Beastmaster of the Ages

”Enter.” The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb was stopped near the outer periphery of the gold-silver star. Tianming and the forty-nine undying-aeternal elders picked a location, concealed their presence, and entered the astralguard formation.

An imperial star’s mass was a hundred million times that of a heliacal-class world, which was what the Sun used to be back when it was called Orderia. Even for cosmic gods tens of thousands of meters in height, it was still incredibly vast.

Starlight trailed behind the bodies as they plunged deeper into the sea of gold and silver. The golden parts contained aspects of flame, lightning and metal, while the silver parts contained frost, chill and storm. The astralguard formation was complex and formidable indeed, but Tianming was not that affected by it thanks to the skypole stars. The group descended through the storms of nova source like a blade plunging deep into the sea.

”The controller of the astralguard formation should’ve noted our presence.” Since the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb didn’t bombard the formation, it was incredibly calm and could easily pick up on the smallest rock entering the formation. However, Tianming didn’t feel the resistance in the formation increase at all. ”That must be a sign that the Sundown Pantheon don’t want to fight me like the Starfall Pantheon had, lest they end up like them.”

He would soon learn whether that conjecture of his was correct. Tianming continued to brave the storms. Soon, he and the other powerful cosmic gods finally made it through and entered Sundown Imperius successfully.

A world so high tier looked majestic and vast, with mountains and rivers seemingly stretching endlessly. It looked considerably more crude that Ninefirm Imperius and seemed to be much better suited for lifebound beasts to roam around. Normally, one would expect many beasts all over the place to detect their entry, yet Tianming only saw endless silence. There wasn’t any sign of activity.

”They’ve all... hidden away,” Yin Chen said.

”Where are they hiding? The imperial city? Mound cities? Universe cities?” Tianming asked.

”Not really.”

”Where, then?”

”They split... up completely... one person... occupies a... huge empty... space and... they’re all... spread out.”

”Damn!” This was something out of Tianming’s own book. He had instructed the flameyellow descendants of fortuna-class worlds to spread out and regain their bearings, something that the Sundown Pantheon didn’t fail to pick up.

”The imperial lineage alone doesn’t have enough manpower, especially with most of their troops away at Calabash Windfiend. There’s really not many people left behind. That’s why they’re able to spread out so wide. It seems like I’m not able to pose any substantial threat to them at this rate. They don’t have a place keeping their sacred legacies like Ninefirm Mausoleum either...”

They definitely had mausoleums of some sort, but they were not centralized like Ninefirm Imperius’s was. After all, they weren’t totemancers who needed their ancestral corpses in one location for easy access to simulacra awakening.

”So they want to do it this way, huh? They must have some weaknesses I can exploit.”

The silver cockroach said, ”There is... a minor... empress who... is dearly... loved by... their imperator.”

”Do you know where she is? Does she have the core of the Sundown Guard Formation?”

”She doesn’t.”

”Then she won’t be of much use.” That was nothing but a mistress of the imperator.

”The one... controlling the... formation is... hidden far... too deep.”

Tianming knew that Yin Chen had already filtered out the rest to recommend people who would be remotely useful to him.

”Oh well. Then we’ll start with the minor empress to test where the Sundown Pantheon stand. Where is she?”

”At Sundown... Imperial Capital.”

”Wow, they thought that the most dangerous place would be the safest. I didn’t think they’d dare to stay at the capital.” Tianming called the undying aeternals over and flew towards the capital openly. When they looked down, they could see the cosmic gods of Sundown Pantheon spread out and in hiding.

”One of the mighty imperial lineages of the Eightpart Pantheons actually ended up so terrified by a small group of people like us to the point that they went into hiding.” The Eightpart Pantheons had properly learned to fear Tianming.

Eventually, they reached the north pole of Sundown Imperius and saw a massive city of gold and silver. It was about the size of Skyplunder Capital, but far more majestic.

”Their maniverse-class defensive formation is active.” As it wasn’t even a barrier formation, that class of formation was as good as nothing before Tianming. ”Is she the only person hiding in the capital?”

”That’s right.” Yin Chen buzzed with laughter. ”Everyone should... have evacuated... but she... thinks she’ll... be lucky.”

”I see.” Tianming knew that it wasn’t just a matter of her being careless. She did have a decent stealth technique. She was just unlucky enough to be found by Yin Chen, whose bodies had a much easier time hiding in the nooks and crannies of the buildings compared to the empty wilderness.

”All of you should stay here and wait for me,” Tianming told the undying aeternals. They stood there stiffly without a word. At their core, they still hated Tianming, but they were forced to follow his orders.

He would have a much easier time moving about alone. Easily, he weaved through the maniverse-class formation and entered the city, which used to be a haven for beastmasters. But due to Tianming, it had become a ghost city.

”The Eightpart Pantheons really are losing more and more of their dignity,” Tianming said out loud, facing an underground golden palace. There was no reply at all.

”Still holding it in, huh? Little empress, I’ve long heard about you. Come out to meet me.”

Only then did the palace doors rumble. They opened to reveal brilliant golden radiance. A blonde-haired, silver-eyed cosmic goddess with incredibly fair skin clad in flowing, galactic robes emerged from it.