Beastmaster of the Ages

Within the Imperialdragon Palace, there was a corner where people didn't dare approach. There was a youth wearing a loose, grey robe standing there. He looked rather thin and his skin appeared a little shriveled. From a distance, he looked like an old man. He had few hairs on his body—especially his head, which only had a few strands of white hair, exposing much of his scalp. The white of his hair had a completely different sheen than Tianming's; it was the pale white that came with age. However, his eyes were as large as open mouths. They took up a third of his face, squeezing into the space of his mouth and nose. They were pale white without any irises, giving him a really odd look.

Without looking too closely, nobody would be able to spot him. Within his loose sleeves were terrifying, bony palms that didn't have a single strand of flesh on them. There was only some torn skin that barely connected the bones together. He looked ugly in an inhuman manner. With his pale eyes, he coldly looked at a black-haired, red-eyed youth within the Divine Worldeater Cauldron. There were around five thousand stars within his pale eyes, marking him as a specter.

"Kong!" a number of disciples called out to him. "Why aren't you inside yet?" The disciples surrounded him.

"I... missed it because of that..." Kong said with a hoarse voice.

"Because of what?"

"That." Kong pointed at his loose robes. All of a sudden, something bulged from within the robe and seemed to squirm around his body.

"Is this... the spoils from the Fienddragon Palace?"

"Yes...." Kong closed his eyes, his outstretched, bony hand twitching.

......

The storms raged on as Zhan Yuance smashed into the ground, his blood boiling. He touched his blood-covered head. That wound had resulted from Tianming's last strike, which had shattered his imperial star formation. The blood flowed over his entire face.

"Huff... huff...." His mind was a mess and there was nothing but blood in his vision. Trying to touch his most prized ears, he felt a pang in his chest. It wasn't a physical pain, but one from the humiliation he suffered. The thought of how he had lost as the other disciples watched on caused his rage to surge and made him vomit even more blood.

"I was defeated in public by a second-rate sect's disciple...." The confidence he'd obtained from the yinyang skyscorch pill had brought him to cloud nine, only for him to be eliminated by a supposed nobody in the Divine Worldeater Cauldron. He was at rock bottom and had never felt worse or angrier. His wrath was turning him into a beast.

"Fifth needs help!" One of the goldmane skyapes within his lifebound space was struggling. Zhan Yuance only just realized the pressing situation.

"Yuance!" someone called out.

Zhan Yuance looked up and saw a group of golden people heading his way, standing side by side like a wall—they were the senior wargodeans. The leader was an old man who was only around 1.8 meters tall, having a figure on par with normal humans. However, his eight ears marked him as a fellow wargodean. He looked like a sage compared to the other burly warriors.

"Tumulus Pill God...." Zhan Yuance looked down in shame.

"I heard you fought against the four disciples of Azuresoul Palace. Don't tell me they defeated you..." the Tumulus Pill God said with an old voice.

"Tumulus Pill God, I failed! I've disappointed everyone's hopes!" Zhan Yuance knelt on the ground.

"Did they use Yingying to threaten you?" the Tumulus Pill God asked.

"No. Their methods were... complex... and they had me surrounded. Tumulus Pill God, Fifth is heavily injured. Please save it."

"Have it come out." The seniors quickly started treating the goldmane skyape.

"Your ears—"

"That's right!" Zhan Yuance's humiliation surged to a new height.

"Tell me the details."

Zhan Yuance told them everything he knew.

"They had the Lifesteal Silverdragon, Dragonblood Desecration, and a powerful soul adept.... Do they all fight on the level of fourth-level constelliers? Looks like they've been hiding their strength from the very beginning. Your loss wasn't entirely your fault."

"It's my incompetence that caused me to miss out on those opportunities."

"Yuance, tell me. Do you want revenge? Do you want us seniors to stand up for you?"

By then, Zhan Yingying had come out and brought him Tianming's message.

"I will avenge myself!" Zhan Yuance growled.

"Good. You have spunk. However... Li Tianming's group has too many treasures, so it isn't something you can decide alone. This is a complex and developing situation. Let's see who he ends up with, whether it's the Sky Palace, Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, or the Azuresoul Palace."

"What's the difference?"

