Beastmaster of the Ages

Would the sanctuary-class Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, armed with two ether-class divine wonders, be enough to stop the Lightsoul? Tianming nervously waited to find out. ”The more elite the Star Hunters are, the less we can afford to let them slip away! Those three bosses, especially, have their hands completely stained with blood. Destroying them might bring me good karma! If they manage to escape, however, they might commit even worse atrocities when they’re desperate.”

Letting a single one go would mean the failure of their plan. Wudi and the astralguard formation had done their part throughout the day, but the Star Hunters had rather quickly reacted, not to mention how resilient they were. It was quite impressive for the Bloodprison and Lightsoul to be able to make their way near the astralguard formation’s edge to break through.

Right at that juncture, Wudi had some good news for them. ”We managed to achieve superiority in the battlefield below. I’ll send another five thousand flameyellow fiends to join the ten thousand stopping the Bloodprison! The Reaper has also arrived. It’ll attack them with the fiends, too!”

The Bloodprison was near the outer ring of the Flameyellow Guard Formation. Once it broke out, the ten thousand flameyellow fiends would be useless, so it was crucial for it to be intercepted there. Around five thousand fiends were moved from the lowest battlefield up to there by Wudi as they were no longer needed below after around two thousand ships had been destroyed. Even the Reaper could leave that zone. However, that was the limit of troops that could be transferred away. The remaining deific- and sanctuary-class ships at the very bottom began rising once more. But at that point, it was more crucial for them to stop the top elites from leaving at the cost of letting a few small fries go.

”Tianming, hold them back a little more! Keep an eye on the Lightsoul for now. We have to force the Bloodprison back down before we can support you!”

”Got it.”

Lin Zhongtian and Lin Zhonghai were inside the Reaper, attacking the Bloodprison with nearly ten thousand flameyellow fiends. The Traceless, the Bloodprison, and a few thousand other ships were spread out across the different battlefields, so far maintaining an equilibrium against the formation’s defenses.

Even after sending five thousand flameyellow fiends, the Lightsoul could scarcely be stopped! Tianming turned the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb in its direction and saw fire spouting from the surface of the formation. Within the spout, many flameyellow fiends rose into space. The moment they left the formation, they dissipated. Beneath them was a high-speed, colorful gear-saw ship ramming its way upward!

So far, the strongest Star Hunter ship that had escaped was deific class, but that would change if the Lightsoul got out. It contained many spoils that the Star Hunters had robbed, not to mention some thirty thousand top-class astral gods. The number of fighters among the Star Hunters was comparable to the Lin Clan’s. Lin Xiaodao’s troops were only part of the tenth branch, so there was no way Gladeus could have taken the Star Hunters on without the help of his infinitum-class ship and Gladeus’ ether-class formation. Facing such a powerful foe, Tianming couldn’t help but feel nervous. He might not be able to stop that number of astral gods if they emerged from the Lightsoul.

”We’re cutting our way out!” In a battle of divine astralships, calmness, spatial awareness, and control were incredibly important. Just as the Lightsoul emerged from the astralguard formation, the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb finished charging up its Dragonrage Cannon. The ball of flame was pink, thanks to Ji Ji. It seemed to pack as much destructive power as an attack from a top-tier sanctuary-class ship.

With a loud boom, the ball of flame landed above the Lightsoul just as its crew cheered their imminent escape. They didn’t think that they would suffer such an attack right as they were getting out. It was too late for the Lightsoul to evade, so it had no choice but to charge into the attack with its gear-saw head-on.

The explosion was so grand that a mushroom cloud formed near the flaming cloud layer. Patterns of impact could be seen across the surface of the astralguard formation. The Lightsoul shook so hard that the astral gods within were flung all over the place, ramming into everything. The ship itself had almost been sent flying back inside the formation and suffered quite a few cracks to its armor.

”Who was that?!” The white-haired man spared quite a bit of effort before finally stabilizing the Lightsoul. Then, everyone turned to look at their attacker. ”That’s....”

They doubtfully looked at the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, though it was rather unfamiliar to them.

”Boss! That’s Lin Feng’s ship! It’s a high-sanctuary-class ship!”

”That’s right! He must be inside it!”

”I know. Lin Xiaodao doesn’t want us to leave because he wants to wipe us out. That’s why they stopped Big Boss and Second Boss and even risked this kid to stop us!”

”A sanctuary-class ship trying to stop an ether-class one? Isn’t that too foolhardy?”

”Third Boss, quick! Crush that nine-head dragon!”

Excitement was building within the Lightsoul and the white-haired man’s colorful eyes shifted nonstop. He had the gear-saw in front of the ship spin faster and faster until it became a kind of mirage that emanated a terrifying power; Lin Feng was far too important.

”Third Boss, they’re clearly trying to tempt us and buy time. Our attempt here failed, so let’s leave as soon as possible! Don’t fall for the bait! We just saw a sanctuary-class world use an ether-class astralguard formation! It isn’t a stretch to think that this nine-headed dragon is more than meets the eye!”

”Nonsense! There’s definitely a limit to the number of miracles they can pull out. That ship has already shown its prowess. It is powerful, but it’s no stronger than any other sanctuary-class ship. They only sent it out here because they’re desperate to stop us from escaping. They wouldn’t want what happened to Greenglow to happen to them, after all! This is our chance to turn things around, Boss!”

”I agree. Big Boss and Second Boss, as well as millions of our brothers, are trapped. Once the Gladean Ruins arrives, they’ll all die! Without them, the Star Hunters are no more! Didn’t we swear to be together in life and death? This is our chance to fulfill that oath. How could we choose to save ourselves and abandon our brothers and sisters? As long as we capture Lin Feng, nobody has to die! We’ll even get this world, with its amazing astralguard formation. Lin Xiaodao and Yi Daiyan won’t be able to do anything to us!”

”Third Boss, this is an opportunity we can’t let go of!”

Quite a few people knelt and pleaded with tearful eyes. Too many people in the Lightsoul simply couldn’t let it go. Most of them quickly flipped and agreed that they should try capturing Tianming. After all, if they avoided the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb and escaped, they would be giving up on everything but the Lightsoul, including two of their esteemed leaders! They had enjoyed far too many victories to be willing to take that loss.

”I’d rather die with Big Boss and Second Boss than escape alive!”

”Yeah!”