Beastmaster of the Ages

The constant cries of the Grand-Orient Sword told Tianming that Yi Daiyan had subdued the artifact soul of the Infinitum Stele, gaining complete control over it! The stele suddenly lifted off from Ebonia and flew into the astralscape, shrinking all the way until it turned into a black-and-gold sword flash with no fixed shape. Yi Daiyan’s might immediately rose once she grabbed the sword. Though she had initially been cold and silent, she now gave off the aura of an undisputed ruler!

The fact that the flash of black and gold didn’t have a proper form meant that it wasn’t a complete sword. However, its power was felt by Tianming even through three layers of protection. ”I wonder if I’ll ever have the chance to take the Infinitum Stele back in this life....”

Normally, one had to kill the owner of an artifact to subdue its soul. That meant killing Yi Daiyan! As the Infinitum Stele wasn’t the complete form of the Grand-Orient Sword, its artifact soul wasn’t complete, either. Even so, it must have been quite terrifying considering the amount of time it had taken Yi Daiyan to subdue it.

”The fact that she showed off the sword means that she’s coming for you. We don’t even know if you’ll survive, but you still dare to dream of taking back the stele, eh?” Ying Huo said, reveling in schadenfreude.

”Why’re you so pumped about this? If I die, you won’t have long to live either!” Tianming said.

”Huh?” As if the thought had only just occurred to it, Ying Huo suddenly freaked out. ”I want to switch to a different mount!”

Even Wudi was shocked at the sight of Yi Daiyan’s might. He looked at Tianming and said, ”Dammit, are you sure she isn’t your actual mother? We’re in big trouble now....”

Tianming knew that the current situation could be fatal. They had thought that Yi Daiyan hadn’t managed to subdue the artifact soul yet, but it turned out not to be the case. Though she was alone and only armed with a single sword, it seemed that nobody among the countless stars could stand up to her.

Her colorful irises shone with such intensity that it almost seemed to scatter the spirits of others. He didn’t expect that she would react this way to his show of defiance. What would she do next? He furrowed his brow and saw her point the Infinitum Stele toward the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb.

”Quick, retreat!” Lin Xiao howled in horror.

Yi Daiyan pointed her sword away slightly. That instant, countless blinding sword flashes emanated from the Infinitum Stele like fireworks, forming a gigantic prison of sword ki that lit up the void of space. However, it kept nothing imprisoned. Tianming and the others were completely stunned. What, or who, was she keeping in the prison of sword ki? Was it merely a show of force?

Right as they were thinking that, Yin Chen said, ”The ancestral... world monster... is there!”

There were quite a few Yin Chens within the area locked down by Yi Daiyan, so it could clearly see what was going on within. There were only two people in the cage, Yi Daiyan and someone who shouldn’t be there. Nobody could have seen it moments before, but the cage of sword ki caused it to reveal itself in the cracks between space. Yin Chen said that the figure looked like Lin Jianxing.

”How could it be?!” Lin Jianxing? The ancestral-world monster? Everyone was completely stumped. The monster had been hiding on the Sun and causing them great worry. They couldn’t even freely come and go as long as the threat was still there. But Yi Daiyan had just so happened to capture it with her cage; it was clearly no coincidence. The monster must have been too confident, thinking that it wouldn’t be discovered by her.

”So she used the Infinitum Stele against the monster, but not us?” Nobody had any idea of her motivations. ”Yin Chen, keep me informed.”

”They started... fighting already!”

”How fierce....” Even though they all wanted to see the battle, it was too dangerous. The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb remained deep within the Flameyellow Guard Formation and awaited news. Yin Chen didn’t bother to report every detail; instead, it coordinated its many bodies to reenact every single movement in three-dimensional space, creating a physical three-dimensional representation in silver.

”Yi Daiyan, I have no quarrels with you. I could even side with you! Why are you attacking me instead of Li Tianming?!” the monster said with Lin Jianxing’s borrowed appearance, black smoke fuming from its eyes, nose, and ears from anger. What frustrated it even more was how Yi Daiyan merely kept attacking without bothering to answer.

The cage of sword ki was completely shut off. Within it was a rainbow-colored fortress, a manifestation of Yi Daiyan’s Foundation-stage order. It was a double encirclement! As for the monster, it fought with no cosmic charts or orders. Its fighting style was completely foreign to the astralscape of order.

”How did I offend you?!” roared the monster so loudly that Tianming and the others could hear it from outside the cage. It was a shame that its foe completely ignored its pleas. ”Back then, a mere girl like you was nothing but an insect! You have no right to feign silence before me!”

The only thing that answered him was the black-and-gold flash of Yi Daiyan’s sword. The sword ki of the Infinitum Stele pierced through the astralscape and tore the space within the cage asunder. Order returned to the void within Yi Daiyan’s fortress, giving birth to a world that belonged to her alone.

Lin Jianxing had turned completely black as if it was made up of entirely black stars. Its body didn’t look like any object from the astralscape of order in the slightest; the black light coming from it hinted at how tough it was. Even then, its body broke and crumbled into fine dust before the sword ki of the Infinitum Stele! ”You bully!”

As black stardust began scattering, it duplicated itself more and more and eventually congregated to form a sphere with countless black tentacles. At the end of each tentacle hung several heads, all of which looked like Lin Jianxing’s. In a way, the thing looked like a sea urchin with heads for spikes. Perhaps it was the monster’s true form. It was clearly distinct from Huang Qi.

Yi Daiyan’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. Even more sword ki came flying from within her domain, turning into countless sharp swords that thrust toward the creature.