Beastmaster of the Ages

"Not only can their divine wonders use astralforce and the power of their sacrosuns, they can also replenish their nova source from the environment. As long as the nova source remains, they're basically unbeatable!" Tianming said, furrowing his brow. The wondersky realm simulated ideal concentrations of nova source, allowing divine wonderians to endlessly fight. Their usage of nova source was even more impressive than Ying Huo's.

"They inscribe divine formations into their bodies and continue leveling them up. Eventually, their bodies become as powerful as divine astralships!" That was something that Tianming would never be able to learn. It was something that required the efforts and missteps of ancestors long past to refine over countless generations!

The chess soul wonder's explosions and the enchanting sound of the qin soul wonder instantly allowed them to dominate the battlefield, taking the initiative. Lan Huang's Primordial Soundwave and Xian Xian's Trisoul Fiendsong did slightly disrupt the qin soul wonder's sound, but only just barely, given their low level.

"Interesting." Weisheng Xii smiled and scattered her Silken Deluge all over the place as she danced and twisted around the qin strings like a fairy, once more sending a fatal tone towards Tianming and the rest. Thanks to her, Weisheng Xi had more room to act.

The chess pieces flew about amidst the storm, smashing into everything in their path. Weisheng Xi hid among the chess pieces with his fan, Windbearer, waving it to strengthen the storm for even more damage. "Take this, Li Tianming!" The storm contained the power of a Soulbind Gale, the grade-nine divine hazard. Its power resonated with the sound from Weisheng Xii's qin, sending Tianming, Feiling, and the lifebound beasts back further and further.

"Impressive." Tianming hadn't predicted that he would meet such a powerful enemy. This was something completely outside the bounds of what he knew! The group battle would end up as a joke if things had gone the way he expected. If Weisheng Xi worked together with Yanwu Dao, there would be no doubt that all five of them would be defeated. However, the more powerful the enemy was, the more his fighting spirit surged. At the very least, it was proof that there were still geniuses in the astralscape that could make him go all out!

The Soulbind Gale and the chess pieces' power was something he didn't see coming. Tianming used his Myriadsword Providence at full force, sending the sea of swords clashing into the chess pieces. It was clear to see how it would turn out. Weisheng Xi smirked and said, "Apologies, my divine wonder is far more agile than you thought!"

Half of the chess pieces immediately changed directions as they zipped around, now falling toward Lan Huang and Xian Xian, the two largest targets near Tianming. Not to mention, they were doing something to counteract the qin soul wonder, reducing its efficacy by about one-fifth, so Weisheng Xi wanted to cripple them first. He had only been pretending to focus his full attention on Tianming before pulling his switcheroo. Tianming's understanding of divine wonders was too shallow, and he wasn't able to keep up with the pace at all. This kind of battle experience was something that he lacked. It was like he was fighting blind while his enemy knew nearly the full extent of his tactics as a beastmaster and totemancer.

The chess pieces rapidly fell toward the two lifebound beasts.

"Careful!" Ying Huo's Solar Explosion and Meow Meow's Triworld Afterlife Halls were activated at the same time, smashing into the chess pieces and shaking off quite a few of them. But not all of them were sent flying. Lan Huang used its Primordial Wheel while Xian Xian used all of its branches, vines, and leaves to defend themselves, and even that didn't manage to stop all the chess pieces from slamming into their bodies. Even with Lan Huang's defenses, it was smashed through and covered in holes, let alone Xian Xian's tree form. The two of them were quickly vaporized and eliminated. There were millions of Yin Chens that swarmed up to stop the chess pieces, but before they could spin the Infinite Silverthreads, large numbers of them were crushed.

Not only were the pieces powerful, they were also agile and speedy! The couple's combination was shocking and hard to grasp, allowing them to quickly crush two of Tianming's beasts from the get-go. Without those two helping counteract Weisheng Xii, she started dancing around faster while her husband protected her at the front. The waves of sound washed over her enemies without resistance.

