Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming had always imagined the mysterians to be the representatives of ugliness. But his mind had been changed after seeing Ying. Bai Feng and she had yet to determine a victor. The expected conclusion would be Ying defeating Bai Feng before breaking the astralis and winning. But unexpectedly, Tianming had arrived on the scene.

That made Bai Feng feel slightly awkward. "At least for today, I'll pledge my life to protecting our astralis."

"It's fine, congratulations!" Tianming said, relaxed. Bai Feng gaining the interest of a peak genius of the faceless specters was her fortune. He was happy for her as long as she didn't defect today.

However, Ying wasn't very happy. She frowned with her non-existent eyebrows. She looked at Tianming for a long while, her aura gradually growing colder. She didn't speak to Tianming. Instead, she turned to Bai Feng, " Did this teammate of yours from the Violetglory Star beat my younger brother Xiao before?"

"Yes, it was me," Tianming frankly said.

"You destroyed his dreams," Ying said.

"You exaggerate. Getting to the third round would've been amazing with his skills. He would've just been here to have fun," Tianming replied.

"You speak quite annoyingly," Ying said with annoyance.

"That's because you're used to people speaking to you with respect."

"I see there's nothing left to talk about." Ying lifted up her sword and pointed it at Tianming, emanating an ice-cold killing intent.

Bai Feng pursed her lips. "Princess Ying, I have to cooperate with him today." She was someone who valued her word. Tianming was quite impressed with how she wasn't bowing to Ying right now.

Tianming was more direct. "No need, Sister Feng. Yanwu Ming isn't here, so I'll do it myself."

"Alright." Bai Feng was also straightforward, so she quickly agreed with a nod.

"Still, let me say this up front. I won't give up the chance for the Astralium Seeking just because she appreciates you. Don't blame me if I eliminate them." Tianming grinned.

"I get it!" Bai Feng wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. But honestly, she did believe Tianming had this chance.

"Where does this confidence come from?" Ying found this slightly amusing.

"From the three violethorn draconians. They're all gone, now that I took care of them."

"Oh.…" That made Ying's aura grow even colder. She approached Tianming, signaling Bai Feng to move away. "We'll determine the victor without Bai Feng being involved. My only fear is mistaking you as a worthy opponent, yet you end up not having the skill to entertain me."

"How about you try?" Tianming said, a short few words igniting the flames of battle.

Bai Feng quickly scrammed to their Astralium Formation.

The area was immediately plunged into silence, and many eyes were watching the two through the Mysterium Cluster. Among all of the Astralium Battlefields, this one had immediately been catapulted to the most watched. That was especially true for Skyway Tristar! Ying's talent, status, and strength stood stable in the top three of the faceless specters' junior generation. Thus, the attention she was drawing right now was nearly a hundred percent of Skyway Tristar!

That was unprecedented for Tianming. He was from far away, and no one had ever heard of the Violetglory Star before. To a deific class overlord like the Skyway Tristar, a rural heliacal-class star was nothing but meat on a platter.

The reason this battle had attracted such fervor wasn't just because of the personal grudge due to Xiao. The other reason was the conflict between the borders and the core. Ying represented the center of the universe and the authority of the mysterians that had never been shaken, while as for Tianming, he was the representative of the cultivators of heliacal- and skypiercer-class worlds. After all, who didn't yearn to challenge the mysterians, bringing both fame and glory to their ancestors? No matter where, the courage of those lower born to challenge authority existed!

However, Ying didn't know anything about Tianming. There was no proof of Tianming defeating the three violethorn draconians, either. Hence, this was all still normal to her.

Tianming didn't want to hide anything, so as Ying sped toward him, he had already fully displayed his lifebound beasts and decapath era godswords. It was utterly ganging up on a lone specter with his numbers.

Still, quantity didn't mean quality. Ying was a fourth-level solarian with incredible talent and a perfect body. Her strength alone was great enough. If she defeated them one by one, numbers wouldn't matter.

"Nonabane? Lifebound beasts?" It was Ying's first time being shocked.

"That's why you shouldn't underestimate me, or this'll all be meaningless," Tianming said.

