Beastmaster of the Ages

Translator: BOTA Fireteam

The dimensional rope was a material that Tianming couldn't see through, which could have originated from the xenomemory space. He tied the rope well and held the blood of Lingfeng tight. Turning back, he saw that Feiling had tied the rope around her waist with a fast knot, too.

She tried her best to relax and smiled. "Big Brother, we're joined at the hip for real this time."

"The prospect of staying like this forever is starting to sound tempting," Tianming said as he approached the entrance.

"Well, that's assuming I don't vanish all of a sudden," she said. "Now give me a drop of blood."

Tianming went back to her and bit his tongue before kissing her and pushing it into her mouth. There was a hint of iron and sweetness blended together.

"Hide it well and don't swallow it," he said. That was insurance, just in case he didn't make it back himself. This was the first time he had tried such a daring move on her, which caused her heart to beat rapidly and decreased the tension in the air. She held the drop of blood on her tongue, making sure that she didn't accidentally swallow it.

"Of course I won't. It's so sweet I want to keep tasting it," she said.

"Good. Don't swallow the blood. I'll have something else for you to swallow next time," Tianming said with a naughty smile before giving her one last look and jumping into the xenomemory space. The vortex completely swallowed him up and the rope around Feiling's waist began to tighten, and even pull her in. She had to expend quite a lot of effort to stabilize herself.

"Swallow something else? I wonder what it could be?" she said aloofly. Though she wasn't aware of what he was talking about, she knew it couldn't be anything good with that goofy smile on his face. She tightly pulled on the rope.

This was a dangerous operation, and there was a good chance he would be gone for good. Nobody could say for sure whether he would make it back alive, so the rope was all she had to retrieve the only thing that mattered in her life. As she intently looked at the rope, his lifebound beasts were chatting beside her.

"What else can you swallow?" Xian Xian asked.

"What does it have to do with you?" Ying Huo said after clearing its throat.

"Does it taste good? Xian Xian wants to try it too!"

"Is eating all you know how to do? You're going to grow fat, oh sister mine!" Ying Huo gave Xian Xian's head a wing slap.

"Come to think of it, what is it? I want some too! Chicken Bro, do you have any? Sharing is caring!" Meow Meow said curiously.

"Oh, something delicious? I want a bite too," Lan Huang said. One bite for it would be ten thousand for Meow Meow.

"Leave me alone, you naive fools!" Ying Huo snapped.

……

Tianming had told Feiling beforehand that if he pulled on the rope ten times in a rhythmic fashion, she should pull him out with all the strength she had. If the tugs from the rope didn't follow a specific rhythm, it shouldn't be counted.

The rope connected the two of them, one in the normal universe and the other in a completely foreign universe. Going into the xenomemory space was usually the same as being given a death sentence. Countless criminals on the moon had been exiled into it, and none had returned alive to date. Most people couldn't even be sure that the dimensional rope would actually work.

All four lifebound beasts surrounded the rope and patiently waited with Feiling. Each anxious moment seemed to last forever. Feiling felt a little warm from the intense focus and her eyes faded into blankness from time to time.

You must come back, she incessantly chanted in her mind. That was the only thing that anchored her to the mortal world. Time passed as the four of them continued observing the vortex.

All of a sudden, a sound came ringing from above and all of them looked up. A woman dressed in blue came coldly descending toward them. It was none other than Sovereign Xi! Feiling furrowed her brow. Though the sovereign had been badly injured, she seemed to have used some sort of divine healing pill and looked much better than before. There was a hint of scheming in her eyes, and the glee of someone who had gotten her way. She glared at Feiling and laughed when she saw the dimensional rope in her hand. Then she raised both of her hands—they looked intact and unharmed.

"What about your hand?" Feiling said, feeling her scalp tingle. Hadn't Tianming cut it off already? It had been less than an hour since they had left the continent, so how could it recover so quickly?

"That wasn't Our hand. It was Lianlian's," the sovereign said as she approached. In other words, she had intentionally given the dimensional rope to Tianming.

"So you were waiting for him to go inside! You guessed that I would be here to pull him out, so you were waiting to take control of me and force him to help you with your breakthrough." Everything clicked in Feiling's mind. She was all too impressed that the sovereign could come up with this kind of plan while running for her life. Not to mention, she had guessed that Ye Lingfeng would be in urgent need of a rescue, so Tianming would soon come to save him. With Feiling anchoring the rope outside, and the sovereign somewhat recovered, she could turn things around in her favor.

"You're rather smart, girl. No wonder he likes you." Nothing could disguise the cruel look in her eyes.

"Your subjects are being slaughtered in the city, yet you ignored them and came here?" Feiling shook her head in disappointment.

"All people die. If We succeed, the divine moonrace as a whole will gain even more glory. Their descendants will thank Us for it. We'll be able to get rid of the killer for good, so their sacrifice won't be in vain."

"You're only using sophistry to justify your selfish actions. You don't care about anyone but yourself. You've never cared about whether the divine moonrace survives!"

"So what? We don't love them, so why would We give up on Our own self-interest for their sake? We aren't aspiring to be a great person," Sovereign Xi said emotionlessly.