Beastmaster of the Ages

While Gujian Qingshuang was still stunned, Tianming was already looking to the next grade-six divine hazard sword ki. With the Wildvoid Bloodwheel Sword Ki having been perfectly assimilated into his body, his aura had morphed into something far more eerie. Even the blood vessels in his eyes looked more pronounced. No doubt, the sword ki paired great with the Blooddragon Sacrifice, making it far more powerful.

"How'd you do it?" Gujian Qingshuang asked.

"Pure willpower and endurance?" He wasn't actually joking. Having the Greenspark Tower didn't mean that it would hurt any less. His albi still got torn to shreds, though they recovered, allowing him to tame the sword ki in his body. It was far more painful than Gujian Qingshuang could imagine.

Tianming had picked the second one; a divine pattern called the Ninecloud Flamesky. Thanks to the fundamental cosmic force, the divine pattern had turned into a sword ki form that paired well with Blazedragon Fireblast.

As Tianming stood in front of the entrance, Gujian Qingshuang said, "You just absorbed a grade-six divine hazard sword ki. Trying again might make them wildly clash in your body and cause heavy damage."

"I know. I'll just give it a try. If I really can't, I'll come again next time. I might even need you to help me kick things off, Chief Instructor," he sincerely said.

"Alright!" Since he had made a promise, he could only go along with it.

After a few moments, Tianming and Ying Huo left, covered in wounds all over. "I'll come again next time."

"Will do!" Gujian Qingshuang felt much more relieved. Not even he might necessarily be able to absorb two of them at once. If Tianming had succeeded, it would be completely out of this world. The conflict from two clashing sword kis could tear his organs and even skeleton apart, like having a gigantic beast stampeding around in his body. Though, the wilder it was, the more it excited Tianming.

"There has to be a challenge!" If the sword ki wasn't powerful enough, it wouldn't be worth his effort in trying to conquer it. "The more powerful it is, the more useful it'll be once I manage to control it."

He was starting to enjoy the feeling of domination more and more. Every successive challenge made his addiction grow deeper. Ying Huo also had a fiery and unrelenting personality that mirrored his own, and that made it the perfect rival. Together, they competed to see who could endure it better.

"I'm working hard because my kin has been exterminated, my godfather is missing, and my little sister is being imprisoned. What about you?" Tianming asked.

"I'm doing all of this because your kin is my kin, your godfather is my godfather, and your little sister is my little sister!" Ying Huo said.

"Very well. As expected of my brother."

"What brother? I'm your dad."

The failure had only served to hone his fighting spirit even more. After resting a few days and further taming the Wildvoid Bloodwheel Sword Ki, he returned with Ying Huo to challenge it again, but he still failed.

"This thing can't be rushed. You have to rest for at least a month," Gujian Qingshuang advised.

"That won't do." Tianming disappeared into the mountain with his bloody and battered body after uttering those words.

"Even though both of them are Sky Palace disciples, one is messing around while the other is pushing himself beyond his limits. How odd. This Li Tianming that just showed up out of nowhere is much harder to deal with than Yu Ziqian."

Before three days had even passed, Tianming came back again, much to the chief instructor's annoyance. He had his hands full with the matter of the Azurecloud Divine Tree, but the Swordbath Pool was an important place of the sect that he had to personally unlock for Tianming. It wouldn't normally be a problem, it was just that Tianming was coming far too frequently. "I'm a little busy lately, so make your next visit ten days from now."

"Alright." Tianming agreed right away.

This time, Gujian Qingshuang waited outside. He closed his eyes and pondered on his future and his sect's, mulling over the promises and threats of the Empyrean Sword Sect. "I wonder if we'll fall off the edge of this cliff or rise even higher...."

Two hours later, he heard heavy footsteps and saw the white-haired youth and the bird walk out. "Don't be crestfallen. You'll succeed eventually with your willpower," he consoled.

"Chief Instructor." There were flames in his eyes. Merely looking at his body made Gujian Qingshuang's eyes feel pricked. The legends of the Flameyellow Continent spoke of deities that could kill with a glance, something that Tianming currently embodied. "I succeeded."

Gujian Qingshuang felt another wince of pain in his heart, having lost two strands of grade-six divine hazard sword ki. Still, the youth had shocked him once more. He was the perfect genius, one in which he couldn't find a flaw. If he had to pick one, it would be that he seemed to value loyalty far too much for his own good. The people around him were his weakness.

