Beastmaster of the Ages

Chen Tianyong had a grade-six order fragment in his hands!

The last time Zi Zhen had tricked the imperial family, she’d only received ten grade-five order fragments. Supposedly, grade-six and above order fragments were almost all monopolized by the imperial family. This grade-six order fragment of his had been obtained a long time ago and wasn’t reported, but kept until now.

Chen Tianyong was at death’s door and couldn’t hold on much longer. Coming to the capital was his last gamble in life. In fact, Yin Chen had mentioned him even before finding Zi Zhen. However, after considering it, Tianming had decided to give up. That was because this former lord of Commonsky City, at his peak, was a top powerhouse of the sixth-level Foundation stage. He was much stronger than Shrine Master Mu of the New Shrine, and would easily be capable of killing Mister Taihe and Yi Daiyan.

”At his level, he could be a reverend in Myriadpath Valley, like Huang Daolie and my master Lan Yun. It’s even possible that he’s stronger than them.” Reverends of Myriadpath Valley were all revered throughout the astralscape. Such a powerhouse naturally made Tianming worry. If he saved him, his strength would quickly recover and he could easily capture Tianming.

Because of that, even though Yin Chen had seen him with a grade-six order fragment, Tianming still didn’t dare to consider him a target. Ying Huo had even suggested seizing his order fragment first without solving his xeno fatigue, or making up for it later in some way.

However, Tianming had heard that foundationeers were slightly more resistant to xeno fatigue. They were tormented day and night, but at critical moments, they could still erupt with some combat power. Even if their power was only of the second or third level, Tianming was still no match for them. But now that Zi Zhen was already a second-level foundationeer and her combat power was quite strong, Yin Chen had immediately thought of the target again.

That was a target it had selected from countless people throughout the capital. Moreover, it had also gathered information through various people’s conversations to figure out Chen Tianyong’s past character and style of doing things. In summary, he was a solitary person who, because of his aloofness and not being a member of the imperial family, had been marginalized in the capital and forced out all the way to Commonsky City.

”Do you have confidence in handling a sixth-level foundationeer with xeno fatigue?” Tianming asked. He gave Zi Zhen all the information Yin Chen had given him.

After listening, her hexapath eyes spun, suddenly looking at Tianming and making him a little nervous.

”What’s wrong?” Tianming asked.

”While you’re solving xeno fatigue for him, I can use my hexapath eyes to control him and make him a hexapath slave for our use. That way, even if his strength recovers, he won’t lay a hand on us,” Zi Zhen said.

”Hexapath slave?” Tianming asked in amazement. ”What’ll happen to him?”

”Nothing much will change. His combat power won’t change and his intelligence and thoughts will remain. It’s just that he’ll obey my orders, equivalent to a kind of mental control contract,” Zi Zhen said.

”Is it stable?” Tianming asked.

”The process of applying it is difficult, but once I’m successful, it’ll be stable,” Zi Zhen said.

”That’s great!” A super powerhouse at the Foundation stage would be very useful. As for the process, Tianming had seen too many people suffering from xeno fatigue. Sometimes, if things were clearly explained and both parties treated each other with sincerity, the problem wouldn’t be too big.

For him, Zi Zhen’s ability had come as an unexpected surprise.

”No wonder Mister Taihe, who’s also a skyghoul, is so envious of Zi Zhen!” If he were to obtain that ability, it would be a game-changer. Tianming looked at Zi Zhen, his eyes full of surprise, because as long as he crossed this bridge, his future path in the Xenoabyss would become easier and easier.

”Is there a limit to the number of hexapath slaves you can control?” he asked.

”Yes, with my current level of order, I can only have one. Perhaps it can be increased in the future if my order grows,” Zi Zhen said.

”That isn’t too bad.” Tianming nodded. He suddenly realized something and chuckled, ”Doesn’t that mean you can turn me into a hexapath slave whenever you want in the future, and I’ll listen to you?”

Zi Zhen now had that ability. ”That’s possible,” she said.

Tianming was taken aback, then awkwardly smiled. ”Then it seems that I can’t touch you in the future.”

”That’s also possible,” she said.

Tianming was speechless. Sure enough, after transforming into her evil ghost form, she became much more confident, and he was no longer as confident.

......

After making a plan, Tianming and Zi Zhen went straight into action. Yin Chen would find them a good opportunity. There might be a battle, so they had to wait for Chen Tianyong to be in a remote, uninhabited location.

But that opportunity wouldn’t be hard to find, as Chen Tianyong had used various means to infiltrate the capital and didn’t want to see anyone—especially acquaintances. So he acted alone. In this vast world, he relied on luck. He knew that not even the entire imperial family could find Zi Zhen, let alone him.

It was just that, at death’s door, with only a glimmer of hope left in the capital, he had still come there for one last struggle after being frustrated his whole life. Chen Tianyong probably never thought that he would be sought out by Tianming precisely because he was alone and carrying precious treasures.

He didn’t even notice the invisible bugs all over the place.

......

Half a month later, Tianming and Zi Zhen arrived near the area where Chen Tianyong was active.

”How’s my speed?” Tianming had displayed the Fiveway Blitzrun along the way, letting Zi Zhen chase after him. It was also an experiment. During that time, he had been honing this ability with Meow Meow every moment.

”Your forward movement is consecutive, so you aren’t as good as me. But if I chase after you and you keep changing direction, I won’t be able to catch up,” Zi Zhen honestly said. As a top-tier specter, her fleshly body was powerful and her speed far surpassed that of beastmasters and totemancers of the same level.

In terms of linear acceleration, she was still stronger than Tianming. Others would only see purple flash by, which was what she relied on for escaping in the capital.

However, being fast in a straight line didn’t necessarily mean catching up to Tianming, as Tianming’s Fiveway Blitzrun was equivalent to an infinite number of fixed-point instant teleports, the speed of which far surpassed Zi Zhen’s. He had four directions to choose from, and she had no idea where he would go next. With the changes, she couldn’t catch him at all.

”You can’t catch me at all, so I guess even Lan Yun would have trouble catching me if she wanted to!” Tianming could only remark that his luck was good to get this ability. However, his luck had been born from several factors.

Firstly, Meow Meow had failed to absorb that 999-aperture manna. Second was the fusion of his and Meow Meow’s bodies. And third, the millions of times he and Meow Meow had practiced their coordination over the last half a year!