Beastmaster of the Ages

The Wind Swordlord gradually awakened from his madness. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he knew that Li Wushuang was someone that couldn't be killed. "Swordsage… what will happen… now that she lost a bane-ring?"

"It's hard to say. Guess it depends on the person," the Northdipper Swordsage said. The number of bane-rings determined the number of totems. Between two totemancers with totems of similar grade, the one with more totems would have a much greater advantage. In other words, numbers weren't the most important factor. However, having seven or eight bane-rings was usually the limits of one's talent, and the gap between having seven and eight was stark. While a heptabane was still a constellier, an octabane might already have become a solarian!

In other words, the number of bane-rings was a good predictor of a totemancer's rate of growth, and the implications of people who have reached their peak losing bane-rings were different from those of a youth that was still developing, the latter of whom suffered from stunted growth before reaching their full potential. Li Wushuang could only still be considered middle-aged and still had room for growth, so losing a bane-ring wouldn't just affect her in combat, but also her future development. Still, it was much better than someone younger losing a bane-ring. That was why the swordsage said it depended on the specific person.

"Given her temper and how much the sun emperor spoils her, that might be enough for the sun emperor to make his move. Relations between both sides are sensitive right now. The sun emperor wants to absorb the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect using the Veildragon Palace, not through an all-out conflict with the Myriad Solar Sects. However, we can't be too sure if that's the kind of person he is…." The swordsage's voice trailed off, sounding rather downcast. This was rather rare for him; usually, he was the brightest optimist around.

"Apologies, Swordsage, for causing you so much trouble," the Wind Swordlord said.

"It's fine. I understand how you feel about this. Not to mention I'm no pushover, either. At least, I already managed to summon a million fighters to join us, right?"

"Swordsage…." The Wind Swordlord's eyes shook. He decided he would dedicate the rest of his life for the sect. "If anyone has to pay the price for this, I'll definitely offer myself up first. I won't let you be dragged down by this."

"That's enough. Right now, we're celebrating our victory, so let's not talk about depressing matters like these. First, let's clean up the battlefield and loot the two hundred thousand plus corpses. They're sure to have left a huge pile of treasures. Next, we'll go to the Supracloud Sanctuary. They have more than three billion divine herbs there, so we have to act fast. After that, I have to lay low!"

"Understood!"

……

Some time later, the Northdipper Swordsage stood atop a branch of the divine tree. There was a corpse of a long snake lifebound beast in front of him, circled around the branch with its head hanging down. However, blood didn't rain down from the branch at all, despite the many wounds it had suffered.

"Huh, the Azurecloud Divine Tree seems to absorb blood. That's interesting. I only heard that it absorbed nova source."

"Swordsage, the divine tree is really mystical. Our forebears must've underestimated what it can do. Once we deal with the Supracloud Sanctuary and take over the Azuresoul Palace, this tree will be ours. After that, we can look into what it can do," the Wind Swordlord said, his voice still hoarse.

"Of course. There's still thirty-five pairs of saplings, right? Are they all in our hands?"

"They are. Li Wushuang wasn't willing to destroy the ones she controlled even at the last moment, so she probably still thinks she stands a chance to take them back."

"That sounds like her, alright." The swordsage stretched a finger out and touched the traces of blood left on the branch. He noticed that some of the vines of the tree had dug their way into the lifebound beast to absorb its life essence. "The divine tree doesn't feel like a plant at all… especially in the way it responds. It feels like a sentient lifeform."

"That's right. I also had that thought."

However, they weren't able to find out much. The tree was far too large for a cursory inspection to discover anything interesting. Then, someone came to make a report. "Swordsage, the battlefield cleanup is complete."

"How is it?"

"Less than ten thousand enemies escaped the continent. There's around two hundred and ten thousand dead with more than twenty thousand taken captive. Our army lost less than forty thousand thanks to our encirclement, a grand victory!"

"Do we have all the treasures collected?" the swordsage asked.

"We have most of them already. The Divinemight Empire, Lazuli Pavilion, and the Wildblade Fortress have distributed some of them among themselves."

"Alright."

Those three factions were first-rate factions that ranked above the Group of Celestial Maiden Halls. Combined, they accounted for around four hundred thousand troops, a substantial number. The Divinemight Empire ranked sixth, being the other empire that ranked under the dreamless celestial nation. It was an imperial clan composed of top-tier beastmasters.

The Wildblade Fortress was ranked seventh and were a true bandit faction. Though their name sounded crude and simple, they had a long history and impressive background. As for the Lazuli Pavilion, they ranked eighth and mainly consisted of oceanic beastmasters. Their sect was based out of the Lazuli Sea, the most beautiful ocean on Orderia. They were the only faction among the top ten to not have any land territory.

"Swordsage, the three of them have come to see you."

Three people approached from the distance, representing the aforementioned sects. The one the empire sent was a middle-aged general called Wu Lingcang. He was dressed in black and his figure was imposing, but not brutish. His cloudy eyes gave off an air of dependability. The representative from the Wildblade Fortress was called One-eyed Wang Hong. As his name suggested, he wore an eyepatch and reeked of the casual disregard of bandits and crooks. As for the Lazuli Pavilion, they sent a beautiful woman wearing an ocean-blue veil as their representative. Her ocean-deep eyes seemed impenetrable. These three were among the top five most powerful elites among the first-rate sects, putting them more or less on par with the Wind and Rain Swordlords.

When they arrived, One-eyed Wang Hong said, "Swordsage, we've already dealt with the situation here, so let's proceed to assemble the army and head toward the Supracloud Sanctuary."

"Yes, I was about to do just that," the Northdipper Swordsage swiftly said. He was concerned about what would happen as a consequence of Li Wushuang losing a bane-ring, so he wanted to wrap up the war as soon as he could.