Beastmaster of the Ages

”Ugh!” Yi Wan could never have imagined Tianming would be so powerful. The combined strikes of the three murals tore apart her cosmic chart, resulting in her immediate death.

”Done deal!” Tianming assessed the situation after the kill. It was clear that the two antiquiteans had underestimated the capabilities of the purple-haired girl. The remaining one called Jia Su had two cosmic charts that were able to hold the purple-haired girl down, but nevertheless, she was able to endure the pressure. ”Perhaps if I help her, she’ll be more willing to talk.”

Tianming made his decision, split his sword in two, and came charging in. With him having killed Yi Wan, there was no way Jia Su would side with him against the purple-haired girl. The two of them working together allowed them to gain a huge advantage over Jia Su.

”Zi Zhen! How dare you kill us antiquiteans?!” Jia Su roared. Given the relatively primitive state of the Xenoabyss, he yelled as loudly as he could instead of using a transmission stone.

Tianming breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Zi Zhen cooperating, he fought harder against Jia Su and eventually killed him.

”Phew.” He turned and looked at Zi Zhen. Through the fight, he could tell that she didn’t pose any threat to him due to her xeno fatigue, despite having five cosmic charts.

”Why’d you help me?” she asked, looking at him with doubt. When she pulled her messy hair back into shape, Tianming realized that she was among the prettier specters he had seen and had a cold, elegant aura.

”The antiquiteans started it,” Tianming said, shrugging.

”You could’ve run after killing one of them,” Zi Zhen said.

”Well, you’re cute, so I felt like helping you to get on your good side,” Tianming said.

Zi Zhen seemed speechless.

Tianming smiled and said, ”Well, just try not to shoo me away this time. I have something I want to study.” He returned to the grave of Old Man Voidback.

”What is this?” Zi Zhen’s hostility toward him vanished after receiving his help. She looked in the direction Tianming was paying attention to.

”Didn’t you say that this was your territory?” Tianming asked.

”I didn’t notice that thing before,” she said.

”Huh....” Could it have only shown up recently?

”Just do what you want and leave. Find a place to hide. Orderans are at the bottom of the food chain during the blackout period in the Ninth District. Going around without a care in the world will only get you killed.”

”Alright. Can you keep watch for me?”

Again, she was stunned at how familiar Tianming was acting. She didn’t know what he was up to and simply watched from the side. Her loose purple hair looked much better than Li Fan’s spiky orange hair.

With Yin Chen spread out around the area, Tianming would be notified if someone else were to show up. He began digging with his hands and said, ”If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of specter are you?”

”Me?”

”Who else? There isn’t anyone else here.”

”Well, it’s pointless even if you know.”

”I don’t really care if there’s a point. I’m just curious.”

”I’m one of the skyghouls.”

”Hmm, ’skyghouls’ doesn’t sound as domineering or original as ’antiquiteans’,” Tianming joked.

”Well, I guess you simply haven’t heard of us, then,” Zi Zhen said.

”I haven’t, but I did see someone who could be a skyghoul as well.”

”What did you say?!” Zi Zhen shuddered as she stared coldly at him.

”Do you know about wondersky realms?”

”I’ve heard of them. They’re caeli worlds within the Xenoworld that were created by the divine wondersky race. People from the astralscape of order can come and go as they please.”

”In a place called the Skyhold Bridge within the Skydome Battlefield, I met someone that looked a little like you.” Tianming proceeded to describe Li Fan.

”Orange hair, huh.”

”That’s right. What’s the difference? Is he from the same race as you?”

”You can say that. As for the difference... you wouldn’t get it even if I explained it.”

”Just try. Sate my curiosity.”

Zi Zhen pursed her lips. ”Just think of orange-haired ones as stronger ones.”

”I personally like purple better.” Tianming didn’t think that Zi Zhen could be that much worse than Li Fan, given how she could maintain her level of vigor despite having ten curse vortices of xeno fatigue.

She didn’t deign to respond to that and said, ”Just keep digging.”

Tianming did as he was told. The mound was more or less flattened. For some reason, using the Sky Plundering Hand for exhuming a grave seemed like the most natural thing to do. ”Interesting.... Your xeno fatigue seems ten times more serious than other people’s. How are you still alive?”

Once more, Zi Zhen was stunned. ”How do you know it’s ten times?!” She took a few steps toward him and glared at him. ”Nobody’s ever been able to tell.”

”What can I say? Handsome people are just better judges of character, I guess.”

In her eyes, Tianming was appearing more and more intriguing.

”Oh?” Tianming felt his hand bump into something hard and he pulled out a small wooden box from the mud. The moment he did that, the brownish-yellow stigma on his caelum emerged automatically and fused with the wooden box.

”Got it! I’ll study it back in the safety of the Sun.” Tianming didn’t dare to open it there, lest it cause a loud commotion. With how it was changed by the stigma, he could be sure that this was what Old Man Voidback had left behind.

”What’s that?” Zi Zhen asked. She really didn’t think he would be able to find something by digging around like this.

”They’re ashen remains,” Tianming said.

”Ashes of this ’Old Man Voidback’ person?”

”Yes.”

”Is he your father?”

”What in the—” Tianming almost did a double take. ”Why would you say that?”

”Look.” She pointed at the back of the wooden plaque. ”This says ’’I’m the father of the grave digger’”.

Tianming looked and did indeed see that line of text. He was rendered speechless. ”Dammit!”

He used the nails on his left hand to change the text to read ’the grave digger is my father’. That was much better. He dusted his hands and said, ”I have to go back to the astralscape of order. Can you watch this place for me until I come back?”

”Why would I?”

”Because I helped you.”

”I could’ve won without you.”

”But you took too long, so you still owe me,” Tianming said with a smile.

She didn’t have a retort for that.