Beastmaster of the Ages

"Me? An old hag? How could you?! You were the one that crippled Shi Yan! You started it all! You're the one that doesn't know what's good for them!" The Rain Swordlord was the third most powerful elite in the Empyrean Sword Sect. When she encountered Li Wushuang, the others quickly backed away in fear of being caught up in their fight. The next instant, the Rain Swordlord charged in with her ninesky celestial cranes, ushering in one of the most explosive battles on the battlefield!

Li Wushuang's totems emerged from her bane-rings and turned into eight gigantic moon goddesses that radiated a holy aura. However, their faces were incredibly ugly, being covered in fiendish fangs. All eight pairs of their devilishly red eyes looked straight at the Rain Swordlord. The aura of death that came from them far overpowered their holy aura, making it so that others would perceive nothing but hostility from her totems.

That was a rather weird manifestation of totems. Usually, the totemancers of the sun emperor's line had totems that radiated auras of justice and righteousness. Li Wushuang's totems, faces aside, had beautiful and shapely figures fit for the holy aura they exuded, but all of it completely paled in comparison to their bestially violent faces. In some ways, totems were manifested in accordance to the cultivator's personality. These totems were rather rare among celestial orderians throughout history and were known as ghostface moongoddesses. Their demonic visage reflected Li Wushuang's inner psyche, completely offsetting the beauty and elegance of their figures but enhancing their combat abilities. People always had to think twice before fighting Li Wushuang.

Currently, she wielded her bloody sword with an expression of ferocity beside her gigantic totems. Together, they looked like female demons that guarded the gates of hell. Their fiendish aura concentrated to form a blackish red miasma that came assaulting toward the Rain Swordlord.

Each of the totems had differently featured, but similarly garish faces. Some were filled with red eyes of fury; others had gigantic, bloody mouths; and there were even those that had rotting faces with maggots sprouting from them. No amount of beauty from their limbs or torsos could cover up their vomit-inducing faces. Other people aside, even Tianming felt his scalp tingle at first sight. They were the logical combination of goddesses and fiends!

Though the Rain Swordlord was older than Li Wushuang, she looked far more pleasant, especially considering the elegant combination she formed with her ninesky celestial cranes. Li Wushuang was so horrifying that it almost made the Rain Swordlord seem far less annoying than usual.

Li Wushuang came bearing down with her totems and weapon, the Skymoon Holyfiend.

"This battle…." Tianming noted Li Wushuang's boundless hostility. When she began her slaughter, most people from the Empyrean Sword Sect hadn't dared to approach her. The chaotic battle between the strongest solarians sent shockwaves across the land, damaging many branches of the divine tree. The ninesky celestial cranes' ability was unleashed to counter the ghostface moongoddesses' totemic calamity, causing radiant white light and a thick, bloody mist to envelop the whole battlefield. Tianming only heard the sound of the fight and couldn't quite see through all the mess, so he didn't know which side was winning.

The swordlords, Li Wushuang, the Tumulus Pill God, and Yang Ce were among the strongest people currently on the continent, far stronger than Gujian Qingshuang and Long Wanying. However, the gap between Tianming and those elites was incredibly wide, to the point that he couldn't even tell what the difference between them was. The only thing he was sure of was that Li Wushuang fought furiously to the point that her totems' killing aura made him feel uncomfortable even from tens of thousands of meters away. It was like he had been dragged into hell.

"Actually, her totems weren't always ghostface moongoddesses. They started off as brightmoon goddesses, but their faces gradually morphed into what they are today. It's like they've been switched out. It probably reflects the changes in her psyche. When she was younger, she was much better, but now she's fiercer than she ever was," Long Wanying lamented.

"Totems can change?" This was news to Tianming.

"When people's hearts and minds change, there's a chance their totems will reflect the changes. Even if they don't completely change, you can't avoid some fundamental adjustments. The terra is the basis for totems, after all, and it's part of the soul," Yang Ce said.

"I see." Though the two women were fighting harder and harder, Tianming still couldn't tell who was winning. At the very least, he could tell that the Rain Swordlord's swordsmanship was impressive, and that her lifebound beasts paired rather well in the fight against Li Wushuang.

"Who'll win this fight?" he couldn't help but ask Long Wanying.

"Yang Ce, I'll leave that to you," Long Wanying said.

Yang Ce squinted and said, "Li Wushuang has her weapon, the Skymoon Holyfiend, and her totems are stronger than I expected. I believe she's about as powerful as me or the Tumulus Pill God."

"I see," Long Wanying said, taking in a breath of cold air.

"It's no surprise, considering her status," Yang Ce said. Li Wushuang had everything she could ever need as the sun emperor's sister.

"In other words, she might defeat the Rain Swordlord, right?" Tianming asked.

