Beastmaster of the Ages

Fengyue Mansion, as its name suggested, was the residence of Prince Fengyue. As the younger brother of the sovereign, he had quite a high status in the Divine Moon Realm, about the same level as the imperial guide.

During the evening, the afterglow of Orderia's light illuminated the mansion before it turned dark altogether. The mansion no longer looked as merry as it had during the day and fell quiet. In fact, it wasn't just the mansion. The entire city looked like a ghost town. Many who wanted to leave their households would have to go through a few layers of formations. The quiet of the city was a sure sign of the divine moonrace's fear of the killer.

"Ever since the killer came in, eight hours have passed."

"Eighty-one people have fallen victim to him."

"There might be more we just haven't discovered yet."

"For now, nobody dares to move about in the city, so the casualty count should lower."

"Her Majesty mobilized the elites of all the clans to sweep the city. Once the killer is discovered, he'll be hunted down."

"Don't worry! The Brightmoon Divine Formation is sealed tight. The killer has only walked into a trap!"

Many of the divine moonrace placed their hopes and trust in Sovereign Xi.

"Once the killer is captured, he must be executed immediately!"

Prince Fengyue's gaze was cold. He hated the killer, and he hated Tianming, who had let him in.

"Is everyone here?" he asked, coming out of the hall. In front of him were a hundred children of the divine moonrace, all below the age of ten. However, they were passionate, spirited, and behaved completely unlike their age. They seemed to know much more than the average adult. Despite their age, they had been cultivating since they were two or three years old, even longer than Tianming had spent recultivating, in fact. Some had even killed before.

"Yes!" the children answered.

"Do you know why you were summoned?"

"For a mission!"

"Good. I'll bring you all on the mission with me and brief you on the details along the way."

"Understood!"

The mission Sovereign Xi had given him was an urgent one. He had chosen the royal children based on their amazing talent and varied methods. They were sure to supersede those of the same level as them.

"The chaos skyjail is bound by the Canal of the Dead. The most powerful among the children is a first-level empyrean saint, and given their talent, they should be unmatched within." Not to mention, royals like them were loyal and obedient. There was no risk of any unnecessary mess.

"Let's go!" He departed with the children without fear at all. After all, the killer wouldn't want to show up and attack them, only to expose his presence. He would be able to kill more from the shadows, after all.

That aside, these children were elites among elites and they couldn't afford to be hidden away forever, either. It went without saying that the lockdown didn't apply to them by order of the sovereign. Prince Fengyue would be using his powers to help them escape the moon's gravity and descend to the chaos skyjail. Along the way, he briefed them about the details.

"Do you remember it all?"

"We do! Find those three's family and friends and capture them!"

"Do it in the shadows and catch them off guard!"

Prince Fengyue added, "Make sure to do it as fast as you can."

"Yes!"

They were all excited for their very first mission. Soon, Prince Fengyue could see the Welkin plane, and descended upon a dome.

"Enter quickly. Come out the moment you have something and use a transmission stone to contact me."

"Understood!"

"Lord Prince, it won't be dangerous inside, will it?" some children asked before entering.

"Don't worry, this is the world below. The natives there are only around your level, and all of them have much worse talent. Even if they're at the same level, any one of you is likely to be able to take on ten of them," he encouraged.

"Alright! Then it'll be training for us! We'll kill them all!"

"Don't kill the key figures or it won't just end with punishment, understood?" the prince emphasized.

"Yes!"

"Now go in!"

The hundred children went through the barrier called the Canal of the Dead, leaving him alone outside.

"Li Tianming, you committed a grave sin! Your death won't be the end of it. All you had to do was die for my sister, yet you dared to resist... Hehe...."

He shut his eyes and waited, not bothering to look at the continent at all. He had been there before, and this world without any fundamental cosmic force was pointless. Even the air smelled bad to him.

"Smells like the piss and shit of lowly mortals."

Prince Fengyue was a big fan of elegance and refinement. He was a master of musical instruments and of the art of poetry. He loved to collect artifacts and sample different varieties of moon tea, and was well known as a virtuoso of many artistic and cultural talents in the Divine Moon Realm.

......

As Tianming traveled through the Dipole Sky of the lower level of the astralscape past the countless stars, he felt the unboundedness of the world. It was like he was a mere grain of sand in the wide ocean. That was all a single human amounted to, in the macrocosm of the universe. Even the moon looked like an insignificant little dot. By then, he was further from the moon than it was to the continent.

Looking 'down', he saw the large Welkin plane where the 'world below' was. From his viewpoint, the Flameyellow Continent looked like a small place amidst the wider cosmos. There were far too many worlds like this in the astralscape; however, Tianming still couldn't see any other worlds like it and the Divine Moon Realm. In other words, the divine moonrace was just manning a lonely outpost in the galaxy's rural backwater.

There were probably other worlds with stellunar sources spread across the lower levels of the astralscape from the Brightmoon Sky to the Lifecycle Sky. In fact, it was likely the case that worlds with stellunar sources numbered far more than worlds with nova sources. Even then, the only one near the Flameyellow Continent was the Divine Moon Realm, and that was still better than nothing. Some mortal worlds probably only had the light of the sun, and didn't have moons at all.

"Boss, are we still being pursued?" Meow Meow asked.

"Of course. Don't even doubt it." Even though he couldn't see anyone yet, there was no way Sovereign Xi would just let him roam freely about.

"Then I'll continue circling around."

"Try to do it as randomly as possible." Tianming continued to look at the stars. "Now that I've completely turned against her, there's no way I'll get her cooperation to save Feng. I still need more time. I hope he can last longer. He must."

He took out Prime Tower and expanded it, setting it firmly on Meow Meow's head. "I'm going to enter it for a while and head to the wondersky realm to see if I can find Feng. Just keep randomly changing directions for as long as you can."

"No! I need my sleep!"

"If you want this sleep to be your last, be my guest. If they catch up to us, I'll sell you off."

"You heartless slave driver. I want a refund. I want a new beastmaster!"

"Haha, who asked you to be the fastest? Us slow ones can go have fun in the wondersky realm with Tianming," Ying Huo said.

"Listen to yourself, crotch tattoo!"