Beastmaster of the Ages

Xiaodao was satisfied with Tianming’s reply, and added, ”In other words, we’ll continue attacking, but our target won’t be Ebonopolis. Instead, we’ll attack the wildbeast wall that surrounds it! It’s a great chance to truly burn away at the ebons’ foundations. Once we exterminate the beasts themselves, Ebonopolis will be unprotected and ripe for the taking.”

That way, the ebons would also be in a bind. Driving the wildbeasts away would deprive their last bastion of its strongest protections, exposing it to two infinitum-class astralships. Not to mention, there would be no need for the armada to expose themselves to danger to exterminate the wildbeasts. Their blasts could easily take out a lot of beasts that gather in a single spot from afar.

”Your plan is amazing!”

”We can’t afford to rush it!”

”I also got news that the beast waves have all gathered near Ebonopolis.”

”The ebons have lost so much that they’re desperate to defend their final stronghold.”

”We’re halfway to victory now, so we can’t let haste mess it up. We need to consume them bite by bite so we don’t choke on them halfway through.”

”Oh, come on! You’re only saying that because you want to hurry home to be with your new wife!”

It seemed that many astral gods had accepted Tianming and Xiaodao’s viewpoint. But they all still turned to Yi Daiyan to see what she would say, sensing that they were witnessing a secret clash between the two sides.

Before their watchful eyes, she smiled and shook her head. ”My thoughts have been rather shallow. It seems the two of you gave things much deeper consideration based on much better information sources than I have. Very well, we’ll do as you suggest. Let the ships recharge, then we’ll attack the wildbeast wall.”

”Nice!”

”That’s the right move!”

The nervous astral gods heaved a collective sigh of relief. Nobody actually liked going to war, and seeing four million ships exploding like that was a memory that would last them a lifetime. The mood right now was a pleasant one as the Infinitum Army began taking steps to carry out the plan. However, Tianming was still locking eyes with Yi Daiyan, feeling a little uncomfortable because he didn’t know what she was thinking.

”Are you going to join the eradication of the wildbeast wall as well?” she asked, her voice only resounding in Tianming and Xiaodao’s ears.

”There probably isn’t a need for us to be there. In exchange, we’ll remain ready to intercept the Ebonfiend if it comes out,” Tianming siad.

”Good. That works too,” Yi Daiyan said with a smile.

”Rex Mundi, according to our previous agreement, the objective of this assault was to destroy the ebons’ capability for war. Now that they’ve lost Taixi City, the remaining million astral gods they have, their ships, and Ebonopolis aren’t really much of a threat. They’re now on the level of a normal regal clan. The real focus of their might lies in three things separate to all that.”

”What’re those?”

”The Ebonfiend, the beast waves, and their infinitum-class warbeasts. Those are what we should focus on destroying. They pose the greatest threat to the average Ebonian citizen.”

Yi Daiyan pondered in silence.

”The wildbeasts forming a wall presents a good opportunity for us. The Ebonfiend, on the other hand, won’t be coming out anytime soon. However....” Tianming raised his voice in emphasis and smiled. ”Apart from the bloodline wisteria, the locations of the other infinitum-class warbeasts were exposed when they attacked the territories of the other regal clans. We have them marked! Rex Mundi, would you do the honor of exterminating them?”

”Is that true?!” Yi Daiyan said, her eyes pulsing with light.

”It is,” Tianming said. The infinitum-class warbeasts were of no threat to Yi Daiyan herself, but they would be devastating to the populace. Every casual move of theirs could cause many casualties, so exterminating them would be in both Tianming and Yi Daiyan’s interests. It also served the goals of the alliance by reducing ebon influence.

”Your ’eyes’ are terrifying,” Yi Daiyan said.

”They’re alright,” Tianming humbly replied.

”However, what shines even more about you is your mind. Your thoughts are clear and your reasons are logical.”

”You flatter me, Rex Mundi. Let’s make haste—I’m not sure how long my eyes can keep track of those warbeasts.”

”Very well. Show the way, and I’ll slay them.”

”No problem.”

Yi Daiyan vanished before their eyes. Tianming and Xiaodao exchanged looks and relaxed.

”Does that mean that the trouble she was going to cause us was resolved by us?” Tianming asked.

”You did all the work. I only had to sit around, haha!” Xiaodao awkwardly said.

”Dammit!” At the very least, they had just won a huge victory.

”Alright, let’s head back!”

......

Apart from the bloodline wisteria, Yin Chen had eyes on the other three infinitum-class warbeasts. They were rather large, and thus hard to keep hidden. The reason they hadn’t been found before was that they’d been hidden far too close to the fusion formation where nova source storms were abundant.

The Yin Chens with star counts of only three hundred thousand didn’t have bodies that were tough enough to survive in the deepest depths of Ebonia. But with the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb on Ebonia once more, Tianming spread the upgraded Yin Chens around. At nine hundred thousand stars, it had gotten a platinum ant form that excelled in surviving drastic environments.

They had spread until they were scattered all over Ebonia. When the three infinitum-class warbeasts had made their appearances, quite a few Yin Chens had crawled into the cracks of their bodies and been carried underground. They were smaller than lice, perhaps only as big as bacteria in comparison to the enormous beasts, and didn’t resemble normal lifebound beasts or wildbeasts at all, so they passed completely without notice.

Even with the warbeasts’ locations marked, there were few that could actually survive the depths they were located within. Yi Daiyan was one such person, and she used the Infinitum Stele to pave a way deep underground. While others thought that the Ebonian war had temporarily stalled, Yi Daiyan was forging ahead to usher in the next phase of the plan that had begun with slaying the taixi fiendbeast!