Beastmaster of the Ages

That was one of the main things that made plants and animals so different. Tianming could see with his naked eye the greenvoid bugs being sucked into dry husks after Xian Xian's root tendrils pierced them through, devouring everything—including their heads. "A plant that eats pests rather than the other way round.... This is a first," Tianming said.

"That's too badass!" Ying Huo snapped, dumbfounded. It flew around the battlefield, spitting out fire. "Sister, wait a bit! Your Chicken Bro will serve up some roast bugs for you! Tianming, give me the spice rub and butter!"

"Forget making it delicious! These are dire circumstances, so taste isn't a necessity!" Tianming snapped.

Xian Xian was on a mad feasting spree, swallowing whatever it could get its roots into. Even its spiritform seemed to be munching on air within the lifebound space. When the little grey egg touched it, it swung its hand at it, causing it to vanish as if it was pushing away someone that could compete with it for food. However, there were many greenvoid bugs that landed on the tree's petals and branches. They began rapidly consuming the greenery.

"Are they eating themselves up?"

It was a weird sight to behold. Xian Xian consumed the bugs to grow more branches and leaves, which in turn fed the greenvoid bugs. It was a battle for survival between the different species! As the greenvoid bugs ate away at Xian Xian, it only fueled its appetite even more.

"Whoa, Xian Xian's so hungry! Must keep eating!" it groaned in the lifebound space. "How dare you bite Xian Xian?!"

It was completely enraged that the leaves it had just grown were eaten soon after. It used the Evernight Curse, scattering pollen in the air that covered the greenvoid bugs. With the weak souls the bugs had that only served as a control mechanism for the broodmother, they were incredibly easy to drive astray. Almost immediately, the bugs lost control and began eating each other. The moment some of their attention was taken away from Xian Xian, the balance of power was broken. Xian Xian consumed the bugs at a much faster rate than the bugs could consume its body, causing it to grow faster and faster and its combat power to rise more and more.

The greenvoid bugs were slowly being outeaten. With the greenvoid skydevourer unable to churn out as many offspring as it would require to replenish them, thanks to the sealing formation, it felt the pressure mounting.

Qing Ming was shocked at the development. Without question, Xian Xian seemed like it was growing more and more vigorous, which in turn greatly boosted its power. It looked like Qing Ming's terrifying lifebound beast had met its natural enemy. It was almost as bad as meeting a type one was weak against. While outside, the greenvoid bugs' sheer number could easily devour the Radix World Tree in a few moments, in here, it was the one being eaten away.

That was all within Tianming's expectations, and why he had dared to attack the ghoul king here. Otherwise, there was no way he'd dare challenge someone on the same level as a sect master. Now it seemed like Xian Xian would soon cripple the greenvoid skydevourer, so dealing with the remaining bugs no longer seemed like a problem.

Qing Ming's expression immediately changed as he noticed something amiss. He and his greenvoid skydevourer lashed out at the same time; the broodmother itself was pretty terrifying when it came to close combat. Its powerful legs allowed it to jump at frightening speeds, despite its size.

"Die!"

Now that Xian Xian had taken the upper hand, it was its elder brothers' turn to show off. Tianming and the other three split into two groups. Ying Huo flew around Lan Huang's heads, brightly burning with flames as it used Infernal Haze to manifest countless clones that used terrifying sword arts as they clashed with the greenvoid skydevourer. Lan Huang, on the other hand, relied on its huge body to ram the eleventh-level life phase tribulation beast, allowing Ying Huo to pinpoint its weak spots and execute the Hexapath Samsara Sword on them.

It was a tough combination for the broodmother to fight against. One of them was basically unkillable, and it couldn't even hit the other one. Ying Huo's small size worked to its advantage, especially when paired with Lan Huang. It could easily run and hide with Lan Huang drawing all the attention.

Meow Meow did the same thing not far away. When it fought beastmasters, it didn't even need to use its Regal Chaosfiend form, as its smaller form was much more agile. While its physical capabilities were a little weaker, its abilities weren't affected at all.

