Chapter 2492 - Sword and Shield

"Wow, that's savage. I was almost late." The Black Panther Army had attacked without even announcing their formation. Tens of thousands of sword-shaped astralships zipped ahead in a flash with the radiance of thousands of suns, filling Tianming's vision with light. The sight was scarcely describable with words alone.

He recalled the time when he had first arrived on Ebonia. In the cloud layer, many sword-ships of the Lin Clan had flown past the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, leaving a grave first impression on him. Every single divine astralship was the effort of countless years of research and engineering. Skypiercer- and deific-class ships from fifth and sixth-class worlds didn't really need to be able to carry that many people, since most stellaminors had their own heliacal-class mini ships for transportation. As such, the larger warships weren't that large, but even tougher and more agile. The smaller mass of the ship also made it more efficient for the miniature nova sources to power. As such, while the ships couldn't carry more than a few hundred people, their combat capabilities far outstripped those of the Divine Sun Palace.

"That's the flagship of the Black Panther Army, the Fiendclaw!" Tianming spotted a gigantic black sword that was surrounded by thousands of others. It was slightly smaller than Lin Xiao's ship. As it shot through the clouds, it let out an ear-piercing hum and the swords behind it assembled into a domineering formation. The storm of pink nova source around them was easily pushed apart in a grand display. Before the battle had even really gotten started, the entire landmass was already rumbling from the commotion. Underground, countless nova wildbeasts of Gladeus were gathering at the Inkwell Sea. The beasts hadn't been tamed as warbeasts, but herded to a central location by powerful warbeasts.

While the key elements to astral wars were divine astralships and defensive formations, that didn't mean that individual strength wasn't important. The ships themselves had to be controlled by powerful cultivators, after all.

"Let's keep up." Tianming fused with the tomb’s core, seemingly turning into a nine-headed dragon as he controlled his ship. The Black Panther Army recognized him the moment he joined the formation of giant swords, and without another word, all the ships rapidly soared up into the clouds and went for a sudden drop maneuver!

They constantly accelerated toward the high-deific-class defensive formation over the Inkwell Sea, which looked like a black metal ball floating above the water, covered in an air of frost. Yin Chen had said that the formation was around five hundred layers thick and supported by formation spirit threads connected to some one billion people. If it weren’t for the fact that warbeasts simply weren't as powerful as lifebound beasts and were thus unable to power the defensive formation, there would be no breaking through the defensive formation in front of Tianming. The Grandnorth Dongshen Clan's low-sanctuary-class formation could hold out against the bombardment of thirteen ether-class ships for quite some time, thanks to Mount Taia's Quintessence making it the equivalent of a high-sanctuary-class formation.

"It looks like the ebons of the Inkwell Sea are quite confident in their defenses. However, I’ll get my hands on that Archaionfiend Eye no matter what." Even without Wu You, Tianming could sense the dense evil aura coming from the eye from that distance. It was a smell that sky plunderers were especially sensitive to.

"The Archaionfiend Eyes in the wooden building are too old and have lost their scent, but the one in Inkwell Sea still seems fresh!" The fresher it was, the more tempting it was.

The ships of the Black Panther Army had begun their attack. Tianming, being in the reserves, wanted to witness the first wave of attacks himself! He watched as tens of thousands of gigantic swords descended from the sky, each one letting out a blinding glow. Right before they collided with the formation, they reached critical velocity! Every person shrouded in the blinding radiance looked tinier than a speck of dust. Then there was nothing but loud rumbling. The Inkwell Sea had been entirely illuminated by the rays from the swords as a terrifying force spread out from its center, reducing countless surrounding rivers, lakes, and mountains into dust. An area ten times the size of the sea itself had been reduced to dust by the starting volley alone. Then the many sword-ships regrouped for the next wave of attacks.

"Ji Ji, it's our turn!" Ji Ji had fused into the miniature nova source of the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. Tianming maneuvered the tomb to the side of the Fiendclaw, the thrusters of his ship leaving a flashy pink trail in its wake. The extra boost from Ji Ji was so potent that they managed to overshoot the Fiendclaw and steal its thunder!

"Kill!" As the Black Panther Army roared, the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb descended with the other giant swords. Once more, the swords glowed immeasurably bright. The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb was at the frontmost part of the fleet in the attack! It was Tianming's first time using a divine astralship to bombard a defensive formation, and he felt all the more excited for it. The light the fleet had let out enveloped the entire spherical formation beneath them.

"Break!" The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb's sword-tail swiped and slammed into the formation. Tianming felt it shuddering, despite the fact that there was a force of a billion people supporting it. If it hadn’t had five hundred layers, it would've shattered long ago.

The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb proved to be quite potent in the attack, and Tianming's charge paved the way for many swords behind him to crash down toward the formation! The assault made it feel like the world itself was about to be destroyed.

"Fiends of the Gladean ebons! You’ve broken the laws of the Infinitum Mundus! The Black Panther Army, representing the will of Etherean Gladeus, shall dole out just punishment. Should you surrender before it's too late, your lives shall be spared!" said the cold, domineering voice of a woman aboard the Fiendclaw. Her voice had been amplified greatly to the point that it disturbed the waves within the formation.

"Lin Xiaoxiao, you were the ones that betrayed the Infinitum Mundus! Lin Xiaodao’s the one who should be dealt with! Just you wait! So what if he activated the astralguard formation? Once the great ebon army arrives, all of you war criminals shall be put to death!" came a wrath-filled voice from within the Inkwell Sea. [1]

"Since you wish for death, the attack shall recommence!"

1. This isn't Tianming's Lin Xiaoxiao, just someone who shares an identical sounding name. (林晓晓) ☜