Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming walked out alone and jumped onto an enormous tree at the top of Whitesource Peak. It was the Radix World Tree. At the moment, its flowers were in full bloom as it absorbed nova source.

"How's Ling'er?" Tianming's gaze fell upon the center of the tree. In front of him was a light blue flower with tiny red dots. Above the flower sat a naive little girl in spiritform. Resting its chin on its hand, it endlessly whispered to the flower.

"I don't know."

"Then what're you telling her?" Tianming asked.

"I'm complaining about you." With a trace of craftiness in its eyes, Xian Xian folded its arms.

Tianming stood beside the flower and leaned against it out of habit. He felt at ease whenever they were stuck together. Then he began to cultivate and absorb nova source. Cultivating with caeli imperius yielded great results; he had made immense progress in the shortest period of time.

…

A few days later.

As the Seven Dragon Imperials expected, the fifteen million Goddess Guardians had come with an agenda. They weren't just there to intimidate. After settling down, their first move was to leave the Myriaddragon Mountains in groups, making their move in the two continents controlled by the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. They said they were sightseeing while expanding the scope of the goddess' protection, but in fact, they caused trouble everywhere. There were countless cities and towns outside the Myriaddragon Mountains where ordinary cultivators lived. The totemancers were there to pick a fight. As the celestial orderian army, their overall strength surpassed that of ordinary people. Although it seemed harmless, it was unpleasant having their people causing problems everywhere.

"To put it bluntly, they're trying to annoy us until we can no longer bear it and give them an excuse for a fight."

"This is just the beginning, it's all child's play. They'll continue causing trouble over the next few decades as long as the Ninemoon Goddess remains, so the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect and the people of this land will have no peace."

"There's no doubt that this shameless tactic comes from the sun emperor."

He was clearly the most powerful, yet he liked playing the fool and using the most shameless methods to annoy others. It was exactly like Li Shenjian and the others had suppressed the disciples of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. If they didn't resist, they would continue being bullied. But if they did resist, their oppressors would have excuses to take revenge! Their behavior was incredibly disgusting.

However, the celestial orderians were indeed stronger. The only time they had suffered a loss was when Tianming and Lingfeng killed Long Wangyu, and it was a loss they wouldn't forget. Over the past few days, numerous people had tried provoking Tianming in hopes of avenging Long Wangyu. Among them were cultivators close to a hundred years old. He didn't want to pay any more attention to them; the constant shouting and hooting was so annoying that it affected his cultivation.

He was aware that Li Shenjian had a problem with him. After all, he was the leader of the junior disciples. After brainstorming with the others, Li Shenjian had listed more than a dozen ways to kill Tianming, which he would try out one by one. Unfortunately, his actions weren't a secret to Tianming.

In fact, Tianming was more curious about Long Renshe, whose reputation in the celestial orderians surpassed Li Shenjian and his brothers when they were at the same age. It was said that he possessed the Contradragon Talent, which developed from the Saintdragon Talent, yet transcended it. It was the most extraordinary talent in the history of the clan.

Long Renshu was fifty-eight years old, three years older than Li Shenjian. In terms of strength, both of them were indeed superior to Tianming. That was the basis of their confidence and the reason they were so sure they could recover their dignity. In their eyes, Lingfeng, who wasn't a Sky Palace disciple, had to die.

…

A young man in white and gold armor and another dressed in black visited the Dragontooth Spring. The square bane-ring between the first man's eyebrows was extremely eye-catching. It looked like it was stamped with a seal and contained four fiery, golden words: just, righteous, fair, and honorable. It didn't matter what the words were; as long as they appeared within the bane-ring, they were of utmost importance. The black-clad young man was obviously from the dragon clan. He had three eyes, but without close inspection, one might think he was ordinary.

They were Li Shenjian, the sun emperor's ninth son, and Long Renshe, heir to the Veildragon Palace. It wouldn't be a surprise if Long Renshe eventually became the overlord of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, the number one sect on the myriad sect ranking. However, the two were blocked at the entrance of the Dragontooth Spring. Countless Sunscorch Guards stood in their way.

"What's wrong?" Li Shenjian was stunned. "Are you going to stop me from seeing my sister?" Just by looking at the bane-ring between his eyebrows, the entire celestial orderians recognized him.

"The goddess doesn't want to see anyone," one of the Sunscorch Guards reported.

Li Shenjian burst out laughing. Narrowing his eyes, he looked at the Sunscorch Guard and said, "I'll remember you. I want to see Li Yunxi. Get her."

"The commander is in the Saintdragon Shrine. She's instructed that no one is allowed to enter until she returns."

"Very well then." Li Shenjian was so angry he started laughing. He couldn't figure it out. Even if Qingyu was the sun emperor's biological child, wasn't he his child as well? Others prioritized sons over daughters, so why was he treated like a servant when it came to the sun emperor?

"I'm her older brother. I can't see my sister? Are you idiots? Are you going to stop the goddess' husband as well?" Li Shenjian was dumbfounded.

"I apologize. The goddess has specifically mentioned that she refuses to see the two of you." The guard lowered his head.

Li Shenjian's expression twisted in a grimace. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Anyone would be frustrated when faced with something like this. Not to mention, from childhood to adulthood, the sun emperor had practically ignored his sons.

"My father ordered you to protect her to elevate her status so that all fifteen million of you can openly remain here. There's no one else here. Why're you still pretending? Get lost. Do you understand?" Li Shenjian was just about to push the guard away when the other Sunscorch Guards marched over to stop him.

"Your Highness, please don't embarrass us. We're just following orders," they said in unison.

"Never mind." Long Renshe shook his head. "Let's go. The goddess has traveled a long way and needs more rest. Let's not disturb her."

"You fools! You're all mad!" Li Shenjian was furious. It was a pity he couldn't force his way in, either. After hurling angry expletives, he left with Long Renshe. But the more he thought about it, the more indignant he felt. "We're all his children. Why's there such a difference?" He slammed his palm into the huge boulder in front of him, shattering it into pieces.

"Calm down. It's all right. We mustn't disrupt His Solar Majesty's plan. The goddess is an important part of it, after all. There can be no mistakes," Long Renshe said.

"I wanted her help in devising a plan to get rid of Li Tianming, but in the end we couldn't even see her," Li Shenjian despondently said.

"What're you going to do?" Long Renshe asked.

"I'll take a page out of my father's book. I want to use the same method he used to deal with Long Junxuan. It's simple and effective. Li Tianming will have no hope of recovering from it, and that Feng will die! Long Wangyu is dead. If we don't fight back, all our previous efforts will have been in vain." Li Shenjian frowned.

The sun emperor entrusted him with the task of suppressing, brainwashing, and conquering the young disciples. But as soon as Tianming had arrived, he'd given them a heavy blow so their efforts fell short. How was he going to prove himself to his father?

"You want the goddess to frame them for violating her?" Long Renshe asked, his brows furrowing.

"Yes. It's a killer move and she doesn't have to do anything. As long as she speaks, they won't be able to clear their names. My aunt didn't even see Long Junxuan at the time. With just an accusation, Long Junxuan was slaughtered on the spot," Li Shenjian proudly said. Obviously, he admired the sun emperor's wisdom.

"Let's try something else. It might be effective, but it'll affect the goddess's reputation. Besides, she won't help you," said Long Renshe. Although Li Shenjian had previously claimed he had a great plan, Long Renshe only realized now that it was such a vicious one.

"You're right. She isn't going to help me. It won't work," Li Shenjian sneered. Then, taking a deep breath he continued, "So we'll just have to use another method. We won't need the goddess' help."

"Will it work?"

"It'll work even better."