Thunderfire Chain

"Your little swallow is quite pretty. Is it male or female?!"

Having broken through a bloodline shackle, Little Yellow Chick was in the heat of slaughter. It charged straight forward, seized the Storm Swallow with overwhelming brute force, and gave it a savage beating, even plucking out its feathers.

"Damn it, another male!" In its rage, Little Yellow Chick utterly ravaged the Storm Swallow, despite both being at the Seventh Layer of Beast Pulse Realm.

The other lifebound beasts did not even have time to come to its rescue before the Storm Swallow was pecked full of bloody holes, crying out miserably as it fled in disarray!

The Storm Swallow's beastmaster was a man in blue robes, tall and slender, with a face like white jade. He wielded storms as though he were the son of the tempest.

"Li Tianming, die." He appeared refined and poised, gripping a longsword as his sword momentum surged with ferocity, like a raging storm. Unfortunately, though his sword moves were beautiful, he was only at the Seventh Layer of Beast Pulse Realm, equal to Li Tianming.

As for Li Tianming, fighting across two levels was no problem for him.

They simply were not on the same level!

When the man's sword moves descended over him, Li Tianming flashed forward and seized his longsword directly with his left hand, swift, ruthless, and precise.

"How is that possible?!" His longsword instantly became immovable, leaving the young man dumbfounded.

"Get lost!" The next instant, Li Tianming slapped him across the face, sending the young man flying out from the third floor of the Windless Inn, spinning several times through the air.

Only when he was about to hit the ground did his parents catch him. Otherwise, he would likely have broken every bone in his body.

Seeing their son suffer such a crushing defeat, the two high-ranking figures from Thunder Lord Manor looked utterly dreadful. What made it worse was that they had no way to intervene!

They could only burn with fury and swallow their humiliation, but they still could not understand why Li Yanfeng's son was so strong.

Had Li Yanfeng not said that he possessed, at most, the combat strength of the Seventh Layer of Beast Pulse Realm?

They even redirected their fury toward Li Yanfeng, because they felt that he had been toying with them.

When they looked up, Li Tianming was still wreaking havoc atop the Windless Inn.

"So-called geniuses of Thunder Lord Manor, is this all you're capable of?" Li Tianming's mocking laughter spread through the surroundings, echoing again and again in everyone's ears.

Hearing such words come from him felt like a dream. Many people were left staring blankly.

Of the original seven, only five remained. At this point, they no longer dared to fight among themselves.

Only now did they realize that Li Tianming might not be so easy to deal with, but it was already too late.

Of the five remaining people, aside from Liu Qianyang, who was at the Ninth Layer of Beast Pulse Realm, three were at the Eighth Layer of Beast Pulse Realm, while one was a girl at the Seventh Layer.

After looking at Zhang Zixuan's injuries, the girl immediately said, "I withdraw. You can fight among yourselves."

Having said that, she immediately fled with her lifebound beast, the Mystic Ice Bug.

Thus, only four remained!

Li Tianming had actually frightened a genius from Thunder Lord Manor into retreating without even daring to fight, once again leaving everyone stunned for a long while.

"He directly defeated two and scared one away? Are these really geniuses of Thunder Lord Manor?"

The onlooking crowd could not see very clearly, and they were completely bewildered. To them, Thunder Lord Manor was a colossal power that could wipe out Lihuo City with a single breath!

Why could Li Tianming crush them so thoroughly? It was terrifying!

A month ago, had he not crawled out of the City Lord's Mansion like a dog under Liu Qianyang's intimidation?!

"Stop fighting among yourselves. Deal with him first! Once we seize the Divine Source, we can settle who wins afterward." Jiang Yilin's heart was also pounding violently.

She knew clearly that Li Tianming had not been this strong before. Even as she looked at him now, fear flickered in her eyes.

After all, only four of them remained.

"Then let's go!" Only Liu Qianyang remained relatively calm.

After all, the stronger Li Tianming was, the more comfortable Liu Qianyang felt.

That way, the others would be unable to chew through Li Tianming, this hard bone. Only he could. Li Tianming had displayed tremendous strength, but he had not exceeded Liu Qianyang's control.

At his command, the four genius beastmasters attacked together. The Lightning Leopard, Thunder Rat, Ironclad Giant Prawn, and Six-Eyed Flying Fish came at Li Tianming from four directions.

For a moment, the beastmasters unleashed Martial Arts while their lifebound beasts unleashed Beast Arts. All kinds of attacks closed in around him, and no matter how one looked at it, Li Tianming was in mortal danger!

