Beastmaster of the Ages

"Yes, yes, I was wrong!" Lin Dan retracted his head.

"Get out!"

"Got it!" As if relieved of a burden, he left.

Dongshen Yue got up from her seat, glaring at and circling Tianming.

"Grandma, what are you doing?" Tianming awkwardly said.

"Tell me, what’d you do before?" Dongshen Yue seriously asked.

"Didn\'t I tell you? I fell into ruling a skypiercer-class world. A trillion people call me emperor." Tianming shyly said.

"It\'s easy to know a real expert when they make a move. Have I underestimated you? You’re a professional at turning things around!“ Dongshen Yue spread her hands.

"What?"

"Show me your sword," she said.

"Take it." Tianming thrust the Grand-Orient Sword into the ground. Facing someone as strong as Dongshen Yue, the Grand-Orient Sword was docile and allowed her to fiddle with it.

"I\'ve never seen this cosmic impulse. It\'s a miracle you can wield a weapon of this level... no wonder Lin Jianchen was defeated," Dongshen Yue mused. She had been watching over Tianming\'s wives outside the Caeli Vault when she heard about the incident at the Prime Myriadsword Corporation and hurried back. Hearing about the Infinitum Duel had made her burst into tears. To her surprise, this precious grandson, whom she’d put aside, had taught her a lesson. She now looked at him differently.

The old man and old lady sneakily moved to one side.

"Wifey, our grandson’s cultivation level might not be very high, but he has a strong heart and will and clever means. Those are all tempered through life and death experiences. They’re very precious," Lin Xiao said.

"Yes, he’s quick-witted. There must be a reason Ling’er and the girls fell for him." Dongshen Yue narrowed her gaze.

"The key here is that he’s strong enough to surpass Lin Clan geniuses. He has exceptional astralforce, but he’s lacking in terms of cultivation level. He’ll be stronger when he reaches the Stellaminoris stage," Lin Xiao said.

"Yes, he must advance as soon as possible. It\'s just one step away."

How could they know that Tianming was actually four levels short. He was only an eighth-level solarian.

"That’s right!" Dongshen Yue patted Lin Xiao\'s thigh.

Lin Xiao said, as if in pain, "What’d you think of now?"

"My grandson\'s slow progress is also related to the lack of resources, so the level of the Caeli Vault is very important for him. He might have a chance if we nurture him well!"

"I underestimated him before, but judging from today\'s events, he can try his luck in the Swordsoul Purgatory," Dongshen Yue excitedly said.

"The Swordsoul Purgatory? That place is dangerous... but you’re right. Apart from tournaments like the daisy ranking, that’s the only place where Feng\'er can raise his grade. With his status, he can enter the seventh level of the Caeli Vault as long as he becomes a grade-four disciple. He must break through to the Stellaminoris stage by a hundred, otherwise he’ll only get slower," Lin Xiao said.

"Let him give it a try! The Swordsoul Purgatory has many great sword techniques left by our ancestors. You said that his battle arts are just as good as Lin Jianxing. He’s just like Mu’er, able to perfect fullstella battle arts as a solarian. Mu\'er was born with low talent, but his comprehension was unmatched in all of Ebonia! When he was in the Swordsoul Purgatory, he was like a fish in water." At the thought of her son, Dongshen Yue grew more confident. If it weren\'t for Tianming\'s outstanding performance today, they wouldn’t dare to send him into the Swordsoul Purgatory to try out his luck.

"Grandpa, Grandma, what’re you whispering about?" Tianming asked.

"Ahem!" They parted.

"Feng\'er, in view of your performance today, we plan to send you to a place to hone you. You can improve your grade there, as well as earn merit points through fighting and learning new sword techniques to gain access to the seventh level of the Caeli Vault as soon as possible. Our hope is for you to break through to the Stellaminoris stage within half a year!" Dongshen Yue explained. It took courage to send Tianming to the Swordsoul Purgatory; his strength was of secondary importance. His means and mentality had persuaded them.

"Become a stellaminor in half a year? What is that place?" Tianming asked. Didn\'t they say that it was impossible to improve grades apart from tournaments like the daisy ranking? He was only an eighth-level solarian now! He would have to break through five levels to become a sovereign. Doing that in half a year? Previously, it had taken him two years to advance one level.

"It’s called the Swordsoul Purgatory!" Lin Xiao said.

"Where is it?" Tianming asked.

Lin Xiao pointed to his feet.

"The Infinitum Swordsea?"

"No, further down, in the depths of the magma layer!" Lin Xiao replied.

