Beastmaster of the Ages

Fengqing Mengdie had always lived as Meng Ying, even going so far as to practice the Starembryo Fiendart, only for it to all have been for naught. People often had different identities throughout their lives, whether it be as someone’s mother, wife, or sister. But at the very end, how much of that was their true selves?

”I’ll pass that on,” Xiaodao said.

”Hehehehe....” She seemed to have said her piece. She looked up, tears no longer flowing, and turned in Tianming’s direction. ”I don’t want to die at Yi Daiyan’s hands. End me before she comes! I won’t resist.”

Her spirit had died before her flesh. She quietly added, ”I used up all my lifeforce to sculpt eightpart apparitions. But that will one day create Tian Jiu, forming a foundation for its reincarnation. No matter who becomes Tian Jiu, my life’s purpose will end up fulfilled all the same. That is all my life is worth.”

She smiled the fullest smile she ever had, relaxed and even a little compassionate. The change in attitude made her a completely different person from before.

Tianming watched everything from within the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. ”Meng Ying, don’t think that we’ll spare you just because you had a change of heart! You are a powerful foundationeer that’s a threat we can’t ignore. We aren’t able to keep you constrained like Li Fan. The only way we can deal with you is to kill you and rid ourselves of this worry!”

There was something he had neglected to say, however: he also wanted to use her eightpart apparition wonder for Moran so that she could become half as strong as a foundationeer with Ji Ji and the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb’s help. It would be pivotal against the enemies from Intrepidus and Myriadpath Valley, so Tianming and Xiaodao couldn’t afford to leave Fengqing Mengdie alive.

”So? Do I look like I care?” the old woman yelled, laughing. She no longer feared any threats.

”Meng Ying,” Tianming said, gritting his teeth.

”I’m by myself, so I’m not Meng Ying. I’m nothing but a dream. A long dream,” Fengqing Mengdie said. [1]

”Spare me that nonsense!” Tianming shot Xiaodao a glance, hinting that he shouldn’t let the situation drag on, lest the enemy still have any tricks up her sleeve. Not to mention, they might have to share the loot with Yi Daiyan if she showed up and dealt the final blow. Tianming wanted that divine wonder no matter what.

”Li Tianming,” the old crone said, suddenly giving him a stern look. ”I suddenly came to an epiphany. You must protect her so that she rises to the peak of all divine wonderians! Meng Ying doesn’t deserve her!”

”What do you mean?” Tianming hissed, suspicious that she was going to try something else.

”I’m telling you to give her everything I possess. That’d be the greatest honor that I, Fengqing Mengdie, can aspire to! Do you understand what I mean?!” she desperately pleaded.

”I understand that you call yourself Fengqing Mengdie,” Tianming said. Of course, he knew that she meant that she was talking about Moran, but he didn’t believe in what she said about honor. Meng Ying had spared no expense in coming all this way for the sake of Moran’s ability to consume divine wonders!

”That’s enough, I suppose.” Finally, someone called her by her actual name. She teared up once more, touched beyond words; she was finally herself. How many people in the universe could claim the same? ”Life is but a slave to legacy. The brand of destiny marks us all. And that’ll never change.”

”Enough of your pretend pretentiousness!” Xiaodao felt that something was off and immediately made his move, paving the way with his swordbeasts’ abilities. Then, he positioned the gourd above Fengqing Mengdie to suppress her and used Death Imperatoris against her!

Fengqing Mengdie revealed her twelve cosmic charts and foundation fortress, putting them before her, yet not fueling them with a speck of energy. She was exposing all of her crucial weaknesses to Xiaodao.

”What kind of tricks are you pulling at this point?” Xiaodao said. He didn’t go one bit easier, using the power of his order to suppress her even more before dropping the gourd toward her head, causing the cosmic charts to shake heavily and tear. Then he pointed his sword at her astral organs. ”Still faking it?!” He went even harder, pissed at the thought that she could still be messing around in her final moments. He really wanted to see how she would deal with all this.

All of it happened in a single instant. Even until the last moment, Fengqing Mengdie didn’t move in the slightest, yet that only made him even more anxious, driving him to strike with as much force he could muster just in case something was going to go wrong. He waited until the gourd completely tore apart her cosmic charts before driving his sword into all seven astral organs of Fengqing Mengdie, who didn’t move an inch throughout the whole thing and merely smiled.

It was only then that he truly understood that she had indeed let herself be killed with full earnesty. Not even powerful foundationeer experts would be able to take the full assault of another foundationeer without resisting and expect to survive.

Fengqing Mengdie’s cosmic charts shattered like broken glass, her memories and deeds in life accompanying them. Then the abilities of Xiaodao’s swordbeasts and Death Imperatoris flooded her body, tearing it asunder. If he hadn’t quickly turned the rest of his attack’s force to the cosmic charts, Fengqing Mengdie’s body would have been reduced to complete dust, not even leaving behind the divine wonder. The cosmic charts shattered one another, while the astrons that were left behind were completely suppressed by his gourd. As long as the astrons were still there, the divine wonder could be harvested.

But that didn’t change the fact that Fengqing Mengdie would die!

Obtaining a divine wonder of her caliber was indeed difficult. After taking that strike, Fengqing Mengdie was on her last breath, unable to resist even if she still wanted to. The gourd pressed down on a bunch of destroyed cosmic charts and the sad husk that she had become.

”Is she truly giving up? Just because her man sacrificed her and left? She was the one who offered it first. Why should she be so sad about it?” Xiaodao couldn’t make sense of this at all. Just before, he’d still thought that she had been up to no good, hence how harsh he’d been in his attack.

Not even Tianming could tell whether she was truly giving up. ”I don’t get it.”

”You two aren’t divine wonderians, so you wouldn’t understand,” said a tall, slender girl in a green dress as she solemnly lowered her head within the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. She was none other than Moran.

”Who cares? They used their spawn to cultivate the Starembryo Fiendart. Meng Ying is a textbook case of mad cultivators. How dare she suddenly have all these epiphanies on the eve of her death? Did she deserve it? What about all her children that died at the hands of their own parents? How come her life was the only one that had meaning, while other lives could be used until they expired for all she cared? Death is death! There’s no need to bring all this sentimentality into it!” Tianming said.

”That’s true....” Moran nodded once more.

”Quick! Old Lin, get the old witch to me. She brought us a huge gift from the Skydome Mundus! We’ll be wasting it if we don’t accept it. Didn’t she say that it’d be her greatest honor? Let’s grant her wish!” Tianming impatiently said.

”No wonder your godfather said that you descended from a line of thieves. I’m starting to notice your hasty tendencies whenever you see treasure,” Xiaodao said, rolling his eyes.

”Stop wasting time!” Tianming urged.

1. The ’Meng’ in ’Meng Ying’ uses the character for ’dream’ (梦). ☜