brim and close to bursting. He tried channeling some of that power into his ten 'bane-rings', and it seemed to work. They began shaking with power and it caused the ten godswords to vaguely shine from under the bane-rings. Eventually, they poked out of his skin a little.
"Maybe my totemic calamity is manifesting!" Tianming had a vague feeling that this would be the time his dormant totemic calamity was about to awaken. All of his godswords emerged and shone brightly above him. "Myriadsword Providence!"
Totemic calamities were basically the totemic analogue to the abilities of lifebound beasts. Every person's totems would only have one for the rest of their life. Common knowledge was that totems were formed using the terra, so they couldn't be too far away from the actual body. However, Myriadsword Providence seemed to overcome that limitation. The ten sixty-meter-long godswords above Tianming's head seemed to fracture; not to crumble, but to form a thousand smaller swords about the size of the Grand-Orient Swords in Tianming's hands. They all looked like smaller versions of the sword they split from. Now, all ten of his swords had split up into ten thousand smaller providence swords in total and were rapidly circling above his head. It was a majestic sea of ten thousand flying swords.
The decapath era godswords all looked different from one another, so the many swords had different designs. Even then, all of them were just as sharp. Putting aside the other benefits he had gained from his symbiotic relationship with his subjects, Myriadsword Providence could split up his swords into many smaller ones, each of which could serve as his eyes, nose, and ears. They were able to fly about ten thousand miles away and be remotely controlled by Tianming, allowing him to detect what was happening from afar and even kill from that distance!
Additionally, it optimized the totems to more easily deal with large crowds, allowing him to have an easier time when facing off against tens of thousands of foes. Though, it was still better to not use the ability when fighting one strong enemy. The implication was that it was like Tianming's terra itself being able to leave his body and function as sensors over large distances. He would be able to cover at least a third of the Flameyellow Continent's area, allowing him to fight without even having to leave home!