Beastmaster of the Ages

A blood-red handprint immediately marked Suishen Yao’s delicate face. She cried out in pain, but didn’t shed any tears.

Staggering for a moment, she steadied herself, then gave Eminent Ranxing a thumbs-up and said, “Impressive, you’re so tough at home! You just take it out on me. If you’re so great, why don’t you team up with your little lover from House Yumo and lead both clans to battle against House Qitian? Maybe if you win, you can become the new valley lord!”

“Suishen Yao!” The anger in Suishen Ranxing’s eyes burned so hot they nearly set her on fire. He raised a hand and was about to strike her on the face again, but finally restrained himself.

Seeing that, Suishen Yao chuckled and said, “Oh, right, I forgot. You and your little lover can only fool around. Different races can’t have children, can they? So you only have two kids. If you kill me and Little Zhao, your line ends. What a pity!” she said with a smile, expecting him to vent his anger on her.

However, he only gave her a cold look and laughed, “Act out as much as you want, Jiguang isn’t coming back.” After saying that, he turned and walked away.

Suishen Yao coldly watched him leave. She had initially planned to visit Suishen Shuang, but now she had no mood for that and instead wandered back to the Aurora Sea like a lost soul. She plunged into the sea, lifelessly floating in the water.

Memories of the Aurora Sea filled her mind. When she was young, her mother and aunt would swim and train with her in the dreamlike ocean. Then, later, her mother disappeared. And now her aunt was gone, too.

The vast, dreamlike sea became her domain of solitude, with no one to talk to. Myriadpath Valley was in chaos, and no one cared about the sea anymore. Ever since half of her aunt’s subsoul had shattered, she’d been alone in the vast sea, shedding countless tears.

“When the most important people in your heart are gone, what’s the point of life.... If only Little Zhao wasn’t still so young, sigh.” In truth, she hadn’t fallen into complete despair. Over the past decade, she hadn’t given up on cultivating—if only because her sole remaining goal in life was to one day become a reverend or eminent and go to the Yin-Yang World to find the two most important people in her life.

As the water shimmered around her, she thought once again of Tianming. “Did that brat never return from the Yin-Yang World, or did he go back to his hometown? There’s been no word from him at all!” Thinking of him, she felt a bit irritated. The fact that his name was still on the Fortuna Ranking proved that his myriadpath ring was fine, but whether he was alive or dead was unclear.

“Forget it, I don’t want to think about it!” The only path forward was to become stronger. She had to stand tall even if it was just for her brother. She breathed out; in adversity, she was slowly growing and learning to be resilient.

Just as she was about to begin cultivating, several of her transmission stones began repeatedly lighting up. The most frequent contacts came from Suishen Zhao, Suishen Shuang, and Suishen Yuan.

“What now?” Suishen Yao activated the transmission stone.

“Sis (Yaoyao), hurry to the Subsoul Hall! Quick!”

“If you don’t come, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!”

“Auntie’s subsoul’s shown signs of recovery!”

Hearing that, Suishen Yao was momentarily stunned. She was about to ask for clarification, but the three fools had already turned off their transmission stones. Her heart began pounding and she shot out of the Aurora Sea, transforming into a pink streak of light that rushed toward the Subsoul Hall at full speed.

This time, she was the one frantically calling Suishen Zhao’s transmission stone.

“Are you there yet, sis?” His voice was filled with excitement.

“I’m on my way! What’s happening?” Suishen Yao yelled with all her might.

“Aunt’s subsoul automatically repaired itself! It’s now completely restored!” Suishen Zhao exclaimed with joy.

“Wha—what?!” Suishen Yao’s eyes widened in disbelief, her face lighting up with elation. “Little Zhao, if you’re messing with me, I’ll pull out every strand of your hair!”

“If I’m lying, I’m a dog!” Just as Suishen Zhao finished speaking, a commotion could be heard on his end.

Before Suishen Yao could ask, her brother, choking with tears, shouted through the transmission stone in the most excited voice, “Sis! Mom... she...!”

“What about her?!” Suishen Yao’s heart raced as the world around her fell silent.

“Her subsoul... it’s repaired too!” Suishen Zhao, overwhelmed with emotion, was crying so hard that his tears streamed into his mouth. His image in the transmission stone was kneeling down, completely breaking down in tears.

Upon hearing those words, Suishen Yao’s racing body suddenly stopped. Her eyes widened as she gasped for air and she slapped herself hard, grimacing in response. “It hurts! This isn’t a dream! Waaah!”

She began loudly sobbing, wildly running toward the Subsoul Hall. She wanted to see it with her own eyes! She reached her destination in no time, where a crowd of House Suishen members had gathered, all filled with joy and discussing the events.

“The Yin-Yang World’s in its stormy season, but the two of them suddenly recovered. Does that mean that Eminent Xiyue is truly alive and Eminent Jiguang has saved her?”

“Very likely! But what comes next? It’s difficult to make it out unscathed of the Inner Yin. Do they have a temporary place of refuge?”

“The best-case scenario is that they’re in a safe place for now. They can return to Myriadpath Valley in the next calm season.”

“That’d be wonderful.”

“Let’s hope there’s no more change in their subsouls.”

Suishen Yao pushed her way through the crowd. When she finally reached the center and saw the two fully restored subsouls with her own eyes, it was as if she had seen the two most important women in her life right before her, looking at her with gentle smiles and assuring her they would return safe.

Just moments ago, her father had said that Suishen Jiguang would never return, but now joy had come so soon.

She recalled her younger days, when the two women had pampered her and taught her how to cultivate and understand the world. The memories flooded her mind and she couldn’t stop herself from hugging Suishen Shuang, uncontrollably crying.

Seeing her like that, Suishen Shuang also burst into tears, gently patting Suishen Yao’s shoulder and saying, “Don’t worry, don’t worry. They’re good people and they’ll definitely return safe.”

Suishen Yao suddenly pulled away and stood up straight. She looked towards the Myriadpath Celestial Formation. She declared, “I’m going to wait for them at the exit of the Yin-Yang World!”