Beastmaster of the AgesBeastmaster of the Ages
"Well, everybody eventually dies. I couldn't bear watching, so I made a move. Now, it's up to you." Tianming didn't sound agitated in the slightest. He had noticed how much Suishen Zhao's mood was swaying. While he was older than Tianming, Tianming had experienced far more things than he could imagine.
"Up to me?" Suishen Zhao grit his teeth as determination filled his gaze. He had experienced so much hesitation and doubt, but he made a choice befitting of a loyal comrade.
As Suishen Zhao expected, Yumo Yuanni and Huang Daosheng were shocked to realize that Tianming had actually attacked. After snapping out of his shock, Huang Daosheng secretly relished the development! He couldn't have wanted this to happen more and had never felt so elated in years! He never would have imagined that Tianming would be in such a rush to get himself killed.
He's the most vindictive minor pathkeeper of the Three Exalted Houses! Heavens.... Not even Reverend Daolie dared to speak without kneeling before the minor pathkeeper, let alone him, yet Tianming had broken both his arms!
Huang Daosheng was filled with uncontrollable happiness, but he soon regained control and feigned anger. "Li Tianming! How dare a lowly black ring disciple like you offend a minor pathkeeper of the Three Exalted Houses?! Your boldness deserves a death sentence! You’ll die ten thousand times over for not taking the Three Exalted Houses seriously!"
Yumo Yuanni was completely blanking out as well. When he snapped out of it, he felt the piercing pain from his arms and the anger that came with it.
"Minor Pathkeeper, I forgot to tell you that Li Tianming has a movement ability. If he runs, not even foundationeers can catch up. That was how he kept escaping my grasp!" Huang Daosheng quickly added.
"Oh... I see!" The gaze behind Yumo Yuanni's mask was incredibly venomous. He laughed as he glared at Tianming, twitching as he did so. "Did you just touch me? A tainted beastmaster like you, touched me? And then you called me pathetic?!"
"That's right! Aren’t you? If not for the eight extra decades you have on Suishen Zhao, what right would you have to mock totemancers and call them trash? Just look at your performance on the Prehistoric Path! Do you think you have a right to call others trash when they have you beat?" Tianming laughed even louder than Yumo Yuanni did.
Once more, the specter youth was stunned. Neither he nor Huang Daosheng dared to believe their ears. As far as they were aware, no black ring disciple would dare to speak to a minor pathkeeper in such a manner.
The good mood that Yumo Yuanni had been feeling after he’d beaten up Suishen Zhao completely vanished. In fact, he was feeling ten times worse than before. Humiliation turned into anger as he took out a transmission stone.
"Yu Nu, come to me! We have someone to kill! I want to torture him to death!" Yumo Yuanni hissed. Based on his speech and mannerisms, it was clear that he wasn't human, but a specter. The specter bloodline was rather distant from modern human bloodlines, making them essentially a completely different species. They weren't even considered human.
When Huang Daosheng heard that, he was all too eager to help. An eminent would be summoned to kill Tianming! You chose to forfeit your life, so you have nobody else to blame.
Suishen Zhao coldly humphed and stood before Tianming. He took out a transmission stone. "Do you think you're the only one who can call eminents? Do you think House Suishen has fewer eminents than you do? Fen Nu, come!"
They weren’t far from Suishen Cave, so it probably wouldn't take Fen Nu long to arrive.
"So what if you call an eminent? If House Yumo wants to kill a black ring disciple, your eminent won't make it here in time to save him. How long can you protect him for? Suishen Zhao, let me warn you here and now: even if your retarded friend has ten thousand lives, I’ll make sure he dies ten thousand times!" Yumo Yuanni said with a snicker.
"Then I'll just get eminents to protect him at all times. So what?" Suishen Zhao snapped back.
"How laughable.... Are you his bottom or something? Would House Suishen really want to take in a tainted beastmaster? Aren't you worried that your bloodline will be tainted?"
"The real laughable one is you. To think that the Three Exalted Houses would produce an uncivilized brute like you! What the hell is wrong with House Yumo? Why are their descendants taught to behave no different than animals?"
Yumo Yuanni grew even more enraged when his insults were properly countered. "Very well! Suishen Zhao, watch and see how I kill him!"
He glared at Tianming before quickly leaving with Huang Daosheng. Soon, someone came to pick him up. The reason that he’d suddenly left was because Suishen Yao and Suishen Shuang had arrived.
"Little Zhao!" The two of them checked him from head to toe and were relieved to find that he had only suffered superficial injuries.
"Fuck! Yumo Yuanni, that animal! How dare he bully my brother just because he's older? I’ll squash him to death!" Suishen Yao's hair and eyes flared with anger. Then, she immediately turned toward the direction Yumo Yuanni had left in.
"Sis, there's no need!" Suishen Zhao hurried to stop her. He had completely calmed down. "If word of him bullying me when he has eight decades on me gets out, he'll be the one being laughed at." It was truly bad form to completely disregard civility like that. But then again, House Yumo had always been more likely to break such taboos.
