Beastmaster of the Ages

At that moment, Tianming felt pain from his entire body, as if all of his albi had burst. It washed over him and swallowed up all his senses. The fact that he was even alive was fortunate in itself.

He heard cries of despair from those around him. He was the light in the darkness that had led them to hope, yet that light seemed to have been put out just like that, causing the world to fall back into a deep darkness filled with fear and dangers. The clearest of the voices he heard had come from Ying Huo and the rest. There was also someone crying, definitely Xian Xian. He could also vaguely make out Yin Chen's mechanical voice. It sounded as emotionless as usual, but he could feel the hurt from the voice. For him to be mourned by that little thing made him feel like his life had been worth it. There were many people who saw him as more important than themselves.

A sense of weakness permeated his entire body. He tried getting up, only to find that he couldn't even move a single finger. The blood all over his body dripped into his eyes, blocking his sight. Even so, he could feel his lifebound beasts defending him with their own bodies. The sun emperor was trying to end him for good, no doubt, but if this went on, they would die for sure.

Through his bloodied eyes, he saw their familiar forms. Ying Huo, Meow Meow, Lan Huang, Xian Xian, and Yin Chen. Death-defying bravery was radiant within their eyes. These siblings of his had banded together to protect him from danger. At the same time, Xian Xian's spiritform cried tears that dripped on him as it shook his body and muttered, "Wake up... wake up, please... I promise I'll eat less... I won't be a glutton anymore as long as you wake up!"

But that chance was long over. Tianming looked past her at the falling coffin. He had a feeling that it wasn't even a divine artifact. It was something far more ancient, something like Autarch Qian's Cyclic Mirror. A transcendental object, of sorts, which was why Tianming and Lingfeng had fallen to it. If not for it, they would've had a winning chance.

Tianming and Lingfeng both had similar items, but they were incomplete. The coffin, on the other hand, was the real deal. It was hard to imagine the limits of its power in the hands of the sun emperor. Perhaps no living person had seen him use an item like that until now.

One blow of it had been enough to completely overcome the Primordial God-Emperor's legacy. With the next blow, the sun emperor planned to not only kill Tianming, but destroy everything else along with him, including his lifebound beasts, totems, and divine wonders, and he seemed all too capable of it.

The coffin weighed far more than a hundred thousand mountains—it bore the weight of an entire world! The sun emperor seemed to have completely won. Tianming's death was almost a certainty, a truth etched in stone. The sun emperor was smiling with confidence, completely free of any pressure. Everything was under his control.

"You truly were a lucky child, but it’s too bad for you that I, too, am favored by the heavens. I might not be as shocking as you, but I was already here for ages long before you were born. Too bad, I had a head start. I blocked off all of your paths." He delighted in saying words that completely crushed the ideals of others. He looked at the countless fighters around them with crushed expressions. It looked like something out of a painting. Laughing, he continued, "Be on your way."

The coffin grew larger and larger. The abilities of Tianming's lifebound beasts had completely no effect on him. At this rate, they would die before he did! The realization seemed to stun him awake. He had recovered somewhat, thanks to the Greenspark Tower, and struggled to get up. "Come back!"

Despite his urging, Ying Huo and the rest refused to run.

"You should run. There are eggs that haven't hatched yet. Bring them to avenge us," Ying Huo said without turning back. They had made their decision.

"Boss, run!"

"Run!"

"I have thick skin! I can hold on!" Lan Huang howled.

Tianming felt like the entire world was spinning. He grit his teeth and sobered up, instantly opening up his lifebound space. In beastmastery, the beastmaster was the dominant one in the relationship. While they couldn't casually kill their own beasts, they could control the lifebound space and take the initiative. Seeing them about to die, he forcefully sucked them back into his lifebound space. However, he would be the one to take the blow and die! The lifebound space would eventually fall apart and let them back out. While they would probably be killed all the same, he couldn't bear to see them die for him.

"You guys are great, but I can't let you die before me," he said with a hoarse voice. After taking them back in, he didn't just sit idly. He knew that survival was of the utmost importance. As long as he lived, things would still be possible. The question was how he could avoid the blow from the coffin.

All he could try was to send the Godsin shooting out in its chain form to loop around a mountain and pull himself away from the blow, but the coffin was already falling! It seemed that he would inevitably be crushed. Is this all there is? Will it all turn to nothing? He had thought that he would be able to peacefully accept his end, only to find that there were many things that kept him tethered to the world of the living. At that moment, he recalled the smiles of Feiling, his parents, and his lifebound beasts. They made him want to avoid death no matter what.

Ling'er.... She was still far away on Primary. How much suffering would she have to endure when she got news of his death? Death was all too common across the battlefield, but he had only learned of its true terror when it was about to come for him. Most others wouldn’t even have time to contemplate their own deaths before they were killed. The sun emperor and his coffin were looming shadows that he would never be able to shake off for the rest of his life.

If only there was a chance for me to bring victory to the Myriad Solar Sects! The volcano within him bubbled and boiled.

"Brother!" All of a sudden, Lingfeng's familiar voice came from behind.

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Things had happened too quickly; Tianming suddenly recalled something and felt a jolt—somebody was pulling him from behind! He didn't resist it and let it draw him into the darkness. He heard a weird sound as the world before him oddly shifted. He was only stunned for an instant, then snapped awake. He was still alive and he found himself in the xenomemory space. Right before his death, Lingfeng had pulled him into this world to escape.