Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming’s sword pierced straight into Huang Jihuang’s prideful heart. The more he raged, the more his blood surged. ”Didn’t you say that my life was in your hands? Doesn’t sound too convincing now, does it?!” he mocked, doling out the full power of the Imperator’s Mural.

”Impudence!” Huang Jihuang sent his energy blasting through his body, shattering the many Xia words within it. Then he turned into a beam of fire and launched a worldshaking blazing punch.

”Break!” Tianming roared, thrusting the Grand-Orient Sword with all his power. The rampaging sword projection instantly swallowed up Huang Jihuang, piercing into the specter body he had been so proud of. Even with hide as tough as cosmic artifacts, Tianming’s strike caused his flesh to crumble in an instant! Not even his six cosmic charts were able to stand it.

”Aaaaagh! You lowly animal! This is Myriadpath Valley! You’ll be killed without a burial place if you dare touch a single hair on me, got it?!” Huang Jihuang rampaged nonstop, struggling as he tried to scare Tianming into stopping. He really didn’t understand where Tianming got the courage to offend a disciple of an ancient house!

”You’re wrong. I don’t want to touch your hair or hurt you. I want your life, hehe!” Tianming intensified his strikes, using his divine wonder and totems in tandem with his sword to cut off both of Huang Jihuang’s arms. Then his sword sliced against the specter’s head with the power of his ten totems. Genesis ancestral nova source directed the cosmoforce of all the lifebound beasts to wreak havoc in the specter’s body!

”Huh?” Huang Jihuang seemed dazed and his bisected third eye dilated. He couldn’t figure anything out even at the moment of his death. His six cosmic charts exploded, scattering into countless sparks. The corpse that was left behind continued exploding from the destructive power coming from Tianming, lighting up the sky with flowers of light.

Huang Jihuang was dead for good, never having imagined that an easy trial at the Skyward Grandpath would come to this. He had died without knowing how or why. Why wouldn’t Tianming play by the rules? Everyone in the astralscape of order feared power and authority, but why didn’t Tianming? Wasn’t it just suicide? Was there a point in resisting even if it meant certain death? Either way, he knew that he wouldn’t have just let Tianming off after seeing Ji Qianqian die before his eyes. It was going to be a blood debt either way.

Just like that, all of the young specter’s grand aspirations vanished into nothingness. Countless people were just as stupefied by the sight as he had been. Tianming looked straight up at the sky, seeing his points rise to twenty thousand in an instant, putting him in fifth place.

The fact that a mere black name had risen that high was enough to draw the attention of the eight thousand-odd participants. More importantly, Huang Jihuang’s golden name that had been in fifth place shattered, marking his certain death. A golden myriadpath ring holder was dead, someone from an ancient house!

”Li Tianming killed Huang Jihuang and rose to fifth place!”

”Heavens! Someone from an outer mundus actually killed a disciple of an ancient house.... That’s insanity!”

”Didn’t his guide tell him about the consequences of such an action?”

The Skyward Grandpath erupted into wild discussion and speculation. People watched as Tianming bathed in the scattered astrons of Huang Jihuang.

”Killing... truly is refreshing....” The black smog in his eyes surfaced as he smirked.

”But how do we take care of the aftermath?” Ying Huo asked.

”Aftermath?” The smog in Tianming’s eyes shuddered.

”That’s right! The aftermath! You killed someone from Myriadpath Valley and rose to fifth place! Everyone knows you did it!”

”Weren’t you also part of it?”

”Oh shit....” Ying Huo seemed stumped and immediately snapped, ”Don’t tell me you weren’t thinking of the aftermath?!”

”Wait, I?!” Tianming snapped to sobriety and blankly looked at his hands, then at the astrons around him. ”Fuck! Did I just kill a disciple of an ancient house?”

”Is something wrong with your head? Weren’t you really pumped about it?” Ying Huo asked, eyes wide with stupor.

”Fuck!” Tianming slowly recalled what he had just done. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. All he had cared about moments before was surviving and moving far away from those two. How did he explode with rage and kill them both?

”It must be the evil impulses from the dark mirror spirit! It makes me lose my reason and kill without hesitation! Darn it all! She isn’t my real mother after all! No real mother would mess with me like this!” Tianming almost coughed blood from the realization. Killing was indeed a freeing experience, but how could he clean up the mess? Had he kept his reason, he could have avoided the fight! It wasn’t like Huang Jihuang’s vengeance would immediately come. ”It’s over....”

”That’s right. You’re dead anyway, so stop holding back. Just keep killing until you reach the top of the ranking. Might as well go all in before you die,” Ying Huo tempted.

”Buzz off.” Tianming reached out to Li Fan using Yin Chen once more.

”You’re alive? Did you manage to escape? Thank goodness you’re alive!” Li Fan sounded relieved.

”I’m alive, but they aren’t,” Tianming said.

”Them? Who?”

”The ones you asked me to kneel and beg mercy from.”

”What joke are you spouting? Unless Huang Jihuang antagonizes Chu Tianyu or Qiu Ciling, he wouldn’t die. No, wait, even those two would hesitate about killing him. Don’t make lame jokes like that. I know you’re frustrated, but that’s just how it is in Myriadpath Valley.”

”I’m not frustrated. I feel kinda refreshed, in fact.”

Li Fan stayed silent for a good while before he could muster the courage to ask, ”You must be joking, right? Tell me you’re joking, please?”

”I’m not. Do you think it’s hard for me to kill them with my power?”

”Please don’t joke with me, Brother Dearest. Please, for the sake of my poor sanity....” Li Fan seemed incredibly anxious.

”I’m really sorry. It’s no laughing matter, I dare say.”

”Ah! Ah! Haha!” Li Fan began oddly shouting.

”Why are you doing that?”

”I’ve just realized that my life was a joke. All that effort, for what? Dying all the same?”

Awkwardly, Tianming said, ”Well, I just wanted to ask if death is absolutely certain in cases like these. Is there a way to turn things around?”

”Turn? Well, the only thing I’ll be turning around is my backside! Oh wait, you’ve already fucked me over. I might as well adopt your surname at this point!” Li Fan’s mental state was crumbling.

”Umm... you already... have the same surname as me...” Tianming helpfully reminded him.

”I.... Forget it. You’re dead for sure. Don’t bother overthinking it. Accept your fate and wait for your death. You just jumped into the biggest hornet’s nest possible, you sick fuck!” Li Fan despaired so much that he no longer feared Tianming and cursed him to a degree that not even Yin Chen could bear to relay them.