Beastmaster of the Ages

The fact that Eminent Jiguang dared to call Qitian Muyu by name meant that he wasn’t the valley lord. However, he was still able to represent House Qitian, which showed that he had quite a high status.

Yin Chen told Tianming that Qitian Muyu was the valley lord’s son. He looked quite calm and unperturbed, mostly because the matter of Tianming was one between House Yumo and House Suishen. House Qitian had never been part of it from the beginning. However, the public wanted to know whether the strongest house would let a top talent become a minor pathkeeper of House Suishen.

Qitian Muyu smiled without any reservation. ”The Myriadpath Sacred Code is absolute. Every rule should be as valid as all the rest. It’s what ensures that Myriadpath Valley doesn’t become a lawless place. As such, House Qitian is in full agreement with making Li Tianming a minor pathkeeper. May it serve as proof that no matter where one comes from or what status one has, as long as they have top talent, they may triumph in Myriadpath Valley!”

He had basically said what all the cultivators in Myriadpath Valley yearned to hear. In actuality, the true rulers of Myriadpath Valley were the Three Exalted Houses. Even the august houses had once immigrated from some other mundus before taking root there. No matter how long those houses had established themselves, they hoped that Myriadpath Valley would remain a place with proper written rules and few unspoken ones.

Qitian Muyu had just reaffirmed the authority of the valley’s proper rules, as they had wanted. The cultivators of the valley, especially the human ones, broke into a cheer!

”Minor Pathkeeper Li Tianming!”

”He’s gained overnight stardom!”

Tianming was a paragon for others in his situation to emulate. He had shown them it was possible to make a place for oneself in Myriadpath Valley through pure talent alone. From that day forward, every fortuna disciple would aspire to clear the ancestral idol to become a minor pathkeeper.

The dream was no longer limited to disciples of the Three Exalted Houses, which greatly motivated those of the august houses.

With Eminent Ranxing and Qitian Muyu from the Three Exalted Houses affirming Tianming’s status as minor pathkeeper, things had been set in stone and couldn’t be changed, even if House Yumo objected. Everyone cheered Tianming’s name and praised the Myriadpath Sacred Code. They cheered on the law-based ruling order.

Did Qitian Muyu really mean what he said? Tianming couldn’t be too sure. However, with Eminent Jiguang citing the Myriadpath Sacred Code, Qitian Muyu couldn’t exactly contradict her—especially not in a public setting such as this. Had he done so, he would be undermining the foundations of Myriadpath Valley.

The valley was a place where martial supremacy reigned absolute, the holy land of cultivation. If the founding laws of the Myriadpath Sacred Code could be ignored because they were inconvenient, nobody would be able to take Myriadpath Valley seriously anymore.

Perhaps not even Qitian Muyu himself could figure out whether the scheme to make Tianming a minor pathkeeper was that of the entire House Suishen, or Eminent Ranxing’s alone. After all, the eminent was the one who had conveniently cited the Myriadpath Sacred Code first to reaffirm its authority.

Either way, I’m a proper minor pathkeeper from now on! Tianming’s heart blazed with passion.

”Congratulations, Brother! You deserve it!” Suishen Zhao had been nervous the entire time the matter was being deliberated. The moment it was settled, he gave Tianming an excited hug.

”Thank you, Brother!” Tianming was still feeling a little faint from how drastically things had changed. The surprise had come too fast.

”Don’t thank me. If we couldn’t even do this much for you, I’d feel bad about getting rewarded so much thanks to your efforts. But now—”

Suishen Yao pushed her brother aside before he could finish and turned to Tianming with a smile. ”Looks like my minion’s a minor pathkeeper now. Now that’s truly where it’s at!”

”Brother, the one you should thank the most is my aunt,” Suishen Zhao said, pointing at Eminent Jiguang.

She warmly smiled at Tianming with her arms crossed and retreated to the background while the rest of the things played out. Before Tianming could thank her, she said, ”Let’s not thank me while we’re still in public.”

”I’ll furiously thank you once we get back!” Tianming sincerely said.

”Thank her... but how?” Yin Chen interjected. Tianming hurriedly got it to shut up.

Did Eminent Jiguang push me to be made a minor pathkeeper because of the siblings? Suishen Yao in particular? Tianming had a rough guess of her intentions.

Everyone knew about Tianming’s talents, as well as his weak points like his low status. As long as that problem had been solved, it would be hard for others to get to him after that. Nobody dared to touch minor pathkeepers, the bastions of talent in Myriadpath Valley.

From now on, it won’t even be a big deal if I beat Yumo Yuanni up! Tianming’s status had skyrocketed so high that he didn’t quite know what to make of it. It was the culmination of all his efforts on the Prehistoric Path. He was easily the biggest winner there, rising from sparrow to phoenix, worm to dragon!

”It’s thanks to his raw talent!”

”That kid’s set to soar with all those merit points and springwater, not to mention House Suishen’s support!”

”He just can’t be stopped!”

”Those in House Yumo who seek to go against him have been greatly suppressed.”

”I wonder if House Suishen will rise in the coming thousands of years because of him.”

”It’s incredibly likely!”

Even though the Prehistoric Path had been closed, Myriadpath Valley was still filled with sensational buzz.

Amidst the crowd was a group of seductresses surrounded by an aura of frost. There was nobody in their vicinity. Everyone made sure to keep a distance and didn’t dare to approach them. They were the cultivators from Fallengrace Peak!

Among them was the petite, black-haired second sister. She and the beauties she led looked intensely at Tianming. The second sister narrowed her eyes and said, ”Something’s wrong with that disciple of Lan Yun’s.”

”Second Sister, what’s wrong? He’s just monstrously talented,” one of the others said.

The second sister pursed her lips. ”What I’m suggesting is that Lan Yun might’ve died by his hand.”

”What?”