Beastmaster of the Ages

”Things would be exciting if he clears the thousandface idol.”

”Exactly. Perhaps he’d actually reach the top three. His results in the past five rounds were far too outstanding, even considerably better than Qitian Jian.”

”Well, the clear time is still important. If he takes too long, he’ll only end up in fourth place even if he clears it.”

”I know. He must be using that lightning ability of his to move quickly and avoid the idol’s attacks while countering to hold on for so long. There’s no way his actual combat capabilities can help him clear it.”

”I see, so that’s what’s going on....”

”Even though he’s holding on, it’s a wasted effort. Pure combat power isn’t something mere tricks can make up for.”

Quite a lot of people stopped talking once the discussion reached that point. There were many who were familiar with the capabilities Tianming had shown so far.

Everyone turned their attention to the Maniverse Path. Even though the thousandface idol there was more powerful, more groups seemed able to clear it. There were thirteen groups, with Suishen Yue occupying third place. Suishen Yuan was the last one to clear it and ended up in thirteenth place.

Qualifying for the Maniverse Path wasn’t a guarantee that one would clear all the idols. In fact, the ancestral idol was a key bottleneck that most failed. In essence, Suishen Yue could be certain that he had already won after looking at the results of the sixth round.

”Congratulations, Brother Yue.”

”You did amazingly well!”

People around him began to praise him. Suishen Yue couldn’t help but turn to look at Suishen Yao on the Fortuna Path.

”That girl....” He realized that she didn’t care who would win or marry her. Instead, she kept her gaze affixed on the white-haired youth the entire time. ”Li Tianming is still persisting!”

Suishen Yue’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

***

Eventually, four hours passed.

”Are we going to keep going? By now, we’ll rank fourth no matter whether we pass or not,” Ying Huo asked.

”Of course!” Tianming said with a struggling expression. Even if his rank was set in stone, clearing the idol meant that he would have a chance of challenging the ancestral idol!

Even now, Suishen Zhao was still trying to hunt him down. They had run through countless streets. The mask on Suishen Zhao shifted from one face to the next, each one with a unique expression.

”He must have switched masks nine hundred times by now, right?” Tianming had used countless orders on the masks, but they were useless. All the attacks that might have stood a chance did nothing. The thousandface idol seemed to have a stronger defense than he thought. It was able to shrug off any ability or strike from the Grand-Orient Sword.

”There’s nothing I can do!” Tianming kept dragging this out as long as he could. ”I’m still not worn out. Is there a way for me to outlast him?”

He believed that there was a good chance of that and kept attacking as he backed away with Fiveway Blitzrun. Eventually, Suishen Zhao switched to another mask. Tianming had a feeling that his power had grown even more fierce.

”Damn it!” Tianming sped up and increased the distance. Looking back with the eye on his palm, he realized that the new mask was completely blank with no facial features at all! Then the words ’Midstar Myriadpath’ appeared on it.

”Wait, Midstar

Myriadpath? Not Midsky Myriadpath?” Right as he was wondering, something even more shocking happened and a hand stretched out from the mask. It looked like Suishen Zhao had a hand growing out of his face. Like a white snake, it rapidly shot toward Tianming. ”Run!” Tianming had Meow Meow speed up as much as it could, yet the hand was so fast that it was almost able to catch him before Tianming blitzed away!

”Faster, faster!” He was desperately switching positions again and again. Ying Huo and the others were just as horrified as well. But at the most fatal moment, Tianming felt the danger behind him disappear.

”Huh?” Using his third eye, he saw that the hand that’d been chasing him had vanished. Only Suishen Zhao remained, and the mask manifested features that were completely different from his. Tianming couldn’t tell whether it was the face of a man or a woman. There was something dreamlike and ancient about the face, filled with melancholy. Perhaps it was the owner of that hand.

”What kind of crazy trial is awaiting me next?”

Right as Tianming said that, the face said to him in an ancient voice, ”Keep heading backward!”

Then, the face crumbled. It appeared to be just a mask after all. After that, Suishen Zhao’s face was back to normal. The void around them began vanishing and Suishen Zhao also regained his senses.

”Did I clear the trial?” Tianming wasn’t sure what to make of this surprising outcome. He had no idea what conditions he’d fulfilled to clear it.

”Well, it’s called the thousandface idol, and Suishen Zhao’s mask changed a thousand times,” Xian Xian said.

”So that mask with the hand was the thousandth one? I can clear it as long as I manage to avoid it and don’t actually have to defeat it?” Tianming wondered.

”Could be!” By the time Xian Xian said that, Tianming and Suishen Zhao had both returned to the Prehistoric Path.

”Xian Xian, how were you even keeping count?” Tianming asked.

”It’s instinct! I also remember all the women you’ve been flirting with. Little Fish alone counts as fifty people.”

Hearing that sent chills down Tianming’s spine. But either way, he had made it. He looked at Suishen Zhao, who still seemed a bit dazed. Then he turned to the Midsky Myriadpath Stele.

”I wasted four hours here.... Even if I clear the next idol, I’ll still be in fourth place.” As expected, their names were ranked fourth. They had taken the most time to clear the sixth idol. ”At least I’ll get to challenge the seventh idol.”

Even if others believed that the ranks were fixed, it wouldn’t stop Tianming’s passion. He would get to show off in the next round!