Beastmaster of the Ages

A commotion soon built up outside the hall of blood. Fallengrace Peak was really huge, and more than a million women from all over had gathered at the entrance of the hall. They had a wide range of looks, from those who seemed more normal to those that were rather alluring. There were quite a few who seemed similar to Lan Yun in terms of attitude, though they couldn’t compare to the real thing.

”Senior Sister and Lan Yun’s subsouls have scattered....”

”They’re both dead!”

”Go in!”

The group entered the hall without any fear. None of them were to be trifled with; people had to think twice before approaching them.

”There’s signs of fighting!”

”Why does it look like Lan Yun fought Senior Sister?”

”Wasn’t she raised by Senior Sister? What kind of grudge could they have? Not to mention, wasn’t Senior Sister going to use the fiendart one last time? I heard that Lan Yun found her an astralkiln.”

”What in the world happened here?”

The women tried their best to find clues. All of them had auras belonging to old demonesses. Compared to them, Lan Yun was among the gentler ones.

”There must’ve been a third party that had something to do with their deaths!”

”Who dares come to Fallengrace Peak to kill one of us? What foolish courage!”

”Preposterous!”

Just as their seething auras built up, someone cried, ”Second Sister is here.”

The group of women immediately fell silent and adopted a respectful smile as they looked out the door. There was a woman with flowing black hair standing there. She looked much younger than the others and was rather petite. She was also extremely cold. Though her facial features were refined, she seemed more like a doll and wasn’t as alluring as the other women there, making her stand out in Fallengrace Peak. As she walked into the hall, the other women made way for her.

”Second Sister,” they greeted with utmost respect.

The black-haired girl circled the hall and took in the scents around it. ”She is indeed dead.”

The other women looked at each other without daring to say anything.

”However....” The girl turned to the rest. ”We have to find the murderer! Fallengrace Peak shall never stomach this kind of provocation.”

”Yes!” They all nodded in agreement.

”We stand strong and united!”

”We must find that arrogant fool who dares kill people in our territory!”

”There’s only so many eminents and reverends in the astralscape of order. The one who committed this crime must’ve left some traces....”

Their eyes were filled with killing intent.

***

Tianming woke up with a sudden jerk and found that his body had considerably recovered. He looked around in a hurry and found himself on a grassy hill on one of the floating islands of Myriadpath Valley.

Some distance away sat a black-robed man on a green rock. In front of him stood a pristine, veiled girl. She was none other than Jian Qinghe.

Clouds slowly passed up above in the sky while the grass gently swayed. It seemed like everything was peaceful. With the terror that the Infinitum Mundus might be found resolved, and sensing life signs from Ying Huo and the rest, Tianming could finally relax.

”You’re awake.” The two came to him when they noticed the movement.

Tianming shook his head as he recalled what happened at Fallengrace Peak. His memories were rather muddled, as his evil impulses had affected him too much back then. His rage, desire, and berserk state had made it so that he couldn’t control his body at all. But the memories were no doubt real.

”Thank you!” Tianming said, saluting them as he stood up.

”I arrived late and wasn’t of help. You don’t need to thank me,” the man said with a smile. It was the truth.

Tianming recalled when he’d had Yin Chen ask Jian Qinghe for help. ”Either way, I’m thankful that you two came to my aid in a time of need.”

”We should be the ones thanking you for thinking to ask us for help,” Jian Qinghe suddenly said. It was true that their ties had been too shallow. The two were almost flattered that Tianming had asked them to save his life.

Tianming laughed and said, ”Senior, Miss Jian, I knew that you were paying attention to me because of the cleaner grandpa at the Grand Myriadpath Ruins.”

”Yes. Your insect lifebound beast truly is amazing. You have eyes and ears all over!” the man said.

Tianming nodded. No doubt, they had inferred some things after Tianming let Yin Chen reveal itself to contact them. The fact that they hadn’t made a fuss about it showed the depth of their character. Apart from people like Lan Yun, Reverend Daolie, and Suishen Yao, people like Suishen Zhao and Jian Qinghe also existed.

Since he had the opportunity, he directly said, ”Miss Jian, I could try to see if I can do anything about the formation lock in your veil.”

