Beastmaster of the Ages

Qitian Xiao, Myriadpath Divinity in hand, turned and looked at Qitian Muyu, Yumo Diyan, and the rest, hinting for them to act. ”Once we take down those four and both of their divine astralships, we’ll have conquered both Myriadpath Valley and the Yin-Yang World!”

At this juncture, Qitian Muyu and Yumo Diyan were both pumped. Only the old patriarch seemed rather unwilling to act, considering that his daughter, Jiguang, had so much faith in Tianming. He understood her; she wasn’t someone who could act that calm unless she was certain of what she was doing. And she didn’t seem the least bit nervous at all. But there was nothing the old patriarch could do about it since he wasn’t the one controlling the stage, Tianming was.

When Tianming saw Qitian Xiao about to strike, he laughed and said, ”This alone is enough to drive you to be so impatient? Don’t rush! I have something even more exciting for you!”

Everyone wondered what he meant by that. What else could be more shocking than what he had already brought out? They all watched as he took out a purple mask and put it on his face.

”The Mistrunner!” cried quite a few people from all across Myriadpath Valley. The expressions on the faces of the Qitians and Yumos were absolutely sublime. ”You were the one who was killing the geniuses of House Yumo in the Yin-Yang World the whole time?!”

After the decades-long mystery had finally been solved, Yumo Diyan grit his teeth as blood rushed to his head. All the specters of House Yumo had experienced frustration just as the Qitians had felt and glared at Tianming, killing intent filling their minds.

”Were you the one who killed my little brother, Qitian Muchen’s ninesource beast?!” Qitian Muyu cried, clenching his fists tight. Everything seemed to fit together!

”So, Pathkeeper Li was the Mistrunner this entire time? He was reaping havoc in the Yin-Yang World during the few decades that he was laying low!”

”Even though his name is only at the first place of the Fortuna Ranking, he was killing ninth-level foundationeers the whole time without us knowing!”

”Why would he exclusively kill Yumos?”

”I know! Eminent Jiguang had a falling out with House Yumo because of starblood. That must be why she’s on his side! They’re doing this for the sake of all life!”

If Tianming hadn’t brought out the mask, everyone would still be wondering why he was so fervently opposed to the Three Exalted Houses.

”Pathkeeper Li’s really a trickster! He led the three houses by their noses the entire time the Yin-Yang World was open, and even stole its legacies out from right under their noses. I can’t imagine how much hemorrhaging-induced vomit the Qitians experienced at his hands....”

”Hahaha! He’s far too interesting!”

The crowd laughed and joked at the Three Exalted Houses’ expense, causing them to feel animosity toward the unaffiliated crowd. They gripped their weapons tight as they desired to kill Tianming more and more.

Right as Qitian Xiao was about to strike, Tianming raised an eyebrow and said, ”Looks like you already can’t wait, but I’m not done yet. I’ll anger you to the point of death before killing you to vent for the old man right there!”

Even though the former valley lord was laughing, his eyes were bloodshot. He had been waiting for this day to come for far too long.

”There’s more?” The crowd was flabbergasted. The Three Exalted Houses had already been endlessly humiliated by the Blissful Union and the purple mask alone. Was there really more?

Tianming waved and summoned the Yumo Blood Crucible behind him.

”What in the?!”

It was the third time that House Qitian and House Yumo experienced shocks that felt like lightning strikes. Qitian Xiao stayed his hand once more from the flabbergastment as every hair on his body shuddered.

Yumo Diyan and the others from his house wore expressions that were immortalized in the memories of the surrounding spectators. His six monochrome eyeballs independently spun around in different directions from the sheer confusion.

It was insanity! Wasn’t the Yumo Blood Crucible in Infinitum? Why would Tianming have it?! The Three Exalted Houses felt shaken to the core.

”Were you behind the deaths of our twenty eminents and the destruction of the Hellfiend?!” Yumo Diyan roared, blood wildly surging within him. The countless baleful souls in his body shrieked in pain; his body was like hell itself!

