Beastmaster of the Ages

The man was none other than Suishen Yue. Suishen Yao had also spotted him, but she wanted to ignore him and pulled Tianming away without saying a word. Tianming still turned back to look and met Suishen Yue’s gaze. He saw traces of dark feelings from his eyes. Is that fellow still unhappy about how things turned out with Yaoyao?

Even so, he didn’t fear him. Before, he hadn’t been Suishen Yue’s match, but now he had Fiveway Blitzrun and could no longer be killed by him. Not to mention, he had claimed five kegs of springwater to use for his breakthrough!

Tianming looked at the silver keyhole and wondered what would appear once he unlocked it. Though he was incredibly curious, there were eminents some distance away who were warily staring at him, so he suppressed his curiosity and moved on.

Having claimed the springwater, Suishen Yao insisted on sending him off to the Myriadpath Celestial Formation, so Tianming had no choice but to let her come along. They walked across Myriadpath Valley hand-in-hand, successively dispelling rumor after rumor about how they weren’t getting along as a couple. That was probably her goal all along.

Along the way, Tianming communicated with Jian Qinghe using Yin Chen. ”Qitian Muchen’s ninesource beast recovered after consuming myriadpath source spirits of House Qingchuan, right? You’re saying Uncle Hei’s been badly injured because of Yazi?”

While it was normal for Jian Qinghe, Tianming still felt rather guilty. I knew I should’ve eliminated that ninesource beast.

He’d had three choices back then: maiming the ninesource beast, killing it and effectively cripple Qitian Muchen, or killing Qitian Muchen outright. Qitian Muchen was the son of the valley lord, so choosing option three would have triggered a powerful reaction from House Qitian, which might prompt the valley lord to force everyone to leave the Yin-Yang World to investigate each and every one of them. Tianming had chosen the least risky of the options, only for it to bring disaster to House Qingchuan.

House Yumo has all of their elites in the Outer Yin. I wonder if they’d listen to the valley lord if he ordered them all to leave.... Tianming didn’t think that they would, and as long as some of them remained in there, he could follow them.

Not to mention, Suishen Yao was already under the impression that he could fight on the same level as fourth-level foundationeers. Even if he ended up exposed, all he had to do was match his prowess to a fourth-level foundationeer to keep his identity as the Mistrunner hidden. He was already a proper foundationeer, after all, so he could finally show a bit more of his true power, unlike before. Nobody would guess that a first-level foundationeer would be able to kill reverends of the sixth and seventh level.

Qitian Muchen, you’d better keep hiding in Myriadpath Valley. If you come to the Yin-Yang World, I’ll make you bleed. Tianming’s heart was cold.

He bade Suishen Yao farewell when they reached the Myriadpath Celestial Formation.

”Don’t die. If you do, I’ll be more than happy to spend the rest of my life as a pious widow. At any rate, I won’t have to marry anyone again for the rest of my life,” Suishen Yao said.

”Don’t worry! Even if you get old and worn, I’ll forever remain a vigorous youth!” Tianming said.

”You little!” Suishen Yao freaked out once more.

Tianming smiled and went to the Yin-Yang World using the formation. The calm season was already nearing its end and the reverends and eminents were going for their final sprint. There were far fewer people near the Lumistar Formation than before, allowing him to enter without trouble.

Within the Outer Yin, a large network of Yin Chens monitored the surroundings as Tianming took out thirty kegs of springwater and baleflame. He mixed them together into a hot spring and bathed within it before letting his caelum enter the monochrome figurine to observe its planet order.

It didn’t take long before he finished absorbing the springwater and baleflame. Tianming’s orders had already grown to their limits at his level over the past ten years. He could see a second building comprised of his eight streams of order form on his twelve cosmic charts within the existing fortress city.

It marked Tianming’s successful advancement to the second level of the Foundation stage! He was finally on the same level as Suishen Yao, yet his combat prowess far outstripped hers. Currently, nobody but Eminent Jiguang knew that Tianming could fight people five or six levels above him, and they were all the most talented the astralscape had to offer!

Tianming absorbed yin-yang essence and converted it into cosmoforce. Each advancement in the Foundation stage was accompanied by a massive growth in order. Correspondingly, cosmoforce capacity also increased far more than it did with each advancement in the Cosmic Cartography stage.

He had finally achieved a level of power that made him invincible to anyone who wasn’t an eminent. It had only taken him some thirty years to go from having the power of a seventh-level cosmic cartographer to where he was now; it was a path that most people spent a lifetime to walk. The new level of power reinforced his determination.

”When I was considered a twelfth-level cosmic cartographer in Myriadpath Valley, I showed them that I could defeat a second-level foundationeer like Suishen Yao. Now that I’m a second-level foundationeer, it’s no longer a stretch to say that I’m powerful enough to enter the Lumistar Formation.”

That was rather important. Even if he ran into an elite now, he could publicly use his actual identity as Li Tianming without having to don the mantle of the Mistrunner. If people learned that he had managed to pass through the Lumistar Formation before he became a foundationeer, he would be giving away that he could fight people six levels above him, after all. A second-level foundationeer was just powerful enough to gain access to the Yin-Yang World.

”Still, the elites of Myriadpath Valley might panic if they find out I can fight two levels above me, and it might draw unwanted attention from the Three Exalted Houses. Ideally, I still want to avoid being exposed.”

Using his real identity would be a last resort. He acted like he used to in the Yin-Yang World, donning the purple mask when he had to fight. Thanks to Yin Chen, nobody could get close enough to see him while he was unmasked, unless they were terrifyingly powerful enough to be able to evade Yin Chen’s notice. But in that case, it would be better for him to not wear the purple mask anyway.

Tianming stretched after he finished breaking through; audible snaps resounded from his astral body. He looked at the monochrome figurine. ”Looks like improving in the short term will be rather tough. I should use the little time the calm season has left to see if I can deal with you.”

The figurine wasn’t just a solidified caelum, it also functioned as the formation core of the fortuna-class ship! Tianming didn’t even need to hunt down the monochrome sphere. As long as he subdued the figurine, the vessel would be his.