Beastmaster of the Ages

"You ants... open your eyes wide and enjoy the show. Watch me toy with your imperial son and precious goddess to their deaths. I've lived for millions of years. Did you think those little tricks would work on me?!" The Archaionfiend had been messed with by Tianming this entire time, but now it could finally convert all its pent-up frustrations to a rush of pleasure.

"Now watch as I tear her arms off!" It gripped both of Feiling's arms and began pulling. The situation was a nightmare for the Xuanyuans there.

At that moment, a glob of light came flying from the distance into the innate godchild body. "What in the world is this? A spiritform?"

At that moment, Feiling opened her eyes, but they looked cold and empty, as if they had a history of tens of millions of years. She looked at the Archaionfiend completely calmly and a light was projected from her eyes that seemed to prick the Archaionfiend's body.

"What in the world?!" it shrieked as it hurriedly closed its eyes. Its soul shuddered as it felt a chill through its entire body and a primal fear deep within his blood set in, causing all of its organs to throb. Even though it was but a small change, the Archaionfiend felt that the body that had been about to be killed moments before had reverted into an ancient deity that had stood at the pinnacle for eternity. She looked at the Archaionfiend as one would look at a mere beast. Even though it felt primal fear, it still hadn't given up on tearing Feiling apart.

"How dare a vile beast like you touch me?" she said with a cold voice. It rang so loudly that the Archaionfiend's arms shook.

"What kind of being are you?!" it howled in pure terror.

"Hmph!" The goddess didn't even bother to say another word to the Archaionfiend. Her body began brightly glowing, illuminating the entirety of Xuanyuan Lake.

"Her Eminence is manifesting her divinity!" The crowd immediately went wild. It looked like a miracle in the making. Every samsaran, even those that weren't from the Archaion Sect, were fully convinced by the powers of the imperial son and their goddess. It was one thing for the imperial son to be as insanely powerful as he was, but it was another thing for Xuanyuan Xi, someone who hadn't made a public appearance before, to make the Archaionfiend lose its wits in practically an instant, and that was only the start. A loud rumble was heard as a black, ancient divine city manifested in the sky above Soulburn Hall. The aura of the city was so dense that it gave the impression that the city was being locked away and didn't look like its true form.

"The Demon City! It's Her Eminence's lifebound 'beast'! It's finally appeared!"

That was the most mystical of the legends of the Archaic House of Xuanyuan. It was said that a girl who didn't have a lifebound beast, but rather a lifebound city, had ascended to godhood at the age of twenty, only to die under mysterious circumstances. To this day, there were no clear answers pertaining to what had happened. Yet today, that mysterious Demon City had appeared once more. In fact, it was none other than the Tomb of the Ancients. The Primordial God-Emperor and the Primordial Demonlord that Ye Lingfeng had mentioned seemed to have come from this very city. This was Xuanyuan Xi's biggest secret that even Tianming had no idea about. Feiling, as the acquired godchild spirit, didn't know about this either.

However, what Tianming did know was that there had once existed such an eternal city on the Radix World Tree, in other words, Xian Xian. Within the dreamscape, he recalled seeing a girl just like Feiling together with Xian Xian. The city in the dreamscape and this Demon City were in fact the Eternal City of Perpetia, the very one that had just appeared without warning. Not even the Archaionfiend was aware of what it was. The next instant, the city came crashing straight down on the Archaionfiend's head.

"Aaaaagh!" it howled as it collapsed, bleeding. The city continued crushing it, pinning the beast completely on the ground, breaking its bones and forcing blood to burst out of its veins from the sheer pressure. All that remained of the beast was its head, which could do nothing but cry in pain. That sight both stunned and caused the audience to cheer. Many elites of the sect acted as if they were looking at a real goddess, kneeling in submission with utmost sincerity.

"Your Eminence!"

Amidst their worshipful gazes, the glowing, black-haired girl descended from the sky before the Archaionfiend. Her eyes were white and empty, devoid of all emotion.

"Goddess, forgive me! Spare me! That was a mistake!" The Archaionfiend now knew true fear. It had sensed that this existence was one that was far beyond itself and had no idea why her power was so unstable. It seemed on the surface that her body had no power at all, but the sudden appearance of the city had been enough to completely dominate it.

Though Feiling hadn't moved the entire time the Archaionfiend begged for mercy, she suddenly stretched out her index finger, out of which a drop of divine blood flowed. She then began drawing a mark on the face of the beast. The marking looked really savage and began seeping through the body of the beast, soon self-replicating into many rose-like patterns that spread throughout its entire body.

