Beastmaster of the Ages

Chapter 2003

Chapter 2003

There were far too many tethers in Tianming’s life. The more people he loved, the more people tied him down. The sun emperor probably chose to only love himself so as to be completely untethered. Someone like him was almost untouchable, while everyone else had countless weaknesses to be exploited.

Even with all that, Tianming still wouldn't choose to become someone like the sun emperor. "A life of solitude, filled with only the awe and respect of others, is utterly pointless." His tethers were the things that grounded him in these dark times, prompting him to use all three of his eyes to search for a path to survival.

As the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb orbited the sun, it eventually reached the bottom part. Tianming saw the mortal continent far down below. Why did the sun emperor not threaten the safety of the Flameyellow Continent? Tianming had already found out about the secrets of the experiments being carried out there, yet there were still doubts that had to be cleared. For instance, who was responsible for taking Qingyu to the Divine Moon Realm?

Flamehaven, Ignispolis, the Grand-Orient Sect, the Divine Capital, and Taiji Peak Lake were all locations Tianming had deep ties with, hallmarks of his growth. They were filled with countless aspects of nature, like the heavy rain of the Divine Capital and the snow at Taiji Peak Lake, which had all played roles in Tianming's cultivational development. Those sights didn't pale at all in comparison to those of nova source worlds.

Currently, he had no other way to delay but to continue orbiting the sun. Then, the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb took a dive. "If I’m fated to die today, let's take a look at it one last time! That's the place where I met all of you, and Feiling as well."

"Are you so desperate that you're losing your mind? What can that old place do at this point? Even passing birds don't want to shit there!" Ying Huo said, rolling its eyes.

"Chicken Bro, didn't you shit there countless times too? You loved to eat ores back then, and your droppings were all stiff and hard!" Lan Huang said.

Tianming turned and looked at the two-headed dragon; it didn't seem to be joking around, but he couldn't help but laugh. That lighthearted mood was nothing short of a luxury in straits as dire as theirs. He had the best lifebound beasts a beastmaster could ask for, not just because they were strong, but also because they were willing to stick with him no matter how bad things were. They were always jokesters, whether intentionally or not, such as the time when Ying Huo had become a tattoo near his crotch region in the wondersky realm.

"Wait!" Tianming had only wanted to hover around the Flameyellow Continent for one last look at his home, but the wondersky realm reminded him of something. "Comma girl said she’d be sending the grade-nine Grand-Orient Sword to the continent. Shouldn't it be arriving soon? Or is it there already?"

No doubt, that grade-nine artifact was an important component for his Grand-Orient Sword, which was a weapon that had once been wielded by the Primordial God-Emperor! Tianming was certain that the Primordial God-Emperor was an existence far above the Flameyellow Imperial Star. The sword he had wielded was no doubt more powerful than the Flameyellow Coffin, and the sun emperor was only as powerful as he was because of that coffin and the Flameyellow Guard Formation!

"Let's take a gamble. I hope the Grand-Orient Sword won’t be too hard to find." Had his thoughts not wandered around, he wouldn't have thought about locating the sword. The ship changed course and immediately shot down toward the Welkin plane.

"Li Tianming, this is your final chance!" The sun emperor was obviously enraged. He didn't think Tianming would be that shameless, choosing neither escape nor confrontation, merely avoidance. By now, those within the destroyed Sky Palace Formation had no doubt scattered. It would take at least a few years to wipe all of them out!

"What's this? Are you trying to go to the realm of chaos?" By then, the ship was already really far from him. "Very well. I'll play along with your game and go back to kill the Saintdragon Emperor, Northdipper Swordsage, and Long Wanying. Let's see which of us is more desperate."

All the fruits of the sun emperor's efforts were right before his eyes. His gaze showed that he couldn't be more desperate. He was so anxious about it that it felt like ants were crawling all over his body. While threatening Tianming had worked before, he was being plainly ignored this time around. Yin Chen had already informed Tianming that the key figures like the Saintdragon Emperor had already hidden themselves. With as large as the sun was after the expansion, finding them would be like trying to pinpoint a needle in a haystack. There was no way the sun emperor would be able to find them in the short term. The only way to deal with him was to not let him set the pace.

