Beastmaster of the Ages

”Chase it down!” Tianming cried with his eyes bloodshot. The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb adjusted its course straight toward the crippled astralship while the flaming beasts followed suit. After witnessing the allied ship deal so much damage, tens of millions of flaming beasts swarmed the mechanical wolf. At that point, the mechanical wolf could no longer move fast, let alone fight back. The dragons, phoenixes, and qilins that burned around it ravaged the ship and pressed it down as it unleashed its death throes. It proceeded through the Flameyellow Guard Formation at a snail’s pace. Entering it was easy, but breaking a leg and trying to leave was beyond difficult.

”One more time!” Tianming’s eyes flashed as he accelerated again, aiming the spike at the enemy ship once more. ”Break apart!”

A rumble echoed through the space around them. The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb was like a lion that pounced on a crippled wolf that had left a trail of blood in its path. It was yet another fatal strike, accompanied with another Ninedragon Apotheosis. An apocalyptic scene out of a nightmare once more unfolded. The rear half of the Sanctquility Ghostrain exploded once more, sending even more shrapnel flying. Yet another hole had been made in its back, pushing it near its breaking point. Metal rained down on the astralguard formation below, much to Yin Chen’s glee. Much of that shrapnel was made of top-class divine ores, which was a great treat for the metal insect swarm.

Less than half of the Skywolf ship remained intact, pushing its divine astralship formation to the limits. It was already beyond repair, especially after having lost three legs. A legacy that had been passed down for tens of thousands of generations was left destroyed in the Flameyellow Guard Formation just like that! Even in their nightmares, the specters wouldn’t be able to fathom such a result. While they had lost the Greenvoid Abyss, it could still be recovered as it was still intact, but the Sanctquility Ghostrain had been nearly completely destroyed! Tianming could already hear them crying and sobbing from the sense of loss. Needless to say, it was the greatest blow their morale had ever suffered.

Tianming had nothing else to say to them apart from asking them to perish. He didn’t hold back and delivered the coup de grace, charging up as the flaming beasts swarmed what was left of the ship. The nine-colored ball of energy smashed directly against the head of the mechanical wolf and its divine astralship formation crumbled away at a rate the naked eye could see, leaving the ship nothing more than an empty metal husk. The low whimper that escaped the mechanical wolf marked the end of Skywolf Frost’s legendary artifact.

More and more metal shards rained down from the flaming clouds. The specters were visibly disheartened by that staggering loss. Fortunately, the flaming clouds were far too chaotic for many of them to catch sight of their flagship being completely eradicated. Otherwise, all of them would have lost the will to fight. But it was a pivotal moment, and Tianming wouldn’t miss the chance to boast. He had Yin Chen spread the word of the destruction of Skywolf Frost’s divine astralship to the masses. Word reached the troops that had left with the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb first, resulting in a wave of cheers.

”Let’s get rid of Sovereign Sanctquility!” all of them yelled with a look of fervor in their eyes. There was no way they would let a figure of that station slip away after taking down the enemy ship. Tianming resonated with the countless people of the sun and his followers in the Myriad Solar Sects in that desire. The Sanctvoid Army’s six hundred million troops were no joke—no matter how powerful the Flameyellow Guard Formation was, it wouldn’t be able to stop them all. It was only a matter of time before they broke through the two lines of defense before going on to slaughter the masses. Hence, it was imperative for Tianming and the rest to press the advantage while they had it.

”The Sanctquility Ghostrain’s eradication has significantly crushed the morale of the enemy. If their sovereign follows in the steps of their ship, their forces will turn to mush!” If that happened, the invasion from Skywolf Frost would have failed even without Tianming’s forces having to hunt them down.

No doubt, Sovereign Sanctquility had abandoned the ship and it would be quite difficult to track a single individual through the chaotic flaming clouds. Fortunately, Tianming had already made preparations. He had sent out ten million Yin Chens to latch onto the enemy ship during the fight. Even though some of its bodies burned up in the flaming clouds, losing them to keep tabs on the sovereign was no big deal. Additionally, Lingfeng was also out on the prowl, having been sent out during Tianming’s second assault. Someone with a fourth imperial soul like his could easily track another through the chaotic battlefield. Not to mention, he had been gathering terra throughout the battle, gradually increasing his strength!