Ying pondered it for a while. It was clear that Tianming's nine totems had exceeded her expectations. However, her fighting spirit surged. "I've changed my mind. You aren't a bad opponent." Ying's fighting spirit had gone up, but her anger had fallen. Perhaps, she thought, Tianming beating Xiao wasn't undeserved.

"Come." Tianming was carrying the large Grand-Orient Sword in his hand. Perched on his left shoulder was a little yellow chick and a small black cat was at his feet. There was also the gargantuan Lan Huang, as well as Xian Xian, who was rooted to the ground and served as a backdrop. Finally, nine massive swords revolved around them.

"Yes." Ying nodded. This time, her tone was much more gentle.

"Li Tianming, would you be willing if I invited you to cultivate in the Skyway Tristar?" Ying stopped just before she was about to attack. Clearly, his nine totems had changed many of her preconceptions. Even her brother's anger was no longer so important.

"Way too far. Maybe after the Astralium Seeking, you can ask your seniors how long it'll take to get there from my hometown?" Tianming said.

"I will."

"However, I thought you mysterians rejected foreign races?" Tianming asked.

"You not joining the mysterians doesn't mean you can't cultivate in Skyway Tristar. Being my friend will benefit you much more than being in a skypiercer-class world. The three deific-class worlds are the heart of this universe."

"Amazing." Tianming sighed in praise.

Ying was different from others. It seemed that she liked to make friends, perhaps because it was beneficial to her competition with the other faceless specters her age. And Tianming could also take advantage of her to find out the distance between Skyway Tristar and the Violetglory Star.

If it's just a one or two month journey, I'll have to go on the run after the Astralium Seeking. Tianming was self-aware. He was a genius without any backing and too many secrets. His crime was being too awesome. It may have seemed all calm in the Violetglory Star right now, but there were too many unknown risks. Going to the Mysterium Cluster would be no different from suicide.

"Then, I won't be polite now. My younger brother is still hoping that I'll help him vent," Ying laughed. Her personality felt similar to Feiling's; she just didn't have a face.

"You've been polite enough," Tianming laughed as well.

"Nonabanes are worthy of it," she replied. That was normal. Truly great clans or races would instead have fewer arrogant people. Geniuses understood other geniuses the best and knew there was nothing fake about totems. But, politeness was politeness and competition was competition. Both of these geniuses wanted to go to the Astralium Seeking, so what would follow would be a no-holds-barred match.

"Please enlighten me." Ying's nimble body once more made its way toward Tianming. Although she looked weak, she was actually on par with Lan Huang in terms of strength, defense, and quality.

She tore through the air, causing the earth to tremble in her wake.

Tianming had no way of matching up to such a physical body, unless he could fuse Lan Huang's massive body with his own. More frighteningly, there were also traces of sword ki on Ying, which meant that she also had a sword body like Tianming.

Sword ki exploded out from her body, forming a snow-white tempest of swords around her.

"Tianming, this is Princess Ying's grade-eight divine hazard sword ki, Azure Swordriver Storm," Bai Feng said from afar.

That meant that Tianming's advantage from the Frozen Glasstree was gone. Ying's astralforce as a fourth-level solarian was also quite a frightening thing, and her sacrosuns were very mature. It came out, filling the area around her with stars.

The stars transformed into incredibly realistic cherry blossoms that drifted around her as swords and cherry blossoms danced around. And in the center, a young lady as pure as the moon was flitting around. However, her lack of a face gave the scene a peculiar attractiveness that could warp an onlooker's sense of beauty.

Still, while whether it was pretty was up for debate, what was certain was the danger presented by a fourth-level solarian genius. Geniuses were all existences who could fight above their level, and Tianming was even still a constellier. He wasn't sure if he could besiege such an opponent. This was his first time fighting against another genius that Tianming had so little confidence.

Skycloud Soul, cherrywind sacrosun, the Azure Swordriver Storm, and a specter's powerful body all joined together to make the current Ying a grim reaper. Her sword suddenly appeared, already stabbing at Tianming's forehead.