Beastmaster of the Ages

In the three days since Tianming had eliminated Wangwu Yi, the mysterians proceeded to ignore him and started their own ranking selection, showing stunning performances that shocked the known universe. The many disciples from the faceless factions of the Mysterium Cluster showed the best they had to offer, boasting far superior prowess to talented geniuses from skypiercer-class worlds. In other words, even without sweeping the battlefield, few non-mysterians would have actually made it to the top thirty even if they hadn't resorted to such shamelessness. Tianming didn't have a chance to see what method they used to determine the victor; all he knew was that he would be an eyesore to them as long as he still persisted.

"Looks like they no longer care about getting rid of me because those who have an actual say among them don't really care about the ranks outside of the top ten." It was clear that they were trying to thin the herd down to the last ten or so, who would no doubt be as strong or stronger than Ying and Yanwu Ming. That way, Tianming would no longer be able to repeat what he had done the last two times.

Three days soon passed and Tianming's name turned red once more, revealing his location. By now, the twelfth ranker had just been eliminated, leaving eleven behind. As quite a few of them had defeated other people in the process, only three of them were visible thanks to their names. Almost instantly, the pillars of red came rushing toward him. Yin Chen also reported that a few mysterians had stealthily entered its zone.

"It's the most hopeless situation I've ever been in...." Tianming's eyes were burning with passion. He was ready for the incoming attack and knew that there was no way he would be able to back out of it. It wasn't that he was feeling frustrated, he was just already so close to the top ten that not making it there would feel like a waste. "I wonder how the situation is back home...."

He stood atop a tall peak, watching the approaching enemies.

......

"They're here!"

Violetglory's wondersky realm filled up with historic numbers. Xiaoxiao wiped off the sweat from her forehead. "This is too ridiculous.... Is it really that crazy? If he really enters the top ten, he'll probably gain ten times as many worshippers as he has now!"

Most of the passionate discussions about Tianming were carried out by youths under thirty. While their cultivation wasn't that high, they still numbered quite a lot. Even if only the young folks of the Violetglory Star worshiped Tianming, that was still a huge number.

"These young folks will eventually grow up. Gaining their admiration now is akin to conquering Violetglory's future." Xiaoxiao turned and looked at the white-haired youth standing atop the pitch-black star, waiting for his challengers. "He doesn't just want to be in the top ten, he wants to win the future of the star!"

The same fire was seen in her eyes as she placed her hopes in Tianming, just like all the other young Violetglorians.

......

Even the mysterians had begun paying attention to Tianming when the sweeping started. His presence there made things really awkward.

"It should be ending soon...."

"There's no way they'll fall for the same thing thrice...."

The top ten places were incredibly important; it only remained to be seen how the remaining mysterians would deal with Tianming. They charged at him, with one of the rednames calling out to him. The fact that he hadn't had to fight over the past three days despite maintaining his redname status showed how powerful he could be. Yin Chen said that this should be Long, a faceless specter. He was a member of the Celestial Beings and the closest one to Tianming.

"You're a nonabane, a top talent even on Skyway Bistar! You should be honored that we believe you are deserving of remaining here up to now!" That made it sound so much less awkward than them starting to select themselves until a little more than ten remained instead of doing nothing until Tianming reappeared. They had 'let' him rise up to the top twenty instead of him persistently sticking around until the end.

"So what?" Tianming replied as he approached. The two pillars of light were getting closer and closer.

"Eleventh place is your limit. Only mysterians deserve to be in the top ten! Your performance over the last six days was indeed out of our expectations. To give you a fair chance, I'll challenge you myself—none of the others will butt in! This is what we discussed beforehand. We're only giving you this special privilege because you're a nonabane. If you aren't willing to fight, don't blame all ten of us for attacking together! There's no longer anyone among us you can eliminate easily."

Long's words drummed up a lot of commotion. They didn't think that Long, one of the five strongest faceless specters, would give Tianming a chance for a one-on-one duel; it did sound like a great offer.

However, Tianming merely laughed, "Don't flatter yourself. What special privilege are you talking about? You clearly know that ganging up on me will only embarrass all mysterians. You're only doing this to save face after all your embarrassment from before. You're Long, right? Seeing as how you're so anxious to get rid of me, you must be the one that came up with the idea to sweep the battlefield. And now that I've ruined your plans, you're getting desperate to erase the awkwardness, right?"

Those words struck home without missing their target.