Beastmaster of the Ages

All of the high ranking members of Heaven’s Elysium gathered at the Elysium Hall at noon. Even the elders who weren’t around originally had rushed back in half a day. The Elysian Emperor, Four Cardinal Kings, and elysian elders were all present; alongside them were the Onyx Emperor, Onyx Empress, Sikong Jiansheng, and their sects’ elders. With that, the entire hierarchy of the three sects was present. 

The Onyx Emperor, Onyx Empress, and Sikong Jiansheng were seated beneath the Elysian Emperor with the Four Cardinal Kings. That also meant they had become the Elysian Emperor’s subordinates.

The atmosphere in the hall was tense, filled with a murderous aura. They had lost the Grand-Orient Sword, along with the defeat of their elysian children. All of them had been given a slap by a descendant of the Li Saint Clan in this Realm War. Even if they had already been planning a sect war, the events of today had riled up their fighting spirit.

Everyone was looking at the Elysian Emperor, waiting for instructions. The Elysian Emperor looked out into the distance. Due to his high seat, he could see the Grand-Orient Realm’s terrain. The Grand-Orient Realm was divided into five territories, each ruled by one of the five sects. But Heaven's Elysium could now dominate everything.

“How many men can the Onyx Sect and Cloudmist Sword School send out?” the Elysian Emperor asked, his tone filled with prestige.

“Elysian Emperor, the Onyx Sect can send out fifty elders and a legion of fifty thousand,” said the Onyx Emperor. He had already calculated everything. The Onyx Emperor had a total of eighty-eight elders, but a third of them had died in the last battle with Heaven’s Elysium. They had replenished their numbers after that, but the strength of the new elders wasn’t exactly high. In the end, those elders only had the status, but not the power to go with it.

Although the Grand-Orient Sect had declined, the comparison of their strength wasn’t as simple as just numbers. The Onyx Sect’s defeat had cost them a huge loss, and they were only stronger than the Grand-Orient Sect to some degree. They weren’t even comparable to the Cloudmist Sword School. But they had many tricks up their sleeves, and their lifebound beasts could exhibit stronger utility in a war.

The Onyx Legion was the same as the Grand-Orient guardians, formed by beastmasters who had cultivated for at least thirty-five years. So even if they might not be in the Saint stage, they had already reached the limit of their talent. So if everyone in the Onyx Legion were elites, it was an alarming number.

“Seventy thousand,” said the Elysian Emperor.

“Roger!” The Onyx Emperor and Empress could only nod their heads and exchanged a glance. They had initially wanted to leave behind thirty thousand Onyx Legionnaires to guard the sect and leave a path of retreat for themselves, but the Elysian Emperor clearly wanted them to invest more into this war.

When they were done, Sikong Jiansheng stood up and replied, “Elysian Emperor, the Cloudmist Sword School can send out all of our elders and keepers. We won’t hold anything back in this war!”

The blazing loyalty reverberating from his words caused many elysian elders to change their views on him. But the Cloudmist Sword School was just a lackey, in the end. It was basically a branch of Heaven’s Elysium, so it wasn’t surprising that they would stand out and announce their loyalty at this moment.

“In that case, we’ll have a hundred elders and an army of over a hundred thousand from the two sects. It’s basically three times as many as the Grand-Orient Sect. As long as the Grand-Orient Barrier is destroyed, annihilating the Grand-Orient Sect won’t be difficult,” said the Elysian Emperor. That was three times the size of the army and number of elders!

“Although the Grand-Orient Barrier was created by the Li Saint Clan’s first ancestor, this defensive barrier requires the support of beast ki from beastmasters and their lifebound beasts. And with the sect’s current standards, it’ll be good enough if they can bring out a fifth of the barrier’s strength. After all, the strength of the barrier at full power is equivalent to the Bloodbane Barrier. It’s a pity the clan was shortsighted, or perhaps arrogant might be a better way of describing them. They actually failed to make good use of a defensive barrier that’s comparable in strength to the Bloodbane Barrier. Then again, it made sense, since they wouldn’t have thought that their sect would face destruction. 

“Compared to them, the Southsky Sect’s Southsky Barrier only requires labor, not to mention it even absorbs oceanic energy to power itself. That means that the Southsky Barrier can endlessly maintain itself at three times the strength of the Grand-Orient Barrier. So if they shut themselves off, Heaven's Elysium will dispatch our full force. I’m afraid that we’ll have to pay a certain price to break that barrier.”

To be honest, most people already knew about what the Elysian Emperor said.

“Elysian Emperor, you’re saying that our two sects will target the Grand-Orient Sect, while Heaven’s Elysium goes to Southsky Island? If they’re just shutting themselves in, why don’t we break them one by one?” the Onyx Empress asked. She was actually worried that the Onyx Sect would become cannon fodder for Heaven’s Elysium’s ambition to unify the Grand-Orient Realm. 

Who knows? Heaven’s Elysium might even want them to be eradicated with the Grand-Orient Sect. They weren’t like the Cloudmist Sword School, because the school was part of Heaven’s Elysium. So Heaven’s Elysium and the Cloudmist Sword School were one, to begin with. So who knew if they were scheming against the Onyx Sect. Their submission had not only made them lose their dignity, but it had also led to their uncertain future during the Sect War.

