Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming’s hushing was no doubt perceived as an insult to those in the Swordsoul Chamber. The Swordgod Lin Clan prized filial piety as a great virtue and it was a necessity for everyone, regardless of their status in the clan. Otherwise, one would be deemed unfilial, arrogant, and of poor character. Tianming’s act immediately enraged many others within the clan, and the more they looked down on him, the more offended they were.

Even so, the Grandvoid Swordfiend’s legacy had just so happened to land in his hands! That alone was enough to shake the Prime Infinitum Trade Union. Had it been anyone else, they would have risen to the top overnight! But in Tianming’s hands, nobody could see where it was going.

Lin Xiaoyun, who watched the scene with the rest, clenched his fists behind his back so hard they turned purple. The hope, pride, and glee on his face had melted into a fresh wound and sharp salt crystals had been caked all over them. The congratulatory remarks he had received from his subordinates now sounded like cutting insults.

”Brother Xiaoyun....” Lin Wuyi awkwardly watched him from the side, unsure of what she could say to console him. Even she herself felt like vomiting blood from the seething anger she felt. It was even worse than it was the day Lin Feng’s wives had taken the top spots on the daisy ranking.

Within the quiet Swordsoul Chamber, Lin Xiao and Dongshen Yue’s gleeful laughter sounded particularly ear piercing. There were even some in the chamber that began congratulating them.

”There’s finally a new hope to succeed the two of you. That child relied on his own capability to obtain the legacy of the Grandvoid Swordfiend. He might yet have a chance to restore the glory of the second branch.”

”That’s a heavy burden for him to bear,” Lin Xiao said. Apart from atoning for the sins of his son, he was also in charge of restoring their branch so that its members would be able to live with their heads proudly raised once more.

There were also some that didn’t hold back at a moment like this. Unsurprisingly, one of them was Lin Wuyi. ”The core of cultivation is raising one’s level and obtaining order. No matter how powerful his swordsmanship is, that’s just icing on the cake. It won’t change anything about his foundation.

”He isn’t even a stellaminor even though he’s a hundred years old or more. When he reaches a thousand years old, the gap between him and his peers will only widen further. Even if he has the Grandvoid Compendium, what would be the point?”

”Oh? I see that you’re doubting the legacy of our great ancestor. Do you think he’s gone senile and doesn’t know how to recognize talent but is just picking someone that’s unfit to inherit his legacy? Who are you to doubt our esteemed ancestor?” Dongshen Yue said.

Lin Wuyi hurriedly argued, ”Hey, don’t put words in my mouth. I was just speaking the truth.”

”What you’re doing is essentially doubting our ancestor, so don’t bother pretending. It’s clear for everyone to see,” Dongshen Yue said.

Lin Xiaoyun hurriedly got Lin Wuyi to stop and said, ”Let’s watch and see. Time will show whether there’s a point to all this or not.”

”At least it’s better than passing the legacy off to your daughter. Lin Jianjia, eh? She’s been cultivating at the seventh level of the Caeli Vault for more than eight years, only to lose to Lin Xiaogui of the First Branch. How laughable! Lin Xiaogui doesn’t even have parents to guide her. She used nothing but the merit she earned on her own and only has access to the fourth level of the Caeli Vault, yet she’s stronger than your daughter! Are you really sure you should be saying stuff like this? Have you no shame?” Dongshen Yue mocked, not holding back in the slightest. Lin Xiaoyun was enraged to no end, but that wouldn’t change the fact that his daughter had been defeated.

”Lin Xiaogui’s pretty impressive. She’s definitely worth nurturing, but that has nothing to do with your trash of a hundred-year-old grandson,” Lin Wuyi spat.

Upon mention of Lin Xiaogui, people began discussing her.

”The Clan Registry Formation should raise her disciple grade.”

”Since she defeated Lin Jianjia, the registry formation recorded it, and combined with her other statistics, it should be fine.”

