Beastmaster of the Ages

”A hundred breaths, we almost broke the record! What a pity.... But we should be first for now!” Suishen Yao excitedly said. It would be the first time for the ’Number Three of the Ages’ to ever get first place.

The thousand-year-old third place had never reached the top before. Just thinking about herself dominating the leaderboard, even if only for the first round, brought a smile to her face.

”Mhm!” Suishen Shuang nodded. She had performed and cooperated well with Suishen Yao.

However, when they rushed out of the vitality idol area, they looked up and saw two familiar people ahead.

”Little Zhao! Little Li!” Suishen Yao almost fainted.

”How are you here?” Suishen Shuang was dumbfounded.

”What, don’t you have eyes?” Suishen Zhao couldn’t help but retort.

Suishen Yao looked dumbfounded. She turned her head and looked back, her eyes almost popping out, nearly falling down.

”Thir... Thirty breaths!” They had just experienced the torment of the vitality idol and knew better than anyone how difficult it was. No wonder the entire valley was talking about Suishen Zhao.

”Goddammit, you stole your sister’s glory! May you be infertile!” Suishen Yao grit her teeth.

”What’re you saying!” Suishen Shuang immediately covered her mouth.

”Sis, dad is still here, you should admit defeat! But still, going from Number Three of the Ages to Number Two of the Ages is an improvement. I’m proud of you.” Suishen Zhao, seeing her sulk, felt immensely satisfied.

”Huh?” Suishen Yao suddenly saw Tianming laughing. Although at that moment, she heard everyone praising Suishen Zhao, the thought that perhaps it was this kid’s doing suddenly seized her.

However, she seriously doubted it.

But by then, others were already passing the vitality idol one after another. Third place was a team of House Qitian members. The pair were ranked first and fourth on the Fortuna Ranking. Among them, Qi Tianjian was an invincible presence on the Fortuna Ranking. Their team was the number one seed on the Fortuna Path, with at least seventy percent of Myriadpath Valley betting they would be this year’s champions!

For the remaining thirty percent, Suishen Yao only occupied ten percent, and another twenty percent was for the strongest team of House Yumo.

The championship odds were seven to two to one; others had no hope.

The two Qitian beastmasters seemed rather cold. Losing the first round to Suishen Yao didn’t surprise them. They quickly recovered even from the thirty breaths’ surprise.

They clearly knew that Tianming and Suishen Zhao’s team was one of extraordinary talent, but not combat. Those two kids wouldn’t be their and Suishen Yao’s competitors in the later idols. They could only temporarily be on top after the first round.

Team after team continued passing.

Tianming had temporarily taken leave. As more people gathered around and the spotlight was on Suishen Zhao, he had snuck away to find a place to condense the fourth cosmic chart.

To be honest, his situation was somewhat awkward now. After Lan Yun’s death, he hadn’t returned to Grandblue Palace, and Suishen Cave wasn’t a place he could stay for long, for fear that Suishen Zhao’s elders would see him. So he returned to Li Fan’s residence in Skymartial Blacksea. He was homeless!

”I hope I can perform well on the Prehistoric Path so that House Suishen’s elders recognize me. That way, they won’t drive me away if I appear in Suishen Cave, befriend their children, or even enter the Suishen Ancestral Hall to cultivate.

”From the vitality idol’s experience, these nine divine idols are extremely suitable for me! Order fragments are too hard to obtain, so this is a rare chance for rapid progress that I must seize. I can’t let anyone kick me out early.” After all, he wasn’t a seeded challenger.

”Talented black ring disciples are dangerous and full of uncertainty. Only strength is fundamental! So, I have to make the most of my time!”

The fourth cosmic chart!

”After the Prehistoric Path, I’ll aim to make it into the top hundred of the Fortuna Ranking. That way, even without the Suishen Ancestral Hall, I can still cultivate in the upper ruins.” Tianming’s eyes burned with determination.

***

Back at the Prehistoric Path.

Huang Daosheng and Yumo Yuanni finally passed the vitality idol.

”Phew!” Huang Daosheng looked up and saw that there were already some people ahead. But there weren’t many, making him excited. He quickly said, ”Minor Pathkeeper, we’re ranked high.”

”Fifteenth!” Yumo Yuanni, wearing a scarlet mask, looked at the Midsky Myriadpath Stele. He wasn’t very satisfied with this rank, so he coldly glanced at Huang Daosheng and said, ”You’re really useless. You were of no help with the vitality idol.”

Huang Daosheng scratched his head and said, ”Minor Pathkeeper, the vitality idol requires high talent. Compared to you, I’m insignificant. This time I was indeed useless.”

Yumo Yuanni curled his lips and said, ”Let’s see how you perform at the eternal idol!”

”I will do my best!” The eternal idol tested combat power, so it was Huang Daosheng’s turn to shine. Their team was a combination where the powerhouse tried to carry the talented.

