Beastmaster of the Ages

“Will you really return?” Mu Qingqing’s gaze held worry. “Tianming, you should know what you mean to the sky plunderers and the entire Nullity. Everyone has waited far too long for you. Your clan is only missing this final piece of the puzzle to have hope of unifying the Realm of Chaos. Your family has missed you for so long. They can’t afford to lose you again... I, I carry a great responsibility, do you understand?”

Tianming gave her a helpless look.

The Mu Qingqing of his memory had been cool and restrained toward him. Yet here, she behaved like a devoted lover completely docile to him. The contrast was a little too much for him to stomach.

He could only say, “All right, stop worrying. If I don’t come back, you can just go to my home and take another hostage. You’ve got more than enough tricks, don’t you?”

Mu Qingqing shook her head. “I won’t do anything that makes you unhappy a second time.”

“Oh, how moving,” he said dryly.

After that, holding his daughter, he glared at Mu Qingqing. “I can tell you can send me back anytime. So stop wasting time.”

Mu Qingqing looked a bit troubled. “It takes time going back and forth. To save time, don’t use the chaos worldbangle to convert power. Return immediately and you can still make it to the banquet. Your father has already sent invitations to the whole Realm of Chaos. It’ll be embarrassing if you’re not there.”

“I get it. Stop nagging and open the passage,” Tianming said coldly.

“All right...” Mu Qingqing gave him a deep look, then led him into a hall where a black vortex awaited.

“The passage between the Realms of Order and Chaos is this simple?” Tianming asked offhandedly.

“No. This passage links only Nullity and Flameyellow Imperial Star. Only once you raised the Imperial Star back to maniverse class had I been able to restore the passage from that side. Before that, anytime we went to the Upper Star Ruin, we had to go through the chaos umbrals. And it was troublesome because we were very limited over there,” Mu Qingqing explained.

“What are the chaos umbrals?” Tianming asked again.

“They’re basically people from the Realm of Chaos who were placed there since childhood to cultivate order alongside you. They’re considered a branch of us, but they can’t return because there aren’t enough chaos worldbangles,” she said.

“So that’s how it is.”

No wonder the chaos umbrals were so low-key and involved in nothing. But the Eightpart Pantheons had never kicked them out as the whole Realm of Chaos stood behind them.

“Actually, the Realm of Chaos’s structure is quite similar to the Eightpart Pantheons. Multiple powers balance each other. The only difference is that our Heavenly Dao collapsed long ago, so—”

Mu Qingqing spoke earnestly, but Tianming had no time for her lecture. He pointed at the black vortex. “If I jump in, I’ll arrive at Flameyellow?”

“Yes,” she answered obediently.

Without another word, Tianming jumped in with his daughter. The lightless passage appeared once again, reminding him of the Flameyellow Divine Path. It was faster this time since he didn’t need to convert power.

“This must be the best proof of a past connection between the sky plunderers and the flameyellow divinities. The only uncertainty now is are my family in the Realm of Chaos truly sky plunderers? My father said our race was wiped out, so how are they ruling the Realm of Chaos?”

What Tianming had seen and heard here clashed with Li Muyang’s claims. He had said he stole the Primordial Chaos Beasts and saved the world. He had also said he was hunted for it, and that the sky plunderers were now destroyed. Even till today, he was still being hunted.

Yet the existence of this Li Muyang of the Realm of Chaos outright denied everything his father had told him.

So while Tianming appreciated the resources of the Realm of Chaos, when it came to family bonds, he still couldn’t accept it. It was too absurd.

“Maybe the only real thing here is this passage linking flameyellow and the sky plunderers.” Tianming gave a bitter laugh. A gleam of light flickered ahead. Tianming emerged at the tunnel’s exit into a blazing, real world of fire and heat.

The reappearance of the passage in the Sky Palace drew notice, and soon his real family members gathered. Even Lin Xiao and Dongshen Yue came.

Thinking of the grandparents he had yet to meet, Tianming didn’t know what expression to make when looking at them.

“Grandson, what are you standing there for? Bring out my great-grandchild!” Lin Xiao shouted.

“I’m not coming out. I still have things to do over there.” Tianming handed out the cosmic-god embryo, and Qingyu immediately stepped forward, carefully taking the child.

“Qingyu, let Ling’er know I have to tend to something first,” Tianming said.

“Got it.” Seeing the baby safely return loosened Qingyu’s taut nerves at last. “Little Feng just came to me. He said he can travel between the two sides with messages. He can get it to you quickly if something happens. If so , you must come back at once.”

“Of course. I’m heading down to level up precisely so I can welcome Ling’er back in the best shape,” Tianming said with a grin.

“Don’t sugarcoat it. You’re just scared because you have a size phobia,” Suishen Yao muttered.

Everyone laughed.

“I’m done!” Tianming hadn’t expected that sort of remark out loud in public, and the elders roared with laughter.

“Everything all right?” he asked quickly to change the subject.

“Don’t worry. Everyone’s leveling up,” Li Wudi and the five imperial-star elders descended. They all seemed to get along well.

“Good. See you!” These were all people Tianming could trust. After delivering his daughter, he went straight back into the tunnel, and arrived once more in the Kunruler Palace.

At the doorway, Mu Qingqing sat on the steps. When she heard movement, she turned in delight, tears glistening on her face. Her face lit up and she sobbed, “I, I thought you weren’t coming back.”

“Don’t be happy. It has nothing to do with you. I mainly came to level up,” Tianming said with a stiff expression.

“Say whatever you like.” Mu Qingqing glanced into the distance, where clouds churned above the other side of Skyplunder Capital. “From the sound of it, your grandparents should be waking now. Soon, you’ll have to go pay your respects.”

“Their awakening causes that much noise?” Tianming asked in curiosity.

“They’ve reached the end of their lifespan, 500,000 years. Only hibernation can prolong their lives. If you’d returned any later, you might never have seen them,” Mu Qingqing said with sorrow.

“500,000 years?” Tianming was a bit stunned. That was the longest lifespan he had ever encountered, surpassed only by the Archaionfiend Wu You, whose words had always felt unreal.

“Yes. Even for the greatest of gods, there comes a day they fade. Perhaps there is no one truly immortal in this world,” Mu Qingqing said with regret.