Beastmaster of the Ages

The people escaping in the ships were utterly terrified. Their evacuation had been so rushed that they hadn’t been able to take anything with them, not the legacy caeli of their ancestors, altars, nor other cultivation resources. A billion and a half people had also been left behind. Not to mention, the astralguard formation of Ebonia was in Yi Daiyan’s control; where could they possibly escape to?

There were fewer than ten Sanctifiers remaining, and their eyes were filled with fear. They left their ships and stood before Yi Daiyan. All of them knelt to her in the void.

”Rex Mundi, what can we do for you to spare us?” That was all one needed to hear to know that the sanctlighters had been completely consumed by fear.

”The sanctlighters betrayed the Infinitum Bodhimanda by conspiring with the ebons. As such, the entire clan shall be eliminated. But taking into account the long, illustrious history that your ancestors have forged, as well as the contributions they have rendered unto the Infinitum Bodhimanda, I, Yi Daiyan, by the authority of the Infinitum Bodhimanda, demand you hand over the formation core of your sacred formation. Additionally, you’re to destroy all of your ether-class ships. Only then shall the slate be wiped clean for you to turn over a new leaf and serve the Infinitum Bodhimanda.” Her cold voice was amplified by her sixfold simulacrum, Lux Imperius, to reach every sanctlighter’s ears.

When they heard it, every single one of them felt a shock so heavy that it was as if they had actually been struck. Handing over their formation core was akin to permanently losing their home base. They would be a clan with absolutely no defenses and they would have to do Yi Daiyan’s bidding forever! And destroying their ether-class ships also meant giving up on all offensive capabilities toward sanctuary-class formations—no clan could possibly survive such a huge blow.

”How savage! The luxdaemons don’t have good ether-class ships or formations, so she wants to bring us down to her level!” The sanctlighters knew that losing them would make them slaves for millions of years.

”We should open our ears to the truth! If we don’t, what’ll the others that didn’t get to leave do? They’ll all perish! If we don’t submit, we’ll lose the caeli of our forebears and all our history with them, along with our future! If we submit, there’s a chance that we can survive, at least....” Losing those caeli might have far worse consequences than losing the formation and ships.

”Don’t count on the ebons! They can’t even save themselves, let alone us!”

”The ebons have no way of fighting back! All they can do is hide underground.”

”We really made the wrong move, allying with them! Who knew Yi Daiyan could use the Infinitum Stele itself to attack us?”

”We have to accept our fate! At the very least, we’ll survive with our legacy caeli!”

It was a day of hardship and mourning. At the end of it all, they still handed over the formation core and left all their ether-class ships to be destroyed by Yi Daiyan. They cried tears of blood at the sight of them being blown up as they knelt in submission to the ruthless white-haired fiend. Everything had come to an end.

”Use the time you have left to rebuild your home and repent!” Yi Daiyan ordered from on high.

”Yes!” The second-strongest Infinitum Regal Clan had been reduced to such an extent. They were no longer a match for even the Swordgod Lin Clan. While their ships and formation had proven useless against Yi Daiyan, they were still effective against other clans. While their elites could still defend themselves, the countless weaker clan members had no safeguards whatsoever.

At that moment, all of Yi Daiyan’s totems returned to her and the Infinitum Stele turned back into a gigantic sword. Standing on the sword, she gave the Sacrosanct Sea one last look before disappearing into the skies in an instant. The cries of the sanctlighters didn’t cease. Tens of millions of years of work had been ruined in a single day.

”Standing on the wrong side of a single war is enough for us to lose everything.... Shenxi Xingtian, curse you!”

......

The gigantic sword soared through the skies at a speed comparable to an infinitum-class astralship. That was the Infinitum Stele’s power. Yi Daiyan’s long hair and black dress wildly fluttered in the air, making her look like a proud white rose with black thorns. She took out a transmission stone and saw Yushan Taifeng.

”Rex Mundi, the ebons launched a tier-one beast wave toward Luxsoul Valley! The wildbeasts number in the tens of billions, hundreds of times of your people there! They seem to be unable to hold on!” Yushan Taifeng reported.

”Noted,” Yi Daiyan said.

”What do we do? Our reinforcements won’t make it in time.” Yushan Taifeng was completely swamped and overwhelmed. He had only recently been informed about the attack against the sanctlighters. Otherwise, he would have been able to help protect the luxdaemons.

”Have them evacuate in their astralships toward your base,” Yi Daiyan said.

”The ebon ships have also started moving. There’s a risk that they’ll be intercepted. The casualties are expected to be heavy.”

”It’s fine.” Yi Daiyan’s mouth curved into a smile. ”It’s fine if they die. I’ll merely be losing a weakness they can use to threaten me.”

Yushan Taifeng had never felt so speechless. He had never felt respect to this extent for Yi Daiyan until now. She had singlehandedly taken the throne from the ebons and didn’t even bat an eye when her clan was about to be eradicated. ”Yes, Rex Mundi!” Though flustered, he didn’t dare to say anything else and did as he was told.

”They’re nothing but sacks of skin. There is no need to weep or rage for them,” Yi Daiyan mumbled as she looked at her hands and legs.

......

Tianming blanked out at the words Yin Chen had arranged itself to show: ’Yi Daiyan exterminated nearly a hundred million sanctlighters, took their formation core, and destroyed all their ether-class ships!’