Beastmaster of the Ages

Ye Chen had every bit the appearance of a sunny, straightforward, and carefree young man. His temperament could arouse a favorable impression. Despite the hint of gloominess in his eyes, he still looked good, though slightly melancholic. And that change was caused by Tianming! Without his former transparency, he appeared stronger.

"Ye Chen is in over his head. He clearly knows that Tianming already has a sovereign beast. As a purebred beastmaster, his lifebound beasts can't even compare to Tianming's. Why go up there and invite humiliation?"

Voices filled with ridicule sounded in the wondersky realm. Ye Chen could sense the mockery. Before his meteoric rise, he had experienced too much sarcasm and contempt, but it was the fuel for his persistence and courage.

"Take a good look."

The black tattoos hidden beneath his clothes rushed up his arms and cheeks and his body became shrouded by a black mist. In an instant, the man's temperament took on a certain darkness and demonic magnetism. This was the other side of him, or perhaps the real him. The juxtaposition of a sunny, warm beastmaster and his gloomy lifebound beasts formed a terrifying visual impact.

"Come on!"

One by one, his lifebound beasts crawled out of him—a dark phoenix with lightning coiled around its body, a dark qilin surging with black flames, an inky octopus with countless tentacles, a man-eating flower with a ferocious mouth, and a broodmother type bug: the five Desolate Chaos Progenibeasts. At first, the spectators were stunned, but soon the entire Violetglory Star was filled with shrieking.

"Eight thousand stars!"

Like a sea of stars, the qilin's eyes were unmistakable. Even if it was difficult to count all of them in a short time, the difference in the concentration of seven thousand stars versus eight thousand stars was evident. With its increase in size, the barbed, black scales that covered its body, and that fierce, dragon-like head, it was clear the qilin had undergone a transformation. It was the majesty one would expect of a Desolate Chaos Progenibeast and proof that the qilin was already an eight-star divine beast, which meant that Ye Chen had also obtained a similar treasure after Tianming had received his eight-star universal manna.

However, Ye Chen caused an even more exaggerated sensation when the spectators realized that the phoenix also had more than eight thousand stars. It, too, had experienced a complete transformation that was almost similar to that of Ying Huo and was now an eight-star divine beast. What was even more terrifying was that his other lifebound beasts had all evolved to a great extent. Two new heads had even appeared on the man-eating flower.

"Five sovereign beasts?!"

Eyes wide, the onlookers in the second level exclaimed in astonishment. A storm of bewilderment was sweeping across the Violetglory Star's wondersky realm.

"How can this be? The Divineglory Dynasty only has one eight-star universal manna and that's the Blacksky Devourer!"

"If they had five eight-star universal manna, we would've heard about it. Besides, there's no need to give a young man five manna imperius."

"Look! Ye Chen's five lifebound beasts seem to have evolved due to the Blacksky Devourer. I heard that his lifebound beasts evolved through the same method and they can merge. Could it be that he only needs one manna imperius to transform all of his lifebound beasts into sovereign beasts at one time?"

"That might be it!"

In fact, this kind of discussion would only occur among the top elites. Ordinary folk couldn't even imagine such things. Thus, most of the people from the Violetglory Star believed that the Divineglory Dynasty had given Ye Chen five manna imperius.

"Five!"

"He must be the real sovereign of the Divineglory Dynasty to have such lifebound beasts!"

"My goodness! It's really nice being the imperial son-in-law. The Divineglory Dynasty has given Ye Chen a chance to catch up to Tianming."

"That isn't considered catching up. He's overtaken all of them by a large margin...."

The competition between two peerless geniuses sure involved a lot of twists and turns. Countless people within the wondersky realm were dumbfounded, their scalps numb. It almost seemed ridiculous to have given top treasures to these two young men to upgrade their "equipment," creating a confrontation between the two great sects of the Violetglory Star. Even Tianming was shocked.

"Holy crap! Five?"

If the Divineglory Dynasty wanted to compete with him, he figured they would have granted Ye Chen one manna imperius. But five? That was impossible! If Tianming were to ask the Violetcloud Imperium for another manna imperius, the vast majority of the Kilostar Assembly would object, what more the Divineglory Dynasty.

