Eye of the Blazing Star

"This weapon really isn't bad!"

Li Tianming had once liked using short swords. He had tried sabers, spears, swords, and halberds, but had never liked them much.

After obtaining the Thunderfire Chain, he discovered that he had somewhat fallen in love with this weapon.

The explosive force when it struck was absolutely devastating.

Moreover, within the system of the Nine Whips of Rushing Thunder battle tactic, the Thunderfire Chain could be used in many different ways.

Chen Ding possessed brute strength, but he simply could not get close to Li Tianming.

Li Tianming's Thunderfire Chain was an absolute long weapon, over four meters in length.

While using the Fire Shadow Maze Step, he dealt with Chen Ding using the first whip of the Nine Whips of Rushing Thunder. Other than taking a beating, Chen Ding had no way to fight back.

"Li Tianming!"

Smack!

Just as Chen Ding's fury boiled over and he roared in rage, he instead exposed a flaw for Li Tianming's Thunderfire Chain.

The Thunderfire Chain burrowed in like a venomous snake and lashed across the corner of his mouth!

Smack!

Chen Ding flew backward, three fresh teeth flying from his mouth and gleaming brilliantly beneath the sunlight.

"Serves you right for having such a loose mouth." Li Tianming chuckled.

To be honest, a clumsy, strength-based beastmaster like Chen Ding was completely restrained by him.

The Thunderfire Chain was practically an extension of his arm. Long reach naturally restrained short reach, and Chen Ding simply had no way to get close.

That Fire Shadow Maze movement technique truly was the best battle tactic Li Tianming had chosen. It was practically tailor-made for one man and one chicken.

Just as he lashed Chen Ding, Li Tianming sensed a peculiar power spreading across the arena.

When he looked back, the Starfiend Roc had already gone mad.

Its pair of eyes erupted with dazzling starlight. The starlight blazed like swords and burst forth, piercing straight toward the Little Yellow Chick before it!

"This is its Spirit Source divine ability, Eye of the Blazing Star!"

Li Tianming heard countless people cry out in alarm.

The reason he had suppressed the Starfiend Roc from the very beginning was because he feared this Spirit Source Realm lifebound beast's Spirit Source divine ability.

After being severely wounded, the Starfiend Roc's Spirit Source divine ability would certainly lose some of its power. It just so happened that he had defeated Chen Ding at this moment.

In that flash of lightning and spark, Li Tianming's Thunderfire Chain shot out like a bolt of lightning, instantly striking the Starfiend Roc's head.

The Starfiend Roc was in the midst of using its Spirit Source divine ability. Just as the starlight burst from its eyes like swords, Li Tianming's chain struck its head.

In an instant, its aim veered off. The dazzling starlight shot straight into the sky.

"Your daddy hasn't even shot you yet, and you dare shoot at your daddy!"

The Little Yellow Chick flew into a rage. With a flash of Fire Shadow Maze, its Netherfire Ghost Claw tore down once more, gouging another bloody hole into the Starfiend Roc.

At the same time, Li Tianming's Thunderfire Chain struck three times in succession, leaving the Starfiend Roc's flesh split and its skin torn!

"That's enough!"

At that moment, Li Tianming heard the stern announcement from the instructors.

He was a sensible person. The instant he heard those words, he stopped attacking.

But the Little Yellow Chick was having the time of its life. Li Tianming directly bound it with the Thunderfire Chain and dragged it back.

"What are you doing? Your daddy wants to kill it!"

This fellow truly was at the age when his blood ran hot.

"It's over."

Once an instructor declared the fight over, they absolutely could not continue fighting, because this was not a battle that had to determine victory or defeat.

It was merely meant to let the instructors directly see through every person's talent and strength through battle.

As expected, the instructor who announced the end of the battle was Mu Wan.

Li Tianming respected her, so he obediently stopped.

However, Chen Ding was still in the heat of his anger. His injuries were still bearable, and when he climbed back to his feet, he was as enraged as a bear.

"Li Tianming, I refuse to accept this! Again!" he growled.

"A defeated opponent has no right to ask for more." Li Tianming smiled.

Chen Ding still wanted to speak, but Instructor Mu Wan's voice came again. "Come collect your disciple token. Don't waste time; there are still over a thousand people waiting."

Though her words were forceful, Li Tianming loved hearing them.

He looked up to see Instructor Mu Wan smiling at him.

As for the other nine instructors, they mostly stood with their arms crossed, saying nothing.

"Mu Wan, you know what he did three years ago. He is a stain upon the academy, and a fly in the eyes of Lin Xiaoting and Thunder Lord Manor..." a male instructor beside her quietly reminded her.

"Whom I choose is none of your business." Instructor Mu Wan rolled her eyes at him, then directly took out a disciple token and tossed it to Li Tianming.

The other battles had yet to end, but Li Tianming was definitely the first disciple to successfully pass today's academy trial.

"Thank you, Instructor. From now on, I will certainly bring glory to you." Holding the disciple token once more, Li Tianming knew just how difficult all this had been.

But he had finally done it, and naturally, he still had to thank Mu Wan.

Without her, perhaps not a single instructor would have dared to take him.

They could easily have used his age as an excuse to eliminate Li Tianming.

"Chen Ding, you are young and your talent is well-rounded. Your poor performance in this match was also because Li Tianming restrained you with his 'old fox cunning.' I will take you as my disciple."

Instructor Li Kui, who had spoken to Instructor Mu Wan earlier, spoke up and took out his disciple token.

"Chen Ding, I will also take you as my disciple. You may choose your instructor."

