Beastmaster of the Ages

Dense, hot nova source swept past amidst the strong winds of the storm, causing one's face to heat up and even crack. Many women were reluctant to leave their homes when the density of nova source outside was this high. At the end of the day, nova source was akin to a wild force of nature, and while divine will could be used to suppress it, its fundamental nature couldn't be altered.

Cultivating using nova source was almost like dancing on the tips of blades, a feeling that Xiaoxiao was all too familiar with. Her every breakthrough made her feel like her divine will couldn't keep up, causing her to be unable to control her nova source very well. Time and again, she ended up heavily injured during breakthroughs for the same reason. But thanks to her altered body from symbiotic cultivation with the Archaionfiend, however, she recovered rather quickly and gradually grew numb to the pain.

Long Wanying had given her quite a lot of caeli to consume, and she'd done her best to get better and stronger until the time came for her to realize her true potential. Today was one of the days she could show her value. It wasn't too uncommon for a quiet person like her to be traveling alone. She headed toward Little Saintdragon Peak in the midst of the storm, when all of a sudden, people came to stop her from the front and back.

"Stop, Lin Xiaoxiao!" They were disciples of the Veildragon Palace, led by a girl with waist-length hair. She had a black eye and a red eye and luscious, red lips. According to Tianming, she was Long Yaojin, one of the Blooddragon Emperor's granddaughters. She had a similar status as Long Wangyu and was about the same level in power. Her lackeys surrounded her and spread out after they stopped Xiaoxiao in her tracks. Then dragons emerged from their lifebound spaces, completely sealing off any way ahead. Their dragons looked bloody and savage; it was one of the factors why they had broken off from the larger sect as a whole.

Xiaoxiao furrowed her brows. Just as she was about to back off, she saw a dozen celestial orderian disciples behind her. Though they didn't summon their totems, they did cut off her escape route.

"Forget escaping. It's impossible for you," Long Yaojin said, standing on top of a gigantic black dragon with a single horn with her hands on her waist, looking down on Xiaoxiao from above. Her seductive figure exuded temptation in that pose. Compared to her, Xiaoxiao looked like a cold, boring rock. Everything apart from her slightly odd gaze was suppressed.

"What's your deal?" Xiaoxiao asked. Looking around, she saw that the other disciples were looking at her with smirks. They had turned their sights on her as expected, since she didn't often show her talents. Tianming and Lingfeng were always in the limelight.

"Listen up, Lin Xiaoxiao!" Long Yaojin had her dragon fly close enough that she could glare at Xiaoxiao in the face. She pointed a finger at herself and said, "I'm a descendant of the Blooddragon clan, Long Yaojin. My ancestor used to possess a top-tier grade-seven divine artifact that has been lost and taken. It's called the Dragonblood Desecration."

"So?"

"You aren't one of our clan, yet you forcefully assimilated the exalted blood of our ancestor and stole our treasure, sullying the Dragonblood Desecration with your filth. That's a sin that can't be forgiven. As a descendant of the clan, it's my duty to right this wrong done to our clan by punishing you and retrieving the artifact!" she spat. Every word she said had been carefully chosen by Li Shenjian. She had been waiting for this moment for two whole months. Given her status as the Blooddragon Emperor's granddaughter, letting her pin the crime on Xiaoxiao would be far more legitimate.

"Lin Xiaoxiao, you'd best submit to us without any resistance. Otherwise, you'll end up dead. You're just a normal disciple of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, after all, so nobody will care even if you die!"

"Your comrade Feng has already committed the grave crime of killing Long Wangyu and he would've died if not for the Seven Dragon Imperials stepping in!"

"Right now, you're alone, so you better not do something you regret."

The ones from Veildragon Palace made threats while the celestial orderians stayed quiet.

"Hand it over!" Long Yaojin knew that they were at the Earthdragon peaks, so they had to settle things quickly. Once she made the accusations, she immediately struck. The others surrounded her as they waited for any sign of resistance, prepared to use even more force if she did.

As expected, Xiaoxiao fought back. She took out the Dragonblood Desecration and nocked it as she summoned the Archaionfiend. An explosion of blood lightning immediately shook the surroundings. Even now, Xiaoxiao had the highest level of the trio, being a ninth-level constellier. Her Archaionfiend's combat capabilities far exceeded even hers, its lightning blast being a few times stronger than the time it was used to defeat Long Youyou. Long Yaojin, a tenth-level constellier, was immediately sent flying from the wave of power.

Blood lightning crackled, sweeping across the ground and smashing boulders, causing the dust on the ground to rise. Using that chance, the Archaionfiend flapped its wings and zipped into the sky. Now a six-star divine beast, it was gigantic, especially with its wings spread open as it spread its bloody lightning bolts all across the sky.

"Stop her!" Long Yaojin cried with a hint of shock and frustration from the initial blast. She felt how much power Xiaoxiao actually had. "Yet another monster? Are these three really only in their twenties?" Long Yaojin couldn't believe it no matter what. "Maybe they used some way to change their age to keep their power hidden for crucial moments…."

It was one thing for Tianming to be powerful; his genius was undeniable. Yet Xiaoxiao seemed so plain in comparison. How could she possibly be more powerful than Li Haochen, the son of the sun emperor?

The instant Long Yaojin furrowed her brows, Xiaoxiao broke out of their encirclement and the celestial orderians reacted by summoning their totems. There were plants, swords and totems of many other forms and shapes, filling the sky. The Archaionfiend soon found itself forced down to a lower altitude, its lightning shield seemingly shattered by the totems' totemic calamities.

Even then, they still found Xiaoxiao to be truly powerful. "She isn't any weaker than that Feng kid. What in the world?" They immediately found themselves troubled the moment they fought her. What was even more troublesome were the blood arrows that came firing from the head of the Archaionfiend as it fought in hand to hand with them. The arrows were swift and unrelenting!

"She's nearing a tenth-level constellier in power!"

"Don't get hit! It's the Dragonblood Desecration!"