Beastmaster of the Ages

For a while, there was a furor in the entire city. The victory had brought tears to their eyes—they managed to severely injure Feng Qingyu and slay the sacredflame qilin!

Before today, who could have imagined that these ordinary folk who had never come face to face with top powerhouses could achieve such a feat? Who would have thought that they could be part of such an inspiring moment? This was definitely a battle that would change history.

Perhaps they wouldn't have had such an opportunity if it weren't for the Prime Tower and Yi Xingyin's thirty years of hard work, but all that mattered was, they succeeded.

That night, the stars shone and the sun and moon dazzled. Tianming City was destined to become famous after this battle. The moment the sacredflame qilin died, their blood boiled, revitalizing their hearts through the barrier spirit threads. Despite the painful tears pouring down their cheeks, they grit their teeth and continued providing their strength to the Sun-Moon-Star Formation.

Tianming was dumbfounded. This incredible scene caused a sensation almost equivalent to killing Xue Yi. However, Xue Yi's powers had been sealed at the time, whereas Feng Qingyu had been defeated at his strongest.

"This is amazing!"

He felt his scalp tingle. The courage of the Tianming City residents helped him come to a realization.

"All living beings are equal. Everyone has the right to leave their mark!"

He stood on the southern city gates, staring at the stupefied Hexapath Swordfiend.

"Retribution comes so quickly! How self-righteous you were when slaughtering the masses! Look how miserable you are now! Just because you're strong doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!"

A man without principles wasn't a real master. Fearless and awe-inspiring—that was what Tianming sought to be.

The scorched man fell beside his sacredflame qilin, which had been split in two. His other three lifebound beasts emerged from their swords, letting out ear-piercing cries of misery. The remaining three beasts were a black tortoise, a dragon, and a luan, the greatest auspicious beasts. They were ranked above all other beings. They had never imagined losing a brother in a place like Tianming City. This was the biggest blow the Hexapath Swordfiend had ever received.

His face was completely charred and his expression difficult to read, but his eyes were blood-red. However, there was no time to mourn the qilin's death, because everyone in Tianming City was thinking the same thing: attack him while he was weakened!

"Feng Qingyu, either fuck off or die here!"

The Infinite Starnet pounced on them once more. Although three of Feng Qingyu's lifebound beasts still displayed full combat effectiveness, there was no way he would try capturing Tianming City if it meant sacrificing himself. At the moment, their wills were united; they were in their best form. Who knows whether or not they could activate the Solunar Blast once more?

When the Infinite Starnet exploded, Xuanyuan Xi, Su Wanfeng, and the others wanted to use the opportunity to trap Feng Qingyu.

"Die!"

Yet another explosive attack swept across the formation.

"Kill him!!"

There wouldn't be another chance for the normal citizens to play a part in the Hexapath Swordfiend's demise, but they could brag about it forever if they succeeded. Following their victory, the people proceeded to frantically attack Feng Qingyu.

Unsurprisingly, Feng Qingyu picked up the corpse of his lifebound beast and fled the formation in a most humiliating manner without so much as a word. Yi Xingyin and the others didn't dare stop him. After all, the Solunar Blast was actually a miracle.

Being able to severely injure him, kill his lifebound beast, and drive him away was the best they could hope for. There was no doubt that Tianming City had ushered in a complete victory that night.

The masses cheered as Feng Qingyu dejectedly left. They had almost emptied out their tears, but the fire in their hearts would burn forever.

These people taught Tianming what it meant to be really strong. He looked to the south; sooner or later, everything that happened here would cause a sensation in the continent and trigger a chain reaction. Right now, he was filled with confidence in Archaion.

"Ling'er."

"Yes?"

"We'll definitely win."

"Yes!"

……

The south of Tianming City was originally shrouded in dark clouds, but now, the light of the Sun-Moon-Star Formation had dispelled them all and the million-strong army could no longer hide themselves.

All of them stood in place, watching the battle in the formation. It was difficult to see clearly from their location, so they relied on their scout's reports. The Hexapath Swordfiend emerged from the formation before the last report.

His black and burnt skin was obvious, a tragic sight to behold. More importantly, his three lifebound beasts were carrying a cold corpse that had been split in two. Everyone could see that it was the sacredflame qilin.

At that moment, they all assumed they were mistaken. Many samsarans rubbed their eyes. Although the heavens and earth had shaken when the Solunar Blast activated, they never expected Feng Qingyu would return like this.

"Wha-"

"Have my eyes deceived me?"

"I don't think so."

The entire region fell into absolute silence. They all stared at the scorched peerless man, their scalps tingling.

