Beastmaster of the Ages

Somewhere in the Outer Yin, Suishen Yue advanced through the yin-yang essence storm in a rushed fashion. He was protected by his totems and eighth-level-foundationeer cosmoforce, which made it hard for the storms to ravage his body.

He had remained in that spot for years, unable to go looking for any baleflame in the meantime. It was boring and frustrating in similar measures. However, at the thought that he would be able to get what he wanted if he waited long enough, his excitement went through the roof.

Looking back, he could only faintly see the Lumistar Formation’s light, as if it could vanish at any moment. That meant he was at the very edge of the Outer Yin, where it intersected the Inner Yin. The essence storm there was far more intense compared to the one outside. Like a fiend with sharp claws, it wildly tore away at everything as it howled.

”The calm season’s lasted almost twenty years! Why hasn’t my dad found her yet?” Suishen Yue had waited far too long and grown more and more impatient. Intrusive thoughts of Eminent Jiguang shot into his head nonstop, making him hotter and hotter.

But just as his patience reached its zenith, something finally showed up from the depths of the essence storms. His eyes brightened as he growled uncontrollably, face filled with anticipation.

Looking nervously in that direction with his heart rapidly pounding, a smile finally formed on his face—he had seen an approaching silhouette. ”He’s back!”

Suishen Yue immediately went forward to welcome that person, who noticed him in turn and immediately appeared. Suishen Yue seemed rather stunned as he asked, ”Dad, where’s Jiguang?”

Suishen Hongtian had returned alone. He looked Suishen Yue in the eyes and said, ”Why’re you so impatient? You’re behaving like a kid who hasn’t touched a woman before.”

”How can those wenches possibly compare with Jiguang?” Suishen Yue said with a depressed look.

Suishen Hongtian pursed his lips and said, ”The Inner Yin isn’t small, and the yin-yang essence storm is even rougher inside. It’s really hard to find a single person there, so it’s all down to luck. I wasn’t lucky enough to run into her this time.”

”Fine! Lucky her, then,” Suishen Yue said, his heartbeat slowing down. His anticipation, however, didn’t wane in the slightest.

”Her luck won’t last forever. The calm season will last for a while, so she’ll be done with for sure,” Suishen Hongtian said, laughing. Then he patted his son on the shoulder. ”I came here to tell you to be careful.”

”I’m not going anywhere. What’s there to be careful about?”

”I ran into an eminent that heard back in Myriadpath Valley that there might be natives of the Yin-Yang World who’ve remained undiscovered until now. They’re covered in purple mist that completely shrouds their appearance. So far, they’ve killed quite a few specters of House Yumo. About fifty subsouls of Yumo reverends have shattered, which is a significantly higher casualty rate than House Suishen and House Qitian’s.”

Suishen Yue began to feel nervous. ”It’s been tens of millions of years since we first came here. How could we have not discovered these natives the whole time? Is it a mistake? Maybe somebody’s making a fool of us all.”

”Who knows? The rumor started when the son of the valley lord, Qitian Muchen, brought back word of a person shrouded in purple mist. That ’Mistrunner’ killed a specter of House Yumo before his very eyes and their eminents weren’t able to catch it,” Suishen Hongtian said, brows furrowed.

”Why do they only kill those of House Yumo?”

”I don’t know. Some say that the Mistrunners might have something to do with the deaths of twenty eminents in the Infinitum Mundus. Perhaps it’s a different faction altogether. People are clamoring about the appearance of a threat to Myriadpath Valley, ostensibly from a fortuna-class world!” Suishen Hongtian said.

”Fortuna class? The Yin-Yang World? Even if that’s the case, it still doesn’t answer why they only go after Yumos.”

”I have no idea why, either. Perhaps their starblood draws too much attention. Assuming that the new enemies aren’t too big of a threat, the weakening of House Yumo is of no detriment to us. That’s why we aren’t doing anything about it for now. You, however, have to be careful of them. If you ever encounter them and they don’t seem dead set on killing you, do whatever you can to avoid engaging, be it talking or running!”

”I understand.” It wasn’t wise to fight the Mistrunners head on without knowing them well first, especially when they apparently only considered House Yumo to be their enemies.

Suishen Hongtian felt relieved after telling his son about it. His son was capable enough to hide his true nature and ambitions to the point that he had gained a decent position in a house ruled by Eminent Ranxing, and that was something worth acknowledging.

”You’ve endured for two thousand years and are just one step away from achieving greatness. Don’t let impatience get in the way at this final juncture. Trust your father. The time of your triumph will come!”

”I know, Father. I await your good news,” Suishen Yue said, gritting his teeth.

Suishen Hongtian smiled. ”If things go well, I’ll be bringing along Jiguang the next time I return, softened up and ready to go.”

”Okay....” Suishen Yue clenched his fists and nodded. He had waited far too long, but that day would soon be upon him!

***

In another corner of the Outer Yin, Tianming took out the crystal coffin once Yin Chen said the coast was clear. As the storm was rather intense, Tianming had many of its bodies link together, forming a room of metal so that he could study the coffin in peace and quiet.

The coffin was completely translucent and he could see a monochrome flower within, though he couldn’t quite tell whether or not it was real.

”This formation lock seems much more complicated than the one at the entrance of the lifebearer tortoise....” That one was so simple that even Qitian Muchen could open it, while the one in the coffin was leagues ahead.

”Maybe it’s set up so that only a unique bloodline can unlock it. Perhaps it’s meant for a proper descendant of a certain bloodline.” Tianming tried using a drop of his own blood, but it didn’t work. The blood he dripped on the coffin was sent flying by black-and-white celestial patterns in the shape of flowers, which made the coffin seem even more elegant than before.

”So it can only be unlocked with some special bloodline or a very high accomplishment in the formation arts that would allow one to understand and reverse engineer the structure of the formation.” He didn’t have either of those, but he did have a natural talent for unlocking things!

He couldn’t help but smile. Qitian Muchen had attempted to touch the coffin, only to be sent flying. Tianming, however, used a completely different method. ”It’s even more complex than the formation lock on cleaner grandpa’s cuffs, but it’s no big deal for me. Here, little coffin, let me see where your weakness is....”