Beastmaster of the Ages

“Thank you, everyone from the Azuresoul Palace. The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect will remember the help you’ve given us. Now, everyone, stop looking at me and let’s welcome these impressive youngsters instead! They created many miracles and brought the Azuresoul Palace up at least five places in the ranking. They’re young heroes that achieved much that even their seniors haven’t. Not to mention, two of them are even Sky Palace disciples! The Azuresoul Palace’s name shall forever be recorded in history!” Long Wanying pushed Tianming and the rest forward.

There were thousands of swordpupils there in the welcoming party, as well as many disciples watching from behind. Whether they were young juniors or youthgrand disciples, they cheered for Tianming and the rest.

“Congratulations, Chief Disciple Yu Ziqian! Inheritor of the Divine Worldeater Cauldron!” Unsurprisingly, Yu Ziqian was the most celebrated among them’ after all, they weren’t familiar with Tianming. Either way, the disciples cheered their achievements without reservation.

“Welcome to the sect!” Gujian Qingshuang said without the slightest hesitation. “Jiang Qingliu, you single-handedly raised four of the top ten disciples in the ranking, two of whom joined the Sky Palace. What an impressive feat. We’re all proud of you!” Everything seemed like it was going well.

“Chief Instructor, you praise me too highly. The sect was the one who nurtured them. I was only fortunate enough to have been the one to guide them,” Jiang Qingliu said. He had always been the low-profile type, and wasn’t quite used to being in the limelight like this.

After that, Gujian Qingshuang wanted to have a feast prepared for welcoming Long Wanying and celebrating Tianming and the others’ achievements, though Long Wanying refused the invitation. She knew that the last thing Gujian Qingshuang wanted was to announce to the world that they were hosting the Whitedragon Empress. This would be better for both parties.

“Since that’s the case, what do you think about staying at the Bamboo Quarters of the sixth branch? You’ll be able to look after the disciples this way, and even guide them, too,” Jiang Qingliu said.

“That would do.”

Tianming and the rest would also be going to the Sixth Sword Branch. After the initial welcome, they went back to keeping a low profile. Jiang Qingliu prepared to guide them to the sixth branch, which was located at the lowest point of the Azuresoul Sword Mountain and had the worst nova source quality. Clearly, the swordpupils and disciples of the sixth branch were ranked the lowest in the sect, though the benefit to that was they had more than ample space at the bottom of the mountain.

“Ziqian, show us the Divine Worldeater Cauldron.”

“I want to see the Lifesteal Silverdragon and Dragonblood Desecration too!”

Some swordpupils excitedly asked to see those treasures. It wasn’t something they would normally get to see with their own eyes.

“Alright!” Yu Ziqian decided to show off in front of the crowd. He flew into the sky and summoned the cauldron. The gigantic cauldron descended from the sky, causing many of them to gasp at the sight. Yu Ziqian looked mighty and powerful in their eyes; enchanting, even, despite his sausage lips. Comparatively, the Lifesteal Silverdragon and Dragonblood Desecration didn’t drum up as much fanfare.

Unquestionably, Yu Ziqian’s status had risen quite a lot in the sect. Before this, many people weren’t too convinced by his capabilities as chief disciple, as he had come from the Sixth Sword Branch. It wasn’t helped by how rarely he fought and displayed his abilities. Even Jiang Qingliu was often lambasted for that. But now that was all history.

Yu Ziqian decided to use the chance to speak to Gujian Qingshuang. “Chief Instructor, now that I have the cauldron, my pill refining capabilities have grown a lot. However, I won’t be able to do much without any ingredients. I was wondering if I’d be allowed to go to the Celestial Herbarium.”

Everyone turned to look at Gujian Qingshuang, who responded, “Of course. Feel free to.”

If it was before, he would have no doubt refused such a request. Even many grade-four swordpupils weren’t easily granted access to the Celestial Herbarium.

“By the way, my junior disciple, Tianming, requires some divine ores as well. Since the Soulbreak Mountain is the closest place with ore veins, can he go there as well?” Yu Ziqian asked.

“Of course… he can.” Gujian Qingshuang nodded. “You two are Sky Palace disciples. Tell me if you need any resources.”

This was a good chance for the Azuresoul Palace to curry favor with the Sky Palace. Back then, they would never have had such a chance. While the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect was in a bad spot now, the Sky Palace was a stable faction they could count on.

