Beastmaster of the Ages

Everyone had lines that they wouldn't cross. Tianming's was that he would try his best not to harm innocent people if he could. Using their weaknesses was one thing, but the question lay in how they were used. Sovereign Xi had used the threat of slaughter to get Tianming to bend to her will, but that was completely different from Tianming using Yun Tianque's family to lure him into a trap. The main difference was how the hostages were treated.

He wasn't the kind of fool that would give up on a great chance to build his faction just because he wanted to be known as a 'good guy', so he didn't feel any remorse when resorting to less than savory methods. After all, being ethical and judgmental was the luxury of the rich and powerful, who dictated what was acceptable and what wasn't. While Li Muyang had advocated for him to live an upright life, Li Wudi had taught him how to bend the rules. An upright man without any tricks up his sleeve would only be a saint, not a ruler. Now that Tianming had gotten Ye Buzhiqiu to send Yun Tianque's family back, he focused entirely on the battle in the cauldron.

"These people are so powerful!" Tianming was a little awed by the rumbles coming from within the cauldron. "They should be peak solarians, right? That puts them at the top of Orderia! Even the youngest of them is around eight centuries old…. I'm still so far off from where they are." If it weren't for Yin Chen, there would be no way Tianming could pull them into his circle and make things go as he had planned. It would have been impossible for someone of his age to carry out something like that. Even now, Yun Tianque had completely no idea that the mastermind of everything was outside the cauldron.

The battle proceeded without wasted words. There was only one response: killing his enemies. Yun Tianque used all the trump cards he had to survive. The battle continued for fifteen minutes, during which the rumbles of the cauldron shook even the mountains around them. However, it wouldn't matter even if others discovered what was going on. Goldridge Mountain had a defensive formation, after all, and Ye Dongliu was also standing guard outside.

"I have to hold on!" Yu Ziqian said, his face flushed with effort.

Tianming wanted to enter to see what a fight between solarians looked like, but it wouldn't fly. Not only would he be dragged into it, he might even be a weak link in the chain that Yun Tianque could exploit. Right as he thought that, the lid of the cauldron was busted open.

"Not good!" A huge explosion caused Yu Ziqian to dive into the mud. Tianming hurriedly jumped aside as well and also ended up completely covered in mud. Fortunately, that made Yun Tianque miss them. If they had been caught, their effort would have completely gone to waste.

Looking through the rubble, Tianming noticed that the nimbus emperor was the one who had busted open the lid of the cauldron. It was a unique cloud-like lifeform similar to those that Tianming had encountered before in his fight with Yun Feiyang. However, the nimbus emperor was far bigger and was able to break open the cauldron simply by expanding its body. Loads of cloudstuff rose into the air, pushing apart the mud. Yun Tianque had likely escaped the cauldron amidst the clouds.

"This is bad." Tianming had heard that Yun Tianque was far better at slipping away than Gujian Qingshuang because of his unique lifebound beast. Fortunately, a black-robed youth rushed out of the cauldron with so much force that the aftershock caused Tianming to cough out a bit of blood. He saw many black totems surrounding the man, covering the sky and radiating fiendish energy throughout the entire battlefield. These were Yang Ce's darknight truefiends. They formed a gigantic cage that trapped the nimbus emperor within before dragging it back into the cauldron. The nimbus emperor raged, its roars so loud that they seemed able to shatter eardrums.

"Yu Ziqian, close it!" Long Wanying yelled.

"Alright!" Yu Ziqian burst out of the rubble and moved the lid back on the cauldron, sealing it shut once the nimbus emperor had been dragged back inside. "Phew! We almost let him get away! Yang Ce really is impressive. As expected of the grand minister."

"I saw it too. It looked like he had eight totems, the only octabane that isn't with the celestial orderians," Tianming said. Not even the totemancers of the Blueblood Starocean—including the Deluge Emperor—were octabanes. However, Yang Ce hadn't been described as an octabane, as far as anyone was concerned, so it was probably a secret. Or it could also be something that he had awakened later in life, much like Sovereign Xi had tried to, in the same fashion as her ancestor, the Eightmoon Swordsage, had.

"Senior Yang Ce said that he could take on one of the two swordlords himself. With his help, we'll definitely be able to conquer anything," Tianming said.

"Aunt Ying must be super charming or something. Why're the men around her all so powerful? I heard her late husband was said to be the second coming of the Ninedragon Emperor…. What a shame," Yu Ziqian lamented. Regardless, their priority now was to take down Yun Tianque.

"Gan Gangan, focus. Don't let him escape again," Tianming said.

"Got it. Don't worry, it was just a careless slip earlier."

The two of them continued waiting; the dust had yet to settle.

"Boss, you said the continent would be united once you deal with Yun Tianque, right?" Yu ZIqian asked.

"No," Tianming said, shaking his head.

"Then when will it be united?"

"Once we drive out the Blueblood Starocean, Empyrean Sword Sect, wargodeans, and the celestial orderians. Only then can we make sure all of the divine tree's fruits belong to the denizens of the continent. That is what true unification looks like."

Compared to taking over the two sects, that was a much more difficult goal. The players in the game would include the Warlord, Northdipper Swordsage, Deluge Emperor, and perhaps even the Sun Emperor. Not to mention, Li Wushuang was also a huge unknown. As far as Tianming was concerned, he would benefit from gaining access to the divine ores of the continent. The divine herbs were only secondary. But naturally, his goals extended beyond just that. He wanted to build a firm foundation on the sun and eventually bring his dynasty here in the next century. If he really managed to make a contribution to the people of the Azurecloud Continent, he would end up as a hero here, and possibly even their emperor in the future.

"Not to mention, stabilizing the continent could help out the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect." Long Wanying and Yang Ce had helped him a lot. Without them, this future wouldn't even have been a possibility for him. Now, Tianming believed he belonged not just with the Sky Palace, but with the Azuresoul Palace and Xuanyuan Dragon Sect as well.

"Do your best, seniors. Once we secure the internal factions of the continent, we'll drive the outsiders away!" At the very least, Tianming would consider the best way to deal with the divine herbs that was fair to both sects.

The cauldron continued rumbling as the battle went on, but nothing like the previous escape happened again. That was when Yun Tianque had been fighting at his prime, but by now even someone as strong as him would have been heavily wounded in a battle against five people that were so powerful. Yang Ce alone was probably enough to kill him, though controlling him required much more than just that. Still, Yang Ce's presence was what had really made Tianming's plan work in the first place. Without him, it would be difficult to deal with even Gujian Qingshuang. Tianming felt really grateful to Long Wanying's vast network of allies for that. Being sincere, smart, and straightforward made it easy to make friends.

The nimbus emperor let out one final roar of grief before things settled down in the cauldron. Finally, it had succeeded, and all that remained was the takeover.

"Come in, Tianming," Long Wanying said, sounding a little weak.

"Alright." The cauldron opened and Tianming saw a heavily-wounded Yun Tianque before him.