Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming was completely clueless about Orderia, so he tagged along with Yu Ziqian and his junior, Mo Yuling, to the Voidsky Realm. Mo Yuling seemed quite mad about Yu Ziqian pretending to be a genius. Her attitude toward him was completely cold. Though she was beautiful, her face was filled with resentment; she seemed hard to approach.

Even toward her benefactor, Tianming, she didn't bother to approach him and instead rushed to continue the journey. It was clear from the way she talked that Yu Ziqian had obtained lots of special treatment, as he was considered to be a peak genius in Orderia, yet he was actually a weakling that couldn't even rival his junior, much to Tianming's puzzlement.

"I've heard that there's people who hide their talents to catch people off guard, but to think that there are those who'd pretend to be talented… There's no way nobody has noticed in a place filled with elites like Orderia." As to how powerful Yu Ziqian actually was, that was something Tianming could only find out in actual combat.

Though, it was their private matter at the end of the day and Tianming didn't bother looking too deeply into it. He hadn't met a new person in the past three days, apart from these two, so he was planning to find out more about Orderia and Qingyu from them.

Soon, they reached the bank of a large river. According to Yu Ziqian, the source of the Firelotus River was near the Voidsky Realm. Following the river to its source was a good way to shorten the time required to reach their goal, but there were wildbeasts in the water to fend off along the way. It was said that the wildbeasts that had absorbed nova source were all on the level of divine beasts. There were many that flocked together as a pack, and some that even formed clans.

When they reached the river, Tianming brought Lan Huang out to carry all of them on its back as it swiftly swam along the stream. Having nothing better to do, Tianming, Ying Huo, Meow Meow, and Xian Xian all laid on Lan Huang's back to 'sunbathe'. He also engaged in casual conversation with Yu Ziqian, trying to tease out more information about the world as a whole.

"Boss, your lifebound beasts have more than four thousand stars each! You must be from a top clan or sect to be able to reach heights like these at your age!" Yu Ziqian praised.

"Stop trying to guess my identity," Tianming said.

"Fine!"

"What kind of sect do you think your Azuresoul Palace is?" Tianming asked. He knew that the Violetglory Star, a similar place to Orderia, had many continents and thousands of sects. It shouldn't be too different here.

"Let's see… if I had to say, it would be second-rate. There's at most a dozen sects or so that are more powerful than us," Yu Ziqian said with pride.

Tianming continued to tease out more and more information in a similar fashion. As Yu Ziqian lacked the imagination, he never guessed that Tianming had come from the world below. Not to mention, there were many foreign aliens that would come from the surrounding lunar outposts. Those that didn't have some measure of power wouldn't be able to remain in Orderia for long, and Tianming, with his power, was sure to have a high status.

……

After a day or two of talking to them, Tianming had a rough grasp of Orderia. The celestial orderians were the unquestioned rulers of the star and the most powerful faction of all; at least half of all territories on the sun were in their control. They were basically all totem users with staggering numbers, making up a tenth of Orderia's population.

There were a few thousand branch families like the divine moonrace that made up half of Orderia's population. The celestial orderians had ordered themselves around an ancient and traditional clan structure. Though it seemed more primitive than sects or empires, they were far more combat capable. After all, everyone in the clans had similar bloodlines and were categorized according to bane-ring lineage. The group cohesion among them was terrifying, especially with the legacies they shared.

Unlike empires or sects made of people with no blood relation to one another, they were all considered the same family. Every deed they did for the clan was considered a service unto their family. As a consequence, they were far more motivated to fight for the group. Comparatively, Great Emperor Xuanyuan was able to have his will be inherited by descendants two hundred thousand years into the future.

In contrast, empires and sects included many factions, which meant that compromise was always a necessity. Motivations differed, so it was harder to get people to fight for the same cause or win the support of everyone. Rebellions and revolts weren't uncommon; for instance, the Sterling House of Fang of the Archaion Sect had placed the priorities of their own clan ahead of the sect's. It was one thing to betray an empire or sect, but betraying one's clan meant turning against their family, ancestors and lineage!

Thanks to the stable organizational structure, the celestial orderians were able to rule unchallenged for millions of years. The legacy they had accrued in the meantime would surely be terrifying, to say the least. Coupled with the branch families, their numbers made up more than ninety percent of all totem users in Orderia. It went without saying that their hegemony allowed them to hoard the best resources for their own use.

Even so, in the long history of Orderia, the celestial orderians hadn't always been the undisputed rulers. There were empires and sects that dominated everything on the sun in aeons long past, and their descendants lived on in the present day. That was why there were beastmasters, normal humans, and even some specters, instead of solely totem users. There were even some cultivators with unique methods as well, adding to the rich diversity.

All the sects and clans also had millions of years of history to boast of. The non-celestial orderians formed more than six thousand sects and three thousand peak clans, as well as thousands of other empires. These factions all revolved around the celestial orderians, striking a fine balance of power. Collectively, the factions and empires were known as the Myriad Solar Sects.

In short, the sun was split into two sides, one that incorporated the celestial orderians and their thousands of branch families, and the other that was occupied by the Myriad Solar Sects. Naturally, the Myriad Solar Sects weren't a monolith. Some of them were openly loyal servants of the celestial orderians. No doubt, there were many others that pledged secret allegiance to them as well. However, many would band together as a matter of necessity to avoid being overwhelmed by the celestial orderians. Though, among themselves, they also fought for resources, territories, and treasures. Every year, new grudges, political marriages, alliances, extinctions, and annexations of territory occurred.