Beastmaster of the Ages

After Tianming's first attempt, he started getting familiar with the barrier. The secrets of the black arm lay in the claws and hexagon scales, which allowed him to pierce through the barrier. The scales could even attract the heavenly patterns on the barrier, much the same as it could for the heavenly patterns on the Grand-Orient Sword. He could crush, dissolve, and converge them into his body. With that, he would gradually gain an insight into the profundities of those heavenly patterns.

Is this the reason why my father was able to cultivate so quickly? This arm should be the mystery on my body, and it probably has nothing to do with the Ancient Qilin Clan, right? However, Tianming soon gave up thinking about it, as it felt terrific.

Tianming soon came to several conclusions. First, his claws could pierce through the barrier, but he had no idea if it would work for other barriers as well. After all, some barriers weren't like the Infernal Soul Barrier, such as the Bloodbane Barrier, which he had no idea how to break. Second, his arm could quicken his pace of comprehending his Heavenly Will. Third, the profundities of the heavenly patterns on the barrier seemed to be useful to his Imperial Will. And finally, Tianming noticed that the barrier could convert beast ki into spiritual energy, and when he held onto the threads with his Ancient Devil Arm, he noticed he could extract the energy provided by the Ancient Qilin Clan's disciples to use in his cultivation like the Prime Tower!

Why didn't I discover the black arm's control over heavenly patterns and barriers sooner? That means it's probably an ability that only recently awakened after I came to the Theocracy of the Ancients. It was just that I hadn't discovered it yet. After all, he had already tried using his black arm to touch the golden heavenly patterns on the Grand-Orient Sword's fifth gate before, but he wasn't able to crush and absorb it like he had today. So that means that I only have to use my black arm to come in contact with the barrier and the Grand-Orient Sword's heavenly patterns to increase the speed of my Imperial Will's growth! Since I can absorb spiritual energy from the Prime Tower and the barrier, I can also enhance my spiritsources, not to mention that the effects here might be better than the tombstones in the Li Mausoleum! Holy shit, I'm going to be rich!

There were tens of thousands of disciples in the upper layer of the Infernal Soul Barrier, pouring their beast ki into the barrier to maintain its operation. As there were so many people around, no one would notice if Tianming extracted some energy for himself. He smiled bitterly. I should be here to suffer, but it looks like it's a huge opportunity for me instead. If it wasn't for the fact that I can't see Ling'er, I wouldn't even want to leave this place.…

He bet that everyone in the Ancient Qilin Clan must think he was depressed after coming in, and no one had thought that it would make him happy instead. But what was with this black arm of his? The arm itself was Tianming's greatest secret. He was already feeling impatient trying to use his newly discovered ability to enhance his cultivation speed; he could sense that his Imperial Will was growing at a visible rate, and it was the same for his three spiritsources as well.

"Can you guys catch up to the growth of my Imperial Will?" Tianming asked.

"What nonsense are you talking about? My Infernal Will doesn't require me to comprehend it at all; it's too simple. The growth of our Heavenly Will is being limited by you. So as long as your cultivation increases, it won't be a problem for us," Ying Huo said arrogantly. After all, it used to be an existence that ate suns! It just needed to unlock its bloodline shackles to regain its power.

If the three primordial chaos beasts hadn't been turned into lifebound beasts and restricted by the symbiotic cultivation system, they could swiftly recover their power without any bottlenecks. Then again, they had also benefited from being in the symbiotic cultivation system, and there might be a solution to resolving it in the future.

……

Tianming decisively went into seclusion and isolated himself from any disturbances, devoted to his cultivation. Gradually, he even forgot the flow of time. With Bai Zijin looking after him, he wouldn't have to worry about anyone interfering with him. As time passed, he would occasionally place his left hand on the Infernal Soul Barrier.

All of a sudden, the third eye on his palm opened. With it, he could use his Insightful Eye to study the changes in the heavenly patterns in more detail. So he had been constantly using the Insightful Eye for the past few days.

"Mhm?" On this day, Tianming could sense his third eye trembling, then his vision was dyed crimson.

"What's going on?" Tianming closed his eyes and focused entirely on his third eye. As it could be due to the Infernal Soul Barrier, the vision he was seeing started changing. He suddenly saw a howling sea of flames before him. As he looked down, when his vision got through the last layer of the barrier, he saw that the boiling magma was actually black!

There was magma as far as Tianming could see in this strange world, formed into a sea. Bubbles were popping in the magma. There were only a handful of places where you could land, but those black, metallic rocks were as hot as the magma as well.

"Where is this place? Is this where the Infernal Soul Race is imprisoned?" Tianming was shocked as his vision constantly changed. His surroundings were covered in a thick layer of fog, and even with his Insightful Eye, there was a limit to what Tianming could see.

