Beastmaster of the Ages

Yumo Qiangming reacted rather fast, despite feeling so shocked that his innards were practically shaken. He didn’t overthink how the situation came to be and focused on running for his life.

”Quickly!”

”Activate your myriadpath rings!”

”I’ll go on ahead....”

The thousand scouts never could have imagined that their journey would come to an end before it even started. But would it really end on their terms? When they used their myriadpath rings to activate the stareye, they were indeed swallowed up by its light. As soon as they believed the transfer had started, they began crying out wildly.

”Quick! Report it to the valley lord!”

”It’s insane! Li Tianming actually showed up in Skydome!”

”How’s that possible?!”

”The astralship from the Yin-Yang World was there!” Yumo Qiangming roared with all he had when the light that surrounded him faded. He believed that he would immediately see the three leaders and the valley lord. But when all of them looked ahead, they still saw Jiguang, Tianming, Suishen Xiyue, Wondrium, and the Blissful Union.

”Huh?” All of them rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

”Shouldn’t we be back in Myriadpath Valley?” someone croaked.

They were completely stupefied. If the transfer had worked, the journey that took half a month would feel like a mere instant for them. But instead, they were still at the stareye of Skydome.

”No, no, no...! I must be seeing things. Myriadpath Valley, appear!” said a reverend who closed his eyes and opened it again. He still saw Tianming before him and couldn’t figure out what was going on. It only occurred to him later that the flash of light from the stareye didn’t transfer him anywhere!

”Transfer again!” Yumo Qiangming roared and all of them activated their myriadpath rings.

Tianming watched them try ten times in a row to no avail. Not a single one of them managed to leave.

”Impossible...!”

”The stareye isn’t working!”

”We can’t leave!”

The scouts scratched their heads in confusion and panic, staring at Tianming without being able to make a single sound. Every single reverend from the Three Exalted Houses stared at their enemies and the ship behind them with infinite fear, horror, and disbelief.

”Suishen Qin,” Suishen Xiyue finally spoke. She looked at the crowd toward a young Suishen girl. She seemed around six hundred years younger than Jiguang and was almost as young and pretty as Suishen Shuang.

”Sister Xiyue, Sister Jiguang....” Suishen Qin gave them a frightful look. She was Suishen Cang’s sister, making her Suishen Shuang’s aunt.

Suishen Xiyue said, ”You should take our fellow Suishens aside to watch the show.”

”Yes!” She did as she was told, still panicking. Not everyone shared the view that Suishen Xiyue and Jiguang had betrayed the Three Exalted Houses. Even though Suishen Qin had gone on the mission as she was told, she had her own views on the matter. Coupled with the advice that the old patriarch had given her prior to the excursion, she didn’t hesitate and immediately turned to her fellow Suishens. ”All Suishens, follow me to Sister Xiyue’s side!”

She was a leading eminent, while the three hundred who had come with her were reverends of relatively low rank. Not long ago, they had seen Tianming as one of their own. They were also proud of the fact that Jiguang had killed the tensource beast.

”Come with us!” The three hundred Suishens moved behind Tianming without hesitation, completely switching sides.

”Suishen Qin!” Both Qitian Yi and Yumo Qiangming yelled at her, but she didn’t turn back.

”Are you going to betray Myriadpath Valley with your three hundred followers? Don’t forget that their families and friends are still back there! Your behavior will doom them! You’ll end up like House Fenglin!” Yumo Qiangming threatened.

”The stareye doesn’t work and we don’t have astralships. We’re now in Pathkeeper Li’s territory. You can start threatening me after you return to Myriadpath Valley alive!” Suishen Qin said without even turning back. What she said was the worst nightmare of the other scouts.

”Pathkeeper Li, the three hundred of us are willing to join your side and serve you and my two elder sisters. We’ll help you kill them all. Please give us a chance on account that we’re from the same house as my two elder sisters here,” Suishen Qin sincerely said with a bow.

”What’re you talking about? We’re family! Suishen Ranxing’s the only one who can’t see that. Jiguang and I won’t refuse anyone who wants to help, him included!” Tianming said. He had been protected for a long time by House Suishen, so he didn’t want to fight them if he didn’t have to.

He smiled at the other Suishen scouts and said, ”Your journey must have been tiring. I don’t need you to fight for me today, so get some rest!”

He then turned to Qitian Yi and Yumo Qiangming, the top two rankers of the Maniverse Ranking, both from the elite ruling class. Those two were the only ones who could endure being stared down by Tianming. The other reverends took steps back when they saw Tianming’s gaze and constantly tried their myriadpath rings in vain.

”Li Tianming....” Yumo Qiangming’s eyes were wide and red. He pointed at Tianming and yelled, ”Why’s the fortuna-class ship from the Yin-Yang World here?! How did you come here so quickly?!”

”What?!” Many reverends only realized just then that the gigantic sphere was actually what their valley lord had dreamed of obtaining. The fact that it was under Tianming’s control revealed many uncomfortable and fearful implications. When Tianming approached them, they backed away in horror!

”What do you think?” Tianming smiled. ”It means I alone control more resources than the entire Myriadpath Valley combined! It means I possess two fortuna-class astralships. It means I can cross astral distances much faster than what’s possible with the Myriadpath Celestial Formation! Did you think all I could do was defeat Suishen Jinxuan?”

”You....” Yumo Qiangming felt endless despair. The youth before him felt like a giant so huge that it even blocked out the sun, making him struggle for breath.

”What do we do?” Qitian Yi was beginning to panic.

”How would I know?!” Yumo Qiangming snapped, voice hoarse.

”Do we have everyone scatter and flee?”

”Where would we go?! Without a ship or the stareye, we can’t go anywhere! Once Suishen Jiguang and Suishen Xiyue strike, we’ll be crushed like bugs!” He simply couldn’t see how they could survive.