Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming initially thought Perplexity Island could only be reached by flight. However, the wondersky fairy merely turned into a glowing sphere and said, “You three, get aboard!”

The three of them entered the glowing sphere and the world began shifting around them. Suddenly, they were at a different place altogether. The only thing Tianming could do to reconcile that fact was accept that this wasn’t the real world and only their caeli were moving. So it wasn’t impossible for things to happen here that wouldn’t otherwise happen in the real world. In other words, it was a lucid dream.

When they found their footing again, they heard the sound of chatter from ahead. A new world emerged before their eyes.

“This is the place where you challenge ancient idols, Perplexity Island,” said the winged fairy as it appeared again.

“The name sounds a little arbitrary,” Tianming said.

“Well, it’s an island full of perplexing mysteries,” the fairy replied.

Tianming saw an island shrouded in mist. Though it was called an island, it was so huge that it stretched past the horizon. Beneath them was a large plaza made of ancient stone tiles that were obviously marked by time. Even the moss on the tiles looked believably realistic.

There were people all across the plaza, hence the chatter. Tianming already spotted more than a thousand of them.

“Hey, make way! Don’t block the path!”

“Get in line, idiot! You think you’re the only one challenging the ancient idol?”

“Asshole, what sect are you from? If you aren’t happy, let’s settle things at the wondersky battlefield!”

“You think you’re some big shot here in the wondersky realm? Fight me in the real world if you dare! I’ll pluck that idiotic head of yours from your body!”

There were those that spoke in whispers and those that got into full-blown arguments. People from all walks of life could be seen there. As they were all caeli, Tianming wasn’t sure what levels they were at. As there were too many people there to challenge the ancient idols, Tianming and the other two got in line to wait for their turn.

“Why do I see you alone here? Aren’t there other wondersky fairies?” Tianming asked.

“Each wondersky gate is assigned one wondersky fairy. They all have their own as well, but you’ll only be able to see the one assigned to you,” it said. Given the virtual nature of the world, it was no longer surprising.

“What kind of place is the Violetglory Star?”

“It’s one of the star worlds of the astralscape of order.”

“So it has a nova source like Orderia?” Tianming said, shocked.

“Of course it does. Why else would the divine wondersky race construct the wondersky realm here?”

“What’s the divine wondersky race?” Tianming noticed that he could gain lots of information about the astralscape of order here.

“A powerful race that arose in the past hundred thousand years within the astralscape of order. They’re considered to be the current strongest race.”

“Can I have more details?”

“Due to your limited privileges, that’s all I can divulge.”

“Don’t listen to it bullshit. The strongest race in the astralscape of order are the sky plunderers,” said the tattooified Archaionfiend.

While it wasn’t aware that the sky plunderers had already died out, Tianming was. As it had something to do with Li Muyang, he didn’t dare to inquire more into it; instead, he focused on Violetglory Star. “In other words, this place is on the same level as the sun. To think that I’d become a Violetglory Disciple in my dreams before reaching Orderia.”

In essence, when the time came for him to go to Orderia to look for Qingyu, he would no longer be helpless like the time he went to the Divine Moon Realm to strengthen himself at Huiyue City. While Violetglory Star’s wondersky realm wasn’t the real world, Tianming did still want to understand what it was.

Will challenging the ancient idols in this dreamscape really give me rewards from across the stars? That question would be answered soon enough. “Apart from the ancient idols on Perplexity Island, is there another purpose to the wondersky realm?”

“There is. There’s three thousand legacy lands, and the idols are the legacy contained in this particular land. The eighteen continents of the Violetglory Star is a land of legacy shared by more than three thousand and nine hundred sects. As long as you have talent and put in the effort, you can obtain everything you want here. With a good performance, even the top sects will try to get on your good side in the real world.”

Tianming was rather shocked. He knew that the Divine moon Realm had about half the surface area of the Flameyellow Continent, while Orderia was said to be tens of thousands of times larger than the Divine Moon Realm. Given how many sects there were on the Violetglory Star, it should be on the same scale as Orderia. It appeared that a single nova source could last for millions of years. How many impressive races and legacies would a single nova source have given birth to across the aeons?

