Beastmaster of the Ages

All five phases were present—strong metal, raging fires, flowing water, sprawling wood, and stable earth. Almost all aspects of the battlefield were under control. What was even more impressive was that they were all dragons that had elemental synergy with one another, further enhancing their teamwork. Even so, the team that would perform better was still to be seen. After all, Ying Huo and the rest had fought hundreds of life-and-death battles alongside one another. Even if their star counts were a level lower, they were by no means weak. One thing was for sure: they were one unit short as the fifth egg hadn’t hatched yet.

When the five dragons graced them with their presence, Tianming sent his four lifebound beasts striking out. It was a battle of the strongest beastmasters of the new generation. Back then, Tianming had fought Zhan Yuance with the help of friends. But now he would have to fight such a powerful opponent on his own.

Tianming’s lifebound beasts stood out too much compared to one another. He had a phoenix the size of a palm and smaller than even a single of those dragons’ scales, perching on Tianming’s head. Then there was a lazy cat that stood near his feet, only just now stretching and yawning, even though the enemy had already shown up as if it still wasn’t fully awake. It was as if those mighty dragons didn’t exist before it. Not to mention, Meow Meow even lightly groomed itself, licking its whole body once over until its tongue was full of fur. It jumped around and tried to spit it out.

His third beast was a two-headed dragon with mountains and seas across its body. Compared to a normal dragon, it had a much stockier body, and it also had a shell. Its tail was like a huge greatsword and it was surrounded by rings. As it walked about, the ground itself shook. Lan Huang was itching to clash with the new ‘playmates’.

As for his fourth beast, it was a gigantic tree that took root on the battlefield. Its leaves and branches spread out, followed by the replenished Radiant Vines, with Radiant Daffodils, Evernight Roses, Scarlet Lilies, and Fiendsong Mares all over them. Xian Xian had recovered to its prime fighting state and it was without a doubt the largest beast on the field, even larger than the five dragons. Its spread-out roots and vines were filled with limitless possibilities.

Between them stood Tianming with his right hand on his Grand-Orient Sword, thrust into the ground, and his left hand wrapped around by Lifesteal Silverdragon.

“Where’s Long Longlong?” The countless members of the audience searched for a trace of the other beastmaster the best they could. Sure enough, he showed up with a flurry of sword strikes. Nine swords came flying out from the clouds, each sporting a different measurement. Some were greatswords, while others were short blades, but every one of them shone blindingly. They also had dragon-shaped hilts. When the nine swords collapsed, a sharp sound could be heard as they fused together and became a nine-colored greatsword floating in the sky.

“The Ninedragon Imperius!”

Witnessing this legendary weapon for the first time caused the spectators to go wild. Who wouldn’t want to own a weapon of such caliber? Weapons were fundamental tools of cultivators, after all, and the Ninedragon Imperius was among the sexiest weapons they had ever seen.

While most cultivators acknowledged that the Ninedragon Imperius was a fitting weapon for Long Longlong, that wasn’t the case for the Divine Worldeater Cauldron. Firstly, it wasn’t something that had belonged to the Ninedragon Emperor. Not to mention, the cauldron was now in Yu Ziqian’s hands, and even fourth-rate sects thought the cauldron would be better in the hands of others. Despite both of them being grade-eight divine artifacts, the way they were perceived was completely different.

Had Weisheng Moran from the Dreamless Celestial Nation obtained it, the audience would have nothing to say about it.

Nowadays, people only pined for the Ninedragon Imperius and envied Long Longlong for his fortune and his future. As people watched, a white-robed youth descended from the skies and stepped on the Ninedragon Imperius with his hands behind his back. His robe fluttered as he skated around on his sword, his horn shining bright gold. There was nothing about him that looked less than impressive, despite his young age.

“Wahoo!” The dragons followed behind their master like crazed fangirls. All Tianming could think of was how much he liked to show off. Long Longlong looked at Tianming from high up with his hands behind his back. Though he didn’t speak, his gaze conveyed his unfriendliness. He had intentionally picked Tianming as his opponent, after all. These days, he had been asking many disciples about every detail they knew about Tianming’s fight with Zhan Yuance. He had analyzed it as best he could and shaped his strategy around countering it. His conclusion was that he was able to defeat Tianming and take first place after their scores were swapped. He even had his eyes on taking the Lifesteal Silverdragon.

