Beastmaster of the Ages

"What's so impressive?" Tianming arched an eyebrow. He had a hunch that Gujian Qingshuang was being sarcastic.

Sure enough, the man's blood-stained face was twisted in a scornful expression. "You want to control our lives, force us to obey your orders, and take over the Azuresoul Palace with just an insignificant ability? If it was that easy, those top-ranking experts could take down the sect with a snap of a finger."

"They don't have my bonegnaw ants." Tianming said.

"But they also have ways to make living worse than death!" Gujian Qingshuang grit his teeth.

"It's not the same. I can monitor your every word and deed at any given moment. Even if you resist and choose to die, I'd be losing a pawn, but you'd be losing your life. If you die, someone else will take over the Azuresoul Palace. And perhaps that person will be easier to control than you!"

The bonegnaw ants were an upgrade from the Latticeheart Curse. Once the ants had entered his body, Gujian Qingshuang wouldn't be able to hide anything even if he ran to the ends of the sun. He would be killed the moment he even thought of harming Tianming.

"I'll be honest with you. Almost all those in the upper echelon of the Azuresoul Palace are on my side. You're the only one left." Tianming said.

Gujian Qingshuang fell into despair. At that moment, he began to realize that Tianming was right. Others might also be able to control him, but they would never be able to achieve such a granular degree of that control. With the help of Long Wanying and the other elders, as well as Yin Chen's unique abilities, Tianming was able to strike fear in their hearts.

"You say that you want to use the same method against Yun Tianque…." Gujian Qingshuang's eyes were gloomy.

"Yes, I'll start with the people around him and gradually work my way in. Parts of Yin Chen have already entered the Supracloud Sanctuary to look for opportunities. Once I fully understand their network, I'll eventually come into contact with Yun Tianque one day, even if I start from the small fry! Therefore, the metal veins of the Azuresoul Palace are extremely important to me." Tianming solemnly said.

Upon hearing that, Gujian Qingshuang suddenly burst into laughter.

"What're you laughing at?" Tianming asked in confusion.

"Your ultimate goal is to control the Azurecloud Continent through us head instructors. But how will I know if you're actually in control, or if it's Long Wanying pulling the strings? Or perhaps it's the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. You're just an ignorant child. Do you have the courage to decide the fate of the entire continent? Do you know how many people will die because of your naive and reckless actions if you screw up?" Gujian Qingshuang argued.

"Head Instructor, time will give you the answers to your questions. You just need to watch," said Tianming.

"But you can't deny that you're plunderers! What does the Azurecloud Continent have to do with you outsiders?" Gujian Qingshuang gritted his teeth.

"Headmaster, I'm not an outsider. I want the Azurecloud Continent and Azuresoul Palace to grow to new heights. I can't accept your decision to cut down the Azurecloud Divine Tree." Jiang Qingliu stood up.

"You colluded with outsiders and betrayed your ancestors for glory. How can you claim it's for the good of the sect?" Gujian Qingshuang sneered.

"Head Instructor, you're filled with doubt and malice at the moment. You don't know them and you don't understand Tianming. He's right. Just wait and see what the outcome of this war is and who benefits. Time will reveal everything," Jiang Qingliu said.

"You're plunderers!"

Regardless of Tianming's vision for the future, Gujian Qingshuang was definitely unwilling to fall under someone else's control. As the head of the Gujian clan and the head instructor of the Azuresoul Palace, he wouldn't want to work for others or hand over the sect's fate to outsiders. Tianming would have his sword hanging over Gujian Qingshuang's head the entire time.

"Long Wanying, how can you allow a child to behave so willfully? If calamity befalls the Azurecloud Continent, every one of you here will be a sinner through the ages!" Gujian Qingshuang roared.

"Cutting down the Azurecloud Divine Tree is the real calamity!" Jiang Qingliu retorted.

It was clear there was no getting through to Gujian Qingshuang. The only effective option was the bonegnaw ants. Thus, Tianming refrained from speaking further. Yang Ce and Long Wanying held Gujian Qingshuang down. Tianming had actually brought in a hundred thousand of Yin Chen's eggs. The only reason he tried to convince Gujian Qingshuang was to avoid wasting parts of his lifebound beast. However, it seemed it was his wishful thinking. They could only take the hard way.

"Your crimes are unforgivable. You'll be condemned through the ages! You'll kill hundreds of millions of people. You're all sinners of the continent, especially you, Jiang Qingliu!" Gujian Qingshuang roared as he struggled, his eyes red.

Tianming's gaze turned cold. Without another word, he slashed Gujian Qingshuang on the back with the Grand-Orient Sword and sprinkled bonegnaw ants into the wound. In that instant, the bonegnaw ants frantically rushed into Gujian Qingshuang's body.

