Beastmaster of the Ages

The vortices looked like blooming flowers in the ocean. That attack from the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb was called Ninedragon Dominance. The sheer scale of the blasts sent the many ships and soldiers flying off into the distance. However, the fear didn’t take. They quickly huddled together defensively.

”It’s fine! That ship alone will never be able to breach the Ninefirm Guard Formation!”

”It’s pointless!”

The reason they kept defending that location was to prevent Tianming from infiltrating the formation with an army, which would be the real threat they had to be wary of.

Divine astralships were no longer as effective on the level of cosmic gods. It was far more effective to use a powerful astralguard formation for defense rather than ships. Not to mention, they weren’t that effective against individual cosmic-god soldiers since they couldn’t accurately hit their targets.

While attacking fortuna-class worlds with maniverse-class or stronger ships was still viable, maniverse-class worlds and above weren’t so vulnerable to them. Hence, the Starfall Pantheon weren’t too concerned about the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb. What bothered them, however, was how the ship didn’t give up and continued its nonstop bombardment, shaking the Ninefirm Guard Formation time and again.

”Ninefirm Imperial Son!”

A rainbow-colored astral giant taller than fifty thousand meters appeared at the front of the army. He was handsomely beautiful and looked to be crafted from the finest natural stone. Being the son of the imperator, he was the only spiritual support for the people in Ninefirm Imperius.

He wasn’t the strongest among them, however. There were more than twenty cosmic gods who were even larger near him, with the tallest nearing seventy thousand meters or higher. He was an old man with unkempt hair and appeared like a rainbow-colored mountain.

The old man turned to the imperial son with his brow furrowed. ”Something’s wrong! The attacks from the ship might just be a distraction! I heard that he can summon an army of ghouls. Maybe he slipped past the formation alone during the chaos!”

The Ninefirm imperial son reacted quickly. ”Uncle Tian, quickly, pilot the Windhowl and give it a try.”

”Yes!” The old man boarded a sword-shaped divine astralship and activated its formation, charging out of the sea of storms towards the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, which started backing away from the threat into the distance rather than engaging the incoming ship.

The Ninefirm imperial son’s expression changed. ”That ship must be under remote control! Li Tianming isn’t there. He must’ve breached our defenses somewhere!”

If that was the case, they would no longer be able to stop Tianming from entering Ninefirm Imperius.

”Don’t worry! The imperial capital has its own defensive formation. Without his ship, he wouldn’t be able to cause any significant damage in the short term. All we need to do is to hold on while the rest of the five pantheons’ forces attack the Flameyellow Imperial Star to make him more desperate!” Uncle Tian said when he returned.

”I suppose that’s the only thing we can do. Give the orders for everyone to be on high alert. Also, push for the troops at Calabash Windfiend to start attacking!”

Initially, the Starfall Pantheon had been unwilling to send forces to join the attack. But for their own protection, they had to increase the pressure they put on the Sun right away. Who knew what that monster would do within Ninefirm Imperius in the meantime?

Tianming’s presence also meant that he wouldn’t be there to defend the Sun. Even though the preparations weren’t complete, all it would take for them to mount an effective attack was for the five imperatores to strike. It was a race against time for both sides.

”He has been located!” The Ninefirm Imperial Son announced. The cosmic gods immediately assumed their stations. This imperial star housed the strongest bloodlines, so their fighters were by no means pushovers.

Soon, news reached the Ninefirm Imperial Son. ”What?! He appeared above Ninefirm Mausoleum!”

Uncle Tian grit his teeth in surprise. ”What did he go there to do? What’s the point of disturbing the peaceful rest of our ancestors? It would only dirty his reputation!”

”I don’t know, but we can’t let him do anything offensive there! All troops, head to the mausoleum immediately!”

At the very least, they had a lock on Tianming’s location. As long as they could keep him there, the flameyellow divinities would be in trouble. Not to mention, they didn’t even need to use their ships in their world. Their cosmic gods could fight to their full potential.

***

Tianming’s ten-thousand-meter form appeared above a rainbow-colored mountain range. The colorful lights that came from them created a sacred and solemn mood.

”If the mausoleum of a fortuna-class world like Starmoon Haven had cosmic tribulation seas, there’s no way Ninefirm Mausoleum wouldn’t. This is the homeworld of the most elite totemancers of the Upper Star Ruin, after all. My totems wouldn’t be disappointed.”

Tianming’s eyes glowed with anticipation. This mausoleum was the biggest factor in why he chose Ninefirm Imperius. The limits of his decapath era godswords were yet unknown. As they didn’t have enough simulacra, they were still quite inferior to his Primordial Chaos Beasts. But Tianming knew that they definitely had as much potential as the beasts!

”A maniverse-class formation, huh? This must be the best-defended grave in the universe.” Tianming’s lips curved into a smile at the sight of the sea of light. ”Too bad for them, I’m the universe’s best graverobber.”