Beastmaster of the Ages

The others had entered the sixth level of the Tranquil battlefield when Qingyu was still at the third level, so she felt quite a bit of pressure. That in turn helped instigate her desire for more power, and the more she did, the more stimulated the blood of the ancients in her body grew.

”We’ll wait for you at the sixth level and stop going further up. With how much better the fifth level has been lately, it shouldn’t be that hard to catch up,” Tianming said.

”I know, I was just joking,” Qingyu said. After that, she finally decided to go to the Astralium Seeking.

Tianming also entered the wondersky realm, but before he did, he registered his new gains with the wondersky realm. ”Divine wonders are indeed the signature techniques of divine wonderians. Registering them is really convenient.” Both the prime and carefree wonders were properly and easily recorded. The formation probably treated Tianming as it would a divine wonderian.ѵ

”Done deal!” He now had even more things to use in the wondersky realm. After Weisheng Xi and comma girl left, he was unparalleled among the younger generation. If Violetglory was considered to be under the jurisdiction of the Mysterium Cluster, then Tianming would be number one in the cluster. Many people in the Astraldome did in fact consider Tianming to be worthy of that title.

......

Tianming went to Soulburn Hall, but nobody was there. The moment he entered the Astraldome, the wondersky fairy made an announcement.

”What’s with all the fanfare? I’m only going to cultivate,” Tianming said. Little did he expect that many people wanted to look at him even though he wasn’t fighting. He entered the Tranquil Hall, a large, seemingly boundless expanse. Battles were forbidden there and were only carried out quite some ways away from the hall.

”From now on, I’ll count on this place for caeli!” It started off way back at the Old Deepstar Path back at the Flameyellow Continent. Now, he had reached Tranquil Hall for caeli imperius from all kinds of worlds, making great strides as he progressed. The two billion Omnisentient Threads seemed to be Violetglory’s limit. Unless he proceeded to become its savior, he wouldn’t be able to go far beyond that. Now that he no longer had an obstacle to vault past, he had to take his cultivation step by step.

......

Over the two-month-long voyage, Tianming only did three things: cultivating at Tranquil Hall, training his swordsmanship in the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, and waiting for Feiling in Soulburn Hall. His Lifesbane Will continued growing in Tranquil Hall. While the growth couldn’t compare to his Imperial Will’s, it was more stable and had fewer bottlenecks. After getting the prime wonder, his understanding of the Lifesbane curse seemed to grow. However, he understood that people on his level, like Yanwu Dao, only broke through once every few years. It would be highly unlikely for him to break through after only two months.

”Looks like I’ll have to get used to finding a new way to surpass myself and grow my divine wills on my own.” He knew that he already had it easy, being much faster than most people when he had started off.

According to the star map, they were getting closer and closer to Orderia. They were about a star’s distance away from there, meaning that they would be able to reach the outposts in around five days. He recalled the sun emperor, countless celestial orderians, dead Li Wushuang, and the stubborn Li Wudi. All those memories made his expression turn grave.

”I bet they won’t expect me to return so soon.” He had been desperately on the run just a year back, but now he was returning, not wanting to shock and awe, but to look for an opportunity to save his godfather and perhaps learn the truth about the ’experiments’ he spoke of. His heartbeat intensified more and more.

”Tianming, where’s Qingyu?” Lingfeng asked, feeling a little worried. He hadn’t seen her nearby. Tianming, on the other hand, knew everything about the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb thanks to Yin Chen.

”She’s at the Silverdragon Palace.” That was the palace at the upper left head of the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. Usually, Qingyu didn’t go there. Perhaps she only did so now because some issue had popped up regarding her bane-rings. Tianming exchanged glances with Lingfeng before the two of them headed there to seek her out. Eventually, they saw a white-robed girl huddled in a corner with her back facing them.

”What’s wrong?” the two of them asked.

”Don’t... don’t come here,” she said in a hoarse voice.