"Li Tianming, what do you think of the skills of divine wonderians?" Weisheng Xi asked, his long hair fluttering as he elegantly fanned himself. The chess pieces almost weightlessly danced around him, elevating his aura even more.

"Impressive! Truly. You've exceeded my imagination to some degree and really taught me a valuable lesson," Tianming earnestly said.

"Very well. At the very least, you learned humility. You should thank us for the lesson, understood?"

"That makes sense."

"Remember. Don't be lulled by the false sense of security that the universe is filled with beastmasters and totemancers. As far as we divine wonderians are concerned, the number one cultivation method is our divine wonder! We're the perfect fighting machines. To grow stronger, we paid too dear a price to stand at the top of the universe by relying on only ourselves!"

Weisheng Xi was filled with proud fervor for his race. He sounded just like the wondersky fairies when they talked about the divine wonderians. They had never been the kind of people to keep their superiority hidden.

"My horizons have truly been expanded today," Tianming said.

"For you to be able to still show adequate respect for the strong despite your arrogant antics shows that you have strong mental fortitude, especially after the troubling shock," Weisheng Xi replied, laughing in the storm.

"You must be overthinking it. I don't feel troubled by this at all."

"Oh? Looks like you haven't learned enough about us, then. That's fine. When your body finally fizzles out as you return to your own wondersky realm, you'll come to understand that you're nothing to us."

Weisheng Xi and Weisheng Xii laughed before they exchanged glances, communicating with their eyes alone. "Die!"

The divine wonders worked their magic once more, causing the raging storm and rain to intensify even more. The chess pieces whooshed through the battlefield, punctuated by the eloquent notes of the qin.

"Ying Huo, Meow Meow, shrink," Tianming expressionlessly said. The phoenix and Regal Chaosfiend returned to their diminutive sizes as they returned to his side, far more agile than before. They could easily avoid the chess pieces now. At the same time, Yin Chen spread its many bodies apart. His totems all remained in their smaller, split state. Each providence sword was far smaller than the chest pieces.

Weisheng Xi noticed that he lost the larger targets he could attack. Feiling and Tianming were the largest figures on the battlefield now.

"There's no perfect trick you can use to conquer everything. There's always some counter for every move," Tianming said to Feiling.

"I know. I can split them apart," she said, her wings flapping rapidly.

"Follow me, Ling'er!"

"Okay!"

She would follow him to the ends of hell even without him saying so.

"The two of you, focus on protecting Ling'er," Tianming said to Ying Huo and Meow Meow.

"No need. I have Flashsoul Skywings. They won't be able to touch me," she said.

"Alright, then find a chance to strike on your own."

"Got it. That fellow crushed my precious siblings. I can't wait to burrow into their flesh to see if they're conjoined at the butt as well!" Ying Huo snapped, having been complaining nonstop since a while ago.

"Alright!" All of them had a clear idea of what their respective roles were. Tianming didn't want to be suppressed this time around. He spread his providence swords far and wide.

"Die!" He swung the Godsin, willing his totem swords to strike at Weisheng Xi at the same time. A blue silhouette flashed behind him, never leaving him for a second. Ying Huo and Meow Meow went further out to look for a chance to launch a surprise attack; they were quite easy to miss.

"Looks like you found a way to fight back. You must think that my divine wonder is far too heavy, so you're trying to use agility as a counter," Weisheng Xi said, instantly coming to the right conclusion. He seemed quite confident nonetheless.

"So what?" Tianming was alright right in front of him. His providence swords weaved through the gaps between the chess pieces and surrounded him.

"There were many others with naive plans like yours. But at the end of the day, they all cried and begged for mercy. You should count yourself lucky for encountering me in the wondersky realm. That's the only reason you're able to feign bravado like this. At the very least, none of your actions here will cost you your life," Weisheng Xi said, waving his fan and riling up the storm even more.

The chess pieces then exploded into hundreds of smaller ones, numbering up to a million! They were even more agile now, as they were far lighter than before.