"Uuuugh!" Confused, crying and panicking, the Archaionfiend continued to struggle and beg until the blood roses covered it in its entirety. Compared to its former pitch-black body, it now looked like a work of art. However, it had been completely defeated.

"What is this? I'm already begging for mercy, aren't I?" It ground its teeth in pain. What was the terrifying being doing not killing it? It began feeling extreme regret, knowing that its own actions had drawn this being to the surface. If it hadn't touched her, it could have slaughtered everyone there. But now, regret was pointless.

Once the marking was complete, the glowing girl approached Lin Xiaoxiao, who was completely dumbstruck, and helped her stand back up. Lin Xiaoxiao was covered in dirt and blood, though she looked at Feiling time and again without the slightest awareness of her injuries. "Princess Ling... how could it be you?!"

Wasn't this the girlfriend of Tianming all the way back in the Vermillion Bird Kingdom? She was the goddess the whole time? That meant that Tianming had been dating their goddess all along! It was no wonder he had moved into Soulburn Hall. Despite learning the truth, Lin Xiaoxiao felt nothing but fear and respect. When 'Feiling' gazed through her heart and mind, her voice rang out as if it was coming directly into her ears. "I applied the Bloodrose Curse on the beast. All you have to do is to memorize this incantation. Whenever it is disobedient, recite the incantation. It'll make the beast beg for the sweet release of death instead. From now on, you are its master."

Those words inspired feelings of absolute bliss in Lin Xiaoxiao. "Yes, Princess Li— I mean, Your Eminence! I'll remember them!"

Who could've known that such a fate would befall the Archaionfiend? It felt like a dream to her. After that, the words of the curse rang out beside her ears. The incantation itself wasn't long, but Lin Xiaoxiao still repeated it to herself countless times to make sure she wouldn't forget it. All of a sudden, the hand that held hers loosened up. The so-called princess's eyes dimmed before her body slumped and softened, as if she had fainted, so Lin Xiaoxiao hurriedly held her up. The terrifying sensation she had emanated soon vanished. Even the gigantic city that crushed the Archaionfiend reformed into a black beam and entered Feiling's body. Now, the goddess looked no different from a normal saint. The whole place was quiet once more.

The only one that moved was the Archaionfiend. It got up and scrutinized the markings on its body before turning to the unconscious Feiling and smirking. "Is that all? What else is there?"

It turned its savage gaze back to Lin Xiaoxiao, who immediately handed Feiling's body to Xuanyuan Yu. When the rest saw that their goddess was still breathing, they sighed with relief. However, it seemed that the Archaionfiend was about to cause trouble once more. As it sinisterly walked toward Lin Xiaoxiao, she recited something so quietly that most people couldn't quite make out what she was saying.

All of a sudden, the rose patterns on the Archaionfiend's body moved and glowed bright red. Stunned, the Archaionfiend immediately collapsed and rolled around in pain. It felt like it was being eviscerated, having its organs gouged out one by one, and its teeth being chipped bits at a time. It was causing such a huge commotion that most people took a step away from it.

"Aaaaagh! Aaaaaaaahhhh!" It continued rolling in pain, clutching its head helplessly and crashing into what remained of Soulburn Hall to make it even more of a wreck.

"How painful must it be feeling to react so badly?"

"How does it feel? Worse than death?"

Everyone watched with their mouths agape, even feeling a little pitiful for the beast though it completely deserved what it was getting. It kept clawing away at the scales on its body as it cried and begged for mercy, after which Lin Xiaoxiao stopped reciting the incantation. Only after that did the Archaionfiend stop to catch a breath, though it still cried from the horrifying experience.

"That's how I'll discipline you from now on if you don't do what I say, understood?" Lin Xiaoxiao said.

"Got it, Master! I understand! Waaaaah!" It even prostrated itself. Nobody but it would know how truly grueling and horrifying an experience that had been.

"Now get up and take me to Jiang Wuxin!"

"Yes, right away!" I'm the Archaionfiend! I adapt and survive! it thought to console itself.

......

When Meow Meow and the rest saw the Demon City appear and the Archaionfiend being reined in, they immediately rushed back to Heaven Cauldron. However, they still lost considerable time making that trip. All they hoped was that Tianming would be able to catch up to Jiang Wuxin. What was more concerning was whether he could possibly take Wuxin down with three of his beasts and his sweetheart not by his side.