But was he truly about to be suppressed?

Under their encirclement, Li Tianming transformed into a streak of blood-red light. This was clearly a Transcendent Beast-level Battle Art, the pinnacle of Beast-level Battle Arts.

Splat!

With a move that was swift, precise, and ruthless, the Bloodfire Dagger shot forth with Blood Soul Kill. The Thunder Rat's beastmaster was covered head to toe in lightning, yet Li Tianming pierced through him with ease, the Bloodfire Dagger stabbing into his lower abdomen!

Another person rolled several times across the rooftop, then tumbled down the tiles from the third floor of the Windless Inn and fell into his parents' arms.

His lifebound beast fled the battlefield in terror and returned to its beastmaster's side!

"Another one is dead!"

"I think his intestines came out."

"Is that really Li Tianming? He's even stronger than he was three years ago. What on earth has he been through..."

The people of Lihuo City could not see clearly whether those geniuses from Thunder Lord Manor had truly died, but whether they were dead or not did not affect the expressions of utter awe on their faces!

"Next!"

At that moment, Li Tianming's voice was like a nightmare. His Blood Soul Kill was swift and vicious.

When Little Yellow Chick's claws tore bloody holes through the Ironclad Giant Prawn's steel armor, its beastmaster nearly died under Li Tianming's Blood Soul Kill as well!

He was like a streak of blood, his movement technique so fast that it became impossible to predict. Opponents weaker than him had no ability to resist whatsoever.

Splat!

The fifth genius beastmaster's face turned deathly pale as he screamed and fell. His lifebound beast, the Ironclad Giant Prawn, could only flee in disarray as well!

"Another one is dead!"

"Heavens!"

This time, the people of Lihuo City directly dropped to their knees.

They had no idea that not a single one had actually died. After all, for Li Tianming, crushing them was already enough.

He did not need to look at the expressions of Li Yanfeng and the Thunder Lord Manor higher-ups. Without looking, he knew their faces had to stink worse than dog shit, and their hearts had to be trembling!

Trembling at his current strength!

Of the seven, only Jiang Yilin and Liu Qianyang remained.

"I withdraw."

Girls truly were smarter. After seeing two people at the same level as herself defeated, Jiang Yilin knew very well that Li Tianming's next target would surely be her.

Shaking in fear, she could no longer care about losing face. She leaped down immediately and returned to her father's side.

When she clung to her father's arm, her face was already pale as paper, and even her round, full thighs could not stop trembling.

Looking at Jiang Yilin, as well as the other genius beastmasters crying out in their parents' arms, the third floor of the Windless Inn sank into deathly silence.

Li Zifeng and Li Xuejiao, hiding in a corner, were both left dumbfounded.

Li Xuejiao lifted a cup of tea to take a sip, only for a roof tile to fall onto it and strike her on the head, scaring her so badly that she scrambled away on hands and feet.

"Embarrassing." Li Zifeng said disdainfully.

"You're not embarrassed? Look at your face right now. It's completely pale!" Li Xuejiao said, trembling.

"How was I supposed to know he could become this strong? Father said he could only remain in the Beast Pulse Realm for the rest of his life. Is that really true?"

Seeing Li Tianming's current performance, even he found it hard to believe.

It was not only them. Everyone from Thunder Lord Manor now wore livid expressions.

They had all thought taking Li Tianming's Divine Source would be effortless. Today's grand spectacle was supposed to be the internal competition among Thunder Lord Manor's geniuses, yet reality had slapped them brutally across the face!

Li Tianming had gone up against seven alone. Four had suffered crushing defeat, two had admitted defeat, and only Liu Qianyang remained above.

If Liu Qianyang were not standing out like a lone branch among the crowd, with no problem crushing Li Tianming, they might have begun doubting their entire lives.

"Brother Feng, what exactly is going on with him?" Even Liu Qing was utterly confused.

When she had come to Lihuo City, she had felt everything was firmly within her grasp. Yet a formerly insignificant little trinket had disrupted her calculations time and again.

Her expression had grown somewhat unsightly now, because she was worried about Liu Qianyang's safety.

"Don't worry. Li Tianming is older, after all, and he once reached the Spirit Source Realm. He has abundant combat experience and numerous battle arts. A certain degree of a final flash of brilliance is perfectly normal."

"But you should believe in Qianyang. He is now a genuine Ninth Layer of Beast Pulse Realm cultivator, while Li Tianming's strength will not increase any further. Every bit he uses is one bit less."

Li Yanfeng was probably the calmest person present.

