Beastmaster of the Ages

”A secret realm?” Qitian Muyue blankly looked at Tianming.

”That’s right. Tell them there’s a secret realm next to the Skydome Mundus shaped like a copper coffin, so big that it spans the heavens. It looks about as large as nova source worlds. Tell them that I, Li Tianming, was born in that secret realm,” Tianming said as he cracked a smile. ”Just make it sound as mysterious and baffling as possible. Tell them that not even you really understand what’s going on.”

”Are you trying to lure them here and kill them all?” Qitian Muyue completely froze.

”Didn’t you say that you’d help me kill your father and brother? It’s still possible to turn back. The Yumo Blood Crucible hasn’t even cooled yet,” Tianming said with a chuckle.

Qitian Muyue’s innards rumbled as she clenched her fists, eyes red with inner conflict. However, she understood that she had to be useful to Tianming for the rest of her life if she was to live on. Her very existence could be snuffed out at his whim. ”Alright, I’ll do it!”

”Not only do you have to tell them about it, you have to make it convincing. Make it sound like it’s a place they really want to come to,” Tianming instructed. If this worked, he would be able to deal with all of his enemies at once, or at least as many of them that would come, anyway. If the leaders of the Three Exalted Houses and Qitian Xiao were killed, he would immediately be able to take control of Myriadpath Valley without spending up to a century on cultivating.

”Then how should I explain the deaths of Yumo Dinai and the others?” Qitian Muyue asked.

”It’s simple. Tell them the allure of the treasures here was so strong that it made them careless. You can tell them you went into the copper coffin with them and encountered something terrible and you were the sole person to escape. You don’t even need to give them details.

”Just appear confused and distraught. Tell them you don’t know what their fates are like. Only the ones in Myriadpath Valley would know for a fact that they’re dead, thanks to the shattered subsouls. All you have to do is feign shock when you hear that Yumo Dinai’s dead,” Tianming said.

”But our main objective was to come capture your loved ones and associates....”

”That’s even easier. Tell them that everyone I know is inside this copper coffin, according to your investigations in surrounding worlds. Tell them you’re absolutely sure.”

”How about this? I’ll tell them the copper coffin might be some kind of unclaimed fortuna-class astralship. My father, Yumo Diyan, and Suishen Ranxing will no doubt be driven mad with desire!” Qitian Muyue said. Given that none of them had sole control of the Grand Myriadpath Ruins, there was no way they would pass up a fortuna-class astralship of their own.

”That’s fine, too,” Tianming said, patting her on the head. ”Looks like you’re showing quite a bit of initiative.”

”Serving my master is my life’s purpose from now on! I’ll wipe out House Qitian and pay back their debt of blood!” Qitian Muyue’s mind had twisted under the weight of her ultimate desperation. Her path would be forever changed, unless Tianming died out of nowhere.

”By the way, Master,” she said, then paused for some thought. ”Do I need to tell them the truth about Infinitum, the Hellfiend, and the twenty eminents here?”

Tianming shook his head. ”There’s no need to reveal that for now. I still want to lurk in Myriadpath Valley. If that gets publicized, it’d give House Qitian and House Yumo a pretext to force Suishen Ranxing and House Suishen to deal with me.”

Tianming wouldn’t mind fighting the Three Exalted Houses to the death in Infinitum, but all he had to protect him in Myriadpath Valley were three major-zenith beauties. There was still a question of where the loyalties of people in House Suishen lay. As for the two million cultivators of Myriadpath Valley, they wouldn’t be able to be his backing even if they wanted to protect him.

He couldn’t afford to openly ruin his relationship with Myriadpath Valley. Now, things depended on whether or not Qitian Muyue would be able to lure the leaders of the major houses to Infinitum. If that worked out, Tianming would have hit the jackpot by having chosen to spare her.

The reason he didn’t want them to learn about the twenty eminents dying in Infinitum was because it was his home and he didn’t want to be connected to it. Instead, luring them in using the secret realm was a much better plan.

Just in case, he told Fengqing Youmeng to give all of her kind the order to not bring up Infinitum in front of anyone that showed up at the stareye. Instead, they would tell them about the copper coffin secret realm that was somewhere in Skydome instead. That way, those from Myriadpath Valley wouldn’t be able to find Infinitum.

”Little Muyue, it now depends on you,” he said, giving her a pinch on the cheek.

Qitian Muyue’s entire body shuddered. She had gone from the princess of the astralscape to a mere eminent, then to ’Little Muyue’. When the Suishen sisters saw that, their faces flushed as if they had been the ones being pinched.

The two of them had finished hearing about the Tianming Dynasty from his seniors. It seemed that Tianming’s cultivation path of sovereignhood and the way his dynasty was run was much more fair compared to Myriadpath Valley’s strict hierarchical system.

It wasn’t like strife didn’t exist within the Tianming Dynasty. In fact, conflict was the reason a world’s denizens still improved! From conflict came motivation! The only difference was that conflict in the Tianming Dynasty maintained a level of fairness that allowed those on the lower rungs of the ladder a chance to rise to the top. There were no monopolies and the distribution of resources was equitable.

All of it was thanks to Li Caiwei, an expert at management. Despite her humble roots from a mortal world, she had been tasked with management on a grand scale. In fact, her background only made her even more empathetic to the plight of mere mortals, which was why her policies wouldn’t oppress others like her. Instead, she found a way that gave them a chance to elevate themselves.

In contrast, Myriadpath Valley’s system of total domination and absolute hierarchy generated completely different results, resulting in the denizens of the Million Mundi being treated like cattle. If the Tianming Dynasty took over, Myriadpath Valley would still remain the capital of the empire, but the mundi would each be elevated to provinces in an empire, with the infinitum-class worlds in them becoming capitals of their respective provinces.

”Even a top elite will age and perish, so a single person wouldn’t be able to change much. But a dynasty, however, can usher in timeless change once they replace another power!” Suishen Xiyue could clearly see the difference between the denizens of Infinitum and those of other mundi. There was unshakeable faith in their eyes.

Everything they saw there had completely changed their lofty worldview. They came to understand the kind of ruler Tianming was and felt even more resolute.

Tianming put a few Yin Chens into Qitian Muyue’s hand, which turned into metal butterflies.

”What’re these?” she asked.

”My lifebound beast. There’s hundreds of billions of them all across Myriadpath Valley. They’re my eyes and ears,” Tianming said.

”Child spawn? But child spawn are basically wildbeasts without sentience....”