Beastmaster of the Ages

The Azuresky Bridge was a divine artifact that stored caeli, similar to the Archaion Sect’s Old Deepstar Path. The further along the bridge one went, the higher-tier the caeli were. Tianming got the right to start right at the end of the bridge where the solarian caeli were located. Usually, only grade-three swordpupils and above were allowed to do so. While training there still paled in comparison to the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, it was still better than cultivating on the third level of the Violetglory Pagoda, so Tianming stopped using the wondersky realm for that.

“If I were to compare, I’d need to get to the sixth or seventh level of the pagoda to get caeli as good as the ones here. However, I’ll need to keep fighting against sixth and seventh-level solarians to be allowed to stay there. I wouldn’t last a day.”

It seemed that he was reaping quite a bit of benefits as a Sky Palace disciple. If it weren’t for the apparent doom of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, he would be having an even better time now. For now, his plan was to grow his Lifesbane Will into a proper divine will.

Time passed peacefully while he trained. Soon, it had been two weeks. Xiaoxiao had requested some solarian caeli from the sect through Tianming and managed to easily reach the fifth level. Now, she could wield the Dragonblood Desecration far better than before.

Lingfeng and Yu Ziqian had also started spending more time together as the latter kept asking him to test out the effects of the pills he’d refined. Lingfeng was able to tolerate all manner of toxicity from them. The rampant pill feeding also allowed him to rapidly grow. Even though his lips were stained dark from the pills every day, he was probably around the fourth level in power now. Additionally, the Soulfiend had completely recovered and was moving about without an issue.

Though Tianming was the one who visited the Azuresky Bridge the most, he was the one who made the slowest progress. He thought it impressive that consuming pills could help one progress so quickly, but he was in no rush at all. He was fully confident in what he had to do.

……

“Friend! Buddy!” Yu Ziqian had been spending so much time with the cauldron and mingling with the female disciples that his eyes now had black circles around them. However, he had developed excellent time management skills as a result.

“What’s up?”

“The Swordpath Pool is open! The chief instructor is waiting for you to go there. Didn’t you say you needed divine hazard sword ki? They discussed it for quite a while and finally decided to allow you to head there. I had to speak quite a lot on your behalf, you know, since the sword ki inside the pool is limited. Do you know how many people since our sect’s founding that wanted to train there actually got to?”

“Alright, lead the way.” Tianming had practiced his swordsmanship as well, mainly focusing his attention on the fourth move of the Ninedragon Tribulation, Blackdragon Abyssthrust. The power and difficulty of the move was much higher than the previous three. No doubt, if he managed to fuse it with the others, the fusion move would be able to deal far more damage. The thrust would manifest a black dragon that flew straight toward its target like a savage missile. It would make the fusion move stronger, louder, and faster once the fusion process was complete.

“With top-tier divine hazard sword ki, I might be able to bring the power of the fusion of all four moves to that of a sixth-realm battle art. Not even normal constelliers are able to unleash that kind of power.”

All he lacked now was divine hazard sword ki. Though the Azuresoul Palace had the Swordbath Pool, the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect would have much better resources. Had he been there, he wouldn’t have had to wait for so long just to get access to it.

……

Yu Ziqian brought Tianming to the Swordbath Hall, which was located deep in the mountain. At the entrance stood Gujian Qingshuang.

“We’re here. I’ll take my leave now,” Yu Ziqian said.

“So soon? Where are you going?” Tianming asked.

“On dates, of course! I have ten scheduled today! Sigh, I’m so busy!” He immediately dashed away to his date. It was no wonder his eye bags were so heavy.

Tianming turned to Gujian Qingshuang, who seemed rather laid back. He swiftly opened the door and said, “I heard you require sword ki to train the Ninedragon Tribulation, right?”

“That’s the case, Chief Instructor.”

“To swordpupils like us, the complete fusion move of the Ninedragon Tribulation is nothing short of a miracle. The farther along the path you go with that move, the more terrifying its power will be. You truly are a subject of envy,” Gujian Qingshuang said, stroking his beard.

“I am thankful that the Ninedragon Emperor found me worthy of the move. I’ll make sure to work hard and learn it well so that I can show the world once more the glory of this magnificent move.”

“Hahaha! Good.” Gujian Qingshuang felt a little weird. Tianming had emphasized this connection with the Ninedragon Emperor, someone from the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. Would he really join the Empyrean Sword Sect if that was the case? Though he’s a junior, this Li Tianming has a rather strong will of his own. He brought Tianming through the winding pathways through the deep mountains. “How many moves have you mastered so far?”

“Four of them.”

