Beastmaster of the Ages

“You.…” He looked through the mirage and saw a white-haired youth drawing a black sword.

“You what you? Can you understand it?” Tianming played with his swords as he looked at Lin Jianchen with schadenfreude. Then he turned his attention away to watch the rest of the patrol crumble before his lifebound beast’s frenzied attacks. All of them had ended up with worse injuries than Lin Jianchen.

The Infinitum Duel had ended very fast; the entire patrol was moaning on the ground. Victory had already been decided, so Tianming summoned back his lifebound beasts.

The ‘Lin Feng’ of before and after the battle seemed like two completely different people. After the battle, just his gaze was enough to give people discomfort. It was a gaze used to being filled with unshakable arrogance.

“Lin Jianchen’s team was all defeated?”

“Was it due to a difference in weapon quality?”

“Honestly, it’s amazing how he could use a fullstella battle art.”

“Did you notice how fierce his lifebound beasts were?”

The battle had made everyone’s expressions twist. Most could only grit their teeth and mutely stare at Tianming.

“Is he going to kill them...?”

“Lin Jianchen!”

“It’s useless, it’s an Infinitum Duel! How sly! He knew Lin Jianchen and the rest weren’t his opponents, so he pretended to be stupid to entrap them!”

“Right, he’s a hundred years old, so he can’t be that useless. But even if he’s stronger than Lin Jianchen, that doesn’t mean he can force himself on young women.”

A heated discussion took place outside the Infinitum Bodhimanda.

“He’s so ruthless, he’ll definitely kill Lin Jianchen.”

“It’s over. He won’t be punished since it’s an Infinitum Duel.”

“Such a tragedy for those hot-blooded young men.”

“Brothers, let’s be honest. You wanted to kill me just now for a shot at glory, right?” Tianming smiled.

Lin Jianchen tried pushing himself off the ground, but Tianming’s foot kept him firmly planted to the floor. It was sheer humiliation.

“I asked you a question,” Tianming said.

“Yes! I wanted to kill you! Your father is the sinner of our clan! You’re arrogant and humiliated your own clan members! You deserve death!” Lin Jianchen clenched his teeth.

“How smart, you still know to try and have the moral high ground now.” Tianming shrugged. Then, as everyone watched, he put away his sword. “Let me be honest, I won’t kill any of you. I’m different from you all. That’s because I returned to the Lin Clan to make up for my father’s regrets, not to kill people.”

He spoke elegantly, as well as with a rare air of a superior, which made his words sound believable. That made many people realize that regardless of whether Lin Feng was a scoundrel, he wasn’t a useless rich kid at least.

“I think the Infinitum Duel can end now. What about you all?”

Lin Jianchen breathed in deep. He had shown a hard front just now, but he was actually shaking inside. He was afraid of death! Hence, he no longer tried to bluff when Tianming spared him and the entire patrol admitted defeat.

The canopy vanished and they all weakly collapsed, while Tianming was smiling. Everything had gone according to plan.

“I’m sorry for bothering everyone. On behalf of the Myriadsword Emporium, I apologize to all of you.” Tianming gave a deep bow, making the audience that had been insulting him embarrassed.

“Right!” A sparkling thing shot out as the Godsin turned into a chain. It flew over a kilometer and wrapped around a woman’s body. With a shrill shriek, she was pulled over to Tianming and seized by him.

The woman desperately struggled as she tried to seek help. It was Lin Xingqing.

“Let go of her, Lin Feng!” Lin Jianchen angrily rose to his feet.

Many Lin Clan disciples were similarly outraged again.

“Don’t get angry just yet, everyone.” Tianming took Lin Xingqing’s spatial ring and retrieved a tea kettle from it. “I believe everyone has the judgment to tell right from wrong, so give me a chance to explain. I know that the weak will always have everyone’s sympathy, but sympathy may not be a good thing as it introduces bias. If someone used your empathy and sense of justice to frame someone and the person in question is executed, you’ll all be accomplices,” Tianming said.

“Release her first!”

“Let him speak!”

Although it was chaotic, Tianming was happy to hear that people were willing to give him the chance to speak.

“Just now, without any cause, Miss Xingqing ran out from my cultivation room and called over four of her friends before saying I assaulted her. To explain how she escaped, she said that… she forced me back, and that was what made my assault fail! I know that she said that so that, at the same time as framing me, she could protect her reputation as well.”

Many people had heard about Lin Xingqing forcing Tianming back, as she had emphasized it to keep her reputation pure. However, her plan had hinged on Tianming being a twelfth-level solarian. There were no others on Ebonia over the age of a hundred who could defeat Lin Jianchen’s group as a twelfth-level solarian. Furthermore, Lin Jianchen could fight above his level as well!

Thus, Tianming had used battle to prove his might.

He easily held up Lin Xingqing. “Actually, just think it through. If I was so lustful and wanted to play with a subordinate on my first day of work, how could a little eleventh-level solarian escape me and beat me back? If she made a noise, I could easily kill her! After all, my reputation is quite important too, no?

“I know what everyone wants to say. Why would a girl try so hard to entrap me? The answer is simple. Anyone from the Hall of Discipline can do an investigation regarding Lin Xingqing and these four ladies’ relationship with Lin Jianchen’s team. I don’t believe no one has seen them together, perhaps on dates, or maybe on anything else. One side wants beauties while the other wants support.”

“Finally!” Tianming lifted the tea kettle from before, visibly taking it out from Lin Xingqing’s spatial ring. “I bet she would’ve gotten rid of this as soon as I was brought back to the Hall of Discipline. But unfortunately, she didn’t get the chance. This kettle held the tea she made for me. I’m sure it\'ll be very easy to find out what drug is mixed inside, as well as where it was sold, and who bought it. Everything can be tracked and none of it can stand up to scrutiny.… I think everyone gets what I\'m saying. I’m very hated because of my father, so who wouldn’t want to mess with me as soon as I returned?

“And last, but definitely not least, my three wives were listed on the daisy ranking yesterday. They’re all beautiful infinitum-class geniuses. I spend every night in bliss. Such an ordinary woman is really an insult to my standards.” Tianming tossed Lin Xingqing away, who fell onto the ground and began sobbing.

Lin Jianchen and his group had turned pale. From the suspicion in the audience’s eyes, it was clear that Lin Jianchen had failed.

The looks at Tianming had changed.

“Lin Feng? Not bad.”

“He managed to safely get out of such a scheme.”

“Honestly, if he only had the strength of a twelfth-level solarian, he wouldn’t have escaped this defamation.”

“Yes, if he didn’t have the strength, the drug would’ve addled his mind and he’d have been dragged to the Hall of Discipline, where he’d be judged as guilty.”

“If he hadn’t initiated a duel, no one would’ve believed a word of his.”

Everyone would only have rolled their eyes.

“Honestly, power was the only way to break out of this trap.”

“Who would have thought that this wastrel could fight three levels above him?”

Regardless of anything else, Tianming’s performance had given him a new image in the Lin Clan.