Beastmaster of the Ages

It was one thing for Weisheng Moran to put the Azurespirit into his eye, causing him to get on the bad side of some great figure in the Dreamless Celestial Nation, who wanted him to dig out his eye to return it. But now she had come to him for refuge after escaping, bringing even more trouble with her. Tianming was going to make an enemy out of the celestial orderians, so how could he afford to be at odds with the dreamless celestials as well? She even addressed him as 'big brother'!

That's only for Ling'er to use! If she finds out, she'll never let me hear the end of it. The mere thought of that caused him to shudder.

"I'll hide and won't bring you any trouble. I'm useful to you. I can help you absorb all the energy of the Azurespirit. Let it plant its seed. Eventually you'll get all the fruits," Weisheng Moran desperately said.

"I don't want it! Can you take it out?"

"It can't be done. It's already grown into your eye, your brain, too, in fact. It's no longer a simple matter of digging out your eye. If you hadn't become a Sky Palace disciple, he wouldn't have let you walk away like that. He's still contemplating some other way to get it out, but if it doesn't work, he won't hesitate to sacrifice you."

"Aren't you causing trouble for me for no good reason at all?"

"I'm sorry… but you're the only one who can help me," she said in a begging tone.

"Who's this person that you're talking about?"

"The dreamless celestial emperor."

"Fucking hell."

If that really was the case, it was bad news. He looked at the pitiful girl, frustration brewing. Her good looks did give her quite an edge. It would feel horrible if he refused to help her. But considering the current circumstances, he couldn't afford to go against the dreamless celestial emperor yet. Sighing, he said, "I'll get in contact with him and do my best to return it. Please go back, Bro."

Weisheng Moran continued blankly staring at him "I don't have anything. If you really want, I can give my whole self to you." Just like that, she began undoing her belt again.

"Stop, I can't stand that kind of shock!" He turned around and zipped back to the Azuresoul Sword Mountain. She was a hermaphrodite! He surely didn't swing that way. "Thankfully I ran fast enough. Otherwise she would've latched onto me for good."

As he ran, the fish in his left eye suddenly let out a howl and began unnervingly moving about. "What's she doing out there?" Tianming asked.

"She's sad… feeling despair… jumping into… river to… drown herself…" Yin Chen said.

"What? Is she dead?"

"Not dead… river water… only up… to her… knee height."

Before he went back to the wondersky realm, he said, "Yin Chen, watch her for me and tell me if there's anything noteworthy, especially when she turns into her male form." He was interested in the Azurespirit, but he wanted to talk to her male form at least.

……

Three days passed in a flash. Everyone across the Violetglory Star had been eagerly awaiting the start of the battle. What kind of impact would this historic face-off between 'Lin Feng' and Ye Chen have? One was a nonabane totemancer while the other was the best of his peers, even among those from other stars. Both of them had the potential to become stronger than the leaders of the biggest factions on the Violetglory Star in the future if they were allowed to develop! They were geniuses that only showed up once in a million years without any stretch of the imagination, miracles in their own right, but for both of them to be born in the same era, it was a statistical impossibility made manifest in the real world.

The fight would be a duel between two miracles, both of them under thirty and unprecedentedly powerful. It was ten times more hyped than Tianming's duel against Princess Shen Yu. Only the top figures of the Violetglory Star got to watch the duel from the starlight viewing booths above the battlefield and it was rumored that the two sovereigns would be present as well, though Tianming didn't know for sure.

The level of hype surrounding the battle even made Tianming's blood boil even though he didn't treat it like a big deal at first. He felt like the countless people in the audience were calling out his name. Even though they were referring to his alias, Lin Feng, it didn't matter; they were crazy for him. The battlefield was surrounded by nobody but those on the level of gods.

Nothing could describe how excited he was right now. All those fervent gazes were looking at him like he was an almighty deity, which just so happened to suit Imperial Will. Tianming felt its growth start anew, a side benefit of controlling the Azurecloud Continent and spreading his name across the wondersky realm. The more people that watched him fight, the more pressure he faced. A normal person definitely wouldn't be able to endure this kind of pressure.

