Beastmaster of the Ages

Needless to say, this battle of the younger generation brought the atmosphere of the Violetglory Star and Mysterium Cluster to a new peak, way more than Tianming’s second defeat of Long or his victory over Shenwu Fen. More than that, he gained quite a lot of people from the Mysterium Cluster who paid attention to him. They wanted to see how he would step off from the high horse he had mounted. Nobody could afford to miss it.

Normally, they would be able to test whether his words had weight through Yanwu Dao alone. They watched as the two ’young sovereigns’ approached one another without saying a word, like two imperial stars drawn to each other by their respective gravitational pulls. As most people expected, Tianming chose to use his lifebound beasts while facing off against Yanwu Dao, opting not to use his totems for now. It was the same principle as the one that had prompted him to only use totems in his fight against Shenwu Fen. It could be construed as him underestimating his opponent, something that made the mysterians from Skyway Monostar really uncomfortable. They were far too different to acknowledge Tianming. He wasn’t one of their own, and xenophobia was deeply rooted across the entire astralscape.

Ying Huo, Meow Meow, and the rest finally returned to the battlefield after a long absence. The flaming phoenix flew above Tianming’s head. Beneath it was the shiny and colorful Primordial Terraqua Dragon, behind which stood the Radix World Tree, which immediately allowed Tianming to dominate the battlefield. Then many Yin Chens flew out from Tianming’s body and turned into different metal insects, swarming half the battlefield. For this battle, Tianming had mustered fifteen million Yin Chens. The sheer number made the sea of metal insects noisy and nigh impossible to bear.

Finally, there was his new sovereign beast, the newly evolved Genesis Chaos Thunderfiend. Countless black and white lightning bolts gathered in the skies and on the ground, forming a gigantic feline beast. The fusion of primordial lightning and chaotic bolts had caused its attack power to skyrocket, and now it was far stronger than it had ever been. It was so fast that it couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, and its Regalfiend Wings allowed it to achieve air superiority. It could rain down lightning bombardments from above.

The battle started with a blast of lightning. As a ’genius totemancer’, Tianming’s lifebound beasts were often overlooked, no matter how capable they were. After all, his totems were far more eye-catching. That didn’t change the fact that Ying Huo and the rest were still quite the show stealers. Even so, the mysterians wouldn’t let themselves be outshone in that department, either!

Yanwu Dao’s black gold robe fluttered as his lifebound beasts emerged. An ancient, desolate sensation filled the entire battlefield. As a faceless human, his lifebound beasts shared the same faceless characteristic, somewhat resembling the rakshasas. They seemed to have gigantic, semi-corporeal forms that could easily be mistaken for human-shaped clouds. Their bodies swiftly changed as a huge ’Yan’ character appeared on their faces. The appearance of the character made their bodies somewhat more solid, allowing some yellow flesh to show. They looked humanoid, but each one had eight huge arms with sharp talons. They also had long, spiked tails that hinted at their amazing physical prowess. What was even more terrifying was that, despite being faceless, bestial heads sprouted from their abdomens, complete with eyes, noses, and a bloody mouth filled with ghastly teeth. They had gathered all the fiercest features of beasts in one body. The heads on their abdomens, especially, looked more like real faces than the one with the ’Yan’ character on top.

They were among the top lifebound beasts in Skyway Monostar, a signature of the top rulers with absolutely indisputable talent. They were called hellkings. The five hellkings waved their arms around, their talons glinting. The characters on their faces glowed black and gold as the heads on their abdomens turned to Tianming’s lifebound beasts, their eyes glowing a ghastly red. Yanwu Dao himself didn’t idly sit back, either. He knew that Tianming was hard to deal with, so he used the best method at his disposal right from the start.

Tianming’s facial features appeared on Yanwu Dao’s face; he now looked almost identical to Tianming. His five lifebound beasts also manifested Tianming’s face, giving them two in total and making them look even weirder. The eerie combination of Tianming’s imperial aura and Yanwu Dao’s savagery made them appear like a tyrant.

