Beastmaster of the Ages

The Wave Mountains was a nondescript mountain range in the territory of the Supracloud Sanctuary. The natural scenery there was great to behold, especially when it was admired through the thin veils of mist and cloud that shrouded much of the area. Hidden behind the mist and clouds were layer after layer of illusory divine formations that wouldn't even be detected by someone unless they were a powerful elite. There was little chance for most people to find the area sealed within.

Tianming, Long Wanying, and Yang Ce had come to this place, with the others having gone to the Goldridge Mountain to wait. They were going to fortify the area and deal with Yun Tianque using the same method they had used on Gujian Qingshuang, but that meant they had to lure him to that area somehow. They were close to the Clearriver Sword Sect, which was located not far from both the Azuresoul Palace and Supracloud Sanctuary, so it wasn't considered deep within the Azuresoul Palace's territory. That made it a place Yun Tianque could accept going to.

"If we break the formations here, we might alert Yun Tianque. So we have to act fast," Long Wanying said.

"We don't have to do that, Aunt Ying. Let me handle it," Tianming said. Then, he showed them his talents as a sky plunderer as he opened the way, tearing apart one illusion after another till they reached the main grade-six divine formation. Then he used the crimson-red claws on his black arm and expended quite a bit of effort to tear a hole open. During the whole process, the other two watched him in a stupefied manner.

"What in the world is that?" The longer Long Wanying spent beside Tianming, the more mysterious he felt to him.

Tianming merely smiled at them without elaborating. Then they raised their pace and snuck inside, only to discover a microcosmic paradise within. There was a sea of flowers, a huge lake, and a rather large courtyard beside it. The sound of children happily playing came from there. The three of them approached and saw two children, a boy and a girl, playing with their lifebound beasts. Having inherited the bloodline of Yun Tianque, their lifebound beasts were nimbus-type beasts. The two of them laid flat on the floating clouds as they happily flew about.

There was a building beyond the courtyard in which a serenely beautiful woman busied herself cooking for her children, wearing a gentle expression the whole time. In terms of looks alone, she couldn't compare to Lu Yuanji, a woman from a prestigious family, one bit. Yet she was probably precisely the kind of person that would make a home feel peaceful and comfortable.

"Yun Tianque's sneaky and devious actions have caused the Azuresoul Palace much grief. I didn't think he'd have it in him to form a nice family like that," Long Wanying said.

"There's no such thing as a purely good person, nor is there a purely evil person. I don't know whether I'd be considered good or evil myself. People are complicated, and slapping a label on them is doing them a disservice. No person is one dimensional," Tianming said. Even Gujian Qingshuang had moments when he acted ruthlessly, but that was borne of his love for his sect.

As they spoke, the three of them entered the courtyard. When the woman saw them, she dropped the plate she was holding on the ground, causing the children to turn to them. "Are you Brother Yun's enemies?" she asked, hurriedly hugging her children close.

"We used to be his enemies, but from now on we'll be his friends," Tianming said.

She tried sending a transmission stone, but that was foiled.

"Don't worry. We won't let any harm come to you. All we need is a favor to lead Yun Tianque somewhere. After that, we'll send you back here," Tianming said.

"I…." She seemed really fearful.

"Do you know who he is?" Long Wanying asked.

"He said he had the same name as the sect master of the Supracloud Sanctuary by sheer coincidence, but…." She was no fool and had had a gut feeling about his true identity for quite a while now.

"Please come with us," Long Wanying said.

The woman carried her children with her, not resisting one bit. She knew there was nothing she could do and she had no choice but to follow them.

"Relax," Tianming said to her after teasing the children a bit. He left a silver egg there before they departed. Yin Chen would tell Yun Tianque where to go once he returned.

……

Meanwhile, at Goldridge Mountain, the preparations were complete. When they had subdued Gujian Qingshuang, they'd dealt quite a lot of damage to the surroundings. However, that wouldn't be a problem this time. They had to lure Gujian Qingshuang in without making him suspect anything before, but this time around, they wouldn't give Yun Tianque any choice. They simply left open a path that led into the Divine Worldeater Cauldron.

After Tianming arrived with the hostages, the invisible cockroaches near Yun Tianque appeared when he was cultivating and told him that they had his family and demanded that he go to Goldridge Mountain to take them back. As expected, his expression completely changed. He grabbed the talking cockroach and went to the Wave Mountains first. This place was a closely kept secret that he hadn't revealed to anyone, yet his family was gone!

"Who was it?!" Seeing the metallic cockroach instantly reminded him of Tianming. He knew it was a trap, but he had no choice! He mounted his nimbus emperor and immediately headed in Goldridge Mountain's direction, alone and without hesitation. When he entered, he did as Yin Chen said and immediately entered the cauldron. After that, the hostages had played their part.

