Beastmaster of the Ages

Long Xiqian watched Tianming and Weisheng Moran with deep interest as they stood side by side near a stream. He made sure to stand at some distance away to draw a line.

"Why'd you follow me this time? You want me to save you and fight the dreamless celestial emperor? Bro, I'm already in lots of trouble myself… please don't add more to that pile," Tianming said, almost begging.

"I know." She bit her lip and continued, "Given your situation, antagonizing the dreamless celestial nation is more unnecessary trouble—"

"It's good that you understand. It isn't that I don't want to save you… I just don't have that ability right now."

"You might not have it now, but I believe you will in the future!" Her green and white eyes shone with hope.

"In the future?" Tianming felt the onset of a headache.

"Big Brother!" Weisheng Moran paused for a bit, then continued, "I actually want to help you this time."

"Help me? How can you help?" The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect's plight wasn't something an extra person or two could change.

"This little fish has a way to get the dreamless celestial nation to help the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect," she said with a serious look.

Tianming's interest was immediately piqued. At the end of the day, he was neither her enemy nor her ally in any true sense. He was just afraid of antagonizing the dreamless celestial emperor at this point in time. But if they could help each other out, it would be worth the risk. "What do you mean?"

"The Azurespirit is far too important to the dreamless celestial emperor. If you threaten to destroy it, you can force him to mobilize the nation's army. You might even stand a chance to unite the Myriad Solar Sects."

"Are you sure? This little thing?" Tianming pointed at his left eye with a look of disbelief.

"That's right. It's really important to the dreamless celestial emperor."

"That doesn't sound right. If it's so important, why didn't he take it from me at the Azurecloud Continent? I'm just a weak junior."

"That's because you're a Sky Palace disciple. No matter how important it is, he doesn't want to destroy one of your eyes so he's been looking into other methods to retrieve it. However, the Sky Palace seems to be waning in relevance lately, so the notion of taking your eye is looking more and more appealing to him. He might even be considering killing you."

The dreamless celestial emperor wasn't the sun emperor and his nation was still under the administrative umbrella of the Sky Palace. No matter his status, he couldn't just completely ignore them like the celestial orderians, who were all too eager to take Tianming's life for the death of Li Shenjian. However, the Sky Palace's influence seemed to be on the wane, resulting in Tianming's status no longer being as important as before. It would certainly be possible for the dreamless celestial emperor to take back the Azurespirit by force.

"Are you sure that threatening him with the destruction of the Azurespirit will be enough to get him to act?"

"Definitely! However, you must be prepared to pretend that you're willing to sacrifice one eye for the sake of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect," she said.

Tianming had never been afraid of such a small sacrifice. This time, the lives of Qingyu, Lingfeng, and everyone else hinged upon their victory. If it would save them all, one eye wasn't too huge a price to pay.

"I guess I can have the Seven Dragon Imperials take me to the dreamless celestial emperor to see if that'll work," he said after some thought.

"Yeah! You'll definitely see how nervous he is," she said with certainty.

This was something he had to consult with the Seven Dragon Imperials about first, though. If they could get the dreamless celestial nation to join this conflict, they would be able to alleviate most of the pressure on the sect. The dreamless celestial nation wasn't much weaker than them, after all.

"Alright. Since you gave me such a good idea, I'll do my best to help you after this. The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect needs to threaten the dreamless celestial emperor to rope him in, so our relationship with him will be soured either way. I won't have any qualms about helping you then. Since it isn't safe for you here, I'll take you back to the Myriaddragon Mountains," Tianming said, worried that she would be forcefully taken back by the dreamless celestial emperor if she was left alone."No, I think it's better for me to hide by myself. It'll be easier for him to track me down if I'm surrounded by people. I think he's already guessed that I'm somewhere near the Myriaddragon Mountains, but he isn't able to sense my location for now so I can still evade him for a few months."

With Long Xiqian nearby, Tianming couldn't ask about the details of her ties with the dreamless celestial emperor. "Are you sure you aren't coming along?"

"Yes."

After some thought, he said, "Alright, then we'll try out what you said. If it works, I'll make sure to make it up to you."

"This little fish will be waiting," she said, her face lowered and flushed.

"Make sure to hide yourself well."

"Okay. Just don't tell him that I was the one who gave you this idea. After this, I'll have to hide myself well."

"Alright, do that."

"I'm sure I'll be even safer if I can hide in your heart," she said, glancing at him for a reaction.

"Bro… please don't mess around." There was nothing he could do if she didn't want to come with him. He rubbed left eye and said, "Can you tell me what secrets it holds?"

"I don't know everything, but I can unlock it for you to use. However, the dreamless celestial emperor will go mad if he finds out. The threat will only work as long as it hasn't been activated."

"I guess we're better off not using it then."

"If we have a chance next time, I'll activate it so that he'll never be able to get any use out of it."

"Alright!" Since time was of the essence, he hurriedly bade her farewell and left to sort things out with the sect.

……

When Tianming returned to Little Saintdragon Peak, he noticed that only the Saintdragon Emperor, Azuredragon Emperor, Greendragon Emperor, and Violetdragon Empress were there. Long Wanying was busy evacuating the young disciples while the other two were requesting help from other sects.

The Azuredragon Emperor had said that he would look for his aunt, Granny Yuanlong, at the Sky Palace; she was the only white-robed woman there. However, he had since returned. Given his sour expression, it was clear how it had gone.

The Sky Palace continued ignoring their pleas; they weren't fulfilling their responsibilities at all. If word of this got out, their reputation would fall to a historic low. Some rumors even said that they had submitted to the celestial orderians due to some weakness that they'd grasped. Either way, even with Granny Yuanlong around, the Sky Palace seemed to no longer care about the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect's survival.

That was more than just depressing; it was frustratingly unjust! The Sky Palace was completely undeserving of its reputation. All these years, their position among the Myriad Solar Sects had been nothing but a joke.

The sect could only save itself now.