Being the number one mysterian youth, Yanwu Dao no doubt had a weapon to match his status. As he slowly scanned Tianming, he drew a dark yellow sword that seemed plain at first glance. But the next instant, the cries of countless lost and suffering souls rang out before their agony-torn faces manifested. Each of the thousands of faces was unique. It had a terrifying aura like the Godsin, a sign that it was a grade-nine divine artifact. While it wouldn’t be able to match the grade-nine Grand-Orient Sword, it was a good match for the Godsin. Tianming had heard about Yanwu Dao’s weapon before, but not this particular one. Perhaps this was a reward from his seniors after he finished the Astralium Seeking.

”What is it called?” Tianming asked.

”Exorcizer,” Yanwu Dao replied with a deep voice. He wore a ring of human head prayer beads around his neck that appeared to be grade-eight divine artifacts as well.

”What is its artifact soul?”

”One billion vitae of cultivators.” Sealing vitae inside an artifact to make them artifact souls was considered inhumane and evil. This was something that went against the natural order of the heavens.

”No wonder.” Tianming furrowed his brows. His Imperial Will had a karmic component, so he was really sensitive to such atrocious crimes against humanity. Even in the wondersky realm, Excorcizer’s true nature as a sword of great evil wasn’t masked in the slightest. Tianming had seen a similar weapon, the battle standard wielded by Ghoul Kings Po Suo and Di Zang back at the Flameyellow Continent. ”Don’t you fear heavenly punishment? You’re using the resentment of the souls of a billion cultivators.”

Stunned, Yanwu Dao said, ”What does that have to do with me? I wasn’t the one who forged this sword. Not to mention, every single person I kill helps exorcize one soul. This is the only thing I can do to help them.”

”You could also destroy the sword.”

”That would be a waste of a grade-nine divine artifact. It also has a grade-nine divine ordered pattern called the Sea of Boundless Suffering.” He paused, then chuckled, ”Don’t tell me you’re feeling pity for them? I’ll let you know that the vitae all came from countless sinners who commited all kinds of atrocities. They were given death sentences and we mysterians are only giving out the justice they deserve. Good and evil, crime and punishment, service and reward... those are all natural aspects of the universe. Who are you to preach sainthood?” The justice he espoused only represented what was right at Skyway Monostar.

”You might sound like you make sense, but crime and punishment aren’t so clear cut. Nobody else knows whether the punishment is truly fit for a crime, and nobody can prove whether all the vitae there came from unforgivable sinners,” Tianming said. He recalled the Autarch of the Theocracy of the Ancients. Even when it came to giving punishment, there was an acceptable range. A fair and just standard must be used. ”However, nothing I say to you will have a point. We walk different paths.”

Tianming couldn’t do much about the sword, especially in the virtual wondersky realm. However, he started gaining some understanding of the imperial path of Skyway Monostar. In a single word, it was tyranny! Yanwu Dao was powerful, authoritative, and possessed the Exorcizer and hellking lifebound beasts.... However, like his name, he was without morals! Yanwu Dao felt that it was pointless to squabble over minor details like good and evil; he growled and charged in with his five lifebound beasts. [1]

When his astralforce surged, Tianming could instantly tell that Yanwu Dao’s level was higher than Shenwu Fen’s. He was probably a sixth-level solarian, four levels above Tianming, but his abilities likely neared the seventh or eighth level. The hellkings were incredibly savage and adept at close combat, and had spread out to attack Tianming and his five beasts.

”Gather!” Tianming didn’t let them have their way. They had the level advantage, after all. Ying Huo and the rest, however, were strong when they worked together. They gathered around with Xian Xian at the center. Sometimes, defense was the best offense. Proper tactics were necessary to secure victory.

After using face reveal, the hellkings were almost unkillable. In almost an instant, Ying Huo and Xian Xian rained down feathers and bloody swords. Xian Xian also made all five of its flowers bloom on top of sending off vines and leaves to wrap around the bodies of the hellkings. Tianming’s lifebound beasts had quite a bit of firepower to spare.

”Hold on! Big Bro here will use his ultimate move!” Ying Huo said. It hid amongst Xian Xian’s flowers, leaving its other four siblings to fend for themselves. Fortunately, Yin Chen had fifteen million bodies to make up for Ying Huo’s absence.

