Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming pulled Zi Zhen close and looked her up and down.

She furrowed her brow and asked, ”What are you looking at?”

”I’m checking if you were hurt. You fought four imperatores alone, after all. I can’t bear it if my baby gets hurt,” Tianming said with a serious look.

”Who’s your baby?” she said with a light groan. She did feel quite warm at seeing how much he cared for her. Even so, the injuries she had suffered had quickly recovered thanks to her bloodline.

Tianming couldn’t see anything wrong with her and pulled her in once more. The petite girl feigned some hesitation but didn’t transform into her specter form. Eventually, they melted into each other as the ship soared through the astralscape.

***

After the war ended, the Flameyellow Imperial Star no longer needed to blockade the pathway to the Primordial Sands. The Aeternal Beings wouldn’t need to use this pathway anyway.

The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb finally returned with Tianming and the rest.

”The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb is now imperial class. However, it’s still different from the ship depicted in the painting within Sky Palace. It must still be possible to upgrade the ship.”

Tianming was standing atop one of the nine heads of the massive mechanical ship, looking down at the maniverse-class Sun. Massive streams of black and gold stretched far and wide across the boundless world. It used to be a tiny heliacal-class world but it had grown many times its previous size after all the trials it went through.

”Since the day it consumed the Skywolf Stars, it was destined to rise back to its glory days! That day will finally be upon us.” Tianming appeared rather calm.

Wondrium Impierius, Ninefirm Imperius, Sundown Imperius and the rest of the imperial-class worlds had risen to that status after they stole the Flameyellow Imperial Star’s nova source. It was time for them to return all of it.

Soon, Tianming found Wudi, who was still cleaning up the battlefield. ”Mister Coffin Man, are you done with things here?”

Wudi chuckled. ”Who’s this arrogant prick I hear? I’ll give you another chance to pick your words carefully.”

A look of doubt appeared on Tianming’s face. ”Oh, you really wanna go there?” ℯ

Wudi looked at the massive 70-thousand-meter Tianming and cursed. ”You little prick... You’re growing rebellious.”

Then, Tianming told Wudi about his plans.

His expression grew solemn. ”Are you saying that you’re ready to restore the Flameyellow Imperial Star to the imperial class?”

Tianming nodded. ”We’ll keep Deva Imperius around for now and consume the other stars. We have to restore the Sun to its former glory to properly show that we now rule the universe.”

Wudi snapped his fingers. ”Understood. You’re making history for your many descendants of the future, aren’t you?”

Tianming froze for a moment. ”Godfather, are you a monster?”

Wudi was supportive of Tianming’s plans either way. As the ”owner” of the Flameyellow Imperial Star, he had been looking forward to this day. Once the battlefield was cleaned up, the Sun finally began to migrate.

First, it left the astral pathway that led to the Primordial Sands. Every cosmic god within the Sun could feel its movement, causing them to cease their celebrations. They knew that a big change was coming.

Then, the Flameyellow Divine Path opened up. The Sun entered it and traveled at blinding speed. Tianming and Wudi’s first destination was Ninefirm Imperius! That was the main camp of the Starfall Pantheon. After the death of Imperator Yan, Tianming took control over its formation core.

The cosmic gods of Ninefirm Imperius were sealed within the world by the astralguard formation and unable to leave. Many cosmic gods of the Eightpart Pantheons knew what Tianming was going to do after the Sun vanished from the pathway. It wasn’t the first time he did something like this.

The devas, especially, had a deep impression about what was going to happen. The Flameyellow Imperial Star had made its first appearance to those from Ninefold Hellstar, after all.

Back then, the devas absolutely hated Tianming for what he did. After that, Xi Xi hatched and allowed Tianming to control the world of hell, which instantly changed how the devas viewed him.

The cosmic gods of the other pantheons began to panic when the Sun moved. It wasn’t hard for them to guess that Tianming would soon act on the other imperial-class worlds! Yet, there was nothing they could do in their current state. The captives on the Sun couldn’t do anything against the formations that kept them imprisoned.

Amidst all the panic, the Sun reemerged on the other end of the Flameyellow Divine Path in the vicinity of Ninefirm Imperius. The cosmic gods from the Starfall Pantheon watched with utter horror.

Tianming had visited Ninefirm Imperius once and destroyed their ancestral mausoleum and forced Imperator Yan to give the order for their troops to retreat. He even took the Ninefirm imperial son as his captive along with a billion others who were still prevented from returning home. Imperator Yan eventually died at the hands of Zi Zhen too.

”Heavens! The Flameyellow Imperial Star is here! It’s going to swallow up our world!”

”No, this is impossible! How could this happen to the Starfall Pantheon?”

”He wouldn’t dare! This is genocide! I will resist!”

”Are you a fool? How can we even resist? We stand no chance against the Tianming Dynasty.”

”It’s karma! Karma! Hahahaha!”

***

Ninefirm Imperius already fell into chaos before the Flameyellow Imperial Star did anything. Everyone including Imperator Yan’s imperial clan was trapped within it. Only the imperial clan and other powerful clans in the Starfall Pantheon were allowed to reside on Ninefirm Imperius. In other words, these used to be the kinds of people who called the shots in the universe. They were able to destroy many worlds with mere words. Yet, the imperial-class world had become their prison. They could only watch as the Flameyellow Imperial Star approached.

The maniverse-class Sun did look smaller than Ninefirm Imperius, but soon, black and gold solar lances emerged from its surface. The fangs of the fearsome flameyellow divinities of yore were bared against their world. Everyone in Ninefirm Imperius took a deep breath, knowing that a disaster was upon them.