Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming didn’t know whether he would actually survive even though he had won. Currently, only I, Shenxi Shang, and Yi Taoyao remain. The other two are fourth phase astral gods, among the strongest disciples in the hundred-year-old range. They’re the top two in the Infinitum Mundus among their peers! What’s going to happen next? We only have three people to match with. Tianming believed that it was possible that they would have to fight against each other at the same time. I didn’t waste too much energy defeating Shenxii Yao, and my Soul Tower also got upgraded in the process. While it was hard to imagine how it would turn out, he had never faced such situations with fear.

”Shenxi Shang, Yi Taoyao!” he called out, feeling the gazes from two of those mini stars fall on him. ”The fact that I’m still out here instead of being sealed up again means that I’ll be in the next battle.” The question now was whether Yi Taoyao or Shenxi Shang would step out. He would prefer it if both of them did at the same time, as it was much fairer based on the rules.

”Lin Feng,” said a cold voice from one of the mini stars. Shenxi Shang was glaring at him. Though he had experienced rage and pain moments ago, he sounded relaxed and cold. With the Oldgod Rings put away, spectators wouldn’t be able to see what was transpiring.

”What is it?” Tianming asked. In a three-way fight, one side was bound to work with the other to wipe out the third first. Tianming didn’t want to become the one that was wiped out, so he decided to keep a reserved attitude. He believed that his refusal of Shenxii Yao should have earned him some brownie points with Shenxi Shang. And while he wouldn’t count on it, he wouldn’t turn it down if the opportunity showed itself.

”Did you think I’d thank you because of what you did?” Shenxi Shang asked.

”No need for thanks. I was just saving myself,” Tianming said.

Shenxi Shang snickered, ”Perhaps you’re laughing at me now in your mind after seeing all that happened... after being the one she chose, right?”

”You’re overthinking it.” Tianming was in fact mocking him in his mind, but why would he admit it?

”Your answer doesn’t really matter. I know what I know. As the dark horse of this event, you were able to overturn your father’s negative reputation. Now you must be basking in quite a bit of glory. I’m sure you’re feeling on top of the world.” He changed his tone and addressed the other person there. ”Yi Taoyao, if it’s going to end up being a three-way fight, don’t interfere. I’ll take care of him first before we settle it with a fair fight.”

Tianming didn’t expect that Shenxi Shang would malign him like that. He clearly hadn’t let Shenxii Yao have her way! But soon, he understood why. Shenxi Shang’s pride had been far too badly hurt. That means he wants to kill me and Yi Taoyao so that nobody will find out about what happened here. Even though Shenxii Yao hadn’t gotten her way, she had still done some actual damage.

”Wait, isn’t the Swordgod Lin Clan allied with the ebons? Aren’t we supposed to work together to deal with Yi Taoyao first?”

”Allies? You’re Lin Xiao’s grandson. He won’t obey the ebons. And based on your attitude, you won’t either. You’re an obstacle,” Shenxii Shang said. He had tried to get Lin Hongchen on his side because he knew that his father was a reformist.

”So even after I stopped her, you still formed a grudge against me? Damned if I do, damned if I don’t, eh? You’re really sick in the head, you know that?” Tianming said.

”Man, you should’ve just laid there and enjoyed it if you’d known he was this petty from the start,” Ying Huo said.

”Shut up!” Tianming furrowed his brow. He was curious as to what Yi Taoyao thought about the situation. If Shenxi Shang wipes me out first, she won’t stand a chance either. The optimal move for her was to work with Tianming and get rid of the strongest fighter first! The weaker two should obviously side against the strongest in a three-way fight, after all. While she didn’t say anything, Tianming trusted that she was no fool. The only thing that remained to be seen was which mini star would unlock first.

......

Back at the Infinitum Sea, everyone had been waiting for the broadcast to be restored.

”I can see something again!”

Finally, the feed from Yi Taoyao’s Oldgod Ring could be seen by everyone once more. Countless people had witnessed Tianming breaking Shenxii Yao’s Oldgod Ring, sending the whole Infinitum Swordsea into yet another frenzy.

”Lin Feng won! He’s going to rank at least in the top three for sure!” The million merit points that had been promised to him was conditional on him remaining in third place, and there was no doubt about it now.

”Let’s hope that he’ll survive and claim his prize and rightful honor!”

The number of his supporters rapidly grew. Even disciples far above him in age were feeling proud of his achievements. Being ranked in third place already brought a lot of honor to the Lin Clan. Perhaps that would even improve the business of their trade union in the entire mundus as well!

”Will he be able to rank second, I wonder...?”

”If he does get ranked second or first, things will get even more out of hand.”

”If he gets first place, I bet those from the third branch will have to get on the ground and crawl away every time they run into him!”

”First place? Dream on!”

”Shenxii Yao seemed to have safely returned. She wasn’t badly hurt.”

”Looks like Lin Feng held back well in that regard. We do have some ties with the rex mundi, so we shouldn’t anger the ebons too much.”

”Maybe his performance will give us more leverage in our cooperation with the ebons.”

”Forget it! He killed Guchi Xiaoyin, remember? The tenth rex mundi definitely won’t forget it.”

The arguments were getting heated once more. Then, all of a sudden, another scene appeared, causing everyone to hold their breaths.

”Is it a three-way fight?” All of them had been waiting for the final battle for a long while. They were hoping that it would be a three-way fight, since Tianming stood a better chance if he worked with Yi Taoyao.

”This scene is coming from Yi Taoyao’s Oldgod Ring.”

”What about Shenxi Shang’s?”

”I see it. He’s still hanging up there. Only Yi Taoyao was allowed to come down.”

”What’s that mean?” The luxdaemons and Lin Clan seemed equally perturbed.

”That means the second and third rankers have to fight each other for a chance to go up against the first ranker!”

”Heavens, isn’t that too partial to Shenxi Shang? Even if Yi Taoyao defeats Lin Feng, she’ll still be worn out. She’d stand no chance against Shenxi Shang in that state.”

Everyone turned quiet, save for the ebons, who believed it to be fairer. This way, Shenxi Shang won’t have to fight against two people at once. On the flip side, the battle wouldn’t be nearly as exciting or unpredictable, unless... someone suddenly had a crazy boost in power.