Then it was time for Meow Meow to show its power. Since it had awakened Genesis Bolt, it had never lost in battle. Chaotic lightning spread across Xian Xian’s branches like a large net, then turned into a pool of black and white lightning. The myriad lightning bolts spread further and further, all the way from Xian Xian’s body to the branches that bound the hellkings as Soulchasing Hellthunder. Coupled with the Genesis Bolt and a boost from Worldbolt Blast, even this early ability of Meow Meow’s was terrifyingly powerful. It shot toward the five beasts, enveloping Yanwu Dao within it as well. Then, Meow Meow used Cosmic Lance, forming bloody lightning lances in its eyes before shooting them out toward the frontmost hellking.

The lances pierced the beast’s abdomen-head in the mouth, causing it to explode. It shrieked in pain as it was sent smashing into the ground. Meow Meow had changed from a close combat beast into a heavy duty lightning bombardier, a role it was much more comfortable with. It quickly followed up with another ability, Triworld Afterlife Halls. Black and white lightning formed three great halls that pressed down on the heads of the hellkings. Right as they were about to break out, the halls smashed down again and exploded, dealing fatal damage.

Yanwu Dao and the hellkings felt horrid from the sheer strike. While their injuries quickly recovered, much like they were under the effects of the Greenspark Tower, even that would require time after being repeatedly blasted by Meow Meow’s lightning. Its damage potential had risen far too much since it had become a sovereign beast.

All of that was layered with other attacks, like Lan Huang’s Dragonprison Hell, Xian Xian’s Bloodrain Swords and Demise Greenloti, and the many Yin Chens in the form of storm butterflies that continued grinding down on their flesh. All the lifebound beasts unleashed an endless stream of abilities.

Yanwu Dao had been greatly restricted by Meow Meow’s lightning, allowing Tianming the chance to unleash Godsin in its chain form. The chain stretched ten thousand meters into the lightning and unleashed the Goddess Flowerfall, which was fueled by multiple types of grade-eight divine hazard sword ki. Before one of the hellkings even spotted it, four of its arms had been bound by the chain. Then Tianming gave it a hard pull, severing its arms and causing it to let out a thundering roar of pain. Having lost half of its arms, it collapsed in a pool of blood. Even if the arms could grow back, Meow Meow would be able to blast it thousands of times in the time that would take.

”Man, it’s really become quite the bolt monster. It looks like it can go on blasting for two hours, or even longer!” Alas, what kind of Primordial Chaos Beast wasn’t a terrifying monster?

”Li Tianming!” Yanwu Dao furrowed his brows even deeper. None of that had stricken fear in him, but rather stoked his fighting spirit. His lifebound beasts finally reacted and unleashed their own volley of abilities, Omnihell! The mouths of their abdomen-heads opened up and let out a dense yellow fog that spread to Xian Xian, Lan Huang, and Meow Meow. Their flesh immediately began being corroded, and Xian Xian’s leaves and branches quickly started wilting. The entire area, from ground to sky, was filled with the yellow of twilight, spreading a paralyzing rust. That ability allowed them to hold off Tianming’s lifebound beasts’ bombardment.

Then the beasts roared, generating an odd sound that pierced everything, down to the organs deep within. Tianming felt like he was being torn apart from head to toe. As expected of apex lifebound beasts; they were able to turn the tables in close to an instant.

Yanwu Dao was also finally freed and he fiercely charged straight at Tianming with his lifebound beasts, forcing him to pull back his chain for close combat. But just then, the glowing Lan Huang appeared and pinned one of the hellkings to the ground! That was the very one that had lost four arms, and it still hadn’t grown them back yet. Lan Huang used the Astralfiend’s Sword on its tail to slash at the bestial head, almost cutting the abdomen apart in a gruesome manner. The hellking tried its best to get up, only for many black roots to sprout from the ground and tie it back down. Then a swarm of metal spiders came and bound it with even more silvery threads. Some scorpions began rapidly stinging the beast and injecting it with mercurial toxin, and there were also locusts that started directly biting into the beast. There were many roots and bugs, to the point that they could fill every corner of the battlefield.

Lan Huang had quite an easy time brutalizing the hellking with its siblings’ help. Its claws and fangs made quick work of the hellking’s belly, tearing flesh away. If it weren’t for another hellking coming to help it, the pinned one would have already been defeated. Even so, it was wounded to the point that it would take quite some time to recover, even with face reveal’s regenerative effects. Not to mention, Meow Meow’s lightning was still coursing around in its body, wreaking havoc.

