Tianming was easily able to rile up billions with a few short words. Did that mean that he would stop hiding like a coward? Surely he couldn't just say that to Imperator Ji without backing it up with action, right?

"Even being shameless has limits! Li Tianming, we're not afraid of the skypole stars, and yet you are afraid to fear our army even with your turtle shell!" Yueling Zhao cried out nonstop regardless of whether Tianming could hear it. If not for her mother holding her back, she would've joined the fight long ago. Having missed out on the timing to join as a participant, she could only watch no matter how angry she was.

Cosmic gods like her were far too numerous. Since Tianming's return, their curses rang out nonstop, within and without. The degree of contempt they had for him had reached the highest possible level. Yet, they would soon find that Tianming and Lingfeng no longer snuck around like before. Instead, they took the initiative and headed towards places with lots of cosmic gods!

"That brat's finally going to show off by relying on his skypole stars!"

"If he didn't, he'd have completely embarrassed himself with those words."

"The four imperatores are the paragons of women in the Realm of Chaos. We can't tolerate letting that disgusting brat get his lustful way! How disgusting."

"Men from Nullity truly are impotent and gross. They're rotten to the core!"

"He's not even a proper male with that sorry excuse of a worm that hangs between his legs!"

The insults from Yueling Starcage were most vile; Yueling Starcage was a world where women became more prominent than men. Since the current generation, female cosmic gods enjoyed impressive status and had countless male concubines. Tianming's provocation felt like a direct affront to their entire society.

"He actually showed up!"

"Haha, does he think we're afraid of the skypole stars?"

"I don't care how many of them he has. We'll keep hitting him until they all break!"

Wave after wave of curses and mockery came, led by Yueling Zhao. She had an even higher status than her eight elder brothers. It was said that Imperator Ji had intentionally wanted her children to be born with such a gender ratio as a means of distinguishing Yueling Zhao from the rest. She would be supported by her elder brothers and groomed as the next leader of Yueling Starcage. Despite her youth, she was definitely slated for even more greatness than her elder brothers.

Thanks to the unique societal structure of Yueling Starcage, there was no chance of her eight elder brothers to fight for the throne. They simply didn't have the right to rule and their sole purpose was to support Yueling Zhao, which was clear from her name. Zhao was written with the sun and moon above the unbounded, infinite void. Her eight brothers were named after each of the eight trigrams, namely, Qian, Kun, Kan, Li, Zhen, Xun, Gen, Dui. The eight trigrams that arise from the unbounded void would uphold the sun and moon and ensure Yueling's prosperity!

[1]

All that symbolized the hopes they all had for Yueling Zhao to be their next ruler. Yueling Ji's method of passing power onto her successor was utterly unprecedented, and this day was when all her efforts would culminate.

***

Tianming could still hear the cursing from outside the Ruinless Zone. Their sharp voices sounded more female than male, applying lots of pressure. Still, he merely smiled as he looked ahead at the large group of cosmic gods.

"Found them!" They had been looking for a chance like this for a few months already. Immediately, they sent reports to their allies as they encircled Tianming and Lingfeng. Soon, Tianming's location was surrounded by glowing-bright cosmic gods. Though this was just the start, more than fifty million of them had already gathered, most of them cosmic gods from Yueling Starcage. With so many of them around, their leader must've also been nearby.

Soon, the encirclement opened up to let more than ten primocosmic gods enter. One of them was incredibly eye catching, standing thirteen thousand meters in height. Not only was he young, his appearance stood out from the rest, tall and a beautiful astral glow similar to Imperator Ji's. Needless to say, this was one of her sons. Though he was a massive giant, his face seemed young and tender like a teenager's from the Vermillion Bird Kingdom.

"Which bagua prince is this one?" Tianming asked.

"The youngest... Little Dui," Yin Chen said.

"Little Dui, huh..." Yueling Dui was named after the final trigram of the bagua, but he was much stronger than his little sister, not to mention more mature and calmer. His subordinates respectfully addressed him as 'Marshal Dui.'

When he saw Tianming and Lingfeng, he immediately ordered his troops to get into formation, encircling them completely. He also had someone inform his other brothers about the situation.

"Yueling Dui, my son, come kneel before your stepfather," Tianming said, looking up at the primocosmic god that wasn't that much taller than him.

Yueling Dui gave him a look. "Sounds like your skypole stars and foul mouth are all you got."

"Looks like you're looking down on Daddy here," Tianming said.

Yueling Dui noted that the encirclement was complete. "Very well, let's test out how tough that shell of yours is."

Without asking anyone else to help, he approached Tianming and Lingfeng alone. White flames burst forth from his body as a spear appeared in his hand.

"Brother Tianming, let me," Lingfeng said.

"Oh?" Tianming gave him a look of surprise.

"I haven't exercised for far too long, so I need a quick workout."

"It's been a long time since the two of us fought side-by-side."

"That's right..." Lingfeng's crimson eyes were filled with nostalgia. "I already forgot when the last time was. Was it Orderia? When the Sun was just heliacal class?"

"Stop reminiscing and show me how much you've changed in the past years," Tianming said, giving his shoulder a push. Lingfeng stood around seven thousand meters tall, slightly shorter than Tianming and about half of Yueling Dui's height. Yet, he seemed confident about stepping up to the challenge.

1. TL Note: Zhao's name is written as 曌, which contains, the sun 日, moon 月 above void 空. Each trigram of the bagua has a name: 乾,坤,坎,离,震,巽,艮,兑. ☜