Beastmaster of the Ages

It was the second formation Li Tianming had encountered.

“Feng, follow me.” Tianming used his black arm to open a path while Ye Lingfeng watched his back. He remembered the last time he’d done this, he had seen Ye Lingfeng being attacked by Dongyang Fengchen. Furthermore, a figure had appeared behind Tianming.

Time passed. This time, what Tianming saw was Bai Xiaozhu and Situ Yiyi getting touchy with each other. However, over a dozen Theocrats were creeping up on them, including Dongyang Fengchen.

It was at that moment the formation finally ripped apart. Grabbing hold of Ye Lingfeng’s collar, he pulled him through.

The world changed around him. When they crossed, Tianming found that he was in a sealed palace. It was huge, and didn’t have doors or windows, just a rippling heavenly pattern formation on the floor. This was the formation Tianming had just passed.

Ye Lingfeng suddenly let out a startled gasp.

“What?” Tianming scanned the surroundings. He found that the floor was covered in a luminous powder that was under the omnipresent layer of dust. When he stepped on the dust, the power unexpectedly lit up and released thick spiritual energy.

Outside, the spiritual energy in the tomb was too thin. Cultivation was impossible; the spiritual energy in the tomb was only enough to sustain battling.

Tianming used Lan Huang’s water to wash away the dust, cleaning the floor.

Hidden beneath the dust were countless grain-sized gems!

“Saint crystals!” Ye Lingfeng said emotionally.

“There’s at least a few hundred thousand. We’ve struck it rich!” Tianming smiled.

He continued looking around. Apart from the exit, there was also a big building built of green bricks. It was ten times the size of the others he had come across, with a much bigger wooden door. However, it was heavily damaged, and it looked like a light touch would destroy it.

“Let’s keep the crystals first. Fifty-fifty.” Tianming decided. He was certain that in the tomb’s entire existence, no one had ever come here before. Else, these crystals would be long gone.

These crystals would be enough for him and Ye Lingfeng for a long, long time.

“I’ll take a look.” Tianming went to the building built from green bricks and gave the door a light prod. However, it was utterly sturdy, and he found he couldn’t budge it.

Tianming finally relaxed.

“Feng, there’s no rush to leave here.”

“Why?”

“Our purpose in the tomb is to survive. Since probably no one else can get in here, it’s safe and I don’t need to worry about you getting killed. So, let’s just stay here until the end.

“Alright.” Ye Lingfeng’s expression flickered.

Tianming was aware that since that existence had lured him here, it wouldn’t just let him go when the tomb opened. However, since it wasn’t rushing, neither would Tianming. He was patient enough to wait here.

……

For Ye Lingfeng, all he needed for cultivation was saint crystals. With eighty thousand souls working together, any comprehension was quickly mastered, giving him an incredible speed of improvement.

As for Tianming, his path was more messy. He needed to slowly master the Grand-Orient Sword and Imperial Will to enrich his heavenly will. That was the only way for him to grow as a saint.

Within the Grand-Orient Sword, the light gold and black gates were open, and the heavenly patterns on them were gathering. The black arm’s awakening was allowing Tianming to grasp them, giving him access to better Imperial Will.

“When Autarch Qian perished, infighting began among the princes. The people suffered, and misfortune reached even the sects of nine realms.” Tianming’s experiences of the last week were beneficial to his Imperial Will, and allowed him to examine his own path.

Next was his Invincible Sword Body. He took his voidspace stone, from which he began to absorb Invincible Sword Ki. Fortunately, he had Ying Huo to accompany him through the process, so it wasn’t too tedious.

Time progressed as they grew stronger, their cries of pain punctuating the air.

Ye Lingfeng screened them off, lest his mind blow up from the annoyance.

Fortunately, they were indoors here, or their cries would have drawn people over.

Twenty days passed like that.

Both of them rose a level, with Tianming reaching fifth-level Earth Saint, while Ye Lingfeng reached the eighth.

“I wonder if I can fight a sky saint now with Ling’er’s help?” Tianming still had a deep impression of Dongyang Yunyi’s suppression on him the previous time.

The number of Invincible Sword Ki Tianming had assimilated had risen to over six hundred, and Ying Huo now had three hundred and fifty.

"Are we going out?” Ye Lingfeng asked.

“Not unless the tomb opens a door out,” Tianming replied. However, he still felt unsettled, for that existence hadn’t appeared yet.

That was when an ear-splitting sound of wood scraping against wood filled the air. Tianming turned around in surprise and saw the wooden door from the green-brick house was slowly opening!

A terrifying aura began leaking out from inside, as if some devil was behind the door.

“Lets go!” Tianming immediately reacted and tore apart the formation, and the two quickly scrambled out.

“I’m going to kill you.” At the last moment, those words came from the door.

When they passed through the formation, the sensation finally stopped. However, they still had goosebumps.

“It was like seeing a ghost!” Tianming laughed awkwardly.

Tianming noticed they were back in the previous passageway. However, the tracks they had left in the dust were completely gone. This was a strange place that didn’t follow any logic.

Tianming took out his sword and used all his strength to leave a mark on the wall.

“What are you doing?”

“Leaving a mark so we don’t accidentally go back inside.” Whatever was inside could have crawled out by now.

“Let’s go.”

……

Five days later....

“Brother Tianming, ants.”

Tianming walked forward, and noticed at the fork ahead, the left side had a dense mass of black ants crawling on the ground.

“There’s living things here?” Tianming picked one up doubtfully. The ant wasn’t a demon beast, and seemed ordinary, if a bit big.

However, when Tianming applied some pressure, the ant turned into a drop of blood. He proceeded to take a step forward, and the ants under his foot turned into a smear of blood.

“These aren’t real ants. They're made of blood.” Tianming scanned them using his Insightful Eye, but they still appeared as ants.

“Where are they crawling to?” Ye Lingfeng asked.

“Let’s see.”

They proceeded cautiously. However, they hadn’t expected the trail to be so long—they hadn’t reached the end even after an hour.

That was when they suddenly smelled blood.

The two exchanged a look and slowed down, arriving at an intersection where two people lay unmoving.

“Little Zhu, Sis Yiyi!” Tianming’s expression changed and he hurried over.

When he got close, Feiling yelped—the two were now corpses!

Their flesh was already gone, and only their bones and skin were left. The only thing keeping their human shape was a mass of ants inside their body. There were at least tens of thousands of them inside, all visible through their eyes, nose, and mouth.

The scene was very miserable, and Tianming felt his gut churn. He sucked in a deep breath and his eyes turned slightly bloodshot.