"Let's see how many people end up dead due to this imperial son's wild actions!"

"What a fool. He's nothing like the first imperial son at all!"

Curses echoed nonstop within the Godly Sands.

***

Right after leaving the Godly Sands, Tianming stopped and turned to Dao Feng. "I'm worried that Yueling Starcage will be causing everyone trouble from now on due to my actions."

Before Dao Feng even spoke, a few elders said, "It's fine, imperial Son. We're used to it already. It wasn't like they left us alone before you came either."

"The Dongshen Arena has a rule that prevents anyone from fighting outside the dueling platforms, something that is in everyone's interest to follow. Yueling Starcage doesn't call the shots here."

"The imperial son managed to give them a slap on the face and save our precious vice leader that we're indebted to. We are happy for him."

None of them seemed too concerned about any potential backlash. It seemed that the usual treatment they received was already bad enough that it couldn't get much worse.

"Huh, none of you blame me for my quirk of instigating trouble?" Tianming looked at the hundreds around him, surprised.

Qin Yan said, "Imperial Son, don't think of it that way. Those of us here have already lowered our heads and given away everything for the sake of survival. We're no longer afraid of death, so what else is there to fear? We all came here for a desperate gambit. Before you came, we acted as wild and fierce as we needed to for survival. If we were afraid of backlash, we wouldn't have come here in the first place and would just lie down and rot in our homes!"

"That's right!"

"We didn't care when nobody stood up for us, so why would we complain when you do now?"

"Imperial Son, none of us that stays here is a coward!"

"Life is all about relishing these bursts of ecstasy, and we just got a marvelous serving! Even if we die, it'd have been worth it!"

They continued to motivate Tianming to no end, an act that touched him deeply. "Alright!"

When he spoke, everyone fell silent. "I was just checking to see how you all felt about it. If you're willing to trust me, let me handle everything else within the Dongshen Arena from now on. I will be the intermediary for all from Nullity and do my best to help. I can't promise to save all your lives, but I'll make sure to improve things around here." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

They looked at him with tearful and faithful gazes. Even though Tianming wasn't nearly as strong as Li Tianzi, he could start to use their omnisentient power. It was only a tiny spark, but all huge flames began from sparks!

"Dao Feng, summon everyone back to the guild. I want to meet all of them," Tianming said.

"Yes!" Dao Feng happily agreed. He carried out the instruction immediately while Tianming returned to the guild house. The imperial son had brought with him a beacon of hope.

Meanwhile, Yin Chen spread through the entire Dongshen Arena and was able to spot every instance of troublemaking and griefing, allowing Tianming to ensure everyone's safety. Yin Chen would be able to inform him about any situation that was going down.

Eventually, around two thousand members gathered in the building. Many of them had been pushed to desperation and clawed at any chance for salvation.

"Imperial Son! Save us!"

"Save me!"

They kneeled before Tianming and begged. Seeing these defeated souls, Tianming knew that the path of laying his dynasty's foundations would be a long one. Fortunately, it wasn't too late to start.

***

While Dao Feng continued to gather up the members, Tianming entered a dark room in the guild building after hearing someone call him. Space twisted within the room as a vortex emerged, out of which a black-haired youth stepped. He was about the same height as Tianming and had crimson eyes and a vortex near his chest. A gust of wind seemed to circle around him as well.

"Feng?" Tianming's mood improved right after seeing him. "How are you doing on your end?"

Lingfeng pointed at his eye and said, "I managed to suppress him, so I came to talk for a bit."

Tianming looked at Lingfeng properly and smiled. "Very well. I see that you've made quite a bit of progress. Things are looking optimistic, right?"

"Well... More or less." Lingfeng nodded.

Even so, Tianming could sense that the struggle against Di Yi was far harder than he could imagine. Lingfeng was only nodding to stop him from worrying. "Can I do anything to help?"

Lingfeng shook his head. "He's trying to take over my body, so I'm the only one who can stop him. I'll let you know if there's something you can do about it, I promise. I want to live on too, you know."

"Good." Though worried, Tianming still chose to believe in Lingfeng's tenacity. He then noticed that one of his eyes began turning purple again. Di Yi was already trying to reassert control.

"I'll be quick," Lingfeng said, noticing the change too. "Brother Tianming, your father in the Realm of Chaos might seem to not be able to do much, but it's not because he's afraid of other imperatores, not even the four from Yueling Starcage."

"What is it?" Tianming asked.

One of Lingfeng's eye looked more purple than red. He hurriedly said, "Di Yi leaked this information! There's other beings like him in the Realm of Chaos who're also named after numbers! There might be more than two!"

"Like Huang Qi and Tian Jiu? What in the world are these beings, really?" Tianming asked.

[1]

"Yes!"

"Do you know their names?"

"No, all I know is that one is the third, and the other is the eighth!" Lingfeng's eye turned purple completely. "Be careful of them! I need to go!"

1. TL Note: The names of Di Yi, Huang Qi, and Tian Jiu all have corresponding numbers. Yi is one, Qi is seven, and Jiu is nine. ☜