Beastmaster of the Ages

The NInedragon Imperial Tomb stopped at the entrance of the Ancestral World. Then, Tianming and the six most powerful cosmic gods around him stepped out of the ship. All six of them were of the same level, being taller than forty thousand meters. When they left, Dongfang Taisheng immediately opened the entrance of the Fiend Ruins and said, ”This will be where we’ll be deploying from when we attack the Eightpart Pantheons.”

”Not necessarily,” Tianming said.

”Are you saying you’ll move the imperial star there? Well, there is some risk, but if you do it well, we can come and go without anyone noticing.”

”You must believe that the imperial star and the Flameyellow Divine Path are truly miraculous creations of our ancestors,” Tianming said. While the Eightpart Pantheons had the Heavenly Dao, they used it to maintain the fragile balance that they had. The wormhole expressway, on the other hand, was a simplified version of the Flameyellow Divine Path that the wonderians had constructed.

As they chatted, all seven of them went into the Ancestral World and boarded the largest ark before heading towards the Archaionfiends’ lair. They had passed by it a few times before and were finally going to pay it a visit. Their expressions were solemn as they approached it. Even from within the ship, the massive cosmic gods felt lots of pressure from the aura of the Archaionfiends.

”Come into my embrace. I’ll protect you with my wonders,” Moran said.

”Hey, the seniors are all here!” Tianming said, clearing his throat.

”You little...” Moran shook her head and grabbed the tiny Tianming and pulled him in, surrounding him with his wonders without asking.

”Every time I see you I feel impatient about breaking through,” he said.

”What’s there to rush? Cultivation must be done step by step,” she said, before pouting. ”Don’t think I don’t know that you went to Zi Zhen before we departed. It’s not like you have nobody to get intimate with now.”

”Hahaha...” Tianming laughed and turned to look at the ruins ahead, feeling pumped. Since taking over the Primordial Sands, there was no longer a need to rush the restoration of the Flameyellow. He had a stable base and could focus on his main goal: to grow stronger!

”We’re almost there. Be careful,” Mushan Hong warned. They were all flameyellow divinities with beasts and totems and thus had more methods in their arsenal than Moran. However, they kept their beasts in so as to keep a low profile. Beitang Yan even used a cloaking method, covering them in a watery bath of light.

”Oh?” Tianming noticed his Plundering Eye twitch the moment he approached the Archaionfiends’ lair, almost as if it could smell the scent of Archaionfiend Eyes. Back in Myriadpath Valley, I went to the Darkfiend Den. I didn’t think I’d be able to explore its deepest depths with Little Fish and these five seniors... He had once lost consciousness to the eye of a centuroptic beast before.

Looking closer, Tianming noticed that the lair looked somewhat like a bird’s nest, formed by stacked, ring-like structures. Naturally, those weren’t branches. Instead, they were something that looked similar to demonic claws, stacked together to form a massive fortress of darkness. Deep in the center was a hole out of which a thick black mist and mysterious mental power wafted.

”Have you all seen Archaionfiends before?” Tianming asked.

The others shook their heads save for Dongfang Taisheng. ”I have, but I didn’t dare to approach. They were flying out of this nest and seemed to tear holes in space towards some other destination.”

”So, nobody has fought them before.”

”To be honest, this is their territory and we’re outsiders. As long as they don’t attack us, we would never antagonize them for no reason. They’re not cosmic wildbeasts, but rather among the most ancient beings of the universe. They might even have a longer history than the Flameyellow.”

”I see...” Tianming first had Yin Chen scout ahead. But without omnisentient power, its strength was limited. It didn’t take long for its bodies to be rotted through by the black smoke, so the rest had no choice but to go there themselves.

”Let’s descend.” Tianming looked down at the black-crimson abyss. The six massive cosmic gods gradually descended into the black smoke, which seemed to become more viscous the deeper they went. Their minds felt rather disturbed after some time immersed within the black smoke, causing wild mood swings and bloodshot eyes. Tianming, however, wasn’t affected thanks to the Celestial Sourcepath Progenitor, Bai Ling and Bai Ye.

”Odd... I recall hearing their cries here and there a century ago, but I don’t seem to hear any now,” Dongfang Taisheng said.

”It doesn’t seem like anything is happening as we enter either,” Nantian Huo said doubtfully. Even so, they did not slow down their exploration. Given the elapsed time and distance, they should be near the bottom.

”I’ll take a look below,” Tianming said, using his Plundering Eye to see through the black smog. Deep within, he spotted a sea of blood-colored lightning that seemed to course along the outline of a rectangular gate.

”What is that?” All of them hovered towards the gate above the sea of blood lightning. It seemed to be a million meters in width, enough for all of them to pass through easily. However, the powerful lightning around it made them hesitate.

”So, what lies at the deepest parts of the Archaionfiends’ lair is a gate covered in blood lightning?” Qinghe Xiao said, puzzled.

”It might not be a gate, just shaped like one,” Beitang Yan said.

Tianming looked closer at the sea of blood lightning and raised his Plundering Eye, but it seemed to be distracted by the aura of an Archaionfiend Eye! Tianming looked to the side and saw a void there.

”Over there!” He and Moran headed in that direction first. ”Moran, sweep away some of the mist for me.”

Moran’s powerful wonder formation was like a mobile astralguard formation. She used it to suppress the black smog, clearing a pocket of space of it completely. There, Tianming saw a dense source of red light. That must be the Archaionfiend Eye! The bloody light it emanated stunned everyone there.

”That Archaionfiend probably isn’t alive anymore,” Tianming said amidst the tense atmosphere.