Beastmaster of the Ages

The Lin Clan was no longer fleeing, but cruising at a relaxing pace toward their promised land without any fear, worry, or anxiety. All of them were migrating as a clan, welcoming their new future side by side. The Second Exterminatus Army had been thoroughly beaten, with most killed and a few fled. Most importantly, they had abandoned their divine astralships and would no longer be able to pose a real threat to the Lin Clan.

”We relied on ourselves to defeat the ebons and those traitors!”

”That’s right! It was all us!”

Nobody else could offer them help out in the desolate astralscape. They had nothing but their own courage and dedication to fight to their last breath, and it had paid off in the form of a completely crushed foe. That triumph would no doubt be cemented as a central mark of pride for their clan.

The astralscape was now free for the victors to roam. Even the weakest of normal gods had joined the battle and risked their lives for hope, and, having bloodied their hands properly for the first time, they’d paved a way that solely belonged to their clan. Facing the prospect of such a grand spectacle, they didn’t cheer at first. They were far too taken aback by it that their minds were blank for a good, long while.

”We won....”

”We defeated the ebons and killed their loyal dogs!”

”The Second Exterminatus Army was almost completely wiped out!”

”We’re just like the ones on the Sun! The ebons were crushed here, too, and we sent Shenxi Tianxi running off like a coward!”

Joy, excitement, and tears finally mingled as their emotions poured out. They cried, hugged, and released all their pent-up stress. Even the members of the Dongshen Clan joined in the celebration.

”We won! We won!”

”Daddy, mommy, we won!”

”We won, daughter-in-law!”

Those simple words were echoed by billions of people, marking the legendary start of a new chapter in history that their descendants would continue cherishing for generations to come. They were two grand triumphs on two different battlefields that shook the foundation of the known world. Passion and relief intermixed during the long, cathartic release. The festivities of the billion-plus people was quite the odd sight to be seeing in the astralscape.

”Let’s go to the Sun!”

”We weren’t able to help back then, but now we can finally pull our weight and join them!”

Some of them cleaned up the battlefield and brought back some trophies. As for the weakest among them, they returned to the safety of their divine astralships. Nothing but the corpses of dead enemies were left drifting through empty space. With nobody there to collect them, they would never find their way home. As for the spoils, that included about seven hundred divine astralships that the enemy had abandoned. All of them were sanctuary-class and above. Once all that was dealt with, they began to head in the direction of the Sun.

The ships they had collected couldn’t be controlled yet, so they used the Lin Clan’s own ships to tow them. They no longer had to worry about their cruising pace, so they set a steady, but leisurely pace as they charted a course toward the Sun, taking the towing into account. With the Lin Clan having operated a large trade union, they were well experienced with all matters of transport and logistics. After all those ships were reworked, the Sun would have around a thousand and five hundred ships in their fleet, a great expansion that was only possible through war.

Normal regal clans only had a fleet of around four hundred ships at most, while a thousand and five hundred sanctuary-class ships was four times the number of ships that the Lin Clan had once had. With a fleet that size, they were no doubt one of the biggest factions among the three in the new equilibrium of power within the Infinitum Mundus. Yi Daiyan’s luxdaemons and the three regal clans that supported her didn’t even have that many sanctuary-class ships.

Naturally, the Lin Clan was now part of a new faction, the Tianming Dynasty. As its name suggested, the different factions within the dynasty were bound together by a common thread: Tianming. Wudi was the representative of the original denizens of the Sun, while Xiaodao represented the members of the Swordgod Lin Clan. The dynasty’s greatest edge was the number of sanctuary-class ships they had. As for ether- and deific-class ships, they still remained on the same level as other regal clans, or double normal ones at most if the ships from the Star Hunters were taken into account.