The people around him were probably akin to the higher lifeforms on the sun. There was no way any of them would be able to guess that lifeforms from the Welkin plane could stumble their way into their world of cultivation. Though Tianming had a hard time making out the powers of their caeli, he could at least see their varied forms. There were a large number of specters, rootbeast race, and more.

He spotted a girl with her hair in a bun ahead of him. She had a pair of green eyes and looked rather cute and young. As she stared at him, she asked, “Your eyes and hair look pretty. Can we be friends? I’m Liu Wanwan of Mystgod Pavilion from the Mystone Continent.”

“Of course. I’m Lin Feng. I’m not really in a sect yet. Instead, I’m being coached by my master,” Tianming said.

“The fact that you were able to come here without the backing of a sect means that your master must be someone impressive.”

“Well, he’s just about average, I’d say,” Tianming said, feigning ignorance.

“What about those two? Are they your friends?” she asked.

“Yes. They’re Xiao Ling and Lin Xiao respectively.” He figured getting to know more Violetglory Disciples would greatly help him, and make up for his lack of knowledge around these parts.

“I see. One is your lover and the other is your sister! It’s easy to tell from your names!” Liu Wanwan said.

“Nice to meet you, Wanwan.”

They all got along rather well. Liu Wanwan did have a rather bubbly personality.

“Why don’t we keep in touch?” she asked.

“How do we do that? It’s our first time here,” Tianming said.

“Oh? How could you not even know that? As long as you agree, our wondersky fairies will make a record. So long as we’re in the wondersky realm, we’ll be able to locate each other through them!”

It all seemed novel to Tianming. His fairy asked him, “Are you willing to connect with Liu Wanwan?”

Tianming picked yes.

“Alright, we’re friends now! Do look out for me in the future,” Liu Wanwan said as she shook the three’s hands.

“We’re still new here, so Sister Wanwan’s the one who’ll be looking out for us,” Tianming said.

“Nonsense. I’m not older than you, you know. I’m only thirty.”

“Haha….” Tianming didn’t know how else to break it to her.

“If there’s a chance, I’ll bring you to check out some other places. I’ve been here for ten years and it’s a real fun place,” she said.

“Thanks, Wanwan,” Feiling said.

“Miss Xiao Ling, you really look impressive. I’ve never seen a girl that has an aura like yours,” she marveled. She had only taken note of the three after seeing Feiling.

When the women started talking, they hardly ever stopped. Tianming merely listened on, reluctant to barge into their conversation. Then, a youth in front of Liu Wanwan turned around. He had a sword on his back, sporting black hair and white eyebrows. His gaze was sharp like a sword, giving him quite an aura of mystique.

Looking at Tianming and the rest, he scoffed, “Wanwan, don’t go around making acquaintances with random strangers.”

“It’s all good, Senior Brother Jin. They’re good folk,” Liu Wanwan said.

“Don’t compromise your cultivation. You like to play around too much! You’re already thirty, yet you’re only at Hexaunity Sky. The others your age are far ahead of you,” he said.

“Stupid! Why’d you have to out my shortcomings like that?!”

Jin turned around and ignored her.

“He thinks he’s hot shit,” Liu Wanwan said, turning back, “Sorry for that. I’m actually a pushover like he said.”

The rest were stunned. For her to consider herself a pushover despite being a sixth-level ascendant at the age of thirty was inconceivable. However, Tianming didn’t feel down. He felt that being able to come to a place with amazing people like this was a huge fortune in itself.

“That’s right, it’s your first time challenging ancient idols, right?” she said.

“Yeah. Is there a trick to it?” Tianming asked.

“Trick? Just get ready to take a beating. I’ve been challenging them for close to a decade and only made it to the third one. It’s too hard! Even though the first ten idols are only about as powerful as we are, they have battle arts and techniques accumulated across millions of years and have used them billions of times. It’s harder to defeat them than it is to ascend.”

Violetglory Star was like a filter for geniuses. It was no wonder anyone that could defeat a hundred ancient idols would be able to obtain the legacy of the Violetglory Sovereign.