Tianyi clapped his hands, and lightning descended from the thunderclouds. Unlike the first time, hundreds of bolts converged around him. With each strike, the humanoid shroud surrounding Tianyi grew larger and larger until it reached over a thousand meters, dwarfing the unnamed immortal monarch's martial manifestation.
He wasn't done yet. The lightning giant's pure yellow color gained four more additional hues, transforming from ordinary lightning to Five Element Lightning. The vague humanoid form condensed until it resembled Tianyi wearing armor.
The Five Element Lightning Giant clenched its fist and punched toward the unnamed immortal monarch. As the fist neared, the lion-shaped martial manifestation roared, unleashing a sonic blast that halted the fist's momentum.
The immortal monarch charged toward the lightning giant's chest, where Tianyi's actual body resided. The lion-shaped martial manifestation followed closely behind and headbutted the lightning giant's chest.
The scene of the lightning giant staggering back or dissipating did not occur as per the immortal monarch's expectations. Instead, lightning erupted from the point of contact, shrouding him and his martial manifestation.
Another roar later, the lightning around disappeared, and the unnamed martial monarch retreated into the distance. He continued to dodge the lightning giant's punches.
The unnamed immortal monarch growled, and the lion-shaped martial manifestation bellowed. A giant steel ball shot out from its maws and crashed into the lightning giant's armor, but aside from a slight ripple, the metal ball bounced off.
The immortal monarch frowned. According to the short exchange of blows, he already summarized a list of weaknesses. Xi Tianyi possessed an abundant amount of immortal qi that translated to immense strength and defense but lacked the necessary speed. It was a crucial weakness brought about by inexperience in his eyes.
Although the unnamed immortal monarch knew his foe's weakness, that didn't mean he had an easier time dealing with Xi Tianyi. As a martial monarch, he had always excelled at close-quarter combat, not long-ranged attack. He wasn't afraid to get in close and dirty, exchanging injury for injury, but he also had to weigh the pros and cons.
It was a question of whether he could destroy Xi Tianyi's lightning giant and defeat him before he got too injured. The immortal monarch also hadn't forgotten that there was supposedly another immortal monarch from the Buzhou Immortal Sect who had yet to take action.
The unnamed immortal monarch retreated to a safe distance to safely activate his next technique. The lightning giant didn't follow and only stayed protectively in front of the immortal boat.
The lion-shaped manifestation started to shrink until it reached a similar size to the immortal monarch. A flash of white later, it transformed into a lion-shaped armor of white covering him. With a roar, the immortal monarch stomped on the air and leaped towards the lightning giant, leaving behind a sonic boom in the process.
With a ferocious punch to the chest, the lightning giant staggered backward. Behind his lion-themed helmet, the immortal monarch released a proud smirk as he continued to attack. He moved so fast it almost seemed like teleportation.
With each movement, a sonic boom would occur. Following that, the lightning giant started to stagger continuously as if an invisible giant was punching it from all sides.
The unnamed immortal monarch grinned viciously as he saw cracks appearing on the lightning giant. Thinking he had Xi Tianyi on the ropes, it was time to drive away the unnecessary interlopers and teach them never to return.
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Tianyi suppressed the yawn. He was surprised by how impressive the immortal monarch had become after merging with his martial manifestation, but it still wasn't enough to destroy his lightning giant. He had to consciously stop himself from healing the damage on the lightning giant.
By his estimations, the unknown immortal monarch only integrated three out of the five elemental qis. Aside from that, he hadn't exhibited any full or even partial comprehension of other laws aside from the five elements. Among immortal monarchs, he should be on the average to lower-end spectrum in terms of strength.
Tianyi really wanted to just kill him and be done with it, but he didn't want to show his strength too much. If he showed too much strength, the Eight Pillar Sect might think he was an imposter or something. They probably already thought it was strange that he was an immortal monarch at only around two hundred years of age.
He paused when he received a transmission from Daoyi. She recognized the immortal monarch's identity, something Tianyi failed to do. His title was Monarch Whitelion of the Allbeast Sect, and he was not one of the forces he had to show mercy toward.
Tianyi smiled when he saw the true immortals behind Monarch Whitelion move forward. Obviously, they thought that he was too occupied to deal with them.
He allowed them to fly forward and even near the immortal boat. During this time, Tianyi even accelerated the injuries of the lightning giants. And just as the hundred true immortals were a few seconds away from reaching the immortal boat, he exploded the lightning giant.
The explosion released thousands of bolts, some colored red, black, white, yellow, green, and everything in between. Numerous screams of horror and pain erupted as the bolts struck the Allbeast Sect's true immortals.
In a flash, over thirty percent of the Allbeast Sect's true immortals perished, and another thirty percent suffered major injuries, while the last forty percent suffered minor injuries.
The thousands of bolts of lightning did not dissipate immediately. Instead, they lingered like a thunderstorm, clouding the sky in darkness. Although it didn't possess the same destructive force as before, the true immortal did not dare to enter easily, and some immortals who failed to escape it in time died under the onslaught of lightning.
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"You bastard!" Monarch Whitelion roared and rushed toward Tianyi with fury in his eyes. A phantom lion over a thousand meters large engulfed him as he rushed forward.
Tianyi clenched his hand and the thunderstorm condensed around him, forming another lightning giant, only half its former size. It crossed his arms in a defensive manner, and when Monarch Whitelion's attack reached him, cracks appeared on the giant's arm.
The lightning giant's arms shattered into countless motes of light and skidded back hundreds of meters, causing surging waves in the process. Soon, the lightning giant regrew its arm and punched toward Monarch Whitelion.
