Beastmaster of the Ages

Since they weren’t considered a formal combatant unit, the ghouls could be summoned whenever needed.

As one falls, the other rises. Although Tianming knew final victory was in his grasp, he stayed calm.

They’re completely shaken by this blow, so they’re going to pull out all the stops to deal with me from now on. I better watch my back.

Tianming knew that at his current level, it would be tough to win the bet outright. His own strength, the size of his ghoul army, and the number of ghoul emperors were all lacking. Both Yueling Qian and Yueling Kun were fifth-level primocosmic gods, nearly on par with Mu Qingqing and Lin Xiaoting. But even Nullity’s Wei Jing was 70,000 meters tall. Tianming’s raw power and ferocity was plain for all to see.

“The dazzling radiances are awesome!”

Despite his emotions, Tianming chose to reflect and meditate. This time, he didn’t need to hide or evade. He sat cross-legged, floating above the center of the Ruinless Zone, contemplating the changes in his order for all the spectators to see. Without superior legacy caeli, the growth of his orders now hinged completely on his own insight and understanding, with some help from dazzling radiances.

Each time he absorbed a dazzling radiance, he needed a period of deep contemplation, and those periods were growing longer and longer. After the breakthrough and subsequent battle, his mind settled, allowing the ten orders within him to stabilize. His imperial and lifesbane orders, however, presented the greatest difficulty as other innate orders could grow together with the Primordial Chaos Beasts.

Decades went by with the skypole stars around him. The Violetblitz and Yueling cosmic gods were genuinely too terrified to approach him, and those who weren’t afraid lost all intention upon seeing the skypole stars. Thus, the bet continued to drag on.

***

Forty years passed in a flash.

The passage of time is becoming less and less obvious.

Tianming felt as if only a moment had passed. Immersed in expanding his orders, the days seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye.

I get a wave of nostalgia thinking back on the decade I spent chatting with my aunt. Those days passed quickly as well.

Tianming smiled, but abruptly interrupted his cultivation after Yin Chen alerted him to a discovery deep within the Ruinless Zone.

“What is it?” Tianming asked, rising to his feet,

“I’m not... sure, but... there’s a... red light... flashing in... a channel,” Yin Chen said.

“Red light?”

Slightly intrigued by the news, Tianming silently left the spot where he had stayed for four decades, disappearing into the clouds of the Ruinless Zone. Then, following Yin Chen’s directions, he continued his descent, and about half a month later, he finally saw a flicker of red within a distorted and broken void.

“That’s probably an ancestral world showing middlekin star fluctuations. Perhaps it’s a Chaos Star Ruin that’s suppressed by the Ruinless Zone?” Tianming muttered to himself. ”The channel’s unstable and there’s an energy storm...”

No wonder Yin Chen couldn’t get in.

The skypole stars allowed Tianming to endure the chaotic storm. Sensing the intense red light, he pressed on with the protection of the skypole stars.

Emerging from the tumultuous spatial storm, he found himself in a void. A Chaos Star Ruin lay before him, covered in clustered, chaos middlekin stars that resembled countless black grapes clinging to the spatial walls.

”There are so many of them!”

Though the chaos middlekin stars were useful, Tianming only spared them a glance before his attention was immediately seized by an intense red light. Peering into the black vortex, he saw an enormous, crimson dazzling radiance, like a boundless giant eye in the darkness, staring intently back at him.

”The color is much deeper than the usual dazzling radiances, more intense. And it’s actually a thousand times bigger than the last one!”

The dazzling radiances would pave Tianming’s path as a heavencosmic god. His current cultivation level was still too low, so he required more and more of them. Despite having a fair amount of dazzling radiances stored away, he was unexpectedly thrilled by this discovery. He used the largest cosmic relic available to contain and transport the dazzling radiance.

”Fortunately, dazzling radiances are smaller than middlekin stars, and composed of order, not energy.”

Otherwise, moving them would be very difficult.

After securing the dazzling radiance, Tianming returned outside to find the Ruinless Zone undisturbed. With 700 million heavencosmic gods still active, the enemy conducted regular drills while maintaining a close watch over Tianming. They just hadn’t made a move yet.

”So you’re waiting for me to leave the Ruinless Zone to cultivate, hoping to defeat me by attacking my brother instead?” Tianming said calmly.

The opposing army, commanded by Yueling Qian, Yueling Kun, and others, remained silent, but their plan was obvious. Defeating Tianming was impossible, so their only option was to attack Lingfeng. Tianming was bound to leave to cultivate, creating a window of opportunity for victory. The skypole stars had utterly crushed their morale in the last battle.

”Forty years...” Tianming said, glancing at Lingfeng who had just reappeared. Then, turning to the enemy, he said, ”Fine, have it your way then!”

He only needed Lingfeng to hold the line until he returned, when he would end the fight.