Beastmaster of the Ages

”One, two, three, four, five... six!” Tianming passed one vortex entrance after another in the Caeli Sea as he escorted the soft Feiling around to the sixth entrance with his waist bent over. The soundproofing capability of the mini ship was rather excellent, so he was just collecting the ’debt’ for the expensive necklace. The sixth vortex entrance didn’t have many people around; those that were there were mostly seniors.

”Big Brother... we can’t keep doing this. If this goes on, even I’ll manage to master the Grandvoid Compendium....” Feiling held onto his arm for dear life lest she slump to the ground. Her face was still flushed and she hadn’t calmed down yet.

”Is this all it takes for you to be worn out? How do you even cultivate?” Tianming shot her a disdainful look and hugged her tight before going down on her again. Seeing her in this state fueled his urges even more. As the two of them kept going at each other, Tianming felt a cold gaze prick into his lower abdomen.

”Huh?” He looked up and saw Lin Jianxing of the third branch standing at the entrance of the sixth level. It was like he was waiting for someone.

”That annoying fellow keeps on trailing me...” Feiling said as she leaned on his shoulder.

”Dammit. Those who try to steal my wife shall never be forgiven!”

”He won’t be able to.”

”He shouldn’t even be allowed to think about it!” Tianming hugged her even tighter and left the ship, heading toward Lin Jianxing.

”Lin Feng, why’d you come to the sixth level?” Lin Jianxing asked, staring them down. The two of them were all too clearly refreshed in a way that he would instantly be able to tell what had been going on.

”Are you blind? Can’t you see I’m a grade-three disciple now? Granted, I’m three grades lower than you, but I still have the privilege to enter the sixth level. Feeling panicked yet?” Tianming asked with a smile.

Lin Jianxing looked at his disciple card. The designation of Tianming as a twelfth-level solarian was quite striking. As Tianming hadn’t used a minor stella chart, the clan registry hadn’t been able to ascertain his true cultivation level. Nobody would think that he was actually just an eleventh-level solarian.

The two of them had been completely dominated by Lin Jianxing not too long ago, yet now they were toying with him without any fear. Though his emotions were in turmoil, he didn’t let them show on his face. ”Looks like you’re in a rush to reincarnate. That seems to be your talent.” It was a rather high-class insult, to say the least.

”Is that so? At least I’m better than you at something.” Tianming didn’t want to bother with him. He would have his revenge for being stabbed and kicked one day. ”Also, stop being a creep and leave my wife alone, would you?”

He then entered the sixth level with Feiling. As the waters of the vortex swallowed them up, Lin Jianxing slowly clenched his fists tight.

”I really regret it....” The more he thought about it, the more regret he felt, and that only seemed to twist his thoughts more and more. The rules and shackles that held him down groaned under the weight of his resentment. ”If I could turn back time, I’d immediately imprison all four of them and torture them to death! Nobody needed to know that he was Lin Mu’s son, and nobody would’ve cared for him!”

......

Finally, Tianming arrived at the sixth level of Caeli Vault that he had pined over for so long. Dongshen Yue had said that he could become a stellaminor within half a year after he got access to this level. Back then, he had only been an eighth-level solarian, but now he was at the eleventh level.

”Whoa!” There were far fewer caeli in the sixth level compared to the fourth, but they were all much larger. Caeli from cosmic cartographer ancestors filled the skies like gigantic nova source worlds, shining a guiding light on their talented successors.

”These ancestors are still helping us juniors even after their passing.... Their contributions know no bounds. I wonder what my caelum will be like when the time comes for me to leave it for those that come after me....” It would be rather difficult for a caelum to be preserved if one died unexpectedly or in battle. Still, talking of leaving his legacy was still too far off for Tianming; he was far from the age to consider such things. All he cared about now was to voraciously learn the laws of the cosmos to better himself.

”Big Brother, come with me.” Feiling turned back, causing her blue dress to flutter. The smile she shot him was the same one he had seen countless times.

”Alright, I’m coming.” The two of them stepped into the void and headed toward the boundless starscape.

”It’s said that the Cosmic Cartography stage is the one that follows the Order stage. Advanced cosmic deities of that stage will have the albi in their bodies form a cosmic atlas, which is like a blueprint for the universe as a whole. It’s the starting point for all universes that stem from within a human body. Cultivators at that stage will use the order they have to control their cosmic atlases, generating even more changes. It’s different from the spherical honeycomb briquettes orderans have,” Feiling explained.

