Beastmaster of the Ages

The Flameyellow continent’s structure had been constantly changing over the past two hundred thousand years. Even the Archaic House of Xuanyuan nearly died out. But they somehow managed to survive and rebuilt their foundation before establishing the Archaion Sect. The Archaion Divine Realm was something they named themselves. The other divine realms usually call their realm the Monorigin Divine Realm. 

While Tianming studied the history of the grudges between the divine realms, Yi Xingyin brought them to the end of the Old Deepstar Path. Heaven Branch’s disciples thought there was no end to the Old Deepstar Path, but there was an end. It lay at the Deepstar Pool.

The Deepstar Pool was the Old Deepstar Path’s core, where stars converged. There was a gorgeous formation there that looked like another Deepstar Formation. Without the Deepstar Formation Permit, no other Heaven Branch’s disciples would be allowed entry.

Yi Xingyin left a formation marking on Tianming and Xuanyuan Muxue and explained, “You two can cultivate here for a year. But you can only do so for two hours a day, understood?”

Xuanyuan Muxue nodded her head obediently and Tianming asked, “Why is it only two hours a day?”

The sect wasn’t being stingy. It was a considerable amount of time.

“The Ancient Deepstar Godbody’s cultivation requires absorbing astralsources. Astralsource is a combination of spirit ores and spirit hazards. The concept is similar to tribulation artifacts. The danger in absorbing it is greater than spirit hazards, and only the best of the best are allowed to cultivate in the Deepstar Pool. But youngsters don't tend to know their limits, which is why we set a time limit. It’s to prevent disciples from overestimating themselves and dying,” Yi Xingyin said in a grave tone.

“Sounds reasonable. It’s the same as stabbing yourself with a sword.” Tianming nodded.

“It’s good that the two of you can keep it in your hearts. Don’t push yourselves, since you’ve both already received the qualification to cultivate in the Deepstar Pool for a year. Even if it’s only two hours a day, it’s a decent harvest,” said Yi Xingyin.

“Understood.”

“The Deepstar Formation will open every day at this time, and again two hours later. At that time, the Deepstar Formation will expel the two of you even if you don’t wish to leave,” said Yi Xingyin.

“So you’re saying that we have to be here at this time every day?” Tianming asked.

“Or you can choose to laze around,” replied Yi Xingyin. That meant no one would force them to be here.

A small door opened in the Deepstar Formation, allowing Tianming and Xuanyuan Muxue, who possessed the markings, to enter. Yi Xingyin could also come and go as he wished, since he was the formation’s owner.

Tianming was already impatiently waiting. Following Yi Xingyin, he stepped into the Deepstar Formation. When he stepped in, he was blinded by the brilliance, and the first thing he saw was an enormous astral lake. It was the Deepstar Pool.

The Deepstar Pool was filled with colorful astralsources. They looked like stars that fell from the skies, and the difference in their colors represented different elements. Tianming saw purple, red, brown, blue, green, and some golden astralsources around.

“Is it even possible to fuse such enormous astralsources into our bodies?” Tianming looked down at the sizable scarlet astralsource beneath him. It was larger than his head, and it was at least fifteen centimeters. There were even some at thirty centimeters.

The scarlet astralsource changed shapes like mercury, except it was surrounded with sparks. Just the temperature alone could incinerate any Heaven Branch’s disciple alive. When Tianming saw the astralsources, he finally knew why they were limited to two hours a day in the Deepstar Pool.

“That’s right. You have to fuse them into your bodies. Otherwise, how can the Ancient Deepstar Godbody be powerful?” Yi Xingyin smiled.

“But aren’t they a little too huge?” Tianming smiled bitterly. He couldn’t imagine how he could shove these rocks that were larger than the size of his head into his body every day.

“Calm down. This is just the beginning, and it’s good enough if you can fuse one every few days. A year from now, you should be able to fuse with one astralsource a day,” said Yi Xingyin.

“Okay.” Tianming and Xuanyuan Muxue nodded. Xuanyuan Muxue understood the Deepstar Pool well, so Yi Xingyin was mainly explaining to Tianming.

“Two years ago, Xuanyuan Yuheng relied on the Fiend Trials to cultivate here for a year, and he absorbed ten years’ worth of gold astralsources in the Deepstar Pool. But the two of you won’t need the gold astralsource,” said Yi Xingyin.

“So based on the colors, they’re fire, thunder, earth, and water astralsources. What does green represent?” Tianming asked. The green astralsource made him feel the most comfortable. It felt like they were filled with vitality.

“There’s a total of six elements here, which are thunder, gold, wood, water, fire, and earth,” explained Yi Xingyin.

“Wood astralsource?” Tianming’s eyes lit up. Since the astralsources could be considered spirit hazards, didn’t that mean the fourth egg could also absorb it? But for some reason, the egg didn’t seem to show any reaction to the wood astralsource, so Tianming guessed that there wasn’t enough wood astralsource here. Not to mention that they weren’t pure spirit hazards. So they were probably only used to temper the body.

