Beastmaster of the Ages

Hearing 'Singularity Atlas' caused Ye Dongliu to bitterly smile. "You little... I already said that I'd give you this treasure and the position of house leader in another decade, but you're still impatient about it."

"It's not that, Dad. It's not like I want the atlas that badly. It's just hard for me to find an opportunity to kill Jiang Qingliu without it," Ye Buzhiqiu hurriedly explained.

"Are you really only trying to give the chief instructor a push? You sure you're not pining over this treasure of mine?"

"Dad, is that how you see me? I'm your son, you know. You should understand me best!"

"Hahahaha... I was just messing with you. I'm just feeling a little lonely about the fact that you're fully grown up now and have your own plans in mind."

"Stop joking around, Dad. I'd already grown up by the time I was in my thirties, and now I'm almost five centuries old."

"Yeah, right, yet you still have no wife or children," Ye Dongliu said, raising his brow at his son.

"I worry that a wife and children could be an obstacle to my goals, so I want to achieve them first before I settle down."

"Don't take too long on that. If I get my grandson fast, I can still raise him to never repeat the mistakes of the previous generation."

"Understood! So, about the Singularity Atlas...."

Ye Dongliu put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Fine. I'll talk to the artifact soul about you and let you inherit it. You'll also be made leader of the house, but I can only announce it after the matter of the divine tree settles down, alright?"

"Yes!" Ye Buzhiqiu was overjoyed.

......

At the Sixth Sword Branch, Tianming, Yu Ziqian, Long Wanying, Jiang Qingliu and Yan Nuxia got together for a meeting.

Jiang Qingliu had just returned, so Long Wanying asked, "How is it?"

"The chief instructor made new arrangements. Now, I'll be in the same group as Ye Buzhiqiu and we'll be posted at the Greatriver Valley where there's quite a few fruits," he said.

Hearing that, Tianming got a weird feeling. "Everyone, with Li Wushuang out there ready to kill, should the sect really be sending people out right now?"

Jiang Qingliu said, "Of course. The harvest of the divine tree determines how the sect will develop in the next ten thousand years. We can't afford to be scared into hiding. It's the same as giving up on the future. Not to mention, the tree is too wide, so Li Wushuang can only kill a small portion of people. Now that Gujian Daoyi has left us, we can only be more careful and avoid taking as many risks as we can."

"Brother Jiang is right. We shouldn't let a madwoman's threats dictate our actions. Not to mention, the group is only secretly going out to lay some groundwork. All we have to do is send word to people on where to find which fruits to pick. There's far too many of them, after all," Long Wanying said. The ones who would really be doing the picking were the many residents of cities scattered across the territories. The swordpupils were only there to protect them. As for Long Wanying herself, she would be on the lookout for Li Wushuang.

"Understood." Tianming nodded and turned to Jiang Qingliu. "Senior Jiang, I heard something about their new plans for you."

"Oh, what is it?" He had already guessed that this was a plot to get him killed.

"Do you know about the Singularity Atlas?" Tianming asked.

"Of course. It's a grade-seven divine artifact that's inferior to no other artifact in the sect than the Azuresoul Tower."

"That's the one." Tianming repeated what Yin Chen had heard at Senluo Mansion to Jiang Qingliu.

"No wonder I was assigned to a group with him. Looks like the chief instructor is committed to killing me! How cruel. Even after his brother's death, he still hasn't forgotten about wanting to claim my life."

"His younger brother is gone and he wants revenge, so he needs your tower to get stronger," Long Wanying said.

Jiang Qingliu took a deep breath and stayed silent for a moment. "Tianming, your lifebound beast is far too impressive. Without it, I don't know how many times I would've died by now."

"Since that's the case, I have some thoughts about this matter and I'd like Senior Jiang to support me," Tianming said."Oh?" Jiang Qingliu's expression was solemn. "Let's hear it."

"Here and now, we're in the same boat, right? You're Ziqian's master, and he's my brother." Yu Ziqian was the one that connected Tianming to Jiang Qingliu, so if he didn't want his master to die for no reason, Tianming wouldn't either.

"Of course. You've saved me many times already, so if there's anything you'd like me to do, I'll do it with no complaint."

"Alright, then I'll be straight with you. I have a method to control people like Gujian Qingshuang for their whole lives. As long as you're able to defeat them and keep them subdued for an hour, I'll be able to completely put them under my control."

Jiang Qingliu was shocked, so Long Wanying explained the bonegnaw ants to him. She had personally experienced what it was like, so she was far more convincing.

