Beastmaster of the Ages

“They move fast. They’ve already activated the Grand-Orient Barrier, and I expect the Skysouth Barrier is up already too,” Li Tianming said emotionally. While such barriers could be activated instantly in times of danger, they were already being activated for the sake of caution.

“Big brother, did you see that the barrier only encloses the thirty-three holy mountains and not the ninety-nine mountains outside?” Li Qingyu noted.

“That’s the right move. Shrinking it can increase its defensive powers, so the outer sect disciples of the ninety-nine mountains should have moved to the thirty-three holy mountains already,” Tianming said.

“Yes, but I expect the thousands of years of construction and traces of countless generations of disciples to be gone after the enemy arrives. We’ll have to rebuild after the war,” Li Qingyu said regretfully. Fatepath Peak would likely be a casualty as well.

“Rebuilding is easy. What’s important is surviving.”

Li Qingyu agreed.

The barrier was resplendent, and they were probably doing their final military mobilizations inside.

Tianming was naturally uncomfortable hiding here as the junior sect master of the Grand-Orient Sect. He asked, “There’s an entrance to the Abyssal Battlefield inside the sect. Are there any precautions for if the enemy attacks from there?”

“The barrier can go through the Bottomless Pit. There’s a barrier on that side too. The two combined form a sphere.”

Tianming continued questioning, “Is the barrier there as resplendent as this one?”

“No. I hear it’s brown on that side. That’s the main portion of the barrier. It uses an earth-type spirit hazard called the imperial dragon pulse. Its attack power is roughly the same as all of the spirit hazards here added together,” Qingyu explained.

“That’s good.” Tianming had originally been worried, but as expected, the seniors had already thought of this.

“Still, I expect the pressure on that side to be even greater,” Qingyu said.

“Why?”

“There’s many wildbeasts in the Abyssal Battlefield. They can be easily lured over by some treasures and become a beast tide. The enemy will definitely use that to attack the barrier, because that’ll be like having an army that’s unafraid of death.”

“I understand.” Tianming frowned. It seemed like there was only bad news for the sect and no good news. Could Yuwen Taiji really control the Grand-Orient Sword after he went off now?

“I believe only the Onyx Sect and Cloudmist Sword School will come here,” Ye Shaoqing said.

“Why not attack us together? We can only defend,” Tianming said.

“Mainly because the Southsky Sect’s barrier is too hard to break,” Ye Shaoqing said.

“So, they want to attack the Grand-Orient Sect and lure them out.”

“Right. Still, two sects are already too big for us to handle. They want us to struggle but still have hope. In that situation, we’ll definitely ask for aid. No matter what the Southsky Sect chooses to do, there’ll be internal conflict. If they choose not to help, it’ll render our alliance meaningless. Heaven’s Elysium has ten years—unifying the Grand-Orient Realm isn’t something that needs to be done overnight,” Ye Shaoqing explained.

Li Tianming understood now.

“Heaven’s Elysium is just looking for a way to take down the Southsky Sect with as few losses as possible. As for the losses the Onyx Sect and Cloudmist Sword School will take, they don’t care,” Ye Shaoqing said.

However, what choice did the Onyx Sect and Cloudmist Sword School have?

The Onyx Sect had already knelt, and Heaven’s Elysium had control over them. As for the Cloudmist Sword School, they had even less choice but to go wherever their master pointed.

The Grand-Orient Sect had no choice but to fight for their home, as did the Southsky Sect.

Heaven’s Elysium had all the time in the world to watch from the side and wait for an opportunity to seize the Grand-Orient Realm with the smallest price.

They could attack the Southsky Sect, but what if they fell to the level of the Onyx Sect and Cloudmist Sword School? They had already suffered losses in the war with the Onyx Sect, just not as bad. After all, the Onyx Sect was ancient and not so easily defeated. If they hadn’t been arrogant and left their barrier to do battle with Heaven’s Elysium, they wouldn’t have been conquered.

Southsky Island in the Azure Sea was even more impregnable than the Onyx Sect.

Heaven’s Elysium was strong, and could crush the Southsky Sect in a direct confrontation. But it was a different story when they attacked the sect, and the Southsky Barrier—the blood and sweat of the sect’s ancestors—was involved.

……

From the Grand-Orient Sect’s northwest, a dense horde of beasts could be seen at the limit of the horizon. There were a full seventy or eighty thousand of them, from beasts that flew, to those that swam, and those that ran on the ground. Many of them were saint beasts!

Everything in their path was leveled, be it cities or villages.

Countless beastmasters in the seven hundred countries across the Grand-Orient Realm dreamed of joining these superpower sects. However, on the day the sect war began, those small countries were but ants. If they were unlucky, they might be trampled to death.

Fortunately, there were no countries or human habitations for a thousand kilometers around the Grand-Orient Sect.

The majority of the horde were avian lifebound beasts. They blotted out the sun, leaving an enormous shadow on the lands below.

As endless roars and snarls shook the world, everyone and everything hid away and trembled. Three days later, the beasts arrived at the Grand-Orient Mountain Range, whereupon they roared at the Grand-Orient Barrier.

This was the Cloudmist Sword School from the north! Within this array of beasts, every one of them was accompanied by a beastmaster of at least thirty-five years of age. These were the Southsky sentinels. Most were middle-aged, and those younger would be the more talented ones; and there were likely even Saint stage generals. And at their head was Sikong Jiansheng, and over forty sect elders!

The school had turned out in full strength.

“I wonder if the Onyx Sect has arrived at the Grand-Orient Sect on the Abyssal Battlefield side yet.” Sikong Jiansheng’s gaze was sharp as he looked at the barrier.

“They want to use some bug lifebound beasts to lure a beast tide over. They’ll probably be a little slower. We should wait for their message.” A man in white clothes stood next to Sikong Jiansheng, his eyes completely bloodshot. He was Jun Niancang!

Not only had he come, but he’d also brought along a crystal coffin. A beautiful woman was inside. She was dressed cleanly, and her hands were resting on her stomach as she lay peacefully inside.

Jun Niancang had made his first ever oath in his life, swearing to bury her at the Grand-Orient Sacred Mountain’s highest peak and let all of Grand-Orient Sect accompany her in death.

Now, he had come here as the first step.

By his side were a young man and woman. In terms of aura and bearing, they weren’t at all inferior to Jun Niancang.

The man was dressed in pale yellow full body armor. He was taller than Jun Niancang by a head, and had rarely-seen brown eyes.

As for the woman, she was dressed in an elegant light purple skirt, and there were even some purple lightning patterns on her face. Her gaze was exceptionally fierce, and thunder was rumbling whenever she blinked her eyes. Electricity ran across her eyelashes.

Although her features should have been classically beautiful, her gaze was enough to ward people off and instill fear.

When she looked at the Grand-Orient Sect, she exclaimed, “Jun Niancang, the heavenly pattern barriers you have in the Grand-Orient Realm aren’t half bad. It’ll take quite some effort for you to take down this sect.”

“Meh, it’s passable. It’s worse than the one in our Earthorigin Sect by a few grades. Are you actually sure this sect reigned for over ten thousand years?” The man shook his head.

“Yes. They used to be strong, but now, they’re on the brink of annihilation,” Jun Niancang said.

Interesting. I didn’t expect to see such a good show when we came to bring you back to the Divine Capital. We’ll stay for a while.”

The two exchanged looks of understanding. There were always benefits to be had when such large sects fell.