Chapter 1714 - Thorn in the Heart
Cang was Crimsonjade Long's uncle, and likely to be the younger brother of the precentennial paragon. An aura of gore surrounded him, adding to the fatal sensation he gave off. He shook and seemed to generate a few blood shadows that seemed identical to his main. Tianming was being attacked from multiple fronts. It was so fast that the bloody shadows almost instantly formed a net that entirely encircled him, giving him no grounds for escape.
"There's too large of a gap, eight whole levels!" Tianming could only take it as bad luck. Not to mention, Cang's status meant that he also had access to the best resources. Before Tianming could even deploy his lifebound beasts and totems to at least try, the net of blood came down on him. He couldn't even resist as Godsin was sent flying. Then a bloody sword was thrust into his body multiple times, containing up to seven grade-eight divine hazard sword ki strands. Tianming's body was like tofu compared to his, allowing him to easily tear Tianming apart.
The crowd exclaimed in awe. Even though this fight was bound to be Tianming's loss from the start and that Tianming's goal of getting a win streak was moot, many felt a little off about it. The mysterians were just as shamelessly dominant as they had been during the Astralium Seeking. First, Long had his plan of clearing the battlefield of non-mysterians, and now Cang stepped in as a huge roadblock. They wouldn't allow anybody but their own to get anything good if they had a choice.
"Begone! Let me tell you that as long as I'm here, don't even dream about leaving the fifth level! You want to win ten times in a row? You'll have to go through me!"
The mysterians banded together. Given Crimsonjade Cang's status and power, he could indeed stop anyone from progressing as he pleased. As long as he was there, nobody would dare to take on the challenge. Eventually, he would pick Tianming as a challenger and the cycle would repeat itself. Being targeted in this fashion truly was troublesome; it was a clear abuse of power, but the weak could just suck it. Quite a few people were left speechless at his words.
"This isn't a fair fight at all. Cang of the Crimsonjade line, you'll just ruin the mysterians' reputation by bullying Brother Tianming so shamelessly. You make us all look bad!" Shenwu Yin said with a troubled tone.
"It does look a little bad, but this is just what faceless specters like to do. It's quite pointless," said one of the octabane geniuses beside her.
"Don't say that. The ones who'll have to lower their heads in shame are the mysterians! Li Tianming is merely an outsider," someone else said.
"Yeah. Let them do it, then!"
There were many others like Shenwu Yin who were quite speechless about this. When Crimsonjade Cang came out, a number of mysterians took his side.
"Brother Cang really is amazing. You killed him like slaughtering a chicken."
"Let's see if he can keep that smug act up if he gets killed every time he comes."
"He wants to go to the sixth level? Doesn't he know who calls the shots here?"
"Even if he goes to the sixth or seventh levels, we decide what happens there, too."
"We mysterians call the shots across the entire astralscape!"
Crimsonjade Cang smiled and said, "I just killed a simple fly, so don't make too big a deal out of it. I'll keep him securely in the fifth level."
"But what about Yanwu Dao and the rest when they come? It'd be better if they're the ones who stop Li Tianming," someone asked.
"It has nothing to do with me. All I did was put him in his place before they came. If they can't defeat him even after that, then they’d better just quit," Cang said. Even after all that, he still heard quite a lot of dissenting calls.
"So what if you defeated Li Tianming?"
"You're only relying on your age."
"If Yanwu Dao loses, no mysterian of Tianming's age can compare to him, and he only came from a heliacal-class world. If he was born in a deific-class world...."
These were thorns in Cang's heart that he couldn't just simply resolve.
After being instantly killed, all Tianming could do was return to the wondersky realm. It would take quite some time before he could enter once more. Apart from wasting time, this loss might cost him quite a number of believers as well. The first thing he did when he returned to the real world was to check out his Omnisentient Threads.
"Half a billion?!" The increase in number was definitely due to his defeat of Shenwu Fen. He had gained two hundred million believers just like that. Apparently, being defeated by Crimsonjade Cang didn't affect him that much.
"Guess people are aware that losing to someone around fifty years older than me isn't embarrassing at all." Tianming felt quite relieved. "Half a billion Omnisentient Threads from gods.... If I use their power, I wonder how powerful I'll be."
Testing it slightly, he felt his power rising in a startling manner. "At the very least, I’ll be able to defeat Crimsonjade Cang. In other words, I'll be able to defend myself somewhat while I’m here."
Even though this world had quite a number of elites, Tianming was already among the most powerful even without taking the Omnisentient Threads into account. If he returned to Orderia, he would probably be as strong as the top elites of second-rate factions. His growth kept his excitement going; he couldn't wait to return to the Astraldome to keep challenging Yanwu Dao and the rest according to his plan.
As for Crimsonjade Cang's griefing, he was quite speechless about it. Cang was a crook that Tianming couldn't defeat. It was quite the troublesome matter.
"So if I offend him he'll prevent me from going to the sixth level?" He heard what Cang had said after he was defeated. "So what? As long as he doesn't stop me from taking down the Celestial Beings, it's pointless."
To Tianming, the other three members of the Celestial Beings were resources he needed to increase the number of Omnisentient Threads. Too bad he needed to wait a bit before going back, thanks to being griefed. "I have no choice but to wait."
There were other grade-eight divine hazard sword ki strands waiting for him and he needed the time to practice the seventh strike of Ninedragon tribulation, after all. As for Mu Ziyan, she was helping him attain a third regal soul.