Beastmaster of the Ages

”I see....” Lin Hongchen looked at Tianming’s hands. When he realized that he wasn’t wearing an Oldgod Ring, he pointed his sword at Tianming. ”Then it makes things easier. I can kill you and continue researching the tomb. It isn’t like anyone will see it happen.”

”You won’t do that,” Tianming said.

”Why do you think that? Do you think just because your grandfather has a good relationship with my grandfather, we should be friends? If you’re really that naive, then it’s a shame, but you’re mistaken.” He didn’t understand why Tianming was so confident.”To be frank, we should work together, both on account of our grandfathers’ relationship and as members of the same clan. We should both fight to make them proud, your grandfather especially. He just passed away, so it’s even more crucial for you, his grandson, to earn some glory.”

”Work together?” Lin Hongchen looked at Tianming’s disciple card. ”I’m ranked twenty-ninth, so I’ve met his expectations for me already. You’re merely an eighth-level stellaminor, so you’d be at least around eighty mill—” His eyes widened when he saw the ranking clearly. After some thought, he squinted and said, ”The Oldgod Domain’s only been open for a year. How’d you make four breakthroughs within that time?”

”Looks like you’ve been paying attention,” Tianming said with a smile.

”Answer the question!”

”What can I say? I’m just that talented. Didn’t anyone tell you that I spent most of my life in a skypiercer-class world? Now that I’m finally living somewhere with much better resources, it’s only natural for my level to soar! My inheritance of the two reges mundi’s legacies is concrete proof of my talent.”

Upon mention of the reges mundi, Lin Hongchen’s eyes grew cold. He yearned for the Xiaozhi Sword Art far more than Lin Jianjia had ever desired the Grandvoid Compendium. When he saw Tianming taking it away, his cultivation mindset had been shaken so hard that it hadn’t fully recovered since. That only made him grip his sword even tighter. ”Lin Feng, if all you know how to do is run your mouth without a second thought, I’ll kill you to monopolize the treasure for myself.”

Tianming was secretly delighted. Since his days in the Vermillion Bird Kingdom, he had gained much more experience competing with others than Lin Hongchen, and knew for a fact that people didn’t waste so many words on those they intended to kill. If Lin Hongchen was really as bloodthirsty as he wanted to appear, he would have killed Tianming the moment he had learned that he wasn’t wearing an Oldgod Ring. The fact that he had allowed Tianming to talk so much was a sign that he was waiting to be convinced with a good reason. While he was definitely envious of and annoyed by Tianming, he wasn’t someone who killed lightly.

Tianming decided to open up. ”Alright. Here’s a reason why you shouldn’t kill me. I can deal with this tomb, while you can’t.”

”Why’re you so confident?” Lin Honogchen shook his head. Any other person would have just burst out laughing.

”On account of being chosen by two reges mundi.”

”Hehehe....” Lin Hongchen shook his head again.

”Don’t be in such a rush to deny me. Give me a chance to prove it. Time will tell whether I succeed. Talking will do both of us no favors.”

Lin Hongchen stared at him for a long time. ”Then how do you benefit from this? Even if you succeed, I can just kill you and keep the treasure for myself.”

”Gee, I sure didn’t think of that. Now that you told me about your sinister plan, I should really run for it,” Tianming sarcastically said.

”Do you think I’m making an empty threat? You don’t know what greed does to people.”

”How about this? Let’s swear an oath to the ancestors. I’ll swear that I won’t tell anyone else about this, while you... well, just swear that you won’t hurt or kill me if I really manage to open the tomb, as well as to share what we get from it without monopolizing it.”

Tianming had to compromise. It didn’t seem like Lin Hongchen would be leaving anytime soon, anyway. He didn’t know if he would succeed for certain, either. So, since he’d been discovered, he had to change his approach to sharing the gains to save himself from being killed. That was his only option, as weak as he was now. If he were stronger, he would definitely send Lin Hongchen packing, even though he didn’t know how precious the things hidden in the tomb would be. Ideally, he didn’t want anyone else to know about it.

Lin Hongchen smiled and said, ”Looks like you’re really confident in yourself.”

”More or less. Come on, make up your mind.”

”On what account are you demanding that I share half of what’s inside?”

”Brother, I can wait a hundred years and you probably still wouldn’t be able to figure out how to open it. Without me, you have nothing.”

That was something that had troubled Lin Hongchen quite a bit. He was feeling incredibly frustrated after his extensive probing, yet he still didn’t have a single clue. Though, having Tianming spell it out like that felt unpleasant all the same, true as that might be. ”Aren’t you afraid I’ll go back on my word and kill you all the same?”

Tianming really didn’t know why he would say that. That basically took away any semblance of a threat. If Lin Hongchen really was actually trying to break his word, saying something like that was the opposite thing he should do to trick Tianming into helping him. ”I’m not worried, because I trust you. You’re a member of the Swordgod Lin Clan and you have a swordsoul in your heart. Only the lowest of the low would break an oath sworn in the name of our ancestors.”

”You’re really able to trust me just with that?” That took Lin Hongchen aback. His impression of ’Lin Feng’ had completely changed from this conversation alone.

”That’s right, I can.”

Lin Hongchen took a deep breath and helplessly looked at him, only to be reminded of the Xiaozhi Sword Art. He grit his teeth and said, ”Fine, I’ll give you a chance. But if I determine that you’re unable to do anything about this tomb, I’ll kill you to stop you from spreading word of it. Only dead men can tell no tales!”

Tianming put his hands together. ”Sure. Let’s swear that oath, then. We can swear on our grandfathers instead, since they’re closer to us and mean more.”

Lin Hongchen recalled Ku with a start. That was someone he had aspired to become, only to eventually be disillusioned by. He recalled Ku’s last moments. Ku had held his hand and said with his last breath, ”Child, no matter how the world changes, you must always be a righteous member of the Lin Clan....”

That moment, when he’d seen Ku’s hopeful gaze, all of the frustration and complaints he had felt about the old man had vanished. With a heavy heart, he rushed through his oath and said to Tianming, ”Now, show me what you can do, quickly. I don’t have time to waste on you.”

”Alright. Come closer and take a look. I’ll show you despair! Make sure to keep a close eye on how good I am at this,” Tianming said.

Lin Hongchen simply ignored him and turned back to study the spherical tomb, while Tianming went over to the other side. They were on opposite sides of the sphere, unable to see each other.