”Bingo, good boy! You got it right! Hahahaha! Infinitum’s my home. You came to my home and refined the denizens of a heliacal-class world into a single drop of starblood! From that day on, I swore to exterminate every single Yumo in the world!” Tianming had been suppressing the urge to come out with the truth for far too long. Announcing it in public like that was cathartic, to say the least. Otherwise, people would go on wondering why he had such a deep hatred for House Yumo.

Only after knowing the truth could the other cultivators in Myriadpath Valley sympathize with Tianming and know why he was fighting. It wasn’t for personal power; he was fighting for the people on the lowest rung of the ladder, those who had been deprived of their dignity and integrity. He didn’t think that what he was doing was a truly great deed, but it was still his duty nonetheless. He had to ensure people knew why he did it.

”What...!?” The cultivators from the august and sacred houses were stunned.

”House Yumo actually went to refine starblood at Pathkeeper Li’s home!”

”It’s no wonder he hates them so much!”

”Refining starblood is far too inhumane!”

If it hadn’t been for Houses Qitian and Suishen’s attempts to whitewash House Yumo and take them into their fold, the astral gods of Myriadpath Valley would have a hard time accepting House Yumo. They had basically been forced to accept them.

With all the cards laid out, people finally saw Tianming as a righteous avenger and were no longer puzzled by his motivations. They finally felt his righteous fury like it was their own. Apart from Houses Qitian and Suishen, everyone else found the practice of refining starblood incredibly hard to accept. Humaneness was an important quality shared by all of them. They empathized and sympathized. If they couldn’t even understand how others felt, what would there be to distinguish them from animals?

House Yumo had been so shocked by the revelation that they didn’t notice the looks the two million cultivators of Myriadpath Valley were giving them.

”How in the world did Pathkeeper Li do it?”

”Wait, isn’t Li Tianming’s home in the Skydome Mundus?”

That was the final doubt that remained. At that moment, they heard cries of agony coming from the Yumo Blood Crucible.

”Is someone in there?”

”Wait, there is!”

Yumo Diyan and Qitian Xiao were held back once more by the new clue. They were going insane! What else was there to reveal? Was three times not enough? Killing intent bubbled out of their stomachs and filled their nostrils.

Then the Yumo Blood Crucible finally opened, revealing hundreds of the captured scouts of House Qitian and House Yumo within.

”Dad, save me!” Qitian Yi, Yumo Qiangming, and many others cried.

”Huh?!” Qitian Xiao, Qitian Muyu, Yumo Diyan, and many others were once more shaken. Those were the scouts they had sent to Skydome! Why were they here? Before they could react, the Yumo Blood Crucible was sealed once more as bloody flames ignited and refined the victims within until they died one after another.

”Save me!”

”Waaah! I don’t want to die!”

What they wanted had nothing to do with it. Tianming hadn’t come back to do charity. All of them had to die! The Yumos had to die to release the baleful souls that had been refined into starblood. And the Qitians had to die to inspire true horror to the house of myriadpath sourcebeasts. Tianming’s rage was directed solely toward Houses Qitian and Yumo.

”Their deaths are only the opening act!” The Yumo Blood Crucible opened up once more and let out a stream of astrons and starblood, dyeing the Progenitor’s Altar blood red.

”Do you understand now? There’s been no such thing as the copper coffin secret realm all along! I made it all up! Do you finally know how Yumo Dinai and the other eminents died?!” Tianming sneered, causing Qitian Xiao to vomit blood from rage and shock.

Being defeated was one thing, but the most humiliating thing was that he had been dancing to the tune of a brat the entire time without even knowing who he was! Yumo Diyan’s face fell apart. Had it all been made up? Did he really kill Yumo Dinai? Even though he didn’t know the details, the truth was there before his eyes!

Before House Qitian and House Yumo had even started fighting, their hearts had been ripped out five times in a row. It hurt so much that their faces contorted and their bodies winced in pain. The old patriarch was so terrified that he began secretly communicating with Jiguang.

”Dad, the scouts from our house are fine. Ask my brother to surrender now! I’ll be honest. You’ll lose today,” she calmly said.

”Impossible!” Even though the old patriarch was relieved to hear that Suishen Qin and the rest were fine, he still couldn’t bring himself to believe that.

