Beastmaster of the Ages

Within a hall in the deepest area of Qitian Cave was a screen, behind which the figures of a person and a dragon could be seen. They cast a large shadow on the screen from the starlight they emitted. Poisonous black and white snakes still crawled all over their bodies.

The man and beast tried to eliminate the snakes that were in their astrons one after another. It was a rather grueling and complicated process that frustrated both of them to no end. Fortunately, they had made some progress after ten years of effort.

”Thanks to the Source Progenitor, we’re recovering much faster than expected. Given a bit more time, I’ll no longer have to be as wary as I’ve been these past ten years. When I’m fully recovered, I might be able to go to the Yin-Yang World again. The formation core of that fortuna-class ship must still be in there!” The valley lord darkly smiled as he looked outside.

”Father....” Qitian Muyu and Qitian Muyue entered, followed by a major-zenith foundationeer of House Qitian, one with an incredibly unique name: Qitian Baba.

”Are you here for the Ancestral Worship Ceremony?” The valley lord stepped out from behind the screen with his hands behind his back and the little dragon coiled around one of his arms. It held its draconic head high, the dark miasma around it having thinned somewhat.

The silver-haired valley lord appeared to glow with divine radiance. He had recovered quite a bit of his cosmoforce. His prowess as a super-zenith foundationeer didn’t seem to have been greatly impacted and he had unlocked most of his sealed cosmoforce. The three who came in were delighted to see him in his state.

”That’s right,” Qitian Muyu said. ”Father, do you have good news?”

”Yes. I’ve recovered seventy percent of the way,” the valley lord said.

Qitian Muyue’s eyes brightened. ”Seventy percent? Your power is about the same as mine right now, then?”

Qitian Muyu laughed and said, ”You? You’re the youngest major-zenith foundationeer in Myriadpath Valley, and also the weakest. Father would be much stronger than you even if he only has seventy percent of his power.”

The valley lord said, ”She isn’t wrong. My current power is around the same as hers, so I can be considered a major-zenith foundationeer.” Even though he wasn’t at his peak power, he was still doing much better than his previous badly injured state. House Qitian used to have three elites and one super elite, but at least they currently had four elites.

”House Yumo only has two major-zenith foundationeers, while House Suishen has three. That still makes us the strongest faction!” Qitian Baba said, scratching his nose.

”Uncle Ba, you’re mistaken,” Qitian Muyu said with a mysterious smile.

”Oh? Pray tell, then!” Qitian Baba didn’t understand what he was hinting at.

”Suishen Hongtian’s made arrangements. Once we go through with it tomorrow, he’ll no longer be able to turn back! His arrangements will tie him to our side for good. Even if Father’s only a major-zenith foundationeer right now, that still gives us five major-zenith foundationeers in total! The other two houses combined only have four!” Qitian Muyu gleefully said.

”Haha! That makes sense,” Qitian Baba said with a hearty chuckle.

”Alright, let’s get to business,” the valley lord said, turning to look outside.

”Dad, will you be attending the Ancestral Worship Ceremony tomorrow? If you do, how many members of House Qitian will attend with you?” Qitian Muyue asked.

”I will. We’ll leave only a small number of people to guard Qitian Cave,” the valley lord decided without hesitation.

”Won’t that be risky?” Qitian Muyue asked in a soft voice.

”There’ll be some risk, but it won’t be much. If Father doesn’t go, it would create more problems,” Qitian Muyu said.

”How so?”

Qitian Muyu could tell that his sister needed some convincing. He looked at his father, and when he saw that he offered no explanation, he mustered his courage to explain it to her in his stead. ”There’s four reasons Father must attend. The first is what we just said. Father’s recovered seventy percent of his power, so nobody in Myriadpath Valley can harm him. He’ll only recover more and more in the future. In case conflict breaks out, Suishen Hongtian is on our side, so we have the advantage.

”Second, Suishen Jiguang hasn’t made any moves so far. We aren’t sure whether she knows about what went down in the Yin-Yang World, or Father’s injuries. In fact, neither House Suishen nor House Yumo have made any moves. If House Yumo knew the truth, there’s no way they’d be able to hold back. Not to mention, it doesn’t seem like Suishen Hongtian is aware of the truth, either.

”Third, if we don’t go, the others in House Qitian won’t leave Qitian Cave either. That way, Suishen Hongtian won’t have any chances to meet with us. If he really brings the young geniuses of House Suishen to us as hostages, Father will be able to bend them to his will even if they know the truth. We can’t afford to miss joining up with Suishen Hongtian.

”Fourth, the Ancestral Worship Ceremony is incredibly important and only takes place once a century. The valley lord has always presided over the ceremony. If we don’t show up after having allegedly obtained the Yin-Yang World’s legacies, it wouldn’t make sense at all and our falsehood would be exposed.”

Qitian Muyue nodded and said, ”Alright, I understand. At the end of the day, even if we’re exposed, we’re still the strongest faction. And when House Suishen knows the truth, they won’t be able to forgive the traitor in their ranks.”

”That’s right! So what if we don’t really have the Yin-Yang World’s legacies? When Father recovers in a few years, he’ll still dominate Myriadpath Valley all the same. Suishen Hongtian won’t lose anything from learning the truth about that.” Qitian Muyu turned and passionately looked at his father.

”He’s right. Either way, Myriadpath Valley will never be able to return to what it used to be. We’ve completely turned on House Yumo, but there’s still hope in controlling House Suishen. Once we obtain the legacies in the future, we’ll focus on eliminating House Yumo and keeping House Suishen under our thumb. Their young geniuses will be the key to this plan.”

Once everything played out, the valley lord wouldn’t just have the hostages as bargaining chips, but also the elites that follow Suishen Hongtian on his side. Myriadpath Valley had already lost the delicate balance that their forebears had so desperately tried to protect: trust and understanding.

It was once the case that the Three Exalted Houses dared to let their youth roam around Myriadpath Valley or the Million Mundi without worry about each other assassinating them, but there was no way a minor pathkeeper of today’s House Qitian would dare show up before an eminent of House Yumo.

The death of the senior madame was like the death of a motherly figure for everyone in House Yumo, let alone the twenty eminents and the Hellfiend. It was a blood grudge that would never be wiped out, and the consequence was the loss of trust and understanding between the Three Exalted Houses.

The moment internal cracks had formed, everywhere in Myriadpath Valley was a potential battlefield—even the Grand Myriadpath Ruins, Battlesky Hall, Heavensource Starriver, and so on. The situation would take at least tens of thousands of years or someone performing a miracle to remedy itself, a fact that the four Qitians were clearly aware of.

”Tomorrow, we shall send as many people as we can to the ceremony while making sure of Qitian Cave’s security. We’ll draw the elites of House Suishen out and ensure that Suishen Hongtian’s plan succeeds!” the valley lord declared.