Beastmaster of the Ages

Specters had really tough bodies, so Tianming used all the force he had to make sure he would cut through. It did look pretty gruesome, however.

His bisection strike was the one that ended the battle. Yumo Lingyue shrieked in pain as her mouth itself was cut in two. Even though astral gods could survive being split in half like that, it was still a heavy injury that could affect one’s cultivation.

She felt rage and frustration, but the rules of the Fortuna Arena were clear. Her myriadpath ring had detected that she’d lost. Tianming had managed to rise into the top ten as a cosmic cartographer, reaching the same level as Suishen Yao. The merit and springwater he obtained every day was even more than the first-ranked Qitian Jian’s! What Yumo Lingyue didn’t know was that even Tianming found the outcome to be a shame.

This is the Fortuna Arena and far too many people are looking. She isn’t Huang Daosheng, but a genius of the core bloodline. I can defeat her, but I can’t cripple her after the fight to save the baleful souls.... If the fight hadn’t happened in Myriadpath Valley, Tianming would have completely wiped her out. But if he made a move after the duel was decided, many eminents would come in to stop him. It would also be a heavy breach of the rules of conduct, which would lead to his hard-earned reputation crumbling.

It was too bad that the battle had been decided with a single strike, but everyone could tell that Tianming had absolutely dominated Yumo Lingyue and they were all happy for him.

”A genius cosmic cartographer actually managed to defeat a genius foundationeer of the Three Exalted Houses.... Can you believe it?”

”I wouldn’t if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, not even if ten thousand people said the same thing.”

”Li Tianming’s creating far too many miracles. Seeing how successful he is now, I believe it’s clear that his talent and skills far surpass those of the disciples of the Three Exalted Houses! Not even Qitian Jian and Yumo Xue can compete!”

”Eminent Jiguang truly has a good eye for talents. House Suishen’s blessed to have him.”

”Even though he’s gone to House Suishen, he’s still an outer-mundi genius. He belongs to the whole Myriadpath Valley, the whole astralscape!”

That kind of recognition was what Tianming needed the most. Defeating Yumo Lingyue was satisfying, but only for a moment. It wouldn’t dull his rage or hatred at all.

He coldly glared at the girl. She had fused her two parts back into one and returned to her pale, sickly human form. The way she looked at him seemed even more resentful than before. From her gaze, it seemed that she was quite unwilling to accept losing to him and becoming his stepping stone. She couldn’t bear to meet the disappointed gazes of her fellow specters.

”What right do you have to feel unhappy about this outcome? You managed to stay alive. Be grateful,” Tianming said, then smirked and prepared to leave.

”You!” Yumo Lingyue didn’t say much, but her nature was dark and savage. Being treated like nothing much caused her rage to boil. She gripped the Fiend of Pale White tight and executed Eighthell Soulcatcher once more, charging toward Tianming for a surprise attack!

Nobody expected that she would be such a sore loser. Everyone panicked and cried out—Tianming had his back facing her and being struck could result in heavy injuries or even death! However, people didn’t see the smile of delight on his face.

”You won’t take the path to heaven, yet you’ll gladly burst into the halls of hell?” A sunflower bloomed on Tianming’s left leg immediately, facing Yumo Lingyue. It glowed with golden light. All of a sudden, countless beams shot out of the Astral Sunflower.

It was Xian Xian’s seventh flower. After testing, Tianming believed it was the strongest new ability among those that his beasts had gained since their latest evolution! The sunflower seeds were as tiny as could be, each being the size of an astron. They shot out in an innumerable amount from the back of Tianming’s leg.

In an instant, the countless beams of golden light pierced into Yumo Lingyue, stopping her half a meter behind Tianming and hitting most of the individual astrons in her body. She had just recovered from a heavy injury, so she was far from her best form. When the seeds shot into her, her astrons began dimming and the cosmoforce circulating within her started breaking down, causing the energy capacity within her body to crumble.

It was both an attack and a method of control. The ability was more than enough as a counterattack. However, Tianming wouldn’t let this chance go. She had attempted to launch a cowardly sneak attack on a minor pathkeeper, after all. At the same instant the sunflower launched the beams, Tianming explosively manifested his totems and used his totemic calamity, Myriadsword Providence!

”It’s a threefold simulacrum!” The crowd was shocked to see the Diamondlight Swordshards. Each providence sword seemed like it was made of actual, corporeal matter. They shone so brightly and firmly with power. Before Eighthell Soulcatcher could connect with him, Tianming had stopped her in her tracks with Xian Xian’s ability and launched a sea of swords at her!

”Aaeaaagh!” She cried out in absolute agony as her body was once more torn into countless pieces. Tianming didn’t hold back and increased his output, reducing her to dust before the crowd! Her cries of pain echoed throughout the colosseum, making her seem even more pathetic than before.

She ended up in a pathetic state like Li Fan had been in, having nothing but her cosmic charts remaining. As long as they still existed, she wasn’t dead. But for specters, losing a physical body that had been refined over hundreds of years was akin to having all their efforts go down the drain. While there was indeed a chance that they could catch up again in a thousand years, it was still ruinous to their future potential.

Yumo Lingyue’s cries of pain sounded horrible. Tianming’s complete destruction of her body had also released the four trillion baleful souls that had been trapped in her astrons! They were crying tears of joy, filled with gratitude for him.

”Thank you! Thank you!”

”We are finally free...!”

Tianming met their gazes and resonated with them, feeling their pain like it was his own. When they interfaced with his imperial soul, his imperial order considerably grew. Tianming wasn’t even sure if it counted as good karma.

”Phew!” He took a deep breath as tears flowed from his eyes. Nobody knew what he was thinking of. He had done what he needed to do! Even though it was just the start, it marked the start of the path he had to walk. House Yumo, no matter which one of you actually assimilated starblood, one day, I’ll kill you all!

The crowd in the colosseum was shocked when Yumo Lingyue’s death throes reached their ears. They looked at Tianming, completely stunned. Suishen Zhao had been shocked enough to see Tianming win, but this stupefied him even more.

Yumo Lingyue was comparable to Yumo Yuanni in status, yet Tianming had basically crippled her. It was a scandal! The crowd instantly broke into chatter, still reeling from the shock.

Before the outcry completely erupted, Tianming angrily roared at the remaining cosmic charts, ”Yumo Lingyue, how dare you! The duel was already settled, yet you went mad and dared to attack a minor pathkeeper?! If I hadn’t retaliated, I would’ve been crippled!”

If he didn’t explicitly bring it up, people might forget that his minor pathkeeper status actually made him Yumo Lingyue’s better. His words caused quite a lot of people to quiet down and think. A lot of pent-up emotions remained pent up after the reasoning part of their minds kicked in.

Tianming’s words made sense. He was a minor pathkeeper, and no matter how high the status of a member of House Yumo was, it couldn’t compare to someone who bore the minor pathkeeper title. And she was even the one who had launched an underhanded strike! Tianming had only been forced to respond and didn’t have any time to consider the wider implications, and he was fully justified in doing so.

Suishen Zhao also picked up on it and immediately said, ”Fen Nu, go protect my brother!”