As for elite fighters, they were definitely weaker compared to other regal clans. As such, the Tianming Dynasty still couldn’t dominate the other two great factions within the mundus just because they had enjoyed great recent success. Defending themselves against foreign invasions would be much easier, compared to completely conquering their enemies. That was the folly of the ebons and their allies, who had been far too greedy and gone on failed expedition after failed expedition, only to end up like that. But while Yi Daiyan hadn’t interfered in their battles, as long as she was around, the ebons had been forced to leave at least half of their forces in Ebonia. So, in a sense, the ebons had actually been fighting against two factions at once. They definitely hadn’t predicted that this would be the outcome of going after the Sun.

”After we arrive at the Sun, we must emulate Yi Daiyan and stay in our lane. We’ll wait until Feng’er becomes a true top elite in the mundus before we strike back against the ebons. Before that, everyone on the Sun should remain ’secluded’.” Lin Xiao had returned to the Grandvoid.

”The ships that we sent away a few months ago are already on course toward the Sun. Once we arrive, we’ll have a grand reunion,” Lin Changkong said. The deific-class and lower ships carried quite a huge portion of the clan’s wealth. While they were moving to the Sun, their businesses and industries had to keep going. Before leaving Ebonia, their future had been filled with gloomy darkness, prompting them to make the decision to move all the branches of their clan to the Sun. But with the Sun’s reputation about to shock the mundus once more, the crippled ebons probably wouldn’t be able to do much against normal people from skypiercer- and heliacal-class worlds.

”Our clan is sure to grow stronger from this! Oh, ancestors, I hope we didn’t disappoint all of you,” Lin Xiao tearfully said as he looked at the sea of stars ahead.

......

Within the Ebonfiend Minor was a sealed room. Shenxi Tianxi crossed his arms, letting the black liquid from his black souleye drip onto the palm with the gold one. He grit his teeth hard and breathed loudly. There was a transmission stone on the desk ahead of him. He struggled for a long while, then lowered his head with a pained groan and opened the transmission stone with shaky hands.

”Tell my father that the monster failed to take down Lin Xiao. The Lin Clan released all of their people from their ships as a smokescreen for their actual elites. Our forces crumbled soon after due to low morale. All we have left are some ten-odd ether-class ships and a hundred thousand astral gods.”

”Yes!”

As they were still quite far apart, the message had to be relayed from one station to the next before reaching Shenxi Xingtian’s ears. He was still rushing over, perhaps hoping that they still had a chance to win. For some reason, he had also failed, even with Meng Ying’s help. He simply couldn’t believe that his son could lose with the help of the monster either.

After making that report, Shenxi Tianxi laid flat on the desk and blanked out. He had lost all will to do anything. The monster’s failed assassination and the angered billion people had given him quite a fright. Word of his father’s loss was yet another complete nightmare that had latched on to the depths of his soul. He had formed a deep trauma toward the Swordgod Lin Clan, even if he didn’t dare to admit it. The Lin Clan used to be a dog he had tried to get to submit to him. He was someone that even the likes of Chi Hun had once had to pay complete obeisance to, but now he was heavens apart from his actual reputation.

”How could things change this much? Is the universe making a huge joke at our expense?” That was the only reason Shenxi Tianxi had retreated when Lin Jie was out there fighting with all he had. Shenxi Tianxi was simply afraid of dying! It was a huge reason why the Second Exterminatus Army couldn’t commit to a united charge, with some fleeing their ranks even as they were ordered to attack. Shenxi Tianxi bore the responsibility for the horrid loss. Even so, he still had the feeling that, even if he had fought to his death, his forces of half a million astral gods wouldn’t be able to defeat the billion normal gods either.

”Was it worth it? Will Father and the clan forgive me?” He didn’t know. All he knew was that the new world that had become such a nuisance had Tianming, Wudi, and Xiaodao as their core pillars. Lin Xiao and many other elders from the previous generation were also there to prop them up. Their up-and-coming faction was the latest thing that the ebons had come to fear.

Nobody could tell which side would eventually emerge victorious over the others.