Beastmaster of the Ages

Lin Xiao sat opposite them and sat cross legged, leaving his slippers hanging as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Dongshen Yue, on the other hand, domineeringly took her place beside him with her hand on her skull staff, fiercely glaring at Lin Wuyi and making her even more uncomfortable.

Even the white-browed Lin Jie, who was a thousand years Lin Wuyi’s senior, was junior to the Second Patriarch. Given how he had to act politely around them, she didn’t bother to freak out, though seeing how Lin Xiao called him ’Lil’ Jie’, their relationship seemed rather decent.

”Second Patriarch, you’re just in time for my son’s performance. Let’s watch it and cheer for him,” Lin Jie said with a smile.

”You had another one?” Lin Xiao asked.

”Yes. He was born twenty-four years ago.” As Lin Xiao hadn’t really left Brokensword Peak in the fifty years since Yi Daiyan’s return, he wasn’t aware of Lin Jie fathering yet another child. Not to mention, matters of offspring were sensitive topics for Lin Xiao and Dongshen Yue, though it didn’t seem like Lin Xiao was all too bothered.

”How’re things going at the Hall of Discipline? Not too busy?” Lin Xiao asked.

”Not too bad. Those of our clan keep to the rules well. Few dare to break the house rules.” He turned to Dongshen Yue and asked, ”Granny Dongshen, Second Patriarch, why have the two of you visited Grandsect Mountain?”

”To bring some juniors here to challenge the daisy ranking, of course,” Dongshen Yue plainly said.

”I see.”

Lin Wuyi couldn’t help but chuckle and point at a stone stele next to the arena. ”Those two have come a little late, I see. The ranking of the second branch this year is mediocre as usual. You guys are dead last. It sounds like you have to catch up.”

”Is that so? So your Seventh Branch is strong, I take it?” Dongshen Yue said, smiling.

”We’re alright. At the very least, we’re high up there, unlike you guys.” Lin Wuyi rolled her eyes and placed a long finger on her belly, mocking the older woman with her impressive fertility. Her nails were as red as her lips.

”Hehehe....”

”Hehehe....”

The two of them menacingly snickered.

”The three wives of my grandson are younger than thirty, so they qualify to join the competition. So I had them join,” Dongshen Yue said.

”Wives of your grandson?” The others were stunned. They stood up and turned to look at the girls, and only then noticed that Feiling was a stellaminor.

”Their bodies are already that well developed, and you’re telling me that they aren’t even thirty?” Lin Wuyi almost burst out laughing.

”Ah... that....” Lin Jie and Lin Xiaoyun both looked awkward.

”They aren’t Ebonians and don’t have any trace of the Infinitum Bloodline. As such, they were born without astral physiques or divine wills, which made them mature and develop faster. It’s only normal that they look like adults. But age and cultivation level aren’t things that can be faked. Don’t worry. If they’re over thirty, they won’t be able to enter the age gate formation of the arena,” Dongshen Yue said, still smirking. It wasn’t that Feiling and the rest were old, but they looked like adults compared to the ’higher lifeforms’ that still looked like children before the age of thirty.

The others exchanged glances, still in disbelief.

”If they weren’t raised in Ebonia and aren’t from races with the Infinitum Bloodline, it’d be insane to claim that one of them reached the Stellaminoris stage before the age of thirty,” Lin Xiaoyun said, shrugging.

”Just keep quiet and let them make fools of themselves,” Lin Wuyi said, thinking, Those old fogies are definitely demented.

......

”Who’s that?” Tianming looked up and saw a white-browed middle-aged man looking at him. Though he looked like someone in his fifties, if he lived in the Vermillion Bird Kingdom, he was definitely around four thousand years old at least. He could feel that the man was far stronger than Lin Xiaoyun, Dongshen Yue, and the others.

”Him? He’s the master of the Fifth Branch, Lin Jie,” Lin Dan said, shuddering in fear at the sight of the man.

”Branch master? Uncle Dan, why does he feel different from the others? Are branch masters always the strongest people with the most authority?”

”Branch masters? Of course not. The main governing body of the clan above them is the Lin Clan Council. To become a council member, you need power, status, birthright, and a lot of contributions to the clan! Branch masters are only in charge of their own branches, while the true driving force of the clan is with the council. Many senior elites don’t interfere in small matters on the branch level and focus on steering the clan in the council.” It sounded like branch masters were merely employees hired to do a job.

”Then why does Fifth Branch Master Lin Jie seem to have higher status than the rest?”

