Beastmaster of the Ages - Chapter 7291

Chapter 7205: Each Serving Their Own Master

At this moment, Zi Zhen, who was rushing to the scene aboard the cosmic starship, seemed to sense something.

She looked up slightly and saw Li Tianming’s small figure atop the vast Heavenly Emperor’s Great Wall.

Then, Aurora reminded her, “Tianming, your War God’s Token should be able to open a passage to the Heavenly Emperor’s Great Wall, allowing free entry and exit—a power unique to the Demon-Slaying War God.”

Li Tianming asked with some surprise, “Then how do I open this passage?”

“Just stick the War God’s Token to the wall; it will automatically activate the Dao array, directly connecting those below the wall, saving a lot of steps,” Aurora said with a smile.

Li Tianming nodded slightly and immediately took out the War God’s Token, placing it against the wall.

However, the moment they made contact!

Buzz—

the War God’s Token seemed to resonate with this small section of the wall, sharing a common energy source.

These two forces, one large and one small, intersected, gradually activating a Dao array, causing this small area to shimmer with colorful starlight!

Under the endless shimmering starlight, a rainbow bridge finally appeared, leaping down from the edge of the city wall!

This rainbow bridge, radiating a soft, seven-colored light, traversed countless distances across the towering wall, finally stopping before Zi Zhen.

Zi Zhen’s eyes flickered with surprise.

When she looked up at Li Tianming, he smiled and nodded.

Reassured, she stepped onto the rainbow bridge, tossing her not-so-large cosmic starship onto it as well.

As Zi Zhen gently stepped onto the rainbow bridge, it erupted with even more dazzling light!

This light instantly carried Zi Zhen and the cosmic starship, ascending towards the Heavenly Emperor’s Great Wall, then gradually disappearing from the very end of the rainbow bridge.

The scene resembled a giant hand slowly withdrawing after lifting Zi Zhen.

After a long while, the rainbow bridge vanished completely, and Zi Zhen was fully atop the Heavenly Emperor’s Great Wall.

She jumped down from the wall and stood before Li Tianming.

“Yay! Top-notch henchman Zi Zhen is ready!” Sui Shenyao exclaimed joyfully.

She then transformed into the Chaos Sword Maiden, smiling as she took Zi Zhen’s hand, displaying a close sisterly bond.

Li Tianming, however, said seriously, “This is called ‘a united couple can move mountains,’ how can you talk like that? ‘Henchman’ sounds awful!”

“It doesn’t matter, you’re still my cash cow anyway,” Zi Zhen said with a smile. “Henchman it is, but my price is very high.”

“What price do you want? Most of the Primordial Dao we all found has already ended up in your belly, hasn’t it?” Li Tianming said with a laugh.

Zi Zhen remained noncommittal, then glanced around and said, “Anyway, it’s quite boring to be cultivating all the time. It’s good to get out and about. This Heavenly Emperor Great Wall is truly magnificent. No wonder it could hold back such a large ancient demon race. The Heavenly Emperor Sect is quite capable.”

Li Tianming asked curiously, “By the way, so much time has passed, and you’ve refined quite a bit of the Heavenly Venerable Dao. What realm have you recovered to now?”

Zi Zhen smiled slightly and said confidently, “Anyway, taking down any Saint Emperor level cultivator in the Heavenly Emperor Sect shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve gained a lot from this period of seclusion.”

“With your current refining speed, and after such a long period of dormancy, it’s hard for ordinary people to imagine how far you’ve grown,” Li Tianming laughed.

The Saint Emperor level is basically equivalent to combat power above the Heavenly Venerable level.

“Then isn’t Zi Zhen now invincible at the Heavenly Venerable level?” Sui Shenyao’s eyes widened slightly in shock upon hearing this.

“More or less,” Zi Zhen smiled and nodded slightly.

“This is more than enough for us to establish a foothold in terms of combat power at the Heavenly Emperor’s Great Wall,” Li Tianming nodded, then added, “After all, the strongest among the eighth-ranked Heavenly beings, Wei Qingyu, is only a twelfth-level Heavenly Venerable, not even a Saint Emperor yet.”

“A twelfth-level Heavenly Venerable, and a weak, close-combat-oriented being of the Imperial Clan. If he dares to bare his teeth at us, let’s see if his tattered weeds and Dao plants can stop my precious Zizhen’s Eight Kill Arms for even a moment!” Sui Shenyao brandished his claws, clinging to Zizhen, feigning superiority.

Everyone smiled knowingly.

Although Sui Shenyao was somewhat eccentric, he wasn’t wrong.

Under the onslaught of a powerful ghost god like Zizhen, Dao plants wouldn’t be an obstacle; rather, the opponent’s lack of personal skills would be a weakness.

At this moment, Aurora suddenly frowned.

A silver butterfly, like a hair ornament, perched beside its ear, fluttered its wings—this was Yin Chen’s individual form.

She listened intently, and everyone knew that important information had been obtained.

So they waited silently.

After a while, Aurora looked up, her gaze slightly narrowed, and said, “Yin Chen has finished investigating the general structure of this Heavenly Eighth Division and has brought back quite a bit of information.”

“What’s the situation? What do these people think about Little Li’s appointment?” Sui Shenyao asked curiously.

“Our previous guesses were roughly correct,” Aurora said after a moment’s thought, “However, the actual situation is more complicated.”

“How so?” Li Tianming frowned slightly, also asking in confusion.

