Beastmaster of the Ages

"Fusing four sword strikes together would make the Ninedragon Tribulation as powerful as a sixth-realm battle art. It should be stronger than Weisheng Moran's Lifeless Dreamdance, right? Since one shouldn't be able to unleash the power of a sixth-realm battle art before becoming a solarian, that must mean I'll be invincible among those of my age! If I throw my totems into the mix, it'd be epic even if I'm only a first-level constellier!" Tianming felt that he was quite the oddity for having so many techniques, despite not being that powerful. His lacking cultivation level was a persistent headache for him.

"It's been about two months since we arrived at the Azuresoul Palace. Feng and Xiaoxiao both broke through already, but I'm still stuck!" The reason for that was that his Lifesbane Will hadn't become a divine will yet. As his rapid growth spurt after breaking the Lifesbane curse was nearing its end, he could no longer keep up with Lingfeng and Xiaoxiao, who consumed resources to advance, by relying solely on his Trisoul Prime. Even so, his rate of progress was three or four times faster than those as talented as Long Longlong, but he still felt that he was making really slow progress. While being stuck at the same level for two months was normal for most people, he felt like he was creeping along at a snail's pace.

"The reason for this must be that I haven't had many trials I've had to overcome since coming here. There isn't enough danger at all, so I'm not being pushed to break through my bottlenecks. Usually, I grow the fastest when balancing on the tightrope of life and death."

That was proof that making it up as he went along would no longer work out for him. Even if he had ten Primordial Chaos Beasts to boast of, if he kept hiding for thousands of years without going around adventuring, there was no way he would become a powerful elite. The most he would be was the strongest in his little corner of the world, a corner with neither resources nor connections. There wouldn't even be any place that fulfilled the hatching conditions for his other Primordial Chaos Beasts. With talent alone but no will to be forged, he wouldn't be able to compare against a 'normal' genius. Real elites emerged through countless trials and tribulations. Going into hiding for thousands of years would only cause him to stagnate to the point of not even knowing how to interact with others.

"Even though my status as a Sky Palace disciple guarantees my safety, it's also removed all opportunities for challenge from my life. I don't have any chance to grow at all."

Tianming had sought out some of the youthgrand disciples of the Azuresoul Palace to spar against. Among those who were below a hundred at the mid to high levels of the Constellation stage, there were some that could defeat him. But one thing was true for all of them: they didn't dare to hurt Tianming at all, so they held back and didn't give him any real push.

"Not to mention, among the solarian caeli in the Azuresky Bridge, none of their experiences have anything that can help my Lifesbane Will grow. It almost feels like the faster I want it to progress, the slower I actually progress." Such worries were common for most cultivators, but had previously been rare in Tianming's case. "Maybe it would've turned out better if I'd gone to the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. I heard that the caelum of the Ninedragon Emperor is still preserved."

The caelum of the emperor was no doubt among the highest quality caeli available. No doubt it was among the most precious cultivation treasures in all of the sect, perhaps even the sun. Only the celestial orderians and the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect had caeli of absolute emperors like that, though the former definitely had more than one; there was at least one for each of the generations of emperors that ruled them. That allowed young celestial orderians to gain a huge head start in their cultivation. With the many talented geniuses they had and the fact they were totemancers, it wasn't surprising that they had many of the young generation under the age of thirty who were far more powerful than anyone on the imperial star ranking. While Tianming was ranked first, it would be hard to say if he could make it in the top ten if celestial orderians were included in the ranking.

"It can't be helped. This is a fundamental divide between beastmasters and totemancers." Totemancers naturally cultivated faster than beastmasters, especially during the intermediate phase of cultivation. At a younger age, they had a huge advantage while beastmasters had to drag their lifebound beasts along to catch up. While Tianming was also a totemancer, he had only just recently awakened them, while others already had more than two decades of practice.

"What can I do, then?" The divine tree was already about to bloom, yet he was still stuck. "I guess I should just get used to this speed! This is normal! Though, at the end of the day, not being able to go to the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect would still have an effect on me."

There was a good chance that he would have broken through by now had he managed to go. That was the importance of having access to cultivation resources. Based on what Long Wanying had said, the Veildragon Palace might control the sect for a few more years, perhaps even until this generation's Saintdragon Emperor retired. After that, they had free reign to brainwash the younger generation and completely swallow up all the Xuanyuans.