Eventually, the battlefield began to glow. The other hellkings leapt onto Xian Xian’s tree, working to crush the Evernight Rose on top of destroying other parts. Harming Xian Xian’s body could affect the entire battlefield, something that Yanwu Dao was all too aware of.

”Destroy that tree, quickly!” Yanwu Dao roared. His lifebound beasts struggled, but one eventually managed to stick while the others were held back by Yin Chen, Meow Meow, and Lan Huang. That hellking knew that Xian Xian’s powers were based in its flowers.

It immediately turned toward the Radiant Daffodil, but to its surprise, the flower suddenly burned with flaming rage and rose like a sun. The silhouette of a phoenix could be seen within. It opened its eyes and roared, wildly swaying its tail.

”If you’re in a rush to get yourself killed, I’ll grant your wish!” Ying Huo said, sending the energy it had gathered in its body blasting away. It looked like a pillar of sunfire, piercing straight through that hellking and immediately vaporizing it.

Yanwu Dao clearly saw the sight. What was worse was that the phoenix immediately joined the battle and targeted the hellking that Lan Huang had mauled. It used its wings as swords and executed an intricate battle art, piercing its stomach proper after Lan Huang had failed.

Though Yanwu Dao tried to assist it, the chain came flying again! Tianming’s Godsin contained the many sword ki strands in his body and they caused the prayer beads Yanwu Dao was wearing to shake. The shields of light they formed immediately crumbled, allowing Tianming to send him smashing into the ground before he could assist his beast. Tianming was incredibly hard to deal with. Yanwu Dao’s lifebound beasts were at a disadvantage, but he couldn’t help them at all. His unit was about to crumble; only by taking down the leader could he stand a chance.

He gripped his Exorcizer tight and glared at Tianming. Black and gold aura surged around him as he charged and executed his eighth-realm divine art, Hadean Revenant. The billion vitae inside his divine artifact and the divine hazard, Sea of Endless Suffering, resonated together. Every flash of light coming from the sword echoed with endless screams, radiating a power that could target one’s soul before their physical body! Even contained within the Soul Tower as it was, Tianming’s soul still felt a prickling pain. If it were someone else, they would have died from the strike. Tianming furrowed his brow, but the fact that he hadn’t had to use his totems yet showed how much stronger he was than Yanwu Dao.

”If you don’t use your totems, you’ll lose for sure!” Yanwu Dao coldly said. He came bearing down with boundless killing intent, his sword rampaging like a storm of a billion raving ghouls. The soul aspect of the attack had come from the souls that were trapped within this grade-nine divine artifact.

”Are you kidding me? I handicapped myself for you, yet you’re barely able to keep up.” Tianming nonchalantly laughed with his usual confidence, not the least bit affected by the Exorcizer, much to Yanwu Dao’s shock. The next instant, Tianming struck with Godsin in a relaxed fashion. The strike was completely soundless. His strike only contained the Kilodragon Tree’s sword ki. It was as if Tianming’s thrust caused a sacred tree of white dragons to sprout. When the Godsin and Exorcizer clashed, Tianming’s strike unleashed its full power. It was Saintdragon Annihilation! Tianming’s sword seemed to melt into water, instantly enveloping Yanwu Dao and his evil sword art before slaughtering away in the form of a sacred tree.

Yanwu Dao seemed to blank out for a moment. Before he could even speak, the young tyrant was vaporized and eliminated. The power of Tianming’s strike had far exceeded his wildest imagination—it was a manifestation of pure nothing, containing such power that would shake the known universe. The top mysterian in the Mysterium Cluster had been defeated by Tianming without even having to use his totems!

Yanwu Dao’s lifebound beasts quickly died off as well. Tianming had defeated not just the leader, but also all the minions that remained! It was an utter act of domination that left the cultivators of Skyway Monostar at a complete loss for words. Never had they suffered such a devastating defeat.

By the time Tianming put Godsin away and picked up a sleeping black cat to his chest, with a proud little chick perched on his shoulder, he couldn’t hear a single sound. The entire fifth level of the Tranquil Battlefield was deathly quiet. Surely, the Violetglory Star was as well.

”I bet my Omnisentient Threads are increasing by the second....” He felt like he had hit the jackpot.

1. The ’Wu’ in Yanwu means ’lacking’ and ’Dao’ is the same dao from daoism, which can also be translated as morals. I.E. Yanwu Dao is ’without morals’. ☜