Beastmaster of the Ages

The hundred thousand elites at the Myriadsword Mausoleum watched as Lin Lao’er and Dongshen Yue left with Tianming and the others. The storm had passed, leaving the place in silence once more. Many members of the Second Branch followed their leaders away, while the others left in their own way. Quite a few also stayed behind by the side of Lin Wuyi. Among them, the one with the highest status was the Third Branch Master, Lin Xiaoyun.

”Wuyi, your actions were a little too rash,” he said with a tone of seniority.

”Brother Xiaoyun.... Sigh, those two old sacks keep throwing their seniority around... it’s so frustrating! There’s nothing more disgusting than that!” Lin Wuyi knew what to do to win people’s hearts, so she immediately played the victim to win some sympathy points.

”Even though they’re our elders, they’ve been long kicked out of the clan council! They aren’t higher than us in status, yet they’re leaning on the fact that they’re older to demand respect. That’s going overboard! And that hysterical madwoman Dongshen Yue. Now that you’ve pissed her off, she might really challenge you at the Infinitum Battlefield! What’ll you do now? Wuyi, I think it’s best for you to rush back and ask your parents to devise a countermeasure. Perhaps you can report what happened here to the council and let them deal with her. How could an outsider that ruined our clan’s pure bloodline think so highly of themselves?!” Lin Xiaoyun didn’t hold back right now, but he hadn’t dared to utter a single word when the old couple was still there.

”Thanks for your concern, Brother Xiaoyun, but it’s not necessary. I still have the right to refuse her challenges for at least a few decades. Her abilities will only keep deteriorating, anyway, and more and more people will start challenging her. That would be the perfect time for us to take her down! She’s already past her prime, and she’s bound to be embarrassed for her reckless actions one day.” Lin Wuyi smirked as she imagined the sight of Dongshen Yue being trampled beneath the feet of others.

”Embarrassed? They’ve already been completely humiliated! There’s no face left for them to lose! That couple’s heroic reputation has long been ruined.”

”If we were them, we would have killed ourselves to atone for the sin! How shameless of them to still remain in the world of the living.”

The minions began growing bolder and started talking down on the Second Branch’s leaders. There were some thirty thousand of them remaining, yet they weren’t worried about disturbing the ancestors in the slightest.

”That trash of a grandson will only worsen their reputation.”

”That old couple must be desperate for any kind of descendant. They know how horrible it feels for their line to end just like that.”

”But they deserve it! Our clan has a legacy of tens of millions of years, but Lin Lao’er became the first branch master in history to take an outsider as a wife! He doesn’t believe in the sanctity of the bloodline and that cost him an entire branch—all at the hands of one person! Their only son became the biggest laughingstock of Ebonia, how impressive....”

”Dongshen Yue is the source of the Second Branch’s doom, yet she still dares to prance around our mausoleum like that. Her continued presence here is testament to our clan’s tolerance....”

”Sigh! The Second Branch is fraught with misfortunes!”

”What a crying shame....”

All of them sighed and shook their heads.

”Had I been born into the Second Branch, I’d be flipping with rage for having a branch master like Lin Lao’er. If it weren’t for his selfish insistence on marrying Dongshen Yue and refusing other concubines, there’s no way he’d only have a single descendant after thousands of years. And when he finally got a son, it turned out to be a piece of trash without a single swordbeast!”

”It’s one thing if Lin Mu is cultivation trash. But he’s lived such a shameless life that it embarrassed our whole clan!”

”Enough, enough.... There’s no point in talking about it anymore.”

”The ancestors have always warned that the swordbeasts of the Lin Clan only manifest in those with the purest blood.... It’s one thing for normal disciples of the clan to ignore that warning, but a branch master that did so has ruined his entire branch!”

The more they talked about it, the angrier they became. A youth among them clenched his fists so tight that his veins showed. He glared in the direction Tianming had left in.

”Jianxing,” someone called out.

”Branch Master.” Lin Jianxing turned and looked at Lin Xiaoyun.

”It feels horrible, doesn’t it?”

”Yes.”

