Beastmaster of the Ages

”It’s truly rare to see a red-and-black name in the top hundred.” Suishen Zhao’s name was still around three thousandth place, but Tianming was far ahead of him. He was all too envious of his good friend, who had walked the path that many others took a hundred years within one short month.

The Suishen siblings both wanted Tianming to make a challenge, and Eminent Jiguang didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving. The cultivators of Myriadpath Valley watched as Tianming issued a challenge through the Fortuna Ranking and immediately knew what he intended to do.

”He’s going to try to rise in the ranking again.”

”Seems like he’s targeting the top hundred....”

”If that works out, he’ll start getting springwater!”

Nobody knew how desperate Tianming was to get springwater. Now that he could, he didn’t want to wait. The people on the Sun and Ebonia were waiting for him to save them! The sooner he could make use of the ten times multiplier, the more of them he could save!

Many cultivators remained in the colosseum out of curiosity. Soon, someone accepted his challenge. As he could only make a jump of a hundred ranks at a time, Tianming had to challenge nine enemies to be able to make it in the top hundred.

The first battle was fought against a normal gold ring disciple ranked around the eight hundreds with ten cosmic charts, which was all too easy for him. He wouldn’t even break a sweat to enter the top hundred.

Right as Tianming began his rise, Yumo Yuanni met Eminent Tiankui, Reverend Daolie, and his teammate, Huang Daosheng, on the specter side of the arena. The first thing he asked Huang Daosheng was, ”What’s your rank in the Fortuna Ranking?”

”Ninety-two!” the Little Lion King said with gritted teeth. His eyes were bloodshot; he had been agitated by witnessing what happened to Tianming. They had been suppressing Tianming the entire time, only for him to rise higher the harder they tried pushing him down. With Tianming now being a Suishen ward and prospective eminent, not even Eminent Tiankui would dare touch him, let alone House Huang.

Reverend Daolie seemed rather grim as well. His brows were locked in a furrow. If he had killed Tianming sooner on the Skyward Grandpath, such a thing wouldn’t have happened. Seeing a tainted beastmaster with completely no backing rise under his nose was agonizing.

”Ninety-two? You have beef with him and he wants to join the top hundred, so there’s only ten people for him to pick from. He’ll no doubt pick you!” Yumo Yuanni said.

Killing intent filled Huang Daosheng’s eyes. Tianming’s reputation was only growing more and more glorious, and along with it, knowledge of how he had humiliated Huang Daosheng in the past. By now, the Little Lion King couldn’t even hold his head up in public! How could he not be angry?

”I believe he’ll choose me. Based on what we saw, his combat capabilities are no longer inferior to mine,” Huang Daosheng said in a low voice. He was a prospective eminent with twelve cosmic charts, making him the strongest person among the brilliant goldlion bloodline.

But even he was shocked by Tianming’s prowess. He could be sure that when they had first met, Tianming was only as strong as an eighth-level cosmic cartographer, seeing as how all he could do was run from him. But in less than a decade, Huang Daosheng was no longer confident he could take Tianming on!

”Huang Daosheng, listen up.” Yumo Yuanni stared in his eyes. ”When he challenges you later, you’ll accept. Then, no matter the cost, you must kill him!”

Reverend Daolie hurriedly asked, ”Minor Pathkeeper, Daosheng dreams of killing Li Tianming as well. But that taint’s very good at running, not to mention he isn’t weak either. Killing him might be a tall order.”

Reverend Daolie desired Tianming’s death just as much as Yumo Yuanni, but Tianming was so heavily protected by eminents now that not even Yu Nu would have a chance to make a move. The sealed duels of the Fortuna Arena were indeed a good chance to get rid of him, but Huang Daosheng wasn’t certain that he could kill him.

Yumo Yuanni humphed and pointed at Eminent Tiankui. ”Huang Daosheng, haven’t you familiarized yourself with the use of the Kilopath Net? What do you think your odds of killing him are if you can bind him using that?”

Huang Daosheng’s eyes lit up when he heard that. He patted his chest and proclaimed, ”A hundred percent!”

The Kilopath Net was an incredibly rare binding divine artifact. In fact, Yumo Yuanni could have also benefited from using that. He simply didn’t think that Tianming could have bested him when it came to combat capability. Not to mention, borrowing a senior’s artifact to fight among your younger peers in the Fortuna Arena was a humiliating thing, more so than losing the fight. Fairness was paramount in the Fortuna Arena.

However, Yumo Yuanni only cared if Tianming could be killed, and Huang Daosheng would be the one to use the Kilopath Net. Yumo Yuanni’s reputation had already fallen to rock bottom in the first place, so there was no salvaging it in a duel. The only way he could make a recovery was if Tianming died!

He smiled when he saw how confident Huang Daosheng was. He shot Eminent Tiankui a glance. No doubt, the eminent knew what he should do. He turned back to Huang Daosheng and said, ”Huang Daosheng, whether House Huang can rise depends on this duel!”

An ancient house was separated from the Three Exalted Houses in the hierarchy by sacred and august houses. Huang Daosheng saw the opportunity for what it was and passionately knelt toward Yumo Yuanni. ”I’m willing to die ten thousand deaths if it means I’m able to serve you, Minor Pathkeeper!”

Reverend Daolie took a deep breath. With the Kilopath Net, he was rather confident in their chances. However, there was still some worry in his eyes. He knew that Yumo Yuanni attempting to use his son to kill Tianming would cause House Huang to bear the consequences of killing a Suishen ward.

Once Tianming was dead, Yumo Yuanni would be able to rest without worry. If someone from House Suishen—like Eminent Jiguang—looked into it, all House Yumo had to do was cooperate and hand over House Huang on a silver platter for them to vent. And that wouldn’t be good for those who found themselves on the platter.

Eminent Tiankui would be safe, on account that he was an individual that just so happened to side with them. House Huang would be the first on the chopping block. All that about House Huang rising was nothing but pretense.

However, Reverend Daolie didn’t think there was any other option; he and his son had chosen to walk down this road long ago. He turned and looked at Eminent Tiankui, who remained expressionless and without worry.

The eminent patted Reverend Daolie on the shoulder to calm him down. Before giants like them, House Huang and a mere prospective eminent were minor figures that were no longer able to bully Tianming, who had risen from under their foot and now greatly affected their futures.

Reverend Daolie and Huang Daosheng exchanged glances. This was a gambit the fate of their house rested on. Huang Doasheng’s rage would culminate in one single moment! He took the Kilopath Net, his trump card, and closed his eyes to wait while he let his killing intent seethe.

People cheered as Tianming progressed from one opponent to the next. Eventually, Huang Daosheng’s gold myriadpath ring received a challenge!