"Their seniors won't just tolerate it, they might even be encouraging behavior like that! Don't expect them to apologize. That brat was the one who started it first. Very well, I just needed an excuse to teach those ugly bastards a lesson!" Suishen Yao said.
The three houses had been in a stable balance of power for many years, so they knew each other's tolerance to some extent. They wouldn't form blood grudges or go too far, so matters like these would only be considered spats among children. It was something the kids themselves had to deal with.
It was normal for youths in the Three Exalted Houses to clash with each other, but most times, formal duels with set rules were conducted. Acts of private bullying like this one were rather rare.
"Sis, I've already managed to vent," Suishen Zhao said. "What’re you talking about? You were being beaten up! How did you vent?" Suishen Yao asked, confused.
Suishen Zhao turned to Tianming. "He vented for me."
The two girls were completely stunned as Suishen Zhao told them everything that had happened. When he was done recounting, Suishen Yao pondered for a moment in silence before turning to stare at Tianming. "Are you not afraid of death, or are you just ignorant about the severe consequences that someone of your status would incur by offending House Yumo?"
"I’m both afraid of death, and fully understanding of the consequences," Tianming said.
"Then explain your insane actions," Suishen Yao asked, gritting her teeth. She had never been so stern.
Tianming gave Suishen Zhao a glance. "If I didn't act, he would be humiliated for a long time. Nobody else was around. I know you all look down on me, but I consider the minor pathkeeper my comrade. I... simply couldn't sit there and watch!"
All of them fell silent. Suishen Shuang held Suishen Yao's arm and said, "Yaoyao, don't bother. He must’ve known what he was in for when he took the fall for Little Zhao. We have no right to think that his meddling is annoying if he himself has accepted it."
Suishen Yao glared at her, and then at Tianming. "I do think it's annoying! From now on, I have to protect you! If you die for whatever reason, the Yumo animals will have a reason to boast and gloat before my eyes! It's so frustrating!"
"Then I'll try my best not to die," Tianming said.
"Do you think saying it makes it so?!" Suishen Yao asked.
"If I do, that makes it so!" Suishen Zhao said out of nowhere.
"What are you two playing at? Brotherly camaraderie? Suishen Zhao, you keep mocking me for being childish, but you're far more childish than I am! You're a fool, you know that?!" Suishen Yao was rather speechless.
"No matter what, we'll do our best on the Prehistoric Path. We'll talk about what comes next after this is over," Suishen Zhao said.
"Shut up! Let me think." Suishen Yao paced around with her hands behind her back like an old man. All of a sudden, she stopped and squinted her eyes at Tianming. "I heard Little Zhao say that you broke through because of the vitality idol. Were you really the reason the two of you finished it in thirty breaths?"
"That's the truth, Sis," Suishen Zhao agitatedly said.
"Then that could mean that you aren’t just an early bloomer that'll burn out later after all...." The way she looked at Tianming had completely changed.
"I mean, I can't say anything for sure," Tianming said.
"Forget it. I don't care about what happens in the future. Let's talk about the present. Little Zhao said that you managed to send Yumo Yuanni flying with a kick and wounded him. Is that so?" Her questioning pink eyes were really intense.
"Yes!" Tianming could guess what she was about to say next. It was clear that she was considering keeping him by her side from now on.
Hearing Tianming's answer, she approached him and looked him up and down. "You seem to be growing really fast since the start of the trial of Skyward Path. Let me ask you this: are you confident that you’ll be able to defeat Yumo Yuanni as you are now?"
Tianming gave it some thought. "He has nine cosmic charts and is pretty good at fighting above his level. He can even fight eleventh-level cosmic cartographers. However, I'm not worried about specters, since my body's unique properties won't allow them to gain a physical advantage over me. I'd put my odds at fifty-fifty."
Tianming had given an honest evaluation. He had four cosmic charts and should be able to go up against tenth-level cosmic cartographers, while Yumo Yuanni could fight a level higher than him. Specters could pressure beastmasters and totemancers in close quarters, but that wasn't Tianming's weakness. He might as well be considered a specter as well. Coupled with Yin Chen, he believed he had a chance.
"Are you certain that you can win with those odds?" Suishen Yao asked again.
"Yes." Tianming nodded. His lackadaisical confidence made the other three reevaluate him. It was the first time that Suishen Yao had ever inspected him so intensely.
Once she heard his confident answer, she clapped her hands. "Good! I want you to go to the Ascension Colosseum right now. Instead of clashing with Yumo Yuanni before the rewards of the omnisentient idol get doled out while everyone in Myriadpath Valley watches, you might as well go straight to House Yumo to challenge him! Leave the matter of public opinion to me. As long as you can defeat him, I promise that he’ll be so humiliated he vomits out all his organs!"
Tianming immediately nodded. Clearly, he had been prepared for that even before Suishen Yao had finished. "Alright, I'll go right now."
"You...." Suishen Yao raised her brow. "Very good, Little Li. I didn't think you'd be the impatient type despite your civil appearance."
"Isn’t that to your liking?" Tianming asked.
"Just go and issue the formal challenge!" she snapped.