Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming hurriedly put his heavenly locus formation away. Giving it a closer look, he noticed that the purple eye wasn't a living being's. Instead, it was merely a projection of the formation. It was a gigantic rock with a purple formation layered over it, making it look like an eye.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's a skyward eye," Yu Ziqian said.

"For surveillance purposes?"

"More or less. There's around a thousand of them in the Voidsky Realm that move about and broadcast interesting fights throughout Orderia."

"Only a thousand? It shouldn't be hard to make a billion, right?"

"It isn't, but it's pointless. Nobody cares about watching normal disciples fight. Putting aside a whole billion, most people would probably just be looking at around a thousand fighters, so that's a sufficient number. Not to mention, they frequently move around and prioritize important occurrences, like fights for treasures. The seniors will be able to see the highlights those eyes focus on. Additionally, they won't follow a single person the entire time. Everyone has things they'd rather keep secret, after all. The Sky Palace respects our privacy, and I'll be able to hide my status as long as the skyward eyes aren't around."

"I see. That's pretty great." It would be far more convenient for Tianming if he wasn't scrutinized the entire time, having as many secrets as he did.

Thankfully, I managed to put up the heavenly locus formation in time. It's one thing to show it to one or two people, but having it broadcast across the whole world is a different story. Some might just recognize it, he thought. He had decided to have Yu Ziqian stand guard whenever he wanted to go into the wondersky realm. For now, he didn't have any caeli on hand, so the Violetglory Pagoda would be a huge use to him. These days, he had been traveling a lot and didn't have time to cultivate, so he was growing a little impatient.

At that moment, the eye was looking right at them. Given its size, it should be able to capture an area ten thousand meters around them. Yu Ziqian let out a sudden cry.

"What's wrong?" Tianming asked.

"The skyward eye locked on to us. That means it senses that a crucial fight will break out here!"

"Then it must have something to do with you." Tianming, Lingfeng, and Xiaoxiao were basically unknown in Orderia, so the eye wouldn't care about them. It had to be zooming in on Yu Ziqian, who had a huge reputation despite being a disciple of a second-rate sect, as he was said to potentially rank in the top ten of the imperial star ranking and change the status quo of the Azurecloud Continent for good.

Right after Yu Ziqian sensed impending danger, a blood-curdling voice came ringing from the firestorms behind them. "Yu Ziqian, you shall not leave!" That person sounded impatient for a fight. The fact that he directly called out Yu Ziqian before arriving meant that he was familiar with him. No doubt, they had zeroed in on him the moment they spotted him. They were surely among those of the Supracloud Sanctuary.

"It's Yun Feiyang...." Yu Ziqian grit his teeth as he flapped the fan of beauties in his hand to hide his fear. Yun Feiyang was the last person he wanted to meet in the Voidsky Realm.

......

Far away at the center of the Azurecloud Continent, there was a cloud island floating ten thousand meters up in the sky. It was formed from the bodies of nimbus emperors throughout the countless generations. There was a sprawling city on the cloud, glowing with prosperity. It was a city above the clouds, almost paradise. The humans of the Flameyellow Continent would certainly see it as a utopia. It was a sacred place in the Azurecloud Continent, called Supracloud Island. There was a vortex of clouds at the center of the island, out of which a projection was cast. Within it, one could see roughly ten youths charging toward their prey.

"The skyward eye is focused on them now."

"It's Senior Brother Feiyang and Senior Sister Xiaolu. All ten of them are there."

"They're a group of ten, then."

"If the skyward eye is centered on them, a conflict is about to happen. Who are they facing off against?"

There were hundreds and thousands of cultivators there, quite a few of whom were thirty and above. Most of them were silently watching, unlike the children. They were cultivators of the Supracloud Sanctuary, as shown by their signature cloud-patterned robes that gave them a saintly aura and look.

"Silence!" someone shouted as the children were playing around. Not a single sound could be heard after that. The children poked their tongues out, but didn't dare to make a sound. They anxiously watched in anticipation. The seniors watching beside them were filled with killing intent, knowing who their disciples were chasing down.

The image captured by the skyward eye caused the entire Azurecloud Continent to tense up; the conflict between the Azuresoul Palace and Supracloud Sanctuary was a persistent topic of conversation across the continent. And this time around, rankings were at stake and the performance of the young disciples was even more important. Having heard that Yu Ziqian was someone who could rank among the top ten, everyone turned to look at a valley when he showed up on the screen.

Even those outside the Voidsky Flame Pillar could see what the skyward eye saw, much clearer in fact. Yun Tianque and Jiang Qingliu watched closely, the former smiling when they showed up. Jiang Qingliu merely secretly cursed in contempt. They knew the truth about Yu Ziqian and were planning to publicly expose him, ruining the false legend of Azuresoul Palace.

......

Within the Voidsky Realm, Tianming and the others saw a group of youths in cloud-patterned robes. There were ten of them charging straight into the valley for Yu Ziqian, scattering to ensure that nobody could escape.

While that was normal behavior for most people, they were actually trying to challenge Yu Ziqian, someone that was said to be a fourth-level constellier. Working in a group of ten was the upper limit of the Voidsky Realm, so they had to compensate with other tricks to gain an advantage.

"Make sure not to let even a single fly escape!"

Tianming looked at the leader who had just given the order. He was a handsome youth with long hair and white eyebrows, but not as long as Yun Tianque's. He looked younger and more handsome in comparison, making him among the best-looking young men there. His elegant aura and cold demeanor was a sure predictor of his popularity among the female disciples of his sect.

Naturally, the Azuresoul Palace had some information about the Supracloud Sanctuary's peak disciples, Yun Feiyang especially. He was acknowledged as a descendant of a powerful elite. Being the youngest son of the sect master, he had inherited the true legacy of Yun Tianque. Though he was only nineteen and inferior to Yu Ziqian in terms of cultivation and reputation, he was much stronger than Bai Junce. In Yu Ziqian's current state, he couldn't take on Yun Feiyang even if there were a hundred of him, let alone the other nine peak disciples that accompanied him who were tenth-level ascendants and above.

There was another refreshingly cute and beautiful girl next to Yun Feiyang. Her voice was gentle and soft and her eyes were big, accentuating her sweet smile. She was easily the most beautiful girl Tianming had seen on the sun. She was none other than Yun Xiaolu, the personal disciple of the sect master and a member of the Yun Clan. She was actually Yun Feiyang's niece, but their relationship resembled that of siblings more. Apart from those two, the eight other disciples finished encircling Tianming's group, mockingly glaring at Yu Ziqian.

"Yu Ziqian, don't waste any effort," Yun Feiyang said coldly, exerting huge pressure from his gaze.

Though Yu Ziqian was nervous, he managed to feign a relaxed calm. Crossing his arms, he tilted his head as he looked at Yun Feiyang, then looked past him at the cute Yun Xiaolu. "I've heard that Miss Xiaolu is already a top beauty despite her young age. It seems that the rumors are true. The world looks so much more colorful with you in it. I wonder if I have the honor of exchanging transmission stones with you, Sister?"

"Shut up!"

The disciples of the Supracloud Sanctuary raged at the fact that Yu Ziqian was still able to hit on someone in such a moment. Though Yun Xiaolu had been praised, she was raving mad. "Senior Brother Chen Qian said you're merely a soft stick of paper. We'll expose your tricks before all to see."

"What? Soft stick? You misunderstand. My stick is as hard as steel. You can test it out if you don't believe me," Yu Ziqian said, raising one brow.

"Haha! Senior Brother Yu is as flirtatious as ever!" Many Azuresoul Palace disciples were entertained by the exchange.