Beastmaster of the Ages

Upon first joining the Sky Palace, Yu Ziqian had gained a stigma, which had probably come from the voidheart worm. Nobody knew what changes had happened after that. The only thing that was certain was that the cosmic wildbeast might still be alive in his body. In a sense, it was similar to the yellowspring fish inside the Godsin, a beast that had been refined into a semi-soul-like existence.

"I'm not sure about this. His soul’s in one piece, but there's something else inside. If we pull it out, he might survive, but as for his body..." Lingfeng said while Tianming observed Yu Ziqian. The powder flakes that were the voidheart worm’s child spawns had infested his body and matured to the point of being able to control it.

"Even if his soul survives, it’ll be tough for his body...." Tianming's throat felt dry. He was quite fond of Yu Ziqian, and for him to suffer this fate hurt Tianming greatly. More than that, Qingyu's life was in his hands. All Tianming could do was to wait for the voidheart worm to reveal its intentions. The voidheart worm belonged to Skywolf, and Tianming had just killed Sovereign Sanctquility. It had then used that opportunity to completely grasp Tianming's weakness, turning the tables on him in an instant! Tianming didn't dare to risk Qingyu's life, so this was the hardest decision he’d had to face.

The voidheart worm was still laughing, relishing in the joy of agonizing its foe. "Li Tianming, I want you to die! Trade your life with your sister's! A life for a life. It's a worthy trade, is it not?"

"Let's be realistic. If I'm gone, the entire sun will be exterminated by Skywolf, resulting in even more death. If it really comes to that, I can only sacrifice my sister. After that, I swear you'll face an even more gruesome death—no, I'll make you into an artifact soul so that you won't even be able to find peace in death. I’ll torture you for eternity to make you regret your actions today!" Tianming refused the offer with the harshest of tones.

Hearing 'artifact soul' seemed to really startle the voidheart worm. It rolled its eyes and said, "Looks like you've really hardened your heart. Do you really want to try?" It shrank the cauldron in its hand, but Qingyu held on and didn't make a sound. However, Tianming could see the opening of the cauldron begin crushing her head, drawing blood and filling him and Lingfeng with rage. No doubt, they were in a really bad position.

Tianming drew the Godsin and pointed it at the voidheart worm! He pushed the Frostmoon Edge down into the ground beside him; he might not get a chance to gift it to Qingyu anymore.

"If you desire death, then by all means, continue!" he roared, then sprang toward the voidheart worm. It looked like he had already given up on Qingyu. "Qingyu, I’ll avenge you by slaughtering the Sanctvoid Army!"

When it heard those words, the voidheart worm's tone suddenly changed. "Stop! I'll change the terms!"

Its intelligence still seemed rather subpar. Tianming immediately stopped, bringing the situation back to a tense stalemate. He had stabilized the situation for now, but his heart was pounding. The blood seeping out from the cauldron was from Qingyu's head being crushed, not a mere simple cut, yet she still didn't utter a single sound and stubbornly held on, worried that Tianming would trade his own life for hers!

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Way back when Qingyu had killed Yuwen Shengcheng, Tianming had risked his own life to fight Yuwen Shendu. She didn't want something like that to happen again.

The rest glared at the voidheart worm, who had given up on getting Tianming to kill himself. It clicked its tongue and said, "My condition is for you to let me return to Skywolf Frost."

The Flameyellow Guard Formation had been active during Skywolf's arrival, so the voidheart worm had no way of returning to Skywolf Frost on its own. If it weren’t for taking over Yu Ziqian's body, it wouldn't even have managed to reach Qingyu.

"How do you want to go about it?" Tianming asked.

"Just take me to the astralguard formation of Skywolf Frost. Once I enter, I’ll let her go."

Those conditions sounded much better, but Tianming couldn't be sure whether it had other plans. It's just a cosmic wildbeast with limited intelligence... does it really plan to go back? Even so, he didn't refuse it, as the terms weren't unacceptable. If he didn't acquiesce, it would simply drive the voidheart worm into a corner with no recourse, which was the same as forfeiting Qingyu's life. Looks like I have to compromise.

Gritting his teeth and nodding, he said, "Fine, I'll take you there." He gave Lingfeng a pat to calm him down. The worm had a hostage, so they were still treading a fine line. The whole matter was forcing Tianming to miss out on a chance to wipe out the specter army when he held a huge advantage.

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He forced himself to stay calm as he piloted the ship past the flaming cloud layer. After emerging from it, he noticed that many specters had chosen to retreat from the Flameyellow Guard Formation, numbering about a hundred million. When they saw the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, they hurriedly scattered. However, they didn't go far and kept watch from a distance they deemed safe, only to find that the ship didn't open fire and instead headed toward Skywolf Frost.

"A futile struggle! We’ll kill you all soon enough! Hahaha!" the voidheart worm said, its face contorted. It could parasitize bodies, and even souls, to the point that Lingfeng wasn't able to tell, as expected of a cosmic wildbeast.

"Once you return to Skywolf Frost, you'll be able to grow back and become much stronger, right?" Tianming casually asked.

"Of—hey, stop trying to get information out of me. I'm no fool."

Given the speed of the ship, they soon arrived near the surface of Skywolf Frost. It was so cold that the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb frosted up. The strong chill caused their bones to hurt. The Sanctvoid Guard Formation of the star was similar to the flaming clouds, but Tianming could tell that it wasn't too stable, probably due to the two dead sovereigns. There were a lot of holes in its defenses. If Tianming and the sun emperor died, such a situation would probably manifest on the sun as well. If nobody took control of the formation core, its power would only keep weakening, but realizing that at this point wasn’t of much use.

"We're here," Tianming said.

"Go lower and let the ship dive under the frost wave. Otherwise, how can I be sure you’ll let me go once I release her? I'm in a weakened state now," it said.

Tianming furrowed his brow, wondering if the beast was trying to drag Qingyu down to Skywolf Frost. Qingyu is only good for threatening me with, as far as it’s concerned. But it wasn't able to get me to trade my life for hers. Would there really be any use for it to take her down there?

It wasn't that Tianming was looking down on the voidheart worm. Instead, its nature as a cosmic wildbeast prevented it from scheming to any significant extent. Given that it still had Qingyu in its grasp, Tianming didn't have much of a choice, but that didn't mean he would do everything it said. He lowered the ship just enough that the opened entrance went slightly beyond the formation. At the same time, he had Lingfeng stand close to Qingyu to 'escort' the voidheart worm off.

The frost wave was practically all around them now. "Leave now!" Tianming urged.