Beastmaster of the Ages

”With our experience fighting against the Star Hunters and our boosted morale, it would be possible for us to fight as a binary star system. However, it still puts our odds of victory around twenty percent. Even if we succeed, we’ll still suffer heavy losses. Many of our brothers and sisters will die. We’ll also lose many divine astralships as well. Feng’er might also end up captured....” No matter how pessimistic Lin Xiaodao was, those were the facts. Gladeus was one thing, but it would be too risky to expose the sun to the six Infinitum Regal Clans.

”There are people living on the sun. If it gets breached, the people there will suffer. My son will have no choice but to yield,” Wudi said, patting Tianming on the shoulder. The three men looked at the fresh, crimson dynasty and sighed in awe.

Tianming’s pledge to Feiling of making the sun a paradise was far from being achieved. Before they even got to enjoy the new world and leave the Sky Palace Formation, the enemy was on the way, ready to make a hellscape of the world once more. The threat loomed ominously above them, not giving them the slightest moment of reprieve.

They had thought that defeating the Star Hunters and hiding themselves away would be enough. All that would be left to do was let the sun slowly grow, yet a new threat approached from the distant horizon. The last time, during the ebon invasion, Tianming and the rest had the Gladean Ruins and were confident in being able to push them back. But this time around, their enemies already knew all their trump cards.

The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb landed in front of the Sky Palace. Tianming looked at the optimistic denizens of the sun that lived within the Sky Palace Formation, observing their packed, yet merry lives. The sound of laughter and conversation showed how they held hope for the future. Their children, elders, and friends got along incredibly well, the chief reason being that Tianming was there with them, calming them down. He simply didn’t know how to break the news to them.

”We can’t even be sure how many people we’ll lose in the upcoming fight.... It truly is a huge pain! Looks like all of us are mired in sin. The innocent are the ones who’ll pay for the consequences of our actions,” Lin Xiaodao said self-mockingly.

Wudi shook his head. ”Brother, that isn’t the right way to look at it. We’re all in this together, through triumph and defeat alike. War is ultimately a battle for resources and survival. Nova source worlds are one such resource that everyone wants a bite of. Without it, there would be nothing to look forward to but death! As such, war and slaughter are problems that we’ll keep having to deal with for eternity. The only thing we can do is to not regret our choices and picking the right side. We must make sure that our descendants don’t grow to hate us for the consequences of our choices. The resources derived from nova source allow mortals to live much longer and achieve so much more. The one with the most nova source is the strongest! Those who don’t fight for it will be eliminated or live an existence lower than that of a slave, constantly having to prostrate and beg! There’s no such thing as eternal peace. Even the short peace we’re enjoying now is a result of others’ struggles.”

His eyes were filled with dense emotion. As Wudi spoke, he put a hand on Tianming’s shoulder as if he was his brother rather than his godchild. He understood Tianming, and by extension, the Sun. He also happened to be the wielder of the Flameyellow Coffin, which bound his fate to the Flameyellow Imperial Star and its inhabitants. Despite that, the billions of them weren’t the sort to cower before their foes.

”Brother Li, that was deep,” Lin Xiaodao said, agreeing.

”Nah, it wasn’t that deep. Third deepest at best,” Wudi said with a chuckle.

”I’m serious. You truly have a wholesome understanding of the situation. I wouldn’t be capable of something like that. I’m the kind of person who easily gets swayed by every little thing, so I’m unable to make grand decisions on this scale,” Lin Xiaodao said with a regretful look.

”You’re most humble, Brother,” Wudi said.

”I’m not.” Lin Xiaodao shook his head with resignation. ”I’ve come to truly understand that the leader of a village, or even of a fifth-level nova source world with two billion or more lifeforms aren’t that different. Charisma is really important for both roles.”

”Why’d that suddenly strike a chord with you?” Tianming asked.

”I’ve been fraught with hesitation this whole time, but Brother Li’s words were able to snap me out of that indecision. He’s firm, resolute, and charismatic!” Lin Xiaodao said with the most earnest tone he could muster. This stark contrast with his usual lackadaisical, carefree personality made Tianming quite taken aback.

”What’d your decision entail?” Wudi asked. He absolutely couldn’t imagine what they could do that would be better than the defensive back-to-back tactic that they had thought up. However, Tianming already had a good guess.

Lin Xiaodao took a deep breath and let sword ki surge within his eyes. With full intent, he said, ”I want to have the Sun and Gladeus fuse! The Sun used to be an infinitum-class world. In its current state as a sanctuary-class world, its astralguard formation can already display so much power. Once it absorbs Gladeus, it’ll definitely be even more powerful than Gladeus!”

Tianming had been expecting him to say that. He himself had considered using such a method before, but the reason he didn’t suggest it was that he wasn’t the ruler and administrator of Gladeus, coupled with the fact that an operation of this magnitude was rather hard to kick into action. As such, he had to shake his head even though it had taken Lin Xiaodao so much resolution to make that decision.

”Master, I also considered such a method. However, Gladeus isn’t ownerless, nor is it a heliacal-class world. There’s more than twenty trillion people living here, with tens of millions of years of history and countless generations of hard work put into it. If the people at the Infinitum Swordsea can’t bring themselves to leave, how could those of an entire ether-class world do it?”

”My son is right. Not to mention, the ebons went so far as to send out their fiendbats. That shows that they’re determined for a conclusive battle. Once our stars are fused into one and we start moving, the enemy will definitely make their move. Moving twenty trillion people and all their resources to a new world would take at least half a year to five years. Tianming is also right that nobody would want to leave Gladeus.” Wudi shared Tianming’s views on the matter. Back then, the people from Primary were only willing to move to the Sun because their world was a lost cause in the first place. As for Violetglory, Tianming was their savior. Besides, it was only a heliacal-class world and didn’t have that many resources or legacies in the first place. The ones who didn’t want to leave were in the minority and were forcefully made to move.

Gladeus, however, couldn’t be more different. It was ten thousand times the volume of Violetglory, and the legacy and history of an ether-class world were difficult to comprehend. The love for the land harbored by the twenty trillion inhabitants wasn’t something Tianming could wrap his head around.