Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming stayed in the glowing abyss without moving, completely assured by word that Long Xing was coming. Whether Long Xing would actually reach him to rescue him, however, was still uncertain. ”Where is he right now?”

”He’s still... shaking off... the enemy... cosmic gods,” Yin Chen said.

”What’s his level of power?” That was the thing that worried Tianming the most. There were so many cosmic gods at the Midsky Tristars, giving them a huge numerical advantage. It was so many against one, and protecting all the flameyellow descendants from the Midsky Tristars must’ve been a terribly difficult task.

”He seems... pretty decent!” If Yin Chen was willing to say that much, then it must be true.

”The fact that he became a cosmic god despite the heavenly shackles to be the sole protector of his kind and change the fate of a fortuna-class world is an unbelievable feat!” Tianming quietly waited for him to come.

”Li Tianming, why did you stop?”

”You must know that your fate is sealed and escaping is futile, right?”

”Where else can you run now that the Starmoon Guard Formation is up?”

The young geniuses of the Starfall Pantheon started to grow confident once more, but Tianming merely ignored them. Half an hour or so later, Yin Chen finally said, ”He is... almost here!”

Tianming looked up diagonally and saw a blazing point of light rapidly descending toward him. Before long, a humanoid mass of black-gold stars appeared before him. His facial features seemed incredibly clear, giving him a refreshing yet handsome look. His eyes were piercing and domineering, and his body was surrounded by dragon patterns.

The clothes that cosmic gods wore were cosmic artifacts forged from powdered and processed divine ores. Long Xing was clad in black armor all over his body that had dimmed the natural starlight coming from him as much as possible, making him much stealthier than other cosmic gods. Tianming felt his head heat up at the sight of him, as if he had known him for a long time.

”Hand them to me,” Long Xing said as he stretched his hand out for the Skydome Prison.

”Alright!” Tianming nodded.

”There are a few other cosmic gods nearby, so I’ll lead them away. You should go!” Long Xing then charged toward the abyss.

Tianming hurriedly followed the new route that Yin Chen had plotted for him. Long Xing had chosen to temporarily part ways with him to minimize the risk of both of them being captured. There were far too many cosmic gods, and the slightest mistake could put Tianming at risk.

The hostages were currently with Long Xing, while Tianming had Yin Chen helping him, so it was much easier for him to escape. Long Xing led the nearby cosmic gods in a different direction. Tianming had just crawled out of the ground and saw lots of blinding lights zipping around in the sky. ”Those cosmic gods are amazing!”

Tianming got Meow Meow to work hard on Fiveway Blitzrun. His tiny foundationeer form made it much easier to move between the overflowers. After a good while, the overflowers that were looking for him nearby had decreased considerably.

”Starmoon Haven is far too large!” It was rather sparse and empty, making it easy for others to spot things from afar. ”How is he doing?”

”The hostages... are still... with him... there are... many enemies... but they... can’t deal... with him....” Yin Chen reported.

”What else?”

”He left... and is... coming to... you now.”

”Just like that?”

”Of course! Because you... aren’t with... Long Xing... so they... can’t capture... you both... so they... don’t want... to risk... the deaths... of those... young geniuses.”

”You take so long to speak! Just use your bodies to spell it out in text!” Tianming rolled his eyes.

”Shut up! Forget it... I won’t... bring myself... to stoop... to your... low level.”

Tianming looked at the distant black-gold flash approaching him and stopped to wait. Long Xing had managed to shake off the cosmic gods and was approaching. ”Yin Chen, you’re saying that they would’ve given up on those young geniuses if I had stuck with Long Xing just now to capture us both?”

”That’s right!” Yin Chen had heard their discussions and already knew it all.

With Long Xing safe in front of Tianming, there was no need for any more questioning. He was still lugging around the Skybound Prison, which proved to be a much simpler task for a cosmic god.

”Let’s go!” Long Xing said as he put Tianming on his shoulder. ”Hold tight!”

Tianming instantly felt like he was on board a human-sized divine astralship that reached maniverse-class speeds. It was far too exhilarating! Cosmic gods are definitely leagues above overflowers! Tianming could tell that his level-defying capabilities would be far less potent against cosmic gods. Those that managed to transform were the very top geniuses in the universe.

Putting his level aside, no matter how much omnisentient power he got, his energy capacity as a super-zenith foundationeer simply wasn’t enough for him to rival cosmic gods, who had transcendental power.

”Li Tianming,” Long Xing said mid-flight as he turned to look at the tiny person on his shoulder, ”Boss Chen has already told me about your situation.”

”So you know everything, including the Flameyellow Imperial Star, right?” Tianming said.

Long Xing took a deep breath, fire blazing in his eyes. Black-gold flames covered his body. ”I know it all!” That made things easy.

”How was it for you just now?” Tianming looked in the direction of Yanri Mound.

”I had a discussion with them. They want to trade 800 million of our people for these hundred geniuses. I didn’t agree,” Long Xing said.

”What do you mean?”

”Those 800 million are from Wargod Haven. Even if I agreed to the trade, they’d be able to capture countless more. But if they lose these hundred, that’ll be the end of them. To them, these hundred lives are worth much more!” Long Xing’s voice was filled with rage. ”Your miraculous exploits in their divine tomb have raised their wariness of you a lot. They were clearly disappointed that you weren’t there with me just now.”

”Haha, so that was enough to scare them, huh?” Tianming gave it some thought and said, ”What are your future plans?”