Beastmaster of the Ages

In a secret location within Myriadpath Valley, three figures stood at different locations. The one in front was a figure of black and white and had shoulder-length hair. His gaze seemed rather insidious. The one on the left was a figure in black, with a mask-like face and six irises in total. To the right was a man clad in a crimson-and-black robe, sitting on the ground without a word like a silent but hot flame.

They were Qitian Muyu, Yumo Diyan, and Suishen Ranxing. Who would have imagined the leaders of the Three Exalted Houses in their primes would gather together in this fashion after a battle like that? If it weren’t for an external threat at their door that caused them to lose their wits, there was no way that Qitian Muyu and Yumo Diyan could possibly stand next to each other like that.

Qitian Muyu turned around, hands behind his back and robe twirling, and calmly said, ”My father confirmed the location. That brat often goes to the stareyes of Skydome Mundus, Antiquitas Mortis in the Xenoabyss, and the Yin-Yang World. He probably goes to Antiquitas Mortis for order fragments. Unsurprisingly, the Skydome Mundus is his home.”

Yumo Diyan slightly furrowed his brow, a bloody aura pouring out of his eyes. ”Last time, I had people search the Million Mundi, but nobody reported Skydome to me. Is it really Li Tianming’s home?”

He’d asked his subordinates for some records, only to find that the one that was sent to Skydome had died, but not within Skydome itself.

”There’s some weirdness about it, but we’ve confirmed the locations either way. All we have to do is to get things going,” Qitian Muyu coldly said.

”Qitian Muyu!” Yumo Diyan snapped and glared at him. ”I’ll ask you one last time. Was House Qitian really not involved in the deaths of twenty Yumo eminents, the destruction of the mobile stareye, and the theft of the Yumo Blood Crucible?!”

”I’ll answer you one last time: if my house was responsible, may the heavens smite us with lightning!” Qitian Muyu hissed.

”So why didn’t you deny it back then?” Yumo Diyan was speechless.

”My father didn’t bother denying it before he was infected with the divine toxin. After being poisoned, it would be even more risky for him to deny it.” Qitian Muyu had nothing else he could say.

House Qitian had incurred even more of the wrath of House Yumo than they actually deserved by letting the misunderstanding fester, not that they had a choice. Suddenly admitting that they had nothing to do with those particular incidents while they were pretending to have obtained the legacies of the Yin-Yang World would only draw suspicion. Why would they need to clear things up if they were too powerful to be messed with, after all?

”Let’s put the matter of Infinitum aside. The truth behind that incident is still shrouded in mystery. We must focus on getting rid of Li Tianming, and for that, we have to make a trip to Skydome. We’re willing to start discussing with your houses over the matter. What say the two of you?” Qitian Muyu asked, looking at Yumo Diyan and Suishen Ranxing, who had remained silent the whole time.

”If your father had the foresight to get rid of this problem a few decades ago, we wouldn’t be worrying about it now,” Yumo Diyan sneered.

Qitian Muyu grimaced; he knew that saying anything now was pointless. Nobody could have predicted that a fortuna disciple would grow to such startling degrees after a mere few decades. Back then, the valley lord hadn’t even pondered the issue very deeply at all. House Suishen’s old patriarch had even personally escorted Tianming back.

Qitian Muyu said, ”My sister will take nine eminents to Skydome. What about you?”

”Do we need that many elites? A single reverend should be enough to mess up a mundus like that,” Yumo Diyan said.

”Since that mundus was able to give birth to a monster like that brat, there’s something weird going on there for sure. If we don’t go all out, we might frighten them and prompt a strong retaliatory response. If things go wrong, we’d lose our grip on Li Tianming’s weakness. We can’t mess this up—we must choose those we absolutely trust to carry this out.”

Qitian Muyu’s sister, Qitian Muyue, was the only other major-zenith foundationeer in House Qitian, not counting the valley lord. The fact that she had been able to fight on equal footing with the old patriarch showed how competent she was.

”Fine. I’ll let Yumo Dinai lead ten eminents there from my end,” Yumo Diyan said. The combined number of Qitian and Yumo eminents numbered less than seventy after having lost nearly forty percent of their eminents. Sending ten of them to an outer mundus would be overkill.

”What about your house, Suishen Ranxing?” Qitian Muyu asked. No matter what conflicts they had before, they stood united on that day as the Three Exalted Houses.

After some pondering, he replied, ”House Suishen won’t send anyone. You’ll be the only ones to go.”

”If we bring back that child’s family and friends to Myriadpath Valley, we’ll have grasped his weakness. Are you sure House Suishen wants no part in that? Without any bargaining chips, how will you keep him in check?” Yumo Diyan asked.

Once Tianming learned of the attack, it would be the same as a declaration of war from House Qitian and House Yumo against him. It wouldn’t end until one side completely perished.

Suishen Ranxing shook his head. ”I’m in a different position from the two of you. I can’t afford to fall out with my wife and sister right now.”

”You would be the only one to end up without any trump cards, unlike us,” Qitian Muyu said.

”It can’t be helped. I still have the advantage of being able to approach him. If the timing’s right, I can kill him outright. You’ll act in the light, while I act in the dark. We’ll cooperate, but on different fronts. Won’t that be better?” Suishen Ranxing said.

”Sounds good. You don’t have much sway in House Suishen as it currently stands. Putting aside whether you’ll be able to find anyone who’s willing to go capture Tianming’s friends and family as hostages, your father and sister would force you to release them anyway. Those of your house will come down on you even harder and treat you like a traitor, just like your brother,” Yumo Diyan said with a shrug and a disgusting smile. He had twisted the knife where it hurt the most.

”Heh....” Suishen Ranxing’s rage burned like fire, but all he did was coldly smile. He rose and prepared to leave. ”Then I’ll congratulate you in advance!”

With him gone, Yumo Diyan took a deep breath. ”Let’s say we accept that what happened in Infinitum wasn’t House Qitian’s fault. There’s still the grudge of our senior madame and Qitian Baba’s deaths. The tensource beast’s death has nothing to do with House Yumo.

”House Qitian has lost a lot of blood today, but it’s merely the consequences of the actions you took. So I won’t apologize on behalf of House Yumo for our actions.

”Now, when it comes to something that threatens us all, House Yumo will definitely stand on the side of the Three Exalted Houses. This threat is something that’ll shake us to the core.”

Qitian Muyu said, ”Let’s focus on dealing with the current threat first before we talk about other matters.” His house had lost so many people that there was no way they could square it away just because a common enemy appeared. But despite that, the three were able to come to a common cause, even with all their differences.