”What an old fool....” Suishen Xiyue rolled her eyes. ”Were those five surprises not shocking enough for you? What do you trust so much about that damned asshole? Is it enough to disregard all that you’ve witnessed with your own eyes here today?”

Suishen Xiyue believed that Suishen Ranxing would be just as shocked if he was there. At the very least, the likes of Qitian Xiao, Yumo Diyan, and Qitian Muyu had been shocked and enraged.

Qitian Xiao was shaken once more when he heard that the secret realm had been a lie. What had they been receiving information about in the past decade, then? Qitian Xiao took out his transmission stone and saw Qitian Muyue’s projection above it. His mind was shaken and his voice trembled as he ordered, ”Bring... bring the Qingchuans here! I have something to ask you!”

”What’s there to ask? I defected to the other side. Qitian Cave’s under my control now! You won’t be able to run back here anymore!” Qitian Muyue casually said before crushing her father’s transmission stone.

Qitian Xiao vomited even more blood. He had endured six pierces to the heart in a row! No matter how mentally strong he was, all the humiliation and indisputable truths had pummeled everything he’d been proud of into minced meat.

Tianming had mentally crushed them even before the real fight began. They still didn’t know how he had achieved all that, as the feats of the Galactic Emperor were far beyond what their imaginations could conceive, but that no longer mattered. What mattered was the hard truth.

The Progenitor’s Altar was stained with blood and Qitian Xiao’s own daughter had crushed his transmission stone. House Qingchuan was safe, and House Qitian didn’t even have a place to retreat to. The fight hadn’t yet begun, but Tianming had already defeated them on so many fronts.

”Aaaaaagh!” Qitian Xiao cried and coughed out blood once more. The divine toxin in him surged again, drilling into his entire body like tiny parasitic worms.

Everyone could see the sorry state the valley lord was in. Before the six revelations, nobody had thought that Tianming would be able to take over with only four people on his side—there were simply too many eminents and reverends arranged against him. However, the shocking truth bombs had swayed them.

The valley lord had already vomited blood from the mental shock alone, losing all of his momentum. Tianming had achieved one impossible feat after another. All that was left was a fight to close out the stage.

Their hearts were being swayed. The two million cultivators felt inspired and motivated. Tianming’s six swords of truth were even more effective than real sword strikes. Real swords could only kill, but Tianming’s six swords of truth could not only kill, but also spark fervor for their true sovereign in the hearts of the cultivators!

They were no mere gods. They were no mere astral gods! They were all at least sixth-level cosmic cartographers or stronger, with 1.3 million of them in the Foundation stage! Not even the Million Mundi had that many foundationeers combined. Their devotion was Tianming’s true aim; crushing House Yumo and House Qitian was only a side goal.

With that, they had reached the climax. Tianming felt some power of faith begin flowing into him through omnisentient threads that were individually thicker than a million threads from normal gods combined. Only one final step remains!

One final wall had to be torn down before people could be certain that he was the true ruler of the astralscape of order. And that wall was Qitian Xiao, who had already been mentally tortured six times over. Shame and humiliation had completely devoured him. His white robes were stained with blood that he had vomited out. There was nobody else but Tianming in his sights.

”You... you filthy braaAAT!” Qitian Xiao roared as angrily as he could as he raised the Myriadpath Divinity toward Tianming. ”Warriors of Myriadpath Valley, exterminate them!”

The order was so loud that it hurt to listen to. He had ordered everyone in Myriadpath Valley to strike, yet the two million cultivators wouldn’t heed his call. Those from the sacred and august houses exchanged glances, believing that their valley lord had finally reached the end of his reign. House Suishen’s members also wouldn’t move as long as the old patriarch didn’t make a move. All that remained were House Qitian and House Yumo. Two thousand plus warriors charged toward Tianming from all directions.

”Open a path for my dad!” Qitian Muyu cried, then charged toward Suishen Xiyue with Qitian Xiao.

Yumo Diyan secretly cursed the fact that they went for the weakling, even though they were the ones who cried the loudest to fight. Having no other choice, he charged toward Jiguang. Even so, he wasn’t afraid. The Three Exalted Houses had them completely outnumbered. There were a few minor-zenith foundationeers behind him, as well as some tenth-level eminents.

