Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming and Bai Feng spoke quite a bit along the way.

"The Violetglory Star? I haven't heard of it before. Is it a skypiercer class or heliacal class?" Bai Feng asked as she walked.

"Heliacal," Tianming said.

"Is it in the Mysterium Cluster?" They would have to get to know each other well to properly fight together, so she grilled him with questions.

"Nope."

"Then is it far away from the cluster?"

"I'm not sure myself. I haven't left it before, and there aren't any nova source worlds nearby."

"Oh, I see." She looked at him with a different expression than before. "For a heliacal-class world to produce someone who's able to come here under the age of thirty is already really impressive. It looks like you've had a harder time than most others to make it here. You must be a legendary figure in your world, right?"

"I suppose so, haha."

"Be honest with me—are you some superstar in your territory? How many harems do you have?" she asked, raising her brows.

"Ahem, I'm not that kind of person," Tianming said with a serious look.

"No need to be humble. I've seen countless geniuses like you that're only in their twenties, but have tens of thousands of the most beautiful women of their nova source world."

"Why are you so interested in that anyway?"

"I'm envious. You guys are stealing pretty girls from my pool of potential partners."

"Haha!"

"Hey, even though I respect you, this is a fair place. There's far too many exceptional people in the Mysterium Cluster alone, especially the three deific-class worlds. I heard that the strongest of them are all assembled here in this lobby," she said with a respectful expression.

"Is that so...." Tianming still had many questions, so he asked them to his new friend. "Sister Feng, what class of world does the Whitechalk Star belong to?"

"Skypiercer class." In other words, the intermediate class. No wonder they were that formidable.

"Is it in the Mysterium Cluster?"

"No, but it isn't far away. Otherwise, my party would've been full a long time ago. Most of those from the Mysterium Cluster already came with fully formed parties. They're the mainstream and they have many connections," she said, shaking her head at her disadvantageous position.

"I see."

"Ours is one of the largest worlds outside of the Mysterium Cluster, but we chalk draconians look to the faceless specters of the Skyway Tristar as our ruler."

"What happens if you don't want to be ruled by them?"

Shocked, Bai Feng suddenly laughed and said, "Friend, don't put me in a tough position. Those of my world are listening to us, you know."

"I see. Apologies for the carelessness." In a way, Bai Feng's response had already answered his question. They were clearly dominated by the faceless specters and had no way of breaking free. Changing the topic, he asked, "How far away are you from the Mysterium Cluster?"

"About three months by divine astralship."

"I see." Tianming didn't have a good grasp of distances in the astralscape. The fact that it hadn't taken much time at all when he went from Orderia to the Violetglory Star showed that it wasn't as far as he had imagined. If a three-month voyage was considered short, then the astralscape was far wider than he had imagined. I wonder how far I am from the Mysterium Cluster.... That was a question that nobody could answer.

Still curious about the Mysterium Cluster, he pressed on with his questions. "Are you familiar with the deific-class worlds?"

"Of course. Few, if any, people here don't know about them."

"Then tell me more about them. I've only just come here not too long ago and fought my way to the fourth level without spending much time learning about the other worlds."

"I see. It's no wonder you don't know so many things. Fine, I'll be the knowledgeable elder sister and tell you what you want to know." She had her own dashing charm that, when coupled with her feminine beauty, made her even more appealing. "The deific-class worlds rule the entire Mysterium Cluster. They're also the rulers of the astralscape of order. The three Skyway stars form a triangle at the center of the Mysterium Cluster, and the size of the Skyway Bistar and Skyway Tristar is two hundred times that of normal heliacal-class worlds. The Skyway Monostar, on the other hand, is also called the Skyway Imperial Star and is three hundred times as large as heliacal-class worlds." Bai Feng's expression was filled with both respect and dread for those worlds.

"Have you personally seen those worlds?" Tianming asked.

"Of course not! How could I? Even though I've gone to the Mysterium Cluster, our divine astralship doesn't have clearance to fly to the core sector. However, my dad has gone to the Skyway Tristar before to pay tribute to the faceless specters."

"Are the faceless specters that impressive?" Tianming asked.

"You really...." She felt a headache coming.

"What's wrong?"

"The moment you asked that question, there's no doubt that my family back home will be laughing at me for joining up with such an ignorant backwater hick... I hope you aren't unhappy with what I just called you."

"It doesn't bother me. It's a fact that I don't know much. I'm just glad you're so patient and understanding."

"Very well. In my personal opinion, the faceless specters are the strongest specters in the astralscape!" It seemed that the skywolf royals or others with fiendgod bloodlines were still weaker than faceless specters.

"Impressive. By the way, they're one of the mysterians, right? What about the mysterians on the other two worlds?"

"They're faceless humans."

"Huh?" What did that mean? Were both the humans and specters of the three deific-class worlds faceless?

She explained, "Well, faceless specters aren't their official designation. Across the three worlds, they're all officially labeled mysterians. However, mysterians include both specters and humans that share the unique faceless trait. The faceless humans on the Skyway Monostar are beastmasters, while those on the Skyway Bistar are totemancers. The Skyway Tristar belongs to the faceless specters."

In other words, each star was dominated by one type of cultivation, and all of them were mysterians who, like Xiao, didn't have faces. If the faceless specters were the strongest of the specters, then the faceless humans would be the strongest totemancers and beastmasters too. The puzzle pieces were being put together in Tianming's mind.

Those three deific-class worlds were surrounded by even more skypiercer-class worlds, and even further out were many more heliacal-class worlds, altogether forming a huge cluster of stars. He could only imagine how epic it was. "Impressive...."

"You don't have to feel too down. If you perform well, you'll have a chance to come here as well. Even though the mysterians don't take in geniuses from foreign worlds, the hundreds of skypiercer-class worlds in the cluster are more than willing to recruit talented people. Their worlds are plenty close to the core of the cluster too. The fact that you're a heliacal native among the others here already qualifies you for a place among those skypiercer-class worlds."

"I see, so I'll be scouted if I do well here."

"Of course. Apart from the aloof mysterians, every other faction will want powerful talent to grow their influence. I've been scouted before, but my world is already a skypiercer-class world. There's no need for me to move closer to the core. Even though there's benefits to doing so, I might have to leave my home and turn my back on my people, so forget it. I can interact with those from the core through the Astraldome anyway, so it isn't too bad."

Tianming nodded. It seemed like the Mysterium Cluster was rife with both opportunities and risks. The closer one was to the cluster, the closer they were to the divine wonderians. For now, Tianming didn't intend to head there. It was already enough trouble for him to build and maintain his influence where he was.

"How far is the cluster to distant worlds like mine, usually?"

"It's hard to say. Normally, it might take divine astralships a year or two, since the astralscape is so big. One time, a genius who won the Astralium Seeking had a reward shipped to him via divine astralship and it took ten years for it to reach his world."

Hearing that made Tianming more relieved. In other words, if I attract the attention of those in the Mysterium Cluster, whether good or bad, it would still take them at least a year or two to come to where I am. I can easily leave during that time if I want to. He could afford to be a little bolder now. "Oh, there's a reward for the Astralium Seeking too, eh?"

They slowed down as they talked, getting to know each other better.