"Even so, it looks like Qianyang will still have to go all out."

"For the Divine Source, a battle like this will be greatly beneficial to his path of growth. Once he overcomes this obstacle and obtains the Divine Source, a broad, sunlit road will await Qianyang," Li Yanfeng continued.

Though he said so, Liu Qing still watched the rooftop of the Windless Inn nervously.

Upon that rooftop, Li Tianming could finally face Liu Qianyang once more. At this moment, all eyes were upon them.

This was the stage Li Tianming wanted!

Half of Lihuo City had been discussing him, but clearly, no one would dare say any longer that his challenge to Liu Qianyang a month ago had merely been a clamor for dignity.

Everything he had shown before this had already made people shut their mouths!

Of course, Li Tianming was not satisfied yet. He felt that the battle had only just begun!

Seven genius beastmasters from Thunder Lord Manor attacking together?

Sorry, he considered that nothing more than a warm-up.

Liu Qianyang bore an arrogance similar to Lin Xiaoting's, the pride and nobility of being a disciple of Thunder Lord Manor.

He rode atop the Lightning Leopard as though he were the ruler of all living beings, casting Li Tianming a contemptuous, disdainful look.

"To put it bluntly, even if you obtain the Divine Source, you can't use it. Even if you obtain the Yanhuang Order and go to Yanhuang Academy, they won't let you enter."

"You still want to go to Yanhuang Academy for revenge? Everything about you is so laughable. Why bother?"

"The lifebound beast you gained through that Blood God Contract is destined to be trash, just like you. Since that is the case, why become my stepping stone?"

Lightning flickered in Liu Qianyang's eyes. Even now, he had never feared Li Tianming.

"I'm willing. Even if I use the Divine Source and Yanhuang Order to line a latrine, I'll still take them back from your hands." Li Tianming wore a smile, but flames surged in his eyes.

"Anyone can boast, just as you did three years ago. Unfortunately, fate has decreed that you will be a cripple for the rest of your life."

"In that case, only by defeating you can I make you truly despair and turn you back into a filthy rat crossing the street."

As Liu Qianyang spoke, he drew his weapon from his robes. The moment it appeared, Li Tianming truly narrowed his eyes.

He could clearly sense the extraordinary nature of this Beast Weapon.

Beast Weapons were forged by artifact refiners using Spirit Ore containing spiritual patterns, mixed with elements such as spiritual fire and spiritual wind from heaven and earth. With the addition of lifebound beast blood, powerful Beast Weapons could be created.

Beast Weapons came in many types: offensive, defensive, mobility, and support. Because they incorporated many types of Heavenly Patterns, the higher the grade of the Heavenly Patterns, the stronger the Beast Weapon.

Beast Weapons were divided into ten grades according to their power and quality, from the first grade to the tenth grade.

Li Tianming's Bloodfire Dagger was a second-grade Beast Weapon. Even second-grade Beast Weapons were exceedingly precious. It bore several orange Heavenly Patterns, indicating that it had been forged from Spirit Ore containing several varieties of orange Heavenly Patterns.

What Liu Qianyang brought out now was a purple chain.

The chain was formed of interlocking links and was roughly four meters long. At that moment, lightning flowed through every purple iron ring, while violet flames burned across them.

This showed that the chain had been forged from Spirit Ore mixed with spiritual lightning and spiritual fire from heaven and earth.

So-called spiritual lightning and spiritual fire were lightning and flames born from heaven and earth, condensed with vast spiritual energy and elemental power, possessing terrifying destructive force.

Aside from lightning and fire, wind, fire, water, ice, and other elements could also possess Heavenly Patterns. However, Heavenly Patterns were not easy to discover. Such elements that possessed Heavenly Patterns were collectively called spiritual calamities.

Spirit Ore, spiritual calamities, and spiritual essences were all treasures and wonders of heaven and earth. When Spirit Ore and spiritual calamities were combined, they were enough to forge divine weapons and sharp artifacts.

Liu Qianyang's chain, containing spiritual lightning and spiritual fire, was precisely such a divine weapon. At the very least, it was a third-grade Beast Weapon.

That was because Li Tianming could vaguely see several yellow Heavenly Patterns upon the Beast Weapon. Yellow Heavenly Patterns were the third grade of Heavenly Patterns.

For a beastmaster in the Beast Pulse Realm to control a third-grade Beast Weapon was already extremely remarkable.

Liu Qianyang's combat power was definitely stronger than imagined!

But after Li Tianming had crushed four and frightened away two, would he still fear Liu Qianyang?