Beastmaster of the Ages

The flow of energy from the Greenspark Tower gradually healed the albi damaged by the suppression of Zhan Yuance’s constellation. Tianming didn’t enter the wondersky realm, but remained here to deal with the aftermath of battle instead. “Processing the insights from actual battles is just as important as viewing caeli experiences.”

He had fought many times since coming to the Voidsky Realm. “I finally managed to overcome the bottleneck I’ve been stuck at for a month after today’s fight.”

He was still in his prime growth stage after breaking his curse, so it was a little late for him to break through now. Using his Trisoul Prime, he analyzed every single detail of his experiences to grow his Lifesbane Will. “These life-and-death experiences really push the mind and heart to the limits and break through chains. I always gain something from it.”

So far, Tianming’s Imperial Will was the one that had been making the breakthroughs. But now, his Lifesbane Will had finally grown to a higher level. The Prime Towers on his astral discs looked more solid than before. “Let’s try absorbing some nova source. I wonder if I can hold the power of a tenth-level ascendant.”

For him to have endured the full-force attack of a fifth-level constellier, nobody would believe him to be only a ninth-level ascendant. The gap between him and Zhan Yuance was far too wide, but he wasn’t discouraged. It was only expected. “He’s someone that’s cultivated on a nova source world with access to countless treasures and caeli since his childhood, after all. If he wasn’t at least seven or eight levels above me, he’d be useless.” What Tianming wanted right now was to make up some of that gap. “I gotta keep pushing!”

Endless streams of fundamental cosmic force flowed within the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. Tianming used them to cultivate his four codices, reinforcing all of his astral discs. Each of his albi had power from all four types of astral discs that surrounded the Prime Towers and Grand-Orient Swords within.

The first layer was a sea of infernal flames, the second was a pool of chaos lightning, the third was a world of mountains and sea, and the fourth was the essential floral source. Gradually, the forces within grew more and more as nova source was converted into astralforce. To control more astralforce, one had to have a powerful grasp of the natural laws. Tianming’s Imperial Will took most of the burden, allowing him to control the four types of astral discs. His Lifesbane Will served an auxiliary function, allowing him to carry an even heavier burden.

“My Lifesbane Will has slowly progressed in the past three months. It should be fine now.” He channeled all four codices and absorbed nova source into his albi, pushing the capacity of his body to the limit. “The Decapath Sky level!”

The transformation was rapid and fierce. His Imperial and Lifesbane Wills reached their peak capacity. “Now, to stabilize it….”

Tianming continued channeling the codices to bring the power under control. The whole process took around a day. If his wills had grown faster, he wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of stabilizing his power. While this breakthrough had seemed laborious, Tianming knew that he’d taken a firm step. Now, every bit of his power was controlled and stable, unlike Xiaoxiao’s, which could burst out of control despite the easy time she had with breakthroughs. It always took her a long while to gain control of all her power after each breakthrough, during which she wasn’t able to fight in close combat. That was why using a bow was a good choice, since it allowed her to purge the unstable astralforce in the body.

When Tianming finished and ended his cultivation, he realized that Xiaoxiao was progressing toward the Constellation stage, having consumed hundreds of thousands of caeli. She and the Archaionfiend were at the crucial point. In the darkness, gigantic bestial apparitions overlaid her small body. The Archaionfiend’s bloodline was completely saturating her, leaving apparitions appearing all across the pathway as blood-colored lightning traced along her skin. From time to time, she opened her eyes and revealed her lightning-covered irises. It made her look a little demonic.

“Looks like the Archaionfiend is rather unique as well.” Tianming stood beside Yu Ziqian, waiting for the other two to finish. This was good progress. If all three of them could grow stronger, they wouldn’t be stretched that thin like they had at the Blooddragon and Blackdragon Palaces.

“Her constellation is forming,” Yu Ziqian said. Right after he said that, countless electric snakes appeared beside Xiaoxiao, spreading out and enveloping Tianming and the rest. When they coursed through their bodies, they caused a slight tingling and numbing pain.

“It’s just like having Meow Meow’s Misty Hellthunder at all times.”

A constellation was basically a domain that resulted from one’s bloodline and astralforce. For beastmasters, it was also another avenue of power sharing between them and their beasts. Both beastmaster and beast could borrow power through their constellation to unleash devastating attacks, which made them even more terrifying.

