Beastmaster of the Ages

A group of tens of people gathered somewhere deep within the Ninelives Cave. They were the young cosmic gods from the Primordial Sands, led by Jiang Lincheng. They had waited for quite a while at that location, expressions odd and somewhat anxious from the silent waiting.

”Datou, are you still not able to get into contact with him yet?” Jiang Lincheng asked in a hushed voice, standing near the center of the group.

Jiang Datou gave it another try and shook his head. ”It’s odd. It’s not like he doesn’t want to pick up, but it feels like he’s too far for the transmission stone to even connect. I think he’s gone to a completely different place.”

”A completely different place?” The others exchanged glances, puzzled.

”This is the Ancestral World. What other place can there be? Don’t tell me he returned to the Upper Star Ruin all of a sudden.”

”No way, that’s too fast.”

”Maybe he went deeper into some area that’s connected to the cave with lots of ninelives fruits.”

Nobody had a good answer for what had happened. One of the young cosmic gods called Lin Zhao said, ”Brother Cheng, what if he ran off because he didn’t want to split the ninelives fruit with us? Did he get rid of the transmission stone somehow? Actually, I don’t think we need that many ninelives fruits. He was the one who worked for it, after all. If he didn’t want to share, all he needed to do was tell us. There’s no need to lie to us and run off while he leaves us waiting.”

”What are you saying? Lin Feng’s not like that!” Jiang Xiaobai said, somewhat mad.

”Let’s keep waiting,” Jiang Lincheng said before turning to Lin Zhao. ”We have to be more patient! Brother Lin Feng is someone who considers the bigger picture. It’s rather uncouth of you to talk about him in this way.”

”Brother Cheng, do you think I want to doubt our benefactor?” Lin Zhao grit his teeth rather uncomfortably. ”All I’m doing is considering our interests as a group....”

He looked around, only to notice that nobody else seemed to support him. Sighing, he said, ”Fine. Let’s keep waiting. I hope that he’ll live up to the trust that you have in him.”

”Lin Zhao, we’re not doing this for the ninelives fruits. It’s about connections and trust. Sometimes, trust between us is more important than any ninelives fruit,” Jiang Lincheng said to reassure himself as much as he intended to reassure the rest. All of them knew that Tianming was incredible and seemingly had no limits on what he could achieve.

”Fine!” Lin Zhao turned his head down and backed away into a corner, somewhat unhappy.

The next instant, Jiang Datou’s transmission stone lit up. The purple projection above it said, ”Stay there and don’t move. I’m on my way to you now.”

It was Tianming, and he didn’t even need to ask where they were, which only added to his mystery. He seemed to be able to do everything. The call cut off just as the dark looks on the others’ faces faded away, replaced by a smile. Jiang Lincheng couldn’t help it either. Lin Zhao, on the other hand, smiled awkwardly. It had become clear whether Tianming was someone worth their trust. Soon, Tianming actually came to them and seemed to be in good shape.

”Brother Lin Feng!” Jiang Lincheng and the others went forth to greet him.

”Sorry for making you wait. There was a slight complication,” Tianming said before he handed a spatial ring to Jiang Lincheng. ”There are three hundred gold ninelives fruits and thirty thousand normal ones within.”

The others were completely flabbergasted. ”Three hundred?! Thirty thousand?!” They had had to fight for even a single gold ninelives fruit, so this number was unthinkable to them! Even after splitting this among the group, there would still be many leftovers that they could bring back to the Primordial Sands for their families and seniors!

”No, Brother Lin Feng.” Jiang Lincheng didn’t accept the ring. ”You were the one who devised and executed the plan, holding back the devas and even killing the Skyfiendling on your own to tip the balance in our favor. You were also the one who entered the formation to pick the ninelives fruits. All we did was provide some minor support, so we don’t deserve that much.”

”You’re too kind, Brother Cheng. How could I have done any of that alone? Don’t worry. I did take our contributions into account and I made sure to take my share of the fruits too,” Tianming said straightforwardly. To his credit, he had been generous enough to give them thirty percent of the share. Others might not have given even a tenth of what they got. Thirty percent was a good number, for they risked even greater trouble if they had even more on their persons.

”There’s far too much!” Jiang Lincheng still didn’t quite know how to react after receiving the ring. The other youths were much the same. They looked at Tianming with approving nods. Lin Zhao was completely embarrassed after hearing the numbers and regretted saying so much.

”Don’t hold back. I’ll need all of you to put in a good word for me when we go to the Primordial Sands for a good first impression, after all,” Tianming said. He was going to visit the family of his wife, so it couldn’t hurt to have some of their own build a good first impression of him.

”Hahahaha!” Jiang Lincheng and the rest could finally relax after hearing what he had to say. ”No problem! We’ll definitely spread your amazing reputation far and wide once we get back!” They had gotten closer after fighting on the same side the whole time, after all.

”By the way, what’s our next move?” Jiang Lincheng asked. Even though he was the leader of the group, he had begun to see Tianming as their leader instead.

Tianming said, ”I still have to think about that. Let’s try to enjoy some of our spoils for now.”

When he had been on the way to meet up with them, he had been thinking about the flameyellow voidkin. The gigantic girl in the black-and-gold dress had left a deep impression on him. She seemed like she was trying to warn him, which gave him quite a lot to think about. For instance, she didn’t take the jade talisman back even as she chased him out of that space. Was she actually softer than she looked and acted? It seemed like she was intentionally letting him leave with the cosmic art.

”How about this, Lin Feng.... The junior cosmic gods from the Primordial Sands are led by seven geniuses on the ancient ranking. They’re the highest-ranked ones in their respective maniverse-class worlds and also the strongest! I know one of them, Lin Chaoge. Should I introduce you to him? His status is much higher than mine in the Primordial Sands, and his father is the lord of a maniverse-class world! He’s rather powerful and influential.”