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Even after the ship was destroyed, the flaming beasts continued gnawing at the wreck. Tianming’s ship coursed through the sky as Lingfeng and Yin Chen attempted to track down their target.

”Quick... we have to find her, quickly!” He was almost desperately praying. It didn’t take much longer before Yin Chen relayed a message to him.

”I need the rest of you to stay put,” he instructed Weisheng Moran, Qingyu, and Yu Ziqian, before charging out of the ship in the direction given to him. Without him to pilot the ship, it hovered there dormant.

Lingfeng had been the one to track down the sovereign using one of the soul-tracing tricks he gained from the legacy of the Primordial Demonlord. He opened up his Primordial Gate, using it to track down the other individual apart from him that possessed a fourth imperial soul as he absorbed terra from his surroundings. The sovereign’s achievements with regards to soul cultivation proved to be to her detriment in this case.

Not much time had passed since the Sanctquility Ghostrain’s destruction, so the sovereign hadn’t been able to flee far. If it weren’t for the flaming clouds around them, Tianming would have been able to keep an eye on her without needing Lingfeng to do the tracking. He entered the flaming clouds and experienced the might of the Flameyellow Guard Formation firsthand. Even he was shaken at the sight of those roaming beasts of flame, let alone the skywolf specters.

”Onward!” He directed Meow Meow toward Lingfeng, who was already engaged with Sovereign Sanctquility. Meow Meow completely ignored any interference of the Flameyellow Guard Formation and made it to the battle zone in mere moments. It was much nearer than expected. Having crossed the ocean of flames, Tianming saw the two fighters. Had he been able to use the ship to kill the sovereign, he wouldn’t have left it. However, the sovereign was far too agile a target for the divine astralship, so he needed to dirty his own hands.

”Feng!”

Lingfeng hadn’t yet managed to absorb that much terra, so he was having quite a hard time fighting the sovereign alone. Fortunately, Tianming had arrived in the nick of time. ”I’m alright!” He backed off, but not far away. Instead, he opened his Primordial Gate to absorb even more terra, having completed his main objective.

Tianming unleashed all of his totems and beasts, then slammed the prime wonder down on the sovereign’s head at the first instant. His pandemonium and cyclic sacrosuns also made their appearance. Having been enhanced by the power from the Omnisentient Threads, all aspects of his combat ability were strengthened to their limits. This war had greatly boosted his reputation across the mortal realm, which wasn’t lacking in numbers one bit. The twenty billion threads soon grew to thirty billion, then forty billion, and beyond. Though most of the people connected to them only had heavenly wills rather than divine wills, the combined number alone was no doubt able to inspire a new change in him. Every single one of those people considered him the undisputed ruler of the sun!

The flaming beasts worked in tandem with Tianming to surround the sovereign. The beauty that had once been wild and proud wore nothing but a pale face. Even her tanned skin seemed much paler than usual. Her sinister gaze from before had been replaced with a timid one as she beheld the youth before her. The moment her ship had been rammed through, her willpower had already taken a huge hit. She had never considered that a hunter in her position would end up being the hunted. Not even her minions had any idea where she was in the chaotic formation. Though her army was still pushing the invasion effort and applying huge pressure on the troops on the other side, she was in grave danger herself.

In her awe, she recalled that Tianming had even fought the sun emperor before, but the recollection of his age made her calm down a bit. Mastering her thoughts, she addressed him, ”Perhaps I should give you one final chance. If you choose to surrender now, I’ll take you to a place suited to you. Needless to say, you’re a truly amazing specimen. Someone like you definitely knows how vast this astralscape is and how many stars there are that are many, many times larger than the sun, right?”

”Me? Surrender?” Tianming shrugged and laughed. Right as the sovereign furrowed her brows and was about to say more, he hushed her. ”Not a word from you. Lend me your head. I’ll use it and your ship to send a clear message to the rest of your kind. You’ll serve as an example of the fate of wild wolves that dare to tread the ground of the sun.”