<h4>Chapter 1988 - Like the Rising Sun</h4>


    Tianming was still troubled over how he could deal with the specters that were still inside the formation, and now he had to worry about the sun emperor as well. He hadn''t even transported the Starvore halfway toward his destination.


    "Now that the meyellow Guard Formation is activated, the coffin''s power must’ve risen to a whole new level." Even with fifty billion people supporting him, Tianming still felt the iing threat. The sun emperor was aiming toplete his transformation by using him as a stepping stone toward greater heights! He couldn''t even wait a single moment longer.


    "How fierce. Looks like he thinks the specters above us are no longer a threat." Even with the divine astralship formation of the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, it didn''t negate the specter of death that loomed over him. The zing lion chasing him from behind had already bitten into his neck. The storm of carnage was about to begin—cold, merciless, violent, and raw!


    The crazed smile of the sun emperor reflected his true nature. After killing the three specter rulers, his might had grown even more. The mes of the sun seemed to gather in the meyellow Coffin. Together with the two people near it, the coffin turned into a shooting star that flew past the countless ming beasts of the defensive formation. It streaked across the sky so quickly that a strong whooshing could even be heard from the ground.


    The sun emperor, the spitting image of a sun rising in the sky, had bared his de toward Tianming, and how thetter reacted would determine his fate. Who could possibly stop the manifestation of the divine sun''s will?


    If the meyellow Coffin was able to breach the Starvore, there was little doubt that it could do the same to the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. While Tianming was still trying to elerate, a gigantic, ming face appeared on the ming cloudyer above him. It was the sun emperor''s face.


    "Tianming, my son, the sun is only so big, you see. You and I are both aberrations in this universe. There’s no way for us to coexist. Why don''t we settle this once and for all on this day that marks a new era for the sun? No matter who bes the new ruler of the meyellow Imperial Star, my dream of revitalizing this world to its former glory will be fulfilled."


    Tianming merely chuckled, "The army of Skywolf has yet to retreat while the denizens of the sun are still dying, yet you still came after me. Aren''t you in too much of a hurry? I don''t disagree that one of us must die, but now is not the time! Once the external threat is dealt with, we can properly settle things."


    The fact that the sun emperor had chosen this time to pick a fight meant that he was confident in his chances. Tianming still had a good chance of growing even stronger with enough time. "I can''t wait. If I do, I won''t be able to deal with you anymore."


    The ming face in the clouds fizzled away, but his murderous voice continued to echo. More and more, his killing intent grew. He kept giving chase, and his target had never been the Starvore to begin with.


    "You want to wipe out Skywolf and me for good on the same day, huh?" The sun emperor was nothing if not ambitious. From the very beginning, he had only left Tianming alone because he was still useful. Once Skywolf had effectively been defeated, he had no more use for him!


    The coffin approached the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, rapidly closing the distance.


    "I have no choice." Tianming chose to give up on the Starvore for now. The only rational decision was to escape, now that the enemy had revealed his true colors. Naturally, he would still be taking the cores of the Starvore with him, leaving the sun emperor with nothing but an empty husk. With that, there was no worry that the sun emperor would use it to attack the Sky Pce Formation.


    Right before disaster struck, Tianming calmly retracted the Godsin. When the chains were pulled back, the Starvore lurched forward as it went smashing into the ground, making yet another gigantic crater. For better or worse, the denizens of the sun were already used to suchmotion during wartime.


    "Tianming, there’s far too many elites across the various star clusters in the universe. Skywolf is but a puny observer civilization. The only way for us descendants of the meyellow divinities to quickly rise back to glory is to unite under a single ruling will. Without you around, the Myriad Sr Sects will quickly fall under my thumb. Not a single one has to die! They’re the same people—my people!


    "Don''t you understand now? If it weren’t for you, there would’ve been no civil war! You are the real cause of all that suffering! Everything you’ve done was for your own power and hubris. It''s time to wake up to the truth. The best contribution you can give this world is your death. You were the main obstacle of progress all along. Once you die, this world will be mine to rule. The people will be united and there’ll be no internal strife. That’s the key to future prosperity, and you are the rock that has jammed the wheel of progress!"


    Tianming still found himself marveling at the kind of justification the sun emperor was able toe up with, as if he really believed all the crap he was spewing.


    The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb sped up more and more, freed from the heavy mass it had been dragging along. Tianming shifted the output of its nova source to the maximum, refusing to believe that the sun emperor would be able to keep up. As expected, just as the coffin was about to reach him, the distance began widening again. Not even the energy to the coffin supplied by the meyellow Guard Formation was enough to get it to divine astralship speeds.


    "Since you’ve already set that narrative, there isn’t much else for me to say. Between us, there''s no such thing as morals, good, evil, or reason. The winner shall rule, and the loser shall be forgotten. Try being less shameless. At least that way I''ll probably still be able to maintain some modicum of respect for you," Tianming said. He didn''t want to stay and fight, and even if he did, wouldn''t be capable of taking the sun emperor on as he was right then.


    What he didn''t expect, however, was that the Primordial Demon within the meyellow Guard Formation suddenly hovered near the top of the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. The entire region above was filled with inky ck baleful souls, constantly blending together and contorting.


    "It''s him!"


    "He’s the one that exterminated Skywolf Frost!"


    "That''s the sun emperor!"


    "Everyone,e! Kill him!"


    The baleful souls were going wild as the mass of ck ink descended from the ming cloudyer and turned its gleaming, red eyes toward the sun emperor.


    Lingfeng had arrived.