Beastmaster of the Ages

”Good. Very good.” Zi Zhen pursed her lips and looked down to avoid meeting gazes with Tianming.

”I have to say... you’re pretty heavy even though you aren’t that big,” Tianming said.

”You....” She immediately turned and glared at him.

”Let me try to condense my second cosmic chart.”

”What a monster,” Zi Zhen said.

Tianming sat down in front of her and ingested the hexagonal card-like order fragment before her very eyes. No matter what grade they were, order fragments felt identical once consumed. They immediately turned into a stream that easily flowed down the throat without causing any injury. The fragment’s essence nourished his eight streams of order.

Thanks to the battles to defend the Sun, his order had matured and had a steady foundation. As such, the sudden stimulation of growth from this order fragment didn’t cause them to collapse. However, the red dust’s infestation of the Sun had caused his imperial order to be less stable than it’d been before, leading to a feeling of discomfort after the growth. It was as if traces of red dust had mixed with the imperial order, staining it slightly red and causing it to lose its golden luster.

Forget it. I’ll focus on condensing my second cosmic chart first. I can always stabilize it in the future. If it doesn’t work, I’ll turn to the Myriadpath Sourcespring.

A single grade-six order fragment was more effective than fifteen grade-five ones. All of Tianming’s streams of order got a huge boost, allowing him to successfully condense his second cosmic chart.

The golden beehive in it was still formed with imperial order as the core, fortified by the other seven streams of order to form a powerful order suppression. However, he wouldn’t use it on others so they wouldn’t know his real level. He didn’t need it to counter other people’s order suppression anyway, since he had the Order Relic.

The biggest use of the second cosmic chart for him was the increase in his energy capacity so that he could handle more of it. He used it to rapidly absorb xeno source and convert it into cosmoforce, doubling his reserves.

At the same time, he engaged in symbiotic cultivation, but this time was much more intimate than before. Ying Huo, Meow Meow, Lan Huang, and Xian Xian were in his body, while Ji Ji was in his lifebound space and Yin Chen was all around him. Their cosmoforce capacity also got a huge boost. Apart from Yin Chen, their cosmoforce reserves could basically be directly tapped into by Tianming!

All in all, his combat capabilities had considerably grown. With enough cosmoforce, his beasts’ abilities grew much stronger. He was even faster now using Fiveway Blitzrun and his energy was so dense that it even drew Chen Tianyong inside. Tianming demanifested his cosmic charts before he entered.

”Did you make a breakthrough?” Chen Tianyong asked. He was all too excited about Tianming growing stronger.

”That’s right.”

”You’re still able to use order fragments to advance at your level, but it won’t do much once you reach the Foundation stage. Cultivators of Antiquitas Mortis may quickly reach the Foundation stage, but after that, they aren’t comparable to those from Myriadpath Valley.” Chen Tianyong wanted to remind Tianming to not just rely on order fragments. He still had to work hard on his own to cultivate. The advice was similar to Lan Yun’s.

Naturally, Tianming knew better than anyone how stable his cultivation was. His order was different from other people’s, no matter which stream it was. Either way, he still told Chen Tianyong, ”I know. That’s why I’ll also fight for Myriadpath Sourcespring to make sure I’m balanced.”

”Alright!” Chen Tianyong left it at that. ”What’s next?”

”We’ll wait for an opportunity and gather information. You may do as you please. I’ll summon you once we have a target.”

”Do you need me to be your bodyguard?”

”Of course not. You’re the lord of Commonsky City. It’d be weird for you to be seen with me, a disciple of Myriadpath Valley.”

”Very well.” Nobody knew about Chen Tianyong having xeno fatigue, so he couldn’t wait to show himself before others once more. He had been in hiding for far too long.

”We’ll keep in touch,” Tianming said.

”Okay.”

Once Chen Tianyong left, Tianming and Zi Zhen waited for Yin Chen to find a good candidate. This time around, they were including sixth-level foundationeers in their search! Even so, people like that were really rare in Antiquitas Mortis; most of them were within the capital. Even after a month of waiting, there weren’t any opportunities to be found.

”You should rest for a while. I’ll return to Myriadpath Valley. Even if I get order fragments now, I won’t be able to use them right away since I still need to stabilize myself,” Tianming told Zi Zhen.

”I see.” Zi Zhen obediently nodded.

”I’m heading off,” Tianming said.

”Okay....”

”Make sure to stay safe, alright?”

”I know.”

”Now, don’t give me that frown. Smile for me or I’ll make a fan out of money to rub in your face until you do!”

Zi Zhen didn’t know how to respond to that. ”Just leave....”

......

Tianming returned to the stareye near the capital. Li Fan had been waiting for him for a long time. ”You broke through again?!”

”You have sharp eyes,” Tianming said with a smile.

”I’m so envious. You seem to break through every time you meet a girl. Those who don’t know better would think that you’re harvesting sexual yin to replenish your yang for breakthroughs,” Li Fan said.

”Quit it with that nonsense!” Tianming snapped.

”Are we going straight back?” Li Fan asked when they were at the stareye.

Tianming shook his head. ”Let’s go to Ebonia first.”

”Alright.”

The stareye activated and they found themselves at the Myriadpath Celestial Formation. A dozen days had passed, even though it felt like a single instant.

”Shall we go together?” Tianming asked.

”Let’s,” Li Fan said.

The two of them activated the formation once more, ’dying’ between the instant of consciousness it took them to reach Skydome.

”That’s so fast!” Tianming would never stop being impressed by the Myriadpath Celestial Formation.

”Fengqing Youmeng, come to the stareye.” They would still require the help of wonderians to reach Ebonia.

”You’re back so soon,” Fengqing Youmeng said, surprised as she emerged from the Xenoworld near the stareye. She noticed that Tianming was even more terrifying than before. Seeing the myriadpath ring, she knew that he had joined their ranks.

”Congratulations,” she enviously said.

”Have things been alright lately?” Both transmission stones and Yin Chen couldn’t reach as far as Ebonia, so Tianming had to rely on her for updates. He was quite nervous about Ebonia and the Sun, his true homes.