Beastmaster of the Ages

”Big Brother, I’m really fine. Dad told me the virtues of those who can endure hardship. I doubt he’s doing any better than I am, anyway. Both of us are rather unlucky. We don’t seem to be able to catch a break. But it’s fine. These hardships will just make us stronger, and I’m not afraid. Just don’t worry about me. I heard about your courageous deeds. I’ll patiently wait until the day you defeat that demon and won’t cause you any trouble. Feng will take care of me, so don’t fuss too much over me,” Qingyu said while forcing a smile and secretly trying to wipe her tears off.

The smile made her look even uglier, but that only sharpened Tianming’s volition. His hatred for the sun emperor was no longer something that could be taken back. No matter what the red-haired sun emperor told him, he would just consider it a mere diversion.

”Yeah. I’ll look after her all the time,” Lingfeng earnestly said. No matter how Qingyu’s looks changed, he would never change how he looked at her. He had never known how to lie, so none of his words were to be doubted. With the two of them seemingly able to handle this themselves, there was little else Tianming could say.

”Big Brother, is there any hope of saving dad?” Qingyu asked.

”We’ll have to wait and see. Based on the current situation, there’s a chance I might be able to defeat the sun emperor. As long as I can do that, it should solve all of our problems.”

”You’re relying on the legacy of the Primordial God-Emperor, right? Do you have a billion threads now?”

”Yeah.”

”That’s great! You only had a billion in Violetglory and were able to deflect the primalwinger overlord’s attack. You should be close to that level of power now, right?”

”I’m probably still quite far off. Both of them are sovereigns, but one was old and weakening while the other’s a nonabane in his prime. It isn’t really an apt comparison. The sun emperor has no rival in Orderia. Even the top ten sect masters and the seven from the Sky Palace working together might not be able to match up to him. I bet I’ll need ten or a hundred billion threads at least.”

”Is that so.... I believe you’ll succeed! Definitely!” Qingyu held her hand out, but hurriedly pulled it back at the sight of the horror. Then she awkwardly smiled and quietly said, ”Sorry for showing you something unsightly.”

Tianming hated the fact that she had become so sensitive about her looks. He talked a little more with her and had Ying Huo and Meow Meow come out to lighten the mood. After a while, it was time to leave. The sun emperor had just finished charging the Divine Sun Palace, so he would be making his next moves.

”Feng, send my brother off. I won’t be going,” Qingyu said. No matter how much her mood had improved, she wouldn’t leave the basement. Within the darkness, at least she wouldn’t be able to see herself. There was no way she didn’t mind how she looked now. The cry she uttered when she had recognized Tianming’s voice was a sign of how deep and instinctual her fear was.

......

After leaving the basement, Lingfeng seemed to have something he wanted to say.

”What’s wrong?”

”I want to help you kill the sun emperor.” Lingfeng’s eyes were bloodshot.

”Your legacy is different from mine, and you don’t have Imperial Will or Omnisentient Threads. The gap between your level and the sun emperor is hard to overcome.”

”That’s right. However, I also obtained something else from my legacy that might prove useful. It’s a kind of boost that’s similar to your Omnisentient Threads,” he resolutely said. He had been waiting for this for a long time. Having spent the most time with Qingyu, he knew how much she had suffered, so he hated the sun emperor with a passion, enough to want to slaughter his entire family.

”Well, let’s see what it can do.” If it was useful, Tianming would be more than happy to have Lingfeng join him.

”Alright.” Lingfeng’s eyes seemed to redden with hate.

Tianming felt a flickering aura about his body as it was being forced out. As he had been busy with his battles, he didn’t have the time to pay attention to the others’ mental states. He watched as the black-haired youth took a spot in the woods and gathered more and more heavy aura around him. His Primordial Gate began releasing some kind of piercing demonic aura that immediately enveloped Tianming. He felt like he was drowning in a world of darkness, extinction, and solitude filled with corpses and blood. In fact, it resembled the hellish battlefield in Fushen Valley where countless lives had been reaped! Tianming didn’t think that Lingfeng would be able to recreate such an environment, but with an even more despair-inducing effect. He found it hard to breathe.

Lingfeng’s Primordial Gate continued spinning, squeezing out a wave of light to form a black and red mist that began swirling into a vortex. It looked like a gate that continued to expand wider.

”What is this?” Tianming took a look inside and saw an odd world within with contorted beasts and creatures. It looked like a nightmarish world with a dreamlike nature. He was all too familiar with it. ”It’s the xenomemory space!”

It was indeed the place he had saved Lingfeng from. He hadn’t thought it would be possible for Lingfeng to open a direct path to that place with his Primordial Gate. Based on Meow Meow’s ability, the space had another name: the Xenoworld.

”That’s right. I think I’m linked to it through my Primordial Gate,” said Lingfeng, his voice coming from the odd world of darkness with a hint of bone-shearing sharpness.

”I don’t quite understand, Feng,” Tianming said, trying to calm himself as he looked at the eerie Lingfeng.

”In other words, I can go between the two worlds at any time and can take a person or two with me.”

”I see.... So it’s like a method we can use to escape?” Going to an entirely different dimension seemed like a good way to shake people off. ”Wait, Feng, if you go in, won’t that Di Yi fellow notice you?”

Lingfeng shook his head and smiled. ”I don’t think he’ll be able to. From now on, I’ll be familiarizing myself with the Xenoworld and I’ll know more about it than he does. Not to mention, this isn’t a technique used to flee.”

”Oh, right—you said it can somehow power you up for a time like my Omnisentient Threads.” Tianming’s curiosity only grew as he looked at the Xenoworld Gate.