For those beastmasters, manna imperius was the foundation of their dynasty, and giving one away meant one less for them. What about the future sovereign?

"That can't be right. They said that the Divineglory Dynasty only had one manna imperius. After all, they have a greater demand for them." Tianming speculated that it must have had something to do with the unique characteristics of the Desolate Chaos Progenibeasts, which were close relatives of the Archaionfiend.

"One manna imperius for five lifebound beasts. That's amazing." Tianming gave his opponent a thumbs up.

"It's not too bad. I can save on manna. Fortunately, the effect is similar to using five," Ye Chen said. From Tianming's surprise alone, he could tell that his five sovereign beasts would cause a sensation on the Violetglory Star. Now that he was a solarian and possessed five sovereign beasts, his chance to overturn his earlier defeat had come! The competition between the two young men had the spectators watching in stupefaction, staring at the words "Violetglory Star" on both their heads.

"Is the Violetglory Star a legendary super nova source world? How could such a monster exist?"

"They're really generous with their manna imperius, and five of them at that!"

The spectators and the nova source worlds behind them were completely dumbfounded. In a daze, they watched the two young opponents charge into battle against each other.

After numerous duels, Ye Chen had become the opponent with whom Tianming was most familiar. Tianming knew his weapons and battle arts like the back of his hand. There were only two things he had to pay attention to: his sacrosun and the Desolate Chaos Progenibeasts.

Compared to constellations, sacrosuns were more direct and aggressive in the wondersky realm. And what was a sacrosun? It was formed from a massive multiplication of a constellation. Although constellations could be used in battle, they were rooted in the albi. As the outward manifestation of astralforce, constellations played a role in the support and stability of astraldiscs and could store a sizable amount of astralforce. They were intangible. At the Constellation stage, a constellation gradually solidified during cultivation until it completed its transformation into a sacrosun.

Sacrosuns physically existed within the albi. They were power-filled stars condensed from transformed constellations, suspended above astraldiscs and shining down on them like the sun and the moon shone from above continents. Not only could they absorb the astralforce as it radiated from astraldiscs, they could also be used in battle. Sacrosuns that were materialized were also an upgrade from constellations, a transformation from intangible to tangible. Constellations like Tianming's pandemonium and cyclic constellations were meant for support and control functions, and were classified as buffs. They couldn't be directly used to attack and injure an opponent, but sacrosuns could. They were basically stable forms of astralforce. On top of providing the same assistance as constellations, sacrosuns could coordinate with the cultivator. Along with the astraldiscs, sacrosuns supplied astralforce, as well as launched attacks. That was where sacrosuns surpassed constellations.

After its transformation, Ye Chen's unfettered constellation was now a sea of white stars. It made him nimble and his movements quick, a great boost in battle. With his unfettered constellation from before, Ye Chen's moves were unpredictable, and now he was surrounded by an actual sea of stars. The effects from the constellation remained and were further enhanced by the sacrosun. More importantly, the sacrosun formed part of his astralforce and could directly target Tianming to achieve a similar effect to his Myriadsword Providence. Having slaughtered many solarians during this period of time, Tianming was no longer a stranger to sacrosuns.

With the unfettered sacrosun circling him, Ye Chen wielded his Grand Godless Liberty. By his side were his five Desolate Chaos Progenibeasts. At that moment, Ye Chen's strength was unparalleled. Ye Chen moved onto his sacrosun, breaking out in strange movements. Even his lifebound beasts were endowed with the buff from the sacrosun. Like sliding on a glass ball, they moved at lightning speed.

"It's pretty cool," Tianming admitted. He certainly wouldn't tell Ye Chen that the stronger he was, the more excited he became; he could finally give it his all and have a good time.

"You guys go. Protect me, Xian Xian. I'll need fifteen minutes to give these bastards a fatal blow." Patting its chest, Ying Huo transformed into the Boomchicken.

"Alright." Tianming was ahead in terms of numbers. His nine godswords led the way, splitting into nine thousand smaller swords that formed a vortex, rapidly spinning around his targets. Like a sea of white, the Whitedragon Exaltation swallowed Ye Chen and his five beasts.

