Beastmaster of the Ages

By now, everyone in the Myriad Solar Sects felt disdain for the Sky Palace. They had placed their faith in the institution, only for them to turtle up like cowards. Instead, they turned their hopes toward Tianming instead.

”Sky Palace Formation?” Grade-nine divine formations were probably the strongest ones available, second only to astralguard and fusion formations. Even the Aeonic Infinidragon Formation was only considered a grade-eight formation, showing how powerful the smaller Sky Palace Formation was. It was no wonder Yin Chen had had a tough time slipping inside Sky Palace, and the bodies it had left within had become dormant long ago.

As long as he isn’t able to break through the formation, the sun emperor won’t be able to obtain the other half of the solar core. He said the Sky Palace has been infiltrated by Skywolf. Does that mean that the sun doesn’t even have an astralguard formation up and is ripe for invasion? Tianming thought. He hadn’t told the seniors about the imminent invasion just yet, and that point gave him even more doubts. Skywolf is approaching us, yet half of the astralguard formation is compromised. I bet the sun emperor is desperate. But if that’s the case, why’d he pick now to invade the Myriad Solar Sects? Even if he eliminates every faction, he still wouldn’t be able to take down the Sky Palace, right?

The sun emperor’s true motivations were a mystery to him. Was he really trying to protect the sun, or just trying to avenge Li Wushuang? Tianming didn’t think he was trying to avenge the troops he had lost at the Myriaddragon Mountains. He didn’t seem like the type to care for their deaths at all and only wanted to destroy the defensive formations of the Myriad Solar Sects. Could he just be a madman?

”Tianming, what’s that nightmare you mentioned?” The two seniors seemed rather worried.

”I need to show the two of you the star map from the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb.” He opened the map and pointed at two bright stars. ”This is Skywolf. The distance it was from the sun has shrunk by a quarter compared to what it was when I was in Violetglory. The sun emperor was the one who told me of the imminent invasion by Skywolf. I believe that he’s the only one who knows about it. None of the other celestial orderians do. My star map proves his claim correct. I believe what awaits us will affect not just the Myriad Solar Sects, but the whole of Orderia.”

The Saintdragon Emperor and Long Wanying’s faces immediately turned pale at the mention of Skywolf. They seemed like they had difficulty breathing and were unable to tear their eyes away from the star map.

Even someone as stoic as the Saintdragon Emperor couldn’t hold back a gasp. ”It’s one disaster after another... the heavens are truly merciless. It’s no wonder you’re under so much pressure.” He knew better than anyone the terror Skywolf posed based on historical records. During the last invasion, the Sky Palace was still functioning normally and the sun had managed to stop the invasion with the astralguard formation alone while heavily wounding the enemy. Even then, they had suffered astronomical casualties. That was what a true astral war looked like. It made the war between the two sides of the sun look like a petty civil dispute.

”I’m stumped. Is the sun emperor a fool? Why attack us at this point in time? He could’ve allied with us and tried to see if we would be able to fight our way into the Sky Palace. Shouldn’t securing our astralguard formation be the main priority? Yet now we’re fighting so desperately among ourselves.... Are you sure the sun emperor isn’t the one who’s been compromised by Skywolf?” Long Wanying spat.

”That doesn’t sound likely. Even the leader of Skywolf might not be as powerful as the nonabane sun emperor,” the Saintdragon Emperor calmly deduced. ”But still, we have a wave of trouble to come before we even overcome this one. Tianming, how much time do we have until Skywolf reaches us at this rate?”

”They’re moving slower than divine astralships, so it’ll take six to nine months. I’ll guess eight. That’s assuming it can’t accelerate more,” Tianming said.

”We can pinpoint its location with the star map. Will we be able to move the sun away to escape?” Long Wanying asked.

”No. To move the sun, we have to have a complete solar core. With the Sky Palace in this state, how would we be able to escape? Not to mention, the records show that Skywolf is a binary star system. It’s unique in that the two stars are able to influence each other’s orbits for propulsion. Now that they’ve targeted us, there’s no way we can outrun them,” the Saintdragon Emperor said.

”Dammit! Granny Yuan Long is in the Sky Palace. How could she be compromised just like that? Why didn’t we get any inkling of it?” Long Wanying was feeling too emotionally distraught.

”I went inside there before. I felt that all seven of them seemed rather... off, in some way,” Tianming said. Nobody had any idea how the infiltration happened. ”By the way... the sun emperor said that since I’m a Sky Palace disciple, I should be able to enter the Sky Palace Formation.”

”He said that? Even we can’t be certain of that. For the longest time, we knew of the formation, but it’s never been deployed until recently. Normally speaking, you wouldn’t even be considered a member since you aren’t five hundred yet. Though you do have the Sky Palace stigma, so maybe you can give it a try.”

”The issue here is that the sun emperor wants you to go there. What’re his plans? You’re the backbone of our operation, wouldn’t he be jumping with joy if something happens to you?” Long Wanying said, furrowing her brows.”That’s right. He mixes truth and falsehood together and we can’t tell which is which. He also said that I could gain control over half of the astralguard and fusion formations,” Tianming said.

”You can? Based on what? Even if the stigma allows you entry and you’re able to defeat the Warlord, which means you should be able to face off against the five remaining members, it wouldn’t be easy to defeat them. Even if you gained control, wouldn’t the sun emperor have even more trouble dealing with you since you’d be out of his reach inside the formation?” Long Wanying said as she pondered.

”That isn’t necessarily the case. Tianming isn’t like the Sky Palace—his heart lies with us out here, so he wouldn’t stay cooped up inside their Formation. As long as he gets the solar core and leaves with it, the sun emperor will stand a chance of taking it from him. Maybe that’s why he wants him to go in,” the Saintdragon Emperor said. With the five remaining Sky Palace members inside the formation, there wouldn’t be anything the sun emperor could do about it.

”If there’s even a chance to defeat them and get the solar core, I should at least try. But we still have to consider the traps lying in wait, especially without knowing what’s going on in the Sky Palace.” Tianming seemed willing to give it a chance.