Beastmaster of the Ages

Jian Qinghe was an astral god, so her body would recover. And her regeneration was fast, perhaps thanks to her unique constitution. With a quick flash of green streams, her new body formed, but even then, the astrons she had lost weren’t restored.

She collapsed to the ground and looked blankly at the pair of legs ahead of her. There was too much pain in her gaze. Every time, memories of despair would flood into her mind, but she could do nothing but grit her teeth and close her eyes as she told herself that the torture was finally over once more.

Her vision blurred as she stared at those legs, not even noticing when they disappeared from her sight. ”Life....” Her mouth suddenly twitched when she smiled at the thought of the person who could remove her veil. He was her sole remaining hope.

***

Shocked by Tianming’s sudden growth, Suishen Yao decided that she would strive to rise above him and one day be able to suppress him once more. So she decided to enter the upper Grand Myriadpath Ruins to train with him. The married couple took up the first and second spots of the Fortuna Ranking respectively, making for quite a staggering sight.

Suishen Yao was serious about wanting to work hard, so she immediately went off to the caeli. Tianming waited for her to enter seclusion before sneaking away. Right as he was about to do so, Yin Chen described everything that had happened to Jian Qinghe in text form within his lifebound space. He didn’t quite know what to make of it all.

”It’s no wonder Qitian Muchen said that Jian Qinghe would die. It also explains the old man’s anger! What kind of sadistic freak is he?!” Tianming didn’t have siblings of his own, but he did have a godsister, Qingyu, and he was incredibly protective of her! Qitian Muchen, on the other hand.... Tianming simply didn’t think that there existed a human who could do something so depraved.

”A vegetable? What sick descriptor is that?!” Tianming snapped. ”Is she recovering?” He didn’t want to leave before he got all the facts right.

”Just wait!” Yin Chen said, a little loud. After two days, it told him that Jian Qinghe was conscious again. However, her body hadn’t fully recovered.

”Can she talk?” Tianming asked.

”She can.”

Even though Tianming couldn’t see her with his own eyes, he could easily imagine how feeble she currently was. Being eaten alive was no doubt far more painful than losing a body part to an attack! Not to mention, Qitian Muchen said that it had happened more than ten thousand times! Despite Tianming’s relative unfamiliarity with Jian Qinghe, he was outraged for her all the same.

”Let me talk to her, then.” Tianming dictated his words to Yin Chen, who in turn rendered them as text for Jian Qinghe.

”Yin Chen told me about everything that just happened. At this point, can you finally tell me what the deal is between you, Uncle Hei, and the cleaner grandpa?” Tianming asked.

Soon, Yin Chen wrote out her reply. ”There’s no benefit to letting you know right now. It took a lot of trouble for you to return to Myriadpath Valley and have a chance to grow in a low-profile manner. You shouldn’t be looking for trouble elsewhere. House Yumo’s malice toward you is already troublesome enough. As for my affairs... they’re nothing new. For now, things are bearable. I’ve grown numb to it. Even if you know the truth now, you won’t be able to help. It’ll only put more weight on your mind.”

She didn’t know that Tianming had killed the eminents of House Yumo in Infinitum, nor that he was already as capable as a seventh-level foundationeer. Instead, she still considered him a mere fortuna disciple.

”It’s fine, tell me. I’ll be sure to think before I act,” Tianming gently said.

”We’re only friends. All I want is for you to restore order to Myriadpath Valley so the Million Mundi will exist under a fair and just rule without oppression and exploitation. You’re someone with the potential to achieve that. What’s most important right now is that you make use of the cultivation resources of the Three Exalted Houses to grow. I’m worried that my personal affairs will affect your judgment and cause you to jump into yet another risky situation.”

Despite the torture she had just endured, Jian Qinghe was still firmly against revealing the truth. She’d also held back when Tianming had proven that he could remove her veil.

”Just like you said, we’re friends. Friends worry about each other and help solve each other’s problems. Also, I think you’re underestimating me when you say it’ll affect my judgment. Don’t worry, I’m very aware of my current place in Myriadpath Valley, and the options that’re available to me. Something like the Suishen Blood incident won’t happen again,” Tianming earnestly said. At the end of the day, there were people who were worthy to fight for even if one didn’t know them that well yet.

Yin Chen said she remained silent for a while. Then she began, ”There’s an august house in Myriadpath Valley called House Qingchuan with an incredibly long history. It’s said that they’re powerful enough to rise to the same level as the Three Exalted Houses.”

”Wait, didn’t you say that even august houses originated from the Million Mundi? Why would House Qingchuan be on the same level as the Three Exalted Houses?” Tianming asked.

”It’s because House Qingchuan is also one of the earliest immigrants to Myriadpath Valley. In fact, we can be considered the fourth exalted house. However, we didn’t have enough power, not to mention we were beastmasters like House Qitian, so we slowly got absorbed into House Qitian as a branch and eventually became subservient to them, which led to our status being demoted to that of an august house. Most newcomers to Myriadpath Valley aren’t aware of the history of the fourth exalted house.”

”The fourth exalted house?” Tianming really hadn’t expected that! In other words, the rare outsider valley lord was also descended from an ancient bloodline in Myriadpath Valley, rather than being someone from the outer mundi.

Jian Qinghe continued, ”In terms of bloodline, House Qingchuan and House Qitian can actually be traced back to the same roots. Their lifebound beasts are myriadpath source beasts while ours beasts are myriadpath source spirits. The two lines are actually much closer to the Myriadpath Sourcespring’s origin than House Suishen or House Yumo.”

”Myriadpath source spirits? What’re they like?” Tianming hadn’t seen Jian Qinghe’s lifebound beast before.

Yin Chen said that Jian Qinghe was still reeling with pain, but she persisted. ”We’re plant beastmasters. Unlike normal beastmasters, we also have the property of source beasts. However, we differ from House Qitian in that our lifebound beasts are completely fused with our bodies. The two are one. You can think of it as being similar to your tainted beastmaster form.”