Beastmaster of the Ages

”The hell...” Tianming pointed at the portrait and glared at Mu Qingqing. ”Are you sure that this fellow really was in Skyplunder Capital a hundred thousand years ago?”

”He is you from a hundred thousand years ago. The people who have lived since that time can bear witness to it. Almost every household in Skyplunder Capital has a smaller version of this portrait,” Mu Qingqing said, looking down as she teared up.

”Was I really that tall back then?” Tianming asked.

”Yes. You were a thousand years old back then and reached this level of cultivation.”

”Fuck... Fuck. Fuck!” Despite the swears, Tianming was reacting much better than anyone could expect. Others might’ve just lost it completely.

”Can you really not recall?” Mu Qingqing asked with a resentful look.

”Recall what? My brain is just filled with shit right now,” Tianming said. The lifebound beasts then popped out and marveled at the portrait.

”Does that mean I also have a past life?” Ying Huo asked, looking curiously at the sword feathers on the figure’s arm.

”It might not necessarily be a past life. Who knows what the hell this is?” Xian Xian said, glaring at the portrait doubtfully.

”I’m not feeling anything! This might be fake!” Ji Ji said, head shaking.

”What do you think, Cat Bro?” Lan Huang asked.

”No idea. I feel tired,” Meow Meow said before slumping to the ground and falling asleep.

”Look here!” Yin Chen said as its bodies crawled on the portrait. ”I am... also in... the frame!”

Tianming hadn’t noticed the bundles of silver sparkles around the figure until Yin Chen mentioned it. ”The past and previous life... Does that mean I died a hundred thousand years ago?”

Mu Qingqing shook her head fervently. ”No, you were fine and dandy. You just left.”

”I left without dying? Then how did I end up reincarnating?” Tianming asked.

She shook her head, lips pursed. ”I... I don’t know. Maybe your parents would. You can ask them.”

”Fine.” Tianming was convinced. ”So, you’ve been waiting for a hundred millennia, huh? Your lifespan’s pretty long. How did you survive for so long at your level?”

”This is my clone. My actual body is slumbering among the Mu Clan.”

”Is your actual body also that tall?” Tianming pointed to the portrait.

”After cultivating for a hundred thousand years, I almost caught up to your level all those years ago,” Mu Qingqing said with a pained smile.

”Darn.”” Tianming didn’t know what else to say.

”Do you want me to tell you about your previous encounters? Maybe that’ll help you recover your memories.”

”There’s no rush.” He took a deep breath and looked earnestly at her. ”I’ve come back home and seen my parents and the portrait. It’s about time you fulfill your promise and return my child.”

Mu Qingqing fell silent before she agreed. ”Alright. Come with me.”

Tianming took one last look at ’himself’ in the portrait before stepping out, only to hear a loud boom in the sky.

”Li Tianming, how dare you come back?!” The one who said that sounded rather mad.

Tianming looked up and saw a boundless stormcloud approaching him at terrifying speed. All of a sudden, a cosmic god ninety thousand meters in height landed before him, causing the entire Kunruler Palace to shake. He seemed incredibly mad.

”Who’s that?” Tianming said with some annoyance, only to be shocked by what he saw. This cosmic god had long, black hair and a pair of black eyes. His left arm was also black with a dark-red eye at the center of the palm. Apart from that, he looked identical to Tianming, but was ninety thousand meters in height! It was almost as if the figure in the portrait had stepped out of it, save for the different-colored eyes and hair.

”Tianming, this is your big brother, Li Tianzi,” Mu Qingqing said.

”Holy... shit!” Tianming’s mind blanked out at the sight of the raging black-haired youth who grabbed him like he was a bunny and glared daggers at him.

”Why did you come back after a hundred millennia have passed?!” Li Tianzi said, voice booming right next to Tianming’s ear.

”Wait a second, give me a moment.” Tianming could barely accept the reality of the situation and focused on taking deep breaths to calm down. No matter what I see next, it won’t shake my Dao heart!

Right as he was about to talk to Li Tianzi, four massive figures approached from behind the giant that held him. Tianming fell from shock to the base of the palm and almost forgot to breathe. ”What the!”

Ying Huo, Meow Meow, Lan Huang and Xian Xian were stunned. The four figures were massive lifebound beasts close to a hundred thousand meters in size. There was a flaming phoenix of pure black, a feline beast covered in gray lightning, a twin-headed dragon of black and gray with nine kui mountains on its back and nine kui seas on its belly and a massive tree with blooming, black flowers covered in black smoke. They surrounded Li Tianzi and looked at Tianming and his lifebound beasts.

”There’s only one explanation: he’s a defective copy of me!” Tianming said with a smirk.

Ying Huo nodded. ”Makes sense.”

Lan Huang said, ”I think so too!”

Xian Xian said through grit teeth, ”I’m the one and only!”

Meow Meow continued to snooze away.