Beastmaster of the Ages

The Shenxiao Sword Art and Invincible Sword Body were honestly the most special arts Tianming had ever cultivated. They were completely different from the Voidgod Sword Intent and Hexapath Samsara Sword.

These two sword arts were special because they were hard.

Fusion sword daos' difficulty lay in fusing. The fusion was hard, and if you failed, you might lose all your progress. The Invincible Sword Body's difficulty was in finding sword-type divine hazards and the unbearable pain of absorbing them. An art combining these two would be pure suffering. You wouldn't just have to suffer pain, but merge the different types of divine hazards as well.

"This really is the greatest of sword arts."

"Was this created by the Ninedragon Emperor?" Tianming asked.

"Naturally. That's what all the records say. He's the only one who knew it ever since ancient times. He didn't even pass it on to the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect.

"I don't think so." Tianming shook his head.

"You mean it wasn't created by him?" Yu Ziqian smiled at Tianming's doubt of the recordings.

"Yes." Tianming nodded.

"How so, brother?" Yu Ziqian patted him on the shoulder.

"He was a pure beastmaster, right, without totems?" Tianming asked.

"Of course!"

"This sword art has a sword formation that's unleashed by totems. It also takes up one third of the content. Fusion, sword body, and a totem sword formation each takes up a third of it. If he self-created it, why would he create a whole section on totems if he didn't have them or understand them?" Tianming had come up with this conclusion after analyzing the scale.

The sword art was meant for totem cultivators. Although beastmasters and ordinary people could use it as well, it would lose a third of its might without a totem in the equation. There was a gap, as totem battle arts could let totems unleash battle arts themselves. The Moonnight Subdued Strike was a totem battle art, but the Hexapath Samsara Sword wasn't. It didn't have anything for totems.

"Are you serious?" Yu Ziqian's eyes widened.

"My understanding is very surface level, so I may be wrong." Though he had said that, Tianming was actually very certain already. It was just that arguing this didn't really accomplish anything.

Why did it matter whose battle art this was? When he paired the totem sword formation with his Myriadsword Providence, the might would exceed the historical records.

Although this battle art is difficult, it's completely worth throwing a huge amount of effort into. Although the Imperial Descent has a much more straightforward sword dao, it isn't as meaningful for me. Tianming set a new goal for himself as he looked at the scale.

"Worth three to four times as much as the Lifesteal Silverdragon?" Tianming sighed inside. "I definitely have to join the Sky Palace. The Azuresoul Palace won't be able to protect me."

The greatest value of battle arts was that they could be passed down. The Ninedragon Emperor didn't even pass down this Ninedragon Tribulation to his children! How would those descendants feel now that it had reappeared in the world?

"The Sky Palace really is playing big. They didn't even touch the treasures inside and just threw them to a few kids to fight for." Tianming understood that he needed to seize first place or he would have nowhere to escape.

Should I bravely advance forward and shine, or hide and slowly improve in safety? Hiding was definitely safer. As long as he could endure, greatness would still be his one day. Unfortunately, some chances would cause a lifetime of regret if they weren't seized. If Tianming had chosen to hide earlier, Lingfeng wouldn't still be alive and Feiling might not have survived even her first Perpetual Nirvana.

He shortly considered it before choosing to shine. The Grand-Orient Sword and nine-colored scale seemed to sense the passion in him and vibrated. A dragon's roar sounded out, which seemed to resonate with Tianming.

"Looks like next on my shopping list is sword-type divine hazards."

……

After that, Tianming also placed some attention on the black war drums.

"Two combined into one and became black?" He would periodically tap the black war drum and wait for its response. Then he would have Meow Meow speed there as fast as possible.

"I wonder how many palaces have appeared, and how many people have gotten treasures." Tianming knew of five so far.

Next to them, Zhan Yingying was furious. Lingfeng had used his Heartpiercer Soulblade to damage her soul. Now she was powerless and barely able to move. As for her lifebound beasts, every time they came out, they were quickly beaten up and went back in injured.

"Make sure she doesn't break her imperial star formation," Tianming said.

"Relax. Me and Little Feng, we've got this," Yu Ziqian said happily. In truth, Yu Ziqian wasn't even doing anything.

"Pray you don't meet my big brother, or you'll end up ten times worse than me!" Zhan Yingying grit her teeth.

"How does her elder brother treat her?" Tianming asked.

"Zhan Yuance? He's famous for being overly protective of her. He's said before that he would kill the family of whoever dared to touch his sister." Yu Ziqian shrugged.

"Good. That means we can trade the Lifesteal Silverdragon back," Tianming said. He knew it was best not to offend this kind of person. However, as fellow competitors, conflict was inevitable.

Tianming was still tapping the war drum. He realized the surrounding passageways had darkened a lot, and the area was dead silent. Even the destroyed dragon golems and sounds of battle were gone.

"Do you know who else has gotten treasures from the palaces?" Tianming asked Zhan Yingying.

"Heh." Zhan Yingying merely sneered.

Tianming gave Lingfeng a look and Lingfeng plunged the Heartpiercer Soulblade into the back of her head. The lady goddess who had been acting tough immediately burst out into tears.

"Talk."

"I know Weisheng Moran got one!" Zhan Yingying sobbed.

"That leaves three palaces, with at least one left." Tianming considered.

"Why at least? Couldn't they all be empty?" Xiaoxiao asked.

"If they were all empty, we should be out of here," Lingfeng replied.

"True."

Meow Meow sped onward, a black streak of lightning.

The next moment, they were engulfed in darkness and couldn't even see their fingers. However, Tianming could still see thanks to his Plundering Eye. The next response from the war drum was right next to Tianming's ears.

They raced out of a passageway and entered a wide space, which Tianming quickly scanned with his Plundering Eye. He found that they were in a palace ten times bigger than Whitedragon Palace. It seemed that this was the core of the tomb.

Meow Meow came to a stop. There was nothing around; however there were words on the ceiling.

"Imperialdragon Palace!" That name meant it belonged to the head of the nine dragons.

The only sound that could be heard was heavy breathing, because a group of people had arrived earlier. They were all seated cross-legged and unmoving. They only finally opened their eyes when Tianming and the others arrived, directing many golden pupils towards them. There were about two hundred of them. They were the wargodeans, including Zhan Yuance!

Zhan Yuance had a black war drum identical to Tianming's in his hands. It was how he was here as well.

"It seems they've been here since long ago. However, they probably haven't gotten anything yet."

And now Zhan Yingying, who was being carried by Tianming, met the gazes of those present. The wargodeans almost directly exploded with fury.

Zhan Yuance had two war drums, one big and one small. He had used the black one to come here. However, he hadn't managed to get anything, so he had given the small one to Zhan Yingying to go in another direction. That was how she had met Tianming. However, it had ended up with Tianming merging two small war drums and getting a black one.

Before Zhan Yuance could explode, Tianming lifted Zhan Yingying and said, "We finally meet again. The Lifesteal Silverdragon for your sister, please."