”He’s only fourth? Who’re the top three?” Yumo Yuanni looked up from his name and quickly found the highest-ranking Yumo. It was only fourth!

”Normally we should be in the top three, what’s going on?” As he thought about it, he saw the top names on the leaderboard!

”Suishen Zhao!” Yumo Yuanni gritted his teeth, his eyes glowing red.

”Li Tianming?” Huang Daosheng’s eyes widened in disbelief.

”How’s that possible?” they said in unison, shocked.

”An error?” Their faces quickly turned icy.

Then they heard that no one was paying attention to their fifteenth-place group. The entire Myriadpath Valley was discussing the first place, of course! It was very unpleasant for them.

Huang Daosheng felt bewildered and extremely uncomfortable. He glanced at Reverend Daolie in the distance and saw that his father’s expression looked like he had eaten shit.

”Is this Li Tianming basking in glory again?” Huang Daosheng gritted his teeth. He hated it! The more glorious Tianming was, the more of a cuckold he seemed!

”Suishen Zhao, thirty breaths....” Yumo Yuanni’s face darkened further. House Qitian had no talents in their age group, so Yumo Yuanni and Suishen Zhao were always compared to each other. But since there was an age difference of about eighty years, they couldn’t be directly compared. Additionally, totemancers were faster at breakthroughs in the early stages, so direct comparison wasn’t easy.

In terms of combat power, Yumo Yuanni was one level higher before going to the Xenoabyss, and now he was two levels higher.

Suishen Zhao seemed more talented, but people thought it was due to differences in cultivation systems. Therefore, Yumo Yuanni never believed his talent was inferior to Suishen Zhao’s.

Moreover, everyone knew that specters had the strongest later potential, with their peak periods thousands of years later. An age difference of eighty was almost negligible, so Yumo Yuanni’s goal was to continually suppress Suishen Zhao.

Thus, today was their first public competition and their elders had high hopes. But in the end, one gloriously shone while the other... ranked fifteenth. Both teams were there to gain experience, yet the contrast was too stark.

Yumo Yuanni looked at Suishen Zhao, his eyes filled with fierce light.

Huang Daosheng, knowing what Yumo Yuanni liked to hear, quickly comforted him. ”Minor Pathkeeper, don’t worry! The vitality idol gave you many insights. Soon, you’ll break through on the Prehistoric Path and outshine him. Your goal of entering the top hundred of the Fortuna Ranking at two hundred years old will also break House Yumo’s history! As for them, I dare say they’ll drop out of the top hundred, or even fail entirely after the eternal idol,”

”Alright, we’ll see!” Yumo Yuanni lowered his head. He knew he was just one step away from the tenth cosmic chart.

”Although the eternal idol is about combat, I can still gain insights through fighting there. I must breakthrough then.” Suishen Zhao had already basked in glory. He also wanted to shine too.

The top ten of the Fortuna Ranking competed for the champion of the Prehistoric Path.

He and Suishen Zhao were also competing secretly.

Suishen Zhao glanced at Yumo Yuanni. ”Heh.” He looked at his ranking, the corner of his mouth slightly curling up.

This trace of ridicule directly ignited the raging fire in Yumo Yuanni’s chest. ”House Suishen? Heh... House Yumo is the original king of Myriadpath Valley! We specters once took both of you on at the same time!” In the most ancient of times, the structure of Myriadpath Valley was a rivalry between humans and specters.

But today, with the specters reduced to a third, a tripartite structure was formed. And compared to specters, the two human systems had closer blood ties.

***

On the Maniverse Path, Suishen Yuan emerged from the vitality idol.

”Ninety-three breaths?” That was a better result than Suishen Yao’s. Maniverse disciples were older, and Suishen Yuan was already a fourth-level foundationeer experienced with the vitality idol.

The record for the vitality idol on the Maniverse Path was sixty breaths. So, in comparison, Suishen Yao’s group was actually more outstanding. Suishen Yuan simply didn’t have opponents with overwhelming comprehension talent, so he managed to successfully defend the honor of totemancers.

Ninety-three breaths placed him first in the Maniverse Path, beating out Suishen Yue.

The first round’s comprehension talent test gave House Suishen significant glory when they dominated both leaderboards.

Taking first place in the Maniverse Path gave Suishen Yuan immense confidence. However, before he could celebrate, Suishen Yue, clad in heavy brown armor, broke through the vitality idol with a time of ninety-nine breaths.

It was only a six-breath difference, but their combat power disparity was quite large, and failing to widen the gap in the first round was bad news for Suishen Yuan. Thus, his face immediately fell.

Suishen Yue and his teammate walked past Suishen Yuan.

”Brother Yuan, if you can’t widen the gap in the first round, you won’t get to enjoy Yaoyao’s Suishen Blood.” Suishen Yue looked like an honest person with his righteous and honest expression. However, when he said that, he had a sinister look.

”Brother Yue, you’re too shameless!” Suishen Yuan trembled with rage.