Beastmaster of the Ages

The dark figure appeared near a hidden corner at the peak once more. ”He’s nearby, isn’t he?” the purple eye said after looking around.

”Nope,” the dark figure said.

”He isn’t? Haven’t I reminded you about the price of lying to me?”

”I can only die once. What can you do about it? The Ancestral World isn’t your turf.” The dark figure looked into the distance.

”Then he must be nearby then,” the purple eye said, seemingly smiling. The dark figure stayed silent. ”Why do all this? As long as you choose to let go, you’ll obtain everything.”

”Let go? You understand nothing, hehe....”

”You are the ignorant one. Your destiny is within the Xenoworld, not the Ancestral World or the Upper Star Ruin. Your middling understanding of things is keeping you from claiming your true legacy. What a waste.”

”Even if it’s a waste, you won’t be able to claim it as long as I don’t say yes.”

”You little...!” The purple eye turned cold and fierce. ”Ye Lingfeng, just you wait!”

***

”Did he show up again?” Tianming, noticing the reaction of the Soulfiend, had Meow Meow hurry up. The three of them rode the gigantic feline beast up the peak; it was the fastest way for the group to travel. The Soulfiend seemed rather agitated and worried.

”Many of... Eightpart Pantheons... blocking in... our way,” Yin Chen telepathically told Meow Meow as it guided the group, making sure to avoid as many of their pursuers as they could to decrease the time it took to travel to the peak.

”Pursuers? So soon? Is anyone inside the Ancient Flameyellow Ruins able to see everything that goes on in the Heavenly Dao Arena?” Moran asked.

”They don’t, only those from outside can see it. I’m sure they’ll tell those at the entrance of the Ancient Flameyellow Ruin about the information before getting someone young enough to enter the lower ruins to use a transmission stone to relay the information. The information they get isn’t in real time, though, so those in the lower ruins only know our rough location,” Tianming said.

”That’s at least manageable,” Moran said, breathing a sigh of relief.

”Yeah, but not by much. Before this, the Eightpart Pantheons knew that the folks from the Primordial Sands had regrouped, but they didn’t know their numbers so they wouldn’t make risky attacks. But with everything here visible to them, they have a firm grasp of the numbers and locations of everyone. Large groups wouldn’t be able to react as fast as we can, though, so they’re faced with quite a bit of trouble.”

Those of the Eightpart Pantheons near the peak were itching to fight a grand battle. Even if the ones from the Primordial Sands tried running, they wouldn’t be able to hide from the eyes of the Heavenly Dao. The time delay wouldn’t be of much help to them, not to mention they didn’t have any information of their enemies’ numbers or whereabouts. It was completely asymmetrical.

”I wonder if the Heavenly Dao’s able to detect Mushan Xue in that special pocket dimension.” So far, Yin Chen hadn’t heard the members of the Eightpart Pantheons talk about flameyellow remnants apart from his group of three, so it seemed that Mushan Xue was still hidden for the time being. I hope I can rely on them....

He held tight to Meow Meow’s back, bracing against the lightning and winds. As Zi Zhen and Moran didn’t get along too well, he sat sandwiched between them, with Moran in front and Zi Zhen behind. The sensation of them sandwiching him was a minor luxury against the wind and lightning around them.

”Why’d Boss ask me to speed up and slow down again and again?” Meow Meow asked Ying Huo, feeling the people on its back swaying to and fro.

”You’ll understand once you grow up,” Yin Huo said.

”I’m already a few hundred years old! How am I not grown up yet?”

”Your body got larger, but your brain got smaller.” Ying Huo whispered, ”Let me spell it out for you: peak-tier mounts.”

Meow Meow recalled its favorite peak-tier mount and shook with realization. ”Boss truly is wise,” it said, deep in thought, then its expression suddenly turned stiff.

”What’s up?” Ying Huo asked. Meow Meow smiled. ”My head’s a bit itchy. I think my brain is growing!”

Eventually, they reached the peak before the forces of the Eightpart Pantheons and Primordial Sands clashed.

”Wait, that’s—” Tianming had only managed to see the tip of the sword with his own eyes. Even with him being a few hundred meters in height, he still felt completely dwarfed by it. There were no rocks near the top, only a boundless blade tip of black on one side and gold on the other. The gold side was engraved with depictions of mountains and rivers, while the black side had engravings of the sun, moon, and stars, looking like a vast night sky. The single tip stretched on for countless leagues, striking awe into any that saw it. He felt the Grand-Orient Sword shake with excitement, as well as a hint of inferiority.

”Huh... why does this feel similar to when I first met Huang Qi?” Back then, he hadn’t known what astral giants were and could only tell that she was female, nothing more. However, gender didn’t matter in the context of their massive size difference. In fact, what he had felt was the vast gap between higher and lower lifeforms. Even though the Grand-Orient Sword was the more complete one, it was still tiny compared to the tip of Miracle Mountain, which seemed to make it feel somewhat helpless. It was as if the blade tip was mocking the sword for being so tiny and useless.

”Dammit!” Tianming had never imagined that the day he could empathize with his sword would come.

”Don’t worry. I’ll help you conquer it.” His consolation seemed to help the sword calm down. It was like it was saying that it would repay the favor by raising him up when the time came.

”So that’s the sword cave....” Tianming saw a cave at the highest point of the blade tip. It looked like a black and gold taiji diagram. Many divine celestial patterns flowed around it, stopping people from entering.

If a place was sealed off, there must be something good within. As such, everyone from the Upper Star Ruin believed that the one who could enter the sword cave would be able to claim the super cosmic relic.

So far, the entrance was stuffed to the brim with people from the Eightpart Pantheons. They occupied a large territory, preventing those from the Primordial Sands from approaching and settling down to study the entrance. Clearly, they had rather limited success.