Beastmaster of the Ages

Lin Zhongtian and Lin Zhonghai were even more confused by what Lin Xiaodao had just said.

”Wait, you’re going to do what we say?” Lin Zhonghai asked, puzzled.

”Of course! I respect both of you too much to disappoint you!” Lin Xiaodao said.

”Then how do you plan to do it?” Lin Zhongtian asked.

”Well, I’ll start by announcing that we’ve betrayed the Swordgod Lin Clan and formed our own clan, cutting ties for good! The Swordgod Lin Clan never had an eighth sword mundi. Instead, I’ll belong to the new Skycross Lin Clan!”

His uncles seemed stupefied to hear that; it was like they were dreaming.

”Are you... serious?” Lin Zhongtian couldn’t stop his eyes from turning bloodshot. His voice was hoarse and mumbled.

”Of course! I already helped them, after all. We have to take care of ourselves, too,” Lin Xiaodao said earnestly.

”Alright!” Lin Zhongtian hugged his nephew tight with his slender arms.

”Xiaodao, everyone on Gladeus will thank you! You’re our hero and our future! As long as you’re here, the Skycross Lin Clan will grow large and powerful, eventually taking over the entirety of Gladeus. We’ll be a clan that’s even better than the Infinitum Regal Clans!” Lin Zhonghai said, tears of joy forming in his eyes.

”It’s only to be expected! That’s what we deserve!” Lin Xiaodao squirmed out of Lin Zhongtian’s embrace. ”Uncles, should I go make the announcement now?”

They still seemed a little taken aback.

”I’ll be going, alright?”

”Go, do it!” Lin Zhonghai cried. ”I was too taken aback and didn’t think you’d agree with us all of a sudden.”

”Uncles, calm down. There’s more exciting things to come,” Lin Xiaodao said. He gave Lin Zhongtian one last glance before walking toward the crowd.

”Everyone, please look here. After talking with my uncles, I have an important announcement to make.” Lin Xiaodao and his uncles were the most powerful people in Gladeus. Their decisions tended to be absolute.

”Even if there are some who won’t be able to accept it, I’ve made a decision concerning our survival and legacy!” Lin Xiaodao began his speech with passion. Everyone knew that betraying the main clan wouldn’t be feasible without public support and good optics. Lin Xiaodao played up his agitation for the crowd.

”Before I announce my decision, please let me tell you a story. The two main characters of the story are the people I respect the most, Lin Zhongtian and Lin Zhonghai! Back then, they had done the praiseworthy deed of growing this branch of ours. Everyone in our branch wanted to be officially recognized as the tenth branch of the Lin Clan. My uncles thus began their journey to make that a reality. Yet, when they reached the Infinitum Swordsea, do you know the extent of unfair treatment they had received? Those stuck-up members of the clan had trampled on our pride and dignity and chased our seniors out of the Infinitum Swordsea!”

Lin Xiaodao was tearing up at that point, his voice even shaking with emotion. Most people who hadn’t heard the details of that visit seemed moved, their eyes glued to Lin Xiaodao. Then, he spun a story with embellished details for the crowd, stoking their rage and dissatisfaction. Lin Zhongtian and Lin Zhonghai listened on, feeling slightly awkward.

”Brother, isn’t he making us sound a little too pitiful? I feel like crying just listening to him,” Lin Zhonghai said.

Lin Zhongtian merely stayed silent.

”Those people from the Infinitum Swordsea are too prideful! That’s disgusting!” Lin Zhonghai himself was so immersed that he fully believed in the narrative Lin Xiaodao had spun. Even he, a direct witness of the events, believed it to be the truth.

Lin Xiaodao slowly brought his speech to a climax. ”That was what actually happened years ago! My uncles felt so ashamed on behalf of us! How could our own clan treat us like that?! Yet they swallowed their humiliation so as not to sour our relationship with the clan even further! What a sacrifice they had to make!”

The crowd believed everything he had to say, as his uncles didn’t object to the portrayal of those events. Seeing that things were going well, Lin Xiaodao went to close the deal. ”This time around, I went to the Infinitum Swordsea to give them a hand. It could be said that I saved them all! That’s a huge contribution, right? Yet they still hold prejudice against us bumpkins! I hinted that I wanted to join the council, yet they pretended to be daft and ignored it! How shameless of them!”

”What?!” The astral gods were once more enraged.

”That’s right! I, Lin Xiaodao, hereby announce that, from now on, we’ll cut ties with the Swordgod Lin Clan and form our own clan! We no longer owe anyone our submission! We are our own masters! We shall henceforth be known as the Skycross Lin Clan!”

The Bladebath Palace erupted into a raging commotion. All the astral gods raised their swords and howled.

”Skycross Lin Clan!” Lin Zhonghai joined in the cheers, further fueling the announcement.

”Skycross... Lin Clan....” Lin Zhongtian’s hands were shaking from the sheer emotion.

”We’re our own clan!”

”That’s right!”

”We’ll no longer bleed and tear up for others!”

”Cementing ourselves on Gladeus is much better for us!”

That was the exact scenario that Lin Zhonghai and Lin Zhongtian had dreamed about, yet Lin Zhongtian felt that something was still amiss. Where was the catch? He simply couldn’t figure it out! Now that the announcement had been made by none other than Lin Xiaodao himself, endorsed by his two uncles, it was no longer a laughing matter. It wouldn’t take long before the news would shock the ebons, the Infinitum Swordsea, and maybe even the Infinitum Bodhimanda as a whole.

Lin Zhongtian felt a little lightheaded from the suddenness of it all. He kept thinking about what the catch was. Eventually, when he saw the youths that celebrated with the other astral gods in the crowd, he froze. He finally figured out what was going on!

”We betrayed the Swordgod Lin Clan... and Xiaodao took their hope and future, the first-ranking swordgod disciple from them and brought him here....” Lin Zhongtian was absolutely stupefied. He knew how far the Swordgod Lin Clan had gone to protect Tianming, including how they’d invited Lin Xiaodao there!