Beastmaster of the Ages

Wei Qing’s lifebound beast was buried in the Wei Manor’s tombs and a gravestone was erected for it. Wei Qing wasn’t willing to leave, so Wei Tiancang could only order a few doctors to stay here to treat him.

“Big brother, I’ll spend the rest of my life here accompanying it.” Wei Qing stared at the gravestone, his eyes scarlet.

“I’m afraid it won’t be possible for us to stay here if Wei Manor loses.” Wei Tianxiong, the Flameyellow Scions Institute Chancellor, sighed.

Wei Tiancang stared at him.

“Father, I…” Wei Tianxiong wasn’t able to avoid being pessimistic.

Wei Zikun shook his head. “Father, I’ll be honest. We lost a point today. Even if we do win tomorrow with big brother, Mu Yang and Zhao Yuanji, we don’t have anyone in the younger generation who can handle Yueling Ji and Lin Xiaoting.” 

“Right, if my son goes, he’ll only die. Lin Tao even dared to kill you, what more the kids?” Wei Tianxiong’s gaze shook when he looked at Wei Guohao and Wei Lingxuan.

The youths were all in a corner, all panicky and restless. The entire manor was now filled with a sorrowful atmosphere. Everyone could see Wei Qing’s miserable state, and even Wei Tiancang had nearly died.

“Father.” Wei Jing walked over, and helped support Wei Tiancang.

“Where’s Tianming?” Wei Tiancang asked.

“Mu Yang is training him in the sword,” Wei Jing replied.

“Bring me over.”

Wei Tiancang watched the distant Mu Yang and Li Tianming. He asked, “If Mu Yang can succeed tomorrow, then it’ll rest on Tianming the day after. Jing’er, can you bear to send him out?”

“Naturally.”

“You’re not afraid of him dying? He’s the one Lightning Manor wants to kill the most.” Wei Tiancang sighed.

“Of course I am. But, he’s my son and friend. I respect his choice, and all I can do as a mother is support him,” Wei Jing said gently.

“Two days from now, he'll be fighting a desperate battle. But there's no need for him to die here. He’s not bad. I am thinking of letting him leave Vermilion Bird first. One day, he can come back to avenge us,” Wei Tiancang said.

“Father, that isn’t going to happen.” Wei Jing chuckled.

“Why?”

“You’ll see.”

“You’re so confident that he won’t die?”

“No. I’m more worried than anyone that something will happen to him. Even the smallest of wounds on him hurts me. It’s like when he was young. It broke my heart to see him fall while learning to walk. However, I couldn’t very well not let him learn to ever walk, could I? In the end, I decided to let him do whatever he wants to do.” Wei Jing said, her gaze gentle as she looked at Li Tianming.

“When you become a parent, your personality changes. You’ve grown,” Wei Tiancang said, moved.

“Yes. That’s how I knew how much you love all of us. Alas, I didn’t know this at twenty, and only remembered the bad things,” Wei Jing said.

Wei Tiancang stood up. He knew he was in the wrong too. If he had been gentler then, the past twenty years of estrangement wouldn’t have happened.

……

In Chen Chateau, a bedroom was still lit up. Sage Chen stood beside the window, looking in the direction of Flameyellow Stadium. He hadn’t gone to spectate the battle, but every bit of news had made its way to his ears.

“Big brother Chen…” A beautiful and elegant woman hugged him from behind.

“I want…” The beauty exhaled gently.

“Lan’er, I’ll be going to Flameyellow Stadium tomorrow.” Sage Chen grabbed her arm.

Her face immediately changed, and tears began to drop.

“You still can’t forget her! I know she’s back to twenty and is younger than me now. However, your son is so old already, so can’t you have some self-respect?” She was furious as she spoke, her words mired with sorrow and rage.

“Have you lost your mind?” Sage Chen stared at her.

“What?”

“Is the only thing in your mind that kind of relationship? No one is trying to steal your man!”

“Then why are you treating Wei Jing so well?”

“First, Mu Yang is my good friend. Second, the potentate contributed greatly to my cultivation. Third, the other side’s methods are too unscrupulous and I can’t stand it!” Sage Chen said.

“Fourth, you want to act cool in front of Wei Jing!” Xue Lan said angrily.

“You stupid woman!” Sage Chen said exasperatedly.

A fierce battle began.

Xue Lan was on the bed, but she was still angry. “I don’t care anymore. You can go, but I’m going too! You can only watch and not do anything!”

She was filled with resentment. Even if Wei Jing did survive, how could she return to being twenty? She hadn’t even seen her since then, but the flames of jealousy in her were already burning strongly.

……

The second day of the Wei Clan’s battle for survival began.

No one in the stadium had left. They had all stayed here overnight, waiting!

After resting for a night, Lightning Manor and the Yueling Clan arrived.

On the other side, the Wei Clan’s people entered, led by Wei Tiancang.

Li Tianming took a look. Lin Xiaoting still hadn’t shown up.

“Looks like Eunuch Lin needs to recover for a while longer.” Li Tianming smiled. This Lin Xiaoting really had this retribution coming.

