Chapter 3954 - Outplayed the Player

When the forces on both sides were close enough, Tianming chose to sit on the sidelines with the ashuras helpless to locate him after they finally managed to gather some of their warbeasts to fight him. Thanks to Yin Chen, he had even more eyes than the ashuras did and could come and go as he pleased.

The Skyfiendling could only rely on using the cobalt fiendeyes again to locate him, but even if he did, it would be pointless since it wasn't like he could go out to hunt Tianming down, considering the wealth of ninelives fruit all around him. It was a troublesome situation all around. Seeing the twenty-plus cosmic god essences around him only made his head hurt even more. "Focus on taking the ninelives fruit first!"

"Yes!" The ashuras obediently did as they were told, yet that only gave Tianming more chances to attack them. The Skyfiendling would soon be swamped with holding the devas back while keeping a close fiendeye on Tianming's location. The ashuras would be on full alert to claim every ninelives fruit.

Tianming, seemingly aware that the cobalt fiendeye was constantly surveilling him, would approach and retreat time and again, circling the group of ashuras in a teasing manner and angering them even further. The mere thought that their seniors were watching them from Cobaltium made them even more worried and embarrassed. The ashuras all looked paranoid and filled with killing intent. But with Tianming letting them be, they were able to regain the edge after suffering acceptable losses.

The Skyfiendling managed to help Yushen An wound Zhan Xiao from a distance with his warbeasts. Though they didn't manage to reduce the deva leader to cosmic god essence, it did greatly hamper his combat effectiveness! With Zhan Xiao unable to carry as much of the burden of the assault, the other devas began to feel the pressure from the overwhelming warbeasts.

The ashuras and primalwingers continued their push, still fixed on their desire for the ninelives fruits. Their actions were a huge slap to the face of the members of the Ten Desolate Starforges that were attending the grand ceremony of the Cobalt Overfiend. The juniors had been blinded by greed and had completely forgotten the seniors who were still watching. From that, it was clear that the friction between the factions in the Eightpart Pantheons was deep seated and reflected in every single generation, especially that of the devas and ashuras.

"Skyfiendling! Yushen An!" Zhan Xiao cried, gray face twisting with rage. "Your side was the one that started this fight and broke all the taboos! The devas will use everything at our disposal to address this wrong! All the losses you have caused will be yours to pay for! The tracing rings have records of everything that has happened here. The seniors of the Ten Desolate Starforges will no doubt render a judgment based on your actions!"

"Shut up, trash!"

"So what if you're specters? You devas are nothing but losers!"

The primalwingers managed to gain even more of an edge thanks to the warbeasts and were so excited that they even dared to mock the devas. Considering that only two factions in the Eightpart Pantheons were specters, they were usually the ones that the others had prejudice against. And even then, the devas and members of the Virtue Pantheon still had conflicts, though both were specters. Either way, the devas suffered heavy losses from the battle, with many reduced to cosmic god essence and having to be dragged to safety. If it went on, they stood to lose even more. Angry as they were, there was nothing they could do about it.

"Princess You You," Zhan Xiao said, turning back to the pale, snow white specter girl in the shadows.

"Let's retreat and wait for my brother and the rest to come. The formation here is hard to unlock, so they won't necessarily get the fruits," the girl calmly said.

"Yes!" Zhan Xiao wasn't able to hold on either. "Retreat!" The devas immediately carried their incapacitated comrades away.

"Wait for us!" They looked at the arrogant Sin Pantheon primalwingers and ashuras with pent-up rage. One day, all of that would burst forth.

Once the devas retreated, the ashuras gathered a large wave of warbeasts together to occupy the entire cavern pathway. Then, the Skyfiendling and other ashuras joined in. As infinite beastmasters, the ashuras were great at defense. With their beasts stuffing the entire cavern shut, they proceeded to work on the formation.

"How did you guys suffer casualties too?" Yushen An asked, seeing the twenty-odd ashura essences. Hadn't they been controlling the beasts and fighting from afar? The primalwingers of the Sin Pantheon hadn't suffered that many losses in the fight against the devas.

"It's all that orbiter traitor's fault. He seems rather sinister and comes and goes freely without anyone being able to detect him. He's also much more powerful than before," one ashura explained.

"Huh...." Yushen An looked at his sister, Yushen Hua, with doubt. She had personally witnessed Tianming's combat capabilities and reported it.

"We have to deal with that guy properly or risk losing face," Yushen An said to the Skyfiendling.

"Once we claim the ninelives fruits, the two of us can hunt him down," the Skyfiendling said. Due to having to prioritize the group, he couldn't afford to give chase. This time around, the two strongest members of the group would personally hunt Tianming down.

"He wouldn't be able to escape thanks to your cobalt fiendeyes, I see," Yushen An said.

"He should thank these ninelives fruits for the meager time they bought him," Yushen Hua said.

Those from orbiter worlds had always been servants and slaves. The fact that they dared to cause trouble even when tracing rings were keeping up with their every move made them even more hateable. If they weren't killed, the Eightpart Pantheons would be utterly humiliated.

As everyone predicted, the mood in Cobaltium's grand hall was awkward beyond measure, especially that of the ashuras, Sin Pantheon, and the devas that had come to offer their well wishes. All this came after a proclamation of unity between all their factions. They had no choice but to focus their discussion on the purple-masked figure to get rid of some awkwardness.

"They have a heavenly punishment protection seed, so they must have entered from our side."

"Who in the world is that person?"

***

Deep within one of the caverns, the devas seemed incredibly crestfallen. There was no conversation; instead, everyone let their hatred fester silently. The more they thought about it, the angrier they felt.

Right then, a purple-masked person appeared with more than thirty kunlan primalwingers and blocked their way. With a cold voice, he ordered, "Take them down!"