Beastmaster of the Ages

”Come to think of it, the Violetglory Star really looks beautiful in a dreamy sense, but even then, it can’t compare to the beauty of the snow at Soulburn Hall. The whole place is pure white, as if everything is blanketed in the same united shade. It really stills the heart,” Tianming said.

”Without you around, this snow just highlights how lonely I can get,” Feiling said, lying melancholically in his arms. She knew that well from the time she had been cooped up in the Archaion Sect. Back then, she had to wait ages just to see Tianming once. As the former ruler of Perpetia, loneliness was something that was engraved deep in her bones. It was only after she had begun to enjoy Tianming’s company that the loneliness began to sting and instill fear in her. Yet some part of her was always used to it.

Tianming felt a pinch in his heart at hearing that. He hugged her tighter and said, ”Ling’er, from now on, I’ll be by your side during every moment. You won’t feel lonely again.” He knew that this was the least he had to do. Only by loving and caring for her could he help her conquer her innate nature. He would get her used to the warmth of people so that the cold and lonesome ruler of Perpetia would slowly grow to accept him. Once she did, perhaps her dual personalities would fuse back into one.

”You don’t need to be here constantly, only from time to time. Not to mention, even if you run away, I’ll chase after you,” she said, pinching his arm. ”You did something naughty to me, so you have to take responsibility.”

”What naughty thing? Those were but fleeting dreams that leave no mark. The real naughty stuff comes once the conditions are met.”

”Sheesh, is there nothing else that goes through your head?”

”This? Coming from someone who asked for one more round time after another just now?”

”That didn’t happen.”

”Haha....” Feeling light hearted, he laughed happily. ”Don’t worry, we won’t split. We were born to be each other’s match! Just look at how well we fought together in the Bloodbath Arena. We’ll keep on fighting side by side to defeat more and more powerful enemies across the astralscape.”

He figured that only by fighting by her side time and again would she truly be able to undo the marks of loneliness carved deep into her psyche. It was better than pushing her to the other extreme. At the end of the day, she was the same person as her other self. There was only one soul that stretched from the ancient past to the present. She had basically met Tianming in an amnesiac state, and now parts of her memory were surfacing once more, slightly changing her personality as they did. During those times, he had to be incredibly patient with her. Otherwise she wouldn’t believe all that had happened between them up until now.

She held his hands deep into the night, drifting off in the wondersky realm and groaning in her sleep as she teared up. Tianming couldn’t quite hear what she said, save for a plea for him to not leave her.

He shook his head with a resigned smile. There was no way he would leave her, not even with the mysterious things about the realm of chaos. Not even for the hundred-thousand-year-old portrait, his parents, grandparents, elder brother, the chaos worldbangle, the grade-nine Grand-Orient Sword, or comma girl.

......

After a few days of rest, Tianming decided to put his plans into action. He had told Feiling, Lingfeng, Xiaoxiao, and Qingyu about it already. He would first summon the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb and have it emerge somewhere near the Violetglory Star. Even though it wouldn’t be that much closer, it would still save some time. They would be returning to their home star, Orderia. Tianming couldn’t leave without at least bidding farewell, however. Regardless of how Sovereign Starfeather and the rest would react, he owed them an explanation at the very least.

”Wait for me here. I’ll go to the capital.”

”Okay.”

”Relax. Maybe it’ll work out well.”

”Big Brother, is this really a good time to go back? We’re still not really the sun emperor’s match,” Qingyu said with worry.

”Don’t worry, we’re only going back to take a look. If it really won’t work, we’ll think of something else. At the very least, I can pilot the ship well enough and the Divine Sun Palace doesn’t have its wheel, so it won’t be able to catch up to us. We basically have nothing to lose.”

”Alright, but your driving skills aren’t that hot either.”

Since Tianming had mastered Annihilation and unlocked the star map of the ship, they’d moved up their plans to return to Orderia. They had already been gone for a year, and Tianming was filled with worry for Li Wudi day after day.

”I’ll be going, then.” He turned and smiled at Feiling and she nodded back.

”Come back quickly. We’ll all wait for your good news.”

”Will do.” As he left, more than half of the hundred Starchasers accompanied him. The rest remained to protect Lingfeng and the others.

The Starchasers had quite an easy job. The more Tianming stood out in the Astraldome, the fewer people would actually dare to assassinate him. Now that the mysterians were in the picture, basically nobody dared to try anything funny. As such, the Starchasers had few, if any, threats to thwart. There used to be the worry that the Divineglory Dynasty would try to assassinate Tianming, but Ye Chen’s participation in the previous battles had improved the relations between the two main factions. With the Violetglory Star more or less united, the other side had no more reason to plot assassinations, especially knowing that the mysterians would eventually take Tianming away anyway. All of that was thanks to the fame he had gained through the Astraldome. Feiling and the rest also felt quite assured that Tianming had seventy-odd Starchasers protecting him at all times.

”Ling’er, do you want to play a round of Go? I recently fell in love with the game,” Qingyu said, pulling Feiling with her by the sleeve to the pavilion. The girls got along quite well, all being fellow friends from the same world in a foreign one.

”Sure thing.” The two of them started playing while Xiaoxiao watched from the side.

When Qingyu lost and asked her if she wanted to play, she shook her head. ”No, please. I hate using my head. Just let me cheer from the sidelines.”

Thus, the games continued. Qingyu suddenly felt a chill and looked up at the girl in front of her. ”Ling’er, it’s your turn.”

Feiling seemed to have her head lowered in deep thought before she slowly raised it. She crushed a white piece into powder, letting the fine fragments fall from her hand like snow.

Qingyu saw that her eyes were icy blue. ”Ling’er, what’s going on?”

”He violated me so many times... it’s about time I paid him back,” Feiling said with an ancient, bone-chilling voice.