Chapter 4593 - Initial Mastery

Tianming gave the struggling golden star a pained look. To him, its ripples felt like Feiling's heartbeat, one pulse stronger than the other. It felt like she would come bursting out at any moment.

"Ling'er, do your best. I'll always be by your side." He opened both arms and basked in the golden light, making his white hair look somewhat blonde. It looked as if he was trying to embrace the entire star, yet it simply wasn't possible. All he could do was feel the warmth that came from her radiance and reminisce about the pleasant memories he had of her.

The golden star could also feel his arrival and emitted as much light as it could, seemingly forming two golden hands that cradled him gently. Alas, it was just light. There was warmth, but no touch.

"Ling'er, we have reached the final stage," Tianming whispered, feeling the warmth from the fingertips. "The four remaining Number Monsters are hiding where we can't reach. We don't know when they'll attack, so we're still in dire straits. I'll do my best to protect you and our family. Make sure you keep holding on. By the time those four are dealt with, we can finally reunite with the others."

The golden star glowed even stronger at hearing the word "family" and wanted nothing more than to see their daughter.

Tianming said a few more things to the star before bidding goodbye. He had to keep training to be able to fulfill his promise to reunite with Feiling and everyone else. At the very least, he would have to master all the cosmic arts in the Flameyellow Cemetery. Time was short and there was much he had to prepare.

Soon, he returned to the Sun and found Wudi, who gave him a side-eye and said, "What kind of soppy love talk were you having? Why did it take so long? I've been waiting."

Tianming said, "Why didn't you go in on your own first?"

"Hehe. I was worried that you would lose your way, so I stayed to guide you there. I can't be losing my son, after all."

"How can I possibly lose my way in the Flameyellow Coffin? There's only one way in!" Tianming couldn't be bothered to waste more time bantering and got Wudi to open the coffin.

The massive coffin of half a million meters in length opened in the sky above the Flameyellow Imperial Star. Once more, they found themselves before the massive door in the coffin and made their way into the vast space within. Tianming immediately felt the massive weight of history from the many tombstones of the flameyellow divinities pressing down on him.

"Apart from the one at the very center, each of the nine tombstones that surround it is a cosmic art comparable to Ninefirm Starfall Exorcism. To reach the next level, however, I still need to master the cosmic art of the center tombstone... one that's beyond the Grand Dao class!"

Tianming first went to check out the spherical tombstone. It was half a million meters in height, a full seven to eight times larger than his current frame. Even imperatores felt small standing before the spherical tombstone.

"The rest of the tombstones don't seem to be locked. Guess I won't need to use my Sky Plundering Hand." Tianming noticed that the many crimson-gold chains around the tombstones didn't seem to be seals. Instead, they were crimson-gold script that detailed the cosmic arts. Every single character contained immense power. The spherical tombstone had even more of this script with such density that they blurred together from afar.

"Let's try it out first." Tianming touched one of the tombstones, immediately causing the crimson-gold script to travel to the center of his palm. He could feel insight and a type of energy attempt to enter his body, but like before, he was temporarily unable to absorb either. "There must be some kind of condition that I need to fulfill."

He took a few steps back and pulled his hand back. Despite not being able to absorb anything, he could clearly feel the many different types of energy contained within the stream. There were violent bursts of fire, rampaging lightning and vibrant plants.

"Wait, aren't those energies related to those of the nine Flameyellow imperatores? So each Grand-Dao-class cosmic art comes from an imperator! Learning them must be the prerequisite for the tombstone at the center."

It finally clicked in place. He returned to the outer circle and felt the energy from each of the nine tombstones. "It is indeed the energy of the nine imperatores. The cosmic arts feel like those of the Imperator's Mural. They must be the improved versions!"

Tianming had once learned a fusion sword art from the Imperator's Mural. Every single strike contained immense power. Once he fused the different strikes together, their power compounded upon each other explosively. However, the act of fusing them was also rather challenging. Tianming had yet to fuse the ninth and final strike with the other eight.

"I guess I'll have to make up for the homework I've missed." He gave the nine tombstones a rough parse and was even more certain that they matched the content of the central tombstone. In other words, he would be able to absorb the crimson-gold script and power from the spherical tombstone once he finished mastering the nine cosmic arts.

So, he began working away at training. He soon learned that each tombstone contained one of the strikes from the Imperator's Mural, standalone versions, in fact, that were much stronger!

"Unlike the abbreviated ones of the Imperator's Mural, these are the true legacies that the imperatores left behind! Each one created a sword art that suited them best and even tried to fuse them together. These sword arts contain their ultimate wisdom! They must be the very source of fusion sword arts in this universe!"