Beastmaster of the Ages

That afternoon, Tianming closed all the windows in the training room. The room was dark, and when he looked back, Feiling was sitting on the edge of the desk, reading a book. She had her chin propped up with one hand, and her legs swaying beneath the desk. She looked adorable.

"What is it? I'm just reaching the best part. The male protagonist was humiliated by his father- and mother-in-law before finding out that his long lost grandfather was a tycoon!" Feiling looked at Tianming unhappily.

"Ling'er, you've fallen. You're actually reading novels instead of real books!" Tianming said with disdain.

"I do need to relax occasionally. What are you closing the windows for?" She stared at Tianming with her watery eyes like a helpless little rabbit. While she was nervous, there was also a trace of anticipation in her eyes.

"Hehe," Tianming laughed.

"Don't mess around! O-or I'll scream for help!" Feiling said.

"What are you thinking about! Dirty!" Tianming took out a book and placed it on the desk. "I intend to read the Infernal Soul Heavenly Pattern Canon with you."

"Oh, is this the Infernal Soul Race's patternscribe inheritance you mentioned?" Feiling was a bookworm, and she would keep any book she saw, regardless if she could understand it. She had two spatial rings, one for her clothes and the other for books.

"That's right. Take good care of it." Tianming was stuck in the ninth level of Heavenly Will, and he wouldn't be able to make a breakthrough anytime soon. So he was thinking of becoming a patternscribe. It was something that he had dreamed of for a long time.

Tianming and Feiling sat on the chair as they read the book together. In the process, Feiling's hair would brush against Tianming's face, which felt ticklish.

Turning to look at Feiling, Tianming noticed that she was seriously reading the book with her hair combed behind her ears. There was a gentle glow on her cheeks in the darkness, and when she blinked her eyes, her pupils were filled with spirituality.

"What are you looking at? Open the book!" Feiling turned and saw Tianming looking at her. In that moment, she felt her heart violently throbbing. When Tianming looked at her, she could sense the love and passion in his eyes.

"You're beautiful," said Tianming.

"I know. Read the book!" Feiling lowered her head.

"Your hair smells nice. Why don't we read more books together in the future?" Tianming leaned his head on her shoulder and looked at her face.

"Okay, but shouldn't we read with light?" she smiled.

"You have to read this book in the darkness. You don't believe me? Let me show you." Tianming stretched out a finger and flipped open the Infernal Soul Heavenly Pattern Canon. When the book was flipped open, the training room suddenly lit up.

The darkness was replaced with a colorful shine. Lowering her head, Feiling noticed that it was the heavenly patterns on the book that lit up. The shine reflected on the wall, which was covered with patterns. It felt like they were in the starry sky, surrounded by colorful stars.

"It's gorgeous," she exclaimed.

"Yeah. Every page is a starry sky, containing the insights of countless ancestors. Can you see the words?" Tianming asked.

"Yup." Aside from the starry lights, words filled the walls. Just this page alone contained ten different kinds of writing styles for heavenly pattern tomes, along with the notes from countless ancestors.

"How magical. I seem to understand what they've written," said Feiling. Tianming had long discovered that she had an unusual comprehension ability for heavenly patterns, which might be related to her bloodline.

"Yeah. I'll start comprehending this book while you take a look at it for me. If I have any questions, I'll ask you."

"Okay." As a result, Tianming and Feiling leaned against each other as they pondered over the profundities of the patternscribes together.

"Big brother, the grades of patternscribes, tomes, and barriers are recorded here."

"How are they differentiated?" Tianming had just gone into this path, and he didn't even have any foundational knowledge about it.

"It's graded from one to nine stars. One star heavenly pattern tomes and barriers are the basics. With that as the basis, the nine star heavenly pattern tomes and barriers are the strongest. If you can inscribe a one star heavenly pattern tome or barrier, you can be considered a one star patternscribe," Feiling explained.

"The grades are simple. I wonder what the grade of the strongest patternscribe in the Divine Capital is?" Tianming started feeling curious and planned on asking Bai Zijin about it.

"It mentions that you can check the grade of heavenly pattern tomes and barriers here," said Jiang Feiling.

When Tianming looked at it, it was just as she had said. It was written that by using the cover of the Infernal Soul Heavenly Pattern Canon, he could swiftly search for the creation method of the tomes or barriers. Following this method, Tianming started pouring his beast ki in.

"Let's first look at the Spiritburn Tome." The book soon flipped to the Spiritburn Tome's page. Reading through the description of the Spiritburn Tome, Tianming was shocked. "A Spiritburn Tome is a common, gradeless heavenly pattern tome. That means there were nine grades to it, based on its power and how complicated it is. The one I used was probably a one star Spiritburn Tome, only effective for those below the Saint stage. If it'd been a nine star Spiritburn Tomes, even an empyrean saint could use it!"

