Beastmaster of the Ages

Before approaching the assembly to gather information, Tianming first had Yin Chen sneak into their midst to get some basic understanding of what was going on. The Ancient Flameyellow Ruins had been open for decades, but the heavenly punishment protection seeds had only been deployed twenty years ago after the descent of the Heavenly Dao Arena. Many top geniuses from the ten great maniverse-class worlds had been waiting for quite a while before they were allowed entry.

As the region was a rather desolate one, these young geniuses constructed a location near the center of the lower ruins to make forming alliances and friendships easier. From time to time, they would gather for an assembly to exchange information and findings. The maniverse assembly, as they called it, also had another crucial function: to facilitate the trading of different spoils obtained from the ruins. For instance, when some of the geniuses that weren’t from the Eightpart Pantheons got something they weren’t powerful enough to keep, they would sell them off to anyone who would take them off their hands.

”It seems like they got quite a number of treasures from the ruins during my two decades of seclusion!” Tianming felt rather envious. According to Yin Chen, the treasures were mainly split into two categories, the first being ordered manna, which was rather abundant. Some orbiter disciples found a compound where many of them were stored and had managed to trade the manna for quite a lot of other benefits.

The second type of treasure was something that couldn’t be found in the Realm of Order: ancestral fruits. It was said that these grew from plants that had absorbed flameyellow void essence and granted many unique effects to those that consumed them. They were incredibly rare and valuable. Yin Chen, however, couldn’t quite eavesdrop on the kinds of effects that the fruits granted, as the young cosmic gods often used their cosmic sense, making it hard for Yin Chen to maneuver closer. It had been able to hide from the two cosmic gods within the Ancestral Void Ark, but there was no chance of that with so many of them around.

Though it didn’t matter at the end of the day. Once Tianming was close enough, he would join the assembly to ask for information about Lingfeng anyway. It would be far more effective than passively waiting for Yin Chen to eavesdrop on it.

”The rest of you should stay here for now. Yin Chen will tell me if someone is approaching, and I’ll move the ship somewhere safe,” he said to Moran and Qingyu. It wouldn’t be convenient for them to tag along, Moran especially, since she was only a third-level overflower and didn’t deserve to be in here. Not to mention, the maniverse assembly was only really for those who were at least quasi cosmic gods. Tianming wasn’t too worried about their safety either after testing out the toughness of the ark and finding that it was even more durable than the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb against cosmic artifacts.

The two of them assented. It didn’t seem likely that Tianming would get into any trouble just by asking about some information. Qingyu continued to focus on making her breakthrough with Moran accompanying her, talking to her to relieve some boredom.

And so Tianming left alone, his cover safe with the purple mask. He proceeded through the sludge-like flameyellow void essence and heard sounds of chatter and laughter up ahead. Close to a thousand geniuses were at the maniverse assembly, a majority of them from the Eightpart Pantheons. Those who didn’t belong were only allowed to lurk near the outer circle, even cosmic gods. Such was the hierarchy of the Upper Star Ruin.

Soon, Tianming reached an area that seemed to be holed out where the ruins had been built. Quite a number of large buildings could be seen. Beautifully dressed geniuses could be seen in and out of the city ruins. He only had one goal, and he quickly spotted a blue-armored youth near the outer city who seemed to be waiting for someone. As he wasn’t from the Eightpart Pantheons, he didn’t dare to go deeper inside. Tianming intentionally walked past him.

”You, come here,” the youth said, pointing at Tianming.

”Me?” Tianming approached him and said, ”I am Lin Feng. How might I address you?”

”I’m Chu Xuan of Saturatia-49. Where do you hail from? Why haven’t I seen you?”

”I am from Greatsun Zephyr. It is rather far from here, so we don’t get lots of visitors.” Greatsun Zephyr was a world on the Flameyellow Atlas, but it definitely didn’t neighbor the ten great maniverse-class worlds.

”Now, that’s far away indeed. I guess you do have some good instincts if you’ve made it all the way here. You’re not from the Eightpart Pantheons and don’t have much of a status. Even if you’re a quasi cosmic god, it’s not appropriate for you to be here. How about I invite you to join our Maniverse Orbiter Alliance instead?”

”What’s that?”

”An alliance of geniuses from worlds that orbit maniverse-class worlds, of course. We have to help one another to be able to stand a chance. In these ruins, our faction can just barely measure up against one of the ten great maniverse-class worlds.”

”Thank you, Brother Chu Xuan, for the honor!” Tianming put his hands together in a salute.

”You are a quasi cosmic god, so you just barely qualify to be one of us. Thankfully, you were fortunate enough to meet me! So, you can give me your membership dues!”

”Membership dues?” Tianming had been wondering why this fellow was so friendly. He had ulterior motives after all!

”One imperial-class cosmic artifact should suffice, or an 8000-aperture manna would also do. Since you’re able to become a quasi cosmic god, you should have some faction backing you in your home world, right? If you want to enjoy the benefits of our alliance, you’ll have to contribute to us, naturally.”

”I see!” Tianming took out a low-imperial-class artifact and handed it to Chu Xuan. He had quite a stash of them, after all. While the alliance wasn’t comparable to the maniverse assembly, they definitely had enough people with different sorts of intel. Damn it, if not for Yin Chen, I wouldn’t have to do something like this.

After Chu Xuan pocketed the artifact, he seemed rather satisfied. ”Alright, I’ll take you to meet Gu Susu and the rest. She will ask you to pay another membership fee, so you’d better not mention that you’ve given me my referral.”

”Understood!” Tianming feigned an understanding wink.

”You’re a sharp one!” Chu Xuan put his arm around Tianming’s shoulder happily. ”Friend, come with me. I will ensure that you enjoy the full extent of our benefits. Your small contribution to me is worthwhile. After all, what’s a little material object compared to the connections you can forge?”

”I will be counting on you, Brother Chu Xuan,” Tianming said. He had his in.

Just as they were about to head to Gu Susu, a bright-white light flashed ahead of them. Tianming looked up and saw a huge wonderian cosmic god standing in front of them. He had a rather unique, spherical head that reminded Tianming of Zhoutian Shenhai back at Myriadpath Valley.

”Chu Xuan,” said the wonderian.

”Lord Henfeng!” Chu Xuan hurriedly bowed down and pushed Tianming to kneel with him.

”Take this to my wife. I will give you a transmission stone. I need you to look for her straight away.” This should be one of the wonderians in the pair known as Zhoutian Hen that the Baili brothers had mentioned, a cosmic god from a high bloodline in Saturatia-49. He did seem rather powerful and pulsed with pressure.

”Yes!” Chu Xuan respectfully received a jade box and a transmission stone.

Zhoutian Henfeng looked at Tianming and said, ”How laughable for a lowlife to wear a mask in such a shameful manner.”

”Lord Henfeng, forgive this humble servant. I worry that my unpleasant visage shall offend the esteemed lords and ladies of the Eightpart Pantheons, so I wear my mask as a sign of respect to spare them the displeasure of looking at my face,” Tianming said.

”Oh?” Zhoutian Henfeng didn’t care to look into it. He waved them away and quickly turned to leave.

”You should thank your good instincts. Let’s go!” Chu Xuan grabbed Tianming by the shoulder as if he was trying to herd valuable livestock.