Beastmaster of the Ages

The two imperatores flew off with tens of primocosmic gods from the Eightpart Pantheons. At the very least, the defensive battle had come to an end. Though there was still much to worry about, they could at least catch a short breather. The flameyellow-divinity troops that had just experienced such a stressful battle turned to Tianming and Wudi, directing their seething anger at the defeated vanguard soldiers whose lives they held in their hands.

”Emperor!” The cheers rang out nonstop, resounding across the Sun. Who cared about the distant future? At the very least, they had emerged victorious in their first conflict against the five pantheons. The Tianming Dynasty had suffered only small losses whereas the ten billion enemy troops had either been killed or taken captive, striking yet another blow to the Eightpart Pantheons’ confidence.

Tianming had been there for it all, all the way from the clash with the Eightpart Pantheons’ youth in the Ancient Flameyellow Ruins to the invasion of the Primordial Sands and the most recent attack on the imperial star. Every single time, Tianming had led them to victory, completely crushing their enemies and humiliating them like dogs!

The outcome of all this coupled with the defeats at fortuna-class worlds would no doubt shake the entire Upper Star Ruin once more. Everyone, regardless of whether they were from imperial or royal lineages or even those who were defeated by the revolting flameyellow descendants had suffered a destructive blow to their dignity and confidence.

The former clashes were only slightly humiliating at best, but this defeat was the spark that lit the flames of revolt across the fortuna-class worlds, something that finally had a significant effect on the Eightpart Pantheons. No doubt, the forces of the Eightpart Pantheons would mobilize to crush the revolts, but that wouldn’t be enough to put out the flames of revolution across those fortuna-class worlds!

Tianming’s return had completely turned the situation around! His passionate subjects’ faith had been further reinforced. Every single flameyellow divinity had seen hope for the future. They already felt like they belonged to this powerful and mighty dynasty from the bottom of their hearts.

The amount of omnisentient power that Tianming could muster increased once more. He could feel their indomitable spirit that had developed across countless generations of oppression. Every single flameyellow divinity was ready to sacrifice themselves if it meant that their descendants would no longer be enslaved. They would pave a path of freedom even if they had to use their own blood! Their firm conviction didn’t just help Tianming’s imperial order grow, they also enjoyed the benefits of that growth, causing their orders to grow explosively during the battle!

Their hearts were connected together. Though the Sun had turned pink, its flames burned even brighter in their hearts, Tianming’s as well.

”This is just the start of the war. Those five pantheons must be pushing responsibility for their losses on each other. Given the fact that the wonderians and devas haven’t attacked and their obsession for wiping me out no matter the cost, I still need one more push and victory against them. Only then can my dynasty open the doors to victory and rise to conquer the whole universe!”

The next step was crucial. Wudi, Dongfang Taisheng, Qinghe Xiao, Mushan Hong, Beitang Yan, Nantian Huo and the others nodded. They would have to give it even more in the next push.

”Imperator Ming and Imperator Yinne clearly don’t care even if the vanguard troops die. They want to exterminate us even if it would cost them far more than this. But the fact that they have to go back to discuss their next steps shows that there are some among the five pantheons that might not be as determined about this as they are,” Dongfang Taisheng said.

”It’s an opportunity for us,” Mushan Hong said.

The logic was simple. Everyone knew the threat Tianming and the imperial star posed. He had become a cancer in their eye that would grow to cause more problems if it wasn’t dealt with soon. The issue was that the tumor was already much larger than it should be! Even if the five pantheons wanted to excise it, they would have to cut out many other parts along with it, perhaps extract the whole organ that the tumor was growing on.

None of them would be against making sacrifices for their mutual benefit. However, the ones who would be suffering for it were limited to only the five pantheons. The wonderians had Tian Jiu as their excuse while the devas shut themselves in and played dead. If the five pantheons decided to do it anyway and take all the losses themselves, who would be left behind to benefit from Tianming’s demise? The wonderians and devas, of course!

”In other words, the five pantheons would only hedge their bets if they manage to drag the wonderians and devas down with them. There’s no way that they’d be the only people who would suffer for it,” Tianming said. ”Even though the imperatores sound ruthless and decisive, they won’t necessarily attack us even if their reinforcements of thirty billion arrive.”

”Are you sure they really have thirty billion?” Wudi asked.

”It should be around that number. The losses that the five pantheons suffered this time around would have emptied out their maniverse-class worlds. Troops that were forcefully conscripted would be much worse in combat anyway, so the numbers don’t really mean anything significant. They would also have to expend lots of nova source to power their wormhole expressways and divine astralships to transport all those troops over. There’s no way they’d be ready in a short span of time,” Tianming surmised. Imperator Ming might have made a loud threat, but Tianming was much better informed about the logistics involved than the commander himself.

”If they keep wasting nova source like that, their maniverse and imperial-class worlds would be emptied out, right?” Wudi said.

”Of course. There’s also internal conflict among the five pantheons. Some have witnessed our might and are going mad about exterminating us no matter the cost, but there are those who are still sensible enough to realize the consequences, so their convictions aren’t that firm. They’re afraid that we would use the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb to circle around their forces to attack their imperial-class worlds,” Tianming said.

”The biggest weakness of the Eightpart Pantheons is their factions. They can’t even stand each other and barely tolerate each other to maintain the peace. But in times of crisis, their internal contradictions would only be amplified. This greatly diminishes the effectiveness of their coordination, which we can exploit,” Dongfang Taisheng said.

”That’s true,” Tianming agreed. He had been up to the exact thing the whole time. ”I’ll need to verify where each of these five pantheons stand before we mess with them again.”