Beastmaster of the Ages

”What in the world?” The stele of the Grandvoid Compendium that remained had integrated into Tianming’s arm, but it still retained its own integrity, much like the nine-colored dragon scale of the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. The sharp point of the sword pointed toward the depths of the Swordsoul Purgatory. It was tugging on him with a slight force, but not one strong enough to prevent him from freely moving. Nobody but him knew that something in the Swordsoul Purgatory was pulling him to somewhere.

”I wonder what it’s pointing at....” The stele itself was already rather amazing. ”It must be pretty valuable as well.” The Swordsoul Purgatory was the territory of the Swordgod Lin Clan, so he wasn’t too worried about any significant threats.

The spectators in the surroundings began leaving. Lin Jianjia and Lin Yijian had also been forced to retreat under pressure from the seniors.

”What’ll you do next? Will you leave and start practicing the Grandvoid Compendium?” Lin Xiaogui asked.

”There’s no rush. I plan to explore a bit. What about you?” Tianming asked.

”I... I’ll be staying here in the Swordsoul Purgatory,” she said with her head lowered. The place greatly suited her. She was only able to obtain cultivation resources through merit points, and this was where she earned them.

”Alright, then follow me around.”

”Who said I would be tagging along with you?”

”Nonsense. Without me covering for you, I’m worried you’ll be cut down.” Though he put up a devil-may-care front, he didn’t want Lin Xiaogui to suffer for having protected him on the stele. From the moment she had decided to defend him while he cracked the barriers, he’d considered her a friend.

”Let’s go!” There were still countless seniors in the Swordsoul Chamber that had their attention focused on him. He immediately headed in the direction the stele was pointing him in. Lin Xiaogui blanked out for a moment before hurrying to catch up.

”Is the part down there still in the Cinasthana Section?” Tianming passed through the raging waves of nova source, magma, and frost currents.

”Of course. The Cinasthana Section is incredibly large.”

”Are there any ore veins close by? Metallic ones, especially.”

”Many. Ebonia’s underground is filled with ore veins. There’s too many of them, thanks to all the volcanic activity all across the planet, but there probably aren’t many in the Cinasthana Section itself. Why do you ask?”

”Do you know where the veins are then?” Tianming had a feeling that mineral ores were in too much abundance, so people probably didn’t pay attention to lower-grade ones. That was the perfect chance for Yin Chen.

”I do. I’ve been in the Swordsoul Purgatory for many years and have explored most of it.”

”Great. Take me there on the way back.”

”Why should I?” she said, dissatisfied, ”I’m really busy, you know.”

”Busy?” He gave her a look and continued, ”If you hang around me, you’ll be ruined by countless treasures.”

”Just because you’re the scion of your branch?”

”Of course!”

”Abuse of power, hmph!”

”You’re just jealous you don’t have it.” Tianming was only a grade-two disciple, but he could go to the fifth level of Caeli Vault thanks to his elevated privileges. I have to figure out how to raise my grade one more time so I can go to the sixth level with Ling’er. That’d be ideal.

......

The underground world was chaotic, with countless different streams and currents all over the place. It was quite a suitable environment for nova wildbeasts, and Tianming ran into quite a lot of them of varying levels of strength. Merit points were awarded for slaying them, and his finally rose above a hundred a few days later. Coupled with his monthly stipend of fifty points, he would have a bit more than a hundred and fifty in total.

”Dammit, this amount of money isn’t even enough to take my wife around to shop... I really have to work harder.” The lower he went, the worse the environment became and the stronger beasts grew. There were even some that the two of them had to flee from.

”Where in the world are you going?” Lin Xiaogui could tell that Tianming wasn’t just going around blindly.

”Shhh, a minion like you doesn’t need any lines. Just quietly follow me,” Tianming said.

Lin Xiaogui rolled her eyes. She’d never had friends before and had never spoken as much as she was now. Her personality seemed to be changing when exposed to the happy-go-lucky Tianming.

”I’m your minion? You might not even be my match.”

”That confident, eh? Fine. When we get back, I’ll challenge you to an Infinitum Duel. I’m the dueling god.”

”Boast all you like—” Right as she finished saying that, Tianming sternly raised a hand. ”What is it?” She looked around, alert.

They were deep inside some kind of abyssal swamp and moving around was incredibly difficult. Not to mention, it was no normal swamp. The muddy waters of the swamp contained frosty nova source and divine hazards. If it weren’t for their powerful constitutions, they would have been done in long ago. Normal disciples of the clan wouldn’t dare to go where they were.

”We’re almost there,” Tianming said.

”What’re you looking for here?” Lin Xiaogui asked, looking around at the messy frost swamp. ”If we go deeper in, we’ll leave the Cinasthana Section. The wildbeasts there are even fiercer and we might not be able to deal with them.”

”I’m looking for.... Well, I’ll be honest with you, but don’t freak out when you hear it.”

”Alright. Tell me.”

”The Grandvoid Swordfiend’s the one that’s guiding me here. I think he wants me to take the legacy of the Unisword Goddess as well. My talent must’ve shocked him.” As he spoke, he looked at the Swordsoul Bracelet. No doubt, what he had just said would send waves through the seniors once more.

Those two legendary figures were both rex mundi! Being able to obtain the entry-level sword arts they had devised was akin to a miracle. Nobody in all of the Swordgod Lin Clan’s long history had obtained both the Grandvoid Compendium and Xiaozhi Sword Art. While those two sword arts complemented each other, no individual could be suited to mastering them both.

The reason Tianming hadn’t said anything as they were coming here was that he didn’t want an entire group of people to be trailing him. He’d only revealed it because he had spotted the stele that belonged to the Unisword Goddess, otherwise known as the Infinitum Swordgoddess. Her latter sobriquet was a testament to her incredible achievements. The Xiaozhi Sword Art was the only spatial aspected sword art in the Infinitum Mundus and potentially boasted more offensive power than even the Grandvoid Compendium! Tianming hadn’t expected that obtaining the latter would lead him to the former as well.

”What did you say?” Lin Xiaogui completely zoned out. She worshipped those two reges mundi.

”The Xiaozhi Sword Art. Look, it’s right there.”