Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming already thought it was miraculous enough that Xian Xian was able to confuse armies on the battlefield, yet his fifth Primordial Chaos Beast had completely exceeded his expectations.

"Sect Master Yun, I need your help," Tianming cordially said.

"No way!" Yun Tianque said.

"Fine. I'll let you have a taste of the 'pleasure'. I'll stop when you agree."

"Don't force me to kill myself."

"Feel free. I can just switch to Lu Yuanji, it's all the same to me. Though it'll be a little hard to unite your sect with you gone, Lu Yuanji also has her own form of influence. I'll still be able to use her to my own ends. Not to mention, you promised your children that you were going to take them fishing. Don't forget it."

"Are you threatening me with them?"

"You're overthinking it. I won't do anything to them, I just think it's a shame that a father would break a promise with his children over stubborn pride rather than becoming a brave revolutionary."

"You're shameless!"

"Whoa! Enough with the flattery!"

The bonegnaw ants went to work, causing Yun Tianque to writhe and twitch to the point that his tears uncontrollably flowed and veins pulsed. He clawed at his throat, but he couldn't even cry out in pain. The pain lasted seventeen breaths of time.

"I wanted to wait a little bit more, but one pair of the divine tree's saplings is already dead. Didn't you feel bad when you heard the cry of the divine tree?"

"Ugh… ugh…." Even after it all ended, Yun Tianque was still clawing at the ground with his hands, and Tianming's reminder about the divine tree was rubbing salt on the wound. This junior didn't mess around at all and had experienced far more things than those of his age, including three years of struggles and despair at his lowest point.

Yun Tianque took a deep breath and said, "Fine, the ore mines are all yours." He closed his eyes and gripped his fists tight.

"Thank you, Senior Yun. Don't agonize over it. One day, you'll come to thank yourself for having made the right decision." It all turned out as Tianming had planned. No matter how much Yun Tianque wanted to deny it, the situation of his sect, and the divine tree, as well as the threat of the bonegnaw ants gave him no choice but to side with Tianming. His mouth might be stubborn, but his body was quick to learn to fear the pain.

"Enough of your brainwashing. I'm not buying it," Yun Tianque said.

"You're mistaken. This isn't brainwashing. I was just thinking that if I were your son, I'd definitely hope that you're a hero rather than a traitor. If you were the latter, it'd leave a bad taste for the rest of my life."

"Isn't submitting to you the same as betraying my sect?"

"It's not the same. The wargodeans and Blueblood Starocean are subjugating you with sheer violence, and they'll make you kneel to them for the rest of your life. However, I only need you to cooperate with me for a time. When the time is right, I will release you. Perhaps we can even be friends."

"You'll let me go? How can I trust you?" The last thing he wanted was to remain in this nightmare.

"It isn't something I'm willing to promise yet. We'll see how things go. The point is if you dare to revolt against them and stand with me, I'll eventually dare to release you. It depends on how well you do."

Yun Tianque stayed silent.

"I still have to thank you. Now, all the mines on the Azurecloud Continent are mine, so I'll be able to increase the body count of my lifebound beast to five million."

"When will you show me its main body?" Yun Tianque asked, curious as to what kind of monster it was. His imagination was running wild.

"There's no rush. You'll see it one day." In fact, he already had. Even the smallest of bonegnaw ants was just as real as Yin Chen's other bodies.

……

The Blueblood Starocean, Empyrean Sword Sect, and wargodeans soon formed perimeters around the thirty-five spots where the saplings had sprouted. The two swordlords left the Azuresoul Sword Mountain to go to the front lines, staring down at the enemies across the border. The entire continent was permeated by killing intent.

There was one thing the two sides shared in common: they each saw the saplings as treasures that they shouldn't destroy no matter what. That was why Tianming was willing to use the saplings to fan the flames of conflict between the two sides. They would be expending their own lives to defend the sapling sites.

There was an additional twist to the plan; Yan Nuxia and her thousands of allies from her sect went to the Empyrean Sword Sect to cause trouble after 'finding out' about the saplings. Long Wanying also applied pressure as the representative of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. No matter what, they couldn't be lazy with keeping up the act. It would be most unnatural if they didn't do anything after word of the saplings' appearance had spread.

After much arguing and threats, the Group of Celestial Maiden Halls obtained the right to guard two pairs of saplings instead of the half they had originally demanded, not that they had much of a choice. There were only a few thousand of them, while the Empyrean Sword Sect had a hundred and ten thousand swordpupils. The fact that they even got two was thanks to Long Wanying's quick wit in negotiating.

Naturally, she made sure to choose the two pairs that were closer to the sect, which made their assignment safer. There was little chance they would clash with the other side while defending there. All of it was to create the false impression that the Azuresoul Palace was on the Empyrean Sword Sect's side. Not to mention, guarding the saplings didn't necessarily mean that they would be given the saplings at the very end, so the Empyrean Sword Sect wasn't too bothered by it. At the very least, they believed that they already had half of the continent under their control, a sentiment that was shared by Li Wushuang and the others on the opposite side.

……

Large numbers of cultivators had gathered around the thirty-five sapling sites for the past two days. Yin Chen reported that Li Wushuang had left with Li Haochen, the Tumulus Pill God, Yun Tianque, and the rest toward the Azuresoul Sword Mountain.

"What're they going to do here?" Long Wanying asked.

"Li Haochen broke through to the ninth level and grew greatly in strength. Li Wushuang prevented him from leaving because she couldn't stand the fact that the celestial orderians lost. Now she wants him to fight me in a rematch to regain their lost honor," Tianming nonchalantly said.

"Heh. That's her personality, alright. She never admits her losses, and even if she truly has lost, she disregards all other rules and continues trying to oppress others. She'll stoop to using any underhanded trick in the book, like an obsessed demon who thinks her destiny is to win every single battle she fights."

Only Li Wushuang could pull off something like forcefully dragging her nephew into a rematch for her own lost honor. Her pride as one of the hegemons of the sun ran too deep in her bones.