The man let out a series of miserable howls. Even with two divine artifacts suppressing him, Long Wanying and the others had to hold the heavily injured man in place. However, Yin Chen was still dying in large numbers. The current death rate was much higher than when it had controlled Ye Buzhiqiu, and Tianming felt the burn. This was the first time so many of Yin Chen's bodies had been destroyed. But when he thought about the metal veins he would obtain by controlling Gujian Qingshuang, he felt relieved.

"You must succeed. Keep going!"

For the bonegnaw ants, it was a war of cannon fodder. The bonegnaw ants that invaded Gujian Qingshuang's body were likely to be crushed by his astralforce and perish in an instant. It was good enough if a dozen or so were successful every now and then.

Gujian Qingshuang miserably howled and cursed at Tianming and Jiang Qingliu.

Tianming was sweating profusely during the entire process; he was under a lot of pressure. Large numbers of Yin Chen were annihilated. In his heart, he knew that failure wasn't an option.

What was originally expected to take an hour ended up taking an entire day, but a million bonegnaw ants eventually penetrated Gujian Qingshuang's bones. His entire body was under Tianming's control. Almost a billion bonegnaw ants had been killed by Gujian Qingshuang in the process. In other words, a hundred thousand silver eggs were lost. Relying on the House of Dongye's private mine, Yin Chen had reached nearly three hundred thousand silver eggs before this. However, with success came hope.

At the end of it all, Gujian Qingshuang was still laughing. "Do you think you've succeeded? You think you can manipulate me and do whatever you want?"

"Try this."

Since Gujian Qingshuang liked the hard way, Tianming did what he wanted. What he suffered was worse than even Ye Buzhiqiu. Gujian Qingshuang rolled on the ground, twitching and convulsing, unable to even scream.

"If I die, all your plans will fall short," Gujian Qingshuang angrily said.

"It's alright. We'll blame your death on Li Wushuang. Then the Azuresoul Hall will be temporarily controlled by two prestigious figures, that is, Ye Dongliu and Granny Mu Hua. They'll assist and cultivate your son, Gujian Xuanyuan, to be the next head instructor. If we take down your son, we can achieve the same result," Tianming said.

"Did you attack my son?" Gujian Qingshuang glared at him.

"No, not for the time being. I won't do it unless it's necessary."

"You cruel bastard!" Gujian Qingshuang shouted. If he dared commit suicide, his son would be next in line. He felt his heart tremble.

"Cut it out, Head Instructor. I just want you to join us. When the time is right, all I need is a thought and you'll regain your freedom. Be obedient and cooperate with us. Look at Ye Dongliu, doesn't he look healthy and happy? He's fine, isn't he? As long as we're in the same boat, everything will be fine. I'm not a pervert, why should I torture you? If you didn't have your eye on the Azuresoul Tower, we wouldn't have come to this point. Do you understand?" Tianming said.

"Head Instructor, trust me just this once. He hasn't done anything to me or my son since he took control of us," Ye Dongliu persuaded.

"Scram!" Gujian Qingshuang resentfully glared at him. He had to look at Tianming with new eyes. "So I'm forced to join you, and no matter what you do in the future, I'll have to give my all?" he asked.

"Give your all? You don't have to exaggerate. The only thing you need to do right now is open the metal veins for me. After all, you have many other types of ore veins. It won't affect the forging of weapons. I also want to be able to enter the Swordbath Pool as I please," Tianming added.

"Fine!" Although he was unwilling, Gujian Qingshuang had surrendered, at least for the time being. He had accepted reality. The bonegnaw ants in his body reminded him that his life, the Azuresoul Palace, his son, and the Gujian clan could all be completely controlled by others. However, he was relieved to find out that Tianming was indeed in charge, not the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect.

"Head Instructor, welcome! Let's go home!" Tianming said.

"The Azuresoul Palace is no longer my home." Gujian Qingshuang sadly looked up.

"I've seemed to rob the place of the host. But it's alright, I'm here to help you build up our home." Tianming smiled.

Gujian Qingshuang was so furious he could vomit blood.

…

Five days later, Tianming had finally finished placing Yin Chen in half of the Azurecloud Continent's metal veins. Gujian Qingshuang withdrew all the guards, suspended the mining, and arranged for them to harvest divine herbs. Naturally, no one objected.

Yin Chen was having a great time. After its initial observation, Yin Chen informed Tianming that the mines had enough metal for its numbers to reach two million. What a terrifying figure! That was equivalent to twenty million cockroaches, or twenty billion bonegnaw ants.