Beastmaster of the Ages

The walls of the Divine Worldeater Cauldron had become transparent, so the spectators could clearly see the inside.

"How’d they get in?"

"According to those who arrived early, they seemed to have entered with a black war drum, which they obtained by destroying thousands of dragon golems."

"Thousands? That’s crazy. Is there no way for us to enter?"

"We’ll keep trying. The drop of exalted blood has already appeared. If we don't go in soon, we may not have a chance."

"Those disciples from the Azuresoul Palace are everywhere. It's really annoying!"

"The other three parties are disciples of the top four sects on the myriad sect ranking. Is the Azuresoul Palace joining in for the fun of it?"

"It’s the Divine Worldeater Cauldron! The elders outside must be astonished."

"Those disciples whose imperial star formations were destroyed have left the tomb to report back to their elders. The events here can’t be kept a secret."

More and more disciples were attracted by the movement in the Imperialdragon Palace; it was no secret at all. The drastic changes in the palace and the appearance of the cauldron were meant to lead them to the heart of the battle. The entire tomb was in an uproar and it seemed as if everyone was heading towards the Imperialdragon Palace.

At this moment, Tianming and the others were trapped within their own barriers. There was no intersection for the time being. The cauldron was a stage, and they were the performers. When the audience had all entered, the battle would begin. A battle under the scrutiny of all the disciples would be exhilarating.

More importantly, Zhan Yuance and his team were still motioning for them to go over. Judging from the movement of his lips, what he was saying was: "The cauldron is sealed. You’re trapped. Let’s see if you can escape this time!"

Tianming calmly waited for the next phase. Glancing at the audience in the Imperialdragon Palace, he estimated there were at least tens of thousands. In order to watch the battle, most disciples kept their lifebound beasts in their lifebound spaces. The palace could accommodate more than a million people; however, more than half of the disciples refused to give up and continued to charge toward the mouth of the cauldron without a black drum. They hoped to enter the "stage" as well.

The roars of the beasts continued and there was chaos everywhere. Tianming felt pins and needles on his scalp from watching the crowd

"What do you think will happen in this cauldron?" Yu Ziqian apprehensively swept his gaze past their three opponents.

Although Zhan Yuance only had three disciples with him, a maniac like him posed a strong threat. His fiery eyes seemed to burn a hole through their chests.

"The barriers may disappear. It may be a battle between all four sides, and the last one standing is the winner." Narrowing his eyes, Tianming scanned the battlefield. The wargodeans had already released their lifebound beasts. Zhan Yuance sat on the shoulders of a goldenmane skyape, staring at Tianming.

"It’s going to be really hard. There’s no way to deal with them all in this closed battlefield. If you can't fight them, don't insist. It’s alright to give up. Keeping our gains is good enough. We mustn’t lose the Lifesteal Silverdragon again," said Yu Ziqian.

"You’re overthinking it. They won’t let us go even if we lose the Lifesteal Silverdragon. They’re going to try to kill us. He’ll take whatever he can take. I plan to join forces with Weisheng Moran, what do you think?" Tianming asked.

"You don’t want to join forces with the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect? They’re the rightful descendants of the Ninedragon Emperor," said Yu Ziqian.

"That young man is hostile toward me. Just think about it, would you be alright if most of the treasures left by your ancestors were taken by outsiders?" Tianming asked.

"Weisheng Moran is very strange. You can’t trust her fully," Yu Ziqian said.

"I understand. We only need to join forces up to a certain point. I’ll keep my guard up." Tianming nodded.

In the event of a mixed battle, the worst thing that could happen was being besieged by three parties. Even if they had improved in terms of strength, they didn’t have much of an advantage. Tianming was well aware they had to find an ally first.

However, Tianming's plan was disrupted. As more and more disciples came to watch the battle, a battle for points broke out. Perhaps the Sky Palace had decided there were enough spectators, as there was a sudden change in the cauldron! At that moment, the partitions in the east and south turned black, blocking their line of sight. Weisheng Moran and Long Longlong were completely hidden from his view.

Tianming was in the north and Zhan Yuance was in the west. The divider between the west and north suddenly disappeared; there was no obstacle between them now. The north and west sections merged into one battlefield. It seemed the south and east sections had also experienced the same changes. Thus, the Divine Worldeater Cauldron was divided into two, right down the middle, and it was impossible to see the other side. All they had to do was deal with the enemy in front of them.

"A one-on-one fight where the winners fight to the death?" Tianming understood immediately. The Sky Palace had put him up against Zhan Yuance, while Weisheng Moran and Long Longlong would battle it out.

"This is better. It saves us the trouble of forming an alliance. All we have to do is fight," said Tianming.

Whatever happened afterward, right now there was no avoiding the battle with Zhan Yuance. With him were the most elite wargodean disciples, Zhan Yingying and two other third-level constellier youths. On Tianming’s side, only three of them were able to fight. Because of their previous enmity, the air was filled with tension the moment the wargodeans met the Azuresoul Palace disciples.

Tianming turned to look at them. The other lifebound beasts were of no interest to him; only Zhan Yuance’s five lifebound beasts could pose a threat to them. This was perhaps the first time Tianming had come across an expert beastmaster with five lifebound beasts. The goldenmane skyapes had the head of a lion, its power and ferociousness, the stout body of an ape, golden muscle, and fur as hard as metal. With claws as tough as a top-grade divine artifact, they could resist swords and tear their opponent's flesh. The five beasts guarded Zhan Yuance, their bodies raging with golden flames that connected to form a sea of fire. The temperature of this half of the cauldron soared as heat waves swept across.

The eight-eared wargodean held a grade-seven divine weapon in his hand, the Divine Skypillar. With his physique, Zhan Yuance disdained to wear armor, so his upper body was bare. His flesh was as hard as metal and gleaming with countless divine patterns. His golden eyes shone on Tianming and the others like the sun, their brilliance so intense it could almost melt their flesh and blood.

The battle was about to begin.