Beastmaster of the Ages

It was one thing for Tianming to have ’stolen’ Suishen Yao’s Suishen Blood, but another thing entirely for him to conquer the aunt that she loved so dearly. His head was about to split apart from all the chaos that was about to go down.

Holy shit... Suishen Zhao’s my friend, but I’ve gone from being his brother-in-law to his uncle-in-law! I pray that he won’t come to behead me.... I need to calm down. They’re still picking people at Myriadpath Valley to send to Skydome. It’ll take them a few days to reactivate the Myriadpath Celestial Formation as well. Tianming believed in the Blissful Union’s speed.

”Don’t tell... me you... have a... new secret... you can’t... tell anyone?” The Yin Chens around Tianming all widened their eyes.

”Shut up,” Tianming said, glaring at it.

***

Things settled down two hours later in the Grand Myriadpath Ruins. Their near future was shaping up to be rather uneventful. Suishen Yao and the rest hadn’t managed to take much with them, considering how rushed they had been, so they could only sigh in resignation.

Fortunately, they were beside the people they cherished. Suishen Xiyue had also told them that they could go to other mundi to travel and experience the local specialties. They just had to consider this a long field trip of cultivation. There would be fewer people around them, unlike before, but their days would be more meaningful.

”I’ll definitely work hard and catch up to Auntie one day as a major-zenith foundationeer,” Suishen Yao said. Her desire to improve had been stimulated like never before after the recent incidents in Myriadpath Valley.

”Good.” Suishen Xiyue was relieved that her children’s mental state hadn’t deteriorated after leaving House Suishen and their father. ”It isn’t like we’re going to leave House Suishen for good. It’s all temporary. One day, we’ll return and change our house for the better.”

They had to keep themselves together while House Suishen was fracturing from within. Suishen Jiguang and Suishen Xiyue had already been made fugitives by the Three Exalted Houses. If they didn’t emerge victorious in the end, they would be slandered as traitors in the histories that the Three Exalted Houses would write. They would be cast as vixens that betrayed their home.

They already had to prove themselves to the world as members of the fairer sex, yet that wasn’t enough. Having come to this point, they didn’t really know how to process those complex emotions.

Suishen Xiyue turned around and saw Suishen Jiguang looking in the direction of Myriadpath Valley in silence. ”Myriadpath Valley does look like an abyss from this angle.”

It no longer resembled the lighthouse of the astralscape, but an abyss that swallowed all that was good. Suishen Xiyue tilted her head and looked at her sister-in-law’s face. ”Not feeling too good?”

”It isn’t that,” Suishen Jiguang sighed, shaking her head. ”It’s nothing to fuss about. I was just thinking that we can’t afford to fail after all the sacrifices we’ve had to make.”

”True. With Tianming and you around, things will work out.” She got closer and put her arms around Suishen Jiguang’s waist and leaned on her shoulder, looking quietly at Myriadpath Valley.

”Are you confident in reaching the super zenith?” Suishen Xiyue asked after making up her mind.

”It’s still incredibly difficult. Everything still feels like a blank slate to me. Super zenith is basically a recultivation of the entire Foundation stage. I have to rebuild the twelve-storied fortress. I do feel that it isn’t far away, but I simply don’t have any clue how to get there.”

”Qitian Xiao needs at least twenty years to recover. Even though he’s lost his tensource beast, he’ll still be harder to kill than a major-zenith foundationeer once he recovers fully. If you’re able to achieve super zenith in twenty years, we can turn back to Myriadpath Valley and fight them to the death,” Suishen Xiyue said, eyes hopeful.

”Is that so? We’re only talking about elites here. We don’t have that many major-zenith foundationeers....”

”No. The Three Exalted Houses might look like a lot of people, but they only control Myriadpath Valley because they have an overwhelming advantage at the top. If you manage to achieve the same thing, many in House Suishen will turn to support you.

”Additionally, the matter of House Fenglin has dug the grave of the Three Exalted Houses. The combined number of cultivators in Myriadpath Valley far exceeds that of the Three Exalted Houses. They just need someone to rally under.”

The look in the eyes of the unaffiliated cultivators had changed after House Fenglin’s extermination. While they might not say it out loud, they were anticipating Tianming’s return.

”Tianming’s true level is a third-level foundationeer. I don’t quite understand him. You said that he rapidly broke through because of springwater, baleflame, and order fragments, right?” Suishen Xiyue said.

”It’s mainly from the order fragments. Springwater and baleflame were just used to mitigate the negative side effects that he experienced. However, the highest grade of order fragments is grade nine. In the Foundation stage, he isn’t able to rely on them anymore,” Suishen Jiguang said.

”Then how was he able to continue breaking through and catch up to Yaoyao and reach the third level in the Foundation stage in a few short years?” She wore an odd expression that was almost a smile when she looked at Suishen Jiguang.

”I...” she looked away after a start and said, ”I’m not too sure. You should ask him.”

”Is that so?” Suishen Xiyue pursed her lips and sighed, ”Sister, you know that both you and him are everyone’s hope. Your growth is really important, and time is life. If you can advance before the valley lord recovers, you’ll have completed your mission. After that, you’ll be able to relax.”

”I know. That’s why I’ll do my best to reach the super zenith. As for Tianming, doesn’t he already have a lot of caeli in the Grand Myriadpath Ruins, and the former valley lord to guide him?” she said, looking down a little nervously.

”What if I tell you there’s a way for both of you to rapidly improve?” Suishen Xiyue whispered in her ear, tightening her arms around Suishen Jiguang’s waist.

She lightly moaned and turned to look into Suishen Xiyue’s eyes. ”Sister.... That doesn’t... sound too likely.”

”What do you mean?” Suishen Xiyue suddenly grabbed her arms and looked deep into her eyes. ”You know better than anyone what method you can use. You have to be more proactive.”

”Ah....” Suishen Jiguang’s face immediately flushed red. Looking away in embarrassment, she stammered, ”Sister Xiyue... you... you knew?!”

”Of course. How could I sleep when you two were so loud?” she said with a smirk.

”But... the mask....” Suishen Jiguang really wanted to bury her head in a hole somewhere.

”That’s right... the mask. You’re really interesting, you know that? His mask fell off a few times, but you still put it back on for him in a panic. Is it because you’d feel less guilty without directly seeing his face? That’s why you went so wild, right?”

”Aaaaaah!”