Beastmaster of the Ages

The extreme conditions in the Swordsoul Purgatory, like lava, storms, and lightning, were nothing the ether-class divine astralship couldn’t shake off.

”We’re going to the Northwood Section. There’s ancestral guidance steles from the Grandvoid Swordfiend and Unisword Goddess there. However, whether they show up will depend on you,” Lin Changkong said.

”No problem. Do I still have to break the sword barriers?” Tianming asked.

”Of course. Did you think you could get two entire sword arts just by cracking one stele? How naive!” Lin Xiao said.

”Lin Feng, the second steles of the ancestors are even harder. Are you confident?” Lin Changkong asked.

Tianming looked at his black arm and smiled. ”They’re within my grasp!”

Seeing his confidence, the four seniors smiled with satisfaction.

......

Lin Xiaoyun, Lord of Swordsoul Chamber, was rapidly pacing around within it. His father, Lin Yun, and Lin Ziqing were both there too.

”Father, Aunt Qing, Lin Feng’s gone to the Swordsoul Purgatory,” Lin Xiaoyun said, his eyes bloodshot.

”Who’s escorting him?!” Lin Yun asked as he stood up from his seat.

”Lin Xiao, Lin Changkong, Lin Chongyao, and Lin Xiong. They even have the Phantavoid with them. It’s the best protection they can muster.”

”Are they so afraid of something happening to him?” Lin Yun smirked.

”That’s actually good news. It means the one from Gladeus won’t come here or take their side. Report this to the rex mundi, quick,” Lin Ziqing said.

”Which one?” Lin Xiaoyun asked.

”The tenth Rex Mundi, Chi Hun, of course. Who else? The ninth?” she said with a wink.

”Of course. There’s no way that the ninth rex mundi would be in the Infinitum Swordsea, hehehe....”

They knew the truth in their hearts better than anyone.

”I refuse to believe that a hundred-year-old disciple can be so hard to kill!” Lin Yun said.

”It’s fine. They won’t get any help from Gladeus, so the ebons will have their chance. As long as that child dies, many in the clan will lose hope. That’ll be our chance to win them back. We can still turn the tide to our favor,” Lin Ziqing said. ”They’re nothing but a bunch of old invalids! How dare they make elders of our status kneel in Myriadsword Mausoleum for the sake of a mere disciple like Lin Feng?! That’s a humiliation I’ll never forget!”

Lin Ziqing turned to Lin Xiaoyun and asked, ”Could he be trying to get the next sword arts of the Grandvoid Compendium and Xiaozhi Sword Art?”

”That’s right.”

”They really think the legacies of those two are so easy to obtain, eh?” Had Lin Ziqing not witnessed it for herself, she wouldn’t have believed it either. She had pined for those two sword styles in her youth as well.

”Not to mention, even if Lin Feng obtains them, so what? Without a swordheart, he won’t be able to unleash the true power of the moves. They’re useless in his hands,” Lin Yun said.

”Just take a look,” Lin Xiaoyun said as he broadcast the feed from Tianming’s swordsoul bracelet to the public.

”It’s Second Branch Master Lin Feng!” many within the chamber cheered.

......

The Northwood Section looked like a land of plenty with few divine hazards. However, it wasn’t any bit less dangerous. The moist environment was dense with nova source, causing a lot of underground plants to prosper. It was a forest world that endlessly stretched out across the subterra with countless appendage-like roots and leaves.

Thanks to being nourished by nova source all year long, many of the plants had developed weak sentience, much like the Azurecloud Divine Tree had, becoming something akin to a plant-type wildbeast. Perhaps they could barely be considered similar to Xian Xian. The Azurecloud Divine Tree absorbed nova source and produced divine herbs to the benefit of other lifeforms, but these subterranean plants were different. They grew without bearing any fruit, their leaves and roots developing enhanced lethality thanks to the nova source, allowing them to survive and fight back against wildbeasts and even devour their flesh and essence, much like Xian Xian consumed flesh. That was why the Northwood Section was even more perilous than the Cinasthana Section. The Phantavoid had had to wipe out many plants that tried to consume them on the way there.

”We’re in the depths now. Go look for the steles,” Lin Chongyao said, opening a hatch for Tianming to disembark.

”You didn’t expect the subterranean plants of Ebonia to be so dangerous, did you? There’s even an infinitum-class nova wildbeast in Ebonia that’s said to be a plant!” Lin Xiao said.

”That sounds rather horrifying.”

Tianming went on to search for the steles while the elders alertly monitored the surroundings. They were unable to help him with the search, unfortunately. The only tools at his disposal were his sword and left arm.

He executed Delayed Capture to try to attract the next stele of the Grandvoid Swordfiend. Having interfaced with the man’s caelum before, that was the only way he knew how to draw in the stele. He also spread out many Yin Chens into the surroundings for the search, as well as to watch out for Tianxi and Lin Jianxing.

Senior, please give me a chance. He recalled the caelum of the Grandvoid Swordfiend, within which was a magnificent foundation. Everything seemed like it had its place, with even the young bees working in an orderly fashion. The orderpolis was probably a microcosm of the astralscape of order. Those bees seemed like they relied on the sped-up passage of time to complete even more tasks, building up the foundation to be even stronger and mightier.

”Little Li... a stele... is coming!” Yin Chen said, snapping Tianming out of his trance.

”So soon? Looks like I’m quite the charmer!” he said.

”Old Man Voidback, the Grandvoid Swordfiend, and even the Hexapath Swordgod from way back all chose you. Looks like you’re an old gentleman killer,” Ying Huo commented.

”Shut up!”

Tianming pointed toward the stele for Lin Chongyao to see. The Phantavoid immediately advanced toward it. As they couldn’t be certain that it was actually the Grandvoid Swordfiend’s stele, Tianming didn’t dare to celebrate yet.

The stele traveled at incredibly high speeds, making it hard to catch.

”Make sure to be even more alert when Feng’er is on the stele,” Lin Xiao emphasized.

”Of course!”

Then the stele appeared before Tianming. It was black and shaped like a giant sword. One could mistake it for a divine astralship from a distance. Tianming got on it without any hesitation.

”There’s nobody here.” That was a sign that the stele had just shown up. He quickly lowered his center of gravity to stabilize himself on the speedy stele. The Phantavoid kept up with the stele not far above it, maintaining the same velocity. Lin Xiao, Lin Changkong, and Lin Xiong remained beside Tianming to guard him, allowing him to focus all his attention on it.

”This....” He recalled that there were countless black sword patterns on the first stele of the Grandvoid Swordfiend, but this one looked different!