Beastmaster of the Ages

Compared to the youthful and varied clothing of the Azuresoul Palace disciples, the ten thousand disciples that had just arrived all wore the same uniform made of fine divine artifact fibers. Standing together, they looked strictly disciplined and didn't seem to be in a playful mood, a sign of a culture that completely differed from that of the Azuresoul Palace.

Perhaps due to their behavior and the type of cultivation they practiced, they had an aura of immortals from the clouds and looked to be of a higher class. However, the stuck-up gazes they shot at the Azuresoul Palace disciples belied the youth that lay beneath the superficial discipline they had and the clothing they wore. Some of them were stifling their laughter at the sight of Yu Ziqian.

"Supracloud Sanctuary..." Yu Ziqian spat with dissatisfaction. This was their biggest rival on the Azurecloud Continent. Both sects had part of the continent's name in their own name. Their factions had been competing for millennia, killing each other over territory and resources and gathering enmity through the generations. Both of them were obstacles in each other's ambitions to dominate the continent. The hundreds of other smaller factions on the continent were nothing in comparison to these two behemoths.

The continent wasn't small by any means, being at least more than twenty times the size of the Flameyellow Continent. Every inch of territory that was nourished by the nova source held naturally occurring cultivation resources. If either faction could dominate the entire continent, they would be able to become a first-rate sect among the Myriad Solar Sects. Countless disciples from both sects had killed one another over millions of years, nurturing both sides to always be competing against each other. Yu Ziqian's standout presence also made things more tense, considering his potential to raise his sect in the ranking, which would in turn tip the balance of power.

More importantly, the reason Tianming was so concerned about the Azuresoul Palace's status quo was that the Sky Palace wasn't somewhere he could just casually join. Only one person could take the top spot in the imperial star ranking every decade, and even then, it only came with the right to be tested by the Sky Palace. Nine out of ten people who tried weren't accepted, and it took an average of around a century for a new Sky Palace member to be born.

Tianming wasn't that proud. While he did aim to join the Sky Palace, he also wanted to keep a backup plan for himself. Now that he had made a friend like Yu Ziqian and was also a disciple of Azuresoul Palace, this sect was a place he could dig his roots into. In fact, he might have more freedom to act in a second-rate sect than a top tier one. If he could also rank among the top ten in the imperial star ranking, he could count on the Azuresoul Palace for his future growth. By then, his position would even be secure from some seniors.

As such, he already felt like one of the Azuresoul Palace disciples, given how readily they accepted him. He now saw the Supracloud Sanctuary as his enemy, just like they did. Looking at the ten thousand disciples, his eyes finally stopped at the one that led them. He stood atop a cloud before all ten thousand of them with his hands folded behind him. Despite having long black hair and a pair of white eyebrows about fifty centimeters long, he still looked rather young. Even so, he was definitely not among the youthful. The most eye-catching part of his looks were his irises, or rather, lack thereof. Both of his eyes looked like cloudy seas, adding to the air of mystery around him.

"This is the sect master of the Supracloud Sanctuary, Yun Tianque. He's among the top figures of the Azurecloud Continent," Yu Ziqian said in a soft voice.

"I have a question..." Tianming said.

"What is it?"

"Is that thing underneath him his lifebound beast?" He was referring to the cloud that was ten thousand meters wide and some fifty meters thick. It looked like a floating platform made of cloudstuff. Though Tianming hadn't noticed it at first, he detected a pulse coming from the cloud. It even looked like it was breathing.

"That's right! His lifebound beast is a nimbus emperor. It ranks among the top among lifebound beasts on the continent. The sect is built upon its body and it floats above the clouds, hence their name."

"I see. What kind of lifebound beast is it?"

"It's rather unique. It's a cloud-like lifeform that's basically never been seen anywhere else."

"Truly wondrous."

That moment, Yun Tianque turned and looked at Jiang Qingliu, who said, "So, the sect master himself is escorting his disciples over, eh? They look rather fresh. No wonder you couldn't trust them to make this little trip." Hidden in his words was mockery for them sending people out to kill Yu Ziqian; it was a laughably cowardly matter. Had Yu Ziqian not swiftly run away, he would have been killed. He didn't even get to see who the assailant was, but knew that he was a tenth-level ascendant.

"These children of the clouds are indeed a little young. They can't compete with Brother Jiang's disciple, who's soon to join the Sky Palace. come to think of it, I look forward to seeing his fine performance in the Voidsky Realm." His expression was calm, though his words had a subtext if one read between the lines. The assailant, Chen Qian, stood not far from him and smiled at Yu Ziqian. He recalled how the brat had grovelled before him. In fact, the entire Supracloud Sanctuary knew, but they wouldn't expose it just yet. They planned to do so in full view of the audience.

"Goodbye and good luck." Yun Tianque merely stopped in front of them, but didn't apply any pressure, only giving Yu Ziqian one last look before turning to leave. Some of their disciples were stifling their laughter. However, the disciples of the Azuresoul Palace didn't know why.

"Once the chief disciple gets into the top ten of the imperial star ranking, they'll break out in tears."

"Yeah!"

After they left, more and more others gathered near the pillar until there was scarcely any space left.

"There's far too many elites, geniuses, and lifebound beasts...." Tianming couldn't see the end of them. The beasts only returned to the lifebound spaces when they got closer to the opening of the Voidsky Realm. That way, they'd be able to keep themselves hidden within. Even so, that still didn't free up that much space in Tianming's vision. By now, there were about a billion people around him. He even saw a thousand people that the Azuresoul Palace had intelligence about, all of whom were stronger than Bai Junce. Among them, eight hundred were from the top ten sects!

......

Eight days soon passed. Everyone stayed in their own areas without intermingling too much as they anxiously waited for the event to start. Then the Voidsky Flame Pillar opened up—the way to the Voidsky Realm was finally open.