Beastmaster of the Ages

”It isn’t just the fortuna-class ship alone. The fact that something like that appeared means there’s fortuna-class relics in the Yin-Yang World to be found. Do you know what’s even more important than the ship?” the valley lord asked.

”The three trump cards of Myriadpath Valley are as follows: the Myriadpath Sourcespring, Myriadpath Celestial Formation, and the many myriadpath steles.

”Well, the steles don’t really count. The true third trump card of Myriadpath Valley is the Grand Myriadpath Ruins, though there isn’t a use for it for most normal cultivators. That means only two really matter: the formation and the spring. And the Yin-Yang World doesn’t have the formation.” Qitian Muyu didn’t need to say anything else, since the answer was clear. The thing that was even more important in the Yin-Yang World than the astralship was Yin-Yang Baleflame.

”That is to say, we have to find the source of this baleflame. Perhaps there’s another corpse of an astral giant like the Source Progenitor! Isn’t that what we’ve been searching for in the Yin-Yang World for tens of millions of years?” Qitian Muyu said.

”That’s right. The Yin-Yang World has Yin-Yang Baleflame, which means there must be some kind of entity that’s similar to the Source Progenitor. The Source Progenitor is the true core of Myriadpath Valley’s legacy! House Qitian will only truly grow strong when we have our own Source Progenitor. A fortuna-class astralship is nothing but a crude weapon,” the valley lord concluded.

”The Source Progenitor belongs to all three houses equally, but if we find the astral giant here, it’ll belong only to House Qitian. We won’t have to share, and we won’t have to worry about what the Myriadpath Sacred Codex says either....” Qitian Muyu’s eyes brightened.

Even though the nine Yumo specters hadn’t explicitly said anything, they definitely believed that, once they obtained the astralship, it might lead them to the next clue on where the corpse of the astral giant was.

If House Yumo came to possess the corpse, they would have a future. If they got the ship, they would have a present! In that case, Houses Suishen and Qitian didn’t even need to keep playing. House Yumo could just leave Myriadpath Valley and become rulers of their own domain. Qitian Muyu would definitely not let them have their way.

”Father, the problem is that there’s only the two of us here and we won’t be able to call anyone else to us in the short term.” The mere thought of engaging so many powerful elites of House Yumo for the first time in countless years made Qitian Muyu rather nervous.

All this time, the elites of the Three Exalted Houses had only sparred without truly fighting to their deaths. Even if exceptions occurred, they would take place where nobody could see. But now the valley lord and the current head of House Qitian potentially had to take on nine major- and minor-zenith foundationeers of House Yumo.

The valley lord broke into a laugh when he heard that.

”Father, why’re you laughing?” Qitian Muyu awkwardly asked.

”I’m laughing because you don’t understand what it means to be a valley lord, a super-zenith foundationeer.”

”Huh?”

”Super zenith is a truly unique level of the Foundation stage. Super and major zeniths are both part of the twelfth level of the Foundation stage. Imagine the Foundation stage as a tower, and each level is one floor on that tower. The difference between them is that to advance from major to super zenith, you have to take apart the twelfth floor and rebuild it until it nears true perfection!

”Even though my energy capacity isn’t that much higher than yours, I have at least double the order capacity. That’s the reason why the super zenith is very, very hard to achieve across the astralscape of order. Only the very few who rebuild their twelfth level to perfection can be the sole ruler of the Million Mundi!”

Qitian Muyu already knew all of that. However, his father hadn’t shown his hand at all since taking up the mantle of valley lord, causing him to slowly lose the understanding of what it meant to achieve the super zenith. Seeing his father look down on House Yumo’s top elites reminded him of how terrifying that power truly was.

”Qitian Muchen’s already dead, so you’re the next in line in House Qitian that has hope of achieving super zenith. Your little sister doesn’t have the heart for it. As such, I need you to watch closely and learn! To ensure that we’re constantly stronger than Houses Suishen and Yumo, House Qitian has to constantly produce super-zenith cultivators!”

The valley lord patted his son on the shoulder. ”When the time comes, I’ll use everything I have to help you achieve the super zenith. Until then, the Yin-Yang World will be our key focus.”

Even the mighty House Qitian could only access a third of Myriadpath Valley’s legacy. But if they found the true legacy of the Yin-Yang World, it would completely belong to them. And with those resources at hand, there would be no worry about House Qitian not growing beyond the scope of the other two exalted houses to the point where they could be the sole rulers of the Million Mundi.

Qitian Muyu felt a rush of excitement at his father’s words, now that he no longer had to share his father’s attention with his younger brother. ”I definitely won’t let you down, Father!”

”The most important thing in the path to becoming the sole ruler of the Million Mundi is your mindset. You have to awaken a different way of viewing the world. Once you achieve super zenith on the backs of those in the Million Mundi, everything will go your way! Today, I’ll show you a demonstration of the kind of power that awaits you,” the valley lord said.

”Yes!” Qitian Muyu finally knew where his issue lay. Having lived under his father’s shadow, he lacked a sense of confidence and a domineering attitude. However, the new ambitions that his father had instilled in him made him excited about being the heir to the sole ruler of the Million Mundi. Only when he got into the role would he come to possess that kind of assertiveness.

Before, Qitian Muchen had been Qitian Muyu’s sole rival, and in the name of unity, he didn’t feel a strong urge to compete with his younger brother. But now everything was different. Qitian Muyu’s gaze had changed and there was nothing but cold and calculating mockery in his eyes when he looked at the specters.

The two beastmasters were waiting for the specters to finally make an entrance into the astralship. That was when they would spring the surprise.

***

Tianming found that the essence storm within the Inner Yin was ten times as strong as that of the Outer Yin. It was far too rampant, especially with the calm season nearing its end. He used as much cosmoforce as he could to weather the storm, and even then he still felt like he was being blown away. The purple mist that his mask used to shroud him had almost been blown away as well. He really didn’t want his dear auntie to see who he really was after the earlier awkward situation.

Fortunately, Suishen Jiguang noticed how troubled he was and immediately used her cosmoforce to shield him, covering him in a dreamy veil of pink in all directions. Since she had to protect him, she remained close enough to where their hands and legs brushed against each other’s. But being able to traverse a world of darkness with a beauty like her was nothing short of bliss for Tianming.