Beastmaster of the Ages

The old patriarch tried reaching out to his children using transmission stones, but they weren’t in Myriadpath Valley and were out of range. That’s right, wasn’t Hongtian together with Little Yue? Maybe he knows what really happened. At the thought of that, the old patriarch decided to make a trip to the Yin-Yang World.

There was a time delay from returning to the Yin-Yang World, so he might miss Suishen Hongtian’s return if he decided to go right away. Even so, he was the spiritual leader of House Suishen, so he had to make a trip once a big incident like this transpired.

”The killer must pay for the death of my son!” Eminent Jinying cried even after the old patriarch left.

***

The old patriarch emerged from the Lumistar Formation and spread out his cosmoforce. Eventually, he found someone not far away. He trudged through the storms and saw a middle-aged man with unkempt hair, clad in a yellow robe. His expression was dark and he seemed as haggard as a beast, much to the old patriarch’s concern. ”Hongtian, why are you here?”

Suishen Hongtian had never expected his father to show up! He had been entirely focused on looking out from the Lumistar Formation in anticipation of his prey. Seeing that it was his father, he relaxed and forced out a smile. ”Father, why’d you come?”

The old patriarch asked, ”Do you know that your son’s subsoul shattered?”

Suishen Hongtian furrowed his brow and reacted after a delay, shaking his head. ”That isn’t possible.”

”He’s dead,” the old patriarch insisted.

”Impossible!” In an attempt to cover up what he had planned to do to Jiguang, he feigned ignorance.

”It’s already happened, no matter whether you believe it or not. At this point, all we can do is find the killer and avenge my grandson. I also want to summon back all of our reverends and eminents and get them to withdraw from the Yin-Yang World,” the old patriarch said.

”Summon them back? Oh....” Suishen Hongtian didn’t fear that at all. All the old patriarch could do was give notice, but only the valley lord could truly order everyone to leave at the same time.

”Suishen Hongtian!” The old patriarch glared at his son. ”Now tell me, what is going on here?! Why couldn’t you protect your son? Weren’t you together?”

”We were together, but we had to split up. I thought he went back to Myriadpath Valley. I was going to bring him some baleflame that I just got, only for something like this to happen....” He had already gotten over the loss of his son, so it wasn’t that easy for him to have to reenact it all over again.

”Are you saying that even you have no idea what happened to him? Did he get into any trouble with the Yumos or Qitians?”

”No. Could it be the mistrunners?”

”Sigh... I suppose there’s a chance. It’s almost impossible to find out the truth of any incident in the Outer Yin!” The old patriarch sighed, his eyes red. ”Either way, we have to try looking before the calm season ends. Perhaps we’ll get answers once we find the mistrunners. Come with me.”

Suishen Hongtian furrowed his brow. How would he kill his sister if his father was traveling with him? If she was alive, what he and his son had been planning to do would come to light! It would be even more humiliating than dying! ”It’s too inefficient to travel together! Let’s look for them separately. I last saw my son near the border of the Inner and Outer Yin, so let’s look for the culprit there.”

”Splitting up?” The old patriarch gave him a look. Suishen Hongtian’s heart pounded before the old man finally nodded. ”Alright, be safe.”

”Yes, Father!”

The old patriarch stepped into the storm without another word. Suishen Hongtian followed for a bit before heading in a different direction, but instead of looking for the Mistrunner, he went back to the Lumistar Formation and hid there to not be noticed.

”Suishen Hongtian....” The old man furrowed his brows slightly as he turned back. ”Looks like he’s hiding something from me. He knows how my grandson died, but he didn’t tell me. Instead, he went back to stand guard at the Lumistar Formation. Who’s he waiting for?”

The old patriarch didn’t continue on and hid near the Lumistar Formation as well. While spying on his eldest son wasn’t something he was particularly proud of, it was a weird world they lived in. He had had a long life, yet he still didn’t understand how everyone could have private agendas that even drove themselves mad.

”It’s all my fault. I was far too competitive back then, especially against House Qitian and House Yumo over every trivial thing. Hongtian, Ranxing, Jiguang....” The three had been personally named by him, yet all three of them had taken different paths toward their own desires.

Not a single one truly satisfied the old patriarch, not even Suishen Jiguang, who stubbornly refused to marry. It was only recently that he had begun to understand her and began to let things go. Still, Suishen Ranxing and Suishen Hongtian were far away, treading their own paths.

”Who in the world killed my grandson?” The old patriarch could no longer see through the countless veils and plots, just like the stormy Yin-Yang World.

***

Deep within the Inner Yin, the yin-yang essence storm raged, taking the form of wild beasts that howled and rampaged all over the place. A group of nine people advanced through the storm, each of them radiating a baleful aura. They were all hellfiends that had committed countless atrocities. Needless to say, they were the nine most powerful elites of House Yumo.

The leaders were the senior madame, an oblivion variant, and Yumo Diyan, an impermanence variant. With how tough their physical bodies were, moving around in the Inner Yin was no issue for them; the blade-like winds couldn’t cut into their bodies at all. Not to mention, their keen sense of sight let them see much farther through the storms.

”Yin-Yang World... mistrunners.... Specters, just like us....” The senior madame’s gaze was ever shifting.

”Only specters can survive the storms of the Inner Yin long term. Maybe that’s why the natives here are also specters....”

”We aren’t even sure they exist.”

”Let’s proceed with caution.”

They continued delving deeper during their search.

Yumo Diyan said, ”The calm season’s almost over. If we don’t find anything soon, we’d better leave.”

”Something new might appear once the storm intensifies. The higher the risk, the higher the reward. House Yumo’s future depends on this,” the senior madame said. Even though she was old, an adventurous spirit still burned within her. She was of the same generation as the valley lord and old patriarch. The three of them were the strongest of their generation.

”Then, let’s keep going!”

Eventually, a month passed and they reached a pitch-black location near the very depths where no light passed through. Only their hellfiend eyes could possibly make anything out.

”Huh?” The senior madame’s eyes shook. ”That’s....”

A massive monochrome planet appeared before their eyes.