Beastmaster of the Ages

As the Qi siblings spoke, they pressed their palms against their fauna worldstones, constantly ready to summon the worldring skysnake, starvore frog, and other warbeasts for combat.

”Hello.” Two figures that stood ramrod straight emerged from the darkness, one man, one woman. The man was tall and slender, looking like a sharp sword and dressed in a sharp-looking set of green robes. His nose looked like a firm blade and his eyes looked like stars. His features gave off the impression that he was a most righteous person.

”Lin Jianxing of the Swordgod Lin Clan?” Qi Hongzhen narrowed his eyes, the glow within them pulsing. He was reminded of his unpleasant experiences with Tianming and Lin Lele.

”Ebons? Qi Qiling? That must be your little brother, Qi Hongzhen, right?” Lin Jianxing moved his hand away from the hilt of his sword when he recognized them. ”That’s right, I’m Lin Jianxing. Friends, we come in peace.” A smile replaced the cold expression on his face.

Qi Hongzhen and Qi Qiling exchanged glances. ”They’re allies after all, eh....” They relaxed and approached the other two.

Even though the Qi siblings weren’t as powerful as Lin Jianxing, he was still polite toward them. ”Being able to meet like this means we’ve been drawn together by fate. If it weren’t for the rule that we can only move in groups of two, I would’ve loved to form a group of four with the two of you.”

”That’s right. How are you two doing? Have you been ranked?” Qi Qiling asked, looking at Lin Jianxing’s disciple card. ”Around two hundred, impressive. The Swordgod Lin Clan will surely have someone in the top rankings.”

”We need to work harder to meet our seniors’ expectations. Thankfully, we still have some time to make more gains.” Lin Jianxing maintained a friendly attitude.

”By the way, who might this be? Do introduce us,” Qi Qiling said, looking at the young girl in a light purple dress. Her hair and eyes glowed with a golden sheen and she wore a gold sunflower in her hair that added quite a bit of flair. She was sword, sunflower, and beauty all in one! The aura she emanated seemed rather elevated, making her somewhat difficult to approach. However, she did seem weaker than Lin Jianxing, probably owing to her age.

”Her? She’s from a much more prestigious line than mine,” Lin Jianxing said with a chuckle.

”Don’t joke around like that.” The girl shot him a glare before turning to look at the ebons. ”Sister, Brother, I’m Lin Linglin of the Ninth Branch.”

”Lin Linglin? Ah, I remember now. The one who leads your clan’s participants, Lin Lingxiao, is your elder brother, right? He’s ranked fifth,” Qi Qiling said.

”Yes.” She mischievously poked her tongue out. ”Compared to my brother, I still have a way to go.”

”Don’t be so humble. You’re still very young, yet you’re already participating in this event. When you reach ninety years of age, you’ll definitely have more chances, especially with your six-six talent,” Lin Jianxing indulgently said. The fact that they were in the same team despite being from different branches showed that their relationship was more than met the eye, but it wasn’t likely to be too far developed, considering the fact that Lin Jianxing had been given the task of trying to woo Tianming’s ’wives’ away from him.

Given how relaxed and polite Lin Linglin behaved toward the ebons, her amicable attitude toward their kind was clear. It was possible to extrapolate that to her brother, Lin Lingxiao, as well, which was crucial information for Tianming’s omnipresent eyes and ears. It didn’t take long before the subject of the conversation shifted to ’Lin Feng’.

”You’ve met him?!” Lin Jianxing’s bright demeanor was immediately replaced by threatening sword ki.

The Qi siblings immediately knew how he felt about that failson. However, they wouldn’t pry, as there was quite a substantial audience watching them. They simply described their encounter with him.

”So he took some kind of green treasure and defeated you? You had a high-deific-class warbeast with you, right?” Lin Jianxing asked.

”That’s right. His disciple card now lists him as a ninth-level stellaminor,” Qi Hongzhen said.

”So he’s broken through since coming here. A decent speed.” Lin Jianxing shot Lin Linglin a glance before turning back to Qi Hongzhen. ”Then... where’d you last see him?”

”Right behind us. We ran into him in roughly that direction both times,” Qi Qiling said. She couldn’t wait for someone to teach Lin Lele a lesson, having formed a grudge through the fight, and letting someone from the Lin Clan do it would be even better. Even juniors like them were aware of the relationship between the Lin Clan and the ebons. Thus, they tacitly cooperated, seeing that Lin Jianxing clearly wanted to mess with Lin Feng.

”Alright, friends. We’ll part ways here. All the best to you,” Lin Jianxing said, waving.

”Likewise. Should you have a chance, do pay our territory a visit. I’ll be your guide,” Qi Qiling said.

”Definitely.” Lin Jianxing nodded. ”By the way, a lot of nova wildbeasts have recently appeared over that way and there’s been a few beast waves. Some of them look rather powerful, so you two could probably tame them. Many other ebons have gone there as well.”

”Is that so? That’s perfect!” Qi Qiling said, elated.

Each team went their own way after exchanging information. Those not in the know might think that they were long-lost siblings, given how close they seemed. Lin Jianxing’s fishing for news of someone in his own clan before giving pursuit also drew quite a lot of eyes from people in the audience who were hungering for drama and conflict.

......

”They want to teach me a lesson?” Tianming rolled his eyes. ”Lin Jianxing’s doing pretty well to be ranked around two hundredth place. Even though it hasn’t been long since he became an orderan, he’s much stronger than Sis Le. She still has a way to go.” Tianming himself was only ranked around five thousandth; he wasn’t foolish enough to go seeking direct conflict with Lin Jianxing.

”He’s so wary of me even though he calls the ebons brothers and sisters. Did I kill his dad or something? How disgusting! He even tried to steal my wife, and, failing that, went for Lin Lingxiao’s little sister instead! Despicable!” The thought of their first meeting caused him to grind his teeth in frustration.