"So will I."

The instructors declared their stances one after another. Li Tianming was dumbfounded to see that a total of nine instructors were willing to accept Chen Ding as a disciple.

In truth, with Chen Ding's talent and background, he was absolutely among the finest participants in the trial battles.

Even if all ten instructors were willing to give him disciple tokens, that would not have been surprising.

The key was that his performance just now had been completely restrained by Li Tianming. It could be said to have been utterly terrible.

Moreover, the state of mind he displayed had been extremely poor.

Yet even so, he received disciple tokens from nine instructors, while Li Tianming could only receive Instructor Mu Wan's disciple token.

That contrast was truly somewhat laughable.

Of course, laughable as it was, for Li Tianming, Instructor Mu Wan was enough.

As for those other stinking men, he could not even be bothered to spare them a glance.

"Tianming, prepare for the ranking battle."

With those words, Instructor Mu Wan wanted Li Tianming to look past such warmth and coldness of human relations and find what he should focus on next: the ranking battle.

The academy's ranking battle was extremely grand, far grander than today's trial battles.

Even if one could not take first place in the ranking battle, the higher one ranked, the greater the disciple's status and cultivation resources would be.

Yanhuang Academy also had several cultivation secret realms, and the amount of cultivation time one received was determined by ranking battle results.

There were still at least five hundred battles remaining in Phoenix Hall. The length of each battle was uncertain, so they would probably take several days to finish.

Next would come the ranking battle.

During this time, disciples who passed first would enter Yanhuang Academy early to familiarize themselves with the surroundings.

But Li Tianming had already stayed there for a year, so he did not need to do that. He decided to leave first and tell his mother the good news.

After bidding farewell to Instructor Mu Wan, he stepped down from the arena alongside Chen Ding. Chen Ding's eyes were bloodshot, and murderous intent still filled him.

"Li Tianming."

The moment he stepped down, someone came to meet Chen Ding. It was Chen Yao from the Hall of Myriad Beasts.

This young master of the Starfall Chamber of Commerce had yet to take part in the trial battle.

"Need something?" Li Tianming asked.

To be honest, Li Tianming's performance—whether the quality of his lifebound beast or his defeat of Chen Ding today—made Chen Yao lose a great deal of face and feel extremely uncomfortable.

"It's nothing. I did indeed underestimate you before. I never expected that although you are infamous and of terrible character, you truly possess some luck and skill." Chen Yao spoke coldly.

"I don't understand. Are you complimenting me?" Li Tianming asked.

"Think whatever you like. You truly are riding the spring breeze now; a petty man intoxicated by success is exactly what you look like at this moment. But do not forget your identity. You are still the laughingstock of Yanhuang disciples." Chen Yao's expression remained indifferent.

"Stop beating around the bush. If you have something in mind, just say it." Li Tianming curled his lip.

"It's nothing much. You beat up my brother today, so pray that you do not meet me in the ranking battle."

"No one will call a halt in the ranking battle. If you meet me, I will return the injuries Chen Ding suffered today tenfold." Chen Yao said.

"No need to pray. I want to defeat you, then watch you go home, throw a tantrum and roll around before your mother, and drink a few bowls of that Golden Solidifying Soup." Li Tianming gave a cold laugh.

As Chen Yao narrowed his eyes, Li Tianming turned and left.

Back in the Chen residence, Chen Yao and his mother had been so arrogant and rude. Li Tianming remembered perfectly how they had wounded Wei Jing.

He would not forgive a single person who had ever made his mother sad.

Xue Lan seemed not to have done much, but her lightly spoken words were the sharpest blades of all.

"It seems you do not want to live."

Chen Yao's voice was incomparably cold, and killing intent already seeped through his words.

From the Chen residence to the Yanhuang Battlefield, he truly had not expected that the laughable toad in his eyes could make him feel this level of killing intent.

Their mothers had once been the closest of sisters, and they should have been as close as brothers.

But reality was that one stood high above, while the other fought desperately in the dust of the mortal world.

When Xue Lan had crazily displayed her nobility and superiority in the Chen residence, that sisterly bond had long since vanished like smoke in thin air.

Li Tianming would seek justice for the humiliation she had inflicted upon Wei Jing.

Perhaps Wei Jing would not care. What saddened her was only those feelings that had changed beyond recognition, but Li Tianming cared.

Once sisters, Xue Lan was graceful and luxurious, high above all, respectable and happy, while Wei Jing struggled on her last breath, impoverished and destitute.

Their children—one shone like starlight with a boundless future, while the other had become a laughingstock, like a rat scurrying across the street?

Li Tianming felt that it was far too early to decide everything now.

"Just wait and see."

That was his best response to all of this.

At the very least, today, displaying his sixth-rank lifebound beast and defeating Chen Ding had already made many people who treated him as a laughingstock unable to laugh any longer.

For example, Li Yanfeng and Liu Qing. When Li Tianming defeated Chen Ding, they sat in cold silence, without a word between them.

For example, inside that private room.

When that madam saw her son's teeth lashed away and watched him be utterly toyed with by Li Tianming, her face turned livid, and she even crushed the teacup in her hand.

"Chen Ding really is useless!" The madams had not expected that Xue Lan would be the angriest of them all.

She stood up, directly overturned the table before her, then left at once.

The madams were left staring at one another, utterly bewildered.

Why was Xue Lan even angrier than Chen Ding's mother?

If they had not known that Li Tianming was the son of that peerlessly elegant woman from Flame Capital twenty years ago, they could never have guessed the reason.