Beastmaster of the Ages

even if he wanted to.

“Mmmmwwffh….” He couldn't even speak with how his mouth was gripped.
Nothing but terror could be seen in his eyes, and his arrogant demeanor was nowhere to be seen.

“Still want to see the bane-rings?” Tianming asked.

“Mmmwwf!” He struggled to shake his head, then spat out another mouthful of blood.

“So now do you believe that I took Yuwen Shendu's place here?”

“Mmmff….” He nodded as he shed tears of pain.

“Then remember how badly you ended up today.
Tell your grandfather, Gu Qiuyu, that the bane-rings are merely symptoms.
If he really wants to see if I'm a pentabane, just have him watch me perform.”

“Mmmff!” He nodded more earnestly this time.

Tianming stood up and said, “Though, you got me to think through one thing.
Geniuses are meant to compete with each other.
You must be pretty impressive in the Southsky Sect, for you to see yourself so highly.
But the moment you meet someone who can completely dominate you, your fear and terror are completely identical to a normal person's.”

This was a warning for Xi Menglin, as well as for himself.
He should never be satisfied just because people called him a genius; nothing but power could ensure his security at any moment.
There was always a chance he could be defeated, too.
There was no saying when he would end up like Xi Menglin.

……

“Who's this fellow? He fought one against two and defeated two ninth-level Unity beastmasters from the Southsky Sect and Cloudmist Sword School!”

Near the Throughgate, the battles on the path could clearly be seen.
Many people were battling seventh-order wildbeasts, so not many people had paid attention to Tianming's fight.

“White hair?” Song Yixue seemed to recall someone like that.

“Those two lifebound beasts are…
a chick and a cat.
However, the cat turned bigger…” said Ling Yichen,  his voice rough.

The three of them watched in shock as they looked at each other in disbelief.

“It must be a coincidence! That can't be him!” Song Yixue cried as her voice broke from sheer shock.

“What was his name again? Jiang Tianming?” Jin Yixuan said as he recalled Vermillion Bird.

“No, it's Li Tianming,” Song Yixue corrected.
For Jin Yixuan to forget his surname meant that they really hadn’t thought much of Tianming back then.
However, they still remembered the fight involving the white-haired youth and his cat and chick three to four months ago at Heaven's Sanctum.

“Are you sure it's him?” Ling Yichen said with a shaky voice.
He had lived a long time and he’d never seen something like that before.

“Let me see what he looks like!” Jin Yixuan said as he stretched his head out.
It was a little too far off, but that youth happened to turn to him at that moment.
He was so taken aback his face paled.
“That's Li Tianming! His left arm has beastial metamorphosis! It's definitely him!”

“What in the world…” Song Yixue said in a shaky voice.

Ling Yichen gasped and said, “Lin Xiaoting was first-level Unity, right? Back then, Li Tianming was about at that level too.
But now, he had just defeated someone at the ninth level.
He could even hold his own against Heavenly Will! That means he broke through a whole stage within three or four months!”

“Nobody in the Grand-Orient Realm is supposed to be capable of that!” Jin Yixuan cried.

As for Song Yixue, she merely stared blankly at Tianming, completely unlike the dignified invigilator from back then.

“That's right.
It's impossible.
Even Elysian Long took three years to go through Unity.
And compared to most other Elysian Children, who started cultivating at three years old, Elysian Long started relatively late.
Even Elysian Yi took five or six years to go through Unity, right?”

Ling Yichen's brows were furrowed so deep they were going to remain wrinkles.
They felt a chill as they discussed the matter further.

“What kind of growth did he have back at Vermillion Bird?” Ling Yichen asked.

“We don't know, but we can be sure that he broke through two levels from the time he went to the Abyssal Battlefield to his battle with Lin Xiaoting.
I heard Li Jingyu say he’s the illegitimate son of Li Wudi, so he's definitely a true descendant of the Li Saint Clan.
Don't tell me his cultivation shot up when he returned to his clan?”

Their worlds were falling apart as they spoke.

“Perhaps he awakened many bane-rings, three or four even,” Song Yixue said.
While they were quite detached from the matter, they were still rather familiar with Tianming.

“Boss, this won't do.
There's definitely something wrong with him.
We have to inform the elysian king and elysian elders about this immediately!” Song Yixue warned.

“They won't give us an audience.
We should go to Elysian Long instead!” Ling Yichen said.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that they would be treated like madmen if they bothered reporting this.
“Let's not be hasty and take a few more looks to be sure.”

“Alright!”

Even if that were the case, they found it hard to believe something like this.
Was that youth from back then really as terrifying as he seemed? If so, Jin Yixuan and Song Yixue shuddered, as Tianming's current prowess was rather close to their own, now.