The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb soon reached a low enough altitude to see the Divine Moon Realm. Given how powerful Tianming’s Imperial Will was, he was able to connect with the Omnisentient Threads on the Flameyellow Continent from that height. From there, he was almost certain that the sun emperor seemed to have completely forgotten about the Flameyellow Continent, let alone threaten him with it.

Li Caiwei had sent him word through an Omnisentient Thread. "What... what’s going on with the sun?" She was so shocked she couldn't even speak properly.

"Ignore that for now. Has a sword shown up somewhere on the continent recently?" Tianming asked. He had informed her to pay attention to it the last time he was there. It was no different from the search for the chaos worldbangle.

"There is! It appeared near Tianming City! It looks incredibly similar to your Grand-Orient Sword. We weren't able to approach it at all," she said.

"That's it!" The words were like a shining ray of hope. While he didn't dare to be certain that the sword would be his salvation, it was still something to cling to, especially now that he had lost his totems. His grade-nine Godsin alone wouldn't be able to change much, but the grade-nine Grand-Orient Sword was a part of his own Grand-Orient Sword!

He no longer wasted words and directed the ship to charge toward the continent, blocking out the sun as it descended. Like the Divine Sun Palace, it was a shocking sight to witness. The sun emperor had returned to the sun to slaughter people, able to do nothing but vent. Yin Chen was monitoring him the entire time, and Tianming still had some time to work with.

"Over there!" Tianming came crashing down to the land. Marks had been left on the continent from the astral war, but even so, the sword pierced into the mountain was all too eye-catching. It was a gigantic black and gold sword of similar design to the one he already had, but there were nine black and gold stars on its blade that shone eye-piercingly bright. When Tianming arrived with his own sword, the grade-nine blade from the Astralium Seeking shuddered.

"Come!" he yelled, and the gigantic blade rumbled and pulled itself out. As it flew toward him, it shrank until it fit into his hand. Now that he had what he came for, he couldn't afford to stay on the continent any longer. He quickly returned to the ship and departed so rapidly that it caused storms to manifest across the land.

Tianming hurriedly flew back toward the sun. The sun emperor had thought that he’d escaped to the realm of chaos and was preparing to slaughter the Myriad Solar Sects. After all, Tianming hadn't gone far, so the sun emperor was certain that he would be able to enjoy the show! Him getting his hands on the core members of Tianming's faction was the outcome Tianming didn't want to see the most.

The sun emperor was the first to notice the return of the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, given that he was the controller of the Flameyellow Guard Formation. He wasn't surprised, since he had expected Tianming would be back soon. Having been messed around with, he felt his rage boil. The ship was simply too fast for his Divine Sun Palace to match.

Tianming had to deal with the new sword before the sun emperor showed himself. Invigorated with hope, he seemed more excited than ever before. "The Prime Tower fused with its shard inside the Kunlun Realm, and this shouldn't be too different either!"

Time was of the essence. As he watched, the main Grand-Orient Sword left his palm and hovered before him, slightly spinning. The other blade with nine black and gold stars also hovered away, rapidly flying within the ship before descending toward the first sword and circling around it. It moved faster and faster, leaving a trail of afterimages. Grand power radiated out of the sword, causing the ship to rumble and forcing Qingyu, Ying Huo, and the rest to distance themselves.

Then the afterimages of the sword turned into nine black and gold imperial stars. While they were small, they looked just like Tianming's pandemonium sacrosun, which had come from the primordial star within the five heavy doors inside the Grand-Orient Sword. The nine imperial stars spun faster and faster. When the black and gold light blended with Tianming's eyes, the entire ship was illuminated.

Right after that, the nine imperial stars slammed into the original Grand-Orient Sword, seemingly embedding themselves within it like jewels. The sword had completely transformed, having perfectly fused with its counterpart. The stars and the swords were one and unified. Tianming felt a terrifying power gathering within the sword. The nine imperial stars seemed like powerful energy sources for the blade, making it even more domineering, luminous, and threatening—he couldn't wait to wield the blade!

Right then, the sea of flames beneath him shuddered and the sun emperor once more emerged from the Flameyellow Guard Formation, on the brink of losing it. "Tianming, my son, stop messing around. Either you die, or the Myriad Solar Sects die. Make a choice."

Tianming gripped his brand-new sword and felt his head ring!