"If he joins the Sky Palace, all is well. If it's the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, there'll be a lot of bloodshed from the hidden repercussions. It'll be absolute chaos if he stays with the Azuresoul Palace."

"I see...." Zhan Yuance understood that the Azuresoul Palace couldn't possibly keep all those treasures. Not even the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect might be able to.

"Let's see who the Divine Worldeater Cauldron ends up with. If it's the Dreamless Celestial Nation, things would at least be somewhat peaceful. If the disciples of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect or Azuresoul Palace get it... there'll be a great show to look forward to."

"Tumulus Pill God, why's the Sky Palace raising the stakes so high? Surely they'll reclaim all those treasures, right?"

"Who knows?" the Tumulus Pill God said, smiling the entire time.

......

Meanwhile in Imperialdragon Palace on a separate battlefield....

"That's the Ninedragon Imperius!"

"What? That's the grade-eight divine artifact that belonged to the Ninedragon Emperor!"

"Heavens! I heard that Long Longlong got something from the Saintdragon Palace. Who knew it was that very sword?"

"Even the Lifesteal Silverdragon and Dragonblood Desecration can't compare to it..."

"In terms of combat power alone, the Divine Worldeater Cauldron can't measure up to it either!"

"There's four from the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, Long Longlong among them, against Weisheng Moran alone. How could she possibly win?"

"She's surrounded...."

This had all happened while Tianming was engaged in a fierce battle. As Weisheng Moran and Long Longlong didn't have any grudges, the fight proceeded at a relatively casual pace.

"Long Longlong's a quint-beastmaster. He has five dragon lifebound beasts. Comparatively, Weisheng Moran only has one dreamless whale. Unique as it is, she's far too underpowered."

"That's right. One person and a whale can't possibly fight four people with seventeen dragons! It'll be a massacre."

If Weisheng Moran was fighting Long Longlong alone, they might think she would stand a chance. However, they didn't think she could survive a group onslaught. At that moment, half of the cauldron seemed to light up with a dreamy glow that inundated the entire Imperialdragon Palace.

"Seven thousand stars and more!"

"There's at least seven thousand and nine hundred!"

"That beast has even more stars than our sect master's! Isn't that the dreamless whale?"

A huge commotion began spreading in the palace. By then, Tianming's fight had ended, only for the appearance of the grand whale with so many stars to shock people once more.

"Before Weisheng Moran came into the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, her whale only had around five thousand stars. That must mean she got a seven-star universal manna in one of the palaces and her lifebound beast evolved!"

"I heard she was a fifth-level constellier as well. Maybe she's at the sixth level now...."

"Zhan Yuance was taking up the entire limelight just now. Could she be the new strongest disciple among them?"

"It's hard to say. We have to see whether she'll get eliminated like Zhan Yuance was."

"Let's hope not... I hate seeing people being ganged up on like this. Let's hope Long Longlong is gentlemanly enough. He already has the best treasure anyway."

The fight started soon enough, and it was a group fight.

"Why do I get the feeling that Long Longlong is also a fifth-level constellier?"

"He's only in his twenties, but he's on par with Zhan Yuance! I recall he was still at the fourth level three months ago. There's a chance the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect got him a grade-seven divine pill beforehand to let him break through to the fifth level. He should be stronger than Zhan Yuance with that sword of his!"

"Looks like the fight here is getting more intense than on Li Tianming's side!"

The surprised disciples laid on the praise nonstop.

"Four disciples and seventeen dragons.... It's basically a ten-to-one ratio, but even so, Long Longlong looks to be at a disadvantage..."

"How could a disciple like Weisheng Moran, who isn't even thirty, be so powerful? I wonder if the celestial orderians have any young talent up to this caliber?"

"There's no doubt that she's the best beastmaster of this age!"

The epic fight in the Imperialdragon Palace caused the onlookers to regard these peak geniuses with awe.

Tianming heard the commotion from behind the black screen as he waited for their fight to conclude. The whale's song was deep and resounding, brushing past his face like a strong gust.

"How powerful...." He could feel her power. It wasn't just the astralforce, but the impact it had on his mind. The special power made him feel like he was dreaming. Perhaps this was the power that caused the seventeen dragons to falter. Then the little fish in his eye started swimming again.