"Let's look at the Bloodbane Barrier next?"

"Sure." Tianming continued searching, and finally found a recording of the Bloodbane Barrier. The Bloodbane Barrier was a five star heavenly pattern barrier. This meant that Li Shenxiao was at least a five star patternscribe! He then searched for the Southsky Barrier and Grand-Orient Barrier. The Southsky Barrier was a two star barrier, while the Grand-Orient Barrier was a three star barrier.

"What about the Infernal Soul Barrier?" When Tianming searched, he found the Infernal Soul Barrier's creation method on the last page of the book. Tianming could feel a headache when he saw how complex it was. It was recorded there that if you wanted to create an Infernal Soul Barrier, you would have to be an empyrean saint.

"The Infernal Soul Barrier is a seven star barrier, which also means that the strongest patternscribe in the Infernal Soul Race's history was only a seven star patternscribe. The eight and nine star patternscribes are probably rare. I wonder if they existed in the history of the dynasty?" Tianming said with longing in his eyes.

"Big brother, do you prefer heavenly pattern tomes or barriers? It's mentioned here that the tomes are ten times harder to create than barriers because it requires talent. A one star patternscribe might not be able to inscribe a heavenly pattern tome, but they can easily create a one star heavenly pattern barrier," said Feiling.

"That means creating a heavenly pattern tome is harder than creating a heavenly pattern barrier. So if you can learn how to create a heavenly pattern tome, it won't be an issue for you to create a heavenly pattern barrier. Since that's the case, I'd rather learn how to inscribe heavenly pattern tomes," said Tianming.

"But it's written here that you should start out with heavenly pattern barriers."

"The Heavenly Will beastmasters we met in the past were too weak, and the heavenly pattern barriers created by them can't even be graded," said Feiling.

"I don't think it'll be an issue. I have a feeling that I'm a genius in this field," Tianming said, brimming with confidence.

"But you'll have to spend a lot on materials if you want to inscribe heavenly pattern tomes."

"Why does that matter? If I succeed, I can sell it for ten times the cost. Ling'er, we're going to be rich! Moreover, heavenly pattern tomes can be used in battle to empower ourselves. So much so that even you can use it," Tianming said with excitement.

"Aren't you a little too confident? That's how everyone starts losing their fortunes."

"You dare belittle me? Do you want me to smack your butt?"

"Ahhh!"

……

Only one place sold materials for inscribing heavenly pattern tomes in the Decimo Dao Palace—the Divine Pattern Hall. It was a mysterious place, and Tianming had to ask around for a long time before finally reaching it. A small path led to the unpopular Divine Pattern Hall, which meant there weren't many patternscribes in the Decimo Dao Palace.

Tianming weighed the fortune that he had made from the sect war. He heard materials for heavenly pattern tomes were costly, which made him hesitate. Standing before the gate, he knocked on the door.

"Come in," a woman's voice sounded out.

But the moment Tianming entered, he couldn't help smiling and asked, "Big Sister Bai? What're you doing here?"

"Why can't I be here? Why are you here in the Divine Pattern Hall?" Bai Zijin stretched her body by the window, outlining her impressive curves.

"I'm here to look at your heavenly pattern barrier… just kidding! I'm here to buy materials for inscribing heavenly pattern tomes," said Tianming.

"Wait a moment." Bai Zijin quickly entered the back room. After a while, she walked out barefooted, wearing a large robe. Looking at Tianming with suspicion, she asked, "Has my father started teaching you the ways of a patternscribe? Did he test your talent to become a patternscribe? How many stars do you have?"

"The talent can be tested?"

"Well, duh. Judging from your tone, you must not have tested your talent. So why are you here to buy materials?"

"To be prepared," said Tianming.

"Then there's no need for you to buy the materials. You can start with small heavenly pattern barriers," said Bai Zijin.

"No, I insist on buying the materials."

"...Whatever, just pay the money for them," said Bai Zijin.

"Pay? Why should I pay with our relationship?" Tianming was shocked.

"How are you going to buy it without paying? This is the heirloom my father left for me. I'll be broke if I lose my money. The materials for heavenly pattern tomes are very expensive, and I can only give you a twenty percent discount at most. I'm just selling it to you at cost," Bai Zijin said furiously.

"Twenty percent? Isn't that a little too stingy? Why don't you give me a better discount?"

"Why don't I break your legs instead?"

"Fine, we'll just go with fifty percent," said Tianming.

"Just this once! You little bastard, I'm selling the materials to you at a loss by giving you this discount." Bai Zijin smiled wryly, then patiently started packing up the materials for Tianming. There were three necessities to inscribe a heavenly pattern tome, and Tianming was looking at them right now.