Beastmaster of the Ages

At least half the people present were doubting what they saw.

"Nine! There really are nine!"

"It's real!"

Shocked cries and shrieks came from all over as the people in the audience were collectively losing their minds. They all stared at Tianming and his nine swords wide-eyed and flabbergasted, constantly asking those around them if they were seeing the same thing as sweat flowed out of their pores from sheer shock. It was no different from the moment Qingyu had reached Orderia.

Nonabanes were things that only existed in legend; there were no historical records of them actually existing. For many, witnessing a legend with their own eyes caused their hearts and innards to clench. The Violetcloud Battlefield was completely filled with chaos as countless messages were sent across the star, completely shaking the entire world.

"Lin Feng has nine totems!" they yelled. The fact had been set in stone. Too many people had dried their throats out from screaming and the mere thought of the implications of what they said caused their hairs to stand. To think that involving his friend in something troublesome was enough to make him so mad that he would reveal something so huge that could never be taken back.

All that had happened as he had expected it, but even so, he'd still underestimated the impact by ten times. The commotion was far too insane. Back then, his fame as the 'second miracle' was only circulated around among the juniors, but now even the millennia-old seniors were talking about him. Now, half of his goals had been achieved today.

What happened next was almost as shocking as what had just transpired: he used Myriadsword Providence, causing each of his nine totems to turn into ten thousand swords that dominated the entire battlefield. Sounds of powerful swords clashing resounded throughout as they all turned and pointed toward Princess Shen Yu.

What could she do about it? She was the one who'd witnessed all that had happened from a far closer viewpoint than anyone else. It wasn't until she heard the commotion from the audience that she realized that all of this was really happening. The fingers with which she wielded her sword had lost all feeling as she stared like a wide-eyed deer at all those swords, her mouth quivering but no words coming out of it. She even subconsciously took three steps back as she recalled his stunning announcement, her spine still feeling the chills.

"Nine totems… he's even more terrifying than Ye Chen. What about me?" She had heard the rumors about Tianming being fed a lot of divine pills, so she thought that all the measures she had taken were a little too much. But what had happened just proved that the rumors were far from reality. Instead, she had taken action far too soon. Though she still looked calm, her mind was a complete mess. Everything had gone well for her in her twenty-odd years of life, and this was the first time things had gotten so far out of control for her. The mere sight of the white-haired youth now caused her to sense fear sprouting from deep within.

I can't let it grip me! she reminded herself countless times. Raising her sword, she tried focusing on the power from her ultimate form, which the grade-nine divinespring granted her. Who said that nonabanes can't be defeated?

Her eyes glowed bright as her divinespring began resonating, channeling power far beyond the capacity of an eighth-level constellier into her sword as she charged at Tianming, executing the Astralflare Celestial Providence, a sixth-realm divine art that caused stars to manifest in her hands, the fires of which blended together to create a sea of flames that could even set the cosmic aether aflame. Within the flames was boundless divine providence. Her strike seemed far more powerful than what others had expected, but when faced with Tianming, she was destined to play second fiddle.

"Begone!" The ninety thousand totem swords arranged themselves into a sword formation, sealing off any possible escape route. Then four strands of grade-six divine hazard sword ki gathered on the Grand-Orient Sword. It was the very strike that had defeated Li Haochen. However, this was the complete strike that incorporated aspects from his totems, sword ki enhanced body, and the four-fusion strike, representing nine-tenths of his full power. It would be even more terrifying if he had been utilizing all ten of his totems.

The silver, black, flame, and blood dragons soared into the sky and blended into the sword formation, allowing the tens of thousands of totem swords to perfectly blend together with the move and enhancing the power of the strike manyfold. Then the tens of thousands of swords flew toward the princess like a great tidal wave, all of them changing into dragons. The dragon-power-infused divine hazard sword ki almost instantly swallowed up the princess's own Astralflare Celestial Providence.

"You—" The next instant, the princess was shocked to find that she had been pierced through countless times and killed in an instant.

"Farewell, Princess."

