Tianming was once again shocked by the power of the Primordial Chaos Beasts when their star count reached 4.5 million. "With Fiveway Blitzrun and three hundred years of Lan Yun's protection, I finally have a foothold in Myriadpath Valley." His restless heart found solid ground. "But I still have to face Lan Yun after killing Gong Xuan..."
Lan Yun was waiting for him in the Grandblue Palace. He couldnât avoid going back forever, or he would lose her protection. He pondered over the issue on his way back to Li Fan's residence.
"Have your lifebound beasts evolved?" Li Fan asked.
"Yes." Tianming nodded.
"Youâre so weird. Youâre clearly a beastmaster, but you use manna like us specters," Li Fan said.
"You havenât seen anything yet." Tianming thought of something as he stretched his muscles and loosened up. Turning to Li Fan, he asked, "How do I get to the Xenoabyss?"
Li Fan knew that Tianming would eventually enter the Xenoabyss to look for Zi Zhen.
"Youâve just got here and youâre already thinking of the pretty lady youâve got over there? I hear thereâs chaos in Antiquitas Mortis. Do you still want to see her?" Li Fan replied.
Although news from Antiquitas Mortis had reached Myriadpath Valley, people there were still unaware that Zi Zhen was a sacredfiend skyghoul. All they knew was that someone had cured xeno fatigue.
But Li Fan knew!
"I have to go." Tianming showed no hesitation. He hadnât seen Zi Zhen since she had given him the order fragment. Cultivation was important, but he wouldnât be able to calm down until he confirmed her safety.
"You can get to the stareye relays in the Xenoabyss through the Myriadpath Celestial Formation. Itâs about the same as traveling to Skydome. But due to the special nature of the Xenoabyss, Myriadpath Valley has placed certain restrictions on traveling there. You have to obtain a xenotoken from a reverend or someone above that rank. Thereâs also a limit to the number of times you can use it," Li Fan explained.
"Then howâd you get there?" Tianming asked.
"My master asked Reverend Lan Yun for a xenotoken," Li Fan awkwardly said.
"In other words, I still have to see Lan Yun," Tianming said.
"Whatâre you afraid of? Itâll be three hundred years before she does anything to you. Listen to my advice. You should be sucking up to her now. Sheâs the last person you should be afraid of. Your senior brothers won't mess with you if sheâs around, and even if they do, I have medicine." Li Fan looked at Tianming with sympathy.
"Butâ" Tianming grinned, "what if I told you that I killed my eighth brother as soon as I entered Grandblue Palace. Do you still think I should go back?"
Li Fan was stunned.
"Youâre joking... right?" Li Fan said, his voice hoarse.
Judging from Tianming's smile, it wasnât a joke at all.
"Fine, I canât be bothered to continue this conversation. Wait for me here. You can take me to the Xenoabyss and show me the way when I get the xenotoken." Black lightning surged from his body as four white lightning arrays appeared in the distance. Lightning flickered and Tianming disappeared before Li Fanâs eyes.
"Holy shit!" Even though Li Fan wasnât wounded, he didn't think a tenth-level cosmic cartographer like him would be sent flying through the air. By the time he stabilized himself, Tianming had long disappeared.
"Heâs so fast!" Li Fan was shocked. "Does it have something to do with his lifebound beastâs ability?" He knew that Tianming wasnât a tainted beastmaster, but an all-round god of war. Contrary to what Lan Yun thought, he wasnât the kind to bite off more than he could chew. In fact, Tianming excelled in every aspect. His current physical state was caused by Demoness Yin, while his totems were simply misunderstood.
"Why do I get the sense that heâs grown stronger since his lifebound beasts entered his body? Are there tainted beastmasters who are more complete than specters?" Li Fan muttered to himself.
"Yes, Little... Li Li!" said the silver cockroach on Li Fan's shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah." Li Fan was aware that Tianming monitored him at all times.
"Hey, Master Chen, did your boss really kill Gong Xuan?" Li Fan asked, his voice trembling.
"Yes, he... split him... with his... sword sword!" Yin Chen replied.
"Um.... Did someone burst his back door?" Li Fan asked.
"You want... to to?" Yin Chen laughed.
"I wouldnât dare...." Li Fan finally understood that Tianming had been teasing him! "And I even went to get him medicine! What a monster! His courage has me convinced." Li Fan had never seen such a man ruthless enough to murder his own senior brother as soon as he entered Myriadpath Valley.
Meanwhile, Tianming had returned to the Grandblue Palace via Fiveway Blitzrun, which he was becoming increasingly adept at using. He planned to use the ability starting from today to familiarize himself with it in hopes of achieving perfect cooperation with Meow Meow so he could eventually move without even speaking.
"Disciple Li Tianming begs an audience, Master." Walking past his fiery-eyed senior brothers, Tianming returned to his courtyard.
"Come in." Lan Yun's voice was still as cold as ice.
"Yes!" Tianming pushed open the door and was immediately suppressed by her order, but that wasnât all. A cold blue vine wrapped around his neck like a poisonous snake. The vine surged with enormous power, dragging Tianming through the air and smashing him down into the embrace of a cold body. There was no pain.
Tianming was greeted by the sight of a beautiful woman dressed in blue. He had fallen under her feet with his head clamped between her knees. When he looked up, all he could see were curves that undulated from the impact. The fact that he couldn't even see Lan Yun's face demonstrated just how voluptuous the woman was.
Her control of him felt almost maternal and a strange feeling welled up inside him. He felt like he was a naughty child in Reverend Lan Yunâs arms, being taught a lesson. He had spent the journey here contemplating what to do. Regardless of the influence of evil impulses and how violent he was on the outside, he would resort to coquettish behavior around Lan Yun. After all, he had to do whatever he could to survive.
"Master, I was wrong!" Looking up at her, Tianming immediately admitted his mistake.
Lan Yun slightly leaned forward so Tianming could finally see her shapely nose and dainty, red lips and tongue.
"What was your mistake?" Lan Yun asked.
"I shouldn't have run away after I killed him. I shouldâve gone to you," Tianming replied.
"I thought youâd say that you shouldn't have killed him," Lan Yun chuckled.
"No way! Gong Xuan was going to suppress me with a beating. He said I was born of a man and beast. Thatâs where I draw the line. I had to kill him! If it didnât happen today, it wouldâve happened tomorrow!â Tianming solemnly stared at Lan Yun.