Beastmaster of the Ages

”More than three million? I thought there’d only be a third of that.... This is more than enough to let the lifebound beasts of many of us grow in star count!” Li Aoyue said, taken aback.

”That’s right! I’ve even seen 8000-aperture manna, and quite a few of them at that. Those are specifically for your leader, Jiang Linxi. Her lifebound beast’s star count would be able to grow to eighty million with them. It’d put her close to the ranks of cosmic gods!” Ambassador Mu enviously said.

”Eighty million! Our leader has earned much merit. With all that manna, her abilities will grow much more powerful. She’d close the gap with that personage in the Wargod Cult!”

”That’s right. Your cult has indeed decently developed the Middlekin Star Ruin.” She slightly raised her brows. ”By the way, I heard the Cosmic God Palace is about to descend?”

”It’ll be soon. This time around, there’ll even be a good show to watch,” Li Aoyue said, smiling at the news he had heard not long ago.

”A performance, you say?”

”Please permit me the luxury of letting your curiosity fester for now,” Li Aoyue mysteriously said.

”Seriously!” Ambassador Mu rolled her eyes. ”Then again, I have good news from my end as well.”

”What is it?”

”I heard that Starmoon Haven plans to give promising disciples that perform well during the Cosmic God Palace’s trial a chance to go to them as an encouragement! They might even get a chance to go to the Maniverse Sea!” she excitedly said.

”The Maniverse Sea? Has there been any precedent of that?” Li Aoyue seemed like he badly wanted to go to that place.

”Nope! This’ll be the very first time! That’s why this time’s even more significant than usual. Why else did you think that the geniuses from Starmoon Haven would come all the way to this Middlekin Star Ruin? Naturally, they’re trying to get the spots that’ll be allocated to you here.”

”What?! Can they even do that?!”

”You don’t have any descendants, so it has nothing to do with you. Not to mention, those geniuses are the children of those in high places in Starmoon Haven. Even if they end up taking the places, it’ll still be beneficial to your leader.”

”That’s true!” Li Aoyue smiled as he thought, Those youths are truly impressive, I’ll use them to get myself a divine astralship in the meantime.

”Alright, I’ve brought the goods to you and have to rush back. Things are getting busy at Starmoon Haven. If we miss the timing and run into that person again, many people might end up dying!” Her expression turned hateful at the mention of ’that person’.

”That person? Are you talking about the cosmic god slave?” Li Aoyue seemed troubled at the mention of the entity.

”That’s right! It’s him! Nobody could’ve expected someone with such bad talent to become a cosmic god, so nobody bothered killing him early. Right now, he’s causing a lot of trouble in Starmoon Haven and has been freeing more and more slaves. He’s close to establishing a fortuna-class empire there! What a cruel person. Cosmic gods are far too destructive to normal people. Not even the peak elites of Starmoon Haven have been able to do anything about him!”

”Are those slaves still raiding ships and cities?”

”Of course! They’re incredibly annoying to deal with. The slightest crack in our defenses ends up in skirmishes, but right as we’re going to fight back, they flee! Everyone who comes and goes from Starmoon Haven has to be very careful. If things keep going at this rate, we’ll be in big trouble!”

”Don’t be so hasty. The cosmic god slave might be powerful, but he was born under less than ideal circumstances. Not to mention, he doesn’t have that many ships, and the people he freed to join his cause aren’t even much of a threat. In a proper conflict, he’ll definitely lose. All he’s good for is being annoying. Once we deal with that slave, the rest will be nothing but a disorganized mob.”

”Yes. I’ve heard that our elites plan to talk to Wargod and Wondersky Havens’ cosmic gods and enlist their help to kill that slave,” Ambassador Mu whispered in the ear of Li Aoyue. ”Don’t let that leak out!”

”Don’t worry. There’s only the two of us here—absolutely nobody else is listening in!” Li Aoyue assured. The slaves had already been chased out not long ago. ”The question now is whether the members of the Eightpart Pantheons from the other two fortuna-class worlds will be willing to help us.”

”We just need to spend some money!”

”That’s true!” There was always a price for everything.

”Those slaves are getting more and more unruly. It’s probably that cosmic god slave’s influence. In our Middlekin Star Ruin, a slave called Long Qian managed to help some overflowers escape! They’re hiding like rats in the ruin,” Li Aoyue said.

”It’s good that they don’t have a divine astralship. And even if they did, the astralguard formation of Starmoon Haven’s been activated, so they won’t be able to enter and join up with that cosmic god slave,” Ambassador Mu said.

”Apart from that cosmic god slave, the rest are just a bunch of clowns.”

”Alright, that’s enough for now. I’ll take my leave.” Ambassador Mu only had to be in such a rush because she was worried about a raid from the cosmic god slave.

The two of them left the palace.

Li Aoyue looked at the spherical ship and recalled the three million pieces of ordered manna, a thought that gave him much relief.

”Move the goods!” Ambassador Mu ordered. Once they were done, she would immediately have to leave.

”Yes!” The adherents of the Scorchmoon Cult prepared to board the ship.

Right at that moment, someone outside the illusory formation reported, ”Lord! A divine astralship appeared outside!”

Shocked, Li Aoyue said, ”It’s just a divine astralship. What of it?”

Right as he said that, a dark vortex formed outside the illusions above, darkening the skies over Aoyue Palace. ”What in the world?”

Many people couldn’t help but look up at the commotion.

”Lord, that’s a fortuna-class ship!” Li Aoyue’s expression did a complete 180.

”That Long Qian’s really asking to be killed! Even after making that heavenly oath, she still dares to come and cause trouble...! Then again, how’d she find us?” This was the secret base of the Scorchmoon Cult! Why else would they pick it to drop off all those ordered manna?

He didn’t have time to think about how they achieved it, however. As the panic reached a crescendo, the black vortex in the sky transformed into a black sphere. It was so big that Li Aoyue and the rest felt a bit short of breath.

”Don’t panic! We have an infinitum-class astralguard formation! Let’s inform the leader about this!” Li Aoyue yelled, still calm.

Right after that, the black sphere came smashing down.