Beastmaster of the Ages

As Tianming turned around, he thought of something: if that person was an assassin, he would be long dead. He breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t see a person there. Instead, he saw Ebonia, or rather a boundless black star spinning before him. As it was pitch black, it wasn’t nearly as eye-catching as Lin Xiaozhi’s caelum. ”The caelum of the Grandvoid Swordfiend....”

It had finally come! Tianming opened his arms wide and was instantly swallowed up by the darkness. The reges mundi level regained its former stillness in which existence itself struggled to maintain a presence.

”Senior....” Tianming kept progressing toward the inner parts of the star. Countless scenes swept across his eyes, all of them featuring a black-haired man wielding a black wooden sword. He lived his life without any restrictions, neither bowing down to anyone nor refraining from drink and sword. His sword strikes were like a temporal stream, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes broken, and sometimes scattered. Anything that his hands touched changed in unpredictable ways. Tianming felt like he was drowning in new insights.

”This is far too mystical.... To think that there’s so much more to the Grandvoid Compendium. These sword arts have an interesting effect on time itself. It’s truly worldshaking!”

He was completely immersed, though there was little actual learning that he could do from the short flash of scenes before him. However, an impression of the true nature of the Grandvoid Swordfiend had formed within him. He was an invincible figure, unrestrained by anything or anyone.

”It’s no wonder someone like this ended up going for someone so much younger!” Lin Xiaozhi had been his disciple, and there was a considerable age gap between the two of them. Yet they came together and made quite a polarizing couple, one divine, one fiendish. Tianming saw many elements of himself within the man.

”He’s a little like Ouyang Jianwang from the Flameyellow Continent. An interesting figure indeed.” Tianming’s interest in this particular forebear considerably grew, along with his respect.

”I should be nearing the core soon. That’s where the Foundation of his order is located!” He took a deep, expectant breath. In the current year, only two people in the entire Infinitum Mundus were in the Foundation stage, namely Yi Daiyan and the former first rex mundi from half a century back, the ruler of the ebons! What in the world could their foundations be?

Tianming widened his eyes as he passed through the final picture of the Grandvoid Swordfiend’s life, entering a new world altogether.? He held his breath as he looked ahead. ”Is that... a city?”

He felt a little stumped at the sight of the boundless black city ahead of him, surrounded by a black fog. Every single brick that formed it was hexagonal in shape, causing each wall to form incredibly perfect structures. The entire city itself, and even its moat, was hexagonal in shape. The black water within the moat quickened and slowed as it flowed around the city, splashing from time to time and remaining still in others, just like the Grandvoid Compendium.

What was even more inconceivable was the fact that there were living beings within the city. They looked like tiny black bees of varying shapes and sizes. The ones that manned the walls were burly and powerful, while others that looked more normal could be seen building up the city with various hexagonal materials. The world that this city comprised seemed rather... orderly, in a way. It was extremely logical and efficient. The expressions of the young bees were all different, as if they had their own personalities.

Even then, the whole thing was nothing but order! Tianming didn’t know how to react even after staring at it for a long time.

”So, it starts off as nothing but an abstract sphere. Then it turns into a hive with ordo—no, many ordines. And now I’m looking at a whole city. The ordo have left the hive and become workers, soldiers, and so on, constructing a society of some sort.... Is that what the order of the Foundation stage looks like? Does the foundation refer to this city of order? An orderpolis?”

His understanding was starting to form, but he still felt quite awed. The movement of the water in the moat and the little bees undulated between fast and slow, showing that the temporal power of the Grandvoid Swordfiend was an important part of this city. The young bees were the next forms of the ordines and the city, along with everything in it, was the core of the Grandvoid Swordfiend’s cultivation, the culmination of his life’s efforts! Everything, from his sword arts to his insights, were entombed within this city that contained a basic civilization of bees. They made up every single hexagonal brick or part.

What, then, did the young bees represent? Curious, Tianming approached one to take a closer look. The size of his own caelum was about the size of the young bees. He decided to fly into the city!

......

In some corner of the Infinitum Swordsea was Lin Jianxing, dressed in a green robe. He stepped on the sword-shaped nova source that flew out of the calm ocean surface and walked across the water. ”Hehehe... hehehehe....” His lips twisted in unnatural ways, making him look somewhat mentally challenged. His eyes rolled up from time to time, only adding to that impression.

”A body like this is too hard to control. Thankfully, I have a lot of time to get used to it.” His head twisted around and audibly snapped. If he wasn’t an astral god, those contortions would have snapped his neck. He kept walking around like that for a good part of the day; even when people passed him by from time to time, they only snuck a few glances and left him to himself.

”Someone like Lin Jianxing should’ve died in the ancestral world.”

”That’s right. Why’d he survive? He’s such a stain on us, especially with Lin Feng around.”

Lin Jianxing kept his head lowered and continued advancing. All of a sudden, he broke out laughing.

”Oh no, this won’t do. What happened to that fool has nothing to do with me, but hearing them say that actually makes me feel angry.... Is it a lingering rage from the corpse? Hmmm, interesting....” His expression remained twisted. After a short pause, he chose to walk in another direction.

About six hours later, he picked a quiet place to stop. Few people came to the frontier regions of the Infinitum Swordsea. All of a sudden, he squatted down. ”I found you.... Come out, little loach,” he said with a beaming smile.

His eyes were looking at the empty surface of the black sea. Beneath it, there was nothing, yet a figure of gold formed above the sea before his eyes.

”A crippled disciple managed to spot me?” The golden figure looked at Lin Jianxing with some amazement.

”Hehe... hehehe....” Lin Jianxing shook his head so hard that it loudly snapped. ”You want to kill Lin Feng? What a coincidence. Let’s work together. I can help you.”

The golden figure watched him for a long time before he smiled. ”If my guess is right, have you come from the ancestral world, Senior?”

”Shhh!” Lin Jianxing hushed him and licked his lips. ”That’s all in the past....”