His combat strength wasn’t affected by the Gelding Blight, and in fact, now that his thoughts wouldn’t stray, his cultivation might even be smoother. However, without those kind of relationships, Lin Xiaoting was even worse than a dog. Even dogs had mates, but Lin Xiaoting...

However, Eunuch Lin's new job change still wasn’t enough for Li Tianming.

When he saw how the Lin Clan was still filled with killing intent, he knew Lin Xiaoting was likely incurable. Ingesting Gelding Blight would cause that thing to shrivel up and fall off, a horrifying sight to behold.

She really was vicious.

Li Tianming saw Lin Xiaoxiao. She was standing in a daze in the group, clearly at odds with the rest of the delegation. Once, she even carelessly blocked Lin Tianjian’s way. In response, her father used his palm to hit the back of her head, sending her staggering to one side.

She really was pitiful.

The world of adults was simply too cruel. She was only fifteen, and had to witness that conflict between Li Tianming, her brother, and her brother's ex-lover. Once, she had full confidence in Mu Qingqing and her elder brother, but they had changed beyond all recognition overnight.

Now, she also had to witness a blood-soaked battle.

Some were in it to protect their clan, dignity or for love.

Some were in it for the throne, to rise up in the world, or for revenge.

Some were up high, controlling everything like a puppet master before kicking back and watching with great entertainment.

This was the world of adults.

Where was the scenery promised in poems, and the peacefulness described in songs?

……

Li Tianming stood beside the window in the private room, and saw Li Yanfeng.

Today was the fight for the current generation. As a son-in-law of Lightning Manor, he would be up.

“He’s here as Lightning Manor’s cannon fodder.” Ever since he left Flamehaven, Li Tianming was determined to no longer have any relations to this father of his.

Alas, Li Yanfeng had come to Ignispolis, even becoming his enemy.

Clearly,  the fate that linked them both hadn’t been resolved yet. Perhaps, today would be the end of it all.

For a very long time, Li Tianming hadn't called him 'father'. However, blood ties couldn’t be denied. Li Tianming didn’t wish for Li Yanfeng's death, but he didn’t wish to see such a father ever again.

Finally, the two inspectors and the king arrived.

“Let’s cut the nonsense. Let the battle between the current generation begin!”

“Both sides, please send your people in.”

“And I stress, the rules state that outsiders should not interfere!” the king announced.

This was a revision on account of Mu Yang’s actions, and meant no one would stop it if the Lightning Manor tried to kill someone. However, how fast the inspectors would react if someone admitted defeat was still very much up in the air.

Placing your faith in the inspectors was only setting yourself up for a worse death. Today, the Wei Clan could only count on itself.

“Lin Xiaoyuan of the Lin Clan takes to the field!” He was the youngest of the Lin Clan’s five sons.

As soon as he appeared, an aura wholly different to the older generation was put on display. The older generation had profound sword arts, but their energy seemed slightly weaker.

However, for the current generation, they were like the sun in midday, full of energy and enlightenment, seemingly even stronger than the older generation!

As an illustration, Mu Yang was now considered the strongest in Vermilion Bird after yesterday's performance.

“Zhao Yuanji of the Wei Manor takes to the field!”

The Heavenly Guardian of Combat, Zhao Yuanji, was Wei Tiancang’s personal disciple and Mu Yang’s junior brother! Him stepping forward was even more comforting than if Wei Zikun had,

Another big fight was about to begin!

Zhao Yuanji routed Li Xiaoyuan a minute later.

“The Lightning Manor might have numbers, but they’re not elites. Wei Tiancang’s disciples really are impressive.” This was the general sentiment held by everyone.

However, numbers meant they could take turns!

“Yueling Feng of the Yueling Clan takes to the field!”

“I, Lin Wanzhou, am here to fight!”

Three battles consecutively took place.

Lin Tianjian’s side had five siblings, while Yueling Xiao’s side had three siblings. Together with Li Yanfeng, that gave their side nine people!

As for Wei Manor, only Zhao Yuanji, Wei Zikun, Wei Tianxiong and Mu Yang were at Heavenly Will. Both sides had many under that stage, but it was meaningless to send them out.

Zhao Yuanji was finally exhausted after defeating three people. The way the Wei Manor seized the advantage left the crowd shocked again.

Before the fourth battle began, Wei Tiancang made Zhao Yuanji come out. He was exhausted and had many injuries. If he fought again, he might be crippled, or even killed.

“Zikun, go next. It’ll be best if you can whittle away one or two,” Wei Tiancang said.

There were simply too many opponents.

Of their four, Wei Zikun was the weakest. Wei Tiancang didn’t have high expectations. However, he was clear about the other side and was aware that while Wei Zikun wasn’t too strong, only three on the other side could crush him, including Lin Tianjian.

“Yes, father!” Wei Zikun stood up. In truth, he still held some confidence in both himself and the result today. However, he was still worried about tomorrow, where there was no chance of winning.

One point by itself was useless.

He scanned the other side. If Lin Tianjian came down, he could only admit defeat. However, he didn’t fear the rest.

“Wei Zikun of the Wei Manor takes to the field!”

Who would be his opponent?

A man dressed in red robes landed in front of him, white flames burning in his eyes.

“Li Yanfeng of Lightning Manor seeks your guidance!”