Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming’s yearly stipend was absolutely insane. Too bad he only had fifteen years left for the ten-times multiplier. After that, he would only be getting a five-times multiplier, half as much as he was now. The older he grew, the less he would get.

”It can’t be helped. I’m already getting so many cultivation resources that it even makes eminents jealous. It can’t last forever.” Tianming knew that it would only keep dropping until he reached five hundred years old, but he could always rank first when he became a maniverse disciple to get the ten-times multiplier again. He should be able to use that for three hundred years then.

”But at five hundred, I should’ve already completely conquered Myriadpath Valley, right?” He didn’t dare to think too far ahead.

He claimed the four kegs of springwater that had gathered over the course of five years, then went to the Heavensource Starriver and caused another commotion there. He used eight million merit points to trade for four 800-aperture ordered manna! Most fortuna disciples wouldn’t earn that many merit points all their lives.

Not all eminents had lifebound beasts with star counts of eight million, either. Tianming didn’t say anything, just took them with him and left. The worst part was that he still had four million merit points left after that haul.

Suishen Zhao was completely stupefied. ”Didn’t you come last time to trade for 700-aperture manna? Don’t use 800-aperture manna before you reach the Foundation stage! It might go to waste and cause your beasts’ evolutions to fail.”

”Calm down. I’m only buying them for later use. Manna with so many apertures aren’t always available when you need them, you know,” Tianming said.

Those words only dumbfounded Suishen Zhao even more. ”You’re so rich! Filthy rich, I’d say!”

Suishen Zhao had never heard of people stockpiling ordered manna before. In Myriadpath Valley, merit points were a de facto currency that could be used to trade for anything apart from springwater. Some even used them in the girlfriend trade! Once they were traded for manna, they couldn’t be converted back into merit points.

Suishen Zhao didn’t have any idea what Tianming was going to use those manna or springwater for. He was going to ask Eminent Jiguang what in the world it could all be for. ”Yaoyao’s a braggart, so I think I’ll keep it from her for now.”

That was why Tianming had chosen a time when Suishen Yao had gone to cultivate in Suishen Ancestral Hall to see Eminent Jiguang alone.

”Auntie should still be contemplating the deeper insights of the third fold of the Twinmoon Suishen Art,” Suishen Zhao said.

Tianming crossed the formation and entered the Jiguang Sea. From far away, he could already hear the commotion there. When he drew closer, he saw a silver-pink crescent moon high above the sea, seemingly formed of cosmoforce. There were ten aurora nymphs above the crescent moon, sitting together in a beautiful formation and letting their long hair flow like waterfalls.

Eminent Jiguang herself was hovering between the aurora-filled sky and the sea that reflected everything above. It was a truly stunning picture. As she was comprehending insights, Tianming didn’t interrupt her and did his own meditations on the Greatsun and Pentagram Suishen Arts. Right as he was getting deep into it, he heard a gentle voice by his ear.

”Oh, Tianming, you came to visit Auntie, I see.”

He opened his eyes and a stunning visage entered his vision. Her pink irises and red lips glimmered against the flawless, faint pink skin. The gentle smile on her face was absolutely enchanting, and the springwater-like fragrance she gave off was absolutely bewitching.

She was none other than Suishen Jiguang. She held her arms behind her and slightly bent down. Tianming couldn’t help but steal a peak at the beautiful sight beyond the opening in her robes.

Eminent Jiguang almost hesitantly rose. ”Why’d you come on your own? Where’s Yaoyao?”

”Oh, she’s at... um... Suishen Ansh—I mean, Anstrale—wait!”

She tried stifling a laugh. ”Here’s a suggestion. Maybe speak to me once you warm your tongue up first. Are you trying to say Suishen Ancestral Hall?”

”That’s right.” Tianming wiped some cold sweat off his forehead.

”Is something the matter?” She waved at him and took him to the dreamlike palace in Jiguang Sea and had him sit down. Then she poured him some fine wine, a specialty from a distant mundus.

Tianming couldn’t hear the specifics of the wine. The thing that tempted him was her, not the drink. ”Um, yes. Something’s the matter.”

”Oh?” Eminent Jiguang never expected him to seek her out alone, so her curiosity was piqued. She sat down and asked, ”What is it, then? Let Auntie handle it for you.”

Tianming had already planned things out before he came. But before he followed the script, he changed his mind and looked her deep in the eyes. ”Auntie, I actually have something to come clean about.”

”Come clean?” When she noticed his gaze, she immediately felt nervous and bit her lip. After a while, she said, ”Tianming, listen to what I say first.”

”Listen to you? Oh, alright.” Tianming nodded, but he didn’t get it. Shouldn’t he be the first to speak?

Earnestly, Eminent Jiguang said, ”You’re married to Yaoyao, so you two are family. You have to be loyal to each other and care for each other for the rest of your lives, understood?”

”I do.”

”You do?” She took a deep breath and seemed a bit guilty. ”Actually, I’m also to blame for not keeping an appropriate distance between us. I caused you to have... untoward thoughts toward me. I need to tell you this clearly: I won’t ruin your relationship with Yaoyao, so please hold yourself back and don’t let your mind run wild, okay?”

Tianming was flabbergasted. After a moment of silence and shock, he laughed, ”Auntie! You misunderstood me. That isn’t what I want to come clean to you about. I respect you, Auntie. I’d never think those thoughts towards you.”

”Ahh....” Eminent Jiguang immediately blushed. Seeing Tianming’s innocent eyes, she wanted to find a hole to burrow into right that instant. ”Um, I... I was overthinking things!”

Tianming held himself back from praising her vivid imagination. She awkwardly paced around for a while before she couldn’t stand it anymore and changed the subject. ”Then tell me what you were going to say.”

”Back then, I told you I was a twelfth-level cosmic cartographer, but I’m actually not.”

”Really?” Eminent Jiguang froze, then laughed, ”I knew it. How could a cosmic cartographer defeat a minor pathkeeper of House Suishen two levels stronger than them? The stage is different too! It’s impossible. So tell me. When did you reach the Foundation stage? Why didn’t you say so? Wait, that doesn’t sound right. You don’t have a foundation fortress.”

Tianming awkwardly smiled. ”No, I didn’t mean it that way. I meant to say that I haven’t yet become a twelfth-level cosmic cartographer.”