"Yin Chen!" Without a word from Tianming, five million Yin Chens flew up into the sky, each silver egg unfolding into countless butterflies amid the harsh clang of metal. The metal butterflies' wings were as thin as cicada wings, but also as sharp as blades.

"Spin!"

Instead of flying or flapping their wings, the butterflies turned themselves into weapons. With their bodies as the core, the two sharp wings of each butterfly spun so swiftly they left afterimages. One metal butterfly turning into a rotating blade was nothing, but five million of them was a force to be reckoned with. The butterflies gathered together like a sea of rotating blades that clashed together, sending out a grating metal screech that sent tingles up the spine. This was Yin Chen's newest ability. Although the butterflies weren't as strange as the bonegnaw ants, they were Yin Chen's ultimate move in terms of combat power.

Along with the Myriadsword Providence, five million butterflies swept across the battlefield in an instant, like countless spiraling darts headed for one man and five beasts. In the front were the nine godswords, which were followed by the butterflies, both raining down suppressive attacks. Spreading its bagua-shaped wings, the Regal Chaosfiend soared into the sky, bombarding its opponents with Triworld Afterlife Bolts. After all, the Primordial Chaos Beasts' power surpassed the Desolate Chaos Progenibeasts. Even though they were facing sovereign beasts, they weren't the least bit afraid.

"Don't be afraid! The sovereign beasts before us are the results of forced evolution. Who knows if they're the real deal or not?!" Ying Huo commanded from the rear. Their appearance might be able to win over the masses, but it couldn't change the fact that they were far inferior to Ying Huo.

In the chaotic battle that erupted on the second level, flesh and blood splattered everywhere. Green waves as high as the sky drenched everyone nearby in seawater. Tianming, four of his beasts, and nine thousand Myriadsword Providence decapath godswords collided with the opponent. His two constellations were of no use here; against Ye Chen's sacrosun, he was indeed still at a disadvantage.

"You're nothing more than that!" Ye Chen regained his confidence. During the battle, the Desolate Chaos Progenibeasts had merged into the Chaos Dijiang, growing five times as large as Lan Huang's size. The gigantic beast overturned Lan Huang and Xian Xian. Fortunately, Meow Meow and Yin Chen continued suppressing it so it couldn't wreak havoc. Shooting out in all directions, the nine thousand Myriadsword Providence decapath godswords caught up to the Chaos Dijiang and pierced its flesh. In the duel with Ye Chen, they all experienced the power of a solarian firsthand.

"You aren't too bad, just a little stronger than the other top geniuses in the second level." Lips curling in a cold smile, Tianming traded blows with Ye Chen. At present, it wouldn't be easy for either side to defeat the other.

"You're presumptuous." With the return of his confidence, Ye Chen fought even more heroically, once again relying on his Chaos Dijiang to suppress Tianming. The combination of man and beast created the mighty Chaos Deity. Compared to the battle in the Observatorium, he was more ferocious.

"I've had to pay so much just to take you down. I hate you!" A thunderous roar exploded from the Chaos Deity's lips.

"Was it really necessary?" Tianming froze for a moment. Between the two of them, they each took what they needed. Why all this hatred? It was stupid.

Ying Huo's Infernalgates had finally built up enough power to form an enormous sun ten thousand meters across, much larger than the Chaos Deity.

"Get out of the way!" As Ying Huo yelled, a black and purple column of fire shot through Ye Chen's body. The Chaos Deity was immediately split apart, man and beasts falling to the ground. Ye Chen was unharmed, but two of his lifebound beasts had been slaughtered and the remaining three were injured to some extent. Without any interference, Ying Huo's ability was devastating.

"The outcome of this battle remains to be seen!" Letting out an angry roar, Ye Chen launched a frenzied attack, his expression turning even more vicious. He still had a chance of emerging victorious; after all, Tianming's lifebound beasts were also badly injured. Meow Meow, Lan Huang, and Xian Xian had lost some of their combat effectiveness. Unfortunately, what Ye Chen lacked was time. Without anyone knowing it, an entire day had already passed.

"Next time then!" Tianming coldly laughed. This battle had been enough for the Violetcloud Imperium to remember the threat that Ye Chen posed, which would be of great use to Tianming.