Beastmaster of the Ages

”Huh?” Tianming got a good look and saw that there was an entire star cluster in Ying Huo’s eyes instead of the single star it’d had when it first hatched. That happened to line up with his expectations, as star clusters usually had ten thousand stars. As the perverted bird’s current form was too small, the stars were bunched up together and looked like a single star, but they spread apart when its body grew in size!

Almost instantly, the little chick in his hand spread its wings, expanding as infernal flames covered its body. The sharp cry of a phoenix echoed throughout the area. Phoenixes were beasts of fortune and represented all that was right, just, and ceremonial. However, the Aeternal Infernal Phoenix balked that tradition. Ever since Tianming had first seen it within the dreamscape, he’d known that it wasn’t a bird of goodness.

Fully formed, a gigantic, flaming phoenix stood before Tianming. The countless flaming feathers on its wings looked like razor-sharp knives, layered upon each other as they burned. Its claws and eyes looked much more ferocious than before and its black and red eyes looked like entrances to infernal worlds where countless stars burned.

The first impression Tianming got was that its Infernal Blaze was much hotter than it used to be, as if something fundamental about it had changed. The flames were capable of destruction in a similar vein to cosmic impulses.

The second thought that occurred to him was even more terrifying. He felt that the phoenix before him no longer had an astral physique. Its constitution had completely transformed, making it a kind of lifeform that was superior even to Tianming! It was an advanced cosmic deity!

Not to mention, he felt helpless and at a complete loss before it, like he did toward Lin Jianxing. It was applying some kind of pressure on him. The sensation felt like having the albi of his body being controlled by someone else’s order.... He actually felt order coming from Ying Huo! That represented a far more advanced and finer level of control over the universe, and he had no idea how it had come to be.

”Haha, young sport, do you regret it now? I can control you however I wish. From now on, I’m the beastmaster and you’re my lifebound beast! Kekekekeke!” Despite the surface transformation, Ying Huo’s personality hadn’t changed in the slightest. In its moment of glory, it put its wings on its hips and rolled its eyes at the fantasy of the role reversal, even drooling magma that caused the water from the Infinitum Sea underneath it to evaporate into steam.

”Stupid bird, stop messing around. Tell me what’s going on. I heard that becoming a myriadstar beast allows you to go beyond the astral physique and attain the heptastar cosmic physique of advanced cosmic lifeforms, but why do you have order? It seems a bit too early for that.” Tianming had no way to be sure, but he had a strong instinct as a beastmaster that that was the case. Did Ying Huo go to the sea of order by itself while it was in the cocoon and return with some order? As far as his understanding went, that wasn’t possible. Symbiotic cultivation was meant to happen in tandem.

His lifebound beasts would only be able to obtain order once Tianming was a full-fledged stellaminor and attempted to advance to the Order stage, sending his caelum and divine will into the sea of order while the beasts’ own caeli and divine wills tagged along. There was no exception to that rule for any beastmaster. While lifebound beasts could form a heptastar cosmic physique through the use of myriadstar manna, obtaining order before that wasn’t something that would normally be possible. Not to mention, Ying Huo was still a twelfth-level solarian, like Tianming.

”Haha, who can say for sure? Who can way indeed?” Ying Huo said, flapping its wings.

Seeing its sneaky look, Tianming was reminded of how long it had been since he had given it a good whack. Even so, he did worry quite a bit as he wouldn’t be able to whack it any longer if it really did have order. If a hexa-beastmaster like him wasn’t able to defeat any of his lifebound beasts, he would be the most humiliated beastmaster in history. It was common knowledge that a beastmaster’s strength rose in tandem with their beasts, after all.

”Alright, I’ll stop teasing you, lest your confidence starts to fracture and you become a burden that weighs me down instead.” Ying Huo flew back down and transformed back into its yellow chick form, landing on his head. It looked completely harmless on the surface, but a hint of terror radiated from its little, infernal eyes.

”So? What’s going on?”

”You’re right. I do have some order, but I didn’t obtain it from the sea of order. Instead, it’s self-generated. I made it myself.”

”Nonsense. Ebonian cultivation manuals state that all order in this world originates from the sea of order. That’s a matter of cosmic laws, and a physical manifestation of them! All lifeforms borrow order from the sea of order to control even more cosmic energy. How could yours be innate to you? Wouldn’t that mean you’re breaking a fundamental cosmic law?”

”I don’t know either. Whatever it is, when I was unlocking my bloodline, I just started being able to innately use order. Do you remember the spherical honeycomb briquette you saw back then? Seven of those things filled up my weak little body.”

”Are you serious? What kind of order is it? Flames?”

”Aren’t you an old-fashioned one? I’m a Primordial Chaos Beast. How could my flames be normal ones? There’s all kinds of flame-type orders, and my infernal order is the strongest kind!” Ying Huo patted its chest with satisfaction.

”Infernal order?” An order that allowed it to control all things infernal sounded terrifying indeed.

”Want to test what it feels like?” Ying Huo said, raising a brow.

”Come on!” Tianming knew that he would be completely suppressed. The only way a stellaminor could be completely frozen was if an advanced cosmic lifeform used order.

Ying Huo shot Tianming a terrifying gaze. The next instant, it felt like all the albi in his body was set alight! He grasped for words to describe the pain, but none came. It felt similar to being completely frozen by Lin Jianxing. There was no doubt; this was definitely the power of order!

”Alright, that’s enough,” Tianming said, waving his hands.

”Badass, right? Hahaha, you struck gold this time. I’m betting that all six of us are able to generate order. That means you’ll be able to go against advanced cosmic lifeforms even before reaching the Order stage. Without us, your ability to fight above your level will be greatly hampered.”