Beastmaster of the Ages

In a chaotic nebula of clouds, countless celestial patterns condensed into innumerable planetary fragments that drifted about like landmasses in this boundless ocean. It was solemn and majestic, yet bizarre and fantastical.

Every planetary fragment had more than trillions of celestial patterns. They intertwined and combined, producing various effects which all cohesively integrated into an unparalleled super formation!

Few knew that this seemingly endless chaotic nebula of clouds was the outer manifestation of the Upper Star Ruin’s top formation, the Heavenly Dao.

Every single celestial pattern upon it was forged from the wisdom of the ancient flameyellow divinities across tens of thousands of generations. It served as the scales of fairness and acted as the framework of law.

In terms of sheer size, it was even comparable to the Ten Desolate Starforges. Most of the Ten Desolate Starforges’s vastness was just cosmic void, but the clouds were full of matter, showing how immense it truly was.

Its existence was undoubtedly a miracle in this astralscape.

At this moment, the normally tranquil Heavenly Dao suddenly began to ripple. It was like a storm sweeping into this splendid ocean, stirring waves of chaos.

Then, an ancient voice echoed from the depths.

“The Eightpart Pantheons should be grateful to the Heavenly Dao. Without it, we could never have ruled the Upper Star Ruin until now.” At the source of the voice, clouds gathered into the form of a towering, majestic figure.

“Are you implying we would fall to foreign enemies... or to civil strife?” At another location, two more figures manifested. One of them was a graceful figure that was multicolored, as if robed in a flowing rainbow river of stars. The other was pure white.

It was the white figure who had spoken.

These two stood very close. The pair was obviously complementary, with one tall and magnificent while the other was slender and beautiful.

“In the past, civil strife was the only possibility. Yet now... a foreign enemy has appeared.” The dark figure replied.

As his words fell, more figures appeared in the other six spots corresponding to the eight trigrams. Each figure was tens of thousands of meters tall, and it was impossible to tell if they were physical bodies or mere projections.

Aside from the white and multicolored pair, each of the other seven positions held only one giant figure.

They stood as if gathered around an enormous octagonal table, each occupying one seat, their presence stirring the clouds into rolling waves.

“Foreign enemies?” Those two words made the meeting’s atmosphere turn strangely tense.

“The fallen imperial star has reappeared, and with it a maniverse-class cosmic god only a few hundred meters tall. He’s suspected to be a flameyellow descendant, but he’s clearly not one either... plus those criminals from the ruins, and the Primordial Sands. That’s it.” The white figure’s voice was melodious and far-reaching, without any discernible emotion.

“The imperial star....” This noun made the colossal figures around the octagonal table fall into deep contemplation. The atmosphere grew stranger still.

After a long silence, the white figure swept her gaze across them and said, “This is a problem that someone must deal with.”

“The question is... who will deal with it?” A crimson giant asked.

Silence followed. It seemed the matter was a sensitive one for them.

Finally, the black giant who had first triggered the conversation spoke up. “Since this began in my Ninefold Hellstar, let us devas shall end it.”

“Then we’ll have to rely on Imperator Yin.” The other colossal starry figures all looked at him.

“Heh.” The black giant suddenly gave a cold, indifferent laugh. “All these years, and this is what rattles you? The Heavenly Dao merely lost one piece, and you all act as though the sky is falling.”

The others smiled faintly, but kept silent.

At last, the white figure began to fade. “Ladies and gentlemen, meeting adjourned.”

***

In the void, a black-and-gold vortex suddenly sprang up. A colossal black-and-gold maniverse-class world was about to emerge from within.

“This is the ultra-powerful wormhole expressway that can quickly move even worlds! That one called Li Tianming is here!”

“No! No!”

Beneath the black-and-gold vortex lay a snow-white star, none other than the dreamlike Saturatia-49! Its size was not much different from the present Sun. Yet, no matter how one looked, Saturatia-49 seemed like a bare, delicate maiden, while the Sun was like a burly brute.

The sight threw not only the wonderians upon Saturatia-49 into panic and despair, but also terrified the astral gods on the forty-nine surrounding orbiter stars.

Countless people screamed in the streets, crawling and tumbling away in terror, as though the end of days had come.