Beastmaster of the Ages

”There’s news about my sister?” Tianming immediately perked up at hearing that. Zi Zhen and Moran also came closer. Moran had met Qingyu back on the Sun, but they’d never met after that. Even so, there was no way she wouldn’t be concerned about Tianming’s sister.

”That’s right!” Yin Chen said.

”So? What is it?” Tianming asked in a hurry.

The scorpion pointed its tail toward the sky and said, ”She has... been imprisoned... over there!”

”Imprisoned?” Tianming turned to where Yin Chen was pointing and saw the center of the spiral of ten thousand eyes of heaven. That was the very center of the sky, a region of swirling purple mist. It looked more like the sea than empty sky, covered by mystical clouds.

”That place... is called... Taboo Ocean!”

”Taboo Ocean?” Tianming stood up and had a feeling that it wasn’t a good place. ”Is there any other information? What’s the Taboo Ocean like? Why was she imprisoned there?” Why had Qingyu given him a marker to the Xenoabyss? Because she needed help, obviously! She must have been in some real trouble.

”I still... don’t know.” Yin Chen was anxious as well, but it simply hadn’t found that information yet. All it had overheard was someone looking at the sky and mentioning Original Sin. It didn’t have any details yet.

”Keep listening,” Tianming said, eyes affixed on the purple ocean up above. ”Godfather’s constantly been worried about her. I’m finally in the Ancient Oldgod Domain, so I can’t lose Qingyu again.”

Before, he’d had no way to reach the Ancient Oldgod Domain. In a way, Sixth had sped up the time he needed to come here. Nobody would have expected there to be a formation in the eye of heaven.

”She’ll be fine,” Moran consoled.

Zi Zhen furrowed her brows, having missed her chance to say the same thing, and quietly seethed.

***

The eyes of the fox specter within the moving palace brightened. ”Lord Muhu, you’re finally awake! Your slave’s been so worried about you... sniffle....”

”Go away!” The fat one-eyed spiritform glared at her and shook his head to snap to alertness. Then he suddenly turned anxious once more.

”Lord Muhu, what is it?” the specter asked nervously.

”Quick! Quick! Turn back to Order College!” Lord Muhu instructed.

”Yes!” The specter passed the order to the ten thousand palace carriers to turn the whole thing around. ”Lord Muhu, pray tell, what has you so on edge?”

”Somebody’s looking into Original Sin! It’s a big deal for Order College! Don’t you know that?!”

”I don’t....”

”Then don’t bother asking.” Lord Muhu paced around impatiently. ”Come here, lowly slave! Let your master vent!”

”Yes, Master!” The specter knelt on the ground and shuffled over like a happy little dog.

***

A few days later, Yin Chen started clamoring again. ”Got it! There’s something!”

”Who got what? Pregnant? How many months?” Ying Huo asked, poking its chicken head out.

”That’s me! Got it!” Yin Chen said.

”Oh no, don’t tell me Little Li was so desperate that he impregnated you,” Ying Huo said with a look of horror.

”Fuck off... you retard,” Yin Chen said with an angry glare. It was busy working to overthrow Sixth, so it had no time to waste on Ying Huo. ”There is... a lead.”

”Let’s hear it,” Tianming said. He had been wrestling with Zi Zhen mere moments before and only just got up, dust still on his face. Zi Zhen, on the other hand, had mud in her hair and was still glaring at Tianming. If you hadn’t stuck your hands where you shouldn’t, there’s no way you’d win.

”There’s a... certain specter,” Yin Chen began.

”What’d he do?” Tianming asked.

”Every day... he shouts... a slogan.”

”What slogan... is it?” Tianming mimicked.

”Specters will... never be... mere slaves,” Yin Chen said, trying to mimic the angry tone it had heard.

Tianming didn’t know quite what to make of it. ”Sounds like the oppression got to his head.... Pitiful fellow.” Tianming recalled the moving palace and the slave specters that had eyes on their backs. It seemed like specters weren’t doing too well in God Domain One.

All he had seen was the tip of the iceberg. He had no idea how truly terrible their existence was. At the very least, they didn’t have any dignity and appeared to be at the bottom of society. Not even Myriadpath Valley openly spoke about the slave-like conditions some mundi lived under, but specters in God Domain One were outright considered the slave race.

”What’s so special about him?” Tianming asked.

”There is... no eye... pattern on... his back,” Yin Chen said.

”Is that so....” Tianming exchanged glances with Moran and Zi Zhen. ”That means we can seek him out for a conversation and clear things up.”

All Yin Chen could do was listen, but since the specters didn’t talk much and orderlies were mostly within formations, there was a limited amount of information it could gather. Straight out asking people for information was bound to be more effective.

”Are you going to ask directly?” Zi Zhen asked.

”Yeah. Taboo Ocean’s a prison run by the orderly race. We can consider them our enemy. This specter, on the other hand, doesn’t have an eye on his back and seeks to resist the oppression of the orderly race. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say.”

”Oh....” The two girls nodded.

”Where’s this hero of ours?” Tianming asked Yin Chen.

”He just... went into... an eye... of heaven,” it said.

”Not bad!” The fact that that specter was able to enter an eye of heaven showed that he was capable to some extent. Additionally, it was also good for Moran, since she would be stronger near the eyes of heaven—not to mention within one!

”Let’s go find him.” While it was hard to find someone in God Domain One due to the thick purple fog that obscured vision, doing so up in the sky wasn’t that hard. Still, the eye of heaven the specter had entered was quite a long way away from where they were, so it took quite a bit of time for them to reach it.

”That’s Taboo Ocean!” The eye of heaven the specter had entered was rather close to the center of the sky, so Tianming could see the ominous clouds near Taboo Ocean. It looked like a smaller, more mysterious version of the Sea of Order.

”There seems to be some wonderian formations around them. I wonder how Qingyu’s doing inside,” Moran said with a worried look.

”She’s a strong girl,” Tianming said. ”Hold on and wait for Big Brother!”