”Her grade did get raised. She’s a grade-five disciple now.”

”Grade five.... A disciple like that should’ve been able to go to the sixth-realm of the Caeli Vault long ago. It’s too bad that her family background is less than ideal.”

”Lin Feng’s disciple grade also rose.”

People looked at Tianming’s disciple card, which now denoted him as a grade-two disciple. Finally, he could go to the fifth level of the Caeli Vault.

”So obtaining such a grand legacy only raised my disciple grade by one? That’s awfully stingy of them.” Tianming was speechless. His talent evaluation based on his assumed age was too much against him. As long as he wasn’t a stellaminor, the label of being shitty trash with no talent would stick to him and he would have a hard time raising his disciple grade.

”It’s fine. I’m the heir, so I only need to raise the grade one more time. How can I do that, though?” As he pondered the question, he rejoined Lin Xiaogui. With an ancestral guidance stele now theirs, their surroundings were rather quiet and devoid of others. The other disciples, Lin Jianjia included, had been flung away from the stele but were still in the vicinity.

”Hey, you’re a grade-five disciple now. Congratulations,” Tianming said.

”You too, grade-two disciple,” Lin Xiaogui said.

”Wow, you have nine tails, huh?” Tianming wanted to grab one of them to test their hardness.

”Stop.” She harshly glared at him as her nine whip-like tails weaved back into one and wrapped around her waist. She winced in pain and softly groaned.

”What’s wrong?”

”My back hurts a little,” she said with a hoarse voice.

”Did Lin Jianjia hurt you?”

”No, I think it’s my bloodline transformation. I used to only have a single tail and not as many scales, but the outburst of emotion from before seems to have drawn some things out.”

”Let me take a look.” Tianming walked around to her back. She hesitated for a moment, but agreed to let him look. Her back hurt too much, like there were countless fine needles poking into her flesh. As her clothes parted and fell, they revealed her pale white skin to him. However, there was nothing sensual about the process. Tianming quickly spotted the fine changes near the center of her back. The albi near that spot had transformed into an interesting diagram of a red skull. A snake was crawling out of its left eye socket, while the right eye socket had a scorpion.

”It doesn’t hurt anymore,” she said when the marking stabilized.

”There’s a new marking here,” Tianming said, then described it to her. He noticed that her expression shifted. ”What’s wrong?”

”I think I’ve dreamed of that picture before.”

”Oh? That’s rather mysterious.” Tianming had wanted to ask her about her background in detail, but reconsidered it as they were being watched by far too many people at the moment. ”How are you doing?”

”It doesn’t feel like much has changed.”

”Alright, then we should go.” Even though he obtained the legacy of the Grandvoid Swordfiend, it wasn’t like the other disciples of the clan would suddenly feel like engaging in friendly conversation. There were those that didn’t want to, and those that didn’t dare, as Lin Jianjia was still there.

Lin Xiaogui had let Lin Jianjia go when the ancestral guidance stele vanished, but her allies were nowhere to be seen. She immediately took some medicine to heal her injuries, using quite a few top-grade divine pills in the process. The holes in her thighs, arms, and torso recovered at a rate the eye could see.

Nobody dared to approach her at the moment, given her gloomy expression. Her long, black-and-white hair was frayed and unkempt, giving her a rather insane vibe. She still gripped her weapon tightly in her hand.

As Tianming left, he turned to look at her and rolled his eyes. Patting Lin Xiaogui’s shoulder, he said, ”Let’s get out of here.”

But right as they turned around, they felt a chill behind them. Lin Jianjia came toward them with sword in hand, scowling. ”Stop right there.”

Tianming ignored her. He couldn’t be bothered to deal with a so-called ‘genius’ that couldn’t take a loss with grace.

Right as he was about to leave, Lin Jianjia cried out, ”Brother Jian, help me cut her tails off! Don’t leave a single one intact!”