Beastmaster of the Ages

Somewhere in Myriadpath Valley was a misty lakeside. The leaders of the Three Exalted Houses—Qitian Muyu, Suishen Ranxing, and Yumo Diyan—were gathered there.

Apart from them, someone in a white robe with silver hair stood in a dark corner, his face sinister. Even the valley lord had come and his manic eyes were visible through the gloom. Countless blows had come out of nowhere and beaten him back down after he’d just recovered somewhat. If House Yumo hadn’t suffered just as much, he would have gone insane.

The only one among them who hadn’t really suffered was Suishen Ranxing; House Suishen had never been significantly weakened since the beginning. Instead, they had grown even stronger. However, even he was shocked by the news he had just heard.

”Qitian Muyu and I just met. He can prove that I haven’t left Myriadpath Valley,” Suishen Ranxing emphasized for Yumo Diyan’s benefit.

”What about those bitches?” Yumo Diyan sat there, killing intent oozing out of his bloodshot eyes.

”I heard that they last took Li Tianming to the myriadpath steles, only to vanish after that. They probably haven’t returned to Suishen Cave, but I don’t know where they went,” Suishen Ranxing said.

”My sister is about to arrive. We’ll soon learn whether those two had a part in it,” Qitian Muyue said. He was feeling rather moody. Their losses had cast a bad omen over them.

Skydome, a random mundus, had become a tomb of eminents! The number of uncertainties in the astralscape of order seemed to be growing. The only ones who knew the truth, Suishen Jiguang and Suishen Xiyue, had been so overwhelmed that they now saw a youth as the true ruler.

Not long after, Qitian Muyue, slight in frame and clad in white, arrived. She had mentally and emotionally prepared herself. Her eyes were red and her expression was panicked. Her lips shuddered with a faint hint of attempted suppression as she walked toward the three leaders. But despite being faced with such powerful and authoritative people, she didn’t feel nervous at all. Someone else had already shown her what true power looked like.

”Dad... Brother... something happened!” she said, groaning as she approached her family. Her words made them audibly gulp.

”Speak,” the valley lord said, prepared to hear the worst.

Qitian Muyue told them what she had practiced beforehand about the copper coffin secret realm that could be a fortuna-class astralship. She told them about how it was fraught with dangers and formations that tried to kill them. She told them about how she had used all she had to escape from the secret realm. Her ninesource beast even added some details that matched her story.

”According to our investigations, Li Tianming’s loved ones are all within that secret realm. The copper coffin appears to be ownerless. Our guess back then was that a monster like Li Tianming must have something to do with it. However, we underestimated the danger inside and I was the only one who managed to escape! We should send a rescue party to save Yumo Dinai and the others, right?” Qitian Muyue turned and desperately looked at her father and brother, feigning concern for the nine eminents.

”There’s no need. They’re already dead,” Yumo Diyan said, his voice hoarse with deep-seated sorrow.

”Dead?!” Qitian Muyue pulled out her ’struck-by-lightning’ face and glared at the other four with disbelief.

Yumo Diyan took a few steps toward her and said, ”So you only cared about yourself and didn’t bother to help the rest?”

”What do you mean? Do you think I didn’t want to help them? There’s nine other House Qitian eminents in there as well!” She glared at the specter and panted heavily as her tears began welling up. It wasn’t just an act; the other Qitians were dead, and she had only barely survived.

”Silence,” the valley lord said and the mood turned completely still.

The four of them felt all kinds of emotions coursing through their minds. Those nineteen eminents were dead for sure. They were forced to accept that fact. And now they had to contend with the shocking truth that Qitian Muyue had brought back.

”Is it another fortuna-class astralship?” The valley lord’s eyelids rapidly twitched. He had fallen due to the very same thing last time. A ship of that class was something he had desperately wanted and hadn’t been able to obtain. Seeing the Blissful Union for the first time had made him wild with joy, but now he could sense danger as well as desire. Being bitten once by the snake of temptation was enough to make him shudder even at the sight of normal ropes.

Qitian Muyue was a major-zenith foundationeer, so it wasn’t weird that she had survived to tell the tale. They couldn’t even fathom the possibility that an overpowering being was able to completely dominate her. It was simply right in the blindspot of their imaginations.

The valley lord and Qitian Muyu began pondering their next steps based on the flawless story that Qitian Muyue told them.

”So Suishen Jiguang and Suishen Xiyue weren’t in Skydome either, right?” Yumo Diyan said.

”Them? Our operation was secret—don’t tell me they noticed?” Qitian Muyue asked. That was good enough for an answer.

”The copper coffin in Skydome must be Li Tianming’s home base. That would explain why he has that kind of talent. Only something that doesn’t belong to the astralscape of order can possibly produce a talent like that. If the copper coffin is an astralship, it might be even stronger than the one in the Yin-Yang World....” The valley lord’s fists were clenched so tight his knuckles turned white.

As the Yin-Yang World was in its stormy season, the Three Exalted Houses had stopped exploring it. However, something so different and odd had shown up out of nowhere. However, the valley lord and the sole remaining major-zenith foundationeer of House Yumo weren’t confident enough in attempting to take Tianming’s treasures for themselves. After all, only one out of twenty eminents had survived!

They considered it for a long time.”Since the enemy’s home base appeared, we should gather our houses’ full might to destroy it! We need to crush them to rid us of future worries!” Yumo Diyan said as he took a seat. House Yumo had already lost too much and they had to do something drastic.

”Destroy their home base? Do you even know what kind of might they possess? If we charge in and end up like Yumo Dinai and the rest, it’ll be the joke of the millennia! We’d be handing Myriadpath Valley to them on a silver platter. The historians of countless generations will have a huge laugh at our expense,” Qitian Muyu said, looking troubled.