Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming left Mister Gu’s Little Shop, and Chen Yin and Jiang Yong followed him out. They were like parasites attached to Tianming, watching him from a distance like hunters playing with their prey, with perfect expressions. Jiang Yong was even mocking Tianming as he played with the black tower he had bought from Mister Gu.

”They seem to have me all figured out.”

If Tianming returned to cultivate on the sun, Yin Chen would fall into a deep slumber here and be unable to move. Therefore, he had to wait for Yin Chen to find a suitable candidate.

With those two annoyingly stalking him from behind, Tianming spent most of his time wandering around the Black Market. After looking for half a month, he found nothing similar to the black tower that was both suitable for him and reasonably priced. Anything he wanted was ridiculously expensive.

An order fragment of similar quality to the one Qi Huan had given him was priced at over five million soulstones, a price beyond the reach of ordinary people. ”Buying an order fragment with soulstones is unlikely.” He knew that well. Thus, he had to wait for Yin Chen.

Commonsky City was huge, and it would take a long time to distribute Yin Chens throughout the entire city, let alone watch millions of people. Tianming was almost at his wit’s end. Finally, Yin Chen found a suitable candidate. When it told him the person’s name, Tianming was speechless, because the person was ’Mister Gu’!

As soon as Yin Chen told him that, he thought he must have misheard.

He clearly remembered that Mister Gu was happily running his business and his aura was quite powerful, comparable to Qi Huan, the patriarch of the Qi clan. So how could someone like him suffer from xeno fatigue?

”He recently... contracted it. It’s starting... to take... hold hold,” Yin Chen replied.

”Recently?” No wonder Tianming hadn’t noticed. It seemed that the progress of xeno fatigue in powerful individuals was a slow process.

Yin Chen said that it had been observing Mister Gu since their first encounter. By now, it had a fairly comprehensive understanding of him through constant monitoring and eavesdropping on the discussions of the black market’s personnel.

Firstly, Mister Gu belonged to the solitaires, a specter race known for their coldness, self-sufficiency, and weak reproductive desires. That made them few in number. Essentially, they had no friends. Mister Gu was the only solitaire in Commonsky City.

According to what Yin Chen had heard, Mister Gu had been in Commonsky City for hundreds of years, but he’d rarely interacted with people. Because he had no friends, he’d become a target for many people and was involved in numerous disputes.

Mister Gu had just recently contracted xeno fatigue, and news of it had yet to spread. He was desperately trying to keep it a secret, because once the news got out, those who coveted his wealth would rush to seize it. In the Xenoabyss, contracting xeno fatigue was a death sentence, and one could only wait for a slow death!

Once they died, their treasures would be of no use to them. The ’flies’ in the black market would certainly not show mercy. Mister Gu had no friends to help him, so his fate was to lose everything, suffer in lonely agony, and eventually die in isolation. He would lose everything he’d accumulated in his life, and all that he had would be divided by unrelated people.

Mister Gu’s mental state had completely broken down during this period. However, he was hanging on.

Once Yin Chen locked on to the target, Tianming paid a visit to him. Upon second inspection, he noticed a significant decline in Mr. Gu’s condition. ”No friends or family, enduring such torment alone, dying in solitude, and lacking the courage to end it yourself, you’re left with a life worse than death!”

The pain must have been unbearable. Tianming could imagine the state of his heart. In Mister Gu’s eyes, there was only despair. Currently, he was walking like a lifeless corpse, making a final, desperate struggle.

That was why Yin Chen believed that he was a suitable target. Tianming agreed with the analysis because Mister Gu had no friends, and most importantly, no one else knew that he’d contracted xeno fatigue. Of course, it remained to be seen if he possessed an order fragment or not.

“However, his shop’s goods are worth tens of millions of soulstones, so he should be able to produce an order fragment. Of course, whether he’s suitable or not, we need further observation.”

Next, Yin Chen learned something else. Mister Gu had an enemy, who had killed his daughter. He dreamed of revenge, but couldn’t do it because his strength was comparable to that of his enemy, but his enemy had more people on their side.

”Since he’s contracted xeno fatigue, he can’t seek revenge anymore. After enduring in silence for so many years, he’s finally met with this kind of ending. He must be unwilling.” The more unwilling he was, the more opportunity Tianming had. He was the daring and careful sort.

Tianming had Yin Chen keep an eye on Mister Gu and prepared his lines while waiting for the right moment.

Soon, Mister Gu’s xeno fatigue had become increasingly apparent. He went to his enemy’s doorstep and struggled for a long time. Yin Chen reported that it’d heard Mister Gu muttering to himself that his strength was less than half of what it had been at his peak.

So he gave up. The moment he turned around, he looked like a corpse, his world having collapsed in that instant. His eyes turned gray and helplessness was written all over his body.

”It should be about time.” After returning to the store, Mister Gu closed the door, put away his goods, and lay down in the cave, looking blankly at the mountain wall above, his gaze growing increasingly scattered. He pounded his chest, his expression full of oppression and pain.

His eyes turned red.

At that moment, a tiny metal insect crawled up to him and said seriously, ”My master... is interested... in making... a deal.... You interested?”

Mister Gu stood up, gazing coldly at the insect. ”Go on.” The insect was the brood of a lifebound beast. However, he treated it seriously, as it could speak. He had encountered such insects before, but they didn’t have intelligence and couldn’t speak.

Tianming passed him a transmission stone through Yin Chen to communicate.

“It’s you?” Mister Gu’s six eyes narrowed as he recognized Tianming.

“Don’t bother me, I’ve already sold the tower.” His voice was heavy; after all, he had given up all hope.

“No, I want to make a different deal with you. Let’s discuss the details and give each other a chance.”

Mister Gu was silent for a moment, then said, “You may speak.”

”Sorry, but I’ve discovered that you seem to have contracted xeno fatigue,” Tianming said.

Mister Gu’s gaze narrowed and a murderous intent arose in his heart.