Beastmaster of the Ages

"They're all cunning and insidious men. They won't take risks if they're uncertain of the outcome. The only challenge now is whether or not the bonegnaw ants succeed." Tianming said.

"I can't imagine…." Yu Ziqian was speechless.

"He mustn't be allowed to leave the Divine Worldeater Cauldron. The formation is merely insurance."

"Alright!" Yu Ziqian used all his strength to maintain the seal on the cauldron.

Inside the cauldron, the battle was becoming more and more violent. The entire mine shook; caves collapsed and boulders fell. The devastation happened to bury the cauldron underground. Tianming and Yu Ziqian hid in the cracks of the cauldron so they wouldn't be buried under the rubble.

"Aunt Ying chose the right location. The mine collapsed and buried us all! Even if the head instructor escapes the cauldron, he'll still have to dig his way out," said Yu Ziqian.

"You're right."

They were optimistic about the situation. But at that moment, the cauldron violently trembled. If it weren't for the obstruction of the fallen rocks, the cauldron's lid would have already tipped over.

"The head instructor is really strong!" Circulating his astralforce, Yu Ziqian channeled all of his power into keeping the cauldron sealed as the impacts from within seemed to hit Yu Ziqian's body. He was close to vomiting blood.

There was nothing Tianming could do to help him. Instead, he blocked the opening with his lifebound beasts. The lid cracked open several times but the elders seemed to act quickly, forcefully dragging Gujian Qingshuang and his lifebound beasts back. The thunderous battle continued inside.

"How despicable!" Gujian Qingshuang's resentful bellows sounded from within, indicating that the fight was almost over.

Tianming had to admit that he admired Gujian Qingshuang. It had been about an hour, but there was still movement inside the cauldron. That meant the five elders had yet to completely subdue him.

"It seems it's harder to restrain than to kill." After all, Gujian Qingshuang had the help of his lifebound beasts. Taking them down wouldn't be easy.

"They have to ensure that Gujian Qingshuang can no longer fight at all before letting me in."

After more than an hour, the entire cave had collapsed. If one were to view the mountain from the sky, they would notice an enormous area that was now a pit. If it weren't for the formation, such a loud movement would have attracted those within a hundred mile radius. The elders had made a wise choice in taking advantage of the House of Dongye's private mine.

Several transmission stones flew out from the crevices, but they were all blocked by Yin Chen's quick hands. They didn't even make it to the formation.

Two hours later, calm was restored.

"Tianming, come in." Long Wanying shouted.

"They succeeded!"

Yu Ziqian and Tianming exchanged a joyful look. They were both overwhelmed with excitement from taking down the head instructor of a second-rate sect. Tidying himself, Tianming grabbed a large number of Yin Chen's eggs and entered the cauldron. At the moment, the interior was already lit. With just one glance, Tianming noticed the Azuresoul Tower. The next thing that caught his attention was the blood-soaked man suppressed by the tower. His body was wrapped with dense black threads. This was Yang Ce's divine artifact.

Gujian Qingshuang was still struggling and roaring with anger, glaring at the rest of them with his blood-red eyes. In order to completely restrain him, the five elders had all sustained minor injuries. In particular, Ye Dongliu seemed to have been wounded by Gujian Qingshuang's sword. With his abdomen still bleeding, he shrank to the side and sighed.

Tianming walked up to Gujian Qingshuang, while Long Wanying followed close behind him. "Be careful. He's much stronger than we expected."

"Alright."

It was clear that Tianming had been the one behind their actions today. He had only appeared after Long Wanying and the others imprisoned Gujian Qingshuang, instead of killing him.

Tianming stood in front of the head instructor. "Head Instructor, I know you have many questions. We have a lot of time today. I'll answer them one by one."

After another fierce struggle, Gujian Qingshuang suddenly gloomily laughed. "Alright, let's cut to the chase. I'm still confused. How did Jiang Qingliu know about my plans to kill him and seize the Azuresoul Tower? How did you get Ye Dongliu to work for you?"

"The answer is here, Head Instructor." A small silver egg appeared in Tianming's hand. The egg turned into ten cockroaches that became invisible at once. It was as if they had disappeared completely.

"Did you see that? They might have disappeared right before your eyes, but they still exist. The moment I arrived at the Azuresoul Sword Mountain, they began spreading all over. I heard every word you said to Shi Yan and Ye Dongliu."

Gujian Qingshuang stared in wide-eyed shock. Gasping for air, he looked at Tianming with disbelief. "It devoured the metal vein? And as a result, it can increase in numbers?" Gujian Qingshuang asked, his voice hoarse.

"Yes. That's why I desperately wanted metal veins. My lifebound beast needs more counterparts to invade the Supracloud Sanctuary." Tianming nodded.

Gujian Qingshuang was obviously very intelligent to have discovered the crux of the matter so quickly. "Then what about Ye Dongliu?" He couldn't figure it out. Why had Ye Dongliu so completely surrendered?

"That involves the Bonesea Silverstar you gave me." The cockroaches in Tianming's hands reappeared and transformed into tens of thousands of metal bonegnaw ants. They crawled all over his hands. "It's called the bonegnaw ant, and it can parasitize your bones so that you obey only me throughout the rest of your life," Tianming explained.

Gujian Qingshuang was stupefied as Tianming described the effects of the bonegnaw ants in detail.

"So you want to control me because I was going to kill Jiang Qingliu? What're you planning?" Gujian Qingshuang dejectedly asked.

"That's not the only reason. Our views are completely different, so it's impossible for us to work together. Since that's the case, I can only force you to stand on my side. Don't worry, you won't suffer any losses. I'm not a sinister and self-indulgent man, nor am I as stubborn as you. I can combine our strength and give the Azurecloud Continent a chance at rebirth!"

"How will you do that?" Gujian Qingshuang asked through gritted teeth.

"Through controlling you. You'll open all Azuresoul Palace's mines for my use so Yin Chen can multiply, invade the Supracloud Sanctuary, and monitor Yun Tianque's actions. Then I'll deal with him the same way I dealt with you. With you and him both under my command, the two will secretly unite. There's much that can be achieved once the entire continent becomes one. We'll no longer be led by the nose!"

Gujian Qingshuang burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Tianming asked.

"How impressive!"

Tianming didn't expect to hear those words.