Beastmaster of the Ages

”He’s at Miracle Mountain?” Tianming didn’t think that he’d find Lingfeng just by casually asking around.

”That’s right. A few days ago, someone reported his presence there. He also stole lots of treasures from the Eightpart Pantheons, much to the ire of those maniverse-class geniuses. Some say that a few members of royal lineages even died by his hand. He’s incredibly dangerous,” Gu Susu said, seeming rather in awe.

”Royal lineage?”

”That means members of the Eightpart Pantheons from elite bloodlines. They stand at the very top in the Upper Star Ruin. Members of the Sundown Pantheon can only qualify as one of the royal lineage if their cosmic crest beast is 50-crest or above.” She shot him an odd look. ”Aren’t you from Greatsun Zephyr? There are royal lineages of the Starfall Pantheon there too. How could you not know?”

Tianming shook his head. ”No, it wasn’t a question. I was just in disbelief that the Nightfiend is so strong that he even killed members of royal lineages.”

”I see.” She simply thought that she had misunderstood. As far as she knew, the Upper Star Ruin had no newcomers. Everyone there was a native, so she wouldn’t even suspect Tianming to be from the Lower Star Ruins.

Those with 50-crest beasts.... Their lifebound beasts are fifty times stronger than normal ones.... Won’t the beastmaster be completely irrelevant in that case? Beastmasters of the Upper Star Ruin really feel like nothing but lucky charms that cheer from a distance. And it wasn’t even their fault; the lifebound beasts were simply too powerful! Yet, the fact that Lingfeng managed to hold his ground against them meant that he had also grown much stronger. Tianming wasn’t even sure he would need to save or protect him.

”Feng, are you really going to Miracle Mountain?” Gu Susu asked.

”Now that I have a key, I want to check it out too.”

”That place is too dangerous for you.”

”It’s fine. I’ll just watch from afar without going in.”

”It’d be dangerous whether you go in or not.” She furrowed her brows. ”The Eightpart Pantheons like to demand that we go there to be their cannon fodder, and as if the Nightfiend wasn’t dangerous enough, there are other risks.”

”What kind of risks?”

”People from the Primordial Sands. They have an entrance into the lower ruins from a different location. These are ancient factions that don’t live under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Dao, who have many tricks up their sleeves that rival the Eightpart Pantheons’. They also have a huge grudge against them. If we run into them, they’ll never spare us. Recently, they’ve had their eyes on Miracle Mountain too, and they’re trying hard to conquer it, resulting in lots of conflict with the Eightpart Pantheons in recent years.”

”Primordial Sands?” That was where the gold crystal star and the ancient ancestor was reborn. I wonder if I’d be able to use the entrance they used to go to Ling’er.... That only served to motivate him more than dissuade him. He missed both Feiling and Lingfeng dearly. Lingfeng at least had Qingyu caring for him too, but Feiling only had Tianming.

”Thank you for your kind reminder, Big Sister Susu.” Tianming put the key away and decided to leave, though he wasn’t sure where Miracle Mountain was.

”So, you’ve made up your mind to go, right?” she asked.

”Yes.”

”Alright. I’ll take you there since I’ve been there a few times.”

Surprised, Tianming asked, ”Oh, do you have a key too?

”It just so happens that I do.” Her warm smile made Tianming feel the warmth of a cosmic god. It just occurred to him that while cosmic gods were miniature universes in humanoid form, their human qualities remained to bridge the gap between lifeforms. ”I’m rather free lately anyway, so I’ll take you there. It isn’t like you know the way there.”

”Thank you, Big Sister Susu.” She had truly been a huge help to Tianming.

After that, there was a bit of an awkward silence. Gu Susu looked at him for a while before saying, ”Feng, did Chu Xuan tell you about some nonsense about me trying to find a husband to marry into my family?”

Tianming awkwardly said, ”Yes! Big Sister Susu, my heart already belongs to someone else.”

Gu Susu didn’t know how to react. ”Don’t believe him. He’s really mean.”

”Then....”

She looked down rather melancholically. ”I was in a relationship that didn’t go well, but that is a thing of the past. And I’m not pregnant and I don’t need anyone to be the father!”

Tianming figured that the embellishment was merely one of Chu Xuan’s cunning scams. To think that rumors would be that terrifying, even to cosmic gods; their reputation could be ruined just as easily. Gu Susu had tried to clear her name without any success either, so there was nothing she could do but endure it.

”Then, why are you so nice to me, Big Sister Susu?”

”I just think that it can’t be easy for those of us from orbiter worlds. I knew that the fraudster had already taken advantage of you before bringing you to us, so I felt a little bad for your plight,” she earnestly said.

Tianming was truly touched by how nice she was. Gu Susu had changed his impression of cosmic gods in the Upper Star Ruin as a whole.

”He even demanded a referral fee from me! Did you think he was being nice to you for nothing? Anyway, just try not to mingle around him too much in the future.”

”Alright, Big Sister. I’ll mingle with you instead,” Tianming said.

”Well, you make it sound more important than it is. Those of us without any status don’t really mingle or network. All we do is look out for one another.”

”Got it!”

She didn’t say much else and took him to Miracle Mountain. Using the formation, Tianming remotely piloted the Ancestral Void Ark to trail him from behind. After a month, Tianming had gotten rather close to Gu Susu. Eventually, the Soulfiend within the ark also started to point excitedly ahead. Lingfeng really was at Miracle Mountain! What surprised him, however, was that the Grand-Orient Sword also began to react.

”Miracle Mountain is up ahead. These mountains pushed apart large amounts of flameyellow void essence and are surrounded by ninety thousand layers of formation. It’s impressively shaped like a sword and colored black and gold. There are many secrets lying within to be discovered. The seniors have ordered the disciples of the Eightpart Pantheons to unearth as many treasures as they can find,” Gu Susu said.

”Shaped like a sword?” Tianming took out the Grand-Orient Sword. ”Does it look like this?”

Surprised, she said, ”It does bear a strong resemblance.” She glanced at him and smiled. ”Maybe your fate is somehow linked to it!”

”Hmm, I sure hope that link really means something!” The fact that the Grand-Orient Sword buzzed meant that it had detected a new part of itself. The Infinitum Stele brought the Grand-Orient Sword back up to the maniverse class, but now I’m constantly faced with imperial-class artifacts. I bet that huge Miracle Mountain will be enough to upgrade it all the way to a cosmic-god-class artifact.

Tianming took a deep breath, eyes burning with resolution. He was about to step into the conflict between the Eightpart Pantheons’ and the Primordial Sands’ young geniuses. That grand mountain that parted the ubiquitous sludge-like flameyellow void essence was right before his eyes.