Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming’s proclamation was so loud that it caught the attention of everyone in the capital. Many were already paying attention to him since he returned, but none of them expected that he would rise into the air and challenge the imperial son of Aquamarine to a duel to the death in such a short time!

”Sigh... The imperial son couldn’t hold back after all. Then again, what kind of man could endure such a shameless provocation?”

”Not bad. I’ve long been disgusted by how Cang Shentu and Imperator Tong looked at each other in that flirty manner!”

”Then again, the young imperial son is too reckless. Cang Shentu is a seventh-level primocosmic god.”

”Maybe this was their aim all along, to instigate the imperial son into starting the fight. Are they trying to put him down in his own turf to put pressure on us?”

”It’s such a shame that the imperial son is far too young...”

”Nonsense! This is what a real man is like. I trust that the imperial son will be able to crush Cang Shentu’s seventh astral organ!”

Countless people left their homes and looked at the youth that hovered majestically in the sky above with expressions of worship and worry.

As for the four imperatores and the three men, they were all stunned. They didn’t think that Tianming would be so straitlaced.

”This might be a trap,” Imperator Long said with a stern look.

”I don’t think there is one,” Lin Xiaoting said, violet lightning crackling in his eyes as he glared at Tianming. ”Even though he improves at a crazy rate, the gap between him and Imperial Son Cang is still too wide. He doesn’t have his skypole stars either. This is the best chance to wipe him out.”

”That’s right,” Cang Shentu said, eyes filled with killing intent. ”Imperatores, your plan has forced him to take a stance. Otherwise, he would be made an eternal laughingstock in the Realm of Chaos.”

The imperial son of Torch Dragon, Long Xuanzhao, narrowed his eyes. ”His anger does not seem to be feigned. His eyes are already flaming.”

”Please rest assured, everyone. I’m sure he is challenging me because he cares far too much about his ego,” Cang Shentu said. ”Or perhaps he’s desperately trying to prove his courage. It’s too bad that courage alone is useless against real power.”

Tianming appeared calm but actually shook with rage, details which Cang Shentu had noticed, convincing him that Tianming was really doing this because he felt insulted.

”The seniors of the sky plunderers are here,” Imperator Long said, seeing Li Muyang and Li Tianzi arrive nervously on the spot, joining up with Mu Qingqing. Countless others in the city began to cheer. Tianming’s appearance had riled them all up.

”Imperatores, if we don’t accept the challenge now, the kid will have managed to restore his reputation,” Cang Shentu said with grit teeth. ”Maybe this was his plan all along. He was betting on the fact that we won’t rise to provocation.”

”Go ahead,” Imperator Long said in a cold tone. ”But if you’re going to fight, make sure to be thorough.”

”Understood.” Cang Shentu’s eyes flashed intensely. He didn’t need Imperator Long to spell out what she meant.

They were in Skyplunder Capital, and the duel to the death had come from Tianming himself. Even if he had the advantage, killing Tianming under the noses of Li Muyang and Li Tianzi wouldn’t be easy. Tianming might as well not have put away his skypole stars at this point.

He rose into the air and approached Tianming while countless people watched. In his hand was a brilliant blue sword formed from galaxies, streams of oceanic power pulsing nonstop through it. It was named Ninering Transient Mortality, a Grand-Dao-class cosmic relic. Nine massive oceanic waves were interlinked through the blade, generating countless fractal wave patterns that formed nine galactic seas around Cang Shentu.

Cang Shentu wasn’t looking at Tianming, but rather at the people who glared hatefully at him. ”Little Imperial Son, you’re being too sensitive. I’m only a friend of Imperator Tong. There’s no need for you to be so angry. You are putting me in a tough spot by issuing a challenge like this. However, I am still the imperial son of Aquamarine. Since you wish to fight, I shall oblige you. I just hope that you don’t cry for your grandparents to save you in that case.”

He knew that Tianming’s grandparents had turned into skypole stars. It was an outright mockery of the protection he had once enjoyed.

”Curse you!” Those words incited Tianming’s killing intent and caused the crowd in the capital to go wild. Cang Shentu had openly disrespected the dead. Even so, there was nothing Li Tianzi and Li Muyang could do about Cang Shentu’s visit. Everyone was placing their hopes in Tianming to teach the rude rascal a harsh lesson.

Cang Shentu smirked, knowing that he had set more or less the right atmosphere to force the fight to happen. He looked at Li Muyang and Li Tianzi and said, ”I will accept the duel of the young imperial son, but you two have to promise that you will not step in to save him even if he dies by my sword.”

If they didn’t accept, then he wouldn’t bother to fight pointlessly. There was nothing they could do to stop him from leaving. If they did so, they would be inciting war against the Adjudicator’s stated intent. Yet, if Tianming didn’t fight, his reputation as a cuckold would be cemented in stone, causing his reputation to fall and ruining Nullity’s morale as a whole.

Li Muyang and Li Tianzi contemplated the matter seriously. But at the sight of the state of the capital, Li Muyang eventually relented. ”Fine, I’ll promise you, but only if you promise me something in exchange. In this duel, you represent only yourself, not Aquamarine. Do you accept?”

This way, even if Cang Shentu dies, it wouldn’t be a cause for war.

”Sure,” Cang Shentu said with a smirk. This was a duel that Tianming had asked for. He had no right to refuse to carry on with the duel now! Even now, he still noted that Tianming’s sword-wielding hand was shaking slightly. That detail made Cang Shentu even more convinced that Tianming had lost his senses and was acting on pure rage. There was no way that he would accept the terms of the duel otherwise.

”Darn, that fool actually fell for it! I’m laughing so hard that my feathers are falling off!” Ying Huo popped out of Tianming’s right arm, its dense feathers shaking and pulsing.

”Chicken Bro, if you were smart with how you use this vibrating ancestral technique, our Little Li will be in for a good time,” Xian Xian said with a chuckle.