”That’s because he’s also a council member. Plus, he’s in charge of the Hall of Discipline, which enforces the clan’s house rules. Much of his power stems from outside his position as branch master. He’s also rather powerful in his own right,” Lin Dan said in a low voice. Lin Jie had three different positions of power, while Lin Xiao, Lin Xiaoyun, and Lin Wuyi were only branch masters.

”But don’t forget, Second Patriarch and Granny were both council members until they were kicked out after the incident a century ago! Not to mention, the last person in charge of the Hall of Discipline was the Second Patriarch. In his prime, he was the second most powerful person in the entire clan. He’s been called names like Millennial Second or Old Discipline Lin because of that. His reputation far exceeds everyone else’s! It was he who guided Lin Jie’s cultivation, so it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Lin Jie used to be his disciple. While Lin Jie seems polite now, he used to be in a huge conflict with the Second Patriarch. When he took over as the master of the Hall of Discipline, he even called for the Second Patriarch’s death sentence, but it ended up as only a banishment from the council.” Lin Dan didn’t dare to say that too loudly.

”I see....” Tianming nodded. It appeared that Lin Xiao had quite the glorious past. He should have retired after a glorious career back then, but Lin Mu’s incident caused him to be universally shunned despite his amazing deeds.

”Lin Xiaoyun took the little sister of Lin Jie as his main wife. The two branches joined hands. Specifically, the Third Branch follows the Fifth Branch’s lead. The Third Branch is the one that treats our branch the harshest. They wish all the worst for us,” Lin Dan complained. There were only nine branches in total, yet the Second Branch had to endure the ire of three of them. And even if the rest of them didn’t outright mess with the Second Branch, they still felt sore about what Lin Mu had done, so it wasn’t like relations with them were normal. Tianming had a rough idea of the state of the clan and would factor it into his actions moving forward.

”If the one that manages the Hall of Discipline is our enemy, that’ll make things hard....” Tianming had a feeling that he would have to memorize the Lin Clan House Rules and the Code of Infinitum as soon as possible.

After Lin Dan finished his explanation, he left to help Feiling and the rest sign up for the competition. ”The Second Branch has two seeds in the top hundred spots. Who should I choose?”

”Choose them. I’m weaker, so let me find my own way first,” Xiaoxiao said.

”Right, you are!” Tianming gave her head a light smack.

”Ouch!” She bit her lip from the pain.

”Well then, follow me, girls! There’ll be an age gate formation at the entrance, but Granny said you’ll be fine!” Lin Dan said.

”Alright.” They started following him.

”An age gate?” He hurriedly stayed farther away from it in fear of being outed for his age.

While the arena seemed rather chaotic, many parents of the youths that were in the competition started talking about Tianming and the rest when they arrived. Even their children seemed interested. Their gazes were filled with disdain and mockery, which was frankly unavoidable; Tianming was no doubt among the most shunned heirs in history, thanks to Lin Mu. Thanks to those expectations, everyone was utterly shocked when Feiling and the rest showed up.

”What’re they going to do?”

”Don’t tell me those old hags are trying to join?”

”Looks like even Lin Mu’s son can’t resist xenorace women. They might look good, but there’s nothing but low blood flowing in their veins. They have no pride or dignity and only care about marrying into our clan.”

”What shameless sluts.”

”See how Lin Mu’s son has no shred of shame? How infuriating! He should’ve been left kneeling at the mausoleum for life.”

The crowd began talking louder and louder. Some that were initially reluctant to comment even got dragged into throwing a few insults here and there, but frankly, Tianming had expected that. There was nothing he could do about it for now.

Mount Grandsect’s atmosphere grew rowdier because of their arrival. It was the first time Tianming and the rest had shown themselves before the juniors. Given the huge prejudice they held, they began seeing Feiling and the rest as gold diggers, despite their beauty. The more beautiful they were, the more it seemed like they had relied on nothing but their charm to rise in status. Jealous tales like those were all too common. All that mockery put Feiling and the others under quite a lot of pressure.

But that only lasted until they managed to enter the arena. The formation hadn’t stopped them from entering. Feiling’s stellaminor level was listed on her disciple card, and her age drew quite a lot of attention as well! Everyone fell silent with shock, with many standing up with a look of disbelief.

”Is the clan registry faulty? Did the age evaluation fail somehow?” There were many that asked the question, but none that answered.

Even Lin Wuyi stood up, wide eyed. ”She isn’t of the Infinitum Bloodline and wasn’t born with an astral physique, yet she was able to become a stellaminor before the age of thirty?” The truth felt like a hammer blow to her head.