Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming was finally going to train the fourth strike of the Imperator's Mural, the legacy of Imperator Dominium, Dominium Imperatoris! The world was symbolized by the mountains and seas, which coincidentally matched Lan Huang's primordial order.

As the sword of the world, Dominium Imperius was different from the moves of Imperatores Inferno and Carillon. Imperator Dominium's move was neither fierce nor ferocious. Instead, it was stable, heavy and vast, containing the sword intent of all living beings that resided within the mountains and seas.

It would be incredibly difficult to fuse with the other two, considering how different they were. Tianming had spent an entire month in the Gladean Ruins trying to understand it, to no avail. Thus, he decided he would try his luck in the Xenoabyss.

After my lifesbane order entered my astral brain, it improved my comprehension ability. What used to be a complete mystery to me has slightly cleared up. The reason Xiaodao had taken so long to learn them was a limitation of order. He had only mastered Death Imperatoris, so Tianming was faring much better in comparison.

He trained while waiting for Yin Chen to bring him news and tips about more order fragments. With so many Yin Chens around him, he wouldn't have to worry about enemies approaching. Eventually, half a month passed.

"How are the folks from the Nascentis Mundus doing?" Tianming asked.

"The remaining... ones who... survived could... only cry... in frustration! They have... no chance... at all!" Yin Chen said.

"Did Yuan Yu come back again?"

"He did... he's been... looking everywhere... for you." It was a fool's errand as long as Yin Chen was around. "However, they... recently found... an underground... organization and... are asking... to cooperate."

"Underground organization?" Tianming stopped practicing and asked for more details.

Apparently, it was a group called the Bloodtower Cult. They had formed some years ago in the Ninth District, comprising the fiercest people in the district. They huddled together and formed a group that freely slaughtered in the Ninth District unabated. According to Yin Chen, the elder of the cult, Elder Bloodtower, had gathered a large amount of wealth, including order fragments.

"Can we target Elder Bloodtower, then?" Tianming asked. Outworlders could run at any moment, so he had decided it would be easier to steal order fragments from natives in the Xenoabyss.

"It depends... on opportunities... and their... member count.... They also... have lots... of elites."

Elder Bloodtower was the greedy sort, so there was no way he would be easy to steal from. The folks from the Nascentis Mundus had no hope of finding Tianming at all, so they had decided to cooperate with the cult, giving them information about him and Zi Zhen. That way, the cult would be able to track them down.

"How many order fragments does Elder Bloodtower have?"

"He has... a lot.... Fifty, give... or take!"

"Fifty plus? That's a substantial number! Even if they're all grade-one fragments, I can bring them back to the Sun for my godfather and others." Tianming had Yin Chen gather more intelligence on the elder.

"Everyone has weaknesses. We just have to look harder. No matter how powerful they are, there’ll be a chance!" He had time, so he could afford to wait.

He had grown much stronger than before, leading to an increase in Yin Chen's efficiency. Within a short month, it had managed to spread through the entire Ninth District. Tianming had also switched to a different hideout near the lair of the Bloodtower Cult. Every day, he watched their base with greedy eyes as he practiced Dominium Imperatoris.

Eventually, Yin Chen told him that a chance was near. Tianming was all too delighted to learn that Elder Bloodtower had been afflicted by xeno fatigue! Given his advanced age, the sudden sickness had come as quite a heavy blow. The loss of his capabilities would be much faster than if he had contracted it at a younger age.

"Looks like the fatigue doesn't discriminate, whether it's a normal person, royalty, or a cult leader. Getting it’s like getting a drawn-out death sentence." It represented the sudden loss of all future potential. There was nothing they knew of that could cure xeno fatigue.

"So word of his affliction’s only spread to the core members of the cult. They're already plotting to replace their elder, and the blackout period is the perfect time for that. They should be waging an internal conflict soon enough. The new elder will rise and take everything that belonged to the old elder, or maybe the cult will split!"

It was the chance he had been waiting for. He and Zi Zhen were powerful enough, especially with the grand lexicon wonder in play, so he had Yin Chen bring him information about the power levels of the soon-to-be usurpers and branches. Like masterminds behind the scenes, they watched the crew of the play from backstage before the play even started.

"If my guess is right, Elder Bloodtower should know that his time is over. He'll no doubt gather all his treasures and sneak away before the fighting starts," Tianming said.

"Why would he have any use for his wealth after getting xeno fatigue?" Zi Zhen asked. She had seen far too many people lose all hope in life after learning that they’d been afflicted.

Yin Chen was all too happy to explain. It had seen Elder Bloodtower visit a rural, decrepit area to see a fellow young member of the same race. The elder had never revealed the location to anyone. Tianming figured that he would be giving all he had to the young woman.

However, there was something that not even the elder himself was aware of: the little sugar baby that he had been pampering was actually in cahoots with the third seat of the cult's inner circle. It was all a ruse! The honey trap was finally about to pay off.

"The second and fourth seats have already started fighting, so the elder’s using this chance to run. Let's see if he manages to run off to the house of his precious sugar baby. We'll get him on the way there!" Tianming said.

"What's a sugar baby?" Zi Zhen asked.

"Oh, you innocent maiden.... It's someone like you," Ying Huo popped out and said.

Tianming couldn't wait to head over to the cult. "There he goes!" His eyes flashed as they set off.