Beastmaster of the Ages

Qingyu finally stopped shining. ”Father! Brother!” She looked at them, a proud smile on her face.

”Did you hear that? I came first!” Wudi smirked at Tianming after witnessing proof that he was more important in his daughter’s heart.

”You’re ridiculous!” Tianming ignored him and focused on Qingyu. ”Are you alright? Do you feel any discomfort?”

”Brother, it was painful at first, but once I passed the hardest part, everything went smoothly.... I feel incredible now. You might really have to be the third-place genius from now on!” Qingyu grinned.

”You’re getting bold, to challenge even me!” Tianming laughed.

”You’re just the number three genius of the Upper Star Ruin. Why wouldn’t she?” Wudi scoffed.

Tianming rolled his eyes at the new drop in rank and ignored Wudi. He continued, ”Alright, let me open my eyes and see just how terrifying the Eightparts Holy Daughter is!”

”I need to figure it out one by one first. To start with....” Her totems manifested. Unlike Wudi, Qingyu only had nine bane-rings, so she produced nine totems. However, the Divine Mirror Ring on her arm, which also seemed to have been enhanced, allowed her totems to actually simultaneously manifest as eighteen.

Eighteen lunar goddesses appeared, each of them ethereal and breathtakingly beautiful. Tianming noticed they seemed more divine and more domineering than before. ”The number of simulacra has also improved, right?” Tianming asked.

”Yes, I think it’s twentyfold now, which still isn’t as good as my dad’s,” Qingyu said with a headache.

”It’s fine. Being the second-best genius is good enough. Don’t compare yourself to Daddy. He’s not a normal person,” Wudi consoled her.

”Get lost...!” Qingyu speechlessly said.

Tianming laughed after seeing Wudi get hit in the crossfire. ”You only have a lifebound beast and totems, but if my guess is correct, Qingyu has many more abilities.”

“Yes!” Qingyu extended both her hands.

”Damn!” Tianming was startled to see two moon-white eyes on her palms. ”The ebons? An infinite beastmaster?”

”Yes, it’s somewhat similar to the ebons you’ve mentioned, but this ability comes from the divine ashuran race instead,” Qingyu explained.

”That’s one of the three divine races of the Upper Star Ruin, also called ashuras for short. Those cosmic god-class infinite beastmasters can even control imperial-class nova source wildbeasts. Moreover, their control is no longer just soul-based, like the infinite beastmasters of Ebonia, but they use the eyes on their palms to form a more intricate connection with the beasts!” Tianming nodded. The information was something he had asked the wonderian sisters about.

And he could always ask more.

”I... seem to be able to control wildbeasts, too.” Qingyu closed her eyes to explore the new sensation. ”But I’ve never tried the ability before, so I still need to get used to it.” For her, it was an entirely new domain. The divine ashuran blood hadn’t just added a pair of extra eyes for her, but had actually established a complete new bloodline system within her.

”What else?” Tianming asked.

He hadn’t given her order fragments during the process, so Qingyu hadn’t broken through yet. Then she suddenly threw a punch at Tianming that landed on his chest, carrying immense force.

”My astron density increased several dozen times. I can now use divine abilities, my body has strengthened a lot, and I can absorb manna.... Brother, am I still human, or have I become a specter?” Qingyu asked with mixed feelings.

”I can’t answer that, but at least you’re now more like Little Feng, and that’s a good thing.” Tianming said.

Qingyu was speechless.

Tianming had actually sensed from the beginning that her body was now just like Zi Zhen’s when she was a foundationeer. It was a specter body that, while looking almost identical to humans, had a lunar glow flowing on its surface. It likely meant that the cosmic god blood of the specters had already been fully absorbed by her before being remade in her image.

”I received two drops of cosmic god blood that turned me into a specter. One from the divine devan race and one from the Virtue Pantheon,” Qingyu said. The fusion of the two made her unique.

”Beastmasters come from the Sundown Pantheon, while totems come from the Starfall Pantheon?” Tianming asked.

”Yes!”

When Tianming had first learned about the Eightpart Pantheons, he’d been quite shocked. In the Upper Star Ruin, the most powerful were the three great divine races, with the divine wonderian race indisputably reigning supreme. The wonderians were essentially a human race.

The divine ashuran race, or ashuras, were infinite beastmasters and were also essentially a human race.

The divine devan race, or devas, were specters, on the other hand.

Not a single one of the three were beastmasters or totemancers.

That meant that the two human cultivation systems had been completely overshadowed in the Upper Star Ruin by wondermancers and infinite beastmasters. But the two races had pushed their respective paths to their ultimate potential; the ebons of Ebonia definitely couldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as the ashuras.

Besides the Sundown and Starfall Pantheons, there were still the Sin and Virtue Pantheons, as well as the chaos umbral race. The Virtue Pantheon was also a specter lineage.

Qingyu had already shown five different bloodlines, and there were still three drops left.

”Do you have a wonder?” Tianming asked.

”I have two wonder embryos, but they seem quite complex. I think I’ll need to study them in detail. That’s the hardest part, and for now I have no clue how to use them,” Qingyu said.

Amazing! She even had wonders—and not just one, but two. She was becoming more and more like Tianming. In fact, she was even more well-rounded than him now.

”The last two drops—are they from the primalwingers of the Sin Pantheon and the chaos umbral race?” Tianming asked.

”Yes, but the power of the chaos umbral race is very strange. It’s sealed within me and I can’t seem to use it. I wonder if it has something to do with the Realm of Chaos,” Qingyu said.