”Let me take a look.” Tianming was brimming with impatience. He had heard so much about it, but there was no doubt he would learn much more by experiencing it for himself. He headed toward an azure caelum that was tens of times larger than those in the fifth level. Within it were countless scenes from the beginning to the end of the caelum owner’s life. Everything was recorded in it like a mysterious and grand manifestation of nature. Order, on the other hand, was carved into the core of countless beings. All those things about the caelum, cosmos and soul resonance were difficult to describe.

It was a shame that Tianming had lost his sixth lifebound beast. As such, there was nothing he could do to progress on the path of soul cultivation. His soul was still stuck as a third regal soul and hadn’t even reached the fourth imperial soul level.

He entered the caelum. It was just like going into the core of a star. His way ahead was completely illuminated.

”I’m Lin Hegui. I wonder what era you’re from, descendant. Please protect the Lin Clan and contribute to its prosperity,” said the figure of a swordsman who was shrouded in the nightly glow of Ebonia. His face showed the pride he had in his clan.

”Nice to meet you, Senior.” While Tianming liked to joke around, he actually held deep respect for the seniors that had left their caeli for the future generations. He accepted the existence of Lin Hegui’s order.

Order was obtained from the ordered sea and stored in the body. After death, it would enter the caelum and return to the ordered sea. As such, stopping a caelum from returning to the ordered sea was going against the natural way of things, and it was unknown whether or not such a practice was harmful to the universe. In fact, Archaionfiends consumed caeli, so they also consumed the order within them. That was how Xiaoxiao had recently managed to make rapid breakthroughs. While she couldn’t quite take the order the Archaionfiend consumed for herself, it was clear that she experienced a sharp growth spike from its doing so. As for where that order ended up, nobody knew for sure.

”It’s here....” When Tianming saw the order of a cosmic cartographer, he felt a shock in his whole being. It was no longer a spherical honeycomb briquette with hexagonal holes, but had transformed into some kind of hornet’s nest! The order of the Cosmic Cartography stage was actually a gigantic hornet’s nest with many hexagonal holes ordered neatly together, forming a stable and mystical structure.

The spherical honeycomb briquette turning into a hornet’s nest wasn’t the surprising thing, but rather the presence of something within those hexagonal holes of the nest! They looked just like living chrysalises! Every single hole had a slumbering chrysalis within that seemed to pulse with life. One day, they would turn into hornets and emerge from the nest. This weird soul construct had a specific name—the ordo—and it was something that would only manifest in cosmic cartographers. Those things that seemed like living organisms were actually a manifestation of the power of universal laws.

Tianming was completely enchanted by the mysteries of cultivation. ”It’s breathtaking....” It was order, an intrinsic part of the universal laws! His caelum hovered around the hornet’s nest as he marveled for a long time at the sight of the lifelike beings. He took a deep breath as he reached out with his black arm, lightly poking it into the hexagonal hole to touch the chrysalis. It was a perfect match! He felt like he was touching something that was alive. It was as if the laws of the universe were alive and breathing.

That instant, everything about Lin Hegui flowed into Tianming, guiding him to the deeper paths of cultivation. Every time he came into contact with high-level caeli, his Imperial and Lifesbane Wills would undergo a transformation, and this time was no exception.

A single chrysalis was enough to completely captivate him, showing him the entire cultivation path of a cosmic cartographer. Everything from his hot-blooded youth, family formation, middle-aged achievements, and retirement to become a cultivation teacher had been transferred. He had boundless good karma and had been blessed with many children and grandchildren, having lived a fulfilling life. And all of that was converted into a single chrysalis to be kept nascent for eternity.

”Legacies enable someone like me to interface and resonate with a senior born in a completely different time, with whom it would otherwise be impossible for me to meet.” That was likely something intrinsic to humans and civilizations. Everything about a person was built upon the ones who had come before, inheriting countless legacies of explorations and discoveries of the universe.

Tianming loved this feeling. He immersed himself in it, forgetting his self to completely absorb what the seniors had left for him, from Lin Hegui, Lin Guanyu, Lin Changxi, and more. All of them had left their names in the clan registry, and they were now guiding Tianming on how to progress. Like the land after a drought, he craved nourishment so that the seeds within him could germinate and grow. Just like that, he forgot the passing of time.

After going through more than a thousand of them, deeply immersed in order, two months had passed. He found that the farther along the path of cultivation he traveled, the shorter the flow of time seemed to be. A single month was no different from how three to four days had once felt. Back then, he hadn’t understood how someone like Lin Xiao, who had lived for thousands of years, still hadn’t grown sick of living, but now he knew why.