Beastmaster of the Ages

”Alright!” Tianming nodded.

”The middlekin star!” The young boy pointed at the shining celestial body.

”Don’t worry about it for now, just follow me!” Tianming said.

”Okay!” The boy decisively nodded.

Tianming took him to the entrance of the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb.

”A fortuna-class astralship! And it’s even in the form of my dragonoid race!” the boy exclaimed in shock.

”Dragonoid?” Tianming was taken aback. He commanded the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb to fly up from the abyss and stop before the middlekin star. One of the dragon heads lowered, opened its mouth, and swallowed it up!

Then the tomb took off into the sky.

***

Inside the ship, Tianming looked at the red-robed young boy before him.

The boy, in turn, gazed at Tianming with burning eyes.

”What’s your name?” Tianming asked.

”Long Chen!” the red-robed young boy replied.

”How old are you?” Tianming asked.

”A hundred years old!” the boy answered.

Tianming was taken aback. He had thought the boy might even be older than him. In this Upper Star Ruin, a hundred years old was practically an infant.

”What’s your cultivation level?” Tianming asked again.

”Super-zenith foundationeer,” Long Chen answered with some pride, clearly confident in his talent.

At a hundred years old, he could already be a valley lord in Myriadpath Valley! The Upper Star Ruin lived up to its reputation.

Tianming could tell that this boy was special.

”May I ask what I should call you, Big Brother?” Long Chen boldly asked in return.

”Just call me Big Brother,” Tianming chuckled.

”Understood! Long Chen greets Big Brother, Sister-in-law, and Big Sister! Thank you all for saving my life!” The boy respectfully bowed to Tianming, Moran, and Qingyu.

Tianming laughed, ”How did you know she’s a sister-in-law and she’s a big sister?”

”I heard Big Sister call you ’Brother’,” Long Chen sheepishly scratched his head. He was quite sharp and observant.

”Alright! Little Chen, I have some questions for you,” Tianming said.

”Big Brother, please ask! I’ll answer anything,” Long Chen said, his youthful face filled with determination.

”Show me your lifebound beast,” Tianming requested.

”Alright!” Long Chen stepped back a few paces and opened his lifebound space, allowing a dragon to emerge.

Tianming’s eyes widened. ”A nine-headed dragon?”

A nine-headed black dragon had appeared in front of Tianming, its form strikingly similar to the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb.

”It’s quite a coincidence. Xiao Hei looks exactly like Big Brother’s astralship. That means Big Brother’s seniors must have based its design on a lifebound beast like mine,” Long Chen said.

”Your lifebound beast is truly impressive!” Tianming praised.

Long Chen lowered his head, grit his teeth, and said, ”Big Brother, you’re too kind. The truth is, I know our limitations. Even though it has nine heads, it’s merely a ninesource beast. Our talent is too low. And without manna, Xiao Hei only has five million stars right now, which is far inferior to others at the same level.”

A ninesource beast, but too low in talent... cough, cough!

Myriadpath Valley fell from this Middlekin Star Ruin. The Three Exalted Houses were the only ones who survived, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they were the strongest. Having tensource beasts at most actually makes sense. After all, conditions aren’t great in the Lower Star Ruins, so innate talent’s bound to decline!

If people from the Upper Star Ruin didn’t have naturally high talent, how could they become cosmic gods?

Tianming could tell the kid deeply loved his lifebound beast. Otherwise he wouldn’t have referred to both of them having low talent, but blamed it on his beast.

”Alright, now let me see your totems,” Tianming suddenly said.

Long Chen was taken aback, then awkwardly smiled and said, ”Big Brother, you’re truly remarkable. You figured out I’m from the slave race with just one look.”

”Slave race?” Tianming was briefly stunned, then said, ”Show me your totems first.”

”Okay!” Long Chen nodded. Nine luminous spots, his bane-rings, shone on his chest. Each bane-ring bore the face of a dragon.

Nine divine-dragon-shaped totems burst forth, each of them displaying different colors and attributes like wind, fire, thunder, and earth.

Nine dragon totems and a nine-headed black dragon lifebound beast made the child a perfect example of a dual cultivator, and a pure-blooded descendant of the flameyellow divinities.

Seeing that, Tianming was shocked. At first, he had just been joking with Long Chen. In truth, the moment he had seen the boy, he’d already decided to take him in. He had his suspicions! A once-glorious race couldn’t have completely vanished even if they faded away into history, right? In the vast universe, as long as they weren’t completely wiped out, there had to be survivors!

The Lower Star Ruins had none. Only the Sun, the Flameyellow Continent, and the chaos skyjail still had some. So how could the domain that the flameyellow divinities once ruled have none?

It took a while for Tianming to calm himself down. He continued questioning, ”How many folds of simulacra does your totem have?”

Long Chen gritted his teeth and said, ”Big Brother, are you really from the Lower Star Ruins?”

Tianming asked, ”Why do you ask that?”

”Because everyone in the Upper Star Ruin knows that our race is bound by heavenly shackles. Neither our cosmic crest beasts nor our totem simulacrum can exceed nine!” Long Chen’s gaze dimmed.

”Heavenly shackles?” Tianming looked at him.

”Yes! Heavenly shackles!” Long Chen bitterly smiled, lowering his head, his eyes filled with suppressed rage.

”You just said ’our race’. What race is that?” Tianming’s voice turned icy.

Long Chen clenched his fists, his eyes red with emotion! He lowered his head and said, ”The slave race!”

”Turn around and show me your back,” Tianming commanded.

The young boy turned around and loosened his robe, revealing a blood-red brand in the shape of the character 奴 for slave! It was so deeply etched into his flesh that it had fused with his astrons, burrowing into his bones and blood like crimson vipers. Or perhaps it was like a leech, endlessly feeding on his life force!

The specter slaves of God Domain One had brands that were formed from divine patterns, too, which was a type of formation. But the brand before him was a true bloodline brand. It had deeply fused with his very being. Even if he cut away the flesh it was inscribed on, it would regrow with the same mark.

The outer character was just a symbol; its true essence was deeply imprinted into his bloodline.

His black dragon also bore the same blood-red slave brand.

Perhaps the inspiration for the Ancient Oldgod Domain’s slaves might have come from here.

”When did this happen?” Tianming’s voice turned hoarse, his gaze even colder.

”This is a heavenly shackle. Every slave race member is born with one, after which it follows us for life!” Long Chen’s voice shook.

”With this, your cosmic crest beast and totem simulacra will never exceed nine?” Tianming asked.

”That’s right!”

”Who determines who’s part of the slave race? Who enforces it?” Tianming pressed.

”If you’re a dual cultivator with both lifebound beasts and totems, you’re a slave race member! No one needs to decide, it’s decreed at birth by the heavenly shackles!” Long Chen explained.

After saying that, he added, ”But I heard that the Eightpart Pantheons judged the ancient slave race. The Eightpart Pantheons govern the Heavenly Dao, and they’re the ones that sentenced the ancient slave race. We, their descendants, must atone for our ancestors’ sins and forever remain at the bottom!”