Beastmaster of the Ages

"The Azurecloud Divine Tree has been producing far too many divine herbs. Even though both sects mobilized all of their available manpower for the harvest and will finish in about a month or two, the total number is estimated to be twice the usual. At the very end, the tree could have produced up to ten billion divine herbs, while the two sects can each get around four billion or more," Gujian Qingshuang summarized. It was a figure that could completely change the continent and its history. By relying on all those divine herbs. the two sects could develop without having to bow their heads to others, eventually emerging as a new first-rate sect. That was now Tianming, Gujian Qingshuang, and Yun Tianque's goal. The young Tianming was a new hope for the continent to the two elder sect masters.

"Let's focus on keeping the divine herbs before we look at the saplings," Tianming said.

"Alright!" Whether the abundant harvest would be fortune or misfortune remained to be seen.

"Even more people from the celestial orderians' side have arrived at the Supracloud Sanctuary, some totemancers, others beastmasters. Most of them are middle-aged males. They all seem rather odd, but rather capable. Li Wushuang called them over as reinforcements, so they're probably in the elite class. Now, Li Wushuang has a far stronger combined force than the Empyrean Sword Sect," Tianming said.

"How many are there in total?" Long Wanying asked.

"Eighteen."

"So they're all here…" Long Wanying said with a look of gloom.

"All? Is there anything noteworthy about them?" Tianming asked.

"They're people that want to marry her in order to get on the good side of the sun emperor. They'll do anything to win her favor. These people are all from races and clans with unique talents, so we have to be ready."

"Alright. I'll pay close attention to them."

"Tianming," Yang Ce called out.

"What is it, Uncle Yang?"

"Would you dare to help me make Li Wushuang submit so we can use her as a hostage to exchange for the three Dragon Imperials on our side if we have a chance?"

Tianming was shocked. He had thought that Li Wushuang was off limits no matter what, but now their plans seemed to be growing more daring. The three Dragon Imperials' capture had greatly affected the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. Even Li Haochen might not be a good enough hostage, as the sun emperor had a dozen other sons to replace him with.

"If we really intend to do that, it'd be the same as directly resisting the sun emperor. While we don't really have a choice, since he's already acted against our side, young Tianming here has no need to go that far. But let's not talk about that for now. Li Wushuang is too big a target and the slightest mistake will ruin all our plans," Long Wanying said. She obviously didn't agree with that proposal.

Long Wanying had too many considerations to keep in mind while Yang Ce wanted swift and direct results, so he was willing to take more risks. Risks like going after Li Wushuang. Since Long Wanying had already made her opinions heard, Tianming said, "Uncle Yang, I definitely won't miss it if there's a chance. Let's see how it goes. The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect has helped me a lot, so we're already on the same side."

He knew that he wasn't just a normal junior to them. Without the care of their sect, there was no way he could realize his current ambitions and his status as a Sky Palace disciple would serve as nothing more than a pretty decoration.

"At the very least, Li Wushuang doesn't seem to be treading carefully at all. She probably hasn't even considered the possibility that she could be a weakness of the celestial orderians," Long Wanying said. She was the one who most wanted to kill Li Wushuang, but reason kept her fury at bay. She understood that once the secret was out, it would all be over. She couldn't let her hate boil over, but she couldn't let it be entirely quenched, either.

……

The subsequent days were quiet as the harvesting came closer to a close. Both sects had stockpiled large numbers of divine herbs, billions of them in fact, but nobody had made an attempt to move them since the appearance of the saplings. The Empyrean Sword Sect was awaiting the formation of the alliance, and people were observing the saplings for any changes that would completely alter the situation once again. These days, Tianming had settled down and focused on cultivation.

"The eighth level of the Violetglory Pagoda is indeed impressive. The solarian caeli here are probably inferior to none other than the sun emperor, by Orderia's standards. They're probably more powerful than the Saintdragon Emperor, dreamless celestial emperor, and even the Warlord. But the caeli on the ninth level must be even better! I managed to easily defeat the ninth-level Li Haochen, so it's about time I challenge Ye Chen for first place."