The phantom lion around Monarch Whitelion had dissipated, but he still fearlessly charged forward with a punch. The two clashes caused tiny tornadoes to form. Tianyi's lightning giant and Monarch Whitelion continued to attack and defend, altering the landscape.
At this time, the surviving true immortals did not dare to near the immortal boat. Who knew when Tianyi would explode the lightning giant again?
The longer the two fought, the more frustrated Monarch Whitelion became. He knew he held the upper hand, but he couldn't land a decisive blow against Tianyi. If he sent the true immortals to the immortal boat, Tianyi would explode the lightning giant and cause more casualties.
He didn't want to recklessly charge either because he still had reservations about the hidden immortal monarch. After deep consideration, Monarch Whitelion ordered a retreat.
From this brief clash, he could tell the Buzhuo Immortal Sect wasn't wholeheartedly aiding the Eight Pillar Sect. If both immortal monarchs had attacked him, they would have had a high chance of killing him were it not for the Void Transversing Talisman he kept on hand.
So, Monarch Whitelion retreated but not before promising vengeance toward Tianyi for killing so many true immortals of the Allbeast Sect.
Tianyi rolled his eyes in response. 'Did you expect me to show you mercy after you guys attacked?'
When he returned to the boat, he saw many gazes of reverence and admiration from the occupants. Not just from the Eight Pillar Sect but also the Buzhou Immortal Sect. In this world, strength was the most important measurement of respect.
"Many thanks to Monarch Xi for repelling those blasphemous rebellers," the leader of the Eight Pillar Sect member said with a cupped fist.
Tianyi waved his hand. "Think nothing of it. I'm simply carrying out the agreement."
The Eight Pillar Sect leader nodded and didn't speak anymore with Tianyi, who obviously didn't want to increase their interaction.
"Something wrong?" Daoyi asked Tianyi, who had returned next to her.
"No, I'm just thinking," Tianyi said.
"About what?"
Tianyi sealed off the space around them before he answered. "In a story, wouldn't the Buzhou Immortal Sect be classified as the final boss? The Eight Pillar Sect is on the losing end, besieged by the traitorous Buzhou Immortal Sect, but in their darkest hour, a disciple breaks through and solves their crisis."
"The disciple was originally an ordinary disciple with a flawed spiritual root, but through a miracle, managed to embark on the road to cultivation," Tianyi continued. "Although he suffered under the corrupt elders, he still loved the sect and rose up to the occasion. He would later lead his sect to defeat the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Saintly Scholar School, making the Eight Pillar Sect the sole hegemon of the Huang Realm."
Daoyi just stared at him. She placed her palm against Tianyi's forehead. "No sign of fever. Maybe brain damage."
"That's mean."
"Then you shouldn't say weird stuff," Daoyi said. "That only happens in stories."
"Not really," Tianyi said. "Well, the conclusion may be, but these protagonist-like backgrounds feel really common. There's Lei Jingye, who I killed. The Dragon Emperor, who I solved with the previous one. Yan Nie, who got his marriage broken. Uhh, your sister, who I want to kill. Lovespot might fit the mold, too."
Daoyi threw an amused smile. "What about you? Wouldn't you be considered one? You reincarnated from an ordinary earthling to a powerful cultivator."
"Nope," Tianyi said. "Not enough setbacks. My birth is too good. I'm closer to an antagonist. Now that I think about it, almost everyone I mentioned had beef with me. Ugh."
"You must have an abhorrent personality then," Daoyi said with a giggle.
Tianyi gave her an unamused stare. "And finally, Daoyi. After suffering through years of abuse under Tianyi's hand, she dies. But when she opened her eyes again, she discovered she time traveled into the past. In her new life, she swore to get revenge on everyone who wronged her and find true love, or maybe several."
"I'd read it," Daoyi said before breaking out in laughter.
Tianyi sighed.
It took a few more months for the immortal boat to arrive at the Eight Pillar Sect. Along the way, Monarch Whitelion never appeared again. Not because they feared Tianyi but because the Eight Pillar Sect had taken advantage of his and the true immortals’ absence to launch a counterattack.
Upon arriving, Monarch Pathway personally came forward to greet the reinforcement from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Since Tianyi didn't want to deal with it, he happily threw Ba Shifang under the bus and made him deal with the diplomacy.
Tianyi noticed two cultivators following behind Monarch Pathway, both young men. One of them appeared quite androgynous, but the other appeared plain. Upon closer inspection, he couldn't find any fault in their features.
He could tell that both of them were young. The androgynous man appeared closer to his age if a bit older but the other was actually younger than him.
Monarch Pathway noticed Tianyi's stares and said, "Linyin, Wulin. Come forward and offer your greetings."
The androgynous man walked up and cupped his fist. "Yang Linyin greets Monarch Xi."
Tianyi's brows furrowed as he tried to remember where he had heard that name.
"He's one of the Eight Pillar Sect Master candidates aside from Duan Muli. You should know him since I heard he also attended the Three Heavens Connection Gathering."
Tianyi sent a glance at Daoyi. "No wonder I found him so familiar, but how did you know."
"I read the report on notable figures in the Earth Continent, including notable up-and-coming figures. Didn't you?"
Tianyi looked away. He wasn't going to tell her that he already forgot them. Instead, he focused on the second person.
The plain-looking man cupped his fist and said. "Tai Wuling greets Monarch Xi."
Tianyi stared at him. Tai Wuling was only a true immortal, but Tianyi felt a sense of connection with him. Specifically, his Law of Five Phases reacted to the true immortal. 'There's something dangerous about him. I'll have to keep an eye on him."