Beastmaster of the Ages

Being able to endure suffering wasn't hard; many people were capable of such a thing. However, breaking through himself to grasp an even higher mastery over his Imperial and Lifesbane Wills to transform their constellations into sacrosuns was the truly hard part. Tianming used all his efforts to continue advancing toward the Solar stage. Apart from that, he also practiced the seventh strike of the Ninedragon Tribulation, assimilated divine hazard sword ki, and cultivated his soul. For that, he used a portion of his time to cultivate his soul with Mu Ziyan, which always left her drained and worn out.

"I was sucked dry by you again, brat... I'm getting old and useless," she said.

"Rest well and train. Don't slack off. I'll come back again," Tianming said.

"Talking back at me, eh, even though I just did you a favor.... Get out of my sight."

With her nourishing his soul and guiding him on how to cultivate it himself, his soul had greatly improved. Within a short month, he was close to the third regal soul level. Most solarians had third regal souls, apart from geniuses who were too young, so Tianming was actually only catching up. As usual, his soul would be covered in violet fog every time, which he removed with the Soul Tower. He didn't dare to confront Mu Ziyan about it, and he wasn't sure whether it was truly dangerous or just a misunderstanding anyway. Either way, their relationship would remain good as long as that wasn't exposed.

"I hope this will be a place that continues warmly welcoming me." That was his heartfelt desire, but whether it would come true would depend on the actions of others. "Well, my safety shouldn't be a concern now, after all that happened in the Astraldome. If anything were to happen to me, the Violetglorians would have a hard time explaining it to the mysterians when they come."

He couldn't wait to return to the Astraldome. When a month had passed, he was finally allowed back in. Over that month, he had obtained two strands of grade-eight divine hazard sword ki thanks to Godsin, namely the Bloodweep Swordheart and Ireflare Silkworm. The latter was a fire-type grade-eight sword ki, which was a level higher than his infernal dragon sword ki. It was shaped like a silkworm and contained boundless flaming sword ki, being comparable to Frozen Glasstree in power and incredibly suited for the Blazedragon Fireblast.

Now, he was much stronger than he had been a month before. The only things that he hadn't yet managed to crack were the seventh strike of the Ninedragon Tribulation and becoming a solarian. He was just a hair's breadth away, but he couldn't break through for some reason.

"If I can break through this level, I'll grow much stronger than before." He resisted the temptation to charge back into the Astraldome, instead choosing to keep searching for the path to break through in the Imperius Ruins. As long as he broke through, he would be able to clear the fifth level of the Tranquil Battlefield without having to quit halfway!

Within the Imperius Ruins, he sought out caeli like a thirsty man in a desert, seeing how sovereigns of the past broke through the crucial bottleneck and became solarians in their youth. For Xiaoxiao, it was consuming caeli. For Lingfeng, all he needed to do was to consume pills. But those methods wouldn't work for him. Both he and Qingyu had to do things the normal way, and they were similarly stuck. Even so, despite his desperate desire, he still had no results after another month at the Imperius Ruins. By then, two months had passed since he last went to the Astraldome.

"The path is right before me! Why can't I step on it? Is it the problem with Imperial Will or Lifesbane Will? Which should I take?" He took a deep breath. "My head hurts...."

He took some time off to relax and calmed down. "I think I'm pushing myself too hard. I should just try for the fifth level of the Tranquil Battlefield as a twelfth-level constellier either way. Maybe I'll get something out of it." He had wanted to shake the Violetglorians once more once everything was ready, but achieving everything he'd set out for was still challenging. Patience was what he needed now.

"Not to mention, I already broke through once and got three strands of grade-eight sword ki and the grade-nine Godsin, not to mention a manna imperius. It should be enough, right?" His gaze ignited once more.

"I kept myself secluded for an entire month and haven't shown up in the Astraldome for the past two months. I bet the Violetglorian spectators are getting anxious." It turned out that he had actually lost hundreds of thousands of fans, a sign that their patience for him was still limited; it was getting harder and harder to inspire them. By now, even the mysterian spectators were getting frustrated.

"It's time to head back!"

......

During Tianming's two-month absence, the Violetglorian spectators sated their hunger by watching Lingfeng and the rest at the Tranquil Battlefield. So far, Lingfeng and Xiaoxiao had made it to the fourth level. They both participated in the Astralium Seeking, but this time around, there wasn't a separation between cultivators under thirty and those under a hundred, so they were temporarily stuck at that level. Feiling made it to the third level and was on her way up the Myriadeyes Wonder. Qingyu, however, was lingering at the second level, having not become a solarian yet. However, her identity as a nonabane and Tianming's younger sister caused some waves in the Mysterium Cluster.

The four of them didn't have a chance to face off against top geniuses from deific-class worlds, so they didn't get nearly as much attention. Their experiences were plainer in comparison, which made the Violetglorians crave Tianming's return even more. Seeing his badassery was addicting. The personalities of the other four, on the other hand, were a little too plain.

Eventually, Tianming returned to the wondersky realm.

"Violetglory Disciple Li Tianming, are you here to challenge the Astraldome?" the wondersky fairy asked like usual.

"Yes!" he said, his fighting spirit burning bright. "But before that, shift that bird of mine to another spot."

"Apologies. That's part of your biology and we are unable to change it," said the fairy.

"I'm talking about that lifebound beast tattoo!"

"Understood." The wondersky fairy had never seen someone who asked to change tattoo locations every time he came in.

Once Ying Huo was moved away from Tianming's crotch, it came back to life and sighed with relief. "Looks like we're pretty lucky today."

Before the rest spoke, the wondersky fairy made an exciting announcement across the wondersky realm. "Attention! Li Tianming will enter the Astraldome once more and head to the Tranquil Battlefield's fifth level!"