“My friends from the Onyx Sect, since you’ve chosen to join us, you can rest assured about it. I, Jun Shengxiao, am only ruthless to my enemies. I won’t mistreat my friends. The Grand-Orient Sect is the weakest in this Sect War, and it’s also true that we can easily crush them if all three sects go after them at the same time. But that also means that the Southsky Sect will shut themselves in. 

“If they shut themselves  within their barrier for the next decade, century, or even a millennium, we’ll have to pay a heavy price even if we can destroy their barrier. The Southsky Sect is the troublesome one, compared to the Grand-Orient Sect. You guys aren’t going over to eradicate the Grand-Orient Sect at one go, but slowly wither them and force them to seek help from the Southsky Sect. So as long as the Southsky Sect dares to step out of their Southsky Island, what awaits them will be our Heaven’s Elysium’s army. Do you guys know your responsibility now?”

The Onyx Emperor, Onyx Empress, and Sikong Jiansheng nodded their heads. “Understood. So we just have to play with the Grand-Orient Sect. Our main objective is to destroy the Southsky Sect while paying the smallest price possible. The moment the Southsky Sect can’t sit around and decides to help, it’ll be their destruction. After all, we’ll lose our bait if we destroy the Grand-Orient Sect, and if that happens, it’ll be harder for us to deal with the Southsky Sect.”

After Heaven’s Elysium had defeated the Onyx Sect, the Southsky Sect had become the second strongest sect in the Grand-Orient Realm, not to mention that Southsky Island had a terrain advantage. Their barrier was simply indestructible, with oceanic energy powering it. With the ocean protecting them, anyone that came would be buried.

“The Southsky Sect and Grand-Orient Sect’s friendship goes for generations, especially Weisheng Tianlan, who’s close friends with many people in the Grand-Orient Sect. Furthermore, he’s young, so he’s impulsive and more likely to be independent. But if the Grand-Orient Sect is in danger, there’s a high chance that he’ll come to help. Moreover, the Grand-Orient Sect is filled with the old, weak, and sick. Even their strongest, Yuwen Taiji, has parted ways with the likes of Huangfu Fengyun. So it’ll be easy for you two sects to destroy their barrier. All you guys have to do is to wear down the barrier, and I believe that the Onyx Sect is good at this,” said the East Cardinal King with bloodshot eyes. 

Honestly speaking, he wanted to go to the Grand-Orient Sect, but he could only follow the Elysian Emperor’s arrangement and ambush the Southsky Sect. Although he had an irreconcilable grudge with the Grand-Orient Sect, the Southsky Sect was the greatest obstruction stopping Heaven’s Elysium from dominating the Grand-Orient Realm. 

Although the Realm War was an excellent chance to kill Weisheng Tianlan, the Realm War belonged to the Theocracy of the Ancients. In the Elysium Hall, no one knew the outcome of offending the Theocracy of the Ancients better than the Elysian Emperor. If he offended the Theocracy of the Ancients, he would no longer be able to unify the Grand-Orient Realm.

The Onyx Empress passionately said, “Please be reassured. Since neither of my grandsons were able to do anything during the Realm War, our army of seventy thousand will give them a demonstration and turn the Grand-Orient Sect into hell.”

“Bring Tianming to me,” said Jun Dongyao.

“We’ll definitely bring him here.” The Onyx Emperor, Onyx Empress, and Sikong Jiansheng each gave their assurances.

Since the two sects had to head to the Grand-Orient Mountain Range, they naturally had to return to their sects to make arrangements first. Judging from the Elysian Emperor’s words, they knew he didn’t want it to be dragged out. Now that the arrangements had been made, they wanted to take their leaves first, and return with their armies to join up and head for the Grand-Orient Mountain Range. But suddenly, a young man clad in white entered from the side hall. He leaned on the pillar with black eyes, as if he had lost his soul. He looked at the two sects and said, “I’ll follow you guys to the Grand-Orient Sect.”

“This….” Everyone knew why he wanted to go to the Grand-Orient Sect. The Onyx Emperor, Onyx Empress, and Sikong Jiansheng turned to look at the Elysian Emperor.

“Permitted.” The Elysian Emperor nodded.

“Alright. We’ll bring our armies and join up with you. At that time, we’ll definitely let you take that bastard’s life yourself!” Sikong Jiansheng said with his eyes burning like fire. Jun Niancang didn’t say a word and directly left. But right at that moment, someone came in and whispered in his ears, “Niancang, there’s two young people who want to meet you. They claim that they were your friends from the Theocracy of the Ancients.”

“Did they reveal their names?” Jun Niancang asked.

“Nothing about their names, but they did reveal their identity. One is from the Earthorigin Realm, the strongest genius of the Earthorigin Realm. The other one’s more terrifying. He claims to be from the Theocracy of the Ancients’ Divine Capital. A member of the Ancient Kirin Clan, if I remember correctly.”