Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming explained, ”We’re a team, and our abilities complement one another. You won’t be able to bring out your strengths in a one-on-one duel, but you can put them into play in a team battle.”

The three girls stared at Tianming in amazement.

”Ling’er’s Perpetia City can cover the entire battlefield, restricting our opponent’s movements. At the same time, her Kunlan Worldwings can interrupt them. With the Flashsoul Skywings, she’ll have no trouble protecting herself. To put it simply, Little Fish’s divine wonders are mobile formations. The biggest advantage of a formation is its large range, so it can be used as a base. With Ji Ji supplying power, it doesn’t matter how many opponents we face. None of them will be able to enter our base if we can power the divine wonders to the level of the Grand Dao Thousand Words. My lifebound beasts and I will then be able to find opportunities to attack,” Tianming carefully analyzed. He’d decided to take part in the succession override because he already had an idea. However, he couldn’t guarantee a victory.

”What about me?” Xiaoxiao asked.

”You? Do whatever you want,” Tianming said.

”Don’t underestimate me.... When the Archaionfiend became a myriadstar beast, it gained a new ability called Archaion Blitzhells that can paralyze the souls of an entire group of people. It may prove useful,” Xiaoxiao said.

”Really? Alright then.” Tianming trusted in the Archaionfiend’s power.

”And... Grandma gave me a saturated divine artifact. I can shoot arrows while riding Wu You,” Xiaoxiao faintly said.

”What?” Tianming was stunned. Saturated divine artifacts were top grade-nine artifacts with ten divine hazards and worth more than five thousand merit points. Lin Jianjia’s sword was the same; it was far more lethal than the Godsin.

”That’s so unfair! She didn’t even give me anything!” Tianming complained.

”Well you’re a hundred-year-old wastrel.” Feiling smiled.

”Dammit! I’m going to prove Grandma wrong tomorrow!” Tianming was mad. He stood up and continued, ”Practice working with one another. I’m heading out for a bit.”

”Where are you going?” Feiling asked.

”I’m going to see Lin Xiaogui and ask her to take me to the Swordsoul Purgatory to look for metal veins. The fight begins tomorrow. Although I don’t have much time, it’ll be good to get more Yin Chens!” Tianming said.

”Okay.”

”Wait for me to come back!”

”Go!”

......

Lin Xiaogui had heard about the succession override. Upon seeing Tianming, she felt a little sympathetic and hesitated to speak. ”I’m sorry, but I can’t help you,” she said.

”What’s it got to do with you?” Tianming retorted.

”Why do you twist my good intentions?” Lin Xiaogui gritted her teeth.

”Enough bullshit. Let’s go.” Tianming dragged her to the Swordsoul Purgatory. In his lifebound space, Yin Chen was eagerly waiting. With Lin Xiaogui leading the way, finding metal veins wasn’t a problem.

”The better ores have been sealed off with formations and are mined at a fixed time. The remaining ones aren’t as good, but there’s plenty of them. They aren’t of interest to anyone.” Lin Xiaogui led him through the Swordsoul Purgatory.

”Quality isn’t an issue. I want as much as I can get,” Tianming said.

Ebonia was rich with metal ores. Because of a deep underground layer, there were countless ore veins. Although the ore veins were of average quality for Ebonia, they were still better than those on the sun. What Yin Chen needed was quantity, so it wasn’t picky about its food.

”Alright then.”

As soon as they arrived at their destination, Tianming was shocked to see how enormous the vein was.

Yin Chen was thrilled. ”Yum yum! Yum yum!” A flood of silver metal insects poured out of Tianming’s body, all of them in the form of locusts.

”Are those your lifebound beast’s child spawns? What does eating metal ore do? But the child spawns can’t feed power back to the main body,” Lin Xiaogui asked, curious.

No one could understand an existence like Yin Chen. Even on Ebonia, these bugs were basically regarded as brainless child spawns, like little wildbeasts. No one gave them a second look.

”To eat to their hearts’ content,” Tianming replied.

”Alright then!”

Yin Chen had been sleeping the entire time, so Tianming couldn’t send it out. However, it could now spread as it ate, increasing in numbers at the same time. With more bodies, Yin Chen could find unexplored low-quality metal veins in the Swordsoul Purgatory on its own, so Tianming wouldn’t have to worry about it at all. Of course, today was an exception. He waited for Yin Chen because it would also be fighting tomorrow. Seeing that Tianming remained, Lin Xiaogui waited there as well.

”Don’t tell me you’re going to fight tomorrow?” Lin Xiaogui asked in a low voice.

”I am,” Tianming said.

She was startled. ”Why? You’re already so far behind, not to mention that you don’t have enough people.” Lin Xiaogui shook her head.

”How can a man surrender without fighting?” Tianming asked.

”Then do your best. Anything can happen in the Infinitum Bodhimanda. Certain humiliations will follow you for a lifetime,” Lin Xiaogui reminded him.

