Beastmaster of the Ages

From how vexed and helpless they seemed, one could see how smoothly everything had gone for Tianming. He was utilizing his sky-plunderer talents fully.

While he was out plundering other people’s homes, Wudi, his godfather, defended his home. He also had access to the latest information at all times, allowing him to adapt in a snap to everything. He could also hold his own in a fight, not to mention weave through the void of space unhindered.

Ninefirm Imperius had experienced first hand how much of a pain he was. Starfall Pantheon was a line of the most powerful totemancers to exist, especially those of their imperial lineage! Yet, there was nothing they could do as they stood around the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. With their lifeline in enemy hands, even a mighty pantheon had to yield.

”Alright. Stop messing around. I will inform the imperator immediately!” Uncle Tian said, eyes bloodshot. His voice sounded so heavy that one could almost hear the magma bubbling within him.

”Make haste and save all of us some pain!” Tianming’s words enraged the others even more. They could tell that Tianming wouldn’t be waiting there. He still had things to do before the Starfall Pantheon’s forces even began their retreat.

As expected, he immediately activated the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. The primocosmic gods would be helpless against Ninedragon Dominance or its massive metallic dragon tail.

”His target isn’t us!” the cosmic gods said. They had been about to react when the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb simply flew off into the distance.

”He’s probably going to attack the imperial capital, universe cities and mound cities! He’s going to ruin the art and legacy that we’ve built up over countless generations. How cruel...” Uncle Tian sighed.

”What do we do? Do we stop him?” They turned to look at him, worried.

”There’s nothing we can do. He has too many hostages. All we can hope for is the imperator’s swift return. Li Tianming has become so powerful that our five pantheons won’t be enough to deal with him any longer. If the devas and wonderians don’t contribute, we can no longer afford to send forces to attack a distant foe and leave our homes defenseless.”

”The Ninefirm Divine Wheel is just a spare formation core. Once the imperator returns, Ninefirm Imperius’s safety will no longer be an issue. Then again, Li Tianming has so much leverage over us that I worry that won’t be enough,” someone else said.

”Even if the devas and wonderians take action, our hands are still tied.”

”Unless... we abandon the imperial son, ancestral corpses and the children!”

”Sigh!”

Uncle Tian shook his head and said, ”Actually, this disaster might not be such a bad thing for us.”

”What do you mean?” The primocosmic gods turned back to look at him.

”You’ve all witnessed how ridiculous Li Tianming’s capabilities are. He’s able to bring a whole army with him. His dynasty has been growing and prospering in his imperial star. He doesn’t belong to any of the pantheons and his might continues to expand. If you think about it, the Starfall Pantheon has historically been the least oppressive over the slaves. Even though we crumbled rather quickly, if we assume that Li Tianming is already unstoppable, I imagine that we and the devas might emerge the least harmed among the Eightpart Pantheons when the dust settles.”

”Marshal, do you really think that the Eightpart Pantheons will lose to him?” The primocosmic gods struggled to even conceive of the possibility. Not too long ago, they had thought that the prospect of reviving the Flameyellow Imperial Star to be nothing but a joke.

”It remains to be seen. Either way, my point is that we should not poke our heads out unnecessarily now that Li Tianming already has our lifeline in his hands. We’ll let the ashuras, Sin and Virtue Pantheons get tangled up with Li Tianming. The wisdom of the Starfall Pantheon states that we ought to avoid taking unnecessary risks wherever possible. This is just how life is. The more we can endure, the less we will get hurt,” Uncle Tian said.

The fact that one of the Eightpart Pantheons had to console themselves with those words was something many of them couldn’t accept. Yet, the might of the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb was not to be scoffed at. They also feared for their lifeline. Gradually, their deep-buried fear of the Flameyellow awakened once more.

”Marshal, I heard that before this era, we and the Sundown Pantheon were the most well-treated slaves of the Flameyellow, right? After all, we are beautiful and upright unlike the ashuras and the Sin and Virtue Pantheons,” a primocosmic god said.

Uncle Tian laughed. ”The ashuras are like beasts of burden. The sin primalwingers were sent off to distant worlds to mine them. The specters of the Virtue Pantheon were hard laborers as well. At the very least, those of Starfall were allowed to live in pleasant places!”

”Got it.” That helped them feel less bad about all their losses of the day.

”Damn it! We’ve had our fill of the good days. The worst that happens is that we’ll have to kneel again. We’ll do anything as long as it means we won’t have to go to some dogwater Middlekin Star Ruin and be forced to mine there.”

Uncle Tian said in a strict tone, ”That is just one way things can turn out. I didn’t ask you all to give up fighting. For now, the Eightpart Pantheons still have the edge in every aspect, but we need the devas and wonderians to chip in! We still have a good chance of victory. That is the ideal outcome we should strive for.”

”Yes!”

As they continued to chat away, Tianming set the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb on autopilot attack mode. Though Ninefirm Imperius was a place filled with dreamlike cities and sights, the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb left a loud wake-up call in its wake, reducing everything to burnt ash.

”No! Nooo!” The Ninefirm imperial son felt even worse about the destruction of his homeworld than the prospect of his own death. His cosmic-god essence twitched constantly from mental pain. It was yet another form of torture that he simply couldn’t endure.

”When will you finally stop?!” However, nobody cared about what he had to say. Tianming was far too busy absorbing the cosmic tribulation seas of his ancestors. The reparations of the Starfall Pantheon’s sins had only just begun to be paid off.

The imperial son noted every single important locale that was ruined by the blasts of nova source. His heart had crumbled countless times, but Tianming couldn’t be bothered with him in the slightest.

Eventually, Yin Chen confirmed that Imperator Yan argued with Imperator Yinne, Imperator Ming and the rest before returning with his troops, formally leaving the alliance of five pantheons.