Beastmaster of the Ages

Bai Huai and Rou were the ones who formed the party of five. Bai Huai got his sister to come with him, while Rou got a friend from her hometown, Qiao Xingzhou, to come with her. Rou was just a nickname for her. Her full name was Zhong Yirou and she was a human like her friend— a beastmaster in particular—whereas Qiao Xingzhou was a totemancer.

Bai Huai’s appearance resembled his sister’s, though he was taller and more buff. He was bald and his eyes glowed white. He radiated a sense of security and he also had white dragon scales across his body, a sign of his toughness.

Zhong Yirou was a rather petite beauty, in contrast to her partner. Unlike Bai Feng, she seemed to be rather dainty and was clad in many fashion accessories. Her skirt showed off her long legs and she constantly had a sweet smile on her face.

What Tianming didn’t expect was that the two of them had returned with someone else. In other words, they had found someone themselves, making things rather awkward.

”Sister Feng, I found an impressive person. With him around, our party’s strength will definitely rise to a whole new level!” Rou said as she pulled the arm of a gray-clad youth toward them. However, her smile froze when she saw Tianming.

”Rou, Sister Feng also found someone,” Qian Xingzhou said.

They all turned to Tianming, while he and Bai Feng looked at the youth in gray. The words above his head read ’Darkfiend Heptus Disciple Kou Mingyou’.

Seeing that name, even Bai Feng’s expression changed. The youth looked rather cold and he had a signature bandage wrapped around one of his eyes, leaving the other green eye exposed. He was slightly hunched, like a beast, and had messy hair, giving him a rather wild and aggressive look.

Rou immediately reacted and pulled on Kou Mingyou’s arm. ”Sister Feng, you know the Darkfiend Galaxy, right? They have seven skypiercer-class nova source worlds and are basically near the central core of the Mysterium Cluster! Darkfiend Heptus is the largest skypiercer-class world, boasting a size of more than sixty times a heliacal-class world! Brother Kou is from there. He’s even slightly stronger than you, Sister Feng! With him around, our whole party will be completely transformed. So....”

She looked at Bai Feng with a pitiful expression and a pout, hinting that she should give up on Tianming. Surely she knew the significance of having someone from near the core on their side! ”Bai Huai, talk to Sister Feng for me! Brother Kou is really strong!”

Bai Huai hadn’t said a word since he got back. He turned to his sister and said, ”Sis, I think Rou’s right. I’m afraid we can only say sorry to our friend here.”

”A beastmaster from Darkfiend Heptus... he really is powerful,” said Qiao Xingzhou in affirmation.

By now, most of the party wanted that big figure to join. However, Tianming could tell that Bai Huai felt a little awkward about how his girlfriend, Rou, was holding Kou Mingyou’s hand so intimately and calling him Brother Kou. Naturally, Tianming wouldn’t give up just like that after having such a hard time finding a party with space. Not to mention, he liked Bai Feng’s directness. It was still their decision to make, however.

”Li Tianming from the Violetglory Star?” Rou gave Tianming a good look and said, ”I’m really sorry, could you walk away from this?”

She seemed rather impatient. She had been quite happy when she returned with Kou Mingyou and was afraid that Bai Feng would only accept someone she had found herself. She really thought that she had lucked out by finding someone with a powerful background.

”Rou,” Bai Feng said, turning to her brother as well. ”I’ll make the decision here, so keep your thoughts to yourself.” As Bai Feng also cared about her brother’s opinion, she didn’t snap at Rou for being so rude to Tianming.

”Fine!” Rou grit her teeth, feeling a little annoyed. She thought that she was just doing this for the good of the party. She turned to Kou Mingyou and said, ”Brother Kou, don’t feel too bad about this. It’s only a small issue that we can easily resolve.”

”It’s fine.” Kou Mingyou waved, feeling slightly annoyed. He stepped toward Bai Feng and said, ”Bai Feng, let’s be straight with each other. I know you, and I’ve come for you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered to go with just anyone. With the two of us together, we might rank above average. However, there’s something I’d like to confirm with you beforehand.”

”Let’s hear it,” Bai Feng calmly said.

”I want to be the leader and I expect my commands to be followed without hesitation. You must understand that a party can only have one leader, otherwise it’ll get really messy really quick. If all of us have our own thoughts on how to act, our combat capability will be negatively affected.”