“Then you should start with grade-five divine hazard sword ki to unleash its full power.”

“Chief Instructor, I’d like to try out grade-six ones.”

Stunned, Gujian Qingshuang pressed, “Grade six?”

“Yes.”

“Even your master Jiang Qingliu only has three strands of grade-six divine hazard sword ki in his body. Do you know that?”

“Yes. That’s why I wanted to try grade six.”

“It’s not that I doubt your willpower or your abilities. However, higher grade divine hazard sword ki requires strong astral physiques. The key to albi being able to endure sword ki of that caliber is the Solar stage.”

“Is that so? I’d still like to test it out first.”

“Alright, if you insist.” Gujian Qingshuang didn’t feel too sour. He knew what it felt like to challenge oneself. When he was young, he had always sought to be the best at everything he did. It turned out that Tianming wanted everything to be six, from sword ki to universal manna. As for the seventh grade, those were absolute treasures. It was already incredibly generous for the Azuresoul Palace to be able to offer him anything of grade six.

Each level had a formation that Gujian Qingshuang had to personally unlock. “There’s ten strands of grade-six divine hazard sword ki here, one in each room. There’s some basic information on them on the doors of the rooms.”

“Chief Instructor, how many strands may I assimilate at most?”

“How many?” He chuckled and said, “As many as you like.” It occurred to him that even Sky Palace disciples were naive as youths. Even though the Ninedragon Tribulation would be invincible with the right sword ki, he could feel how wild and rampaging the strands of grade-six sword ki were from the entrance and had his doubts about Tianming’s ambitions.

“Thank you, Chief Instructor.” Tianming walked into the corridor. He understood the difficult position Gujian Qingshuang was in. However, he wouldn’t tolerate anyone killing Jiang Qingliu, no matter the reason.

“Just call out to me if you need anything,” Gujian Qingshuang said, his voice echoing.

Tianming stopped in front of a door that read: ‘Divine Ordered Pattern: Wildvoid Bloodwheel, Grade: 6, Sword Ki: Wildvoid Bloodwheel Sword Ki’. This sword ki was shaped like a roulette wheel. It had a savage, bloody aura that seemed to be able to deal a lot of damage after entering the body.

“Using it for the Blooddragon Sacrifice will be perfect.” He took a deep breath and stepped inside. He had three things he was relying on: his personal willpower, the ability of the sword ki within the Ninedragon Tribulation, and the Greenspark Tower and Primordial Chaos Beast physiques he had inherited from his beasts.

He pushed the door open. Instantly, a bloody aura wafted over him, coloring his vision red. A red mist formed a sword wheel hundreds of meters wide that also looked like a vortex. Boundless bloody sword ki gathered within, glaring at Tianming like it was tens of millions of venomous snakes. The notion of taking that thing into his body made him gulp.

“Go!” He and Ying Huo both stepped forward. As there was quite a lot of it, Ying Huo could also absorb a little as it was also practicing swordsmanship.

“Dammit! The one who shrieks first is a loser—aaaaahhh!” Ying Huo immediately knelt and shrieked, not having any time to play tough at all. The Wildvoid Bloodwheel Sword Ki swallowed the two of them up like some kind of gigantic beast.

……

Hearing the shriek from outside, Gujian Qingshuang smirked. “Young man, you’ll finally know your place in this world after experiencing such pain.”

He felt utterly elated. He had heard that the Soulbreak Mountain had been emptied out and knew it had to be Tianming, though he didn’t understand how mines that could have still been mined for decades could be cleared out after one visit. The news hurt him dearly, though giving away a six-star universal manna had cut to the bone as well. Though Yu Ziqian had only taken little, despite also being a Sky Palace disciple, Tianming’s consumption was monstrous. He could finally breathe a sigh of relief now that Tianming had learned to hold back.

“If you can’t endure it, let’s go to the fifth-grade ones!” he said, though there was no reply. “Don’t tell me he’s dead?!”

Panicking, he opened the door, only to see the young man sitting with his legs crossed, the Wildvoid Bloodwheel divine pattern glowing under his skin. The same was the case with the bird that sat on his head. The sight stunned Gujian Qingshuang. Some moments later, Tianming stood up and opened his eyes. Now, his gaze shot out the same bloody savage sword ki, causing Gujian Qingshuang to block it.

“Apologies, Chief Instructor. I’m not yet able to control it well,” Tianming said.

“It’s fine! I’m fine!” Gujian Qingshuang was stupefied.

“Alright, the next room,” Tianming said to Ying Huo.

“Hmph, I’m not afraid!” Ying Huo said.

Gujian Qingshuang didn’t know what to make of them.