”Qingyu, don’t panic,” Tianming said. But Lingfeng had gone to her already.

”Don’t look at me, please....” Though she tried to block her face with her hands, Tianming already saw the centipede-shaped scar on it. It wasn’t huge, but it stood out. Her hoarse voice also made her sound possessed.

”Big Brother, take Feng away,” she begged, lowering her head.

”We won’t leave.” They had been expecting this, so they were mentally prepared. Hiding her away wasn’t the solution.

Tianming pulled Lingfeng along with him as they approached her. He said with a firm voice, ”It’s fine. Look up and let me see.”

Qingyu still struggled to hide it.

”There’s some problems we must face head-on to have a chance of solving,” he emphasized.

”Qingyu, don’t worry. Brother Tianming and I will think of a way to fix this. Please don’t give up,” Lingfeng gently said despite his anxiety.

”Okay....” She wasn’t a weak person, just startled by the sudden changes. Slowly, she looked up at the two of them. ”I... why am I so unlucky for this to have happened to me?”

”It’s a little unfortunate,” Tianming said. The fate of Li Wushuang wasn’t something any girl would want to go through. No matter how much power one gained, it wasn’t worth it if they ended up looking as ugly as a corpse. It was clear from Qingyu’s face that the blood of the ancients was starting to show its effects.

”I just came back from the wondersky realm and wanted to tell you some good news, but this sudden change scared me.” She still tried to avoid their gaze.

”What good news?” Tianming asked.

Qingyu glared at him and said, ”Sigh, what kind of big brother are you? Is that all you care about even though my face is like this?”

”Calm down. I’m only trying to divert your attention to something else, you know.”

Qingyu grit her teeth and said, ”I’m a second-level solarian.”

”That’s quick!” Tianming finally understood that he was the slowest one to progress of all of them.

”The problem is that these changes happened right after I broke through. I think it also has something to do with returning to Orderia. The closer we come, the more anxious I feel. And the more I fear it, the more it wants to show itself.” She was referring to the wraith within her bane-rings.

Tianming gave her a closer look. Her bane-rings did indeed show some changes, and he knew it would only continue worsening. ”If it has something to do with Orderia, I shouldn’t have brought you back.”

”That won’t do! I want to save dad!” she insisted. Li Wudi was among the most important people to her.

Lingfeng grit his teeth. ”If Orderia has something to do with this, the sun emperor’s probably involved as well. This was his fault to begin with, so he probably has a way to undo it. If we take him down, we might be able to help you recover.”

”Feng’s right. Only the sun emperor knows anything about the ancient blood. Maybe he has a lead.”

Lingfeng didn’t panic and instead considered his options. He had matured quite a bit more than before.

”Him....” Qingyu still seemed quite fearful of the sun emperor.

”Don’t worry. We’ve come back to fight him. It isn’t like we haven’t offended him yet or anything.”

”Thanks for giving me hope.” Her expression began to stabilize.

”What’s there to thank me for? Tough it out. Cowering away like that in the face of trouble doesn’t suit you,” Tianming said.

”You say all that... but wait until you get a freaking centipede on your face. Not to mention, I don’t know how much worse this can get yet,” she said, almost on the brink of crying.

”Hey, look at the bright side. No matter how ugly you become, there’s still someone who’ll cherish you!” Tianming’s words caused the other two to blush. He was quite thick skinned. He stood up and patted Lingfeng on the shoulder. ”Well, take care of her while I think of something.”

”Alright!”

Tianming stopped after taking a few steps. ”By the way, we’ll be leaving the ship in four and a half days to hide it before going to Flameyellow.”

Qingyu’s tears began to flow. ”Big Brother, can we see grandma?” When Li Wudi was wasting away after being crippled, Qingyu had been raised by her grandmother, Li Jingyu.

”Of course.”

She smiled for real this time, as if she had forgotten her worries. Four days passed in a flash. The gigantic ball of fire they were familiar with finally showed up in their vicinity.