"I won't keep this from you. My goal is to control Gujian Qingshuang and force him to focus all of the Azuresoul Palace's resources on me. At the very least, I need a lot of divine ores to let my lifebound beast get many more bodies, enough to span the entire continent. Naturally, if the chief instructor is cooperative, he won't be treated badly. But as he's someone who's condemned you to your death more than once, you wouldn't care if this happened to him, right?"

"He... I have nothing to say about that. However, I want to know what someone as young as you plans to do by taking control of a large sect like this."

"Here's what I am thinking. Using this chance, we'll take down Ye Buzhiqiu and let him work for us. By doing so, we'll get a chance to privately meet the chief instructor so we can put him under our control. Through that, we'll be able to strengthen the sect as a whole and find more opportunities. If we can take down Yun Tianque, we'll have united the two largest sects on the continent and be able to control the divine tree much better. Then we can chase the Blueblood Starocean and wargodeans out, thereby making sure that the Azurecloud Continent will truly enjoy the benefits of the Azurecloud Divine Tree!"

"You're making it sound easy, but each step is incredibly hard! It's shocking that you're even able to think of such a plan." Jiang Qingliu couldn't believe someone so young could shake him so deeply. Did terrifyingly precocious children like that really exist elsewhere?

"I understand that it's really difficult to bring about. However, we can test it out with Ye Buzhiqiu first. If it really won't work, we can just kill him. He wants to kill you anyway, so you're only returning the favor, right?"

"Of course."

"Master, stop hesitating and just work with us!" Yu Ziqian said, "You told me yesterday that you plan to stay strong and survive, right? How are you going to do that if people keep on plotting against you? Not to mention, Tianming's saved your life multiple times now, so it's time to return the favor and stop being so hesitant."

Jiang Qingliu pulled him over and spat, "I don't need you to tell me that! I was just about to agree, but if I do that now, it'll look like you convinced me after making me look all hesitant!"

Everyone broke out in laughter at that response. Even so, the shock and excitement lingered in their minds. Jiang Qingliu took a deep breath and said, "What should we do about Ye Buzhiqiu?"

"You'll be the bait and leave the sect with him. Aunt Ying, Aunt Yan, Gan Gangan, and I will go to the Greatriver Valley together to set things up. While his Singularity Atlas is impressive, Gan Gangan's Divine Worldeater Cauldron is much bigger and can completely seal off an area even larger than the atlas can. The three of you should have no issues taking on Ye Buzhiqiu, right?"

The cauldron was the key to the plan, which made Yu Ziqian an essential part as well. It would also be easy for Yan Nuxia, Long Wanying, and Jiang Qingliu to gang up on Ye Buzhiqiu. It would be much easier than dealing with Gujian Qingshuang. After that, they could use Ye Buzhiqiu to lure Gujian Qingshuang out.

"Senior Jiang, I probably won't be staying on the Azurecloud Continent for too long either. So, if our plan works out, you'll be the one that rules the continent for real," Tianming emphasized.

"I see...." Jiang Qingliu still didn't quite know what to make of this. He stared at Tianming blankly, constantly asking himself if he really was a junior. Privately, he asked Long Wanying, "Is this really his plan or yours?"

"His, of course! But he has my full support. In fact, if we can get Ye Buzhiqiu and Gujian Qingshuang, I want to make the Tumulus Pill God and even Lan Sha into our puppets... maybe even Li Wushuang!" She said the last name with extra vindictiveness.

"Are you crazy?"

"The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect is mostly a goner, and I already lost my husband and son. I already have nothing left to lose."

"I see...."

"As for you, those that you respect have betrayed and tried to kill you a few times already. Do you think you're still sane?"

"Me? I've gone insane long ago, hahaha!"

"Then let's be insane together. With this child's capabilities alone, this wouldn't work out without our support. If it succeeds, we'll be huge contributors to it as well."

"If we really manage to succeed all the way, what would we do about Li Wushuang?"

"I don't know. It sounds crazy to even think about it. But if we can make it so that it's hard for her to even kill herself, then I'm willing to do anything, even die for it," she said, grinding her teeth. This was her revenge, and she wouldn't hold back.

"Alright, let's start with Ye Buzhiqiu, then." At the thought of the young master of the Dongye house that constantly humiliated and challenged him, seething anger flashed across his eyes. "That damn Ye brat.... I've tolerated him for my whole life, and now I'll finally make him know what a fate worse than death feels like!"