Beastmaster of the Ages

All of them had the same surprised reaction when they saw Astralqueen Ziyan. If it weren't for Tianming's introduction, they would have mistaken her for Ziyan's daughter, granddaughter, or even great granddaughter.

"Come. This is Astralqueen Ziyan," Tianming said, waving at them. As their statuses weren't that high, they had to be more polite. Tianming stood together with them and said, "Astralqueen, I'm sure you already know Feng and Xiaoxiao. I'll introduce you to these two instead. They'll be in your care from now on."

He pulled Qingyu over. "She's Li Qingyu, my little sister."

"Nice to meet you, Astralqueen Ziyan," Qingyu said.

"You two really look alike. I'm sure your parents are impressive people," Ziyan said with a smile.

Tianming inwardly smirked. While he wasn't siblings with Qingyu by blood they did look rather alike. He then pulled Feiling to him and intimately put his arm around her waist. "This is Jiang Feiling, my partner in the crime of life!"

Feiling pinched his inner arm hard. "What do you even mean by that?!"

"I meant you're my humble wife!"

"Don't make us sound like criminals, now!"

This bout of flirting was intentional. He had wanted to make sure that Astralqueen Ziyan didn't get any ideas about him, but he realized that he'd been overthinking it.

Ziyan merely looked at them flirting with a smile the entire time, not the slightest bit annoyed. "How nice it is to be young...."

"Astralqueen, you're young too. You look even younger than me," Feiling said.

"That's only on the surface. Time is a most cruel mistress, there's no resisting her,"

Meanwhile, Tianming thought, well, if the true-age-unknown Feiling doesn't consider herself old, you don't have anything to worry about!

Now that they had been acquainted, Tianming didn't want to waste any more time and called the rest to enter the Imperius Ruins with him.

"See you later! Remember what I told you," Ziyan said.

"No problem!"

They passed through the Refinement Residences to the entrance of the Imperius Ruins. Turning back, Tianming saw the residences fog up once more, with the 'girl' in a miniskirt blending into it. Her eyes seemed to glow within; however, Tianming seemed to feel fear when he made some distance from the astralqueen, as if there was a huge beast lying in wait within the fog.

"Brother Tianming," Lingfeng said.

"What is it?"

"Astralqueen Ziyan has a fourth imperial soul."

"I see...."

In other words, her caelum was a caelum imperius, one on the level of sovereigns, just like Lingfeng's.

......

As expected, the Imperius Ruins seemed to be much better than the ninth level of the Violetglory Pagoda. This was one of the two most important places on the entire star when it came to the legacy of caeli. It went without saying that this place was heavily guarded, for if it was destroyed, the foundation the imperium had built up over the course of millions of years would be ruined just like that. Without guidance from caeli imperius, it would be really difficult for the talented to even fulfill their potential, let alone for new sovereigns to rise.

The fact that five 'outsiders' like them could enter was a testament to the trust that the Violetcloud Imperium showed them. In fact, Astralqueen Ziyan's permission was imperative, as she could definitely find a reason to stop them from entering if she really wanted to. Even if Tianming sought out the sovereign to deal with it for him, he wouldn't be able to get Lingfeng and the rest in as they weren't the ones who had defeated Ye Chen. Even among the young disciples, only Gong Yin was allowed to enter.

There were more than a thousand caeli imperius here, which was around the number Qingyu had had access to back at Orderia. Tianming and the rest were completely floored; every caelum imperius brightly shone like a nova source.

"The five of us now have access to the most important legacy of a nova source world...."

There were many ways to cultivate, even using divine pills could be considered one such way. However, using caeli as guidance was one of the most stable methods, and even Xiaoxiao needed it. The moment she entered, the Archaionfiend began salivating over the caeli imperius. After all, the caeli in the wondersky realm weren't consumable, but these were! However, she ignored it. Even if a single caelum imperius here was lost, the five of them would be in deep trouble. Those of the imperium were no fools.

They would be visiting this place often in the times to come. "Once I get the universal manna, I'll be ready for the Astraldome."

......

The next day, Shengui went to visit them at Violetpeak with a huge smile on his face. He called out, "Little ones, grandpa is here with some delicious food!"

"Old tortoise, you disturbed my nap!" Meow Meow jumped down from the roof and stretched lazily as it looked at Shengui.

"Oh you little kitty, tell your beastmaster that the universal manna has arrived."

"Get my insect brother to do that for you. I need to sleep a little longer." As it was going to collapse, Tianming picked it up.

"You got them?"

"Yeah!" Shengui exclaimed, stroking his belly with satisfaction.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were pregnant."

"You little brat... I was just thinking of the fine wine I had just now, alright?"

"Enough nonsense. Now hand them over!"

"Jeez, what's the rush? They're yours anyway."

The six who needed the manna lined up before Shengui, among them Lingfeng, the humanoid specter. Ying Huo and Shuo Yue were already seven-star divine beasts, so they were flying around nearby. Ying Huo showed off its beautiful feathers and said, "Yue Yue, I've been a seven-star divine beast for quite some time now. Being the only one, I was quite lonely, but I can't deny how good I look! Yet being the only looker is a lonely thing. I'm glad that my siblings are going to transform and catch up to my looks!"

Shuo Yue rolled its eyes.

Ying Huo continued, "Don't worry. As long as you follow me, I'll definitely ask for a grade-eight universal manna for you when there's one available. I must cherish my lover more than my siblings, right? Feeling touched? Is your heart wildly beating, rampaging inside you like a certain restless Primordial Terraqua Dragon?"

Shuo Yue almost crashed into a building. It turned into a white fish and splashed into the lake in the middle of Violetpeak.

"Hey, don't fishify out of nowhere! Lovers like us must match!"

......

Three days later, they finished evolving after consuming the universal manna. Meow Meow, Lan Huang, Xian Xian, Yin Chen, and the Archaionfiend had grown much stronger, catching up to Ying Huo in power. Back during the duel with Ye Chen in the wondersky realm, Meow Meow and the rest couldn't quite keep up, but now things would be different. The transformed beasts in Tianming's lifebound space were ready—he could finally go to the Astraldome!