âItâs also gained power in close combat. Its dragon shape, sturdy materials, and immersive operating system are perfect for that!â The greatest change in the Ninedragon Imperial Tombâs appearance was its tail, which had turned into a large, black sword.
âThe Blackdragon portion of the Ninedragon Tribulation, Abyssthrust, is quite similar in effect to this large sword, which means the change was caused by the Blackdragon Core.â Unlike the heads, the tail-swordâs divine astralship formation could also draw on large amounts of nova source to layer them on its surface and use it to power up its slashes.
âAmazing!â As Tianming circulated nova source toward the tail, it lit up. And when Ji Ji was added to the mix, the tail grew pink and even more destructive.
Tianming fired the Dragonrage Cannon and could only describe it as very explosive. If it wasnât for the fact that top experts were agile and hard to hit with such straightforward attacks, this Ninedragon Imperial Tomb would have been an expert-slayer. Even cosmic cartographers would likely be unable to take an attack from the cannon head-on.
âAstralship are large-scale weapons, but they arenât omnipotent. Still, theyâre very effective on ordinary gods and armies! Theyâll definitely be involved in the civil war on Gladeus, so I hope the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb can be put to use. There arenât many ether-class astralships here!â Even the Grandnorth Dongshen Clan, which was a little larger than the Lin Clanâs tenth branch, only had two. According to Yin Chen, Gladeus only had three ether-class astralships, which were on par with sanctuary-class defensive formations.
Tianming was looking forward to it. âEver since the Grand-Orient Realm, Iâve always been on the defensive in wars. Itâll be my first time taking the initiative to step on people! Still, my priority now is to cultivate." To him, the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb was a different kind of weapon from the Grand-Orient Sword. After familiarizing himself with it, he entered a period of focused cultivation.
â¦â¦
One month later, Lin Xiaodao incited the civil war. War was merciless and the various factions on Gladeus were quickly dragged in, making the war reach a fever pitch. However, he only drew on Yin Chen and Ji Ji, and didn't use Tianming, as his priority was cultivation.
Tianming had also just gained access to Flameyellow caeli, so he focused on his studies and ignored the outside world. Gladeus plunged into chaos as all kinds of opinions flew around, but Skyhold Palace remained quiet.
Tianming would only occasionally ask Yin Chen about the warâs progress, about which he would be rest assured.
A short month wasnât enough for a breakthrough in six orders, but he patiently kept at it.
It was Feiling, instead, whose cultivation recovery sped up after becoming an astral god. Now she was a third-astral orderan, which made Tianming green with envy. Fortunately, he was comforted by Xiaoxiao being stuck in a rut.
After becoming an astral god, she was still eating the bee-head peopleâs caeli, but it wasnât as effective as before. According to her, it wasnât the food, but her absorption efficiency.
âWu You wants a private conversation with you.â Xiaoxiao was waiting for Tianming around a corner when he came out.
âA private conversation?â Tianming laughed. âLet it out.â
Not long after, the Archaionfiend came out. It first vigilantly checked its surroundings to make sure Lan Huang was off playing somewhere else, then sighed in relief.
âSpeak,â Tianming said.
âYour main plan in Gladeus is to wipe out the underground wildbeasts so the planet loses its value to the ebons, right?â
âYes, thatâs part of the plan,â Tianming said.
âI can help you! The ability I unlocked in my latest transformation is more harmful for wildbeasts. If my cultivation goes up, Iâll be supereffective on beastia!â
âBut the problem is that your cultivation speed is limited by Xiaoxiaoâs stomach.â
âExactly! Thatâs why I want my eye, or any Archaionfiendâs!â Wu You said. It looked like it had an eye now, but it was actually empty and useless.
âBut I donât have any,â Tianming said, curious where this was going.
âYou may not, but Gladeus does! I smelled it, and even had Xiaoxiao draw a map!â the Archaionfiend agitatedly said.
âI know, Yin Chen heard.â
Xiaoxiao froze. âSeriously, youâre even surveilling me?â
âIt was a coincidence, okay?â
âFine, fine.â Xiaoxiao didnât know what else to say. In the end, Yin Chen was simply everywhere. She also had an Omnisentient Thread linking to Tianming, so she didnât really have any secrets before him.
She took out a map and the Archaionfiend jabbed a claw at a spot called âInkwell Seaâ, saying, âI smelled the eyes of my race here!â
In the past, Wu You hadnât been able to smell the Archaionfiend Eye in the wooden house, as it was a secret area of the Flameyellow Imperial Star. However, it had been able to smell the one in the Archaion Sect.
âInkwell Sea? Thatâs a major base of the ebons, where many of their experts are. They breed many water-type wildbeasts there.â Tianming recognized it at a glance. He asked Yin Chen and found out it was a recent target of Lin Xiaodaoâs attack.
âYou can help if you get the eye?â Tianming frowned.
âYes! You might still not trust me, even after so long, but you can trust Xiaoxiao. I no longer dare to go against you,â the Archaionfiend said.
Tianming did indeed trust Xiaoxiao.
âShould we try?â Xiaoxiao asked. The reason she asked was because Tianming could threaten the Inkwell Seaâs guardian formation with the upgraded Ninedragon Imperial Tomb.
âWeâll try.â Tianming picked up a cockroach. âTell my master Iâll be assisting at the Inkwell Sea.â
âWhen when?â
âRight away!â