Beastmaster of the Ages

Xing Can and Luori Xuanlie managed to reach out to Yanri Shuang with their transmission stones. The blonde, doll-like beauty appeared completely calm and seemed to radiate an aura of pride.

”How are things going, Miss Yanri?” Xing Can asked, sounding a little impatient.

”All good. We have them,” Yanri Shuang said with a smile. ”Zhantian Feng and I are here, so there’s no way the slaves would dare to cause trouble.”

Luori Xuanlie and Xing Can breathed a sigh of relief.

”Did you catch Li Tianming?” Luori Xuanlie asked.

”He ran off.” Yanri Shuang didn’t seem to want to say more about it, but that was only to be expected from someone of such high birth from Starmoon Haven like her.

”Alright. We’ll wait for you to ship the slaves to us. They’ll be good hostages to use against Li Tianming,” Xing Can said, before he waited for Yanri Shuang to terminate the call.

However, she didn’t seem to be in any rush. ”Luori Xuanlie, Xing Can, I need you to issue an order on my behalf.”

”An order?”

”Yes.”

”What kind?”

”Gather everyone in the Middlekin Star Ruin and have them board the Scorchmoon,” Yanri Shuang said.

”Why’s that?” They didn’t know what she was planning.

”Li Tianming has suffered a loss this time, so I’m worried that he’ll use the same way to get back at us. They have a divine astralship that allows them to go anywhere they please without anyone noticing. If he keeps raiding us like the time he raided Aoyue Palace, peace would never return to the Middlekin Star Ruin. That way, the value of our hostages would also be diminished against him,” Yanri Shuang earnestly said.

The two furrowed their brows when they heard it. Luori Xuanlie, being from the same world as her, chose to agree. ”It might be troublesome, but your worries aren’t unfounded. The Midsky Tristars are paying attention to what we’re doing, so we have to handle it well and minimize further casualties.”

”That’s right. Perhaps he’ll pull a desperate move. These slaves have no faith or morals and would do anything if given a chance,” Xing Can said.

Luori Xuanlie said, ”Alright. I’ll have Jiang Lincheng take over the Scorchmoon and get things going.”

”Honestly, we really don’t have enough people here at the Middlekin Star Ruins. There’s only the four of us. We have to send more people here to manage this place once the slaves are dealt with,” Xing Can helplessly said.

”I heard that Starmoon Haven’s already working on that. Didn’t the cosmic gods from Wondersky Haven also agree to help us take down Long Xing? I heard one of the conditions for that was for the wonderians to get a stake in this Middlekin Star Ruin,” Luori Xuanlie said.

”Wondersky Haven? Don’t they already have an entire Middlekin Star Ruin for themselves? So they want to dig their hands into ours as well?” Yanri Shuang said with some dissatisfaction.

”What does it have to do with you?! Just cut off the transmission when you’re done talking!” Bai Ye said to her within her mind.

Yanri Shuang felt rather sad, but Bai Ye was right and the positions of Starmoon Haven no longer had anything to do with her. If she wanted to live, she had no choice but to stand with Tianming and fully serve him! Her own stance had completely changed; the status and pride she had obtained from the Sundown Pantheon was gone like ethereal bubbles in a dream.

”Alright, enough chatting. We’ll focus on returning!” Yanri Shuang terminated the call and fearfully turned back and looked at the white-haired youth in the distance. ”Why’d you want everyone in the Middlekin Star Ruin aboard the Scorchmoon? The slaves have already been rescued. Are you trying to rescue any that’ll come later? But Zhantian Feng’s dead and Wargod Haven will definitely take some kind of action. They might not necessarily send the rest of the slaves here.”

”Slaves?” Tianming coldly looked at her.

”I... don’t know what the right term to call them is.”

There was no point in Tianming telling her about the Flameyellow legacy. She was just a puppet and he didn’t have to prove anything to her.

***

Eventually, the Ninesun flew back to a location near the astral hole. Xing Can, Luori Xuanlie, and around a hundred overflowers from Starmoon Haven stayed behind to welcome Yanri Shuang back. She proudly stepped out of the ship and walked toward them.

”Where’s Zhantian Feng?” Xing Can asked in some confusion. They had thought that the Feng Capital Ghoul would arrive at the same time.

”He’s with his sister in the Feng Capital Ghoul. They’re flying too slow,” Yanri Shuang said.

Luori Xuanlie smiled. ”Piloting a divine astralship sure is fun, right?”

”It wasn’t that hard. I just need a few tries to grow completely adept at it.” She looked around and saw the Scorchmoon, which Jiang Linxi had left behind. ”Have you done what I asked?”

”Yes!” Luori Xuanlie pointed at the Scorchmoon. ”Everyone’s been gathered up, even those who didn’t want to leave. There’s around eight million of us here, overflowers included. We can leave at any moment!”

”Are there slaves in there?” Yanri Shuang asked.

”Why would slaves be allowed to board? Not to mention, there aren’t any slaves left here apart from the ones that just arrived,” Xing Can said.

”Good. Have Jiang Lincheng come here,” Yanri Shuang said. Jiang Lincheng was the younger brother of Jiang Linxi and the current strongest member of the Jiang Clan in the Middlekin Star Ruin.

A middle-aged fourth-level overflower beastmaster ran to Yanri Shuang and respectfully greeted her. ”Greetings, Lady Yanri!”

Yanri Shuang furrowed her brows at the sight of him. ”Why’s he only a fourth-level overflower? That’s too weak!”

”Weak?” Xing Can and Luori Xuanlie exchanged glances and nodded. ”Weak indeed!”

”We have to take charge of more than eight million lives, so we have to be careful. How about this....” Yanri Shuang pointed at Jiang Lincheng and said, ”Give me the Scorchmoon’s formation core. I’ll temporarily assume control of it. When we’re done taking care of the stinkbugs, I’ll give it back. The slaves are hard to deal with and it’s really important that we protect everyone here in the Middlekin Star Ruin. Can you understand why I’m doing this?”

Jiang Lincheng felt rather troubled, as the ship was a family heirloom. However, he was forced to appear cheerful and agree, given her status. ”No problem! It is my honor and privilege to serve! The Jiang Clan has suffered heavy losses from the stinkbugs—we’ll gladly do anything if it means we can contribute to their extermination!”