Beastmaster of the Ages

Chapter 2343 - Frozen Space

Tianming couldn't be bothered with wasting time. The most direct method was to rely on Meow Meow's speed to shake Lin Hongchen off.

"Charge!" Meow Meow had long been prepared. All eight of its Regalfiend Wings manifested and sent lightning abilities blasting all over! Then, it turned into a ball of lightning that shot toward Lin Hongchen. The pathway was wide enough for lifebound beasts to fight within.

"Trying to run?" Lin Hongchen's expression turned cold. He’d had full control over Tianming back at the tomb and had been expecting it. The easiest way for astral gods to control normal gods was to use their orders. When Tianming and Meow Meow shot past him, he immediately deployed his order field, filling the entire span of the pathway of tens of thousands of meters! It was even wider than Lin Jianxing's order field's range. Being a third-level orderan, he was the most powerful participant from the Lin Clan and on par with Guchi Xiaoyin.

"You weren't able to run from me last time, and this time will be the same," Lin Hongchen said.

"Why does it sound like he really wants to be with you?" Xian Xian asked.

"I think it's your shipping brain rot," Tianming listlessly said. As he spoke, he felt a huge pressure from the order field. Lin Hongchen had blocked most of the way and made it so that Tianming couldn't slip past him. "Keep charging, my cat."

"Charge my ass! Hell, this spatial power feels similar to Ling'er's! It's like I'm being sucked into a swamp!" Meow Meow said.

Tianming also felt that space itself seemed to have softened once he stepped into the order field. It was like he was in a quagmire, or trapped within the sticky green honey. While he could still fight at close to his full potential, Meow Meow's speed was hampered.

But that wasn't the worst part.

Lin Hongchen wasn't impeded in the slightest! Wielding his sword, he blocked Tianming's way. "Lin Feng, don't make me angry! You’d better do what I say. We agreed to split what we got from there, and now I can be certain that you've kept something for yourself! There's nothing wrong with letting me take a look!" He actually didn't want to fight all that badly; all he wanted was to make Tianming submit. If that weren’t the case, he would have summoned his swordbeasts and attacked right away.

"Oh, so he's the top and you're the bottom!" Xian Xian excitedly said.

"Go eat shit, you!" Tianming rolled his eyes.

"No, I like to eat meat," Xian Xian shyly replied.

"Stop pretending to be pure. I don't ever see you emptying the bowels of things before you eat them," Tianming said with a look of contempt.

"What?! Hey! Ah! You! I'm pure and clean, okay?!" Xian Xian panicked and teared up at the sudden loss of words. Lan Huang couldn't even help but laugh at the talk of eating shit.

"Lin Feng, do you hear me?" Lin Hongchen said, angrily noticing that he was bickering with his lifebound beasts. His order field got even more powerful.

"Since you won't listen, don't blame me for cutting off your fingers." He charged in with his sword.

Tianming wordlessly looked at him. Lin Hongchen was quite powerful and would have been able to hold up against Guchi Xiaoyin and his eight warbeasts for some time. If Tianming hadn’t broken through twice—and used his totems and Ji Ji's sacrificial move—he wouldn't have been able to defeat Guchi Xiaoyin. But it was different now! Tianming didn't want to fight him, though, as there wasn't any benefit at all. It would only serve to prematurely reveal his true abilities to the public. But since Lin Hongchen's order field was powerful enough to slow Meow Meow down, he had no choice.

"Spatial freezing, huh?" Tianming had read up on Lin Hongchen. He was Ku's grandson, after all, and he idolized Lin Xiaozhi, the Unisword Goddess. As such, he had incredible talent and had obtained the frozen space order from the sea of order, which allowed him to lock down a region of space. It was among the rarer and more exclusive orders that were seldom seen in Ebonia.

Those in the Swordgod Lin Clan that became astral gods would manifest their swordhearts. Tianming could clearly see Lin Hongchen's sword-shaped heart beating, roaring like a wild beast as it circulated the power of the cosmic impulse inside his sword. Lin Clan disciples were experts at using cosmic impulses, after all. Additionally, their swordhearts also allowed them to link their orders to their sword arts.

It was often said that those without swordhearts would face incredible difficulty in unleashing the true power of the Lin Clan’s sword arts. Their swordhearts served as bridges between orders and arts, facilitating incredible integration. While their other aspects were average, they excelled in attack power. Coupled with swordbeasts, it made their strikes mind-bogglingly powerful, making members of the Lin Clan adept single-target damage dealers, in contrast to the ebons, who were much better fighting in larger groups.

Every time Lin Hongchen's swordheart beat, his frozen space order shook as well. The rumble of space flowed into the sword he wielded, and when he waved it, the entire order field danced! That was a combination that wouldn’t be possible without a swordheart, which was also why most people didn't think Tianming would be able to use the full power of the Xiaozhi Sword Art and Grandvoid Compendium.

Apart from his magnificent integration of sword art and order field, Lin Hongchen also had an impressive sword. Its hilt was crimson, like flames, and the cosmic impulse contained within seemed infernal in nature. As for the blade, it was as white as frost, creating a sword of polar opposites. The cosmic impulse inside the hilt was named Scorching Refinement, while the one in the blade was named Congealed Frost. The sword itself was famous in the clan and was called the Frostshower Crimson Sun. Every slash of the sword would unleash seas of flame and storms of frost.

The cosmic impulses' power blasted their way toward Tianming.

"Impressive." Tianming could sense that Lin Hongchen had used a spatial sword art of the Lin Clan. His sword strike turned into mirages within the order field, making it look like there were tens of millions of blades amidst the flames and frost that filled his vision. It was a glimpse of the coldest of hells, but filled with scorching flames!