Xiaoxiao was a pure beastmaster, so her constellation would no doubt make her much more powerful. The Archaionfiend’s lightning, unlike Meow Meow’s, was more savage and specific, much like Soulchasing Hellthunder. Meow Meow’s moves in general were more well-rounded, but with a focus on high damage. Though chaos lightning was better at more things, the Archaionfiend’s blood lightning was incredibly damaging to the flesh and soul. It was no surprise, considering the beast was a soulvore. Their attacks could possibly damage the vita and terra as well, though not as directly as Lingfeng could.

At a rate that could be seen with the naked eye, astralforce flooded through Xiaoxiao’s body. She groaned in pain as black blood seeped out of her ears, mouth, and nose along with lightning.

“Here it goes again.” Tianming hurried forward to help her.

Xiaoxiao looked rather pale after finishing her cultivation. Regretfully, she said, “Sorry for the embarrassing sight.”

“Aren’t you pushing it too quickly? You don’t look like you have a good grasp of your power. I have a few spiritcushion pills here, they’ll help you adjust,” Yu Ziqian said, handing a few black pellets to her.

“Where’d you get these?” Tianming asked at the sight of those ugly pills.

“My spatial ring on my finger! Is that a complaint I hear? I’ll have you know this is my latest work as a fourth-level alchemy guru! There’s no better alchemy guru than me in our generation when I’m in my prime!”

“What about when you’re not in your prime?” Tianming said, snickering.

“I… can’t even refine a single pill,” Yu Ziqian said casually. In other words, Yu Ziqian was only sometimes a master pill refiner.

“Can… can these even be eaten?” Xiaoxiao asked with a weird look on her face.

“Give it a try,” Tianming said.

She nodded and swallowed them before starting to cultivate and recover. Though the pills looked ugly, they had a sweet aftertaste when the effects spread. Though she was still completely covered in blood, a healthy gloss soon returned to her skin. Tianming had Lan Huang come out to ‘spit’ on her to clean her up.

“What is this?” she asked, completely drenched.

“Don’t worry, it’s fresh water stored in its stomach. It’s all clean,” Tianming said.

Wasn’t it saliva all the same?!

“How are you feeling?” he asked, concerned.

“I’m fine now. This is usual for me, you know. I’ll suffer a bit, but I still grow to make up for it. I’m now at the Constellation stage.” She stood up and channeled her astralforce. Other things aside, she did have the aura of a constellier now.

Now, it was Tianming’s turn to be stupefied. “I guess you forced yourself to the next stage?” No matter how bad she was in actual fights, her level wasn’t fake, and she was used to fighting from the rear in the first place. What was more important was the fact that the Archaionfiend was always a reliable fighter. Since everyone had their own style and path, Tianming didn’t really envy her too much.

“The Archaionfiend’s a first-level constellier now. Coupled with Dragonblood Desecration, she should be able to take on a second-level constellier.” Tianming’s feeding was finally paying off. Now, only Lingfeng remained. “If he does well, too, we’ll have much more of a say in future conflicts. We won’t be pushed around by the peak geniuses of Orderia now. And when Yu Ziqian is in his prime, we’ll be unstoppable.”

Xiaoxiao still needed a lot of time to get used to her new level. Though she seemed powerful on the surface, when singled out, she could only hold her ground against twelfth-level ascendants.

Tianming went to the corner, where Lingfeng was still cultivating without a sound. Thanks to using his Primordial Gate, he didn’t move at all; it was as if he wasn’t there.

“Feng was at the eleventh level of the Ascension stage back then. Zhan Yuance was a fourth-level constellier, and the pill helped him break through a stage. The lingering effects will help speed up his future breakthroughs as well. As for Feng, he should enjoy even more benefits since his assimilation will be more thorough.”

He looked at the black-haired youth. The Soulfiend sat behind him like a shadow, looking at him with its ‘joy’ face. Then a black constellation faded in and out next to Lingfeng. It looked a little like the Primordial Gate, and Tianming felt like he was being pulled inside.

“What a terrifying constellation….” He hurriedly backed off and stabilized himself. “I guess Feng broke through twice. He’s a constellier now.”

That was within his expectations. “Looks like the trade wasn’t a bad one to make.”

Now, Lingfeng could hold his own. In exchange for giving up the Lifesteal Silverdragon, they now had the capability to contend for even more divine artifacts of that caliber.