Beastmaster of the Ages

Chapter 2934 - Foundationeer's Gambit

The four lifebound beasts and three divine wonders quickly poked thousands of holes into Ba Xiao's body. He was unable to assert his advantage at all as Tianming and Moran bore down on him. Even after his head finished regenerating, he saw Tianming right before him, glaring at him with a cold gaze.

Tianming had split his sword into two. When Feiling's Perpetia City began enveloping the area, that made the swordsmanship he had learned from the two reges mundi even more potent. He executed From Seas to Fields and Tristrike Worldshatter! The first time-distorting move pierced Ba Xiao's heart, injecting ruinous totem ki and cosmic impulses through his body in an instant. The second space-tearing move instantly created tens of thousands of spatial rumbles.

No matter how many astrons Ba Xiao had, all of them shattered, with some disappearing into the void of shattered space while others were flushed away by the erratic flow of time. Ba Xiao's entire body fell apart! It didn’t matter how many moves he had at his disposal, they would all be useless if Tianming didn't give him an opportunity to use them. If he had been more careful and less arrogant, he might not have lost in such a humiliating fashion.

When his body exploded, his loud roar showed how truly enraged he was. Who wouldn't after being chain attacked like that without a chance to retaliate? As Ba Xiao's body fell to pieces, Tianming felt the energy of lightning around him surge. Obviously, a foundationeer couldn't be killed that easily as long as their cosmic charts were still there.

Ba Xiao's cosmic charts shone brightly as countless bolts of lightning crackled within, forming complex electrical circuits that connected them all to each other. Ba Xiao's face appeared on the combined cosmic charts. "Brat! I’ll exterminate you and your world to vent my hatred!"

Tianming had heard sentiments like that all too often. His rage wasn't just his own; it came from the countless trillions of people that followed him who were being threatened by Ba Xiao. How could they not be mad when a powerful enemy from Intrepidus came and completely disregarded their right to live? Without Tianming, they wouldn't even have a chance to resist! But with him as their champion, they passed on their rage to him, allowing him to represent the misgivings of the mortals, gods, and astral gods of the world.

"No matter what level of life they are, anyone with a tripartite soul deserves dignity! Life is short, and there are those who are strong and those who are weak. But no matter how high you find yourself on the hierarchy, never forget that you, Ba Xiao, are but a single person! You are not above the universe. You’re as human as we are, and you will also die!" Tianming's words were an affirmation of the core of his cultivation.

He respected every single life, even if they were mortals that didn't live past a hundred years. They also had tripartite souls and hearts that deserved to be treated with dignity. For instance, his grandfather Wei Tiancang was a flesh and blood human to him, but Ba Xiao didn't even consider him a speck of dust.

That was how Tianming had become the conduit of trillions of people. Through him, they could fight shoulder-to-shoulder! He had their faith, and therefore their power! Even as Ba Xiao was mustering his power for a terrifying attack, Tianming didn't feel any fear. His rage and resolution burned brighter than before. "What do I have to fear, with countless people at my back?"

The two Grand-Orient Swords fused back into one. Once more, the three divine wonders descended and Tianming was flanked by his lifebound beasts. He watched as the lightning in the twelve cosmic charts reformed. First, the scattered astrons returned to the cosmic chart and formed new connections. Then the twelve charts completely fused into one, rearranging the astrons into a glowing ten-meter-tall figure that looked more like an astral giant than a person.

Ba Xiao had changed his form. With guidance from his foundation fortress, his cosmic charts had forged a new body for him, which, while still humanoid, didn't look the least bit like flesh and blood. Every speck of his body looked like stardust.

Naturally, he wasn't as large as Huang Qi, as the stars that made him up were only slightly larger than his astrons. Even so, when a foundationeer underwent starshift, it was a sign that their bodies had taken the first step toward becoming an astral giant.

Starshifting was the second characteristic of a foundationeer alongside the foundation fortress. Undergoing starshift made foundationeers far more powerful, thanks to the increased shapeshifting capability of their bodies.

Ba Xiao vaguely looked like an astral giant. Being a human, ten meters was an incredible height. It wasn’t the same as specters, who could become hundreds, or even thousands of meters tall. Their bodies were different on a fundamental level. Not even specter astral gods' astrons would be as tough as Ba Xiao's. His body was filled with countless lightning bolts that had perfectly fused with the stars that made him up. Wielding the Ninestar Wolffang, he looked like a god of lightning that manifested in the realm of mortals.

"Foundationeers are terrifying. It was always going to be impossibly hard for me to take one out. However, we're on my home turf! I refuse to believe I can't kill you!" Tianming knew that galactic bodies were incredibly powerful. However, this fusion of cosmic charts and astrons made it easier for his attacks to hit their targets. Wiping out his galactic body would kill Ba Xiao for good, and in this war, the death of even a single foundationeer would be a huge loss. Being able to do so was akin to wiping out a million astral gods of the Sun.

"Ling'er, Little Fish, give me another hand!" Tianming gripped his sword, ready to face the divine lightning giant before him. "Denizens of the Sun, give me your faith!"

Boundless power surged through the skies and gathered in his body. Ji Ji also sent one of her clones and attached it to Ying Huo and the rest, enhancing them further. Billions of Yin Chens began forming a city of metal around them.

"If I can kill you once, I can kill you ten thousand times!" Tianming took a deep breath and charged toward Ba Xiao with all he had.