Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming was rather moved at finally gaining real status. He didn’t count on being made a minor pathkeeper, since that was a title mainly reserved for those of the Three Exalted Houses and could only be nominated by all three of them as a sign of their solidarity.

It was almost impossible for someone to become a major or minor pathkeeper without being from the Three Exalted Houses, since it wasn’t something one could obtain with achievements alone. It was a sign of carrying the core legacy of the Three Exalted Houses.

”Congratulations, Brother!” Suishen Zhao was overjoyed and patted Tianming on the shoulder. He was reminding Tianming to show his gratitude.

Tianming hurriedly said in an ’agitated’ voice, ”Thank you, Eminent Ranxing! Thank you, Your Eminences!”

”No need for that. You deserve it after shattering the previous record on the Prehistoric Path,” Eminent Ranxing calmly said. From his expression, he did seem rather surprised, but he wasn’t fully convinced yet. That was normal and expected. Elite cultivators would only be convinced by actual power, not nascent potential.

Tianming hadn’t actually expected to be declared a prospective eminent. Eminent Ranxing hadn’t publicly announced that House Suishen would be taking him in, nor labeled him as one of their own.

Instead, it was a clear signal that House Suishen’s elders admired the existence that was Tianming. It wasn’t a particularly strong or weak signal. While it would prevent anyone who wasn’t part of the Three Exalted Houses from touching Tianming, it didn’t prevent House Yumo from doing so if they insisted on killing him. And even if House Yumo did, House Suishen wouldn’t lose any face since they hadn’t taken him in.

Tianming knew what the sly old foxes were thinking from that proclamation. The Three Exalted Houses had their own internal logic that had to be adhered to. No matter how insanely talented he was, it wasn’t true, realized power. As such, it still wasn’t enough for him to make them break their rules and make an exemption for him. It wouldn’t happen until Tianming suddenly became powerful enough to tip the balance of power of the Three Exalted Houses.

At least they acknowledged that my talent is real. Tianming still had room to improve on top of that, so he wasn’t in a rush.

Eminent Ranxing went on to say, ”Alright, go back and prepare for the fourth round of the Prehistoric Path. Additionally, you should focus your cultivation efforts mainly on your totems. Raise your simulacrum fold. The more folds you can achieve, the more of your totems’ true potential you’ll be able to unleash, understood?”

”Yes!” Tianming nodded, but remained silent otherwise.

In contrast, Suishen Zhao seemed completely pumped. ”Dad, since Tianming has such a good foundation for totemancy, is there a girl from House Suishen that we can let him mar—”

Before he could finish, he felt his body boiling over and immediately shut up. Eminent Ranxing’s explosive, flaming eyes were glaring hard at him.

”Okay, that’s enough,” Suishen Ling said, stepping out. She was Suishen Shuang’s mother and she cooled Suishen Zhao down with her frost to take some of the heat away.

”Eminent Ranxing, the child only misspoke. We’re still in public. Look....” Suishen Cang came to placate him as well.

”Come to me at Suishen Cave after you clear the imprisoned idol!” Eminent Ranxing said in a low voice.

”I will!” Suishen Zhao nodded, his eyes slightly red. He was in for some punishment, much to his vexation. He didn’t think that a single utterance from him would incite such a huge reaction in his father.

It wasn’t like there was no precedent of female cultivators of House Suishen marrying totemancers outside the house to tie them together. That was fine as long as it didn’t involve House Suishen’s core bloodline. In fact, it happened quite often, so why was Tianming so staunchly refused to the point that even mentioning it was taboo?

Tianming hadn’t expected that reaction from Eminent Ranxing, either. Could the eminent hate me deep in his bones just because I’m not a pure totemancer and I’m ’parasitized’ by lifebound beasts? Maybe he’s only reluctantly acknowledging me because of my achievements on the Prehistoric Path...

He found that to be rather likely as he read a sign from Eminent Ranxing’s annoyed look. Eminent Ranxing must be a pureblood supremacist! Maybe he’s against House Suishen’s policy of bringing new blood into the house, but isn’t able to change their ancient customs!

Perhaps Eminent Ranxing had his own reasons. Despite the Three Exalted Houses taking in new blood from members outside their ranks for so many years, the strongest and most talented would still come from their purest bloodlines.

While Suishen blood could help raise the simulacrum of totems, Tianming didn’t even dare to yearn for it. He didn’t care about Eminent Ranxing’s little outburst, either. All in all, he concluded that no matter how immense his talent was, it would be hard for him to gain proper status and respect within the hierarchy of Myriadpath Valley if he couldn’t turn that talent into actualized power.

I’ll take it one step at a time. Tianming’s mind was rather calm. He returned to the Prehistoric Path with a dejected Suishen Zhao. ”Minor Pathkeeper, thank you for what you’ve done for me.”

”You’re too polite, Brother.” Suishen Zhao scratched his head with some frustration. ”I didn’t think the elders would be so stubborn as to keep their distance from you just to give House Yumo some face. Don’t take it to heart. Either way, being proclaimed a prospective eminent means you have a status that’s almost equivalent to a minor pathkeeper’s.”

”I know that, which is why I’m really grateful to you!” Tianming said with a smile.

”Again, don’t be.” Suishen Zhao turned and looked at the Midsky Myriadpath Stele. ”I’m starting to feel like we really have a chance to make it to the top ten of the Fortuna Path. With a multiplier of five and ten, the rewards we’ll get will be comparable to what the top three teams will get, and that’s all thanks to you. We’re friends, and we’re helping each other out.”

”Top ten, huh....” Tianming looked at the stele as well. They were undoubtedly the first to have cleared the third round. Not long after, another team cleared it as well and rose to second place, Suishen Yao and Suishen Shuang’s team. They were once again faster than Qitian Jian’s team, and while they surpassed them as a result, they still ranked behind Tianming’s team!

There’s nine divine idols on the path, but realistically, only three remain for fortuna disciples. The rest are mostly for maniverse disciples. Of the remaining three, one of them tests talent, while the other two test combat capability. I can score the talent one, but we’ll need to focus on speed for the combat idols!