"As expected of a Sky Palace disciple. It seems like they made the right choice."

"I've humiliated myself with my past failures. Sorry for troubling you, Chief Instructor."

"It is no big deal. Being able to help you grow is the Azuresoul Palace's honor."

"Thanks. That aside, I've picked the third one to assimilate. May I come again in ten days?"

"You may. Still, let me emphasize that this will progressively get more difficult. Take care to ensure that you don't push yourself to the point of hurting yourself."

"I appreciate the advice." Tianming left with Ying Huo.

"Why don't you tell him directly that you won't be going to the Empyrean Sword Sect? That way, Jiang Qingliu will be fine," Ying Huo said.

"We'd be revealing that we can eavesdrop on them if that's the case."

"Can't you just hint at it?"

"He's no fool. We have no plausible deniability. Hinting is as good as admitting it. Yin Chen's ability is our trump card. We can't let anyone find out. If they communicate with transmission stones, it'll be much harder for us."

"Fine. Caution is still the best."

"There's one more thing."

"Out with it then."

"Actually, we finally have some leverage in the negotiations with Aunt Ying's friends. I want to build an empire here on this continent and use Omnisentient Will for cultivation and fights. That means I'll have to dominate both the Azuresoul Palace and Supracloud Sanctuary. With Yin Chen's bonegnaw ants able to give me complete control over someone and how much Aunt Ying trusts me, we'll be taking some risks in the future. For now, my final goal will be controlling Yun Tianque and Shi Yan. As for Gujian Qingshuang, I want to see what choice he ultimately makes. If he chooses to oppose us, I'll make him a target for control as well. I'd be happier if he didn't, though. With his wholehearted support, things would go much better for us."

Tianming knew that his ambitions were too far off for now. He was only in his twenties, so it was still out of the question. But the fact that he could plan for things so far in the future made him much different from most people his age. While Yu Ziqian was busy fooling around with girls, he was planning how to take over the continent.

"Gujian Qingshuang has been really nice to you, and even gave you quite a lot of treasures. Wouldn't doing that be really shitty?" Ying Huo said.

"That's not a fair characterization. He's only willing to do all this because I've joined the Sky Palace. Otherwise he wouldn't even bat an eye. Not to mention, I'm not set on dooming him. There's still hope for cooperation with him. Though, if it turns out that he wants to oppose me no matter what, I'll use the bonegnaw ants as a failsafe. As long as he does what I say, I won't treat him badly. It's like how we employed the Latticeheart Curse back on the moon."

It was still hard to say if it would work out, since the ants could only be deployed during actual combat. Now, Jiang Qingliu and Long Wanying were the most important seniors for Tianming. He was really thankful and respectful of them, Jiang Qingliu especially. He was the one who had given Tianming and the rest a chance to join the Voidsky Skirmish, not to mention he was an important benefactor of Yu Ziqian's as well. If Tianming were to pick between Jiang Qingliu and Gujian Qingshuang, he would no doubt pick the former.

"I know you don't really have a good impression of Gujian Qingshuang, because he didn't say anything when the Empyrean Sword Sect brought up killing Jiang Qingliu," Ying Huo said.

"That's right. No matter what the circumstances are, sitting idle while other people are asking you to give up the lives of your own people is just trashy. I wouldn't entrust such a secret to someone like him, lest he let others harm me through his 'inaction'." Tianming felt that opening up to the chief instructor was too much of a risk. He didn't want to give up the edge he had from being able to listen in to all of their conversations.

"Come to think of it, the top figures would never expect a brat like you to have ambitions of conquering the entire continent," Ying Huo said.

"It's still far off from now. Damn, I really want to know how much more powerful I'll be in five hundred years."

"I'll be thankful if you survive that long."

"Nonsense!"

......

The sky was still burning bright by the time they returned to the sixth branch.

"Do you know why I keep thinking about my empire?" Tianming asked.

"Nope."

"The sun emperor, Qingyu, and my godfather's letter.... All of that indicates that, one day, the celestial orderians will want me dead. The sun emperor could be the greatest foe I've ever faced. I have to be prepared. He has far too much of a head start over me in terms of age and power. I'll only stand a chance against him if I can leverage the power of the whole Myriad Solar Sects!" Tianming was already worrying about an eventuality that would only come to pass in a few centuries.