Beastmaster of the Ages

A few hundred cosmic gods gathered around Tianming, making up the strongest subgroup. They had heard everything and were in a rather solemn mood. A few moments later, a few of them stepped in front of the group.

”I’m willing to do it.”

”I’ll take a gamble, too. If we don’t take the chance, everyone’s going to die.”

”It’s the Empyrean Yin-Yang Mirror, after all!”

”I’ll follow you guys!”

Not only would they have to brave the danger to break out of the encirclement, they would have to fight squarely against the wonderian forces and even try to escape alive once the mission objective had been achieved.

The fact that so many people stood out to face death touched Tianming. He couldn’t promise to keep them all alive, but he would try his best.

”Having more than sixty is enough!” Tianming only needed them to hold back the thousand wonderians. There were far too many of them, with many being second- or third-level cosmic gods. It would be all too easy for them to interrupt Tianming while he was busy trying to kill the second-ranked genius couple.

”This will be all of us. Let’s go!” Tianming announced.

”Go!” Lin Chaoge nodded and turned back to Jiang Feifei and the rest. ”Once we start fighting, the enemy’s main force might attack when they learn that the bulk of our forces are gone. So you’ll have to take care of things here!”

”No problem. We can at least defend the place. Please be careful,” Jiang Feifei said. They were no strangers to courage or they wouldn’t dare to risk themselves like that.

However, a voice of dissent suddenly rang out. ”Wait! You just said the crucial thing!” Pu Lingyi said as he stood out, having been silent before.

”What crucial thing?” Lin Chaoge asked.

Pu Lingyi smirked. ”You’ll be taking most of the fighters from the Ninelives Cave, leaving it completely helpless to an enemy attack. We’ll suffer heavy casualties as a result!”

Everyone fell silent, Tianming included. His rage suddenly surged. ”What’re you implying?”

Pu Lingyi glared at him. ”You’re only scheming to lure the strong away! How would the Eightpart Pantheons ever risk losing the Empyrean Yin-Yang Mirror by lending it to the juniors here?! If you want to make something up, at least get the details right!”

”You’re sick in the head!” Jiang Feifei glared back at him. ”Brother Lin, ignore him. Let’s head out while we still can.”

”All I want is for the lot of you not to give your lives away like fools! Once you leave, we’ll be easily crushed by their forces!” Pu Lingyi glared at Tianming. ”If you want us to trust you, remove your mask! Let us see your true appearance! Otherwise, who’d be able to tell whether you’re a true flameyellow descendant or a member of the Eightpart Pantheons?

”If you aren’t one of them, how could you know about the Empyrean Yin-Yang Mirror? It isn’t like you have a Heavenly Dao Formation of your own! If you claim to have other flameyellow descendants surveilling the enemy for you, just call one of them here and show us! Then, I won’t stop you in such an urgent situation.”

Pu Lingyi did make a few valid points, and Tianming couldn’t go against them. After all, he wasn’t a true flameyellow descendant in the first place. Some people felt like they had been sold out and turned to look at Tianming.

”What’re you asking so much for? He must have his reasons for wearing a mask! Would you have him remove it so that the Heavenly Dao Arena can get a good look at his face? Everyone, remember! Hasn’t he already saved us once by warning us and getting us to enter this cave? If it wasn’t for him, we’d already be dead!” Jiang Feifei snapped, face turning red. Many others lowered their heads in silence, not knowing who to believe.

”Brother Lin, apologies for the laughable situation.” Lin Chaoge sighed before he firmly said, ”No matter what, I’m coming with you. I don’t believe in all those accusations. Friends deserve to give each other at least some basic respect. If I’m really making a wrong judgment call, then my life wasn’t worthwhile to begin with.”

”I’ll come with you!” Jiang Lincheng pushed the crowd apart to reach Tianming.

”Me too!” Jiang Datou said.

”And me!”

Tianming didn’t expect so many to still be willing to entrust their lives to him despite what Pu Lingyi had said. He still had around fifty, with only a minority having left the group.

”If we lose this bet, all of you will be the ones who have doomed us!” Pu Lingyi yelled before turning around to leave.

”Wait a second!” Tianming yelled all of a sudden.

”What else do you want to say—” Before he could finish, the moment he turned around, a huge palm landed on his face and sent him smashing into the cavern walls, face completely contorted. Tianming had been the one to strike! After becoming a quasi cosmic god, his limbs had fully turned into middlekin astrons, giving him even more power than before. That single slap was able to stun a seventh-level cosmic god like Pu Lingyi.

”How dare you strike me?!” Pu Lingyi groaned. Though he wanted to fight, Jiang Feifei and Ji Lin stopped him.

”You owe me two more slaps on the face! When I return, you’ll be getting the rest!” Tianming glared at him before he stopped wasting time. He turned to the fifty-plus brave warriors and said, ”Upstanding heroes bravely march ahead while cowards keep finding reasons to pull them to their level. Everyone, fight with me!”

”Yeaaah!” They obviously liked Tianming’s personality much more than Pu Lingyi’s. He was able to make snap decisions like an inspiring leader. Pu Lingyi might have good guesses on his side, but he had neglected one key factor: not everyone shared his biases! He was able to come up with all kinds of reasons to distrust Tianming because he felt sour about being told off about the little beastballs, but the others didn’t share that feeling!

Thanks to Yin Chen, Tianming led them along a path that would keep them from being discovered by the Eightpart Pantheons. Dozens of people stealthily left Miracle Mountain. ”Even though the enemy knows what we’re doing through the Heavenly Dao Arena, there’s a delay before the juniors here hear about it. That’s our only chance to strike—if we’re too late, we’ll be swamped! I might not die, but most of us will.”

Nobody said anything, but their eyes were resolute.

”Are you all afraid to die?” Tianming asked.

”No! It’ll be over in the blink of an eye!” Jiang Datou said.

The rest chuckled.

”Alright. I won’t let you die.” Tianming took a deep breath. Whether they survived depended on mere moments.

When they were close enough to the thousand wonderians, the enemy just received the message! Among them stood two seven-hundred-meter-tall giants. They were from the quasi imperial lineage, surnamed Taiyang and Taiyin. They were from the inner circle of the wonderians, Taiyang Zhao and Taiyin Yuan!

Tianming spotted them from far away. The male was pure white, while the female was pure black. It was like they were two astral bodies that orbited each other despite being polar opposites.

Even though the woman was entirely black, she had an aura of beauty akin to that of pure, black glass, completely unlike soot and dirt. The sacred aura higher lifeforms gave off was truly mystical. What caught Tianming’s eye even more was the gigantic mirror they carried!