When his vision suddenly shifted once more, he seemed to have arrived on a small island. There was a crimson altar on the island, and Tianming felt even more shocked when he saw tens of thousands of people sitting beneath the altar with their legs crossed. All of them looked weird, seeming to be a combination of humans and beasts. There were some with humanoid bodies and a beast head, and others with a human head and the body of a beast. They came in all forms, and most of them were ugly.

However, they were tightly packed together. Tianming was right behind them, and even though he couldn't see the expression on their faces, he could hear their cries. They were crying, but they also regarded death as peace. All of them were holding hands, and black flames blazed on their bodies. The flames were strange, as they weren't damaging their bodies, but it was also them that caused the people to scream out in pain.

Those were the flames of infernal souls. Suddenly, tens of thousands of crimson threads extended out from the altar and bound themselves to every single person there. As Tianming's vision followed the altar, he saw a black-haired youth. The youth had a lean figure, without much flesh. His skin was terribly pale, but at the very least, he didn't have any visible beast traits. His black hair was fanned out on the altar, and countless crimson threads enveloped his body. Most of the threads were gathered on his head, blocking Tianming from seeing how the youth looked.

On the other hand, the tens of thousands of other people were still screaming out in pain as they hugged each other. Suddenly, the black flames converged together, forming an ocean of flames and surging toward the youth on the altar through the threads.

"Arghhhh!!" Tianming could hear the screams coming from within the black flames. The screams were vague at first, but they eventually became clear.

"The souls of myriads gathered into one!"

That was what Tianming could hear the most.

"Feng, you have to live! You have to go out!"

"We're not able to see the outside world, but you definitely can!"

"Bring us out and let us see the outside world through your eyes…."

"Is there really a sun in the outside world and starry skies, like in books? Are there really flowers, trees, and birds…?"

"Big Brother Feng, we won't die. We'll live together with you in your soul."

"Don't despise us. All of us love you, and we'll love you with everything."

Tianming could now hear their voices clearly. Those people were crying as they talked.

"It's already been twenty thousand years, and there will be no tomorrow."

"We can't carry on living like this. In the future, there won't be any more descendants of the Infernal Soul Race living in this purgatory!"

"No more!"

The flames were still burning on their bodies as they grabbed their heads, struggling with the pain as they cried. As they were burned by the black flames, white mist traveled through the crimson threads toward the black-haired youth. If Tianming had guessed correctly, that white mist should be their souls. Even as a bystander, this was the first time he had been so shocked in his entire life.

Up on the altar, the youth was struggling in pain, letting out roars with veins bulging out on his skin. "NO! NOOO! PLEASE! I BEG YOU! NO!" His voice sounded hoarse, filled with despair.

"Feng, you're our hope, and the reason we persevered for twenty thousand years. You're our only hope. Only you can bear the souls of the entire clan, and only your soul can endure that kind of pain. Child, don't worry. Mother won't die, and we'll be together with you. Feng, mother loves you, and I'm sorry for letting you bear so much. I'm sorry that you were born in the Infernal Soul Race. I'm sorry!" A woman knelt at the front of the crowd. Her eyes were filled with love, and seeing her son, she smiled for the last time in her life.

"In the future, you'll be together with everyone, fused with the souls of eighty thousand people. Twenty thousand years of struggle, thousands of generations of perseverance, and the most painful Soul Sacrifice. Feng, you, who have inherited the souls of eighty thousand, will definitely be a miracle that's never been seen in this world. You'll have the strongest soul in the world. Remember to take revenge for everyone!"

The Soul Sacrifice had already reached its final juncture, and clouds of white mist gathered onto the black-haired body. The youth tried to struggle, albeit powerlessly, as he cried, "Mother! Mother! Where are you!"

"I'm in your soul," the woman said as her body was completely burned.

At the same time, the voices of more people sounded out within the youth, "Feng, if there's a day when you go out, smell the flowers on my behalf…."

"Feng, you're a man, so you have to be strong! Don't be afraid!"

"Child, I only want the Ancient Theocrats dead! I'm sorry about this. This life has been too painful for me, and I no longer have any hope. Today is the best relief for me. Thank you."

"We'll always be with you."

"We love you, Feng."

"Goodbye, Big Brother Feng."

"Goodbye."

When the black flames reached their highest point, they suddenly went out as eighty thousand people took their last breaths. But even to their last breath, they embraced each other with smiles and yearning in their eyes.

Up on the altar, the white mist gathered on the black-haired youth's head along the crimson threads. Shortly after, Tianming heard a bitter cry, and a trace of ferocity gradually awakened in it.

"I love you guys!"

"Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!"

The black-haired youth knelt on the altar, kowtowing to the eighty thousand people. He kowtowed eighty thousand times and said eighty thousand goodbyes.