The countless dragons tore the royal princess to shreds, completely extinguishing all the light her body had been emitting like a great beast pulling the princess down from her pedestal and stomping her again and again into a pile of mincemeat. Her defeat had never been in question at all, and now she had lost her spot in third place. Though Tianming's victory had been a given after he revealed all of his totems, nobody could have expected him to win in a single strike! It was swift, ruthless, and imbued with such pure violence that the princess wasn't given the slightest bit of consideration at all. As she and her lifebound beasts were completely vaporized within the Violetcloud Battlefield, the audience hadn't reacted. Now, 'Lin Feng' alone was left within.

Not knowing what else to do there, the crowd broke into cheers and applause. Countless eyes were on Tianming and his lifebound beasts, as well as his totems. The battlefield controlled its lighting to shine the limelight on him. On the ranking, the princess's name dimmed and fell as it was replaced with 'Lin Feng'. The only name larger than his was now the 'Ye Chen' in the center, with the name of the second ranker, 'Gong Yin', being of the same size.

Meow Meow struck a pose in the light while the little yellow chick flapped its tiny wings and flew around at a turtle's pace.

"He defeated her in an instant with his nine totems!"

"Even Ye Chen took a few moments to defeat Gong Yin!"

"This world keeps surprising us with stronger and stronger geniuses!"

The Violetcloud Imperium was a faction that focused on totemancers, but even they didn't have any nonabanes.

"Based on his talent, he's even more impressive for having five lifebound beasts on top of nine totems."

"This isn't just shocking… it's completely world shattering."

The billions of people were still reeling from their initial shock. Now, feelings such as envy, excitement and admiration filled their minds; their imaginations had been set free.

"It probably won't be too much to describe talent as crazy as that as shocking as the fiendgods that once shook the world, right?"

For both Orderia and the Violetglory Star, nonabanes were things of legend. That was why Tianming didn't have to show all ten of his totems. By now, the crowd was going wild and spreading his fame far and wide.

……

Up above the Violetcloud Battlefield were a few astral booths located in a prime spectating spot. The people within had clearly seen everything and they knew the implications of the appearance of a nonabane better than anyone, being the elites of the star. Within one of the booths were five Violetcloud Imperium disciples, their faces pensive.

"We thought of ourselves as the people who stood atop the world. Who knew that there would be people that even we would grow to admire?" Gong Yin said with a bitter smile.

"Senior Brother Gong, what would happen if you were faced with that strike?" Han Xingluan asked.

"I might be able to stop that move with all my totems, but he has lifebound beasts as well. Putting aside his future potential, his lifebound beasts' fighting power combined is probably stronger than his nine totems. It's almost equivalent to him having ten lifebound beasts, or twenty sword totems…."

That was a terrifying realization indeed. Naturally, the difference between an octabane and a nonabane wasn't only the difference of a single totem. Instead, the quality of their Lifesbane was completely different, which also came with differing talents. The other disciples grimaced at Gong Yin's analysis, seeming much humbler than their usual aloof selves.

"Old Master! Old Master!"

The green-eyed old man that stood before them had been blankly standing there for quite a while. When the disciples called out to him, he snapped out of it and said, "What potty? I never said anything about that! You misheard me!"

"Old Master, nobody brought up anything about a potty," Gong Yin said, stifling a laugh.

"Nobody? Ah, I never did either! Ahem!" He patted his chest and feigned a calm appearance.

"Old Master, I recall you saying just now that if Lin Feng wasn't a pill bottle, you'd offer your skull to him to be used as a potty. Do you want us to help you out with it?" asked a beautiful, petite female disciple.

"Nonsense! I never said that! How could words like that come out of a precious young girl like you? If only your words matched your looks…."

The other disciples broke out laughing. They knew that while this old man looked like an unhinged mess, he actually had quite a decent temperament, save for his penchant for childish antics.

"Old Master, you're also shocked by what you saw, right?" Gong Yin asked.

"Yes. He revealed that he's a nonabane, so there isn't much left to be said. We have to take action now."

"What action?"

"A rescue mission, you dolt! Let's return to the palace and assemble a large rescue force for Liu Wanwan! I'm willing to bet the Divineglory Dynasty is behind this. This is a huge chance for us. No matter the cost, we have to find Liu Wanwan. Use everything we have, even all of our informants!"

"All of our informants for a single rescue mission?" The disciples were completely stumped.