Beastmaster of the Ages

Since arriving in Ebonia, Tianming hadn’t used the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb for quite a long time. The Lin Clan mini ships were his main means of transport. The divine astralships he had seen lately, like the Firmament and Reaper, also seemed much more impressive than the tomb, which had seemingly lost its former glory.

”The Flameyellow Imperial Star used to be in a whole different class, so you should be an imperial-class ship as well, since you’re the core of the fusion formation. I believe you’ll be restored to your former glory one day!” Tianming said as he stroked the ancient ship. He felt the same sensation he had with the Gladean Ruins.

Then he entered the ship. The nine Flameyellow Cores had been assimilated by Tianming in their respective dragon palaces. ”The one in Silverdragon Palace fused with me, while the one at Blooddragon Palace only fused with me after the sun became a skypiercer-class world, allowing me to unlock its star-cloaking formation.”

”Why’re you so sure that you can assimilate other Flameyellow Cores right now? The sun’s still skypiercer class,” Ying Huo asked, perched on his shoulder.

”Call it a man’s intuition!” The actual reason was that his body had changed after he became an astral god. He had a feeling that his heptastar cosmic physique could much better endure and absorb formation cores of that class. Back then, his failure must have had something to do with the limits of his flesh and blood albi. But now the Silverdragon and Blooddragon Flameyellow Cores didn’t take up much space in his body, even less than the enhanced prime wonder. It wouldn’t hurt for him to try assimilating more. ”Nothing explicitly states that I must grow the sun more to unlock more privileges.”

In a certain sense, the cores from the Silverdragon and Blooddragon Palaces were of the simpler sort. He went to the Blazedragon Palace for the third one. There was a miniature nova source from the sun, which was far weaker than that of Gladeus. Tianming easily entered it and reached the depths of the palace, where he saw a blazing dragon of flame appear before him. It was the Flameyellow Core. As if it had known that Tianming would come, it lowered its head and glared at him with its blazing eyes, seemingly a bit aloof.

”To think that a mere bunch of divine celestial patterns could act so humanlike. The wisdom of our forebears truly is boundless.” Without another word, he courageously leapt toward the dragon, which simultaneously charged toward him in rage, seemingly eager to burn him to a crisp. The two fought within that tiny star, causing tremors across the entire Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. The nine dragon heads opened their eyes, making the astralship look like an awakening great beast.

”Well, come and get me!” Tianming grabbed the core of the dragon with both hands and pressed it against his chest. Within his heart, lungs, kidneys, spleen, and liver were five streams of order within him that helped stabilize his body, allowing him to take in the power. However, there were also risks involved. Should he damage his astral organs, it would take him a long time to recover. If they shattered, there was even a risk of death! Even so, he was quite confident in the Order Relic Universal Body that he now possessed.

The core seemed to sense his challenge and rampaged even more wildly than the Silverdragon and Blooddragon cores ever had. Its will was completely distinct from the other dragons’. Just like that, the dragon sank into his chest, its divine celestial patterns spreading throughout his astrons. In an instant, it felt like his body was burning, as if his astrons were letting out a blinding amount of light and energy.

”Aaaaagh!” He grit his teeth and watched as the gigantic dragon entered his chest. ”I don’t think I can take this size!” Though he said that, his body was holding up. If he could see this to the end, there would be benefits to it. He endured it no matter how much his face contorted and body burned. His entire body was like a red-hot piece of metal, especially his astral organs. They seemed like they were about to melt. Even his eyes and nose burned bright.

”Endure it!” It was a rather violent assimilation process indeed. The Flameyellow Core spread all through his body and was distributed among his astrons.

”If the sun was still an imperial-class world and I manage to assimilate all of its Flameyellow Cores, I’d be the ruler of an imperial-class world!” It would be crucial to assimilate all of them; having only two of the cores wouldn’t be enough to restore the Flameyellow Imperial Star to its former glory. ”Master and Yi Daiyan each have their own star!”

Tianming wished to have his own inviolable territory within the vast astralscape for his most devoted followers. His dynasty would be just as prosperous as the world it inhabited! His ambition was to one day declare himself an invincible ruler, so that his friends and family would be safe from persecution in their own corner of the world. The fallen Flameyellow Imperial Star was the biggest opportunity he had, and the first step to realizing it would be to assimilate all of the Flameyellow Cores.

”It looks like I can deal with the Flameyellow Cores as long as my body’s strong enough to handle them!” The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb had unlocked countless opportunities for him. After sustaining the rough onslaught of the Blazedragon, his heptastar cosmic physique finally began cooling down. His skin turned back to normal, a sign that the Flameyellow Core was properly under his control. Glad as he was, he noticed that the ship didn’t undergo any significant changes.

”Maybe the ability of this formation core is activated by the Flameyellow Fusion Formation. I’m too far away from the sun, so I’m unable to make use of it.” He had been looking forward to the changes, as Li Wudi had told him that there were just as many secrets in the Flameyellow Coffin, yet the former imperial-class ship’s capabilities remained dormant.

”I still haven’t reached my limit yet. I wonder if I should try another Flameyellow Core....”

”I think it’s fine, but we have to deal with our baggage first,” Meow Meow said.

”Oh, you’re awake? Time to work?” Tianming asked.

”No, I just got disturbed for a bit. Going straight back to sleep now,” the cat said, scratching its head.

”Sweet dreams.” Though he rolled his eyes, he was already used to the lazy cat by now. He left the Blazedragon Palace and headed toward the Blackdragon Palace. ”I hope I won’t explode from assimilating two cores at once.”