Currently, Yu Ziqian was a sixth-level constellier. However, his pill recession phase had returned. Xiaoxiao was at the fifth level and still improving. Lingfeng, on the other hand, had reached the fourth level, thanks to the remaining effects from the two divine pills he had consumed as well as the pills Yu Ziqian had been feeding him over the past two months. He could already go toe-to-toe with sixth-level constelliers, or seventh level if they were totemancers. It was said that the top three celestial orderians were at the seventh level. Tianming was quite envious of their progress.

"Still, things can't be rushed. Let's go to the wondersky realm and see if I can get a good whip technique to use with the Lifesteal Silverdragon from the ancient idols." It had been quite some time since he'd gone there, and Lingfeng wanted to join him too.

The two of them updated their recent progress with the heavenly locus formations so that they would be reflected in the wondersky realm. Anything Tianming used in the formation would be recorded and used to generate a simulation that he could use within. For instance, he registered the four strands of grade-six divine hazard sword ki in his body by letting out their aura. Tianming also registered his fifth lifebound beast, the Myriadworld Immortabeast, as well as his pandemonium constellation, Lifesteal Silverdragon, and the Ninedragon Tribulation. However, there was an issue when it came to the pandemonium constellation. The heavenly locus formation seemed unable to detect the suppression it exhibited on other constellations, which made it weaker within the wondersky realm. Fortunately, he had registered seven of his totems to be used within to make up for it.

"So, I'm only three totems and one constellation short from my full power inside. I wonder how powerful I am relative to the rest on the Violetglory Star!" He had been hiding his decapath era godswords for far too long. Not to mention, Yin Chen had just hatched and hadn't fought before, so Tianming was itching to test things out in actual battle. He summoned a hundred and fifty thousand silver eggs to him. Fortunately, the heavenly locus formation seemed able to record its abilities and classified it as a broodmother-type beast. Apart from the special ability of the bonegnaw ant, the rest of its capabilities had been recorded without issue.

Now, his vita went into a deep sleep while his caelum traveled into the xenomemory space. He saw a gigantic, colorful butterfly there, which reminded Tianming of the sixth egg.

"Let's go in!"

Together with Lingfeng, he was dragged into it. Light seemed to warp around them.

"Welcome back, Violetglory Disciple Lin Feng," the wondersky fairy said. The chubby little thing flew around, flapping its little wings.

"Tianming... you... hahaha!" Lingfeng couldn't help his laughter.

"What?" As expected, Yin Chen's caelum was also turned into a tattoo on his body. He was covered in silver dots all over, as if he was a measles patient. Not even his face was spared. Lan Huang and Meow Meow were forced down to his legs.

"Tianming, even your balls are covered in silver balls," Ying Huo said.

Tianming gave up all hope. "My cover here is supposed to be Lin Feng... but it looks like I'll be known as Measles Lin instead." It looked absolutely intolerable.

Right as Tianming was about to go to the ancient idols, the wondersky fairy said, "Lin Feng, you have a message from Liu Wanwan of the Mystgod Pavilion."

"A message? To think that there's even a function like that...." Tianming was even more impressed.

"Would you like me to read it out?"

"Sure."

"Liu Wanwan's message is as follows: Lin Feng, the entire Violetglory Star is looking for you. Where've you gone? If you're back, come look for me! I'll take you somewhere interesting! End of message. Would you like to look for Liu Wanwan?"

"Somewhere interesting?" She had mentioned it to him a few times before, piquing his curiosity. Since he wasn't on an urgent assignment and had the time, he said, "Alright. Check if she's around. If she is, ask her to meet me at Perplexity Island."

"Understood." A moment later, it said, "The meeting has been set. She's waiting for you at the destination. Do you want to be transported there?"

"Yes!" It was incredibly convenient that they could warp around the place in an instant.

"I wonder how far away this star is from ours," Lingfeng said with a hint of longing.

"If we can reach their wondersky realm from the Divine Moon Realm, it shouldn't be too far away, I guess," Tianming said.

"What do you think will happen if the Violetglory Star runs into our sun?"

"War? Peace? Who knows. I guess it depends on how powerful each faction is."

"I have a feeling the Violetglory Star might be more powerful. At the very least, it's more powerful than the Myriad Solar Sects."

"I second that thought," Tianming agreed. "After I defeated a first-level constellier here the last time, I was ranked around nine thousand and eight hundred." Right as he finished saying that, they arrived at Perplexity Island.