”Is that so? But we didn’t really help at all.” At first, she seemed delighted. However, she felt a little guilty later on. ”Miss Jian, you saved the cultivators from Bluemaple back at the Darkfiend Den. That was a huge help to me. If there’s something I can do for you in exchange, I should do it.”

”Young Miss, don’t hold back and let him try it out,” the man said.

”Then... thank you very much, truly. You have my boundless gratitude and respect,” Jian Qinghe said.

”You’re too polite.” Tianming took a deep breath and approached her. He looked closely at her veil. Even though he couldn’t see her face, he could tell that she was really nervous. It seemed like something that was meant to bind her for life. The black-robed man intensely looked at Tianming with his arms behind his back and his eyes slightly twitching.

Tianming breathed in and raised his black left arm. The Sky Plundering Eye flashed, using the compound eye form of Vitasteal to look at the veil. Through it, he saw that the simple veil was actually formed of countless divine celestial patterns that functioned as formation locks. There were tens of thousands of layers, each one incredibly complex and bound with the others like bundles of thread. They had to be picked out one by one, and the slightest mistake could cause a backlash.

He closed both eyes and focused all his attention on the eye on his palm, looking for the starting point of the thread. The more intensely he looked, the dizzier he felt. It took two whole hours. He still hadn’t fully recovered and was sweating from the effort.

However, his focus and effort weren’t wasted. He stretched out a blood-colored nail and accurately picked out the thread that was hiding deepest in the formation lock. ”You’re the one!”

When he pulled at the divine celestial pattern thread, Jian Qinghe’s veil oddly shimmered and kept shifting until it was almost transparent. Tianming could finally see the face beneath it; it was beautiful and delicate as expected. Myriadpath Valley was in no way lacking beauties. Jian Qinghe had a pleasant, untainted aura about her that seemed noble and precious.

Even though Tianming had found the starting point, it would still take time to unravel it. ”The beginning is the toughest part! All I have to do now is to go step by step.”

With Lan Yun dead, he had all the time he needed. Right as he was about to begin, a thick hand grabbed his arm and pulled it away from Jian Qinghe’s face. Tianming suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the black-robed man. ”Senior, what’s wrong?”

The man’s eyes were red. ”It’s enough. We understand.”

Jian Qinghe shook and couldn’t help but turn around, then slowly slumped to the ground, seemingly sobbing.

”What do you understand?” Tianming asked.

”We understand that you’re truly capable of it!” the man said.

”Then why won’t you let me go on?”

He shook his head. ”It isn’t the time. It’s still too far off, and you can’t afford to be involved in this, not yet. That’s why all we need to know is if it can be done.”

”Is that so?” Tianming couldn’t do anything about it, since they had asked him to stop. It was clear from their reaction that there were terrifying people operating behind the scenes where it concerned Jian Qinghe and the old cleaner, possibly ones that were far more terrifying than Fallengrace Peak.

Tianming had left a few Yin Chens behind at Fallengrace Peak. When he woke up, it told him about the second sister, who was the actual leader and lord of Fallengrace Peak in modern times. She was much stronger than the senior sister that had struggled to her final breath.

He wasn’t too worried about their investigation for now, and turned to Jian Qinghe and her chaperone. The fact that they had been willing to come to his aid when he called for it showed that they were much more worthy allies than Suishen Yao or Lan Yun. Sometimes it was clear when certain people weren’t just going to remain as forgettable passers-by.

”How should I address you, Senior?” Tianming asked.

”Just call me Uncle Hei,” he said, giving Tianming a solemn look. He stretched a hand out to Tianming’s shoulder. ”Tianming, listen to me. Don’t reach out to us on your own once you leave. We shouldn’t meet again, and you shouldn’t bring us up, either. We’re prisoners of Myriadpath Valley.”

”Got it.” The reason they couldn’t proclaim that they would protect him was that they could barely protect themselves.

”If you want to continue surviving and achieving your dreams in Myriadpath Valley, especially among people of that level, let me give you a suggestion,” Uncle Hei said.

”Pray tell.”

”Form a good relationship with Suishen Zhao... and try to treat your relationship with his sister, Suishen Yao, with care.”