The Hexapath Swordfiend was well known. It was common knowledge that Feng Qingyu could enter the final death phase and charge onto the ultimate path of becoming a god. As long as he wanted to, he might even rank first in the world.

Rumor had it that he had been cultivating his entire life and had no wife or heirs. He couldn't even be bothered to guide his disciples. Before he became the Hexapath Swordfiend, he was known as the Sword Fanatic.

A man more awe-inspiring than Xue Yi had unexpectedly walked out of the small Tianming City with the corpse of this lifebound beast. What a shock! What irony!

The incident had toppled their beliefs.

"Has the world changed?"

"How can a peak powerhouse be inferior to ordinary people?"

How ridiculous!

The Hexapath Swordfiend was at least ten times, a hundred times, or even hundreds of times more powerful than any number of common people. For example, even Ghoul King Si Ling could enslave three million corpse puppets with ease.

In the dead silence, the coal-like man appeared before Si Ling.

"Sect Master Feng...."

The matter was beyond the control of the alliance, so Ghoul King Si Ling didn't dare mock him. She had originally planned on laughing if Feng Qingyu was defeated. But with her standing, she could certainly see the turbulence in Feng Qingyu's heart despite the calm expression on his face. His loss wouldn't be beneficial to Nonahall.

"What's the situation in the other cities?" Feng Qingyu spoke as if nothing had happened.

"We just received a report. It's all good news," said Si Ling.

"Elaborate."

"At present, the armies led by Fu You, Lan Yi, and You Ying have captured the cities, broken the defensive formations, and killed five hundred thousand of the Fienddragon Legion, as well as six hundred thousand city guards. Except for those who escaped the city, there are fifteen million captives altogether," said Si Ling.

This should have been the normal outcome. The major cities in Archaion were under siege from three different directions, and Nonahall was the strongest. When the Heptastar Aerial Sect and Quadform Oceanic Sect joined them, more and more cities would fall into their hands.

"What are the three ghoul kings planning to do next?" asked Feng Qingyu.

"Move up north, remove all of Archaion's allies, and finally occupy the entire realm, leaving only the isolated Taiji Peak Lake," said Si Ling.

"Get them to turn around and come here instead," said Feng Qingyu.

"Do we really have to? Support from Pentaphase's legion will arrive in two days. Once we take Tianming City, we'll also head north. Even if we ignore Tianming City and continue north, we'll have no problem conquering Archaion," Si Ling replied.

"We might not be able to capture Tianming City even if two million warriors were to come. The Sun-Moon-Star Formation is Yi Xingyin's work. Because he's here, the power of this third-origin tribulation pattern formation is more powerful than the formations in the other cities. I'll need half a month to heal. There's three million of you, but we'll lose at least a million more just breaking into the city," said Feng Qingyu.

He couldn't help but commend them based on this point alone.

"They're so strong?"

"Well, there's one more thing: Li Tianming is in the city," Feng Qingyu added.

"The imperial son?!" Si Ling's eyes turned red.

"Yes."

"Do you mean the man who killed my brother?" She inhaled heavily, her grey eyes surging with killing intent.

"Yes."

"He's here to die instead of hiding in Taiji Peak Lake?"

"Who knows? That kid has always been cocky," said Feng Qingyu

"Alright, I'll inform the three of them immediately and ask them to come back to capture Tianming City before heading north. Although Li Tianming is a junior, and only managed to dominate us because of the Kilostar Domain, he's still the spiritual pillar of Archaion. The cities along the way would definitely be shaken if we kill him and use his head to lead the way," said Si Ling.

Ghoul King Zi Xiao was currently in the Blood Cauldron, while the first and the second ghoul kings were confronting the twelfth death phase. Si Ling was the chief commander of Nonahall's march northward.

"The other thing is—"

Feng Qingyu glanced at Si Ling with his hands behind his back.

"Sect Master Feng, do speak."

"He's most likely responsible for the defection of your corpse puppets," Feng Qingyu continued.

"Are you serious, Sect Master Feng?"

A cold light flickered in Si Ling's eyes. The corpse puppet army was her signature. If it hadn't been for the changes, she would have broken into Tianming City according to their plan. On top of that, she would now have far more than fifteen million captives.

"There's little doubt about it. If we don't get rid of him, your army of corpse puppets is useless." Feng Qingyu looked up at the moon, his gaze fiery. "Call the three ghoul kings back as soon as possible. I want to destroy Tianming City."

"So you're not going to stop me from using forbidden arts?" asked Si Ling.

"Yes." With his eyes closed, Feng Qingyu exhaled heavily.

"I'm curious why," Si Ling said, batting her eyes.

After a long silence, Feng Qingyu replied, "These ordinary people disgust me."

He pulled out his sword and stared intently at the crack on the blade.