Beastmaster of the Ages

Shenwu Yin began looking forward to Tianming's arrival. Holding his hand, she excitedly said, "Brother Tianming, when you come here, I'll take you to the Sea of Old where the old gods are said to rest! There's even old god's blood there. It's really a beautiful place."

"Sure thing," Tianming said. If I had a stable background like her's, I'd love to go to a deific-class world too. It was one thing that he could only rely on himself. But right now, both Orderia and the Violetglory Star alone were potential threats to him. How would he even fare in a place like the Mysterium Cluster?

The two happily chatted and Tianming introduced her to Lingfeng. However, things began feeling heated when people approached the group.

"Yin," said a deep voice from behind Tianming. It sounded like it came from a volcano and hurt to hear, and there was a hint of dissatisfaction in it.

"Brother Fen...." Shenwu Yin meekly turned back.

"Come here."

"Yes...." The 'Shen' character on her face gave Tianming an unwilling 'look' as she bade him goodbye. The one who had just spoken no doubt had a lot of authority. Tianming turned back and saw around twenty people some hundred meters behind him. All of them were mysterians with the 'Shen' character on their faces, making them totemancers of the Wushen tribe. Their leader was the one who had just spoken.

He was dressed in a dark, fiery-red robe that matched his crimson eyes. Each strand of hair looked like singing embers. His hair covered half his face, giving him a sinister air. The 'Shen' character on his face, unlike the wavy one on Shenwu Yin's, had crude brushstrokes that looked like flowing magma. There were nine strokes of the character, and if all nine of them shone, that would indicate that the person was a nonabane. And this guy, like Shenwu Yin, had all nine strokes. The other twenty-odd Wushen tribe members had one fewer brushstroke, meaning that they were 'only' octabanes. The two nonabanes aside, all of those octabanes would be top geniuses in any heliacal-class world. [1]

Looks like deific-class worlds have quite a lot of sovereigns. Tianming had seen this person at the Astralium Seeking before. Even though he hadn't interacted with him, unlike Weisheng Xi and Crimsonjade Long, he was one of the prominent members of the Celestial Beings, having nine totems as he did. It was said that he had ended up in fourth place in the event, and it wouldn't make a difference even if Long wasn't eliminated. Shenwu Fen was the stronger of the two, and Tianming could feel the hostility coming from the character on his face.

"Yin, don't mouth off by yourself next time," he said strictly.

"Got it!" She skipped to his side and whispered, "I'm just trying to make friends, you know."

"Hmm?" He gave her a look, causing her to look down. "Move aside." He walked toward Tianming with the other geniuses and said, "Li Tianming, Yin is right. We mysterians have indeed sent divine astralships to pick you up. It'll take some time, and all you have to do is wait. As for where you'll be going, the decision hasn't yet been made. Don't listen to Yin's speculations. Not to mention, you don't have to worry about us mysterians mistreating you. We're an apex race, and it'd be laughable if we were as narrow-minded as you imagine. Additionally, you defeated Long of the Crimsonjade line. Given his personality, he'll definitely seek revenge against you. However, don't mind his threats. He doesn't speak for the mysterians—not even his father has that right. Lastly, I want to congratulate you. At the very least, with your talent, you'll break the custom of mysterians not taking in foreigners. The seniors are quite interested in you and your fellows."

He didn't give Tianming any leeway to speak. Even though he didn't seem as short-tempered as Long, it was clear that he was only showing politeness out of courtesy. Tianming had to be thankful for the chance the mysterians were giving him, and his gratitude was something they naturally expected.

"Understood. I'm honored and grateful and will be patiently waiting. I only worry that our distant star won't be able to provide adequate hospitality for honored guests like you," Tianming said.

"It's fine. We aren't going there for a tour. The Mysterium Cluster has more than enough fine sights," Shenwu Fen said.

"I want to see what the Violetglory Star is like, though. There's so many impressive big brothers and sisters there. There must be something special about it," Shenwu Yin said.

"Go away and play by yourself," Shenwu Fen said, pinching her cheeks. By now, they had established basic contact.

Tianming couldn't wait to start the challenges to get his winning streak; there was no way he would stop after tasting the benefits of defeating Long. Then, he met the gaze of Shenwu Fen.

There's countless cultivators here that're as strong as Shenwu Fen, but they're in their sixties and beyond. Defeating them won't have as much of an effect on the Violetglorians compared to defeating Shenwu Fen. He saw Shenwu Fen as a gift waiting to be plundered. Not only was he stronger than Long, there was also the fact that Tianming was considered a nonabane rather than a beastmaster. Shenwu Fen was also recognized as the most talented totemancer that represented Skyway Bistar. Doubtless, there would be some hostility between the two.

It was also known that the number of totems paled in comparison to the type of totems, and celestial being totems were considered stronger than sword totems. In some ways, Skyway Bistar had the upper hand on that aspect. Shenwu Fen only got fourth place because of the presence of the mysterious girl and the wonderian in the Astralium Seeking. Otherwise, he would have taken second place.

"Feel like going for a round?" Tianming challenged with a calm smile.

"Very well," Shenwu Fen said.

The crowd gasped. Those words had stirred up many undercurrents.

1. The 神 character is written with nine strokes. ☜