Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming had a feeling similar to the one when his Myriadsword Providence had spanned the entire world. All sorts of information appeared in his head, but this time it went through Yin Chen's reporting. Being telepathically connected should mean smoother communication, but its speech pattern made it quite a chore, especially when there were so many different reports to sort through. Tianming felt like puking at the prospect of listening to that halting voice once more.

"All done... bathing time!"

Yin Chen's bodies were scattered all over the mountain, even at its many lakes and rivers. Apart from serving as a watch sentry, every one of its bodies would take turns washing off dirt and grime in the rivers and lakes before going back to their shifts. It didn't take long to find all the bathing spots in the area, something that had come as quite a shock to Tianming. Not to mention, even as ninety percent of its bodies were undergoing evolution, it still had a hundred thousand silver cockroaches on shift at work. The fact that it could still gather such important information under these circumstances was shocking.

"This fellow seems far more functionally capable, rather than combat capable." He had a feeling that using Yin Chen in combat would be squandering its other potential. It was quite different from its siblings, after all. Then again, that wasn't to say it was weak in fights; it just hadn't had a chance to be tested yet.

"So the Empyrean Sword Sect wishes to kill Jiang Qingliu and take the four of us in, and they're even trying to use Chu Jingchuan to get close to us...." Tianming smirked. This information was far too important. Without it, they would have been led by the nose by the Empyrean Sword Sect without knowing any better, and eventually join them.

"Tianming, shouldn't we tell Aunt Ying about this right away?" Lingfeng asked.

"We ought to at least discuss this with Gan Gangan first," Tianming said.

The Empyrean Sword Sect didn't know that Jiang Qingliu wasn't actually the master of Tianming and the other two, so he didn't hold that much sway over them. Long Wanying, on the other hand, had won their trust through her efforts and sincerity. It was helped, no doubt, by her motherly, decisive, and gentle personality. There was no way a woman like Shi Yan would understand such things.

When Yu Ziqian came over, his face was flushed from all the alcohol he'd drank while mingling with girls. He was enjoying the fame and attention the best he could. "Come, brothers, I've already done a survey. Around six thousand senior and junior sisters want me to set them up with you two. There's a name list here, pick as you please." He was thoroughly relishing his newfound popularity.

"Stop messing around. Your master's in trouble," Xiaoxiao said. She didn't like flirty guys like him. Had it not been for the camaraderie he'd shown, she would have ignored him entirely.

"Huh? What?" The drunken flush vanished from his face immediately.

Tianming briefed him on what he had heard. He took out a silver cockroach in his hand and said, "Do you see this? It's my fifth lifebound beast. It was injured for a while, so I haven't used it for quite a while. It's a type of metallic broodmother lifebound beast and this is a child unit. I've spread many of them throughout the entire mountain."

"Heavens...." Yu Ziqian widened his eyes, whether from the sheer terror of what the Empyrean Sword Sect was planning or how impressive this Primordial Chaos Beast was. Obviously, Yin Chen wasn't a normal broodmother-type beast, but was much more superior. Broodmother swarms could be crippled once the broodmother itself was killed, but Yin Chen was far more resilient than that. At the very least, nobody on the entire sun could kill it. Its only weakness now was Tianming, having become his lifebound beast.

"What do you think?" Tianming asked.

"Friend, I'm a disciple of the Azuresoul Palace. This place is my origin! My master is the one I respect the most in the world, and also my benefactor. I can't let anything happen to him! I'll never go to the Empyrean Sword Sect, no matter what. Not to mention, they must be underestimating our chief instructor and thinking that he won't do much when the time comes. Taking that into account, we definitely can't let them do as they please. For now, it's best that we go to our master and Aunt Ying. They're experienced elders and should know what we can do about this."

"Alright. Let's go look for them." Tianming had asked Yu Ziqian's opinion to see what he thought about the Empyrean Sword Sect. After all, he wasn't too familiar with the historical ties between the sects. "You're right, we shouldn't give up on the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. Let's regroup with the seniors for now."

Though the Empyrean Sword Sect had pessimistically spoken about the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect's situation, Tianming could make his own decisions. No matter how the latter sect was faring, he would never follow Shi Yan. Not to mention, he was a Sky Palace disciple that had both the wondersky realm and Azuresoul Palace, so his reliance on a powerful sect backing him wasn't too high.

......

The four of them immediately sought out Long Wanying. Yu Ziqian also used a transmission stone to get Jiang Qingliu to come to them. Long Wanying had just finished bathing and was dressed in a white silk robe. Her long, wet hair was swept to the side, letting out a post-bath fragrance. Her maturity added a few degrees of sensuality to her overall attractiveness.

"Wait a moment." In almost no time at all, she completely dressed and groomed herself, looking as good as she ever did.

Jiang Qingliu arrived quickly. Tianming immediately told them everything he knew, but started with introducing them to his fifth lifebound beast. They were quite shocked to find that he was a quintuple beastmaster, and looked at him as they would a divine miracle. If they knew that he had ten totems as well, they would no doubt faint. After showing off what Yin Chen could do, he went on to tell them about the conspiracy that was being plotted behind the scenes.

"The Northdipper Swordsage and One-strike Slaughterer...." Jiang Qingliu sat down on a chair and blanked out.

"Are you afraid?" Long Wanying asked.

He shook his head

"My master is just sad. He's given his entire life to the sect, yet our chief instructor didn't so much as refuse when asked to cooperate with planning his murder. It's far too cruel," Yu Ziqian said with an indignant look. "I didn't think Gujian Qingshuang would be someone like that. Ye Dongliu's even worse, but then again, he's never liked my master. Even the respected Granny Mu Hua didn't utter a single word of refusal."

"Jiang Qingliu, listen to me. Wallowing in sorrow is pointless. Let's think about how to fix this!" Long Wanying said, completely serious. Ever since the death of her husband, she had relied on herself for everything, and that had helped forge her current hardy and efficient personality. The rest eagerly waited to hear what she had to say. "First, we can't believe them when they say the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect has fallen. That news is colored by the bias of their sect master. We have our own foundations, culture, and will. Even though we're suffering some tough times, completely eradicating us is an impossibility. We've survived countless setbacks since ancient times, and always got back up and rebuilt. If we were facing a threat that could end us, there's no doubt that we would all fight to our deaths to resist it."

She wanted to stress that point far more than any others before she continued breaking down their plan. She couldn't tolerate anyone else so much as entertaining that thought.