Beastmaster of the Ages

”You should calm yourself and cultivate. I’ll go brief him on that issue,” Eminent Jiguang said.

”Okay....” Suishen Yao kept her head down, her face still flushed. In a quieter voice, she said, ”Auntie, I’ll... I’ll go change!”

Eminent Jiguang laughed, ”Let’s see if you dare to dress like this again next time.”

”I won’t! But... didn’t you also change? An older sister like you made a kid that’s barely a hundred years old—mmph!”

Eminent Jiguang held her by the mouth and glared at her. ”Don’t say it! Don’t tell anyone about it, or I won’t be able to live anymore.”

”Hehe, now I know your weakness.” Suishen Yao’s mood suddenly improved. Even though she was still rather troubled by experiencing an irresistible sensation that she had never felt before, the thought that her aunt hadn’t fared any better made her feel good.

”You naughty little!” Eminent Jiguang pinched her face and gently said, ”Listen up, Yaoyao. Don’t let your mind wander. You have to remember your original goal. You want to change your own destiny with your own power. As long as you can achieve that, no amount of suffering is a big deal. Rest for half a month, then we’ll continue.”

”Okay!” Suishen Yao sorted out her emotions and nodded. Seeing Eminent Jiguang turn around and head toward Tianming, she felt a bit weird and asked, ”Auntie, you aren’t going to cultivate with him during the time I’m resting, right?”

”Can’t I?” she probed.

”Let him catch a break!”

Eminent Jiguang chuckled. ”Looks like you’ve caught a fancy for him. You’re even worrying for him now.”

”Don’t speak nonsense. I won’t fall for someone like him—I’m just worried that you’ll wear him out and affect the remaining four months of training I have.”

”You’re the one who’s draining him! Don’t make your aunt sound like some kind of brute.”

Suishen Yao blew a raspberry, poking her tongue out.

”You kid....” Even though Eminent Jiguang had wanted to make use of the two-week break, she decided not to risk it since her niece would be undergoing another four-month session. Coming to the soulblend formation, she noticed the quiet white-haired youth.

What a treasure... It’s no wonder Yaoyao cares for him so much, even though she didn’t even notice him at first. I know she isn’t admitting it because of the great rift between their status and even tries to keep him down. But this kid will get stronger with time. I wonder if Yaoyao can take that.

Then again, there’s benefits if he gets stronger. He’ll definitely have a sharp rise to the top. And with me guiding and guarding him, his future potential’s boundless. I’m just worried about some freak accident or malicious parties making a big deal out of things.

No matter what, he’s the most suitable man for Yaoyao. He’s shattered every precedent set by the Three Exalted Houses. Who’s to say that he can’t shatter the rule of marrying a member of the core bloodline?

Eldest Brother’s son, Suishen Yue, is a little like him. He’s reliable and steady on the surface, but actually incredibly cold and calculating. Second Brother must know that, but he wants to prove to the elders that he’s someone who looks at the big picture and will allow any successor as long as they fit the criteria. He’ll make the elders happy at the cost of Yaoyao’s happiness. What a bad father. For Yaoyao’s sake, this year of effort is worth it!

Many thoughts streamed through Eminent Jiguang’s mind. Eventually, she noticed yet another change with Tianming’s totems as diamond-shaped light projections formed around them. The totems split into smaller totem swords, each one seeming to have a definite, corporeal form that let out a really sharp diamond-shaped light.

Amazing, he achieved threefold simulacrum. Tianming had done the same feat twice within half a year. Isn’t that showing a pure talent for totemancy? Who said that his totemancy was his weakest link?

Eminent Jiguang knew that couldn’t be further from the truth and was sure that Tianming possessed an insane talent for totemancy. Only Suishen Blood has been shown to be capable of greatly enhancing one’s totems in the short term, and that involves true dual cultivation with totems. But this child managed to achieve two simulacra using the soulblend formation alone. If he keeps doing it, won’t he become an unmatched god of combat in all cultivation methods?

He was just as shocked as Eminent Jiguang. Doing totemic bonding with the two of them actually helped me this much.... It was incredibly good news. Not only had he enjoyed the process, he’d also benefited greatly from it. Jiguang Sea was as pleasurable a place to him as Soulburn Hall had been.

Tianming, unlike Eminent Jiguang and Suishen Yao, seemed to burst with vigor after gaining his simulacra and couldn’t wait to challenge someone to a fight. ”This threefold simulacrum can increase the damage of my Myriadsword Providence. The providence swords have more definite corporeal forms and got a boost in power!”

He stretched lazily as he exited the formation. His entire body glowed with power and there was a tinge of malice coming from his black and gold eyes. All in all, his aura didn’t pale in comparison to that of disciples from the Three Exalted Houses. In fact, he seemed even better than them and Eminent Jiguang couldn’t resist taking a few more glances at him.

”Greetings, Eminent,” Tianming respectfully greeted.

”There’s no need for formalities. Rest well for the next two weeks. You’ll have another four-month session then. After that, it’ll depend on Yaoyao’s efforts.” Even though Eminent Jiguang was just as impatient about training with Tianming, she held back and let him off.

”Half a month?” Tianming pondered for a moment. ”Eminent, can I leave for a bit? I promise I’ll return in time.”

”Two weeks will pass in a flash—why do you want to leave?” She didn’t want to let him leave if she didn’t have to, just in case something happened.

Tianming wanted to see what Yin Chen had learned about Viridian in the past five months. However, there wasn’t much. They couldn’t just ask people about that kind of information; instead, they had to passively listen to see if anyone talked about it. Thus, he wanted to do some active asking around instead.

”If I can enter the top ten of the Fortuna Ranking, I’ll obtain quite a bit more springwater and merit points. Additionally, I want to go to the myriadpath steles for some battle arts. I should be granted that privilege after making it into the top ten.”

Foundationeers could access myriadpath steles to learn battle arts from them, but those that ranked in the top ten of the Fortuna Ranking were also afforded the opportunity. Tianming was far from being a foundationeer, so that was an avenue he could use.

He was mainly doing it for the stipend, though.

As the top eighteen spots in the ranking were foundationeers, Tianming would become the first non-foundationeer to access the steles in a long time. Not to mention, the myriadpath steles were similar to the ancestral guidance steles of the Swordgod Lin Clan, and he was good at tapping into them.