Beastmaster of the Ages

If I allow myself to be a little optimistic, the specters might ’ve perished before the formation collapses. ”

The emperor burst out in hearty laughter at the notion.
”These three gifts are for you. ”

By now, the emperor ’s body was nowhere to be seen.
Only his voice remained, sustained by the heavenly patterns.
The truth was out and Tianming finally understood the gravity of the situation.
He was even more enthralled by the founding ancestor ’s impressive deeds.

He looked at the first item that floated towards him with full admiration.
It was a dragon-shaped ring—a spatial ring, in fact.

”I was practiced in the arts of forging and heavenly patterns.
This is my humble creation, the Skydragon.
Even though it ’s a divine artifact, it isn’t that useful apart from having lots of space.
Within the ring is a lot of the spoils that we received after the demons were sealed away, including tribulation pattern tomes, tribulation artifacts, and tribulation manna.
Since you’ve been acknowledged by the Dragonhide, you must be of decent character.
Bring the treasures to the Xuanyuan house.
Anyone who takes part in defending my divine body deserves a share of this, too. ”

Tianming received the ring and gave it a casual look within, only to be stunned by the sheer density of items inside. So what we got from the domain was just scraps! This is where the real treasure was!

There were easily millions of tribulation artifacts alone within, each one with at least three or four tribulation patterns, and the highest of them having fifteen.
The tribulation elders of the Archaion Sect only numbered two hundred and fifty thousand at most.
If he brought this back, all of them would get new weapons!

There was also tons of manna, easily over a hundred thousand.
However, the most impressive thing was the sheer volume of tribulation pattern tomes within, which could be used during combat.
Nowadays, tribulation pattern tomes were rare, as the number of patternscribes who could make them was dwindling.
This ring contained more of those tomes than all of them scattered across the continent combined.
Taiji Peak Lake would be much better defended if he brought all of this back, and this was only the first of the three gifts.

Thank goodness the folks from Nonahall wouldn ’t be able to get all this even with the star maps.
The founding ancestor ’s plan really held up well across the past two hundred thousand years. The only thing the emperor hadn ’t been able to predict was how Tianming was stopped before he could reach the ninth black hole star, followed by the collapse of the Blooddragon Sealing Formation.
It took him until now to make his way here.
Thankfully, he was a sky plunderer.
Otherwise, these treasures would ’ve been sealed under the grey formation above forever.

The second gift was a precious gem, within which were six white mists.
One of them was human shaped while the other five were dragon shaped.
”These are the caeli of me and my lifebound beasts.
After reaching ascension, the caelum will become invulnerable and last forever.
Once you bring it back, release the caeli into the Old Deepstar Path.
My insights will then guide my descendants to further heights.
That is, assuming the Old Deepstar Path still exists. ”

”Caeli! ” Tianming received the gem carefully.
The founding ancestor was truly faced with a huge dilemma.
Despite having so much he wanted to pass on to his descendants, there was the risk of losing it to the sands of time.
Thankfully, the Old Deepstar Path was still in the sect.

”I’ll definitely take it back to them, ” Tianming mumbled.

”Right now, I can ’t be sure if the Heaven Cauldron and my divine body managed to survive these past two hundred thousand years.
Perhaps my body was destroyed and caused the Skysource Hellshaker Formation to collapse before the Blooddragon Sealing Formation.
Maybe the specters have returned to the human realm once more.
Not being able to see what I ’ve been working toward two hundred thousand years into the future is my biggest woe.
All I can do is wish you good luck.

”Why were two keys made for the Heaven Cauldron instead of sealing it away for good? ” Tianming asked.

”While it’s thought that I was the one who forged the Heaven Cauldron, I merely borrowed it.
Without it, my divine body wouldn ’t be able to last that long.
Those two keys will be needed when the time comes to return the cauldron to its rightful owner.
If my descendants still possess them, make sure they take care of them well. ” It wasn ’t so much a reply as a scripted explanation.

”Understood. ” Hmmm, he didn ’t mention who he borrowed it from though.

Back in the passageway, there were some people covered in starlight near the emperor.
They seemed to have descended from the Kilostar Domain itself.
Perhaps it had something to do with them, but the question about who they were remained.

Right as he thought that, the third gift arrived.
It was a white pendant shaped like a crescent moon that felt a little cold to his touch.
”What’s this? ”

He didn’t know what material it was made of at all.