Beastmaster of the Ages

Over the past three months, Tianming's soul nourishment had only been a small part of it. He had spent most of his time in the Imperius Ruins, searching for a way to grow his divine will with the guidance of the thousand caeli imperius. His Imperial Will often had bursts of growth, and now it was growing much faster than his Lifesbane Will. As such, he wanted to focus on the latter as well. Thankfully, the caeli imperius offered many solutions to his issues. He could resonate with every single one on some level.

Within the Imperius Ruins, he basked in the illumination of the starlike caeli. Tianming and the rest were frequent visitors of the ruins; Xiaoxiao, in particular, had never left since entering. She sat in a corner with the Archaionfiend, digesting the caeli she got from the Myriaddragon Mountains while learning new insights with the Violetcloud Imperium's caeli imperius. Tianming hadn't seen her for quite a while now, and to his surprise, she was now a first-level solarian. No doubt, the Archaionfiend's soul consumption ability was at play.

The others also had many improvements. Lingfeng had broken through and reached the first level of the Solar stage as well after the previous grand battle. Compared to Xiaoxiao, he was much stronger. Tianming had also gotten Shengui to get Lingfeng the right to go to the Astraldome.

As for Qingyu, she had been nurtured heavily back on Orderia, not to mention her nonabane talent. Currently, she was at the eighth level and had caught up to Li Haochen. She might be able to improve even faster in the future.

"Phew!" Tianming started cultivating once he greeted the rest. He noticed that since his soul had leveled up, he could communicate much better with the caeli imperius. Never had he so clearly seen their lifetimes and cultivations.

"Ever since I got a boost of comprehension from my Trisoul Prime, I was able to interface with caeli much faster than anyone can. But to think that it wasn't the limit." Wouldn't he be completely unbeatable if he had a fourth imperial soul? It was yet another thing that proved that his decision to cultivate his soul had been the right one.

"Come on!" His soul nourishment had improved the senses of his soul. He was able to benefit far more from the guidance of the caeli imperius.

"Impressive...." Ying Huo's prime bloodline, the improvement of Tianming's soul, and his three months of training at the Imperius Ruins allowed him to gain a rush of new understandings. His Lifesbane Will reached a whole new level. He couldn't help but lament that the path of cultivation got harder and harder the higher he went, though his rate of improvement was still much better than others, who needed years, decades or centuries to break through once. Even so, there were a few others around him that broke through levels even more easily than he did, Xiaoxiao, for instance. However, she trod an extreme path, so it wasn't an apt comparison. Lingfeng, on the other hand, could consume 'trash' to improve himself.

"Let's absorb nova source!" Tianming, his totems, and beasts all continued improving. Once his Lifesbane Will's growth was complete, breaking through would be much easier. His five astraldiscs continued growing bigger while totem ki filled up his bane-rings.

"Finally, the eleventh level." It wouldn't be long before he joined the ranks of seniors as a solarian. "I bet I can take on fourth-level solarians without an issue now." His power was nearing that of Jiang Qingliu, Gujian Qingshuang, Long Wanying, and Mu Ziyan more and more. A fourth-level solarian would be on the level of sect masters of fourth-rate factions in Orderia. Even the Azuresoul Palace was able to produce thousands of swordpupils of that level.

"In other words, I'm much stronger than those above a hundred. Perhaps I'm on par with some centuries-old seniors." That was in comparison to the stronger seniors, not just any old person. After all, there were still those that struggled to make breakthroughs throughout their lives. The closer he was to the level of sovereigns, the safer he would be.

"I wonder how I compare to the people of my age at the Mysterium Cluster.... How many sovereigns can deific-class worlds like those produce?" Filled with curiosity, he had already prepared himself for the struggle ahead.

"Big Brother, are you going to challenge the third level yet? I want to see your heroics in the wondersky realm!" Qingyu said.

"Ahem... you're just covering for Shuo Yue, who wants to see my heroics, right? Let Shuo Yue come. There's no need to be shy," Ying Huo said, flapping its wings above Tianming's head.

