Beastmaster of the Ages

The mausoleum was fully in view beyond the maniverse-class barrier-type formation. ”The Starfall Pantheon lives up to their reputation of being the most beauty-obsessed one of the pantheons.”

Ninefirm Imperius was easily one of the most beautiful worlds among the imperial-class ones. Their mausoleum that symbolized the spirit and attitude of their faction also reflected their aesthetic values fully. Every part of it was intricate and shone with a luster of pleasantness. There wasn’t the slightest trace of graveyard gloominess to be seen. Instead, it looked more like a celestial altar that housed heavenly beings.

The moment Tianming entered, Yin Chen’s bodies spread out to every corner of the mausoleum. Soon, Tianming had all the information he needed. He asked Yin Chen to summarize it for him. ”How is it?”

”Lots here!” Yin Chen said. It was referring to corpses of cosmic gods, those of the Primocosmic stage in particular. The ones that were entombed here were not those who had perished in battle. Instead, they mostly died after reaching the limits of their lifespan when the middlekin astrons in their bodies ran out of lifeforce.

”There’s something... surprising here... as well,” Yin Chen said with a hint of laughter.

”Oh?” Tianming didn’t bother to ask for details. Yin Chen knew better than anyone what was good for him.

”Over here.”

Tianming got the undying aeternals to stay put before he followed Yin Chen’s directions. He flew through the mausoleum and appreciated the view.

”They’re all... hidden here,” Yin Chen said, referring to a tombstone that looked to be near ten million meters in height. It was shaped like a large book and easily the biggest tombstone in the surrounding area.

Tianming’s massive body landed before the tombstone. He saw that there was a pathway leading down at its base. Without another word, he entered it. He went all the way until he reached an underground hall that was lit by countless tiny stars on the ceilings and walls. In the air was a massive unmoving corpse of a hundred thousand meters in height, holding a book. There were glowing bane-rings between its eyebrows.

This had to be one of the previous imperatores of the Starfall Pantheon. Yin Chen said that this was the Ninefirm imperial son’s grandfather, making him the father of the current imperator. His might had resounded across the Upper Star Ruin for hundreds of thousands of years. He was even known as the strongest totemancer to have existed.

His cosmic tribulation sea seemed thousands of meters wide from a single glance. This was the reason the Starfall Pantheon was so anxious about Tianming entering the mausoleum. Every single tomb contained an esteemed ancestor of the Starfall Pantheon, which also played a role to pass down the legacy of simulacra to their descendants. There was no location more sacred for totemancers than this! Tianming had found himself in the beating heart of the Starfall Pantheon.

However, Imperator Tome’s corpse wasn’t as special as the things that hid behind it. ”Playing hide-and-seek, I see.”

Tianming flashed and reappeared behind the body. There were around a thousand young cosmic gods there, ranging from a hundred to a few thousand meters in height. Imperator Tome’s body wouldn’t be enough to block all of them out. When Tianming appeared, they began to shriek and turn pale with fear.

”Li Tianming, don’t think we’re scared of you!”

”We are the imperial lineage of Starfall Pantheon! You are in the sacred land of our ancestors. They will watch over us!”

”How dare you barge in here?!”

They forced themselves to stay strong, but they couldn’t really hide how much they feared Tianming. ”You’re among the youngest of the imperial lineage, right? Actually, I’m about the same age as you all.”

”Stop pretending! Who knows how ancient of a creature you really are?!” The fact that they still dared to act so arrogantly was due to their immense talent. They were the ones who would have been the most elite group of people in the entire universe in the future.

”Hahahaha!” Tianming couldn’t hold back his laughter. Though they were of the same age, the difference between them was far too vast. Then again, he wasn’t that much different from them back when he still roamed the Ancient Flameyellow Ruins.

”How do we deal with them?” Ying Huo asked, flying in the air.

”They’re the lifeblood of Starfall Pantheon. We have to pack them up and take them with us, of course.”

When the imperial son heard that, he lost it. ”Li Tianming, would you really stoop so low as to bully children?”

Tianming stretched his hand out and pulled a color-haired girl a few thousand meters in height into his hand. He pinched her body and said, ”She seems to have undergone puberty. Why do you still call this a child?” If anything, Tianming was the child among them.