Aurora slowly said, “None of these three deputy generals have publicly expressed their opinions on Tianming’s appointment yet, but sometimes silence itself is a silent protest…”

“This is outrageous! What’s the difference between this and rebellion? This is clearly an attempt to usurp Little Li’s position as the God of War!” Sui Shenyao exclaimed, her eyes wide.

“Now they’ve tacitly chosen silence, and their Demon-Slaying Army understands their intentions,” Aurora said slowly, her gaze deep. “So what we’re facing isn’t just these three deputy generals, but also their commanders of tens of thousands, hundreds, and the lowest-ranking Demon-Slaying Army soldiers. They’re all protesting on their behalf, feeling that the Mandate of Heaven shouldn’t have come. It’s a collective, silent protest that extends from the deputy generals down to the lower ranks.”

“The Supreme Emperor will appoint them directly, so what’s there to complain about? To put it bluntly, it’s just that they were unwilling to accept that the power they had a chance to attain was suddenly taken away,” Sui Shenyao said speechlessly.

“Before the Mandate of Heaven, the position of Great God of War had been vacant for a thousand years, and these three deputy generals had competed for it for a thousand years. During those thousand years, they fought bloody battles and made countless contributions, truly paying the price. They thought they were finally about to see the light of day and get the result of the Great God of War competition, but instead, they were met with the sudden arrival of the Mandate of Heaven. No one would be willing to accept this,” Aurora said with a headache.

Zi Zhen listened for a while and roughly understood Li Tianming’s current predicament.

After a moment’s thought, she said, “So, in fact, in the battle between these three for the title of Great God, even if any one of them wins, the other two won’t have such a big problem. After all, they won based on their merits and strength. Even if they are not convinced, they will still have a certain say.”

“And now I’ve joined without any background information. I’ll take the prize before they even reach the finish line, and there’s even a possibility that I’ll face a three-way sabotage against me,” Li Tianming said, his gaze slightly narrowed.

This was the last thing Li Tianming wanted to face, as getting to this point required using even more methods.

“That’s right, this is the real point of contention,” Aurora nodded, then slowly added, “Furthermore, thanks to Yin Chen’s inquiries, we’ve received some bad news.”

Li Tianming raised an eyebrow, surprised, “There’s even worse news than before?”

“Of course, the situation is much more complicated than we imagined,” Aurora nodded slowly, then continued, “The first piece of news concerns the entire ‘Heavenly Eight Demon Army.’”

The Heavenly Eight Demon Army is the Demon Army of the Heavenly Emperor Great Wall, number eight in the Heavenly Rank.

“Does the Demon Army also intend to sideline Little Li? How dare they act so recklessly with their status?” Sui Shenyao asked in surprise.

“They’re all serving their own masters, and the law doesn’t punish everyone. We can’t just let the Heavenly Emperor Sect wipe out the Demon Extinction Army,” Aurora said helplessly. “In the millennium of the Great War God’s struggle, the Demon Extinction Army has basically been divided into three groups by the deputy generals. Today, the Eight Demon Extinction Armies are more like private armies divided into three deputy generals. They’re all choosing sides and following the people they’ve chosen.”

“How did they have the courage to do such a rebellious thing? Aren’t they afraid that the newly appointed Great War God will be displeased and purge them?” Zi Zhen asked in surprise.

“A thousand years can change a lot. The three deputy generals have honed their skills with their subordinates over the past millennium, and with their methods of winning people’s hearts, the three groups of Demon Extinction Army soldiers are now extremely loyal to their respective deputy generals,” Aurora said slowly. “If it were another powerful Great War God taking office, it would be fine, but they don’t have that sense of awe for the Heavenly Mandate.”

“Actually, without a Great War God to lead them, they’re helpless in the face of the three-way struggle. They’ll be forced to choose sides even if they don’t, and they’ve been brainwashed for too long, so their thinking is already deeply ingrained,” Li Tianming said with a deep gaze.

“That’s one way to understand it.” Aurora nodded, then added, “There’s a second piece of news. Because of your arrival, coupled with the issue of merit, it’s even harder for them to truly accept you.”

“Little Li, as the Grand Governor, doesn’t have enough merit? Is there anyone else who has achieved this level of accomplishment?” Sui Shenyao exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise.

“The Emperor’s Heaven Plan and the Demon Extermination Plan are two different systems. Once we arrive at the Heavenly Emperor’s Great Wall, only the Demon Extermination Plan’s achievements will matter.” Aurora said helplessly, “So currently, we have almost zero merit. Now, the Demon Extermination Army only curses the arrival of Heaven’s Mandate, not accepts it. After all, this is a place where merit speaks volumes. Without merit, everyone will accept it.”

“The upper echelons betray, and the lower ranks are dissatisfied. Isn’t Little Li completely a lone war god? This so-called high-ranking position of war god doesn’t even give him as much say as when he was a junior governor.” Sui Shenyao covered his forehead, speechless.

“Currently, we lack popular support and even absolute strength, so our situation is indeed somewhat unfavorable.” Li Tianming pondered for a moment, then continued, “From an outsider’s perspective, the highest combat power I’ve ever displayed is only a fifth-tier Celestial Venerable, far inferior to the three deputy generals.”

Aurora nodded, saying, “As a War God commanding the entire army, although there are no strict requirements, subordinates will compare strengths, and it’s unacceptable to lack the means to suppress subordinates.”

“Ultimately, might makes right,” Li Tianming said with a profound gaze.

However, he wasn’t in a hurry to face this situation.

After all, those who can survive on the battlefield and in military camps are not to be trifled with, and this was all within his expectations. If things went too smoothly, it would be abnormal.

Chapter 7206 Three-Way Standoff!