All of them were going up against four people and Tianming, a mere decorative symbol of their resistance. What was there to fear? Even if they retreated into the Blissful Union, the troops could still breach it. Not to mention, they already learned about Tianming’s trump cards and secrets, including the falsehood of the secret realm. Even if the brat managed to escape, he wouldn’t be nearly as hard to deal with. Everyone thought they still had a fighting chance!

”Kill him! Everything still belongs to the Three Exalted Houses!” Qitian Muyu roared.

”Die!” Yumo Diyan transformed into an impermanence-variant hellfiend. The starblood around his body rumbled and formed a demonic miasma all around him. The army of eminents was thirsty for blood! Even if House Suishen didn’t make a move, everyone else still worried for Tianming’s safety. It was the moment that would finally show what the plan had been building toward.

”He’s truly desperate. Hahahaha!” Tianming was still laughing at such a crucial moment. Just as people wondered if he would run into the Blissful Union, his lifebound beasts appeared beside him as he drew his sword and split it in two. His white hair shimmered as the divine light of rulers emanated from his black and gold eyes. A regal aura exploded forth from his body and descended upon Myriadpath Valley.

”House Qitian, House Yumo, your actions have spelled your own doom! Even now, the omnisentient power that I’m receiving exceeds the amount I got from Wondrium!” In Wondrium, Tianming had been easily able to subdue Qitian Yi and Yumo Qiangming. Not to mention, he had broken through three more times since then. His being and will were powerfully united, driving the long stream of history, powered by the faith of more than a hundred thousand Myriadpath Valley astral gods.

Boundless energy surged within his body, causing him to emanate an even more terrifying aura than Jiguang’s. His body crackled with black lightning with Fiveway Blitzrun ready to go and the grand lexicon wonder appeared beside him, forming shields of words. Then his decapath era godswords manifested the sevenfold simulacrum, Pinnacle Swordpath, before being infused into the split Grand-Orient Sword through the onefold simulacrum, Swordheart.

Tianming had transformed from a mere junior into an ultimate fighter that eclipsed Jiguang, Suishen Xiyue, and even the old patriarch! All of the astral gods in Myriadpath Valley were stunned by his divine might. The sparks finally ignited into powerful flames in their eyes!

”He’s too powerful!” many yelled like rabid fangirls, men and women alike. In their eyes and hearts, Tianming looked like a lightning storm that wouldn’t back away.

Just as Qitian Xiao was about to end the fight, Tianming took the initiative and charged toward him with both swords in hand! Qitian Muyu and Yumo Diyan had been wondering how they would stop Suishen Xiyue and Jiguang from saving Tianming, only to witness his magnificent display of raging lightning.

”Impossible...!” The two leaders of their respective houses watched wide eyed, being shocked for the seventh time in a row. How was this possible?

Tianming’s ambition and desires were concentrated within his swords. His lifebound beasts’ abilities were the first wave of attacks that Qitian Xiao had to fight through. There was lightning, fire, and a flurry of plants. Qitian Xiao’s vindictive charge had been abruptly interrupted by Tianming’s sudden initiative.

His gaze and the Myriadpath Divinity were shaken right as the divine toxin snakes within him went wild, limiting his combat capabilities even further! Desperately, he managed to execute the Midsky Myriadpath Art, only for words to appear on his sword and limit the efficacy of the move.

”Ughh....” Qitian Xiao’s flames of rage had been put out by a splash of cold water. He had been mentally crushed, but this time around he was also physically crushed!

”Kill! Kill! Die!” he growled, eyes wide. He forced the grand lexicon wonder aside with his super-zenith foundationeer cosmoforce. Then he took the lifebound beasts’ many abilities head-on, pushing through with brute force as he charged toward Tianming. He had a feeling that Tianming was using every single ability in his arsenal to shock him one final time, but he still had to fight!

”I can’t let the legacy of Myriadpath Valley be lost under my watch! Never!” the valley lord shrieked. He would deliver the killing blow even if it meant that his body would be completely riddled with holes from the abilities.