"She's not trying to defeat her, but to kill her," Yang Ce said.

Tianming exchanged glances with Long Wanying, who said, "Lan Sha already died today. If the Rain Swordlord dies, too, the stakes for the Empyrean Sword Sect will be even higher. The conflict will grow to a whole new level. If the Rain Swordlord dies, there's no way the Northdipper Swordsage will just sit and watch."

"Will we lose control of the situation?" Tianming asked.

"No. Fundamentally, we, the Azuresoul Palace, and the Supracloud Sanctuary aren't related to this. All we have to do is to stay out of it. The Saintdragon Emperor told me that if we really require it, he can temporarily send some people to our side." Even a suppressed Xuanyuan Dragon Sect was nothing that could be made light of. They were the second strongest faction, so they still had tricks up their sleeves if the circumstances really required it.

Tianming and the others' goal was simple: protect the saplings and obtain most of the divine herbs. They would be fine as long as they stayed out of this conflict, no matter how badly it turned out for those involved.

Long Wanying looked at the battlefield in deep thought. After a while, she said, "At the end of the day, Li Wushuang, Blueblood Starocean, and the wargodeans are our main enemy. The Empyrean Sword Sect is just our second priority. We have to deal with the former first before we'll have a chance to deal with the latter. If the Rain Swordlord is killed by Li Wushuang, given Li Wushuang's status, the Northdipper Swordsage might have a good justification for forming an alliance with other factions in the Myriad Solar Sects.

"The alliance's first priority might be to eradicate Li Wushuang and her lackeys, so we'll be left with our second-priority enemy. In that case, the many other factions within the alliance will complicate how the divine herbs are distributed. We'll also be facing two issues: first, Yun Tianque has to cut ties with Li Wushuang and the rest before the Northdipper Swordsage steps in to protect himself and the sect. Without 'help' from the outsiders, there's a chance that they can defend their divine herbs by relying on the defensive formation of their sect. After all, Li Wushuang's forces don't seem too powerful based on what we can see now.

"Second, we'll have to deal with things on our side. There'll be too many factions wanting a cut of the divine herbs the Azuresoul Palace has. Not even the Northdipper Swordsage will have a good solution for that, so I can have the Saintdragon Emperor and the rest come here. After all, our sect was invited to come and help according to the regulations dictated by Sky Palace, just like the Empyrean Sword Sect was. Otherwise, the divine fruits are rightfully supposed to belong to only the Supracloud Sanctuary and Azuresoul Palace. The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect can help us secure more divine herbs than our forces are currently able to. Even if that doesn't work, the Supracloud Sanctuary still gets to keep most of their divine herbs, and all of that combined is still a far larger share than they got to keep in previous harvests."

The fight between Li Wushuang and the Rain Swordlord was quite an unexpected one, yet Long Wanying had already started to make plans in the event of the swordlord's death. It was clear that if the Empyrean Sword Sect were to suffer heavy casualties in this battle, it might trigger the formation of an alliance, which would be convenient for wiping out Li Wushuang's faction, their first-priority enemy.

It was crucial for Yun Tianque to cut ties with them before that happened, and given the pressure the Northdipper Swordsage would no doubt apply to Li Wushuang's faction, there would be little she could do about the Supracloud Sanctuary. If Yun Tianque were ever to take action for his own benefit, it would only be a matter of time before he turned his back toward Li Wushuang.

"That's all just a preliminary analysis, anyway. Whether things turn out as I expect isn't something I can promise. We can only keep watch by relying on Tianming's unique talent." The developments on this continent would affect the future of Orderia as a whole.

"The divine tree is already at its blooming prime. For now, the saplings aren't really doing anything, not that we're even able to take care of them for now. We might as well get the two sects to focus on harvesting divine herbs while the outsiders' attention is focused on the saplings. That way we'll be able to react quicker when the time comes. Apart from that, we'll keep watch for any changes concerning the saplings," Tianming said.

"That's right." It was impossible to want both the saplings and the divine herbs. That was beyond the ability of the two main sects of the continent.

"Let them continue slaughtering each other over the saplings. At the very least, they don't seem too keen on destroying them." The Azuresoul Palace and Supracloud Sanctuary couldn't dip their toes into the matter of the saplings no matter what, for they would risk destruction. "The Blueblood Starocean, Li Wushuang, and the wargodeans can only be crushed if the Northdipper Swordsage manages to form his alliance. The conflict could keep escalating after that, so we have to tread carefully."

Coupled with Shi Yan's crippling and Lan Sha's death, the Rain Swordlord's death would be more fuel on the fire.

"We must walk on a tightrope between two abysses and try to survive this." All of them anxiously waited to witness the fate of the Rain Swordlord, which could greatly alter the fate of the continent.

At that moment, the Wind Swordlord was already coming to her aid from behind.