”Sister Feng, Brother Kou’s strength does qualify him for that role,” Zhong Yirou weakly said.

”Oh,” Bai Feng chuckled, having constantly exchanged glances with her brother. She stopped chuckling and pursed her lips. ”If that’s the case, you aren’t welcome here, Kou Mingyou. May we meet again some other time, fate willing.”

”Huh?” Zhong Yirou reacted strongly even before Kou Mingyou said anything. She was almost tearing up as she said, ”Sister Feng, there’s no need to do this! With him around, our chances of surviving are much higher! We can work out who leads the party!”

”Enough talk. What a waste of time,” Kou Mingyou said, glaring at Bai Feng. ”Since you didn’t even pretend to care, let’s hope we don’t run into each other later.”

”I won’t mind even if we do,” Bai Feng said, rolling her eyes.

”You’ve sure got guts.” Kou Mingyou immediately turned and left.

”Hey! Brother Kou!” Zhong Yirou panicked and gave chase.

But before she could go far, Bai Feng said, ”You can leave if you want, and we’ll just look for someone else!”

”Sis!” Bai Huai immediately pulled Zhong Yirou back. Seeing her tear up, he said, ”Rou’s only thinking for the team. Don’t fault her for this.”

”Oh, I’m not blaming her for finding someone else. I only had a bone to pick with how intimate she was with Kou Mingyou even though you’re together. I guess the status of chalk draconians isn’t good enough for her.” She rolled her eyes and ignored them, returning to Tianming’s side. ”Apologies for the laughable show.”

”It’s my bad for causing trouble,” Tianming said at the same time, causing them both to laugh.

”It’s no big deal,” Tianming said.

”Sheesh, that prick challenged me during our first meeting! What a showoff!”

”Come on, at least don’t make your brother out to be so bad.”

”Hmph, I don’t care. I’ve been unhappy with that girl of his for quite some time now, and can’t wait for them to break up. That would be to the benefit of us chalk draconians.”

”Sis.” Bai Huai came over with Zhong Yirou.

Looking a little troubled, she said, ”Sis Feng, I lost myself a little back there, but I was just doing what I thought would be best for us! Don’t be angry at me, alright?”

”Sis,” Bai Huai said.

”Fine, it’s no big deal. We’re a team, so we should stick together.” Bai Feng smiled and hugged Zhong Yirou, pinching her cheeks. ”What a cutie. No wonder you have my brother wrapped around your little finger.”

”Sis Feng....” Rou blushed.

That seemed to put a close to the matter. However, Tianming could tell that the other three didn’t have too good of an impression of him apart from Bai Feng. Rou, especially, would no doubt bear the most resentment due to how much embarrassment she had suffered. Though, to be fair, even if Tianming wasn’t there, Bai Feng wouldn’t get along with someone like Kou Mingyou either. Nobody in their right mind would blame Tianming for that not working out.

”Sis, introduce Brother Li Tianming here to us. We’re going to fight as comrades later, so it’s best we get familiar with each other,” Bai Huai said.

”Very well.” Bai Feng was just about to start, but she turned to Tianming. ”By the way, are you a beastmaster or totemancer?”

”I’m both.”

”What are you? Messing with me?” Bai Feng said.

”I’m a totemancer at my core, but I got a few lifebound beasts to play with in my childhood,” Tianming said.

”Sheesh, you’re quite the joker, aren’t you.” Bai Feng didn’t dig too deep into it. ”Tianming’s pretty strong, at least stronger than the three of you.”

”How strong is he, then? Over her, Bai Huai and Sister Feng are specters who can fight as the vanguards. My lifebound beast, the huewing spirit, can boost their combat capabilities. My good friend here’s totems are celestial bows that can fight at range. To join our party, you must be able to contribute in some aspect.” In a way, only slackers would mind the fact that there was another slacker in the group. That was why she had been unhappy with Tianming from the very beginning; he had robbed her of someone who could carry her to the top without her having to do much.

”Me? I can perform any role,” Tianming said.

Qiao Xingzhou and Zhong Yirou looked each other in the eye, feeling a little unsettled, though there was little they could do now that Kou Mingyou was gone. Bai Feng had decided on Tianming herself, anyway.

”Perfect. An all-rounder’s for the best,” Bai Feng said, smiling. Then she explained the rules of the fight.