Beastmaster of the Ages

I have to be able to survive in the capital first before I can protect her. The thought of that reminded Tianming of something. ”Since the New Shrine’s private bounty will take some time to spread, not many people will recognize us. We should get a few more order fragments in the meantime. I’ll get stronger, and so will you.”

”Alright,” Zi Zhen said obediently.

The only way for me to get order fragments within the Ninth District is through unofficial channels in the first place. As long as I have enough Yin Chens to spread around, I’ll be able to avoid most of the risk. I have around five billion of it with me this time around. All I have to do is to hide somewhere and seek out targets.

There was no need for him to openly go out for the fragments. He could simply do everything he needed from a position of absolute safety, allowing him to easily evade Li Fan’s pursuit. The only reason he had even messed up and let Custodian Demonpiece discover him was that Yin Chen hadn’t been distributed widely enough.

”When I break through to the ninth astral phase, I’ll have Yin Chen evolve. If it can increase its number even more, I’ll be able to come and go like a phantom as I please here in the Ninth District!” Tianming would be more terrifying the stronger he became. He would be able to procure order fragments with much higher efficiency.

”Forget it! Since I’m not able to go about it openly, I’ll stick to the shadows.” He patted Zi Zhen on the shoulder and said, ”Relax. With me around, you’ll definitely be fine.”

Zi Zhen tried her best to smile at his confident assurance. Yin Chen was even more crucial, now that he and Zi Zhen had to be able to perfectly hide.

The blackout period had yet to end, and many were still in hiding in the Ninth District. As people in the Xenoabyss didn’t use transmission stones, news spread at a snail’s pace from mouth to mouth. The New Shrine decided to offer a bounty of three hundred million soulstones; there were more than a few people who wanted to try their hand at it.

”We should use our chance while the news isn’t too widespread.” He would use Yin Chen for that very purpose.

Ten days later, it spotted a target for Tianming. After hearing the target’s description, he decided to make a move. Waving at Zi Zhen, who was outside the cave, he said, ”Zi Zhen, come. We have a target.”

”Fine.” She insisted on standing guard the entire time, even though Tianming said she didn’t have to. Like most natives of the Xenoabyss, she didn’t believe miraculous conveniences like Yin Chen existed. She continued paying attention to her surroundings, constantly paranoid that people would be coming for them.

”Our target this time’s a beastmaster from the Nascentis Mundus. He’s a cosmic cartographer around three hundred years old, probably at the second level. He’s actually the strongest child of their rex mundi.” That was about the same status as Fengqing You. However, he was only three hundred and already a level stronger than Fengqing You when they were five hundred.

”While the forces they have in the capital aren’t that strong compared to Myriadpath Valley’s, this Yuan Yu has around ten fifth-level cosmic cartographers protecting him. They aren’t that old and are stronger than fifth-level cosmic cartographers who are past their prime.”

”That strong? I can’t beat them. Does Yuan Yu have the order fragments you need?” Zi Zhen asked.

”Well, not yet. This group has been selling off cosmic artifacts to gather soulstones over the past ten-odd years. They finally found a good seller who’s willing to part with a grade-three order fragment in exchange for a billion soulstones. I’m sure Yuan Yu’s the one who’s going to use it, right?”

”Sounds about right.”

Tianming had only ever used grade-one order fragments that were usually priced around ten million soulstones. Grade-three fragments were theoretically priced at one billion soulstones, but they were scarcely for sale in the first place. The nominal price alone illustrated how different they were. Cosmic cartographers wouldn’t be able to benefit from grade-one or two fragments.

”The folks from Nascentis Mundus are called nascent mediums. They’re beastmasters with nascent spirit beasts, basically lifebound beasts that have spiritual forms like totems. They have immense soul power, and nascent mediums benefit greatly from the soulstones here. That’s why they invest so much into their activity in the Xenoabyss.”

”I see....” Zi Zhen dutifully remembered all that. She didn’t know how powerful nascent mediums would be, but beastmasters were usually no pushovers.

”What I’m really wondering about is why Yuan Yu would personally come here. Couldn’t the seniors themselves bring the order fragment to him?” Tianming said.

”Well, the effects of order fragments are better when used right under the sea of order, especially for grade-three fragments or above. The power of order from the sea will descend as the fragment is refined. In the astralscape, one can only get sixty percent of the full effect.”

”Damn, why didn’t you say that sooner?” Tianming complained.

”It doesn’t matter much for grade-one fragments.”

”Fine. Then we’ll settle on him as a target.”

”You’re probably forgetting the ten fifth-level cosmic cartographers we’ll have to deal with,” she said, rolling her eyes.

”First, to ensure Yuan Yu’s safety, they won’t let him follow them to the trade. He’s too important, so he must be kept hidden. They plan to send five of them out to handle the transaction, and keep five around to protect him. I’m planning to kidnap Yuan Yu at the same time the trade succeeds, then trade his life for the order fragment.”

Yin Chen had already found the location of the transaction. By the time the five returned with the order fragment, Tianming would need to have complete domination over Yuan Yu to be able to negotiate. Thankfully, the spot was quite far away from where Yuan Yu was hiding. What’d been a measure to ensure his safety had become something that Tianming could exploit.

Zi Zhen, however, seemed completely stupefied at the reckless plan. The five remaining guards weren’t pushovers either. ”What’s next?”

”Next?” Tianming pinched her face. ”I’m going to let you experience what being completely normal is like today.”

She froze, then her tears started flowing.

”Don’t cry.” Tianming glared at her and waved. ”Turn around.”