Beastmaster of the Ages

Half of the skyward eyes were broadcasting their feed outside.

"Exciting."

Tianming looked back and saw that the colorful arena formation was entirely sealed off. Only he and Long Longlong would be able to enter. It was so huge that he couldn't see the other end and the whole place was far too quiet; the slightest sound either of them made would immediately alert the other of their position. It wouldn't be long before they clashed.

Since the battle had started, Tianming didn't want to waste any time. "Let's go!"

He didn't have much of a grudge with Long Longlong, so they probably wouldn't be fighting with the intent to obliterate each other. He swiftly headed toward the center of the arena. All the while, Meow Meow was still catching up on one last bit of sleep within the lifebound space to charge up. And thanks to the stockpile of wildbeasts, he wouldn't have to worry that Xian Xian wouldn't have enough to eat, either. He was now in peak combat condition!

He stood atop one of the peaks in the middle of the arena and looked at the hundred skyward eyes. Billions of people were looking at him through them, yet his gaze didn't waver one bit. After having been through so much, his will had become strong. Before, none of the skyward eyes had really paid attention to him, but now he had basically all the attention.

Just as he found his footing, he heard the roars of dragons from afar. They sounded like songs of sacred beasts. Tianming looked east and saw five gigantic beasts circling about in the clouds before rapidly flying toward him. Their scales shone like colorful glitter, and they were so huge that he could barely see their whole form within his line of sight.

Zhan Yuance had five goldmane skyapes, and Long Longlong had five dragons of his own to match. They were the only two beastmasters with five beasts in the top ten, giving them a huge edge in fights with other beastmasters. Yet Long Longlong's lifebound beasts were really different from Zhan Yuance's goldmane skyapes: they were of different elemental types. Tianming could see the five dragons and had discerned some of their differences.

"They seem to resemble the lifebound beasts of Great Emperor Xuanyuan. Their elements are gold, wood, water, fire and earth... the five phases...." The ancient emperor of old's highest level of cultivation was probably not far off from where Tianming was now. His lifebound beasts had probably also had star counts around a thousand or so. Not even a legendary emperor could compare to this core disciple of Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, despite both being beastmasters with a dragon for each of the five phases.

The five dragons displayed their proud bloodline legacy. Each of them had more than five thousand stars, proof that they had relied on five-star universal manna to evolve into five-star divine beasts. Among Tianming's beasts, Ying Huo had the most stars at around four thousand eight hundred, marking it as a four-star divine beast. That difference was huge and analogous to the difference between grade-four and grade-five divine artifacts. This was only exacerbated further by how all of Long Longlong's beasts were five-star divine beasts, and he had one beast more than Tianming.

......

The dragons came bearing down on Tianming, finally revealing their full appearance to him as they descended from the skies. Their domineering auras sent a wave of shock across the audience—it was the perfect entrance. The five beasts that represented the five phases were said to be the perfect combination. Each of the five phases built up the next, perfected by the powers of the dragons' bloodline. They made their beastmaster a master of the five elements, rounding out any weakness he might have. There was a good reason Long Longlong had been recognized as the most talented of this generation.

Thanks to their unique elemental affinity, the five dragons were considered superior to Zhan Yuance's five skyapes. Great Emperor Xuanyuan had had a similar setup of lifebound beasts, but his were merely infants compared to Long Longlong's, who was strengthened even further by his Saintdragon Talent. He was the quintessential dragon beastmaster, and the mere appearance of his dragons had expanded the horizons of the audience.

"This is true talent! The best on the entire sun!" Their eyes were drawn to the five dragons. The first shone gold from its scales, horns, claws, talons, and even eyes. It was the most eye-catching of them all. In fact, it glowed so brightly that many struggled to look straight at it. It was a traditional five-clawed dragon like those used by imperial dynasties to symbolize their authority. Similarly, its roar was the most commanding of them all and its entire body was as tough as divine artifacts, making it not the least bit inferior to goldmane skyapes in close combat. The dazzling light from its body made it hard for enemies to even look at it in the first place. It was a platinaurum venus dragon.

The second dragon was entirely green and covered in vines. Its scales were shaped like leaves and it had two heads, one of which was as brown as a tree trunk and just as wide, too. The other was leaf-green and filled with lively vigor. Its entire body was covered with long dragon whiskers that somehow resembled Xian Xian's roots. It looked like a fusion of animal and plant. While it wasn't as fierce as the platinaurum venus dragon, it seemed like it would possess field control abilities rivaling Xian Xian's. It was an antivoid jupiter dragon.

The third dragon was as blue as the ocean and had a wide body. Its claws were webbed and its tail resembled a boat's rudder. It had the largest head of them all, which looked like that of a qilin. Its deep, azure eyes were really round. A mist surrounded its body that seemed like it would allow it to swiftly roam amidst the clouds and water. When it roared, it sounded like a whale's song. It was an abyssal mercury dragon.

The fourth dragon was completely covered in flames and wasn't that large, which made it more agile than the rest. Its eyes looked like burning, purgatorial flames, and its scales looked like little cauldrons that were linked together like chain mail. It possessed the shortest temper of the bunch, having roared nonstop since the moment it had appeared. It was a surging mars dragon.

The last beast had long landed on the ground. It had a stout figure, like that of a mountain, and was colored a yellowish brown. Its upper body resembled Lan Huang's, with saw-tooth-like mountains across its back. It had a hammer-like tail and a sharp, horned head. All in all, they allowed it to pin any foe to the ground before utterly brutalizing them. It was a grandiose saturn dragon.

All five sacred dragons had assembled, their elemental powers wreaking havoc and giving Tianming a lot of pressure. They looked at Tianming like he was their prey.

"Not bad... not bad at all...." Long Longlong was the first beastmaster that Tianming had met that was able to match him in terms of elemental combinations.