Beastmaster of the Ages

When even Shao Xingru fell to Tianming, it meant that the entire team of seven sixth-level cosmic god geniuses had been completely wiped out, something the Eightpart Pantheons found incredibly hard to accept. Across the Ten Desolate Starforges, countless Eightpart Pantheons members watched the sky in utter frustration. Their scolding and cursing reached the loudest levels in recorded history!

In the past, internal rivalries within the Eightpart Pantheons were mostly muttered about in secret, so as not to ruin the harmony. But now they were united against an external foe and weren’t afraid of offending anyone anymore.

Of course, they weren’t just cursing Tianming. Occasionally, they vented their fury at their own so-called ”geniuses”.

“So useless! Getting beaten like that!”

“My grandmama could’ve fought better than them!”

“Those were supposed to be our royal lineage geniuses? They got played like clowns!”

Once a class conflict arose, they scolded their own people even more viciously. After all, most ordinary members of the Eightpart Pantheons had suffered under the royal lineages. So now that the whole world was cursing them, they took the opportunity to vent their own long-held anger.

Soon, they saw Tianming heading directly toward the sword cave.

“So his goal really was the sword cave!”

“Is he being delusional? The fifty-thousand-strong Eightpart Pantheons army is already marching back here, and that place has been studied for months without success. Does he think he can just waltz in?”

Countless eyes across the Ten Desolate Starforges focused on Tianming, most of them clearly hoping to see him make a fool of himself.

“Greed will be his downfall.”

“He doesn’t even have a quarter of an hour.” The Eightpart Pantheon counted down how long the army would take to arrive. Naturally, the Eightpart Pantheons were feeling relaxed and confident; their eyes brimmed with murderous intent.

Many watched as Tianming boldly strode to the entrance of the sword cave.

Too many eyes on me. I’ll avoid using the Sky Plundering Hand for now. Let’s try the Grand-Orient Sword first.

The sword cave had a golden vortex at its entrance, covered by tens of thousands of layers of formation restrictions. It was the most secure place Tianming had ever seen!

“No wonder those genius cosmic gods couldn’t get in for months. With this level of protection, they’re not getting in any time this century,” Tianming sneered.

“You think you can do it?” Ying Huo mocked.

Tianming chuckled, then whispered to the Grand-Orient Sword, “Don’t be intimidated by size, my Grand-Orient Sword. In fact, the bigger it is, the more excited you should be! So don’t chicken out on me, brother!”

To his surprise, the Grand-Orient Sword let out a series of hums that he registered as confidence.

“So damn eager, eh?” He clicked his tongue in surprise. He hadn’t been that confident in the sword, given how small it was compared to the mountain.

Oh well!

He grit his teeth and thrust the sword forward. The several-hundred-meter-long sword slammed straight into the cave’s entrance. He also braced himself to be blasted away; the thrust was just a test of his luck.

“I just hope I don’t get tossed off the mountain,” he whispered to the sword.

But he was surprised as a miracle happened!

It felt like he was falling down a waterfall as he dropped straight into the golden vortex with a loud splash, vanishing from the sight of Zi Zhen, Moran, and all of the Ten Desolate Starforges.

“He... went in?” Zi Zhen asked, stunned.

“He did.” Moran nodded.

Zi Zhen glanced at her. “I wasn’t asking you.”

“And I wasn’t answering you,” Moran flatly replied.

They immediately split up and stood on either side of the sword cave entrance, looking down the mountain. The tens of thousands of Eightpart Pantheons geniuses were making a lot of noise as they charged back.

If Tianming didn’t move fast enough, the two girls would be in extreme danger. They might be bickering now, but if a real fight broke out, they would become very synchronized and complementary in battle.

The two girls didn’t know that, the moment Tianming had entered the sword cave, the entire Eightpart Pantheons watching from the Ten Desolate Starforges were completely dumbfounded. They had just been mocking him, and in the blink of an eye, Tianming had fallen into the golden vortex that their own geniuses couldn’t enter, no matter how hard they tried. There was nothing they could do but freeze, staring without a word for a very long time.

Eventually, they looked at each other in disbelief, still not quite willing to accept it.

“Did the Heavenly Dao Arena glitch?”

“Did the screen freeze?”

“No way....”

“Is it because he’s a native of the Ancestral World? But even so, how could that super cosmic relic belong to him?”

Wild discussions erupted in panic. The spectators were losing their minds!

“What if that super cosmic artifact ends up in his hands?!”

“Don’t worry, it won’t.”

“But... what if it does?”

“Even then, it’s fine. A weapon is still just a weapon. It depends on the wielder. No matter how strong he is, he’s still just a kid. Once reinforcements from our imperial-class worlds arrive, he’ll become a golden goose. Killing him would be a jackpot.”

Amidst the tense atmosphere, they could only comfort themselves like that.

***

Meanwhile, Tianming gripped the Grand-Orient Sword and found himself bouncing around in a golden ocean. He was utterly disoriented from spinning too much until he finally tumbled out of the golden sea.

“This is....” Tianming stabilized himself and looked around. He appeared to be inside the belly of the mountain. At first, it was dark, but a blinding golden light quickly burst forth and illuminated the place.

He felt the Grand-Orient Sword tremble in his hand with excitement, while he himself could barely keep his eyes open through the blinding light.

After a moment, the light eased, and everything before him began coming into focus. Only then could he slowly make out a massive statue. It was humanoid in form, clad in heavy full-body armor, complete with helmet, breastplate, shoulder guards, battle skirt, boots, and even a cape!

The statue was entirely golden from head to toe.

“A female statue? A goddess of war?” He determined that it was indeed female from its outline.

“So shiny and huge.” His neck ached just from craning his head to look at it. He made a comparison. “It feels just like when I was still a foundationeer looking up at a thousand-meter-tall giant! Now I’m several hundred meters tall myself, so based on that scale... this statue must be close to 500,000 meters tall!”