“Thank you, Chief Instructor!” He had chosen to make these requests now because there was no reason for him to be refused. His results had spoken for themselves. The other disciples also cheered along with him, fully pleased with the outcome.

At that moment, Tianming finally spoke. “Chief Instructor, I’m in urgent need of cultivation resources. May I ask for them now?”

“Of course. Anything for you.” Gujian Qingshuang felt a little fearful, however. The lion was finally opening its mouth, but he couldn’t refuse anything so as to not renege against his fresh promise.

“I need a metal-attribute six-star universal manna.” Tianming had a feeling that a fifth-star one was the best they could give, but he wanted to see how sincere Gujian Qingshuang would be so he pushed his luck somewhat. He needed to know whether the Azuresoul Palace was a good place for a Sky Palace disciple like him to stay at. I helped raise your ranking a couple of places, so this wouldn’t be asking too much, right?

It was one thing for Gujian Qingshuang to refuse him if he’d asked privately about this, but now everyone had heard his request.

“Give it to him!”

“Senior Disciple Li is impressive!”

“His achievements are to be lauded!”

“Kyaaa! Senior, I want your babi—I mean, I want you to look after me!”

The junior disciples were going wild with fervor. Gujian Qingshuang froze. Even Jiang Qingliu’s beasts had only received six-star universal manna, and Tianming was asking for the same privilege! Tianming was really testing Gujian Qingshuang’s limits with his request. Even if they had one such manna in store, they no doubt had many plans for it already.

“Chief Instructor?” Yu Ziqian winked at him. How they treated the Whitedragon Empress didn’t matter. No matter what, Yu Ziqian and Tianming were the ones they truly had to appease. They were effectively representatives of the Sky Palace, after all.

Gujian Qingshuang awkwardly laughed and said, “Tianming, you’ve served our sect well. As Chief Instructor, I’ve decided that you deserve a six-star universal manna as your reward!”

The crowd exploded with cheers. Some were envious, but even they couldn’t deny Tianming’s contributions. He hadn’t joined the Sky Palace without any effort, after all, and had defeated many geniuses like Weisheng Moran, Long Longlong, and Zhan Yuance.

“Here it is. This one’s called Bonesea Silverstar.” Though it hurt Gujian Qingshuang to give it away, he made sure to look decisive as he handed it over. It was stored in a case made of peak divine ores that was a divine artifact in itself.

Tianming received it and immediately thanked the chief instructor. This was a huge gift. He could have asked for five five-star universal manna as well, but it would be hard to get all of them of the same element. As Yin Chen had just hatched, it needed the best quality manna to unlock its potential. Tianming would find a way to get more for his other beasts moving forward. Gan Gangan even managed to solve my divine ore problem. Looks like I’ll have enough peace to level myself up in the days to come.

After the group disbanded, Tianming and the rest went to the Sixth Sword Branch. Their legend was still spreading across the entire continent. As they were leaving, small silver cockroaches crawled down from Tianming’s body and blended in with the crowd, about a hundred thousand of them in total. Yin Chen had spread out over the entire mountain, covering all the blind spots.

“I have to make sure I’m able to hear every word everyone says. Not a single thing on the mountain will escape me.” The cockroaches began spreading out all over the place. “I have to make sure Yin Chen consumes more divine ores so it can split up even more. One day, my eyes will see everything across the entire continent! But before that, it has to evolve first.”

Tianming, Lingfeng, Xiaoxiao, and Long Wanying would be staying in the Bamboo Quarters. While the sixth branch didn’t have that many people, they were all of the friendly sort. Yu Ziqian was really popular there, and with Jiang Qingliu in charge, they received great treatment. And Ying Huo and the rest would be more than happy to have so much space to roam around in. They immediately went exploring the moment they arrived. Xian Xian’s tree also took root in the open.

……

Right after settling down, Tianming prepared Yin Chen to evolve. But before that, one of its bodies that stayed at the Celestial Welcome Hall reported back.

“What’s up?” Tianming asked.

“Gujian Qingshuang… welcomed some… other people.”

“Can you not talk like you’re constipated?” This fellow really tested his patience. Tianming eventually learned that the newcomers were from the Empyrean Sword Sect. Gujian Qingshuang had personally welcomed them and were currently having talks. “Good, tell me what they’re talking about.”

“Let’s eavesdrop… while we… evolve, okay?”

Tianming really was going to lose it. “Just eat this up!” He opened the box and the swarm of metal insects instantly rushed into it.