"Stupid Ying Huo, I knew you were bullying Shuo Yue. If you don't behave, I'll get my brother to pluck your feathers off," Qingyu said.

"Tsk tsk... they said women could be the vilest of people, and they weren't lying. Poor Feng... he must be living in fear in your grasp...."

The rest broke out in laughter as the mood lightened. They soon returned to Violetpeak.

"Did Ling'er not follow you back?" Qingyu asked.

"No, why?" Tianming asked.

"She feels a little weird lately, like she's unwell. Is she sick or something?" Qingyu was good friends with Feiling and they talked about almost everything.

"Well, there is something, but it's nothing physical. It has something to do with her past and Perpetia. Do spend more time accompanying her if you can."

"Why won't you do it yourself? You're the capable one."

"I will, of course." He still couldn't bring himself to tell her that, after their night together, Feiling would turn to frost whenever he was close to her. That wasn't visible most of the time, however.

"Alright, I'll ask Xiaoxiao to join me when I go visit her then."

"Great."

Qingyu and the rest entered first, seeing Feiling still daydreaming near the lake. She was quite happy to see the two girls and gave them warm hugs. Then Tianming entered. She was just as happy to see him, but the frost appeared in her eyes. It was almost like a physiological reaction to him alone. Tianming kept his distance and smiled, but he was feeling rather bad. Even though he loved her so dearly, he couldn't even bring her any solace.

"Ling'er," he called out.

"You're back." She stood at a distance, almost avoiding his gaze.

"Yeah."

"Qingyu said you'll be going back to the Astraldome soon."

"Yes. Let's go together."

"I'll try." Since that time, her caelum had had a hard time entering the wondersky realm. Now that they were on the Violetglory Star, they all had their own heavenly locus formations, so that wasn't an issue. Even Qingyu had her own, and Tianming had given Feiling a new formation spirit core. They looked nearly identical to Tianming's own. Having changed to another core, Feiling seemed able to enter the wondersky realm without any problems. Together with Xiaoxiao and Qingyu, they reached the Soulburn Hall within the wondersky realm.

"Wow, what a beautiful sight!" Qingyu had seldom seen snow on the Flameyellow Continent. She joyfully ran across it.

"Isn't this Soulburn Hall?" Xiaoxiao instantly recognized the place, knowing that it was the secret locale where Tianming and Feiling had enjoyed each other's company in secret.

"Why's there a hole here?" Qingyu asked with naive curiosity, seeing a human-shaped hole in the snow.

"Ahem!" Tianming drew their attention away from the proof left behind by their fierce copulation. "Ling'er...." He rushed to her like the wind, hugging her and finally feeling her warmth and gentleness.

She hugged back with all she could, almost as if she was desperate to assimilate him into her own body. Her tears flowed onto his sleeves, staining them after this catharsis following three months of holding back. She hadn't dared to approach him at all during those three months, let alone voice the pain she was suffering. Fortunately, she was still able to go to the wondersky realm.

"It'll be fine. We have a lot of time," Tianming consoled, stroking her back. If their love was fulfilled and completed during their first time, then what followed was surely the trials and tribulations that were part and parcel of a relationship. There was no such thing as love without hardship, after all. "Once we get rid of the curse, things will be better." Tianming was confident about that, given the concrete progress he had recently made.

"Alright, let's do it together." She smiled as the snow in the air melted on her face, almost like the frost curse she had been suffering from in the past few months had melted away.

"What are you doing?" The other three and the lifebound beasts were all curious as to what was going on. Why did they sound like they were parting for life?

"It's fine." Tianming let her go, and she had wiped her tears off long ago.

She smiled like usual and held his hand. "He's going to fight soon. Let's all watch and be surprised!"

"I don't have a good feeling about this. I bet my brother will be beaten up!" Qingyu said.

"Hey!" Tianming coughed and grabbed Feiling's hand tighter. Soulburn Hall still reminded him about their intimate time, but he knew that what he should really be focusing on were the upcoming battles. "Wondersky fairy, take me to the Astraldome."