”Qitian Xiao!” Tianming’s swords coldly glinted, one yin, one yang. He concentrated everything within him, including his totems and the cosmoforce of his lifebound beasts, into the Yin-Yang Immemorial Art. It was such a powerful and profound move that it had completely surpassed Qitian Xiao’s strike. Merely looking at it was enough to blow his mind.

The youth gave him a cold look as he sneered, ”This is the strike that’ll wipe Myriadpath Valley off the face of the astralscape of order!”

The strike he had unleashed contained thousands of waves and myriads of projections. Swords of yin and yang formed celestial wheels that crushed Qitian Xiao’s Myriadpath Divinity, his ultimate weapon, forcing him to take the brunt of the attack with his own body.

”The Million Mundi shall henceforth be part of my dynasty!” It was Tianming’s seventh and final sword strike of the day. With all the power he could muster, he wiped and ground Qitian Xiao into paste at the peak of his suffering and humiliation. It was truly a pathetic and painful death.

”Myriadpath Valley really did get lost under my watch....” Tears flooded Qitian Xiao’s eyes as blood and chunks of flesh filled his vision. His divine body was shaken countless times as Tianming’s attacks passed through him, leaving nothing behind but a formation core that resembled Qitian Xiao’s head. It was the core of the Myriadpath Celestial Formation and Tianming raised it high for all to see.

Taking it was akin to taking Myriadpath Valley and the corpse of the Source Progenitor! He had obtained the Myriadpath Sourcespring and everything else! Tianming had ascended to supremacy!

”Daaad!” Qitian Muyu’s will to fight crumbled as he was engaging Suishen Xiyue.

”It’s over....” Yumo Diyan slumped to the ground, all six of his eyes trembling. All the other members of House Qitian and House Yumo who were still fighting forgot to breathe when they saw Tianming with the Myriadpath Celestial Formation’s core, looking down on the entire valley with his eyes of black and gold. His unparalleled domination was the final spark that triggered a grand movement.

”All hail Emperor Tianming, ruler of the astralscape of order!” someone in the crowd cried.

In an instant, that notion blazed through the world! Millions of people echoed those words nonstop. Tianming’s omnisentient threads finally broke through the threshold and began to form rapidly, linking up with his body, causing him to emit a divine radiance that illuminated Myriadpath Valley in its entirety.

Once more, the legacy of the Primordial God-Emperor manifested within Tianming’s physical body, this time descending upon Myriadpath Valley. Boundless power flowed into him as the number of omnisentient threads reached a million. Even though it was only still comparable to ninety percent of the power he got in the Infinitum Mundus, his power would only continue growing.

He had raised the core of the Myriadpath Celestial Formation high, stepping over Qitian Xiao and becoming the world god of Myriadpath Valley.

Countless people shouted and cheered to the point that their throats gave out. ”Emperor Tianming!”

They all knew that Myriadpath Valley as a faction no longer existed in this world. Tianming had finally conquered the place. Why would he still use their old methods of oppression after overturning it himself? No dragon slayer would become the evil dragon that he had just slain.

All in all, Tianming’s seven sword strikes, both figurative and real, had ushered in a brand new era for the astralscape of order. His majesty caused everyone from the sacred and august houses to completely submit. All the while, the number of omnisentient threads continued growing. Jiguang stopped fighting and looked at the youth who had ascended beyond the clouds above as tears formed in her eyes.

”Brilliant! Absolutely amazing!” The former valley lord was crying tears of joy and relief. Tianming had finally killed Qitian Xiao, getting rid of a nightmare that had plagued the former valley lord all this time; there would finally be a future for House Qingchuan and everyone in it. It was so much that the former valley lord simply couldn’t stop his tears from pouring out. What else could possibly stop this young ruler of theirs?

”We didn’t even have to get Little Fish to join the fight. Everything just went so well....”

As Tianming was basking in the impassioned atmosphere, two things happened all of a sudden. Firstly, a storm brewed in the direction of House Suishen. A star of flint and flame rose into the sky, seemingly in defiance of Tianming’s divine radiance! Secondly, before he could gain proper ownership over the Myriadpath Celestial Formation’s core, it suddenly initiated eighteen bright transfers! Somebody was coming to Myriadpath Valley!