"Come on!" Tianming charged toward the ghoul king as Meow Meow's Myriad Thundernet went flying toward their opponent. This was the power of numbers! Meow Meow unleashed a few more abilities in quick succession, bombarding Qing Ming with abandon. At the same time, it rapidly zipped around, striking with its Venus Fiendbone claws and leaving marks on the ghoul king regardless of the body-refining technique he had. Even so, there was nothing Qing Ming could do against it. It was too fast and small for him to strike at, not to mention he was also busy dealing with Tianming's rampage.

While their power levels were roughly equal, Tianming's weapons and battle arts were far superior. Tianming felt that the current Qing Ming was more or less on the same level of power as Ye Bodhi, but he had a far more varied moveset. He could easily unleash a dozen abilities, all of which were third-origin samsara battle arts. The mystical nature of all of them combined could almost rival the Hexapath Samsara Sword.

As their weapons clashed, sparks flew. "Did you break through again?! What level are you at now?!" Qing Ming snapped.

"First-level life phase. Convinced?"

"Do you think you have the luxury to joke around? Are you that certain you'll win?!" Even though Qing Ming was fighting one against two, he didn't seem to have the lower hand at all. He had more than enough tricks up his sleeve to deal with the both of them at once, and could even use tens of battle arts in tandem with one another.

He lashed out with a third-origin samsara battle art, the Worldbreak Darksoul Hand. Right after slashing with his scythe, he stretched out his left hand that was covered in green miasma. It looked like a pale, bony palm was about to choke Tianming's life out. He blocked with his left hand, but the ghoul king laughed and squeezed, attempting to shatter it, only for his expression to change. He couldn't close his hand at all.

"Your hand!" As he widened his eyes in shock, the Prime Tower came crashing down on his head and Meow Meow followed it up by tearing a pile of bulbous flesh off his back.

"No, it stinks!" Meow Meow shrieked. Its mouth was rotting a little; the flesh of the ghoul king was utterly putrid.

"Hehe, you little animal!" Qing Ming's head was bleeding out. He hurriedly retreated out of Tianming's range and turned back to see his greenvoid skydevourer fighting an epic battle with Lan Huang and Ying Huo. Distressingly, his greenvoid bugs were growing less numerous by the second, and Xian Xian would definitely emerge victorious in the end. Its Radiant Vines were already freed up enough to help Ying Huo and Lan Huang.

"I didn't think this little brat would be able to force me to this point just because of the sealing formation.... His lifebound beasts are also pretty unique. That Xue Yi really underestimated him. Now, he's humiliated himself. As long as I'm within the Kilostar Domain, I have to consider him a fighter on my level!"

With his mindset shifted, he felt much better about himself. The killing intent he felt grew more and more. He was less afraid of Tianming and Meow Meow teaming up on him, but Xian Xian was definitely a concern for him. Now that it had gained the upper hand over the greenvoid bugs, it would soon overcome the delicate power balance and come up ahead. "I must get rid of this scoundrel once and for all!"

He came furiously charging at Tianming. At that moment, Tianming equipped the Dragonhide, greatly boosting all aspects of his capabilities. The scales of the armor even covered the two swords, making them look even bigger than before. One could almost see five heavenly dragons descending toward Tianming.

"You're too fresh and naive. Do you think you can take out a ghoul king just because my level is suppressed?!" Qing Ming smirked as he tore off his clothes.

"Ack, that's not safe for life!" Tianming was completely horrified. It would be one thing if Li Caiwei was the one to do it, but it was an ugly old man instead.

Then, a huge wave of stench came wafting toward him. Tianming's body tensed up the moment he smelled a whiff. It seemed to be some kind of strong toxin. Even Meow Meow almost started to foam from the mouth when it smelled it.

"Help me! My mouth is rotting! I'm going to puke bile! I demand a change in opponent!" It complained as it enviously looked at Ying Huo and Lan Huang. However, even those two were affected by the stench, allowing the greenvoid skydevourer a chance to regain the upper hand. Ying Huo bled profusely after the huge broodmother locust clamped down on it with its mandibles.

Now, the ghoul king was half nude, exposing his boil-filled body. It looked horrifying, to say the least.

"What's he going to do?" Tianming watched as the boils began popping rapidly as Qing Ming split into two!