Beastmaster of the Ages

"It'll be fine, won't it?" Jiang Qingliu asked.

"Nothing will happen." Tianming replied. There were millions of bonegnaw ants in Ye Buzhiqiu's body. Even if he took a breath, Tianming would know. The ants were formidable, and even with the current distance between them, Tianming could easily speak to Ye Buzhiqiu through Yin Chen. He wanted to find an opportunity to return to the Flameyellow Continent and leave a few of Yin Chen's bodies to see if he could communicate with Li Caiwei and Xuanyuan Dao in real time. It would be even better if he could place a few with Qingyu.

"Should we pull Ye Dongliu to our side if we have the chance?" Yan Nuxia asked.

"Sure. He's old, and about as strong as his son, but he doesn't have the Singularity Atlas. Dealing with him will be easy. They might be the two people of the House of Dongye that're the most hostile towards us, but we'll get them to join us. Gujian Qingshuang will be the only one left and there isn't much one man can do," said Long Wanying.

Granny Mu Hua was even less of a problem.

"Senior Jiang, do you feel like you're betraying the Azuresoul Palace doing this?" Tianming asked.

"A little." Jiang Qingliu bitterly smiled.

"That isn't necessarily true. The Azuresoul Palace belongs to all swordpupils. As long as it continues serving the people and its swordpupils, it doesn't matter who's leading. We just want to bring Gujian Qingshuang over to our camp with the most reliable approach. Our ultimate goal is to deal with the Supracloud Sanctuary. If you still feel guilty after everything, I can remove the bonegnaw ants. It's all just a matter of intention. And don't forget that he's tried to kill you at least ten times," said Tianming.

"I understand! You might be young, but you're clearheaded. Ziqian's a complete dimwit compared to you." Jiang Qingliu said.

"What?! Why are you dragging me into this?" Squeezing Jiang Qingliu's shoulders, Yu Ziqian said, "Let me tell you something, old man. Stop being so emotional. I suggest you suppress Gujian Qingshuang, given the opportunity, and rule over the entire sect!"

"That's enough nonsense. The Azuresoul Palace will always belong to the Gujian clan," said Jiang Qingliu.

"If it weren't for us, the Azuresoul Palace would belong to the House of Dongye. Yu Ziqian rolled his eyes. But that was a tale for another time. As long as they were able to think clearly, there wouldn't be any problems.

"Aunt Ying, can we use what we did today to deal with Gujian Qingshuang?" Tianming asked.

"I'd say we'd have a sixty percent chance of succeeding. He's pretty strong and has a few cards up his sleeve. It'll be harder than killing him. Moreover, Ziqian has limited control over the Divine Worldeater Cauldron. It won't be easy if he escapes and returns to the sect. We would be shedding all pretenses of cordiality. This matter must remain hidden until we take down Yun Tianque."

"Sixty percent is still too risky." Tianming frowned.

"Tianming, didn't the Saintdragon Emperor say he'd give you three six-star universal manna? I think an acquaintance of mine will be the one delivering them. Although he isn't one of the dragon imperials, he's considered a guest official. He's stronger than me. With him, Tangerine, me, and Jiang Qingliu's Azuresoul Tower, we'll have an eighty percent chance," said Long Wanying.

"Can you trust him?" Tianming asked.

"Of course. He's pursued her for hundreds of years, and even joined the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect just for her. In the end, the heartless woman married Long Junxuan and had a child with him," Yan Nuxia laughed.

"That's nonsense. I was with Junxuan before he came," Long Wanying angrily said.

"I'm just kidding. Anyway, you can trust him." Yan Nuxia smiled.

"Alright, we'll wait for him to get here," Tianming decided.

With Long Wanying around, Tianming could accomplish a lot. Her connections were extremely important to him. Most importantly, people thought Tianming naive, willful, and whimsical, yet Long Wanying had firmly supported him from the very beginning. Her vision and courage were the reasons Tianming was willing to respect and care for her.

"Our next step is extremely important. We mustn't make a mistake!"

"What about the Supracloud Sanctuary?" Long Wanying asked.

"When I fought Li Haochen, I placed several cockroaches on the Supracloud Sanctuary cultivators' lifebound beasts. The cockroaches followed them back, but their numbers aren't enough for me to monitor Yun Tianque's actions, for the time being," Tianming explained.

"There aren't enough metal veins," said Long Wanying.

"The House of Dongye seems to have a few exclusive metal veins that aren't under the control of the Azuresoul Palace. With Ye Buzhiqiu on our side, we may be able to use them. But how will he explain it to Ye Dongliu?" Jiang Qingliu asked.

"There's no need to explain anything. If we take down Ye Dongliu, I can also expand the range of surveillance over the Supracloud Sanctuary." Tianming said.

Upon hearing that, the three sighed.

"What is it?" It was rare to hear all three of them sigh together.

"I have to say, your lifebound beasts are simply... miracles. Anyway, they've opened my eyes. I stand in awe," said Long Wanying.