”Sigh, there’s nothing we can do. The two of them haven’t left seclusion for decades. Not even I thought they’d be so shameless as to threaten us. A century back, they were the pillars of our clan and rendered quite a lot of merits. Even today, they still have connections in the clan, so there isn’t much we can do to them. However, they’re already old and will eventually die. Lin Feng will then lose their protection and have to answer for the crimes.”

”Branch Master, I’m not a narrow-minded person, so I don’t have anything against Lin Feng specifically. I just believe it’s only right for sins to be atoned for. Who would’ve imagined that those people would be so shameless?”

”That’s right. You’re already mature enough to understand these matters. Were your father here to see what you’ve grown into, he’d be elated. If he hadn’t given chase that day, I wouldn’t have become the master of the Third Branch. You lost your father three days after you were born because of Lin Mu. It’s only understandable that you hate him and his son.” Lin Xiaoyun had a look of pained sympathy.

”Branch Master, there’s no need to bring up old matters,” Lin Jianxing said, lowering his head, his fists shuddering from the force of his grip. ”I only regret not killing Lin Feng. I would’ve done so had I known that those two old folks would be so shameless. If I had, this frustration in my heart would be relieved.”

Lin Xiaoyun patted him on the shoulder. ”Let it go for now. At the very least, that brat is nothing but a stranger in our clan. He’ll forever live in mockery and ridicule. He’s nothing compared to you and your pedigree. Set your sights on the bigger picture and focus on bringing results and glory to the clan. That’s the best thing you can do for your father.”

”Understood, Branch Master. I won’t let this affect my cultivation.”

”Very well. The minor reges mundi rankings will be reorganized soon. That’s your chance, and also our clan’s. Since that matter a hundred years ago, our clan’s influence has been waning and we’re about to drop out of the league of the thirteen Infinitum Regal Clans. The younger generation’s performance during the ranking will be incredibly important. Don’t let this minor matter distract you from what’s important. The future of the Third Branch depends on you and the others.”

”Branch Master, I won’t fail the most important challenge in my life.” Lin Jianxing smiled, but his gaze was as sharp as a sword.

”Go, then, son of the Lin Clan.”

......

Tianming couldn’t move in the slightest, wrapped up like a dumpling in the green leaf as he was. His grandparents didn’t say a word as they brought him back to Brokensword Peak. As that was a key location in the Infinitum Swordsea, it wasn’t too far off. But at the very least, nobody was suppressing his albi now, so he was free to look around.

”This is the Infinitum Swordsea....” He inhaled as he took in the sights. There was a boundless ocean of black that stretched endlessly in all directions. Waves and splashes were visible on the restless waters. Every single drop of the sea contained Ebonian nova source, making the entire body of water an endless source of liquefied nova source. One could only imagine the density of energy within. Theoretically, it was almost as dense as the nova source from the star’s core, but even more stable and a better fit for absorption.

”I’m looking forward to how effective cultivating while bathing in the sea’s waters will be.” This was no doubt one of the few blessed hotspots within Ebonia, and only powerful factions could occupy such a territory.

Apart from the liquefied nova source, there were countless swords in the sea, all of them forged purely from divine ores. They flowed together with the currents, some even jumping out of the water to soar through the skies and clouds.

Tianming tried imagining why there were so many swords in the sea and came up with two possibilities: perhaps allowing those swords to quench in the Infinitum Swordsea made them stronger, or they could be the abandoned swords and half-made failures of the countless generations of Lin Clan cultivators. He believed that the latter possibility was far more likely, as many of the swords were malformed and incomplete. In either case, that didn’t take away from how impressive it looked.

The Infinitum Swordsea carried the history of the Swordgod Lin Clan, with each sword having its own story. That was what a clan with a truly powerful faction should possess. Even though Lin Muyang had reincarnated two more times before begetting Tianming, he still felt his blood resonating with the sea of swords.

”This clan is far too vast and mighty....” No wonder it was part of the Prime Infinitum Trade Union, which was among the top factions in Ebonia.

The Infinitum Swordsea didn’t just contain water and swords, but mountains as well.