Beastmaster of the Ages

The troupe received a warm welcome filled with cheers from countless flameyellow voidkin. They were both excited and perplexed at the arrival of the ark. Many tales about Tianming had been spreading in the Ancestral Void Realm in the meantime.

”We will head straight to the Pentaphase Hall. The elders are waiting there,” Mushan Feng said. The ark landed next to a building that stood a hundred thousand meters tall. When Tianming and the others ended it, the fifty-thousand-meter-tall goddess shrouded in a dreamy mist attracted quite a lot of cheers and awe.

”Who is she?”

”Tian Jiu!”

”The one who destroyed the Flameyellow!”

”But I heard that she’s Li Tianming’s wife now...”

Tianming stepped into the hall as the discussions out there went on. Immediately, he felt many powerful gazes on him. Looking up, he saw tens of cosmic gods, all above ten thousand meters in height. Among those who deserved a seat in Pentaphase Hall, Mushan Feng was the youngest. All these people were the backbone of the Flameyellow, and they were even more powerful than the marshals of the Eightpart Pantheons!

Even though they had been criminals who were locked away, they no longer disappointed others once they began to work on keeping their legacy well. Five of those cosmic gods stood out as the most eminent ones, with the one in the center clad in golden robes. The one in the center was fifty thousand meters in height, with the other four only slightly shorter. Tianming got the impression that they were boundless and infinite, especially with his omnisentient power gone. As a youth not even five hundred years of age, he felt quite a bit of pressure standing before cosmic gods of such caliber. Though, his status as the Galactic Emperor had prepared him for such an encounter.

”Imperial-star Elders, other seniors, Li Tianming and Li Wudi have arrived,” Mushan Feng respectfully said. His voice had the slightest shudder from the pressure in the atmosphere.

”Be seated,” said the gold-robed elder in the center. He was called Dongfang Taisheng and was the commander-in-chief of the Flameyellow Pentaphase Army. He was also a descendant of Imperator Carillon. The seat meant for cosmic gods of that size was incredibly large for Tianming, though he got into it nevertheless.

Almost immediately, everyone turned to look at Moran, who remained standing behind Tianming, sending a powerful signal to the others present. They diverted their stares to Tianming without much trouble, being the frank people they were.

Dongfang Taisheng looked at Tianming and said, ”First, we congratulate you, Emperor Tianming of the Li Clan, for destroying the billion-man army of the Eightpart Pantheons and unifying the Primordial Sands, restoring peace and independence to the region.” It was quite the polite introduction.

Tianming said, ”The half-billion-strong army that Brother Mushan Feng led played a decisive role in the outcome. For that, I thank all of you for your trust and support.”

”He was only the icing on the cake. What really sealed the deal was you being the successor of Old Man Voidback’s legacy,” said a green-robed gentleman. He was Qinghe Xiao, the youngest imperial-star elder who led the Flameyellow Waterphase Army. Tianming noticed the smile as he spoke and knew that he was one of the people who had supported him early on. His line had been suffering the most in the Ancestral Void Realm, so they looked forward to the imperial star the most.

”Let’s put aside the congratulatory words for now,” said a man in a yellow-dragon robe to the right of Qinghe Xiao. He was Mushan Feng’s father, Mushan Hong, commander of the Flameyellow Earthphase Army. He turned his powerful gaze to Tianming and said, ”You have completed your assignment as promised and have shown more than enough sincerity by coming to fetch us personally. I do not intend to give you any unnecessary trouble. Today, ten billion of us will be returning to the imperial star with you, but there are some questions that I wish to clarify about responsibility and accountability for when things go wrong, on behalf of all of us.”

Tianming had expected as much and nodded. ”Senior Mushan, ask away.”

”There are two questions. First, who will be the ones to maintain order once we move into the imperial star, whether it’s that of the Primordial Sands or what comes after the conflict with the Eightpart Pantheons? Currently, you do not possess any force that can rival the army of the Eightpart Pantheons apart from ours, so we would be the ones putting in real effort. That’s why we need to know what we’re fighting for. If you serve as the emperor, the Flameyellow will be loyal to you, but the same might not be the case for the next generation. So, we have to know who will take charge and maintain order in the next generation?”

”Got it. What about the second question?”

”The second one...” Mushan Hong turned to Moran. ”How can you prove to us that Miss Weisheng Morna over here will always be on our side.”

All the flameyellow voidkin looked at Tianming. There was a female imperial-star elder next to Mushan Hong called Beitang Yan. She was Mushan Feng’s mother and the commander of the Flameyellow Woodphase Army. With a gentler voice, she said, ”Those two problems aren’t intended to cause you any problems. Instead, we want a genuine answer from you, and if your answer to those questions aren’t something we can accept, it will cause problems in the future. That might make today’s move nothing but a pipe dream and we’ll be left wondering how this can even be accomplished in the first place.”

The final elder, Nantian Huo, said, ”Let me add to that. Mushan Hong just said that the Flameyellow is the emperor’s only force, but that isn’t entirely correct. Li Tianming has an army of ghouls which can neutralize the threat of the devas, and Miss Weisheng that can deal with the wonderians. That takes two of the Eightpart Pantheons out of the picture already, making the emperor an irreplaceable figure on his own. That alone deserves all our respect. The imperial star would never choose the wrong successor.”

Tianming had a rough understanding on where each of the imperial-star elders stood on the issue as well as the group’s worries as a whole. Those were crucial questions that were difficult to respond well to. Tianming gave it some thought before he said, ”Let me answer those questions with utmost honesty and sincerity.”