Beastmaster of the Ages

The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect was gathered outside the Voidsky Flame Pillar. Amidst the flames, a girl dressed in black appeared. Before she could touch the ground, a white figure wrapped her arms around her waist and landed steadily.

Xiaoxiao was taken aback. When she looked up, she realized that the person holding her was a dignified and gentle woman. She looked very young, with skin as soft as snow and a sweet-tempered smile.

"Big Sister, you...."

Her choice of words sent Long Wanying flying over the moon. The elder placed Xiaoxiao on the ground.

Upon noticing Jiang Qingliu, Xiaoxiao was relieved. She was safe for the time being. "I'm sorry, Master. I failed to keep the Dragonblood Desecration in the end." Xiaoxiao knew exactly what to say in front of Jiang Qingliu.

"Your opponent was too strong, and you're too much of a fighter. If you'd learned from others and shirked like a little wimp, you wouldn't have lost your treasure." Long Wanying gently patted her shoulder and smiled.

Many Xuanyuan Dragon Sect experts quickly closed their eyes and pretended not to hear anything. Not far away, Long Xiqian was taking care of Long Longlong, who had been defeated. Covered in blood, the huge surging mars dragon lay on the ground applying medicine to its wounds.

"Master, who's this senior?" Xiaoxiao asked in a low voice.

"The Whitedragon Empress of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. She plans to take you in. Are you willing?" Jiang Qingliu asked.

"The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect?" Xiaoxiao stared at Long Longlong in the distance. The young man was a sorry sight. There was a chill in his eyes when their gazes met.

"I'll give you the best future." Long Wanying patted her chest. "You can be assured of my character. I'm sincere and fair to all."

Xiaoxiao thought the woman seemed interesting and amiable. However, she still said, "I must follow the three of them. I'll go wherever they go."

"Alright." Long Wanying said no more, squeezing Xiaoxiao's bloody palm. Her broken bones would take some time to recover. She pulled out some medicine and applied them to the wound. Meanwhile, the Archaionfiend was being similarly treated by a lifebound beast healer.

"What did you just say?" asked Long Xiqian, her expression ugly as she glared at Long Wanying and Xiaoxiao.

"I said this child is very brave," Long Wanying replied.

"Isn't she an idiot? Why lose the Dragonblood Desecration for nothing? The only thing of value she possessed is gone. Long Wanying, are you planning on raising a useless idler?" She was happy that Xiaoxiao had lost the Dragonblood Desecration. Anyway, they were only willing to take risks for the Divine Worldeater Cauldron.

Paying no attention to her, Long Wanying focused on healing Xiaoxiao.

"Maybe this is just the beginning. After two more battles, you might find that the three disciples you want have nothing left. Wouldn't that be funny? You just won't admit that you're being short-sighted. Besides, the Dragonblood Desecration will destroy the delicate balance between us and the other bloodline that we've maintained for so long. Losing it won't be so bad after all." With that, Long Xiqian sauntered off, looking as if she had gained the upper hand.

The value of Tianming, Lingfeng, and Xiaoxiao was constantly compared to the risks of the Divine Worldeater Cauldron. In fact, the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect was still weighing the pros and cons.

At that moment, something interesting happened. Through the skyward eye, the audience watched Yu Ziqian step into the battlefield formation. However, Zhan Yuance didn't appear. The Empyrean Sword Sect had picked up Chu Jingchuan as well. Both of Yu Ziqian's potential opponents had been eliminated.

As a result, Yu Ziqian's name soon returned to the third place on the imperial star ranking, and Zhan Yuance back to the sixth. Yu Ziqian was sent out of the battlefield and returned to Tianming's side. That meant he had won without a fight.

The audience was speechless. The rules of the competition were too rigid. Once set, there was no changing them.

For forty-nine days, no one had managed to squeeze Zhan Yuance out of the top eight, turning him into a walking lucky gift bag. And Yu Ziqian had won the prize. He didn't have to do anything for Zhan Yuance to be bumped from fourth place to sixth.

Outside the Voidsky Flame Pillar, Zhan Yuance was still eager to try, thinking he could return. Unfortunately, he had only been greeted by a bucket of cold water. He was depressed because of his bad luck.

"That means only one of the top four places is left. It'll be decided between Kong and Feng. There will be at least one Azuresoul Palace disciple in every battle. They already have two disciples in the top four. If Feng wins, there'll be three of them, and the Azuresoul Palace will be guaranteed a place for the Sky Palace candidacy. That means more than just the Azuresoul Palace's position on the myriad sect ranking."