”Oh?” That was roughly in line with what Tianming had heard. The chaos umbral race was extremely low-key and mysterious, rarely appearing in the Upper Star Ruin.

As for the primalwingers of the Sin Pantheon, a pair of transparent primalwings unfolded on Qingyu’s back. They weren’t as dazzling as Feiling’s Kunlan Worldwings, but more restrained instead. They were like feathers of moonlight, or a phantom-like starry veil. For now, they looked quite simple.

Her primalwings weren’t as intricate or numerous as the Kunlan Worldwings, but they introduced a whole new dimension to her skillset.

With all that, she was indeed different from Zi Zhen, Feiling, and Moran, who each specialized in one domain. Instead, she was an all-rounder in the truest sense of the word.

”I have to slowly learn how to use these abilities. Later, they should evolve further,” Qingyu said, feeling a headache coming on. She had too much to learn!

”Totems, wonders, a lifebound beast, primalwings, a specter physique, and an infinite beastmaster!”

Excluding the unexcavated chaos umbral power, Qingyu had inherited a total of six different systems. Tianming barely counted as four, but in reality it was only three, since he wasn’t a true specter.

Looking at her, Tianming couldn’t help but be amazed.

”One word: awesome!” He gave her a thumbs-up. The craziest part was that all those talents could still grow further, because she had control over the Original Sin Pool.

”Brother, stop hyping me up. My head already hurts. I have too many paths to cultivate. The wonders and primalwings alone will take a long time to develop. I’m afraid of becoming a jack-of-all-trades, mastering nothing... and ending up as the weakest one,” Qingyu helplessly said.

”Don’t worry. As long as you raise your cultivation level, all those abilities will be your advantage in fighting above your level. Even if your lifebound beast and totems aren’t as strong as your father’s, your overall power to fight beyond your level won’t be any weaker than his,” Tianming reassured her.

”Brother, give me some order fragments. I feel like I gained a lot of insights and I’m in tip-top condition. Let me see if I can break through,” Qingyu asked.

”Do you need springwater or balefire?” Tianming asked.

”Not really. These drops of cosmic god blood are already top-tier. What you mentioned is just diluted cosmic god blood,” Qingyu replied.

Tianming suddenly realized something. Both father and daughter had absorbed the best of the best cosmic god blood inheritances, and its effect was definitely far superior to Tianming and Jiguang’s ten-year experience in absorbing baleflame.

Maybe they can’t break through as recklessly as Zi Zhen, but they’ll still have an easier time than me. After all, I have nine orders! Tianming could only console himself that he was still peerless in regards to the upper limit for potential.

He also expected that he would still be considered a genius in the Upper Star Ruin as a century old seventh-level foundationeer. But he was probably not as good as Zi Zhen or Wudi and Qingyu were going to be.

However, he still felt pretty good after comparing his situation to Moran’s!

”You should consolidate your power first. Later, I’ll test your combat strength!” Tianming said.

She was a fifth-level foundationeer, which wasn’t too far from his own level, so they could at least compare their ability to fight above their level.

As for Wudi, they would have to wait until he reached the Foundation stage first!

”You can find a fourth-level foundationeer and try fighting them,” Tianming said to Wudi.

”Fighting someone four levels above me? I’ll give it a shot!” Wudi looked at Xiaodao, laughed heartily, and said, ”This guy’s a third-level foundationeer and keeps showing off in front of me. I’ll beat him up first.”

”Damn! Sorry, everyone, I suddenly remember my house is on fire!” Xiaodao was wise and immediately bolted.

”Stop right there!” Wudi shouted as he chased after him.

Everyone held their foreheads in exasperation.

”Those two old men! They’re as childish as three-year-old brats,” Tianming remarked.

”Hearing you say that, I almost forgot that my dad is just over a hundred years old. No matter where you put him, he’s still just a youngster,” Qingyu added, holding back her laughter.

”Yeah! You really can’t tell. He aged way too fast,” Tianming chuckled.

”Brother, it just proves that we came from humble beginnings. Back when we were in the Grand-Orient Realm , how could we ever have imagined that, one day, the three of us would stand in such a position in the vast starry sky?” Qingyu said with deep emotion.

”You’re right. Only when we were at our starting point would we already be considered elders in our forties.” That was the mark engraved upon them, one that would never let them truly see Wudi as a young man.

In their eyes, he was no different from Xiaodao or the two-thousand-year-old Jiguang. Even Wudi himself felt the same. But there was no denying that they had all changed their destinies!

”Alright!” Tianming glanced at Qingyu, then at Wudi, who was busy beating up Xiaodao. His gaze burned with determination as he declared, ”From now on, the three prodigies of the Grand-Orient Realm’s Li Saint Clan will represent Flameyellow together and fight across the starry sea!”

”And we’ll bring Little Feng and Ling’er home and protect our world together,” Qingyu said, deeply inspired by his words.

”This journey to the Upper Star Ruin has two purposes: first, to bring them home, and second, to fulfill our mission and restore flameyellow’s former glory!” Tianming gazed up at the sky. ”So it’s time to start figuring out how to unlock the Flameyellow Divine Path.”

”Brother, based on the information from the Original Sin Pool, it might be related to the class of the Sun. Right now it’s still ether class. You should find a way to elevate it to infinitum class and see what happens,” Qingyu urged.

”Alright! Raising the Sun to infinitum class is simple. I’ll just keep transporting yin-yang essence!”

It was time to set off!