Beastmaster of the Ages

After exterminating Chu Xuan, Tianming sorted through his belongings. First of all, Chu Xuan didn’t have a tracking ring as he was merely a descendant of a small faction from an orbiter world, a far cry compared to the young scions of the Eightpart Pantheons. Though he did have quite a few treasures, a sure sign of his greed and scams, which were more often directed at the fellow people from orbiter worlds.

Tianming then turned his attention to the jade box that Chu Xuan had been asked to transport. Before he opened the box, a cold voice came ringing from the transmission stone that Chu Xuan had been given. ”Who are you? Be careful of losing your life for daring to touch the belongings of us wonderians.”

The one who said that should be the wife of Zhoutian Henfeng. Tianming ignored her and crushed the transmission stone. Then, he returned to the place where the maniverse assembly took place and opened the box, only to find a heart-shaped key within. It was clearly not made out of the same material as cosmic artifacts.

”It seems like something that’s made in the Ancestral World.” The substance was completely foreign to him. He couldn’t quite figure out what good this object would do for him. ”There must be some use....”

With the foolish death of Chu Xuan, Tianming had lost an information channel. ”I have no choice but to go back to Gu Susu.” She was a second-level cosmic god, so she had to be stronger than Chu Xuan, making her one of the leaders of the Maniverse Orbiter Alliance. As such, she would definitely know about more things than Chu Xuan.

”Whoa.... Aren’t you afraid that you’ll be kidnapped and forced to marry her?” Ying Huo asked.

”If you ask me, he’d even enjoy that,” Xian Xian said.

”Nonsense. I think Gu Susu’s just misunderstood, that’s all. She seems like a nice person. I’m sure she won’t force me into anything as long as I communicate properly,” Tianming said.

”The cosmic gods of the Upper Star Ruin are all two faced and never speak what they think. Have you forgotten what Yuan Long was like? She seemed just and fair until she showed her true colors,” Ji Ji said.

”Haha, everyone has a unique personality. At the end of the day, it’s just human nature, and it applies to us all, mortals and gods alike,” Tianming said. This situation felt a little like when he was at the Archaion Sect back on the Flameyellow Continent. Back then, the disciples of the Human Branch had also formed some kind of alliance. The orbiter-worlders were similar to outer-circle disciples who had to huddle together to be able to form any kind of working relationship with the Eightpart Pantheons.

Tianming wasn’t worried about Zhoutian Hen in the slightest. He was using the alias of Lin Feng anyway. Not to mention, Qin Feng was already dead, so nobody would be able to connect him to his real identity.

He turned back toward the ruins where the Maniverse Orbiter Alliance was. Back when they had met, Gu Susu had given Tianming a transmission stone, which he used to call her. ”Big Sister Susu, can we meet privately?”

The projection of the white-dressed cosmic god nodded. Then, she made her way to where he was. Being a second-level cosmic god, she stood about a hundred and seventy meters in height. Her long white dress was almost two hundred meters from top to bottom.

It was said that breakthroughs as a cosmic god caused the number of middlekin astrons to grow too. However, the increase each time wasn’t certain and had to do with the results of cultivating in each specific level, so there was always some variation in body size. Some fifth- or sixth-level cosmic gods could be between three to eight hundred meters in height, making estimations rather difficult. However, there were some solid baselines. For instance, first-level cosmic gods couldn’t be taller than four hundred meters, while ninth-level ones couldn’t be as short as two hundred meters. Since Tianming reached the seventh level of the Overflow stage, he was almost a hundred and fifty meters tall, putting him in a similar size category as Gu Susu.

”Big Sister Susu,” Tianming greeted as he approached.

Gu Susu’s face glowed with snow white starlight. Gently, she asked, ”Didn’t Chu Xuan take you on an errand?”

”Something came up and he abandoned me,” Tianming lied without batting an eye.

”I see. Then, why did you want to meet?” She knew that he definitely had something private to talk about, or he would’ve met her while she was with the rest.

Tianming went straight to the point and showed her the heart-shaped key, scrutinizing her expression closely to observe her reaction. ”I came across this recently. Can you tell me what this is?”

”A Miracle Mountain key?!” Gu Susu seemed surprised.

”Miracle Mountain?” Tianming raised a brow. ”What kind of place is it?”

”You’re not aware?”

”I have been exploring alone the whole time, so nobody told me about it.”

”I see.” Gu Susu didn’t seem to suspect a thing. ”It’s a key location that appeared twenty years ago. That mysterious place is filled with all sorts of formations, making it rather dangerous. You know about ancestral fruits, right? Many of them are being traded around in the maniverse assembly, and they came from Miracle Mountain.”

”Does this key allow one to enter Miracle Mountain?”

”Yes. You can’t go in without one.” She gave him a surprised look. ”I didn’t think a quasi cosmic god like you would be able to get a key. Few if any quasi cosmic gods dare to enter.”

Tianming smiled. ”Does this mean that only a very few people have keys like this?”

”Not many. Those of us from minor orbiter factions aren’t even qualified to possess them. However, most cosmic gods from the Eightpart Pantheons have one that they found in other minor ruins. As you only really need one key, some extras are being sold at the maniverse assembly.” Gu Susu’s personality was rather similar to Jiguang’s. She answered any question he had with a forthcoming attitude.

In other words, the keys were crucial, but not some kind of impressive treasure. Otherwise, Chu Xuan wouldn’t have been asked to deliver it. Tianming decided that Miracle Mountain would be his next destination and asked, ”Big Sister Susu, I also want to ask if you’ve heard about anything concerning a certain Nightfiend that seems to be active around Saturatia-49. I heard that this entity has come to the Ancient Flameyellow Ruins recently.”

”Of course I have.” She paused for a moment. ”That truly is a terrifying entity. Why are you asking about him?”

”Just out of curiosity. He’s someone who’s been a pain in the neck for the wonderians, after all.”

”I see. Well, he’s at Miracle Mountain.”