The Azuresoul Palace currently occupied the first, third, and seventh place on the imperial star ranking. Lingfeng would either place fourth or fifth. According to the rules, the Azuresoul Palace would go up at least five places on the myriad sect ranking with four disciples in the top ten of the imperial star ranking.

The most important cultivation resource determined by the myriad sect ranking were nova sources. The Sky Palace was in control of the nova sources for every sect. Because nova sources involved generations to come, their flow must be controlled. Therefore, the higher the sect's ranking, the more superior the nova source and the more prosperous the sect. From this alone, it was clear the myriad sect ranking wasn't meaningless. Each place on the ranking represented real resources.

"There is no suspense about the Azuresoul Palace's promotion. However, Kong, the disciple hidden by the Voidword Shrine, also obtained a treasure from one of the palaces. He's the only one who has yet to appear. He must be stronger than Feng."

"The disciple who left the Imperialdragon Palace compared Feng to Lin Xiaoxiao. Apparently, he's somewhat weak in one-on-one combat. If he's about as strong as Lin Xiaoxiao, then he has no chance of winning."

"What's interesting is that they're both specters. I didn't think the Voidword Shrine would accept a specter."

"Their ancestors have something to do with specters. I recall a rumor claiming that the Voidword Shrine is a force planted by the Skywolf Star. I must say, they're powerful indeed. They don't even care to prove their innocence and accepted a specter."

"A clean hand wants no washing. After all, the rumors about the Skywolf Star are 800,000 years old."

"My friend, the Skywolf Star has two stars. The larger nova source is three times the size of the sun. It is known as the 'white nightmare' of the astralscape of order. They went around burning and killing everything. Back then, they almost destroyed our defense formation and annexed Orderia. Until today, countless legends about the Skywolf Star still circulate among the people."

"It's hard to explain the Skywolf Star in just a few words. According to historical records, it is a combination of a large and smaller nova source. They're extremely bright. The smaller one is comparable to the size of Orderia's nova source..."

"That was the only war where the Myriad Solar Sects and celestial orderians joined hands. In order to protect the nova source, a third of all beings of Orderia were slaughtered in the war. There were corpses everywhere in the starry sky. After that war, the celestial orderians increased the number of outposts and surveillance areas by ten times which remains till today."

"The war for nova sources is terrifying. It's complete annihilation for the losers."

"Alright, enough about that."

"Feng from the Azuresoul Palace and Kong of the Voidword Shrine have entered the battlefield."

"Alright."

"Kong has never fought before?"

"Yes."

"His name is quite unique."

"The youths like to pretend they're profound. They pick weird names to attract attention. Little do they know that I can draw everyone's attention even with the name 'Liu Tiezhu'."

"Fuck off."

……

The yellow sand filled the battlefield. With his feet on the ground, Lingfeng slowly proceeded. His dark red eyes scanned the wind and sand, looking for his opponent. Clouds and mist rolled in. There was an uncomfortable smell in the air, not foul, but dangerous. The battlefield resembled a jungle, but it was still too soon to say who the prey and the predator was.

The black storm around his body descended to the ground, transforming into an ape-like monster with three heads and six arms. At this moment, its angry head was facing the front, while the other two heads turned to the left and right. It was the Soulfiend.

Many were discussing the Soulfiend appearance on the battlefield. After all, Lingfeng wasn't a beastmaster. As a specter, he had no lifebound beasts. Moreover, the Soulfiend seemed to be a spiritform, yet it wasn't a totem or part of Lingfeng's combat force. However, the audience could only question its presence. It was reasonable and fair as long as the Sky Palace thought so.

Lingfeng threw himself onto the Soulfiend's shoulder. Stretching out his hand, he drew a red dagger from his head. In the depths of the clouds and mist, a strange young man with a huge head, small body, sparse hair, and big eyes stumbled over. When he raised his head, his pale star-like eyes immediately noticed Lingfeng.

He exhaled heavily. The light within those pale eyes shone like two luminous bodies that illuminated the entire battlefield. Even Tianming and the others who were watching the battle from a distance were affected. The young man stretched out his arms from his wide sleeves. There was no flesh and blood on those hands. The finger bones were connected by broken skin which seemed as if it might fall off at any moment. Under his spacious robes, a creature rolled up and down his waist. It appeared to be a snake.

Their gazes met. Without so much as a word, the two men charged toward each other.