Beastmaster of the Ages

How vast could the astralscape of order be? Faced with the boundless unknown universe, even those who claimed to be living in the so-called center of the universe didn't have an answer. To them, the universe only encompassed the Mysterium Cluster as its center, with a minority of worlds in the far reaches of space. Living near the core was a sign of pride and status for them.

The Mysterium Cluster itself was already quite huge. Yet even though many worlds within it were interconnected, many would never leave their own star for their entire lives. Only those who stood far enough away could see how vast and glorious the Mysterium Cluster truly was; it was indeed a sight that would touch any soul.

The cluster looked like an oval disc in the darkness of space, spinning and leaving colorful trails that were comprised of dense stars comparable to Orderia or Violetglory. The closer one was to the oval disc, the more shockingly vast it would seem. Cultivators in lone worlds like the Violetglory Star simply couldn't understand the majesty of such a scale.

The Mysterium Cluster did have an apparent right to claim to be the center of the universe. Other things aside, the triangle of worlds at the core of the cluster was majestic enough. Without seeing it with one's own eyes, it was hard to imagine what a star a hundred times the size of Violetglory would look like. How vast were the lands and the seas? How varied were the peoples and clans that lived there? How many different sights would such a world offer?

After seeing Orderia and the Violetglory Star, Tianming had come to know that every star world was unique, with its own culture, history, and temperament. No doubt, the three central deific-class worlds of the Mysterium Cluster were a concentrated melting pot for all of the worlds in their vicinity.

Currently, the three Skyway Stars were rife with excitement from the youth battles in the Astraldome. Each Astralium Battlefield had drawn quite a fair number of spectators. For each mysterian that fought in them, there were many supporters. They were believers in these young talented folk. The only one among all those elite youths who had been eliminated was Xiao from the Skyway Tristar. He was only nineteen, so he would have been the youngest to participate if he had made the cut. Yet Tianming's sudden appearance had kept him from participating in this grand event, sending his mood to rock bottom.

He had tried many times to seek out Violetglory's location and tried hiring people to kill Tianming to vent his rage, though given his age, there was no way he had the clearance to do all that. On the day of the event, he was laying on a grassy plain in the wondersky realm that belonged to him, watching a projection of the battles in the sky above. He was from a deific-class world, so he could watch any battle he chose. The first round of elimination matches had more than a thousand and eight hundred people, which were more or less split up into a hundred and eighty different matches. However, Xiao only paid attention to the fights of his fellow specters, especially his elder sister's.

"How boring. They're only there because they entered the fourth level before me. If I were there, I could easily make it to the Astralium Seeking too." Even without relying on his own abilities, his powerful elder siblings could just as easily bring him to the next event.

"There's so much useless cannon fodder...." Despite his featureless face, he seemed rather smug as he scrolled past the various broadcasts. Then, all of a sudden, he froze and locked on to one broadcast. The more he looked, the more his face seemed to contort. He even let out a low growl.

"Nine totems?!" The faceless specter finally stood up with a look of disbelief as he witnessed Tianming's performance. This was the person he hated with a passion, and now his fame was rising in the Mysterium Cluster with every breath taken. It was incredibly glorious for a mere junior from a heliacal-class world.

"Esteemed Mother!" he called out as he jumped around the field.

After a while, a cloud descended and formed a featureless, yet womanly face.

"Esteemed Mother, that guy actually has nine totems! We can look into his location now, right? With that as a reason, can't you talk to the divine wonderians about it?" Xiao excitedly said.

"No need to rush. We've looked into it," said the cloudy face. She could exist in the wondersky realm in a different form, as if it was unthinkable magic.

"Where is it?! How far?!"

"Quite far. It's three starlengths away from the Mysterium Cluster. It'll take three years with a normal divine astralship at full speed. Even with the fastest one, it'll still take at least two years."

"That's doable! Send someone there to kill him immediately! Four or five years for a return trip is acceptable!" Tianming's actions had caused him too great a loss.

"Xiao, be quiet," the cloud harshly said as it exuded a heavy pressure on Xiao that made him asphyxiate.

"Esteemed Mother, why not?" he asked, lowering his head.

"It isn't whether or not we can do it, but rather that your first reaction to hardship is revenge. That kind of attitude is not befitting of mysterians. You're still young and there's much more for you to learn. Too much."

"I understand, Esteemed Mother. I was wrong. I've desired to enter the Astralium Seeking for far too long and prepared so hard, only to be foiled by such a minor figure when I was just one step away. That's why I want to pay him back dearly for this."

"The cultivators of his hometown are three starlengths away, which means they don't have much of a grasp of the Mysterium Cluster. Given that he's a star talent, he's no doubt protected by their entire world. Unless we're willing to start an astral war, killing him isn't a possibility. Even the Mysterium Cluster's might and influence has a limit." While they could normally just send someone to demand the death of someone from another world if they could prove they were from the Mysterium Cluster, that kind of influence didn't extend to distant worlds like the Violetglory Star. While an astral war might be able to achieve that purpose, it wasn't something a nineteen-year-old could initiate willy nilly.

"I know. We mysterians can only project our influence about one starlength away." Divine astralships were among the most precious treasures of any world; sailing for six years to and fro just to kill a young fellow was ridiculous to say the least. Xiao felt quite crestfallen.

"However, Xiao, you're right. Him being a nonabane definitely changes things," said the cloud.

"What does it change?" he asked, hopeful and agitated.

"I've been in contact with those of Monostar and Bistar. Bistar is interested in the nonabane. They might be sending people to escort him to their world."

"Will it be for nurture or imprisonment and control? It shouldn't be hard for them to fully integrate a xenorace as their own, right?"

"It's hard to tell for now. It depends on the situation."

"Have they set out yet?"

"No. They're just planning to watch for now. They'll evaluate his talent more extensively based on his performance. After all, it's quite rare for a nonabane to surface in a heliacal-class world three starlengths away. Such talent is rare, even in skypiercer-class worlds near us. Losing to such an individual is no embarrassment. You're still young, after all."

"I see. His impressive performance ended up helping me save some face, after all." When he saw Tianming at the absolute lobby a few days ago, he felt like his heart was being torn apart, thinking that Tianming was just a mediocre fellow.

"Let me emphasize that it's really unlikely that you'll get to kill him. Yours is merely a feud between immature children, but that's not the main reason," said the cloud with a change in tone.

"What's the main reason?"

"Based on his performance, his lifebound beasts are really powerful as well, and aren't inferior to his totems at all. I believe that he claims to have contracted his lifebound beasts using blood pacts, but those of Monostar and Bistar are saying that it's really unlikely that someone of his age with such impressive lifebound beasts and totems actually used blood pacts. There's a good chance that he's a legendary human hybrid! That means there's great research value in this specimen. I believe they'll capture him to research him. After all, even those of Monostar and Bistar don't have dual-cultivating talent. They've tried and tried, without any successes."

"Is that even possible? A hybrid totemancer and beastmaster?" Xiao was utterly dumbfounded.