Beastmaster of the Ages

”Senior Sister, Yun’er is here....” Lan Yun’s voice was hoarse. She immediately looked down and clutched her hands tight.

Right after that, an odd sound rang out inside the hall, as if someone tore a heart apart. A hole opened up in the blood cocoon above Lan Yun and some bloody fluid fell out of the cocoon directly onto Lan Yun’s head, completely staining her! Not to mention, the liquid seemed to have a corrosive property that caused her hair to fall out and holes to form in her face.

”Greetings, Senior Apprentice Sister.” Lan Yun knelt on the ground on all fours and lowered her head in fear.

Then a figure partially crawled out of the bloody cocoon, her lower torso still within it. Her blood-colored skin seemed to react with midsky essence and started to hiss and explode! It was a woman with a shriveled face and a few strands of white hair on her scalp. She didn’t have many teeth left, if any at all. One of her eyes seemed to have fallen out of its socket and hung near her face, rotating as it tracked Lan Yun’s position.

The woman also seemed to have four arms, all of them incredibly withered. Two of them extended from her chest and had no palms. In fact, if one were to look closer, they would merely see two wrinkled cucumber-like appendages that were definitely not arms.

Tianming had thought that the ugliest person ever was Li Wushuang, the younger sister of the sun emperor after her fiendish transformation. He would no doubt be terrified of this person from the cocoon. Her ugliness was inherent; it wasn’t something resulting from old age or decay!

There was a bloody aura of terror all around her. Since her appearance, her bloody aura had locked on to Lan Yun. When she opened her mouth, a tongue around a dozen meters in length shot out like a sword, wrapping around her neck and lifting her up into the air.

”Did I not tell you to not come to me in this form?! Are you trying to show off?! Everyone’s had a time when they are young and in their prime, yet nobody’s able to escape the expiration of life!” The voice of the woman from the cocoon sounded like the bloodcurdling snapping of ancient trees.

”Senior Sister, I... I’ve found the ideal astralkiln!” she said to the best of her ability. Only then did the tongue loosen, causing her to fall on the ground. Covered entirely in blood and completely pale, she hyperventilated.

”What did you say?”

”I found the astralkiln you wanted! It’ll definitely match your requirements!”

”Junior Sister, you also know that I’ve used the Sky Starvore Fiendart nine times. This is the last time. You’ve already sent me five failed astralkilns. If I fail again, I’ll be eternally extinguished! But before that, I’ll make sure to destroy you and everything you care for, understood?” she snapped.

”I know... I know.... That’s why I’m certain this time. Just listen to the details.” Lan Yun got back into a kneeling position with her head hung low and powerless.

”I... am listening.” A hint of hope seemed to spark in the woman.

”That child is called Li Tianming. He’s someone from an outer mundus without any backing here at all. I took him in as my disciple and he possesses an incredibly unique body....” Lan Yun started from the very beginning and went on for fifteen minutes. Near the end, the bloody lady chuckled, causing the cocoon behind her to shudder in tandem before it felt like the entire hall and Fallengrace Peak was shaking.

”Good! I want him. Once I recover the body that I wrecked during my previous failed attempt at using the fiendart, send that tasty little snack up here. I’ll devour him whole and leave not a single speck remaining!” she excitedly laughed like a mad witch.

”Senior Sister, how long would it take you to recover?”

”I’m not certain, but it won’t take more than twenty years. However, since you found such a nice astralkiln for me, perhaps I might be able to go faster. Maybe I’ll be done in three to five years.”

”That fast?!” To think that the most terrifying demoness of Myriadpath Valley would revive in such a short time! Five years were mere moments for astral gods; it probably felt like the equivalent of two mortal months!

Looks like you won’t have much time left. I’d thought that you could enjoy fooling around for a bit longer.... Lan Yun kept that thought to herself.

......

”Fallengrace Peak? That’s a cool name. I wonder what kind of place it is....” On that day, Tianming had been cultivating in Grandblue Palace when Yin Chen told him about Lan Yun’s whereabouts.

”Did you gather information about that place?” Tianming asked.

”Normal disciples... talked about... that place... and said... it is... really mysterious. Normal people... can’t even... touch it,” Yin Chen said.

”What about reverends and beyond?”

”I worry... about being... found out. People here... are really... super alert!” Yin Chen knew better than anyone when it was discovered. It was a really high risk this time around, unlike the Sun, Ebonia, or Antiquitas Mortis. Top elites were all over the place in Myriadpath Valley, not to mention all the headache-inducing formations everywhere. The most Yin Chen could do was spy on non-foundationeers.

”Fine! I’ll ignore her and keep training my swordsmanship.” Even though Tianming was going wherever he wanted, he actually knew what he was doing. Yin Chen constantly kept its eyes out for dangers. As for the places it couldn’t look into, things there were beyond his ability to influence anyway.

With even Huang Daosheng suffering ultimate humiliation at his hands, Tianming’s time at Grandblue Palace was relatively peaceful. Gongsun Yan and the rest didn’t try giving him any trouble. Tianming had had them watched the entire time and knew everything they were doing.

With all those precautions, he could practice swordsmanship in Grandblue Palace without worry. He was mainly focusing on the seventh and eighth strikes of Imperator’s Mural. Those two strikes corresponded with the two female imperatores in the mural, Imperatores Anima and Mansionis respectively. Their moves, Anima Imperatoris and Mansionis Imperatoris, were suited to the genesis order of Ji Ji and radix order of Xian Xian.