"Ying'er…." Yun Tianque immediately spotted Gujian Qingshuang, Long Wanying, Yang Ce, and the rest, as well as his family. Seeing them safe and sound, he breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that he had come was a sign that they were his weakness. The sect master of the Supracloud Sanctuary had never imagined that anyone would be able to get their hands on his family. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Aren't you all amazing? How resourceful of you. To think that you could even find out about what the others in the Supracloud Sanctuary are completely ignorant of! I'm impressed!"

"I'm also impressed by your sentimentality, Brother Yun," Gujian Qingshuang said.

"Just say it. What do you want? To kill me? I know that you've come for me, so at the very least, do the right thing and leave my family out of it. I'll take everything in their place."

"Of course. We'll immediately send them back right now," Gujian Qingshuang said, much to Yun Tianque's surprise.

Tianming would probably have a firmer hold on him with these three people as hostages compared to using his bonegnaw ants, but he had never intended for them to serve such a purpose.

"Brother Yun… we'll…."

"Go back first," Yun Tianque said, then turned and glared at Gujian Qingshuang, thinking that he was the one who had masterminded the whole thing. "If you go back on your word, I'll never spare you and come back to haunt you as a ghost!"

"Relax. They've played their parts, and it's not like you'll never see them again. Even though you're my archenemy, I'm not nearly as merciless as you are," Gujian Qingshuang said. That was the difference in the way they conducted themselves. Had their positions been reversed, things might not have turned out the same way.

Yun Tianque watched as Ye Buzhiqiu escorted his family away, but he couldn't leave. "How can I be sure they'll be safe?"

"Well, try not to die and go back home to see for yourself," Gujian Qingshuang said.

"Fine!" He had accepted his fate. When he had come, he'd been fraught with worry, only for him to realize that things weren't as bad as he'd imagined. "Gujian Qingshuang, if you ever let me get a hold of your weakness, I'll make sure I squeeze the life out of you before my very eyes." He gave his nemesis a fierce, yet respectful look.

"If it were up to me, I'd do the same. However, I'm not the one calling the shots today," Gujian Qingshuang said.

"Then who is? Long Wanying? Yang Ce?" Yun Tianque looked at the others. There were five enemies in total, including Yan Nuxia and Jiang Qingliu. Long Wanying and Yang Ce alone were each stronger than him, while Yan Nuxia and Gujian Qingshuang were at least as powerful as he was. Jiang Qingliu, on the other hand, could use the Azuresoul Tower to suppress him.

The Divine Worldeater Cauldron's entrance finally closed tightly shut. Yu Ziqian's mastery over the divine artifact was growing by the day. They had all come fully prepared.

"Once you're defeated and unable to resist, you'll know who's calling the shots. It definitely isn't anyone you'd expect!" Gujian Qingshuang said. What had happened to him would soon be happening to Yun Tianque. The feeling of dragging another crab to the bottom of the bucket with him was refreshing indeed! That was why he would be giving it his all today, putting in even more effort than the rest. It was the only way they could deal with Yun Tianque; there was no point in negotiating!

"Even if I die, I'll make sure you all suffer for it!" That was Yun Tianque's only desire right then. Once more, a grand battle involving the top elites of the continent took place. Yun Tianque would be facing even greater odds than Gujian Qingshuang had. Reverberations were again felt from outside the cauldron, where Tianming and Yu Ziqian were.

"It used to be a crazy pipe dream… I didn't think we would reach our final step so soon!" Ye Buzhiqiu, Ye Dongliu, and Gujian Qingshuang had joined Tianming's ranks without any hiccups at all.

"To think that we thought we'd have to start from Yun Tianque's subordinates first before directly making our way to him… Who knew that he'd be the first from the Supracloud Sanctuary to fall to us?" Yu Ziqian said.

Luck itself had greatly accelerated Tianming's plans to unite the Azurecloud Continent. If things went well, Yun Tianque's wife and children would have greatly contributed to their cause. Ye Buzhiqiu was obediently sending the three of them back; he had no choice. His every move was being monitored by the bonegnaw ants living within him, and an instant, yet painful, death would be his only fate should he choose to disobey.

Now that Tianming controlled Gujian Qingshuang, the Ye father and son pair was no longer as useful to him, so they had to serve to remain alive. As for returning to their home through the formations, Yun Tianque's wife knew how to activate their markings, so she wouldn't have a problem bringing her children back. Ye Buzhiqiu, however, wouldn't be able to go back in. No doubt, when they reached home, Yun Tianque would be able to feel it, unlike when they were taken from their homes as Tianming had directly torn open the formation without touching its markings.