"You'll get… used to… it it," the metal ants in Tianming's hand said in unison.

……

Gujian Qingshuang, Shi Yan, Granny Mu Hua, and Ye Dongliu were gathered in the Driftsword Halls.

"Nothing's happened? It's been a few days," Gujian Qingshuang asked.

"I just received a transmission stone. Buzhiqiu says that Jiang Qingliu has been cautious. He hasn't been able to draw him to the location of the Singularity Atlas and is still looking for an opportunity to do so," Ye Dongliu replied.

Gujian Qingshuang nodded. After a brief pause, he said, "Uncle Ye, it's rather risky for Buzhiqiu to work alone. How about you hide within the atlas? When the time comes, both of you can join hands to slay Jiang Qingliu."

"There's no need for that. Buzhiqiu wants to take the credit alone. He's assured me that he'll complete the task and asked that I don't get in his way... I'm getting old!" Ye Donghua sighed.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Ye Buzhiqiu is indeed talented," Shi Yan added.

Upon further contemplation, Gujian Qingshuang said, "To be on the safe side, I think it's best you go as well. I will arrange for someone to guard the grade-six divine herbs."

"Alright, I'll leave right away." Ye Dongliu rose to his feet. He knew that Gujian Qingshuang was a little anxious. Being a proud man, it wasn't unusual for Ye Buzhiqiu to reject Ye Dongliu's help; however, proud people were often prone to mistakes.

It was obvious that Gujian Qingshuang wanted to raise the stakes before Jiang Qingliu took the bait. In fact, it was the Dongye house who had proposed they kill Jiang Qingliu, but Gujian Qingshuang was the anxious one and wanted a foolproof plan.

"Don't worry, Head Instructor. I'll bring back the Azuresoul Tower!"

……

Naturally, their discussion couldn't escape Yin Chen's ears. The moment Ye Dongliu set off, Tianming invited Ye Buzhiqiu over. Due to his injuries, Ye Buzhiqiu couldn't lure Ye Dongliu over, but he never expected his father would walk into the trap on his own accord.

"You have yet to heal, but your father is coming to see you now. You can't explain your injuries, so I have no choice but to involve him. Is there anything wrong with that?" Tianming asked.

"Do I have the right to refuse?" Ye Buzhiqiu grit his teeth.

All he had to do was rearrange the atlas back to how it was before. He didn't care if his father was involved. The man had schemed to steal the atlas from his father; his actions were proof of how selfish and arrogant he was. Now that he was desperate, he couldn't care less for his father.

"Don't worry, I won't let him suffer as much. Make sure you persuade him," Tianming said.

"Yes."

……

Tianming felt like he was fishing. He watched as the big fish entered his fishing net. Ye Dongliu had walked right into the trap. This time was easier than the last. Because he was older, his bones were looser so the bonegnaw ants had an even easier time invading his body. Keeping to his promise, Tianming had Ye Dongliu suffer less, then repeated the conversation he'd had with Ye Buzhiqiu.

With tears in his eyes, Ye Dongliu looked at his son. "You knew I was walking into a trap and didn't tell me? You bastard!" Ye Dongliu was about to die of anger.

"Father, there was nothing I could do. I'm too young to die. How can I sacrifice my life just to warn you?" said Ye Buzhiqiu.

"You lowlife scum!" Ye Dongliu was consumed by the desire to kill his son.

"It was your idea to use the atlas. Now look at what happened! We might as well wait for death together!" Ye Dongliu resentfully glared at Tianming and the others.

"Father, that's enough demoralizing talk. Why should we die? Instead, let's follow them and create a new era in the Azurecloud Continent!" Ye Buzhiqiu retorted.

"Fuck your new era!" It seemed as though both father and son were on the verge of violence. "You bastard, giving birth to you was no different from giving birth to feces!" Ye Dongliu continued cursing.

"Alright, that's enough. Stop arguing and give me your answer. Do you choose to live or die?" Tianming asked.

"Live," Ye Dongliu grunted. The older he got, the easier it was for him to accept reality. He had experienced the pain inflicted by the nightmarish bonegnaw ants, and this Sky Palace disciple was just as terrifying.

"Alright... first things first, take me to House of Dongye's metal veins."

Ye Dongliu respectfully stood up.

Ye Buzhiqiu leaned in and said, "Father, you bowed so quickly. At least I resisted for a while."

"Scram!"

……

There were three metal veins in total, containing enough metal to give Yin Chen an additional two hundred thousand bodies. Tianming tossed tens of thousands of silver eggs into the metal veins; Yin Chen could multiply on its own. Then, they would wait for Long Wanying's helper.

During that period of time, Tianming entered the wondersky realm to cultivate. As soon as he arrived outside the Violetglory Pagoda, a girl dressed in orange ran up to him. It was Liu Xuanxuan, who had once been defeated by Tianming in the Violetcloud Battlefield.

"Lin Feng! Something has happened to Liu Wanwan!" she cried.