”So you wouldn’t dare fight if it was you?” Tianming turned to look at her.

Lin Xiaogui froze for a moment. Then, lowering her head and clenching her fists, she said, ”No, I would fight.”

”There you go,” Tianming said.

......

A scene was playing in the main hall within the Swordsoul Chamber. In the image was a young man with white hair and a short-haired woman. A large number of silver locusts spewed out of his body, pouring into the metal vein and splitting as they ate. The number of locusts continued increasing. There were two people in the main hall, Lin Xiaoyun and his daughter, Lin Jianjia, who had been stabilizing her mental state. She remained by her father’s side and rarely made an appearance. Even so, she couldn’t control her killing intent upon seeing the two people in the scene.

Shaking her head, Lin Jianjia sneered, ”Devouring ore veins to multiply? What’s the point of so many child spawns?”

In the Swordgod Lin Clan, lifebound beasts that failed to manifest a swordbeast spiritform were considered useless. Thus, Tianming didn’t care if they witnessed the increase in the number of Yin Chens because they looked down on such lifebound beasts.

”The succession override will be held tomorrow, but he’s still here, which means that Lin Lao’er has given up,” Lin Xiaoyun said.

”What a great move, Father! They won’t be able to get up again. Without his current identity, I can play with Lin Feng however I like,” Lin Jianjia said.

”It’s a great disgrace for their family and a heavy blow to their dignity. They won’t be able to hold up their heads again,” Lin Xiaoyun added.

”Lin Feng’s just depending on his talented wives to show off. But it doesn’t matter how talented they are, they’re still foreigners. They’re useless because they can’t have children. There’s no point keeping a family that’s declining. They’re still young, but they’ll eventually realize the truth.” Lin Jianjia felt better after saying that. No matter how strong a foreign wife was, it wouldn’t last. Meanwhile, they would last forever.

”Lin Xiao might be too scared to even enter the council hall. It’ll be a pity if that’s the case. We won’t even have the chance to laugh at him,” Lin Xiaoyun said.

”It’s very likely,” Lin Jianjia said. She intently stared at Lin Xiaogui. Just as Lin Xiaoyun was about to leave, she suddenly grabbed him and said, ”Father, can I do something?”

”What?”

”I found someone to cripple Lin Xiaogui. Is that okay?” Lin Jianjia eagerly asked.

”Who’d you ask? Tell me more,” Lin Xiaoyun replied.

Lin Jianjia whispered into his ear.

”Fine, go ahead. Otherwise, you’ll have trouble getting over it. He’s reliable, but don’t wait. Do it tomorrow, after the succession override,” Lin Xiaoyun said.

”Yes, I understand. The succession override is a major event and will cause a lot of waves. The Infinitum Swordsea will be in absolute chaos so it’ll be the perfect time to get it done. Anyway, a mere Lin Xiaogui can’t cause any trouble,” Lin Jianjia excitedly said.

”Kill her and be done with it. She’s just a little mouse,” Lin Xiaoyun said.

”Father!” Lin Jianjia was overjoyed. ”I knew you loved me!” She was moved.

”Nonsense. I’m your father and you’re the third branch’s legitimate heir. How can that motherless mutt compare to you?” Patting her head, Lin Xiaoyun looked straight into her eyes and said, ”You might be a grade-five disciple, but your life is ten thousand times more valuable than Lin Xiaogui’s.”

......

The next day, on Brokensword Peak.

”Did Feng’er run off?” Dongshen Yue panicked upon seeing the three frowning girls. ”Did that bastard slip away after all that bragging?”

Just as Feiling was about to explain, a mini ship approached from the distance and landed beside them. Tianming emerged with a smile.

”What’s got you smiling?” Dongshen Yue asked with a straight face.

”My combat power has greatly increased,” Tianming said.

”Are you still dreaming? The only thing that’s grown is your thick skin,” Dongshen Yue retorted. They were all straightforward people.

Lin Xiao had even changed his underpants and put on a black robe for today’s big event. Without his usual sloppy attitude, Tianming’s grandfather, who had become reticent, seemed very different today. He had the appearance of a sword cultivator.

“Let’s go.”

The family of six boarded the mini ship and headed for the battlefield.

......

The succession override was held in the most stately battlefield in the Swordgod Lin Clan, the council hall battlefield. It was located between the Myriadsword Mausoleum and the council hall. In front of the battlefield was the ancestors’ mausoleum, and behind was their tombs. The battle would commence under the eyes of all their ancestors. It had been two million years since the last succession override. None of the nine branches had replaced their primary lines since then, so today’s battle was definitely the most significant event in the Lin Clan in a long time.

Before they arrived at their destination, Tianming realized that the area between the mausoleum and council hall was crowded with people. Numerous disciples had already found a place to watch the battle, forcing their mini ship to land further away. He heard a cacophony of voices coming from that direction and earth-shattering shockwaves washed over him.

Tianming stood on the mini ship, looking out at the battlefield with a cold gleam in his eyes.