Ebonia was a hundred thousand times the size of Violetglory. While the surface of the sun was rather thin, there was a great distance from the ground to Ebonia’s fusion formation. Ebonia’s underground world was larger than its surface. What existed there was more than soil—there were also countless divine ores, herbs, hazards, and subterranean creatures.

"It’s called the Swordsoul Purgatory, and it lies under the Infinitum Swordsea. It’s as big as the Infinitum Swordsea. Liquid nova source in the Infinitum Swordsea erupts from there. Think of it this way: the base of the Lin Clan is built on top of an underground volcano. Ebonia’s underground world is chaotic, violent, and ruthless. There’s precious materials, gems, tombs, remnants of ancient civilizations, divine hazards, cosmic impulses… and nova wildbeasts." Lin Xiao said.

“Nova wildbeasts?" Tianming asked.

"Everything in the world is born of nova source, and so are wildbeasts! The rich and explosive nova source outside the fusion formation causes them to evolve and become stronger. They form a huge group known as nova wildbeasts. In such a harsh environment, the beasts are closer to nova source than us humans, so they’re large and extremely strong. We could hunt them for hundreds of millions of years, but even then we wouldn’t be able to kill them all. The beasts that hide underground can be considered as the masters of Ebonia! They frequently come out of the ground, attacking people on the surface and causing countless tragedies. In the Infinitum Swordsea, there’s nova wildbeasts wreaking havoc and taking the lives of our people as well. Countless incidents like that happen all over Ebonia,” Lin Xiao said.

Tianming didn’t think that so many wildbeasts could thrive in a nova source world. Neither the sun nor Violetglory had any wildbeasts, after all. If there were any beasts there, they were domesticated. There must be enough nova source and an underground world large enough for nova wildbeasts to spread and grow.

"Grandpa, are they related to cosmic wildbeasts?" Tianming asked.

"All powerful cosmic wildbeasts start as nova wildbeasts. When they’re strong enough to leave the nova source to find, and even dominate other nova source worlds, they become cosmic wildbeasts," Lin Xiao replied.

"I see!" Tianming was clear now.

"So the Swordsoul Purgatory is very dangerous?"

"Yes, because of the presence of unknown nova wildbeasts. But there’s also fortune to be made," Lin Xiao said.

"What sort?"

"Feng\'er, the Swordgod Lin Clan is a sword cultivation clan. We practice the sword all our lives, and the environment of the Swordsoul Purgatory makes it the best place to comprehend the sword. For many years, our ancestors have engraved the fruits of their enlightenment onto steles and tossed them into the Swordsoul Purgatory. As of today, there’s many inheritance steles there, each of which contain top-level sword arts. Those sword arts aren’t part of the rewards for merit points. Once you comprehend them, they belong to you. We evaluate disciple grades based on their comprehension and combat performance," Lin Xiao added.

In other words, there were free sword arts that could be earned on his own. It would be a test of his comprehension.

"The Swordsoul Purgatory has many rules and regulations. Because it’s enormous, it’s been divided into many areas. Entry is prohibited for certain areas. Here’s a detailed book, you can study it after you return.” Dongshen Yue threw Tianming a book.

"Yes!" Tianming caught it.

"There are many things in this book, but a place like the Swordsoul Purgatory has many secrets. Ebonia’s ancient history lies in the underground world and incredible treasures occasionally emerge, causing disputes. It’s an unpredictable world... so be careful in everything you do!" Dongshen Yue said.

"No problem. It would be great if there’s unexplored metal veins." Tianming smiled. In that case, Yin Chen could spread out and today’s incident wouldn’t occur again.

"Don\'t take it lightly," Dongshen Yue warned.

"No problem. My name’s already registered in the Grade-nine Department. I’ll just wait to be paid and won\'t show up for the time being," Tianming said.

"Fine. I’ll take you to the fourth level of the Caeli Vault so you know your way around. Then I’ll take your wives to choose myriadstar manna. After that, you’re to focus entirely on cultivation and strive to reach the Stellaminoris stage in half a year’s time," Dongshen Yue solemnly said.

Half a year! Could it be done? Dongshen Yue thought that it would only take one breakthrough, but in fact, it would take him five.

I’ll be able to fight eighth-level sovereigns when I break through. Would I be almost as strong as Lin Jianxing and the others? Although he was only thirty, he thought of himself as a centenarian and compared himself to other centenarian geniuses. In terms of strength, he would never be considered a genius if he wasn’t as strong as Lin Jianxing. Caeli Vault, Swordsoul Purgatory, myriadstar manna… all of those resources had slowly piled up above his head.

"Let’s go!" The first step was to enter the fourth level of the Caeli Vault. Reaching the ninth level of the Solar stage should no longer be a challenge.