Beastmaster of the Ages

Shenxi Xingtian’s expression immediately changed. Beneath his cold, lonely exterior, hints of color began shining through; he had truly lost it after all those humiliating losses. First to Xiaodao and Tianming, and now to Yi Daiyan. Meng Ying’s news was the sole silver lining in the clouds. ”Rex Mundi Meng Ying, I’m incredibly grateful for this introduction.”

Meng Ying smiled, knowing that Shenxi Xingtian had never needed more help than he did now. It was the prime moment for negotiations. ”One of the two friends comes from Intrepidus.”

”Intrepidus? The old home of the Star Hunters?”

”That’s right. It’s also where the luxdaemons came from. It is the nearest mundus to the Infinitum and Skydome Mundi, but it’s separated from us by a boundless astral void.”

”I know. We seldom have any interaction with them.”

”On the contrary, we’ve begun communicating quite a bit more of late.”

”Oh? How was it achieved?”

”My daughter, Fengqing Youmeng, made the connection for us. The ruler and rex mundi of Intrepidus, Demoness Yin, has a son named Lin Ke. He knows my daughter well.” There was a hint of awkwardness in Meng Ying’s eyes. Fengqing Youmeng’s way of making ’friends’ was far from something he would want out in broad daylight.

”Lin Ke and Fengqing Youmeng?” Shenxi Xingtian furrowed his brows. ”Back then, Lin Feng defeated two ninth-level cosmic cartographers on the Sun. I heard one of them was your daughter. Could that be them?”

”That’s right.”

”Then, according to the rumors, the male was killed by Lin Feng while the female was kept imprisoned aboard the Gladean Ruins.”

It wasn’t really a secret on the Sun.

”That’s right.”

”In other words, the son of Demoness Yin died on the Sun, while your daughter was... taken prisoner?” Shenxi Xingtian asked with a hoarse voice. Though his eyes seemed calm, his mood had considerably improved. He smelled opportunity coming his way. While he had heard about Fengqing Youmeng being imprisoned, he couldn’t get any confirmation about the identity of the male that’d been killed.

”Demoness Yin of Intrepidus has come for revenge. Her goal is Li Tianming and the Sun. While there’s an infinitum-class nova source world in Intrepidus, its mass is actually seven times that of Ebonia. They have six foundationeers, with Demoness Yin being the strongest one,” Meng Ying said.

Shenxi Xingtian seemed to quiet down upon hearing that. He had failed so many times, so he definitely needed helpers. However, if his helper was too powerful, he would have less say in matters and there would be far fewer opportunities for him to profit. At the very least, he wouldn’t be getting his hands on Tianming’s treasure from the ancestral world at all, perhaps not even the two infinitum-class ships of the Sun or the Sun itself.

The ebons, Yi Daiyan, and the Sun were vying for control of the Infinitum Mundus. Once an outsider was included in the chaos, even if the ebons were to emerge victorious, most of the spoils would be taken by the outside force, making the ebons the eternal sinners of the mundus.

Meng Ying looked at him deeply. ”You have to learn to let go. First, even if Intrepidus doesn’t work with you, they’ll still come to the Infinitum Mundus to take what they want. Second, without them, your ebons will be wiped out as a matter of course once Yi Daiyan locates the infinitum-class warbeast you have. And third!”

Meng Ying paused and switched to a much darker tone of voice, then continued, ”While it looks like three factions are balanced against one another in the Infinitum Mundus, that’s far from the truth. Rumor is that Li Tianming and Yi Daiyan are deeply related, perhaps even mother and son! The Sun has just caused you great losses, so even if she’s overwhelmingly more powerful, they might not work with you against her. At the end of the day, the ebons are the ones most likely to be ganged up on by the other two forces in your so-called ‘triangle of balance’. Their prospects are much better than yours.”

”You’re right.” That was the main reason Shenxi Xingtian felt so powerless nowadays. Tianming and Yi Daiyan each had their own arsenals, while the ebons were gradually losing theirs.

”Both sides want to swallow you whole before fighting each other to see who wins! There’s no way for the ebons to survive. Now, think about the spoils that will be taken by those from Intrepidus. Those things were all brought over to the Infinitum Mundus by Li Tianming in the first place. They never belonged to your mundus. At the end of the day, the ebons will be left with what’s existed within the Infinitum Mundus all along. In fact, even losing the Infinitum Stele might be a good thing, as you’ll no longer have to bother with those silly Infinitum Duels.

”You can just use your might to control the mundus and prosper for countless generations like we divine wonderians do!” Meng Ying laid on the temptation thick. He was right; everything on the Sun, even the Gladean Ruins, had never belonged to the Infinitum Mundus. ”What the ebons want is to rule over the Infinitum Mundus for eternity. Imagine if the reges mundi of every generation come from the ebons! That’s the greatest thing you can aspire towards!”

”Didn’t you say there were two friends? Who’s the other one?” Shenxi Xingtian held off on the decision and changed the subject.

”Oh, right. Look at me. I was so concerned about you ebons that I completely forgot.” Meng Ying smiled, then turned solemn once more. ”The other one has an even more terrifying and impressive background!”

”Pray tell, Brother Meng Ying.” Outside the Infinitum Mundus was nothing but the Skydome Mundus and a vast astral void. In a way, Shenxi Xingtian was one of the most prominent people in the vicinity. As such, he had never had others to count on after everything that the ebons had suffered. However, while he could call himself Meng Ying’s equal, he would have to humble himself before Demoness Yin.

Meng Ying took a deep breath. ”That esteemed person is known as Mister Taihe from Myriadpath Valley!”

”What?!” Shenxi Xingtian’s pure black eyes shook as he clenched his hands together under his sleeves. Even his voice turned hoarse. ”Isn’t that the legendary axis where tens of thousands of paths throughout the astralscape of order meet? I didn’t think that it really existed!”

”Of course it does. The Infinitum Mundus is far too primitive. You don’t even have the Skydome Mundus’s universal net, let alone entry markers for the Xenoabyss, right?”

”That’s true. We know basically nothing about the Xenoworld, and our mastery over formations is far outclassed by yours,” Shenxi Xingtian admitted. The Infinitum Mundus was quite a backwater.