The number of caeli that entered the wondersky realm had hit a historic new record, a number even higher than the grand opening days of the realm when it'd first been formed. If it weren't for the fact that Tianming simply refused to show up in the real world, they would have loved to see him fight out there, since fights tended to play out differently. For instance, in the wondersky realm, Tianming couldn't really use his constellation or Yin Chen to their full potential. While the system processed beast abilities well, Yin Chen didn't really have any to show, and its morphing capability and what the bonegnaw ants could do didn't really play well within the wondersky realm.

Tianming told himself to relax. This was supposed to be all a game to him. The agitated mood surrounding the battle was at a stark contrast with his nonchalance. He wasn't part of the hype, yet when Ye Chen made his appearance, the commotion seemed to become ten times greater than before. The world itself seemed to boil over with excitement as waves of cheers crashed into Tianming's body. He truly felt that the denizens of the Violetglory Star saw this duel between juniors as a fight that would define the current era.

Unending cheers reverberated outside, but the inside of the battlefield was really quiet. The limelight on Tianming dimmed and shifted to the white-robed youth with black hair and eyes. He didn't look eye-catching at first glance, but repeated viewings would cause one to discover the innate feeling of comfort he gave them. It was hard for others to even feel malice toward him. Even though he was only passably good looking, he seemed capable of absorbing all of the radiance around him, making him the brightest star in a sea of stars.

Tianming finally got to see the so-called 'first miracle'. Even though it was only his caelum, Tianming was certain this was the most talented and fortunate person he had seen apart from Lingfeng. Even the children of top sovereigns like Li Haochen and Princess Shen Yu seemed to be one league beneath him. This was someone whose path of growth would resemble Tianming's own.

Ye Chen smiled and looked at Tianming without the slightest bit of arrogance, as if he was looking at an old friend he hadn't seen for ages. Relaxedly, he approached Tianming and said, "I heard of you a long time back, Brother Lin. You're even more impressive in person."

"Before you, I seem plain in comparison, Brother Ye. You've already started fighting at the Astraldome with people from other worlds, yet I'm still playing around on Violetglory Star," Tianming said.

"Haha, I didn't think we would be similarly humble as well."

"How about we get to know each other better with our fists?" Tianming didn't want to talk too much.

"That's a most splendid idea, but let's not rush things. We finally got to meet, so I want to know more about you. Hearing Wanwan talk about you so highly all the time made me curious. So, let's have a short, friendly chat before our spar."

"Who's Wanwan?"

"That would be Princess Shen Yu."

"I see…. Chatting is fine and all, but there's a lot of people waiting to see us fight."

"Let's ignore them. They've waited for three days, so a few moments more isn't a big deal. To be frank, I consider it rather good fortune that I was able to meet someone similar to me. If it weren't for the fact that we are in the wondersky realm, I would've loved to go drinking with you."

"Similar, you say?" Tianming looked closely at him and did find some points that they shared. He was a pleasant and polite person that called him his brother, yet Tianming felt a little discomfited by it. There was something about Ye Chen's offer of friendship that felt a little invasive and impure, almost like he was trying to pressure Tianming in some sense.

While the gaze he shot at him was similar to the gaze Tianming had when he looked at Lingfeng, it wasn't the same. When Tianming had first met Lingfeng, the latter was still too young and weak. Not to mention, he had saved Lingfeng twice. As such, the two of them had developed a close bond of mutual reliance.

However, no matter how polite he and Ye Chen were, that didn't change the fact that they were both really sharp swords. A clash of swords created sparks, and it was only a question of which sword was sharper. Yet both of them were favored sons of fate who couldn't afford to be subdued by the other.

The act of befriending him was only an attempt for Ye Chen to take the initiative and project his dominance, putting on a show to the audience. He was trying to dictate the pace of their interaction, a carefully thought-out plan. If Tianming allowed him to continue what he was doing, he would be giving Ye Chen a huge psychological advantage. Tianming would feel like he was a guest that had been invited there to duel Ye Chen, so he knew he couldn't let this continue. Right as Ye Chen was about to put his arm around his shoulder, Tianming backed off a few steps and said, "Time's running out, and I'm sure the audience members have squeezed tightly against each other for long enough. So let's settle the fight before we talk about other things."

Ye Chen was stunned; his rhythm had been disrupted.