Beastmaster of the Ages

The seven-star universal manna was completely different from its four-star counterparts. It was like comparing the Lifesteal Silverdragon with a grade-four divine artifact. Even tens of thousands of four-star universal manna wouldn’t compare to this one. The Solar Nucleus was a manna that had appeared within the suncore and was shaped like a flaming bird. There were seven burning stars within. Taking it out at Fairman Peak even instantly caused the temperature around the Sixth Sword Branch to rise, and much of the nearby greenery began withering away from the heatwave.

Universal manna was something separate from nova sources and divine patterns, being one of the things that spontaneously appeared in the universe. Even though divine patterns had been studied enough to be put into formations or tomes, universal manna had remained a mystery the entire time they fueled the prosperity of life in the universe. This seven-star manna was even more mysterious than the rest. Tianming took it out and let the flaming bird fly around. Then he smacked Ying Huo on the head. “What are you looking at? Eat it, quick!”

“I’m going first? What about the others?” It thought about Meow Meow and the rest. As always, it was a good elder brother to all of them.

“Relax. Aunt Ying said that even though the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect’s treasury has been taken over by the Veildragon Palace, the Saint, Green, and Purple Dragon Imperials each took out one six-star universal manna to give to me. They’ll be delivered soon. Aunt Ying herself also gave one to Xiaoxiao that suits the Archaionfiend.”

“Wow, the four Dragon Imperials from the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect are really fond of you for them to still have something to give you despite being in trouble themselves.”

“Yeah. Since they’re willing to go so far for our sake, we shouldn’t disappoint them.”

Right then, the manna was about to fly away, so Ying Huo quickly flapped its wings and chased it down.

“Do your best, and at least try to grow a bit this time! Let’s hope your wingspan reaches ten meters!” Tianming said. No matter how large Ying Huo’s true form grew, it could still compress itself to the size of a palm in a fight. It also made Tianming’s hair a convenient place for it to nest in. Fighting with a small body also made it harder to pin down and enhanced its piercing capability, but no matter what, its body’s growth in size throughout the evolution was a sign that it would one day return to the gigantic Primordial Chaos Beast that Tianming had seen in that dreamscape. The Aeternal Infernal Phoenix would be so huge that it could swallow chains of stars like it was slurping noodles.

Based on what he had seen on the sun so far, Tianming concluded that the size of a lifebound beast didn’t indicate how powerful they were. Some of the smaller beasts were just as powerful, and there were many large ones that were easy to take down. “Thinking back, Ghoul King Si Ling’s lifebound beast was a worm about a kilometer in length, but it was really weak as well.”

……

Ying Huo flew straight toward the flaming bird and swallowed it. “Ouch, it burns! My stomach’s going to burn through!” it cried, but it didn’t return to the lifebound space. Instead, it charged into the abyss near the Sixth Sword Branch where there was an underground lake tens of thousands of meters wide. There were many water-type divine hazards deep within it and the disciples of the sect often practiced their swordplay nearby. Once Ying Huo charged into it, large amounts of water evaporated into steam. The entire lake began to furiously boil and bubble as many of them looked at the lifebound beast at the bottom of the lake.

“It looks like the Sky Palace disciple, Li Tianming’s lifebound beast.”

“Oh, that annoying bird. It played a huge part in defeating Li Haochen, right?”

“I know! It consumed the Solar Nucleus and is evolving!”

“I wonder how much more powerful it’ll get.”

People started gathering around to watch. Tianming stood amidst the crowd as many senior swordpupils talked to him. He clearly felt that no matter how Gujian Qingshuang and the others at the top regarded him, most of the swordpupils of the sect were impressed with and respected him. During their face-off against the Supracloud Sanctuary, Tianming had seen how tough these swordpupils could be. He got along with them rather well, even those from the House of Dongye. As they waited, Tianming chatted with the swordpupils about the million years of history of the divine tree and had heard many interesting tales about it. Most of the people on the Azurecloud Continent felt rather sentimental about this eternal tree.

“Tianming, it looks like it’s about time,” someone who had been watching the lake told him.

He headed over there and didn’t know how to react. The former lake was now a crater filled with boiling magma. Pressurized steam loudly shot out of some parts of the crater, accompanied by waves of heat. The onlookers felt their faces heating up. At the very bottom of the lake was a gigantic bird whose body was constantly morphing. Tianming felt an ancient aura that belonged to the Primordial Chaos Beasts coming from it. It was the mark of the ultimate bloodline that inspired fear in those that felt it.

“Perhaps this level of change will be unprecedented for Ying Huo.” In its previous evolutions, Ying Huo had never gone beyond the level of normal lifebound beasts. But now it had begun to resemble the phoenix he had seen in the dreams for the very first time.

“Come out!” Tianming yelled. The magma exploded, causing fire to rain down. The cry of a phoenix echoed out as a magnificent avian creature flapped its wide wings as it emerged from the lake, turning into a beam of fiery light as it ascended skyward. It flapped its wings, opened them fully, then descended in a manner fitting to be the ruler of all birds, almost causing the ground to quake from the sheer heat and light it gave off. All of the lifebound beasts in the Azuresoul Sword Mountain took note of its presence.

“Heavens… is this really Ying Huo?” Tianming was completely stunned. He recalled that it had merely been a little yellow chick when it’d first hatched. There was no way to connect how it looked back then to this flaming divine phoenix he saw before him now. The phoenix was like a sun in the sky, radiantly glowing. There was a hint of black in its Infernal Blaze flames, which caused the impression it gave off to greatly change. Every single one of its feathers had the text of Blazebane on them, making them as sharp as red-hot blades that seemed to be able to cut anything like melted butter.

However, the key change was its overly huge size. Tianming had thought it would be great if Ying Huo had a wingspan of ten meters, but now it had a wingspan of a kilometer like the phoenixes of legend! It stood out almost as much as Lan Huang did now.

The heat from the flames could be felt on Tianming’s head and its cry was so loud now that it could be heard from ten thousand meters away! No doubt, this was the ultimate lifeform. Each flap of its wings sent seas of flame into the air. Its nine long, beautiful tail feathers were like blades that left dark trails in the sky.

“Now that’s what an Aeternal Infernal Phoenix should look like!” Tianming was moved at the sight. It finally felt like Ying Huo was starting to look like the Primordial Chaos Beast it was supposed to be. As he watched, Ying Huo didn’t go down right away. Instead, it kept flapping its wings, causing the black and gold flames on its body to charge up. Then the Solar Nucleus seemed to appear on its body as countless flames gathered around it into a gigantic ball of fire that looked no different from a sun. It had turned into a sun in the sky, gathering terrifying amounts of heat and energy. Then the two-kilometer-wide sun exploded and sent a loud soundwave all over the place, causing many tremors.

“This is my new ultimate ability, Sungod’s Wrath. Amazing, right?” it said to Tianming through telepathy. Ying Huo was still itself after all, despite the makeover. Sungod’s Wrath continued exploding in the sky, but a small ember descended into Tianming’s palm. It was a palm-sized chick with its wings on its waist. “How’s that? Badass, right? Are you shaking from witnessing my might? Or swooning at how handsome I am now? Don’t despair. I was born with these looks. You just weren’t lucky enough to be graced with looks as good as mine.”

“You never really change, do you?” Tianming rolled his eyes.