Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming could hear that Eminent Jiguang was thinking for his sake. He took a deep breath and said, ”I also don’t know exactly why, but when I struck back, I felt a really heavy baleful aura from Yumo Lingyue. It felt like countless baleful souls were crying out to me and asking for release. I felt a little torn inside and couldn’t control myself.”

He was trying to probe her about starblood. Suishen Zhao might not know about it, but what about an eminent? There was no way she would be able to know that Tianming had already found out about everything through Jian Qinghe.

Eminent Jiguang turned a little cold and melancholic, but her mood disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. She gave him a much gentler gaze and said, ”Oh well, this will only happen once, I hope. If you don’t want to die, you should avoid provoking conflict with House Yumo.”

”But I already promised Yumo Xue that I’d challenge him,” Tianming said.

”Fine, but I must be there during your duel with him, got it?”

”Understood.” Tianming figured that Eminent Jiguang definitely knew about starblood as well. As for which side she supported on the matter, he couldn’t tell just yet. At the very least, she seemed unable to do anything about it, given her sad and troubled look. The fact that a matter like that wasn’t largely objected to in Myriadpath Valley showed that, even if there were people who were against it, they weren’t able to touch the Three Exalted Houses at all.

”It isn’t safe out there, so come back,” Eminent Jiguang said.

”I’m in the top ten now, so I was thinking I should go to the myriadpath steles to see if I can pick up a fortuna-class battle art,” Tianming said.

”There’s only a dozen days left. Will you get anywhere with it?”

”It’ll be fine. I’ll just go to get a rough idea and come back.” Tianming wanted to see if his black arm worked on those steles too. He looked up at the steles high up above Myriadpath Valley. People could clearly see them even from the outside, especially the Midsky Myriadpath Stele.

”There’s a formation high up above Myriadpath Valley that only lets foundationeers and the top ten of the Fortuna Ranking through,” Suishen Zhao said. Those conditions weren’t hard to fulfill. Any myriadpath saint could pick a stele, but actually comprehending the battle arts was the hard part. ”I still can’t go up there, so I’ll head back to Suishen Cave first. Fen Nu can go with you.”

Given Suishen Zhao’s current cultivation level, infinitum-class battle arts were enough to bring out his full potential. Fortuna-class battle arts were meant for foundationeers, after all.

”Alright.” Tianming and Suishen Zhao parted and he ascended to the sky with Fen Nu. Myriadpath Valley could be segmented into a higher and lower part. The higher part was where the steles were situated, a legacy from the prehistoric times of Myriadpath Valley. Incidentally, the height of the Prehistoric Path almost reached that height.

The closer Tianming flew to the steles, the larger they looked. I recall wanting to use the steles when I first arrived. It’s been more than ten years since then. I’ve made rather quick progress. He had the Prehistoric Path to thank for that.

Soon, he reached the formation. His myriadpath ring contained his rank, and that allowed him to enter the upper layer. He looked around and saw tens of thousands of steles floating high above. Some were close, others were far. The more distant ones were shrouded in mist.

The closer ones seemed like vertical continents that took up a lot of space ahead. The steles were completely black and covered in signs of aging. They carried the long legacy of Myriadpath Valley, each one having their own unique divine celestial patterns that formed complicated scrolls, which were the fortuna-class battle arts themselves.

There was at least hundreds of millions of years of history collected among the steles. Who knew how many cultivators had spent their youth here, going through all those battle arts to find the right one for them in pursuit of the pinnacle of martial prowess?

Tianming took in the majestic sight and was dazzled for a moment. Nobody told him what battle arts were recorded where. Without anyone to explain it to him, he had to go through them one by one and that would easily take a year. Even if there was a catalogue he could use, it would only narrow down the range. He still had to try out the battle arts to find the perfect one for him.

However, he didn’t actually need to finish the trials, thanks to being a sky plunderer. All he needed was someone to tell him which stele had the strongest battle art! He turned to Fen Nu. ”Lord Fen Nu?”

Fen Nu was short, but had a big mouth and big eyes. He smiled back at Tianming. Even though he was serving as a bodyguard, he was still Tianming’s senior and reported to Eminent Ranxing. ”What is it?”

”Which myriadpath stele is the best?”

”That’d be the Midsky Myriadpath Stele, of course.” Conversation with Fen Nu was a bit awkward, considering that they were from different generations.

”Li Tianming?” a familiar voice called out from behind.

Tianming turned back and saw an azure-clad youth. He had long hair and a tall, slender build. He was none other than Major Pathkeeper Suishen Yuan, the one who had once dragged Tianming out of Suishen Cave.

Tianming couldn’t help but smile. ”I haven’t seen you for a while. Major Pathkeeper, why do you look like you’ve aged so much?”

Suishen Yuan didn’t just look aged; he seemed completely depressed. His gaze was devoid of vigor and his expression made him look like a walking corpse. ”You’re still teasing me. What’s the point?” he said.

The enemy of an enemy was a friend. Ever since Suishen Yao’s marriage partner had been settled, Tianming had noticed that Suishen Yuan no longer held any hostility toward him. It was as if it had never been there in the first place.

Suishen Yuan approached him and sighed. Then he suddenly snapped with realization. ”Hell, this is the upper level of Myriadpath Valley. How’d you come here? Are you a foundationeer now?”

”Of course not. I’m merely in the top ten of the Fortuna Ranking,” Tianming humbly said.

Suishen Yuan almost projectile-vomited blood. It was even harder to make it into the top ten without becoming a foundationeer! He’d been studying a battle art nearby, so he hadn’t heard about how Tianming had defeated Yumo Lingyue.

”Alright, you’re a monster indeed. I severely underestimated you in the past.” Suishen Yuan calmed down and seemed convinced of Tianming’s achievements.