Beastmaster of the Ages

Orders were soon sent from the higher-ups to the lower ruins to deliver the message. Transmission stones could only function within the Ancestral World, so this warning would take some time to spread to everyone, though it wasn’t too long.

Following this, two major developments were bound to occur within the lower ruins.

First: All genius cosmic gods would experience a swell in their seal. The fall of the Skyfiendling served as a warning, and they would begin to prioritize territorial control instead of resources and kill off their Primordial Sands competitors.

Second: All disciples of the Eightpart Pantheons would be ordered to hunt down the masked man.

While this warning was beginning to spread through the Ancient Flameyellow Ruins, Tianming and his lifebound beasts were already enthusiastically working as fruit pickers. There were over a thousand golden ninelives fruit, and one hundred thousand ordinary fruits!

Tianming didn’t even need to lift a finger as Yin Chen swarmed out in countless numbers, transforming into a silver tide that engulfed the tree’s branches and leaves completely.

Each individual Yin Chen body was now large enough to carry a ninelives fruit, so harvesting them was no issue. Very quickly, the fruits surged toward Tianming like a flood. He swiftly collected them.

“I’ve got more than enough for myself. I can even share a good portion with the people on the Sun. And of course, a bit with the Primordial Sands brothers too.” They had contributed significantly to this endeavor, and some of them had been badly injured. The ninelives fruit just so happened to help cosmic gods recover from their cosmic god essence form to their astral giant forms.

For cosmic gods, strengthening their middlekin astrons was essentially the same as healing.

“The Ninelives Ancestral Tree is massive. This tiny portion alone yielded so many fruits; I wonder how many the entire tree has!” Tianming’s heart was pounding with excitement.

Xian Xian and Yin Chen were investigating this. This hidden location had originally been found by the devas, not by them, so Tianming figured there were still opportunities waiting to be found.

“Big Brother Jiang, I’m done harvesting! You all leave first, I’ll catch up right away!” Tianming used the transmission stone to contact Jiang Datou.

He had them leave first because Yin Chen had reported that multiple parties were converging on their location. Tianming could move more flexibly on his own, but if they didn’t leave now, they might not be able to later.

“I’ll guide you all,” Tianming added.

Jiang Datou relayed the message to Jiang Lincheng. Some people nearby skeptically murmured, “He’s not trying to hog the loot, is he?”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Let’s go!” Jiang Lincheng had already paid the price once for not trusting Tianming. After fighting side by side, he had come to see just how terrifying this monster really was. As the group’s leader, he knew every decision he made could determine life or death for his brothers.

Jiang Yulian would have insisted that Tianming divide the fruits before they left, but Jiang Lincheng didn’t hesitate at all.

“Move out!” They left via a side path Tianming had marked. Gaining their trust left Tianming genuinely pleased. He was finally free of needless drama. Dealing with smart people was always easier.

As for himself, he wasn’t afraid of anyone. After stashing all the ninelives fruit, he stayed in the area to keep searching. Sure enough, he found several more corners and extracted another ten thousand ordinary fruits!

“Nice.” By the time Jiang Lincheng’s group reached a safe zone, Tianming was just about ready to leave and meet up with them.

At that moment, a weird screech suddenly rang out nearby.

Tianming whipped around to see a filthy, disheveled figure standing in the shadows. His face was smeared black and dripping with snot; rage and sorrow twisted his expression as he glared at Tianming.

“My fruits! My fruits!” He pointed a trembling finger at Tianming.

Startled, Tianming quickly said, “Sorry, I took them. If you’re willing to talk, I can give you some back.”

The man was the same weirdo he had encountered earlier, who had fled through a black portal.

“WAAAHHH!!”

The man wailed furiously, jumping up and down as he shouted, “Help! Help! Where’s my sister?!”

Then, once again, he threw out a black orb, which transformed into a black gate swirling with a dark vortex. The feral man dove into the black portal and vanished.

Tianming stared at the gate with narrowed eyes.

Last time, he had been caught off guard. But now, with the transmission stone still connected to Jiang Datou, he shouted, “Big Bro Jiang! Something’s come up. Wait for me a little longer!”

Even before finishing, Tianming had already become a bolt of lightning that raced through the gate, hot on the man’s heels.

The feral man probably hadn’t expected such speed.

Tianming sort of sensed he had left Miracle Mountain. The moment he entered this new space, the man was already gone, while he found himself in the depths of a muddy marsh.

The mud was composed of flameyellow void essence, but it was nearly ten times denser than the outside. Movement here was extremely difficult. Yin Chen immediately started shrieking; the filth was far too much for its sensitive soul to handle.

“Gone? Where am I?” Tianming had jumped in because he suspected this feral man was a native and possibly from the flameyellow divinities. He wanted to meet them, so he had taken the risk.

But now that he was inside, there was nothing?

“This place must hold something unusual!” Determined, Tianming summoned Lan Huang, who began advancing through the thick sludge.

Before long, Tianming arrived at an empty area centered around a black-and-gold altar. The setup was simple, but there was a central platform upon which lay a jade slip.

“What’s this?” Tianming kept a wary eye on his surroundings as he approached the platform. His eyes were fixed on the slip, which was only about a meter long and wide. Engraved on it was a relief of a man with a totem and a cosmic crest beast beside him.

“This must be a flameyellow divinity, right?”

Seeing no one else around, Tianming took a deep breath and reached out to grab the slip. The moment contact was made, words appeared.

On the front, golden text announced, “Flameyellow Voidkin, Po Feng.”

And on the back, black text declared, “Cosmic art, Grand Fortuna Starcrusher.”