Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming widened his eyes and yelped in pain. His whole arm seemed to simultaneously char and freeze over as the power of the divine hazard spread throughout his body. Though it was just a single leaf, it hurt almost as much as the grade-seven sword ki strands he had assimilated before. The pain caused his body to tense up and arch; it took quite a while before he finally calmed down, but he was already sweating and pale from the experience. Even at the very end, he hadn't been able to assimilate the leaf properly.

"Dammit...." He turned back and saw Shengui stifling a laugh.

"How is it? Feels good? I wasn't just playing things up, right?" Shengui said.

"It's so-so," Tianming said, not wanting to admit it. Turning back to look at the tree, he said, "This tree is entirely made of sword ki and its attribute is filled with cold and darkness. It's really good at burning and darkness, a good fit for me indeed. But I don't think I'll be able to handle a grade-eight divine hazard sword ki like this."

"It's in solid form. You can assimilate it leaf by leaf, then branch by branch, until you take the whole thing inside your body. Once you have a sword body with grade-eight sword ki, you'll be stupid powerful," Shengui said.

"Can that really work?" For instance, he had encountered sword ki in the shape of a huge dragon. Consuming it part by part simply wouldn't work.

"That's why I said it's a good fit for you. Astralking Gongsu prepared this just for you, do you want it or not?"

"Of course! Please thank him for me!"

"Go do it yourself!"

"Alright." It would take quite some time for him to assimilate the entire tree into his albi, but time was something he had an abundance of now.

......

Tianming and the rest had fully settled down in Violetpeak; their days there were peaceful and stable. With Tianming's status, nobody dared to cause trouble for him. As for universal manna, Shengui was still busily trying to acquire them for him. From time to time, Tianming would also go to the Frozen Glasstree. As for Yin Chen and the ore veins, it could manage things itself.

There was one other important thing to pay attention to: the caeli the imperium had. The Violetcloud Imperium had a history of millions of years and had seen the reigns of thousands of sovereigns. The caeli the imperium had 'donated' to the Violetglory Pagoda was only the smallest fraction of what they had, and they weren't of the best quality. For both the Divineglory Dynasty and Violetcloud Imperium, their caeli imperius, or in other words, caeli of the sovereigns, were top-tier legacies that the foundation of their sects rested upon. It was the key factor that determined the level of their disciples, separating them from the other, more common sects.

The Violetcloud Imperium's collection of caeli in real life was far more impressive than the Violetglory Pagoda's, even on its ninth floor. There was no longer a need to go to the wondersky realm. The imperium's caeli imperius were stored in the Imperius Ruins. Being the most important place in the entire sect, it was heavily protected by defensive formations. It was also a sacred ground that not just anyone could enter, and even if one could, they had to take care not to desecrate the resting place of these ancestors. It was essentially half a mausoleum.

The Imperius Ruins were located in the heartland of the Violetcloud Archclan, one of the five archclans of the Pentarchy. They were the ones who had founded the imperium and ruled during its earliest days, with their sole clan being comparable to all the divineglorians during their peak. Even in the present day, their faction was still the undisputed second in the imperium. They were the ones who managed and controlled the legacy of caeli, so it wasn't surprising that the Imperius Ruins were located in their clan's heartland.

Therein lay the issue. Given the current state of the empire, the Violetcloud Archclan was capable of resisting Sovereign Starfeather to some extent, given their really deep roots. As long as they controlled the legacy of caeli, their position was unshakeable.

"Then again, I'm an astralking with the Violetcloud Decree, so I should be allowed to cultivate in the Imperius Ruins anytime I want." Even then, that didn't mean Lingfeng, Qingyu, and Xiaoxiao could just waltz in and enjoy the benefits of that place, Lingfeng especially. His cultivation had been destabilized too much from overconsumption of waste pills, so he needed the elite seniors' experiences in their caeli to guide him along the proper path. As for Qingyu, she could only take advantage of her nonabane talent with proper caeli guidance. That hadn't been a problem in Orderia. As for Feiling and Xiaoxiao, while caeli weren't too important to them, it wouldn't hurt to have access to them.

Tianming wanted all five of them to be allowed to cultivate there as well. Given their talents, it wouldn't be a big deal. Lingfeng and Xiaoxiao had already shown results in the wondersky realm, after all. But he still had a feeling that it wouldn't be that easy. As expected, when he had Gong Xiong ask the Violetcloud Archclan to allow Lingfeng and the rest to go there as well, he was met with refusal. As such, he had to make a personal trip to the Imperius Ruins. He couldn't trouble the sovereign over every little thing, after all, and this was something worth fighting for.

......

The Violetcloud Core was the origin of the Violetcloud Archclan and was situated at the outermost reaches of Myriadmile City. It was a city complex within the larger city, much like an imperial palace complex. As such, members of that archclan saw their patriarch as the ultimate ruler, not the sovereign. Their loyalties didn't extend past their own archclan.

Tianming and Gong Xiong went to the city to a place called the Refinement Residences, within which was a path that led to the Imperius Ruins. It was the residence of a top figure in the archclan who was in charge of the Imperius Ruins, the person Tianming was trying to meet.

Gong Xiong stood in front of the residence complex and said, "Tianming, this person is really hard to deal with. You must be careful. Her mood changes without rhyme or reason."

"Understood." Yin Chen told him that she was named Astralqueen Ziyan, the youngest of the ones of the same rank apart from Tianming and the daughter of the Violetcloud Archclan's patriarch. She was exceedingly talented and was an octabane totemancer. In fact, she was the person most likely to become the next sovereign after Sovereign Starfeather.

Yin Chen had heard a lot of rumors about her. Some said she was cold-blooded, but others said she was the opposite. There were even rumors that nothing was taboo to her, and some said she liked young boys. Having so many different rumors circulating about her didn't help narrow her profile down to anything. Either way, she must be amazing in her own right. However, it seemed that she was an enemy of his, now that Sovereign Starfeather had given him so much weight. Tianming stood little, if any, chance of succeeding.

As the two of them approached, Gong Xiong announced, "Astralking Tianming has arrived!"

The entrance of the Refinement Residences opened, letting a fragrance waft out of it. An enchanting silhouette deep within the hall was within, waving toward Tianming.