Beastmaster of the Ages

”All those are nothing but shackles of fate?” Tianming was stunned to hear that. This girl’s insight and understanding was far beyond that of the common person.

”Is that not obvious?” Ming Yufu shrugged. ”Think about it. Why should we care about being acknowledged for our status? For instance, when I compete with others in the Eightpart Pantheons, I consider myself a deva, but when I fight against the Primordial Sands, I’m one of the Eightpart Pantheons. Our allegiances and identities are circles within circles. At the end of the day, it’s all meaningless as we shift from one circle to another! I might be your enemy right now, but when we have a common enemy, we’ll become friends! After all, are we not all denizens of the Realm of Order?”

”That’s the mindset of a traitor alright,” Tianming said with contempt.

”That’s right. I’m a traitor to my race, but I didn’t sell out the Realm of Order!” She smiled nonchalantly. ”These identities and labels only distract and frustrate us. By considering myself but a single lifeform in the Realm of Order, I feel so much more free! Your fights in the Ancient Flameyellow Ruins look like nothing but struggles among people who share the same origins. Even as we, distant siblings of the same universe, engage in strife, I’m not angry or invested at all.”

”Alright, that’s enough. Listening to you is weakening my will to fight....” It was no wonder Yin Chen had recommended that she was to be taken out right away. She had a unique talent for talking.

Since she didn’t even spare a single thought for her father, Tianming didn’t hold back and said, ”I know you have information about your father. Tell me anything you can think of. I want to kill him and take over the core of the Ninefold Hellstar.”

”Of course! I know many of my dad’s secrets.” Ming Yufu blushed and said, ”Master, isn’t it boring to just talk? Shall we talk as I work hard to serve you? I might not be pure after ’fighting’ so many battles in the sheets, but I’ve developed some rather masterful tactics....”

”Spare me the nonsense.” Tianming didn’t quite know how to handle weirdos like that.

”Fine!” Ming Yufu pouted, but she still obeyed. ”My dad entered the Ghoulsource to cultivate after being given the core. He hasn’t left since then.”

”Ghoulsource? Where is it?” Even Yin Chen hadn’t found the place yet.

”It’s deep within the Ninefold Hellstar. That place is where our ancestors were interred, making it the best place for cultivation. Before this, only the Ninefold Wargod was allowed to enter that place. But since she didn’t outright forbid my dad from entering, he used this chance to sneak in without anyone noticing.”

Tianming gave her a few more looks. If I had killed her, I probably wouldn’t have found her father....

”Master, you wouldn’t be planning to barge into the Ghoulsource to kill my dad, right? From what I can tell, you’re about as strong as he is, but you can’t let your identity be discovered, right? If the fight causes too much commotion before you can defeat him, you might not be able to flee the Ninefold Hellstar,” Ming Yufu said, looking worried, though not for him. If Tianming was gone, she would die too.

”Is it a hard place to get to?” Tianming asked.

”I can try to contact my dad to get him to secretly open a pathway for you to enter. If you fight inside, then you can be a bit loud without any issue. It’s a great place to fight, but are you capable of defeating him?”

That was indeed a problem. Ming Yufu had reasoned that Tianming was almost as powerful as her father, but who knew how accurate that assessment was? Most importantly, once word of Tianming’s presence gets out there, the Eightpart Pantheons would immediately send their forces. That would leave really little time for the Sun to suck up the nova source from the Ninefold Hellstar.

”Ming Yufu,” Tianming said after some deep pondering, ”Do you know your dad’s weakness?”

”Of course!”

Tianming didn’t expect her to be so frank.

”My dad’s sixfold hell-ring can summon a really savage judgment ghoul, which is terrified of a cosmic flora called the Sacredstar Spirit. Once the ghoul touches that flower, it will go berserk and even fight its owner!”

”Are you sure?” Tianming asked with an odd look.

”Other people also know of this. Feel free to ask around,” Ming Yufu said without the slightest care in the world.

Tianming had Yin Chen verify it, though it couldn’t exactly ask about it. So, all it could do was passively listen and wait. Still, he reasoned that Ming Yufu had no reason to lie about this.

”There’s a lake in Ninefold Universe City near that old hag Ninefold Wargod’s place. That’s where you’ll be able to find the Sacredstar Spirit. It grows there.” Ming Yufu clapped her hands together and said, ”Let me be frank. My family is quite fierce in a fight, especially my dad. He’s the classic berserker type who’ll go all the way. Do you know how the Ninefold Wargods have been able to suppress our family across the generations? The Sacredstar Spirit! As long as that exists, our family will never rise to the top.”

”Is that so?” Tianming nodded.

”Are you planning to go pick it? There aren’t that many people in Ninefold Universe City now. Most of them have entered the ruins and got trapped there. However, all sorts of formations are open there and even my dad wasn’t able to enter. If not for the fact that the core has to be handed to the second-in-command, the Ninefold Wargod would’ve never handed it over. They consider us their rivals, got it?”

”If I can enter your palace, I’ll have no problems entering Ninefold Universe City. You should wait at the entrance of the Ghoulsource. Once I get the Sacredstar Spirit, I’ll join up with you.”

”Dang, are you really going for it?”

”Of course!” Tianming immediately flew toward the city. This was one thing he couldn’t afford to leave for some other time. Since the growth of his omnisentient threads had come to a halt, he might as well gamble on this chance.