Beastmaster of the Ages

Qi Huan was in his prime years, and was among the strongest people in Creektown. Like his son, Qi Xuan, he had been a promising young talent back in his days in Creek Martial Academy. Having lived right under the Sea of Order, they enjoyed the nourishing of xeno source and had a natural advantage over cultivators from the astralscape of order.

Qi Huan also had a rather decent reputation for being loyal and attentive to his family. But as his mother and son had both been afflicted with xeno fatigue, he’d been completely occupied with them in recent years and was constantly in a rather sorry state of unrest. Due to that, the Qi Family began suffering, as well. That very day, the remaining two-hundred-plus family members gathered outside their ancestral hall, the place where the caeli of their ancestors were kept. It was a sacred place for them.

”Family Leader!” The family members greeted the nine-hundred-meter-tall giant as he entered the hall. Qi Huan looked to the side and saw two figures that were eight hundred meters tall. They were the most eye-catching among the group. One was young and burly, while the other was considerably more slender and had a long beard. They were key figures in the Qi Family. Qi Feng was Qi Huan’s younger brother, and was quite famous in the family. The other older gentleman was the great elder of the family, a highly respected senior to the two brothers.

”Brother, are you really going to go to the ancestral hall and take the order fragment?” Qi Feng asked with a pained look.

”That’s right.” Qi Huan nodded with a solemn look. Those who knew him could tell that he had made up his mind.

Qi Feng exchanged glances with the elder, then looked at the others behind them. Breathing in deeply, he said, ”Big Brother, all of us can understand how you don’t wish to give up on mother and my dear nephew. However, we really need you to rethink this. All of us in the family have given too much for their sake.”

The elder said, ”Leader, selling the order fragment is one thing. At this point, we have no choice but to let it go. But if you’re to spend all the soulstones from the auction to fill those two bottomless holes, our family won’t endure.”

”Please rethink, Leader!” echoed the rest in the hall. It started with only a few voices, but soon built up to a crescendo.

”Big Brother, Mother and Qi Xuan wouldn’t wish to drag down the entire family with them, either,” Qi Feng said.

Qi Huan quietly watched them, having already guessed that this would transpire.

”It’s fine to auction off the order fragment, but please leave the soulstones in the elder’s care!” More and more people began echoing that notion.

Qi Huan looked up slightly and smiled. ”Qi Feng, since mother fell ill, you’ve spent a whole fourteen hours with her. Don’t you know that what old folks really want is for the younger generation to spend more time with us?”

Qi Feng awkwardly answered, ”Big Brother, I was too busy with family affairs.”

”Is that so?” Qi Huan didn’t say anything beyond that. There were things that didn’t have to be put into words. Standing beside his younger brother was a youth called Qi Kang who was about the same age as Qi Xuan, around five centuries old. He was a twelfth-astral orderan. Qi Xuan had been the hope of the family, given his talent, but it was a shame that xeno fatigue had afflicted him. It wouldn’t be surprising for the next generation leader to be Qi Kang, Qi Feng’s son. It was clear that no matter how righteous Qi Feng wanted to appear, he was no doubt acting with his interests at heart.

”Great Elder, do you wish to control the cash flow of the entire family?” Qi Huan looked at everyone else and smirked. ”In your dreams. That’ll only be possible if you’re my match, and that can only be possible if I’m no longer standing.”

He rudely flapped his long, loose sleeves and entered the ancestral hall, ignoring the two-hundred-odd people outside. All of them looked at each other in mild shock. Qi Feng, the elder, and Qi Kang all seemed rather angry. Unquestionably, their interests had been compromised by Qi Huan’s dedication to those two hopeless cases. Little did they know that the real reason Qi Huan was disappointed with them was that they didn’t even see the two fatigued members of the family as people, but bottomless holes for their money instead.

......

Qi Huan sat alone in the hall before a carved rock, dressed in a white robe. Within his hand was a mysterious hexagonal piece that constantly changed color and shimmered. It rotated nonstop, hovering above his hand.

”The order fragment is indeed mysterious. Even such a small piece can fetch a huge price...” Qi Huan’s gaze was drawn in by the mysterious hexagonal object. ”It’s a shame that not even you can save my mother or Xuan’er. My mother’s already in her older years, but my precious son had a whole life ahead of him... but now it’s gone in the abyss just like that. Xeno fatigue, how cruel and indiscriminate you are!”

The tragedy of it all made even a man like him uncontrollably tear up. He wasn’t able to do his filial duties to his suffering mother. Not to mention, he had to lock his son up; he’d constantly begged to be allowed to die ever since the fatigue had taken him. But xeno fatigue didn’t stop for anyone, regardless of their status. It was the greatest evil in the Xenoabyss.

”Xuan’er is truly too young.... He worked hard for five hundred years and became a cosmic cartographer. That should’ve rocketed him to prominence, so why would fate play such a trick on him? If only it had been me....”

He clenched his other fist tight. The auction would take place tomorrow and everyone in the family scrutinized his every action, fearing that he would use those soulstones to extend the lives of his mother and son. The pressure he felt was incredible.

”I’d give my life if it meant that the two of you could be healed!” There was nothing he could do but shed tears before cruel reality.

......

Tianming more or less understood Qi Huan’s character, thanks to Yin Chen. He was someone that could be worked with. As such, he made his move while Qi Huan agonized over the future. An invisible cockroach made itself visible before him.

”I can... help you... cure their... xeno fatigue... but there... are conditions!” Yin Chen said.

Qi Huan was absolutely stunned. ”What’s this?” He picked up the cockroach and put it in his palm.

”This insect... is only... my proxy... I have... come from... the astralscape... of order. Once more... I can... help you!”

Tianming was annoyed at how slowly Yin Chen spoke. But as Creektown didn’t have any defensive formations, he had Yin Chen hand over a transmission stone to Qi Huan. Soon, Tianming’s projection appeared on the golden transmission stone.

”An outworlder?” Qi Huan could immediately tell what he was at a glance.