Beastmaster of the Ages

Yumo Xue would have no problems remaining in first place on the Fortuna Ranking until he was five hundred. There would be no more eligible challengers.

”But I still want him to die a horrible death!” Yumo Yuanni spat.

”Don’t worry. Three kegs of springwater is a huge draw. There’s no way that anyone will be able to live without forming connections or leaving traces. If he can’t be found, House Yumo will just increase the bounty. He’s already chosen to stand against Myriadpath Valley, so he’ll die for sure. Nobody can go against us,” Yumo Xue chuckled, the eye slits on his mask narrowing.

”My mom’s here!” Yumo Lingyue said as she excitedly waved.

Eminent Yinyue had just entered the hall. Yumo Xue and Yumo Yuanni immediately bowed. ”Greetings, Auntie.”

”Have you heard about House Suishen?” Eminent Yinyue asked, face full of smiles.

”Mom, we did. Everyone in Myriadpath Valley knows!” Yumo Lingyue said, overjoyed.

”Wow, it spread so fast, eh? It’s far too funny,” Eminent Yinyue said. ”Alright, just leave that pest to Myriadpath Valley. We have to forget about him, because the upcoming days are really important. I need you all to settle down and focus on your cultivation.”

”Yes!” The youths all nodded.

Eminent Yinyue turned to her daughter and said, ”In two months, the Yumo Blood Crucible will be able to be activated again. I’ve discussed it with your dad and you’ll be getting the next drop of starblood. Since the four drops you’ve taken in before are gone, this one will only help reinforce your physical body.”

”Mom, how long will it take until I recover my previous capabilities?” Yumo Lingyue asked.

”Around a hundred years, perhaps. It can’t be helped. Just consider it as the heavens taking that amount of time from you. It doesn’t matter too much—a hundred years isn’t that long. As long as you work hard and use starblood, you’ll be able to make up for it. We’ve also had Yuanni test out using ordered manna and springwater to cultivate and the results are decent. Next time, I’ll apply for more springwater for you to use.”

”Yes!” Yumo Lingyue’s tears had dried up after crying for a few months nonstop. ”I can’t wait! Let’s go to the Hellfiend!”

”Are you that impatient?”

”No. Only by seeing the tragedy of other people can I cover up my own.”

”Child, don’t make the mistake of calling those mortals people. We aren’t even the same kind of lifeform,” Eminent Yinyue said. The seniors of House Yumo brainwashed the children from a young age.

”Okay!” Yumo Lingyue nodded.

Yumo Xue said, ”I have nothing to do in the meantime, so I’ll join Yumo Lingyue. Her current body will be enduring quite a bit of stress as it assimilates starblood, so I should help out where I can.”

”That’ll be lovely,” Eminent Yinyue said.

”The next drop of starblood after this one will be mine. I should go take a look so I can gain more experience of what it’s like,” Yumo Yuanni excitedly said.

”Alright, all three of you can go. You’ll be able to see how backwater a world outside Myriadpath Valley truly is.”

”Let’s go!”

”Come, Lingyue. Your father’s been really busy, but he’s wanted to see you for some time now. Some of your uncles were also really angry when they heard about what happened to you. We have to vent our frustrations using those lower lifeforms!”

***

Next to a white, dreamlike star, the stareye formed from ten skypiercer-class worlds rumbled. A white-haired youth appeared above it—Tianming was back!

”Fengqing Youmeng, come see me.” Tianming’s gaze was cold this time around. He’d heard about the judgment House Suishen had given him from Yin Chen. Being labeled a top fugitive and sentenced to death along with all his affiliates and his entire mundus showed that his relationship with the Three Exalted Houses and House Suishen had completely broken down.

Only Eminent Jiguang and the Suishen siblings were on his side. What had happened that led to that was far too sudden. There was nothing he could have done to avoid it, so he decided not to ponder it too much. Either way, any hope he’d had for them had turned cold.

There were more important things he had to handle, like the mobile stareyes—the Hellfiend in particular! The grudge for the countless lives of Viridian wasn’t something that could ever be wiped away. Even if things hadn’t gone wrong with Suishen Yao, Tianming would have had to return in a few months based on the cooldown period of the Yumo Blood Crucible that he’d learned of from Jian Qinghe. He would be fighting those of House Yumo who were in the Hellfiend to the death.

Soon, Fengqing Youmeng came to him. Though she wanted to bring up some silly banter as usual, she kept quiet after seeing Tianming’s cold killing intent and took him to the Sun, serving her role as a faithful tool.

When they were going through the Xenoworld, Tianming said, ”These years, have you been able to move people to Greensource?”

”We have. I personally made the marker at Greensource. We also have markers on the tens of heliacal-class worlds near it. I can take you to them at any time,” Fengqing Youmeng said.

”That’s good. Thank you. I’ll reward you next time.”

”What’s the reward?” she expectantly asked, holding his hand.

Tianming glared at her, causing her to clam up. ”You did well. I need you to have informants near the stareye. Swap out everyone there with people you can trust. If anyone appears at the stareye and asks about me, I need you to tell them you haven’t heard of me at all.”

The Million Mundi was vast, but the allure of three kegs of springwater was immense. Most of the cultivators in Myriadpath Valley supported Tianming, so even if there were pursuers, there wouldn’t be a coordinated effort to hunt him down. As such, it was unlikely that they would come to Skydome Mundus.

However, the Three Exalted Houses could mount a systematic search for him and there was a chance that some of them would end up at Skydome, so he would take some precautions. Naturally, if the valley lord himself decided to act, he could easily track Tianming down and he would have to fight to the death.