Beastmaster of the Ages

Faced with those doubtful looks, before Lan Feilin could speak, Lan Xingyao snapped, "Sis, it must be Yu Ziqian again, right? How dare that second-rate sect disciple target us? The Azuresoul Palace is over! Yu Ziqian will die without a doubt! He definitely ganged up on you with Li Tianming and the others!"

Lan Feilin, not wanting to be embarrassed, subconsciously nodded. "That's right. They ambushed me from all sides... it's Yu Ziqian's fault."

The others wore expressions of understanding.

"So Yu Ziqian was the one who led the ambush."

"I knew Lan Feilin wasn't weak. It's one thing to lose the treasure of the Whitedragon Palace, but another to be eliminated."

"Lan Sha, ask her about the other three disciples aside from Yu Ziqian. How powerful are they? What's so special about them?"

Too many people were curious about that, especially considering Tianming's score of seven hundred and fifty thousand. Lan Sha ignored them and coldly humphed. He waved for the ones from his sect, including Lan Feilin, to follow. Now that his strongest candidate had been eliminated, there was little point in staying there.

"Uncle, we've been humiliated by a trash sect. Are we just going to let that slide?" Lan Xingyao said with disbelief.

"Do you think that's possible?" Lan Sha rolled his eyes at him.

Lan Xingyao viciously smiled. "I already said those annoying lice don't know what's good for them. Who do they think they are? Do they think they'll get away with it?" He felt much better now that things had turned out as he had expected and he'd managed to vent his frustrations.

But Lan Feilin kept her head low, not saying anything. When they were away from the crowd, she mustered her courage and said, "Uncle, there's something I need to clarify."

"Speak."

"This time around, I was ganged up on by Li Tianming and Feng. Yu Ziqian didn't lift a finger."

The Blueblood Starocean seniors immediately turned back and stared at her, making her feel even worse.

"It can't be...." Lan Xingyao couldn't accept this.

"What do you think about Li Tianming?" Lan Sha expressionlessly asked as he looked at the Skyward Stele.

"What about him?"

"What he's like now and what he could become."

"Right now? He's definitely capable, but not too powerful. He has lots of complicated tricks. In the future, especially after he's obtained so many treasures... I heard the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect has their eyes on him. His future should be decent," she said."Will he be your match a hundred years from now?"

"He'll be roughly on par with me." On that front, Lan Feilin was still rather confident.

Lan Sha quietly pondered after hearing it.

"What are you thinking about, Uncle?"

"The pros and cons of getting rid of them."

"What do you mean?"

"Currently, the position they're in is too eye-catching. It'd be one thing if they were just average. Had that been the case, nobody would be satisfied with him rising to the top with the treasures of Ninedragon Imperial Tomb alone. Even the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect wouldn't be able to completely protect a mere brat with expensive toys. Nothing good will come of attracting too much attention, after all," Lan Sha said.

"I see." Lan Feilin felt much better about it. In fact, she was delighted by the thought. Even the top four sects were each only able to obtain one of the nine treasures, so the Azuresoul Palace had no right to get four of them. If the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect protected them, they would be considered to have gained five treasures. There was no way the other nine first-rate sects would have nothing to say about it. In fact, all of the Myriad Solar Sects would have a problem with it. It would be one thing if the sect took charge of those treasures, but it was another thing entirely for a mere brat below the age of thirty to hold them. Even geniuses would fall against seniors hundreds or thousands of years old.

Even consuming divine pills wasn't something irreversible. A master alchemy guru could just toss someone into a cauldron to refine the remnant effects of the pill that hadn't dissipated yet. Consuming the pills only made it worse. Merely the act of possessing those treasures was grounds enough to be killed. Who wouldn't lust after them? Who wouldn't want to use them to reach greater heights? Those without proper support were sure to be eradicated.

"These treasures were brought out by the Sky Palace. Can we really do something like that?" Lan Feilin nervously asked. She could tell from her uncle's words that there was more than met the eye to the appearance of the tomb. For instance, the Dragonblood Desecration was even related to the celestial orderians, as well as the matter of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect's historical split.

"Of course, we can't do it in the open. However, who's to fault anyone if a brat dies in an alley and loses the treasure? Who'd investigate it? What trail would there be left to find? There are many desperate people who would do anything if the price is high enough. I could easily find five hundred such desperados in the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect alone. Would you believe that?"

Lan Feilin was shocked and could only resign herself by saying, "The world of adults is truly scary."

"Don't be afraid. Children all grow up one day."

"Okay...." She kept her head low for a while, then asked, "Uncle, what if Li Tianming gains the Sky Palace's favor and becomes one of their members?"

"Oh, that?" Lan Sha laughed.

"What's so funny about that?"

"If he does join the Sky Palace, he's no longer considered part of the Myriad Solar Sects. He would've completely surpassed us and have nothing to do with us anymore."

"In other words, nobody would dare to touch him?"

"Not only would no one dare, there'd be no need. If he joins the Sky Palace, the treasures would be considered to have returned to their possession. It'll have nothing to do with us anymore."

"I see. So he'd really be far above in the skies and out of our reach...."

"That's right. The Sky Palace is on a whole other level. Upon joining it, only one person on the entire sun can deal with him."

"Who would that be?"

"The sun emperor."

......

Back at the Whitedragon Palace, after their leader, Lan Feilin, had been eliminated, the remaining Blueblood Starocean disciples raged and clashed with Tianming and Lingfeng. Most of them were ascendants; there were only around a dozen first-level constelliers and two second-level constelliers. Tianming had Lingfeng deal with the stronger ones first while he held the masses back with his beasts.

"Let's end this swiftly!"

During the fight, he noticed that Xiaoxiao and the Archaionfiend didn't fare any worse than him, though it was more due to Xian Xian's injuries, which prevented them from taking advantage of their teamwork. Even so, Xiaoxiao was still much stronger after having obtained the Dragonblood Desecration.

The bow let out a loud twang that sounded like a dragon's roar after being released at full draw. Even with the imperial star formation's protection, the arrows still damaged her targets to some degree. Had they been fighting outside the Voidsky Realm, those struck a few more times would no doubt end up dead.

She fired rapidly and accurately, completely undisturbed by anyone else. She was no doubt a natural-born archer, and a mounted one at that. Any time someone tried to approach, the Archaionfiend would swat them away and immediately eliminate them.

"This is only the starting phase of the Dragonblood Desecration. The stronger Xiaoxiao becomes, the more power it'll be able to unleash. That weapon is completely different from the Grand-Orient Sword, which nobody knows about. Soon, more people will learn about the Dragonblood Desecration, and even the Azuresoul Palace might not be able to stop it from being taken. I guess the Sky Palace is our best bet now...."

Tianming knew it was dangerous to have so many treasures, but that was no excuse to give up or avoid conflict. The Sky Palace had truly gone all out this time around, with any single treasure in the tomb so precious that they were more than capable of driving people mad.