“It’s a legacy of my ancestor, yet now an outsider holds it. I must collect all the treasures my ancestors left behind for my sect.” That was something he firmly believed. He stretched his hand out for the sword under his feet. Beside him, his dragons were already ready to engage.

“Li Tianming, is there anything you want to say beforehand?” Long Longlong asked in a deep voice. Stating things clearly before a fight was a custom among cultivators, but Tianming never followed convention. He immediately lashed out with the Lifesteal Silverdragon and sent his beasts to attack.

He would take the chance to strike first, instead of being forced into a defensive position by Long Longlong. Most people didn’t think he could defeat Long Longlong, who wielded the Ninedragon Imperius, so his first strike came as a shock to many.

“Isn’t this a surprise attack?”

He had struck before the formalities had concluded. On Orderia, it could indeed be considered a cowardly surprise attack. The Lifesteal Silverdragon’s effects instantly activated, causing it to expand as quick as lightning toward the surging mars dragon.

Though the dragons had huge bodies, they were actually really young. The flaming dragon’s temper was further shortened by its fiery temperament. Since it had shown up, it was roaring and provoking them from a closer distance than the rest, so Tianming attacked it first.

“Go!” They were going to take on a single opponent with their full, combined force. Xian Xian’s Bloodrain Swords came raining down on the fire dragon, falling like raindrops of blood from which nobody could hide. Between the bloody raindrops were Ying Huo’s feathers as it used Skyscorch Featherblast. The Bloodrain Swords gave cover for the feathers, which packed an actual punch. Even so, Ying Huo was embarrassed enough to block its featherless private parts from the skyward eyes after using such a humiliating move.

Then Tianming slapped Meow Meow on the head, causing it to snap out of its daze and attack with Myriad Thundernet. A black ball of thunder immediately burst apart into an expansive net formed from countless lightning bolts and shot toward the surging mars dragon.

It wasn’t Long Longlong’s first time running into people who would strike before talking, though he definitely hadn’t expected that Tianming would pull something like that on a stage like this! “Looks like disciples from second-rate sects really have poor manners.”

He and his dragons immediately tried to evade, but they reacted a little slowly. The surging mars dragon was tied down by the barrage of abilities, which prevented it from escaping. Then the Lifesteal Silverdragon’s strike finally connected. The dragon growled in pain as its gaze turned fiercer, but it didn’t retreat. Instead, it pressed on toward the net of lightning, breathing fire that burnt out most of the sword-shaped petals fired its way.

“Useless tricks… agh!” The surging mars dragon was struck by the feathers hidden by the flower petals, which pierced through his flaming tornado, a defensive ability in the same vein as Meow Meow’s Ninefold Chaos Thunderscape with five different layers. Even then, they weren’t able to endure Ying Huo’s Infernal Blaze-infused feathers. Ying Huo, being practically the source of all flames, was covered entirely in Infernal Blaze flames. Its feathers also contained Blazebane, which had allowed it to overcome the surging mars dragon’s ability. Primordial Chaos Beasts would usually have an advantage over other beasts of similar elements!

The feathers were now embedded in the dragon. They were as sharp as swords and had managed to pierce through the half-meter-thick scales and reach its flesh. The wounds were small, but deep enough, inflicting a considerable amount of pain, as evidenced by the dragon’s pained roar.

When Ying Huo withdrew the feathers, they gouged out even more flesh, causing blood to gush out of the holes. The surging mars dragon had paid a huge price thanks to looking down on its foes, and now it was battered and bleeding all over. Tianming had even managed to wrap his chain around it some ten times, causing the voidslice blades of the chain to bury themselves deep in its body. The blades rivaled Ying Huo’s feathers in their cutting capability.

Tianming pulled the chain tight, digging the blades deep into the grooves between the scales, creating sparks in the process. The sound of blades rubbing against scales was ear-piercing. Many of the scales were pried off of its body, causing even more blood to flow. No matter how angry the flames on its body flared, the chain simply refused to budge. Tianming had truly gained quite an edge by going for the first strike without warning. His experience had proven rather useful.