Beastmaster of the Ages

Suishen Yao felt attacked on both sides. Everyone had come to congratulate Tianming, including some eminents and reverends. Most of them were from totemancer august houses. A few leaders of those houses were already familiar with Tianming and incredibly protective of him. They congratulated him before the old patriarch had even announced the matter of the wedding.

”The old patriarch has summoned me, so I apologize for having to leave now,” Tianming said. He was incredibly polite to his core supporters and planned to connect with them more in the future. The leaders of the august houses were close to Eminent Baigui in terms of strength, and had incredibly high status in their own right.

The eminents teased him about calling Suishen Yao’s grandfather his own. Tianming feigned shyness and faked a blush; the more youthful and immature he acted, the more pleasant the seniors seemed. Just like that, he managed to get closer to many of them. They kept praising his talent and bright future until he went into Suishen Cave.

”If he succeeds, we’ll benefit, too.”

”That’s right.”

”Most of the conversations in Myriadpath Valley now are about Pathkeeper Li.”

”The old patriarch’s rather clear minded after all.”

Eminent Jiguang immediately brought Tianming to the plaza next to Suishen Ancestral Hall. Nearly a thousand people were gathered there. They had heard that Tianming would show up and wanted to see what it was about.

Tianming immediately spotted the old patriarch, who stood in front of Suishen Ancestral Hall. Unsurprisingly, it was the old man he’d seen within the hall back then, who had witnessed the sight of Tianming attracting all those caeli. He was the one behind Tianming’s return.

Tianming respectfully saluted and said, ”Old Patriarch, Disciple Li Tianming greets you!”

The old patriarch shot him the slightest weird look for a moment. Everyone fell completely silent as he walked toward Tianming, hands behind his back. ”Li Tianming, do you know how you erred?”

Stunned, Tianming immediately said, ”I do! I love Yaoyao and I should’ve boldly pursued her instead of sabotaging things and damaging House Suishen’s reputation. I’ve wronged Eminent Ranxing!”

”What should you do, then?”

”House Suishen’s been gracious enough to overlook the error of my ways, for which I’m eternally grateful. I’ll make it up to the house with my service! I’ll treat Yaoyao genuinely and with sincerity. I also wish to earn Eminent Ranxing’s forgiveness one day. I’ll also work hard to repay your immense boon!”

Tianming made sure to staunchly bring up Eminent Ranxing. He wanted to make sure that he was no longer seen as opposing the eminent, who would soon become his father-in-law and was also the son of the old patriarch. He wouldn’t want to be on bad terms with the son of his benefactor and cause a rift to form between them.

As long as House Suishen didn’t betray him, Tianming wouldn’t betray them. At the very least, that meant he had to compromise to make it up to Eminent Ranxing. He believed the old patriarch had asked that question to salvage his son’s reputation somewhat. Tianming couldn’t deny the fact that he’d taken Suishen Yao’s Suishen Blood without Eminent Ranxing’s consent, even if it had been unintentional.

Everyone heard his words and praised him in their minds. Tianming almost laughed out loud at how easy they were to please.

The old patriarch seemed satisfied and nodded. ”House Suishen and I are willing to give you another chance. I believe that if you work hard, Eminent Ranxing will come to acknowledge your efforts one day.”

He turned to Suishen Yao. ”Yaoyao’s a good child, despite her mischievousness. She’s a kind soul to the bone and has treated you with sincerity and given her everything to you. As her grandfather, I can’t bear to ruin her life, which is why I’ve decided to be merciful toward you. I won’t tolerate any displeasure you bring to her henceforth, understood?”

Tianming awkwardly said, ”I wouldn’t dare. If I let her down in the slightest, I’m worried that she’ll beat me up....”

Everyone burst out laughing at his softie attitude. They had already made up their minds that Suishen Yao was the man in the relationship. The elders were more than familiar with how wild she could be, after all.

Suishen Yao almost freaked out. You little crook, you were the one who was bullying me just now! Spare me your pitiful act! If it wasn’t for Eminent Jiguang stopping her, she would have gone to beat Tianming up, though on second thought, she would only be proving his accusations true.

”Yaoyao, come,” the old patriarch said with a smile, waving at his granddaughter.

”Grandpa!” Suishen Yao flounced as she walked up to him, shooting an annoyed glance at Tianming.

The old patriarch recalled the time Suishen Yao had just been born and lamented at how fast time passed. He was the one who had named her. He had chosen a rather boyish name for her in hopes that she would be dauntless and unyielding, but he hadn’t expected that she would grow so brash as to decide her own marriage affairs, going against her father’s plans.

”Do you want a grand wedding, or a simple one? For a grand one, we can just do the same thing and hold the ceremony a year later. If you want a simple one, we can hold it in ten days and only invite those from our house.” In essence, he was insisting on the two’s marriage without giving them a choice.

Everyone believed that was the way to go, since the two youths had allegedly already done their marital deeds. Sushen Yao was much like a princess in Myriadpath Valley, and it wouldn’t do for her to have an extramarital affair.

Tianming looked at Suishen Yao and let her decide. It was a fake marriage, anyway, so he didn’t feel too burdened by it. He preferred a simple one, of course, since he would only wish for a grand wedding for the one who already had his heart, the star in the sky that only he could see.

But it wasn’t like he didn’t want to treat Suishen Yao right. He hadn’t been planning on going so far as to take her Suishen Blood. There were no true ties of destiny between the two. Initially, Suishen Yao had completely looked down on him and had only changed her tune due to recent events. Even then, she wasn’t even mentally prepared to go all the way with him.

She didn’t take long and said, ”I want a simple wedding.”

It wasn’t a surprising outcome.

”Yaoyao’s matured indeed. Choosing a grand wedding would only cause offense to Suishen Yue and his family a second time.”

”That’s right. She’s becoming more mindful.”

Suishen Zhao couldn’t help it and said, ”Maybe she just thinks that waiting a year is too much, so she wants to settle things in ten days to bring my brother into the fold.”

”Suishen Zhao, don’t expose her like that!”

”Hahaha....”