Chapter 3967 - Breakthrough Failure

"Lin Chaoge?" Tianming gave it some thought. If he met that person and got their trust, it was fine. But what if someone like Jiang Yulian was there too? It was more trouble than it was worth, so he shook his head. "I don't think I would like to meet in person. Brother Cheng, feel free to tell them about me if you can find the time."

Jiang Lincheng smiled awkwardly. "Alright, that might be better. I wouldn't want to cause you any more trouble if you meet them before we spread word of your deeds properly. No worries. I have his transmission stone, so we can interest him with this many ninelives fruits. Maybe that'll spark some intrigue in him about you. We are on the same side, after all."

"That sounds fine!" Tianming nodded.

Jiang Xiaobai then asked, "Brother Cheng, we have so many ninelives fruits that we can't even distribute all of them. Should we send a portion of it back to the Primordial Sands first and report the situation here to the seniors?"

"Yeah. We need to arrange that," Jiang Lincheng said.

"Lin Feng," Jiang Datou said, "Didn't you want to go to the Primordial Sands? Do you want us to take you there?"

"I think I'll stay here for a bit longer." Tianming had given it some thought. He hadn't found Lingfeng yet, and he didn't want to miss it if Lingfeng popped out somewhere. He also didn't know if he should warn those from the Primordial Sands and get them to leave because of what the flameyellow voidkin were about to do. Ideally, he would want these two sides to work together, but such an arrangement was more complicated than it seemed. If it were up to him, he'd definitely choose cooperation right away.

I should focus on strengthening myself. Next, I'll keep looking for the flameyellow voidkin to see if they're willing to talk. And third, I'll keep an eye out for Feng.

He then addressed Jiang Lincheng and the rest. "It's alright. You should get back to your busywork and maybe even rest and recuperate. I need to find somewhere quiet to cultivate, but I'll be in touch and won't go far."

"Sure!" Jiang Lincheng and Jiang Datou knew that Tianming had his own affairs to deal with. It didn't matter what happened in the meantime as long as they eventually took him to the Primordial Sands.

"Make sure to stay safe. Call me if anything comes up." Tianming then bid them goodbye before vanishing into the dark caverns.

"What a wondrous man!" They watched him leave somewhat melancholically.

***

Tianming stood alone in one of the deeper caverns. The countless roots that grew out of his left leg intertwined with those of the Ninelives Ancestral Tree. Xian Xian was trying to communicate with it.

"Let's try using two gold ninelives fruits." He had more than seven hundred of them as well as seventy thousand normal ninelives fruits, but he didn't need remotely that many to become a cosmic god. Two gold ones were potent enough. After consuming them, he channeled their effects toward his immortal kidneys. When four of his lifebound beasts had transformed into cosmic gods, his own astral organs had played a role in it. If Yin Chen was able to advance next, its capabilities would no doubt be greatly enhanced.

It was rather important to him as Yin Chen had been rather inefficient lately due to being unable to resist the cosmic senses of the foes that Tianming had been going up against. Before breaking through, he made sure to collect a majority of the Yin Chens into his lifebound space. Thanks to the fruits, his immortal kidneys had gotten enough power to trigger the transformation of astrons into middlekin astrons. Eventually, his two kidneys had become two galaxies of silver, surging with life and power.

However, he did notice that his immortal order wasn't able to reach the planet class at all. With the order stuck, Yin Chen wasn't able to complete the last step of symbiotic cultivation, leaving it stuck as a minor-zenith overflower.

"I still need overflow fragments, huh...." He had taken over four of the god domains, but there were five more under the control of Sixth's vita. The best overflow fragments came from God Domain Nine, and those were the ones that could push an overflower to reach cosmic godhood.

"Ninelives fruits are paired perfectly with overflow fragments, but I don't have enough of them!" It seemed like dealing with Sixth's vita was the quickest way to advance. He had no choice but to pause making his breakthrough.

"As for this jade talisman...." He took it out and sent his caelum into it to begin comprehending the cosmic art. "I'm still not powerful enough to protect myself in the final layer of the Ancient God Domain. Sixth's vita seemed to have found quite a few allies, so I need to get stronger."

Since he was unable to break through, he focused on learning better techniques.

"Grand Fortuna Starcrusher?" Tianming seemed to have gleaned some of the essence of the art from its rather inelegant and stiff name. "Cosmic arts are specifically used for killing cosmic gods. So, one has to crush the middlekin stars that make up the astrons in their body! It does seem like quite the destructive move. If only my simulacra and Grand-Orient Sword were stronger!" His totems and main weapon seemed unable to keep up with the new threats he had to face.

"I also haven't improved the grand lexicon wonder for quite some time now, though I feel like it would only be able to properly transform after I become a true cosmic god. Once my divine wonder reaches the maniverse class, I'd be able to open the Tales of the Trashy Divine Wonderians and read it to learn more about Old Man Voidback. The Prime Tower has also been rather silent as of late...."

Tianming was thinking hard about how to level up the other things in his arsenal too. He hadn't forgotten about them. He could only take it step by step, starting with the cosmic art.

His caelum submerged itself completely in the jade talisman. He observed the celestial movements of the universe of astral swords within. It was such a vast cosmic art that Tianming didn't notice the flow of time as he browsed it. Deeply immersed, he used his finger as a makeshift sword to direct the galaxies within the jade talisman, crushing the primordial planets within to form a celestial painting of swords.

After who knows how long, he was suddenly woken up. Yin Chen had yelled him awake. "What's the deal?"

"Your friends... something happened... to them..." Yin Chen said.

"You mean Brother Datou and the rest?" They were his ambassadors in the Primordial Sands. He had to save them if he could.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Yes yes! But these... foes are... rather powerful...."

"Who?"

"The wonderians!"