Beastmaster of the Ages

”There isn’t really any difference. It’s only been a year since you left, you know,” Fengqing Youmeng said. She knew about the matter with the red dust. The divine wonderians had also quarantined a lot of worlds to prevent the red dust from spreading. They were being incredibly careful.

”Alright, things sound fine, then,” Tianming said with some relief.

”Come to think of it, that red dust really is terrifying. I didn’t think the ebons would be able to bring up something that could destroy humanity as we know it,” Fengqing Youmeng said, cutely poking her tongue out. She didn’t glance at Li Fan in the slightest in an all too calculated manner.

”Take me to Infinitum,” Tianming instructed.

”Okay!” She did as she was told. Thanks to her ability to traverse the Xenoworld, she brought Tianming to Ebonia first. He had left a large number of Yin Chens there and notified the astral gods of Ebonia to start their astralships to help scatter Yin Chen around the mines, where it could consume more ore. The astral gods had placed their faith in their new ruler, Tianming, and obediently followed his orders.

”After having Infinitum in my control, things have become much more convenient....”

Yin Chen said it would take it a few months to regain its nine hundred billion bodies, so Tianming went to the Sun to see his family and friends instead. He saw Xiaodao, Wudi, and Lin Xiao and told them about his relatively smooth entry into Myriadpath Valley and how he hadn’t formed deep grudges with anyone so far. The seniors were relieved to hear that after worrying about him for an entire year.

”That’s right! Don’t form grudges when you’re the new guy. Endure it for a bit and take a step back!” Dongshen Yue said.

”That’s right, Grandma. I’m trying my best to do what you say. I’ll do my best to get along with others,” Tianming said.

”That’s good!”

”How are things here lately?” Tianming asked.

Everyone breathed a long sigh. ”The usual. Those that are able to be parasitized by the red dust already have been. The best we can do is to separate each person with formations or divine astralships. Even though they seem to be going a little mad, at least they’re still alive.”

”Alright! Given my current prowess, I don’t think I’ll be able to access the Myriadpath Sourcespring so soon. Make sure to keep a proper eye on the quarantined folks so they don’t mess around,” Tianming said.

Things in the mundus as a whole seemed stable. He looked around the Sun and saw that most people were still lost in a state of dreamy ecstasy, but at the very least, nobody had died from it so far. There was also no attempt at sabotaging the quarantine measures.

”This red dust lifeform is a fortuna-class wildbeast.... Who knows if it’s capable of suddenly turning on a killswitch and wiping out those it’s infected? With how deeply it’s infested people, that’s definitely possible!” As such, he couldn’t be sure that he truly didn’t have a time limit and would have to do his best either way.

”I’m the hope of the entire mundus. I wonder if I’ll unlock the same kind of power of faith I have on the Sun if I save the denizens of Ebonia from the red dust....” He believed that was indeed possible.

”Once more, I’ll spread my miracles across the entire mundus, starting from Ebonia! Eventually, all lifeforms in this mundus will be cultivating as one!” That was the next step in his plan for his mundus. Xiaodao and Wudi were also laying the foundation for him.

Xiaodao said, ”That girl you brought from the Flameyellow Continent, Li Caiwei, truly is talented. She’s come up with a plan for you to rule the Infinitum Mundus. While she’s also been infected by the red dust, we’ve seen her plans and they’re sound.”

Tianming had also gone to see her. Her usual seductive aura was even stronger in her infected state. He felt like he might lose control, especially with his soul now affected by evil impulses, so he tried his best to not get too close to those beautiful elder sisters so he could keep his bestial nature contained.

”Back then, Infinitum had a large, clan-spanning alliance with much internal strife. Most of our resources were concentrated on and around Ebonia, and the extent of our control over the rest of the mundus was insufficient. The lower class a world is, the more common it is for them to be outside our control. They have their own little factions and are basically autonomous. The Infinitum Bodhimanda is basically an organization built of those tinier factions.

”But from now on, we’re starting to build institutions of rule, starting from class-five worlds and going all the way down. We’ll slowly establish the rule of the Tianming Dynasty all the way down to heliacal-class worlds.

”Naturally, we don’t intend to usurp the power of the natives in those lower-class worlds. Instead, we’re promoting a new kind of association. If their relations with us grow, they’ll be able to enjoy some of our shared resources and also send their talented geniuses to Ebonia. That way, clans will no longer be the sole factor that determines one’s success. Everyone will stand a fairer chance to enjoy a share of cultivation resources under the new system.

”Given our current prowess, we should be able to finish setting things up before long. Things should be ready by the time the Sun and Ebonia return to normal. I’ve already convinced the astral gods of Ebonia of the change. While they’ll suffer a bit of loss as a result, they still agreed after being awed by your power. Not to mention, there’s nothing they can do now with the red dust being a problem. They all have to count on you to solve it. When the new system is set up, they’ll no longer have a say in how resources are handled,” Xiaodao explained.

The plan had been drafted by Li Caiwei, who was truly talented in bureaucratic matters. When it came to ruling a nation, it didn’t have much to do with cultivation talent. In fact, those who spent years immersed in cultivation might not be able to come up with good policies.

There were many more details about the plan that Xiaodao glossed over; for instance, regulations regarding trade and punishments. The new regulations were more or less like the Code of Infinitum, but with more emphasis on humaneness. The goal was to serve the people rather than to rule them.

After all, Li Caiwei understood that the masses were core to Tianming’s cultivation method. The stronger they were, the stronger he would be! On the other hand, the astral gods found it hard to hand their power over to him. Either way, he was impressed that she had managed to adapt a system used in the Flameyellow Continent to all the worlds in the Infinitum Mundus!

”Even though Ebonia’s fallen into chaos, we can use the chance to set the system up in some class-five worlds. Then we’ll pick out talented people from those worlds to do the same in class-four worlds. We should delegate the tasks like that, going class by class until we reach the bottom,” Tianming said.

”That’s right. We’ve already started it on Gladeus,” Xiaodao said.

”Are things going well?”

”Not bad. Starting fresh is the hard part, but once we gain momentum, things will finish relatively fast. Your influence on Gladeus is huge, after all. There’s many believers of yours there,” Xiaodao said.

Wudi chuckled and added, ”We also noticed that many lower-class worlds don’t even know what happened in the Infinitum Mundus lately. That’s why we’re spinning a legend for you by making a multimedia package, including recordings and text, to highlight the role you played in the pivotal moments. We’re spreading them across the entire Infinitum Mundus. Perhaps by the time you return next time, even a child from a heliacal-class world will tell you that they belong to the Tianming Dynasty and how their ruler is a crazy genius!”

”Will they also know that the second-most-talented genius in the mundus is called Li Wudi?” Tianming asked.

”Shut up, you!” Wudi proudly pointed at himself. ”I’m the father of the nation! The father of everyone in the mundus!”

”How shameless,” Tianming said before bursting out in laughter.