I bet I can probably absorb and refine all the astralsources here aside from the gold ones to form the Ancient Deepstar Godbody when the fourth egg hatches. Tianming fell into deep thought.

Seeing through his thoughts, Yi Xingyin asked, “Tianming, are you thinking of absorbing astralsources of different elements to strengthen the Ancient Deepstar Godbody?”

“Yeah. Is there a problem with that?” Tianming asked.

“Yeah. Astralsources will clash with each other once they’re fused into the body. That means the different elements will clash in your body and limit the total number of astralsources you can absorb. Let me give you an example. If you choose a single element to absorb, you can probably absorb a hundred of them. But if you absorb four different elements, your limit might only be twenty each. Simultaneously, the clash in the different elements will also make your Ancient Deepstar Godbody look like a mess. It’ll become unstable, and there’s no benefit in doing it. Many people have tried, but none of them had a good outcome. It was a pure waste of opportunity. It’s better to stick to one element,” explained Yi Xingyin.

“Understood.”

“But you can give it a try. You’ll be able to feel the distortion and rejection. It’ll feel like your body is being ripped apart. It’s a different concept from absorbing tribulation sword ki. Tribulation sword ki can be stored in the body, but astralsources will fuse into your bones, muscles, flesh, and blood. It becomes part of you. A mess is always incomparable to a stable body,” continued Yi Xingyin.

“Got it. I’ll keep that in mind.” Tianming nodded.

“This is the Ancient Deepstar Godbody’s cultivation method. There isn’t much content, and the core lies in your talent and your ability to endure hardships. Don’t ruin your body trying to compete with each other,” said Yi Xingyin.

“Thank you for the kind reminder.” Tianming and Xuanyuan Muxue took the Ancient Deepstar Godbody’s cultivation method. “Have a safe trip, Palace Lord.”

After Yi Xingyin left, Tianming and Xuanyuan Muxue were left to themselves. At the same time, the Deepstar Pool finally calmed down. It looked like the starry sky, and Tianming and Xuanyuan Muxue both basked in astral lights.

Tianming turned around and saw Xuanyuan Muxue looking at him. He asked, “The hell are you looking at?”

“Why did you kill my elder brother?” Xuanyuan Muxue asked.

“I did it because he tried to kill me. It’s that simple. This is the simplest logic in the world,” said Tianming. Tianming’s stance was different from the faction battles back then, so he could make a different choice now.

“So, would you kill me if I want to kill you right now?”

“It’s easy to see if you want to kill me. You don’t have any killing intent in your eyes, so stop forcing yourself. On the other hand, I can tell that you’re somewhat afraid of me,” laughed Tianming.

“You have keen eyes.” Xuanyuan Muxue shook her head.

Tianming couldn’t be bothered with Xuanyuan Muxue. He was excited about the Deepstar Pool. He flipped open the Ancient Deepstar Godbody’s book and started reading it.

On the other side, Xuanyuan Muxue dazed off when she saw how Tianming seriously read the book. She rejoiced in the fact that she hadn’t fallen for Xuanyuan Yuheng’s manipulation, because she knew it wouldn’t end well.

“Damn it! It’s vexing!” Xuanyuan Muxue muttered. “Are people that stupid? Have I not ridiculed my elder brother in the past? Since I looked down on him, why do I want to take revenge for him?” Xuanyuan Muxue sighed. 

I wonder how far he’ll go with an Ancient Deepstar Godbody. Xuanyuan Muxue pondered as she stepped into the Deepstar Pool. The stars around her shone on her body and made her skin look even brighter. A blue astralsource appeared before her; it looked like a large stick with an aquatic shine flickering on it.

“I heard that fusing astralsources will be painful, and it’s normal to scream out in pain. Especially the first one.” Xuanyuan Muxue frowned. The astralsource before her was slightly larger than a three-month-old baby. Wouldn’t it be painful to shove something so big into her body?

“Let’s give it a try.” It was natural for everything to be difficult in the beginning. Xuanyuan Muxue circulated her death tribulation energy, then placed her hands on the water astralsource and guided it to begin fusing with her body.

“Urghhh…” she yelled out in pain. Her breathing grew heavy, and beads of sweat dripped from her forehead. But she suppressed her voice because Tianming was around.

“Arrrghhhh.…” Xuanyuan Muxue’s face turned white. The pain of fusing the astralsource into her body was more horrifying than she had imagined. When she lowered her head, only a small portion of the astralsource had turned into liquid and fused into her body like mercury. In the process of fusing with the water astralsource, she couldn’t help being jolted.

……

As Tianming was earnestly reading the book, he suddenly heard a series of strange moans. When he raised his head, his eyes went straight. “Hey, hey, do you mind doing that elsewhere? Please don’t disrupt my studies! Others will misunderstand if they hear you outside! Holy shit, so thick.…”