Chapter 2289 - Who Are You Fooling

Ji Ji was a spiritform to begin with, so its claims weren't completely out of the question. "Raising bugs and picking the best one to inherit my mantle is a fine reason, don't you think? So far, this child is proving rather promising," it said as it turned to look at Tianming.

"Him?" Shuntian Bohan shook his head with disbelief. "Senior, he isn’t even an orderan, and he's weaker than me. How is he fit to inherit your mantle?" He had just killed a family member and was still in a confused state, so he fell for Ji Ji's act rather easily.

"Cultivation level is only a small matter. I can help him become an astral god," Ji Ji said.

"Very well!" Shuntian Bohan felt that things were getting weird. He looked up in a hurry and skeptically studied Ji Ji. "Senior... why would you bother to talk to me so much?"

Ji Ji's brows furrowed. "I'm worried that you'll interrupt his breakthrough."

"Huh?" Shuntian Bohan was completely stunned. He obviously saw Tianming cultivating, but he had thought it was only because the senior was guiding him to do so. But the more he thought about it, the more it didn't make sense! Why would a real senior bother wasting words on him? The senior could just wipe him out, now that a fitting successor had been chosen!

"Who in the world are you?!" Shuntian Bohan roared as he raised his hammer.

"I'm your mom," Ji Ji said, laughing. Tianming was already nearing the final phase, so it dared to be a little more insulting. Two-thirds of the minor stellar charts inside his albi had been formed!

Finally! Eighth level! He had achieved a true double breakthrough. Boundless astralforce surged in his body, giving him an explosive sensation of energy that made up for his last weakness alongside his beasts'. The others in his lifebound space also felt a huge burst of power. Two breakthroughs had brought with them almost too much astralforce. The sensation of all that energy was a little volatile, probably because the divine wills' control over it wasn't that stable yet. It felt like he had consumed a whole giant beast!

Naturally, Tianming was the only one that felt that way. Ying Huo and the rest already had orders, after all, which were more than enough control for the energy. Astralforce rampaged around inside his body as he stood up, radiating power into his surroundings.

I feel much, much stronger. While his minor stellar charts had formed and he had gained more astralforce, he still didn't have order or a heptastar cosmic physique. Thus, his disciple card still showed him as a twelfth-level disciple, which wouldn't be odd to other people as most cultivators spent a lot of time at that stage. However, Tianming felt that his latest breakthroughs would completely upend his ranking.

I should be able to fight astral gods now, right? He had been waiting far too long for this moment. He took a deep breath and hugged Ji Ji, who jumped toward him. Then he turned his head in a gesture he believed was handsome to look at his opponent. Ji Ji feigned vomiting, reminding him that his head was still that of a bee.

"So that thing is just your lifebound beast?" Shuntian Bohan said, compound eyes trained on Ji Ji. He was already mentally unstable after killing a little girl that had been close to him. His killing intent radiated from his heptastar cosmic physique, including his bee head.

"That's right." Tianming stroked Ji Ji's hair and turned to Shuntian Bohan. "You have two choices: if you let me leave, your head will turn back to normal. That saves us both time and trouble. You can also fight me, but you won't stand a chance."

"Huh?" Shuntian Bohan was utterly flabbergasted, then chuckled uncontrollably.

Tianming knew that he wouldn't be allowed to leave so easily. "Fine! Shuntian Bohan, I'll use you to test out my capabilities then."

Not even Tianming could perfectly hold himself together, now that his head was a monstrous insect's. He got into a battle stance right away. Only Ying Huo, Meow Meow, and Ji Ji would be joining this fight. He felt that they would be enough with so much astralforce and their orders. The Grand-Orient Swords appeared in both his hands. He brought them together, generating a clang as vapor lightning sword ki and flint infernal sword ki covered the blades in crimson and purple. The two cosmic impulse storms were further enhanced by Ji Ji's genesis ancestral nova source and his prime wonder turned into Prime Cosmic Rings, audibly clashing above his head.

Whether it was his main body, lifebound beasts, or divine wonders, all of them exuded an aura of strength that put pressure on Shuntian Bohan, causing his laughter to stop. He was incredibly close to Tianming and could clearly see his disciple card. After confirming that it still said 'twelfth level', his eyes turned savage. "You aren’t even an astral god. Who are you fooling? Are you getting cocky because I wasn't able to kill you last time?"

"Astral god?" Tianming shot him a burning gaze. He now considered Shuntian Bohan the same as Lin Jianxing. "Since coming to Ebonia, I've been oppressed by astral gods time and again, rendered completely helpless. I've had enough of that."

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The day had finally come! He had been playing catch up the entire time, so his patience had been stretched to its very limits, igniting a burning flame in his heart. The entire bees' nest operates on death battles! Nobody can be blamed for what happens. Shuntian Bohan wouldn't give me the opportunity to leave, so he shall die! Being pursued by Lin Jianxing all the way, completely tossed around by Shuntian Bohan's ants, having his life in the hands of Lin Hongchen, letting Guchi Xiaoyin take the ring, and being looked down on by Yi Taoyao had fostered quite a lot of resentment in him.

Shuntian Bohan had wanted to say a few more words to mock Tianming, only to see the lifebound beasts charging toward him like an approaching storm! "Since you decided to court death on your own accord, nobody can blame me for killing you, Lin Mu's son! Your father was nothing but a laughing stock, so how good can you possibly be?!"

His mind had turned considerably twisted since his head had transformed. Using order on a non astral god like Tianming was usually the most efficient way, so he drew out his terraweight order and Tianming felt increased levels of gravity the next instant. It was like a mountain was weighing down on every single albus in his body, to the point that he could barely breathe! Though he was only five levels inferior to his opponent, being suppressed by order was still as hard to get over as he had expected.