Beastmaster of the Ages

Huiyue City was a megacity that had a long history of being ruled by the divine moonrace. The walls were near a hundred meters in height. While it wouldn't be considered a problem for larger lifebound beasts, someone on the scale of Tianming couldn't even get a good view of the city from outside the wall. Even after nearly breaking his neck by looking up, all he got to see were some guards.

This was the core of the Divine Moon Realm; the guards were at least fifth- or sixth-level samsarans and some supercentenarians were likely to be ascendants. The city had many gates, and Tianming and Feiling were in front of one of them. It was so large that they couldn't quite see the ends of the gate from left to right. The walls seemed to be made entirely from spirit ores and each brick had moving heavenly patterns, a sign that the city was defended by a divine-class protective formation.

"It's said that the Divine Moon Realm is defended by a spherical formation. That's the foundation of their security, and it can only be powered by a stellunar source. The formation is only activated during wartime. I wonder how impressive it truly is."

Tianming saw the cloudy sky of the moon, but couldn't imagine a formation that could envelop the whole moon. Realizing that stellunar sources weren't just able to nourish life and fuel cultivation, but fuel a formation as well, Tianming began realizing how important this source of energy was.

He spotted some elite figures flying directly into the city while most others had to enter from the gates. It looked like the entry controls were far stricter here than on the Flameyellow Continent. "They seem like they value a certain something."

"What is it?" Feiling asked.

"Order."

Normal people had to enter one by one without making any noise. Otherwise, they would be chased away. "Ling'er, didn't you learn Li Caiwei's Dreamdemon Arcana?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Then you should morph into an uglier form, otherwise you'll attract trouble," he said, rolling his eyes. Her aura was far too alluring, even on the Divine Moon Realm. While nobody at Yuexing Town had dared to mess with them, her looks would attract too much attention here. Tianming wanted to keep a low profile.

"Does this look bad enough?" Feiling asked after adjusting it a bit.

"A little more!"

"What about now?"

"Keep on going."

"I'm turning really ugly..."

"You're on your way there, but even after ten more times, you'd still be a looker."

"I'm sure you're just messing with me now." Hearing that, though, did make her feel good. The final transformation made her look like a pretty scion, but nothing more. That would allow them to pass the checkpoint without attracting any undue attention from the high-nosed guards.

Once they were inside, Tianming asked where the Huiyue Clan was and headed in that direction. Along the way, they took in the sights of the prosperity of the city.

"This city should glow at night. It'll surely look even more beautiful," Feiling said.

"That's right. By the way, did you notice something?" Tianming paid more attention to the people than the landscape.

"What is it?"

"Among humans, apart from the divine moonrance and rootbeast race, it looks like there's another type without totems or lifebound beasts. Those humans can cultivate even without lifebound beasts. I reckon they're the most basic form of humanity. Perhaps their bloodline is closer to the divine moonrace, or maybe even the celestial orderians."

"That seems to be the case."

They kept hurrying to find Huiye Shi, for they couldn't afford to dally on the matter of Ye Lingfeng's survival.

......

Huiyue Palace took up nearly a third of the entire city. Even so, there was still a rather severe lack of space in their estate, due to the sheer density of people within the clan as a result of how prosperous it was. Even so, none of them were willing to leave and live in the wilderness.

The reason for that was simple: the distribution of the stellunar source. Different places had different levels of concentration. The Huiyue Clan had constructed their base at the location with the best concentration, then further boosted it with formations. As a result, the members of the Huiyue Clan would only grow stronger and stronger. Other, smaller cities only got far smaller allocations of stellunar source as the divine moonrace monopolized the resource, and the amount they got was dependent on a strict quota.

The Huiyue Clan had hundreds of ascendants above a century old, or thousands if you include those above a thousand years old. All of their newborn children wanted to cultivate at the best location possible. There were also many divine moonrace academies within the palace that guided the young clan members in their cultivation, and the ones in direct charge of the children were moon guides.

Liu Yizhao was a moon guide that taught at the Glowmoon Compound. Huiyue Yin and Huiye Shi were his students, and he was also the administrator of the Flameyellow Continent, a position which he only held in name and didn't have any real duties for. All he did was collect a paycheck for the title.

