Beastmaster of the Ages

”Speak!” Tianming yelled with urgency.

”When I was cultivating at Myriadpath Valley, I happened to come across writings about this creature. Its actual name is ’euphoria mistbug’. In a sense, it’s also descended from the spectral progenitor. With everyone in Myriadpath Valley being astral gods, we don’t fear it. However, it’s definitely able to cause nightmare scenarios across worlds as a whole. Once they spread, there’s no taking care of them,” Li Fan said. Unsurprisingly, someone from Myriadpath Valley knew quite a bit more about things in general.

”What’re the consequences of the spread?” Tianming asked.

”During the initial phase of its spread, it’s really toxic and will kill the host to use the flesh to create more child spawns. Once it begins spreading wider, it’ll shift to a symbiotic phase. Basically, it’ll cause people to enter a euphoric state. It just keeps spreading like that, causing people to lose all reason in pursuit of any kind of pleasure.

”Once the spread continues for a few generations, the newborns will begin growing weaker and weaker. In a sixth-class astral world, any newborns that aren’t born as normal gods will be crushed by the gravity. That’s how it causes entire worlds to go extinct. Fifth-class worlds survive longer, but still end the same way.”

Tianming listened on with frustration. What in the world was that? Extinction was the only end! ”Why can’t it keep its hosts cultivating so they’ll continue bearing viable offspring that can become new hosts?”

Li Fan pursed his lips in resignation. ”That’s just its nature. At the end of the day, it’s still a kind of wildbeast. Usually, we classify it as a fortuna-class wildbeast. Anything beyond infinitum-class wildbeasts defies common convention.”

”But if its lifecycle is that vicious, wouldn’t it end up destroying the conditions of its own survival? It wouldn’t be able to keep spreading that way. Wouldn’t it just disappear from existence?”

The red dust would simply spread until no more viable offspring of its hosts could be produced. In a sense, it was a suicidal life cycle that depended on how long offspring remained viable in the harsh conditions of their homeworlds. People from heliacal-class worlds or smaller would be able to survive much longer, but as long as they didn’t cultivate, degeneration was inevitable. Even normal gods would eventually degenerate until they became mortals and would die out all the same!

”Are there any exceptions? For instance, will it suddenly change its behavior on a whim and kill its hosts outright?” Tianming asked.

”It won’t... theoretically. It wants to survive as well, after all. However, considering that it’s able to kill its hosts during the initial phase, there’s no reason to believe it lacks the capability to do so in the later phases. It simply chooses not to.”

Tianming took a deep breath. ”Then.... Here’s the main question: Does it have a single unified will, or does each individual in the swarm have their own?” Yin Chen had many bodies, but they were unified by one will and consciousness, hence why it was so powerful.

”The individual creatures should have their own wills. They aren’t like Boss Chen. However, there must be at least some kind of shared instinct in their bloodline, maybe a shared core drive of sorts,” Wudi said.

”I see....” Tianming nodded, having learned something about the euphoria mistbug. Their expressions grew more and more worried.

”Li Fan.” Tianming squatted down to face his prisoner. ”You came to tell me about this nightmare, but you did so because you want to be spared. So you must know a way to solve this red dust problem, right?” He was actually nervous about what he was about to hear.

”That’s right! I know!” Li Fan’s orange eyes burned bright. ”You’re right. I don’t want to die—I want to live!”

”Then tell me!”

”Will you spare me if I do?”

”How would killing you benefit me at this point?”

”That’s right. You were able to kill my master, so I wouldn’t be relevant anymore.... Fine, I’ll speak.” Li Fan seemed to accept that assurance for now. Taking a deep breath, he said, ”In Myriadpath Valley is the Myriadpath Sourcespring. The euphoria mistbug fears it. As long as enough euphoria mistbugs constantly reproduce within a locked-down star, they’ll eventually be driven out of their hosts in an attempt to escape, which results in their deaths.”

”What’s the Myriadpath Sourcespring?” Tianming asked.

”It’s the core of Myriadpath Valley, the foundation upon which it is built. At the same time, all cultivation and competition are built around the spring as the center. In other words, it’s the ultimate treasure of Myriadpath Valley. Everyone there goes crazy for it. Countless geniuses from many, many mundi have that as their goal. You can think of it like order fragments in the Xenoabyss, but they work differently,” Li Fan said, eyes filled with desire for the spring.

”How does it differ from order fragments?”

”Order fragments belong to the sea of order and can raise your order and cultivation level. The Myriadpath Sourcespring, on the other hand, is something that was formed by the astralscape of order itself. It’s the purest form of energy there is. It can baptize cultivators and enhance their innate talent, including their fleshly bodies, bloodline, comprehension ability, fighting spirit, and everything else! It’s the main reason for Myriadpath Valley’s existence and how we became the core of cultivation in the astralscape of order, the intersection point of millions of mundi!” Li Fan sounded almost fanatic.

”So the reward system in Myriadpath Valley is built around the spring, then?” Tianming asked. Didn’t the Myriadpath Sourcespring sound too similar to Flameyellow Bloodsoul? The latter didn’t just enhance talent, but also increased the concentration of flameyellow divinity bloodline in its users.

”That’s right! Its springwater is limited, but there’s too many geniuses and elites who crave it. Naturally, deathly battles have been fought over who controls the spring. In the present day, we have developed an incredibly fair system. Apart from a very few core members of the organization with ranks that give them special privileges, even geniuses from other mundi will be able to enjoy fair treatment.”

”So, the stronger and more talented someone is, the easier it is to get it?”

”That’s right! It’s a crude understanding, but it captures the essence. Even though there’s a few finer details, power and talent are basically universal currencies in any world!”

”So how much springwater would I need to save these two worlds?”

Li Fan seemed shaken for a moment. ”I can’t really say. I only managed to come across some rough records about the red dust. If you want more details, you’ll have to go to Myriadpath Valley. If I had to guess, you’ll need to be at least among the inner core of geniuses to be able to obtain enough. I know that your might and power are a result of external boosts. However, you won’t have access to that at Myriadpath Valley. But given your innate talent and capabilities, I believe you’ll stand a chance. You just need time.”