Beastmaster of the Ages

"Kill Li Tianming now?" Lin Xiaoxiao was dumbfounded. The demand was too sudden, and she wasn't prepared for it.

"Are you mad? I'm not even in the Samsara stage, and Tianming has already killed a Heaven Branch disciple in the second death phase of the Samsara stage. How can I possibly kill him?" Lin Xiaoxiao asked.

"There's tons of ways to kill someone!"

"Don't even think about it. Tianming has the protection of the Tribulation Artifact Hall's palace lord. Crushing you would be easy for them, just take Xuanyuan Yuheng's fate, for example," said Lin Xiaoxiao.

"You seem to be taking joy in others' misfortune, Lin Xiaoxiao." The Archaionfiend looked at her coldly.

"You're overthinking it. I'm merely telling the truth—killing him won't be easy," replied Lin Xiaoxiao.

"Did you forget our agreement? Do you remember what will happen to 'them' if I don't take my eye back? You want to pull yourself out of our agreement? You must be dreaming!"

"Then what do you suggest?"

"First, work harder in your cultivation. I'll speed up the rate of your Heavenly Will fusion to get you in the Samsara stage and catch up to him. Second, you need to find a way to borrow Archfiend. You can't let him know that I'm an Archaionfiend, and you have a chance as long as he doesn't know my identity. If the Archfiend took my eye, I can just fuse with it when we get our hands on it." The Archaionfiend sounded impatient.

"Work harder in my cultivation? I can barely take the current speed. Are you trying to kill me?"

"It doesn't matter. I won't have a future without the eye. Do you think I'll be bothered by your death? You have no choice, whether you like it or not. Don't think he will fall for you. Wake up your mind. He's the one who killed your family, you cheapskate!" the Archaionfiend sneered.

"You want to brainwash me too?" Lin Xiaoxiao replied indifferently.

"You're my beastmaster, so there's no way I can brainwash you. But I've lived for millions of years, and you can't imagine what I've seen and experienced. My ability isn't something you can imagine. The eye is extremely important to me, and I'll lose everything without it. I won't be able to return to my pinnacle. If I'm at a dead end, I can bury this entire continent with you." The Archaionfiend looked down on Lin Xiaoxiao from above.

"Wow, how impressive. Then why do you still need my help?" Lin Xiaoxiao laughed.

"You!"

"I'm not afraid of you because of how long you've lived, so you don't have to try and scare me with it. I'll try my best based on our agreement." Lin Xiaoxiao took a deep breath then continued in a calm voice, "Wu You, I'm still a good person right now because I still have feelings for 'them.' But if you take it too far and make me give up on them, what are you going to threaten me with? You're just a lifebound beast!"

……

When Tianming left the Fiend Palace the next day, Archfiend had another tribulation pattern with dozens of saintly heavenly patterns. He couldn't continue his task right then, though, since disciples would come at daybreak. He headed to the Old Deepstar Path, toward the Deepstar Pool.

I now have the Radix World Physique after Xian Xian hatched. Let's give it a try and see if I can fuse with wood astralsources. When he came to the Deepstar Pool's entrance, he saw a slender woman dressed in white. She turned around and smiled at him.

"How are your injuries? Why are you here so soon?" Tianming asked.

"I feel much better now," said Xuanyuan Muxue.

"It'll be better when you've recovered fully," replied Tianming.

"No need. I have to work even harder since I'm incomparable to before," said Xuanyuan Muxue.

"Sure. As long as you're happy."

She suffered an irreversible loss when the oceansoul fatedragon died. That meant she needed to work even harder to catch up with Tianming's current pace. He didn't say anything about it, since there was no way he could make it up to her right now.

"What was with the huge commotion in the Heaven Divine Hall yesterday?" Tianming asked. They were early, and the Deepstar Formation still wasn't open. So Tianming might as well ask about it.

"The entire sect already knows about it. You still haven't heard?" Xuanyuan Muxue replied.

"What is it?"

"The Hexapath Sword Sect caused troubles."

"What'd they do?"

"Nothing much. They tried showing off their strength the moment they came." Xuanyuan Muxue's tone was calm, but Tianming could sense her rage.

"What exactly happened?" Tianming asked.

"Nothing much. Their Sect Master, Feng Qingyu, used sparring to fight with the Sect Master of the Human Branch, Jian Wuyi. He defeated Jian Wuyi and embarrassed us," replied Xuanyuan Muxue.