The Violetglory ranking was like a game to Tianming. His actual body was so far away from the star itself, so he felt a strange kind of detachment from affairs over there, coming and going as he pleased. While a battle between 'Lin Feng' and Ye Chen was a hot topic that could shake the entire star, Ye Chen was nothing more than a stepping stone in Tianming's eyes no matter how impressive he seemed, being no different from an ancient idol.

Someone would notify him if anything happened on the continent, so he went back into the wondersky realm with Lingfeng and Xiaoxiao. Lingfeng was now a sixth-level constellier and was able to take on those on the eighth level, perhaps even ninth-level totemancers. His divine soul would soon rise to the fourth imperial soul level, which would only make him even more terrifying.

"I should be able to take on Gong Yin, the second ranker, by now. But I'll wait for you to get first place and test out Ye Chen's abilities," Lingfeng said. Gong Yin was only an eighth-level constellier, so he wouldn't be Lingfeng's match. The only reason Lingfeng hadn't made the challenge yet was that the loser and everyone beneath them in rank would be pushed back a place. In other words, if Lingfeng defeated the second-ranking Gong Yin, Gong Yin would become third place and push Tianming to fourth place, which would mean he would have to fight Gong Yin to rejoin the top three before he could challenge Ye Chen.

Lingfeng would wait for Tianming to settle his fight before going for the second spot, first by challenging Gong Yin, then Ye Chen after that. Even though the second and third place both had access to the eighth level of the pagoda, Lingfeng wanted to take second so there would be room for Xiaoxiao in third place. She was now a seventh-level constellier, being the highest among them in terms of level. After Tianming and Lingfeng took the top two spots, it would be her turn to challenge Ye Chen to become the third ranker.

"It's too bad Ye Chen doesn't expect us to push him to fourth place," Tianming said. The other two laughed at the prospect.

"Brother Tianming, Ye Chen doesn't sound like easy pickings, according to rumors. It's best not to underestimate him," Lingfeng said.

"It doesn't really matter. It isn't like I'm at risk of dying here. Even if I lose, it's only a matter of time before I defeat him, then the two of you do, too." He didn't fuss over it too much. Winning in the wondersky realm had always only been a pleasant bonus, rather than anything crucial. He could lose a hundred times for all he cared, as long as he won when he really needed to. He had even been defeated by Liu Wanwan once at the Violetglory Pagoda, yet now he was akin to a god in her eyes.

Tianming told the wondersky fairy, "I'm making an official challenge to Ye Chen. Notify the duel committee and get them to arrange it for me."

"Will do. Your challenge is looked forward to by everyone in the wondersky realm. I'm sure you won't mind if I announced it, right?" the wondersky fairy said.

"I do mind. I want to keep it low profile." The sense of fighting before the eyes of such a large audience wasn't something he really enjoyed. He had only intentionally done so when he fought the princess because he wanted to resolve Liu Wanwan's trouble more easily, but now it was just a game to him.

"Your opinion has been taken into account. I'll still announce the challenge immediately," the wondersky fairy said cheekily.

"Then why'd you bother to even ask?!"

Immediately after, the announcement rocked the entire Violetglory Star, turning up the heat once more. The denizens of the distant star had anxiously been awaiting that announcement. Those who talked about the fight between the miracles seemed even more agitated than Tianming himself.

"Did he accept the battle?" Tianming asked.

"Ye Chen is currently in the Astraldome. You will receive a reply once he returns."

"I see… he's a busy man. Can I go to the Astraldome too?" By now, most lands of trials here were open to Tianming.

"You may not for now. The Astraldome is a battlefield that links many wondersky realms of other nova source worlds together, a true proving ground for people all across the cosmic aether. Only the best of the best get to compete there. It's the miracle created by the wondersky race! We personally watch over that miraculous proving ground." The wondersky fairy was filled with zealous fervor every time it talked about the wondersky race.

Tianming found it rather laughable, as he was also someone who had crossed the vast distance between stars to dominate the people on the Violetglory Star. Though wars between worlds were common across the endless astralscape, there were also many worlds that remained hidden. However, they could fight at the Astraldome without worry and win the reputation of being the strongest of the strongest.