”Hey!” The girl snapped, but Tianming gave her head a smack and turned her into a cosmic-god essence of a few hundred diameters in width. She fell next to the imperial son’s essence, groaning in agony. Before the others shouted in rage, Tianming leaped into their group and began cutting away at them with his sword like he was chopping vegetables. It took no time at all for him to turn a thousand people into essences. Then, he wrapped them in Xia words and took them with him.

”It seems like you lot are really careful when it comes to me. You even hid the youngest of your children in the mausoleum when war was about to break out.” It just so happened that they were delivered straight into Tianming’s lap. The place they had thought the safest ended up the most dangerous. With those new hostages, Tianming held the future of Starfall Pantheon in his hands.

He then left the tomb of Imperator Tome and said, ”Alright, Yin Chen, drag out all the corpses inside. We’ll take everything that we can use with us.”

Ying Huo seemed flabbergasted. ”Can’t you just suck it all up before leaving?”

Tianming rolled his eyes. ”What do you know about this? The cosmic tribulation seas are important, but their real sore spot is the bodies of their ancestors! I can only grasp everything they care about if I take their imperial son, young progeny and ancestral bodies with me. If they do not submit entirely to me, I will use their ancestors’ bodies as farmland!”

”Hell!” Ying Huo snapped with realization. ”The troops that left for Calabash Windfiend would be utterly mortified.”

”That’s not even all,” Tianming said, snickering.

The countless Yin Chens started making their move, moving the bodies out of the mausoleum. It looked like a silver ocean carried them out. Tianming then rested his sword on the imperial son’s essence and said, ”I’ll allow you to activate the Ninefirm Divine Wheel. Deactivate the Ninefirm Guard Formation and let my ship through. Don’t bother to refuse. You have zero leverage to negotiate with me. Do what I say, or they die and your ancestors will suffer endless grievances.”

The Ninefirm imperial son was filled with anger, but Tianming didn’t even give him a chance to hesitate. The blade rose before he even had the time to think to buy time.

Just like that, the cosmic gods of Starfall Pantheon watched in disappointment as the astralguard formation vanished. The outermost perimeter of Ninefirm Imperius was no longer defended, allowing the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb to descend to the world. Yin Chen then hoisted the ancestral corpses into the ship, a sight that was outright heretical to the cosmic gods of Starfall Pantheon.

”The ancestors have been robbed out of their graves!”

”Aaaaaaahhhh!”

”The pride and honor of the Starfall Pantheon have been scattered all over the place!”

The fact that they could do nothing but watch made them despair. The louder they cursed, the faster Yin Chen moved. Soon, they realized that Yin Chen didn’t just carry away the corpses, but also anything that was remotely valuable. Was there anyone that could put a stop to this? Their undying fighting spirit was completely useless as even Uncle Tian was forced to endure it.

”The dead are already gone. They can afford to endure it for a bit. We still have hope of avenging them as long as we are still alive.” That was how they consoled themselves.

***

Tianming was deep within the mausoleum, looking at an endless sword-shaped tombstone that seemed to be a hundred million meters in height. Like everything else there, it was colored like the rainbow. ”Take this away too.”

”What is... this thing?” Yin Chen said in a monotone. It would be expending quite a bit of effort to move something so massive. Every single one of its bodies winced in refusal.

”It’s a Grand-Dao-class sword art.” The flameyellow divinities had many impressive cosmic arts that had been lost to time. The strongest move they had available to them was the void-class Worldsplitter Thrice Divine. In comparison, the art depicted on the sword-shaped tombstone seemed rather impressive.

”Fine I’ll... move it!” Yin Chen steeled itself for the effort.

By the time Tianming was done with the mausoleum, everything that could be moved had been moved, leaving only empty buildings behind. ”Nothing is left in the wake of sky plunderers.”

He smiled and dusted his hands. Even he couldn’t take the beauty of this world away. He supposed that their treasures would have to suffice. He also took their imperial son and young geniuses into the ship as billions of cosmic gods around him watched, none of them daring to attack.

”Inform your imperator to immediately return from Calabash Windfiend. Otherwise, I’ll kill all the hostages, capische?” Tianming’s voice rang out loudly in all their ears.