"Feng Qingyu? Is he strong?" Tianming asked.

"You don't know him?"

"Who is he?"

"The Hexapath Sword Sect only has one sect master. He possesses absolute authority, and no one can control him. He's a rare genius who relied on his own ability to bring the Hexapath Sword Sect to rank in the middle among the divine realms. He's called the Hexapath Swordfiend. My mother says that his strength can be ranked among the top three in the Flameyellow continent, and he has a chance to become a god in the future," explained Xuanyuan Muxue.

"The Hexapath Swordfiend, Feng Qingyu?" Tianming was briefly stunned. He never expected the Hexapath Sword Sect to have such a powerful figure.

"Yeah. He's known for his infatuation with swords, and he's only been practicing his sword since two hundred years ago. He has no friends or family, so he devoted his entire life to cultivation. He might be the sect master, but he doesn't care about their affairs except for major decisions. It's rare for someone like him to lead the Hexapath Sword Sect's disciples over instead of going into seclusion. Do you know what that means?" Xuanyuan Muxue's tone was filled with concern.

"He's naturally trying something big. At the very least, he's here to intimidate us," replied Tianming.

Ranked in the top three in the continent? That was truly terrifying. Now that someone like him had placed his attention on Feiling, it made the Heaven Branch's disciples even more disheartened.

"He looked for the Human Branch's Sect Master to battle the instant he came, challenging the Draconis House of Jian's house king as a representative from the Tai'e House of Jian. His intention is clear. It's rumored that he has always been a straightforward person. There's no doubt that the Hexapath Sword Sect wants to kill Her Eminence. After all, their Hexapath Sword Insight Rock is still in Xuanyuan Lake. The Hexapath Swordfiend even dreams of obtaining it," said Xuanyuan Muxue.

"What? Then can anyone in the sect hold him back?" Tianming guessed that Feng Qingyu was probably here for the Hexapath Samsara Sword.

"I doubt it. Maybe the Heaven Branch's Sect Master. He has a decent reputation in the Flameyellow continent. On the other hand, our house king is lacking in comparison," said Xuanyuan Muxue.

"Understood."

"Furthermore, the Hexapath Swordfiend has a divine artifact left behind by the Hexapath Sword God, the Hexafirmament Eradicator. It's a powerful weapon that not even a tribulation artifact can be compared to," added Xuanyuan Muxue.

"Divine artifact?" The Grand-Orient Sword and Prime Tower were also called divine artifacts in the past, but that was back in the Grand-Orient Realm. Tianming wondered how the sword left behind by the Primordial God-Emperor would compare to the Hexafirmament Eradicator.

"It looks like the other divine realms will be arriving soon. The Hexapath Swordfiend already intimidated the sect, and it'll only grow increasingly difficult in the future. But fortunately, there's a limit to the masters from each divine realm. They won't do anything at the Number One Summit. After all, this is our territory, and our elders aren't pushovers." Xuanyuan Muxue lowered her head.

"So we just have to hold our ground against the eight divine realms?" Tianming narrowed his eyes.

"I guess. But there's a possibility that everyone might target us, and we won't have any allies. If that's the case, our disciples will be in a tougher situation than the elders," Xuanyuan Muxue said.

Although they heard that the sect had a decent relationship with several divine realms, no one was sure if it was reliable. So the Number One Summit would also serve to probe the other divine realms' intentions. After all, it wouldn't be good news for anyone if Feiling returned to godhood.

The threat of a god was too significant, and no one wanted to put their faith in promises. But they were afraid that Feiling wouldn't die. After all, no one in the continent is capable of bearing the rage of a god.

"Muxue, I heard that there's rewards in the Number One Summit?" Tianming asked.

"Yeah. That's one of the highlights. Otherwise, why would people fight if the reward is just the title of Number One?" Xuanyuan Muxue replied.

"What are they?" Tianming asked.

"The rewards can be spirit ores, secret realms, or even territory. The Number One Summit was also used to resolve disputes between the divine realms by having their disciples fight on their behalf. It was an agreement between the divine realms. If a disciple obtains the title of Number One, he or she will be able to resolve the disputes among the nine divine realms.

"For example, if you receive the title of Number One, it means the treasures the nine divine realms have been fighting for over the past decades belong to you. Second place doesn't get any rewards. There's only one winner, and the winner takes all," said Xuanyuan Muxue.