Today, he was teaching as usual. The students had just returned from gaining insights from the caeli at the divine moon hall, and Liu Yizhao was relaxedly answering their doubts and questions with a fan in hand. Soon, evening came and his class was over. The disciples of the Huiyue Clan bowed and thanked him before leaving.

At that moment, Liu Yizhao waved and said, "Huiye Shi, stay back and come with me."

"What is it, Moon Guide?" she asked, surprised. She had been horsing around with her fellow girlfriends moments before, so her hair and clothes were a little messy. She was filled with the vigor of a young girl.

"I have a little more pointers for your heavenly will to aid your progression to the Ascension stage. The others may leave."

"Yes, Moon Guide!"

"Alright...." Huiye Shi wasn't too happy about being held back. She turned to her friends and said, "Wait for me! I want to go to the cherry blossom bath too!"

"Don't worry, just work hard!"

The rest soon left. Liu Yizhao cleared his throat and walked past one cherry blossom tree after another to a cultivation room. When she followed him in, he said, "Close the door."

"Yes, Moon Guide." She closed the door and sat cross-legged on the ground.

Liu Yizhao stood behind her with a dark glint flashing across his eyes. Gently, he said, "Now, listen closely to my explanation.

"Hurry up!" She couldn't wait to go and have fun, and wasn't enjoying this personal tutoring session at all.

Standing behind her and looking down on the smooth, fair nape of her neck, he ogled her curves through her form-fitting dress. The rich vigor of youth coming from her body seemed to spread throughout the room. He took a deep breath and relished in it before he started his explanation. "The Ascension stage represents a fundamental change in a lifeform. It's an important milestone for every peak cultivator. Only by becoming an ascendant will one gain a divine body, divine soul and divine force. Only then can one free oneself from the moon's pull and begin their ascension toward the astralscape of order!"

All of that was common knowledge. Huiye Shi wondered with much annoyance why she even needed to hear it again.

"Next, all you need to do is understand the key for energy conversion. Doing so, you'll understand the divine body's cycle formation, as well as the transformation of the soul and body. All of that is crucial!" As he said that, he traced his finger across the back of her neck.

"What're you doing, Moon Guide?" Huiye Shi backed off from him and glared. She was incredibly sensitive to matters like this. Among Liu Yizhao's tens of concubines, many of them used to be his students. She was well aware of his antics and methods.

"What's wrong?" Liu Yizhao asked with a smile and his hands behind his back.

"Do you take me for a fool? Take your disgusting eyes off me. I am of the Huiyue Clan. How dare someone from the Liu Clan lust after me? Do you want my dad to kill you?!"

"Like how you plotted to kill your brother?" Liu Yizhao chuckled.

Huiye Shi was taken aback and her expression shifted. "What are you talking about?!"

"You know your parents didn't look deeper into this because they trust you. If word of this gets out, it'll be over for you. I'm sure you don't need me to remind you of just how strict the rules of your clan are."

"You're just making things up!" Feeling a little panicked, she immediately darted out.

"You know, it'll feel good if you go along with it. There's no need to resist and ruin it for yourself. You're still young, you know, so it'll be a shame."

Huiye Shi stopped and angrily glared at him. "Aren't you embarrassed? How could someone of your age pull something like this?! If I expose you, it's over for you too!"

"Then do you have proof? With what I have on you, I can make you obey me for life. I'm not really picky about my methods, you know." He was dead set on devouring her. "You're free to put up a fight. I always like the young ones a little feisty."

He continued approaching her as she backed off. She couldn't think of anything she could do to get herself out of this situation.

Right then, someone knocked on the door. "Who is it?!" Liu Yizhao snapped.

"Shishi, stop cultivating! The person you were waiting for is here! It's Li Tianming! He's waiting for you outside!" a girl said.

"I'll be right there! I'll be taking my leave, Moon Guide!" Huiye Shi took the chance to open the door.

"Come back tonight. We need to make up for this lesson," he said with a furrowed brow. The moment he said that, she was gone. "Li Tianming, eh.... That name sounds familiar."

Though, he couldn't quite place who it was. "Whatever. She may have escaped this time, but let's see if she's able to keep doing so."

He cracked a smile and looked at his finger. "Ah, young ones are great! How supple and firm her skin is!"