Beastmaster of the Ages

Yi Zhuojun furrowed his brows again. He knew the complex network of relationships between the traditionalists, reformists, Dongshens, and the ebons. He had been so excited to hear that Lin Jianxing was there with them, but it was clear to him that the potential for conflict was huge. "Are you saying that due to internal strife, a fellow member of your clan will work with other factions to kill another member of the clan?"

"I know I wouldn\'t do that, but I can\'t say the same for Lin Jianxing. He hates me with a passion. With how we can\'t even be sure that the Oldgod Rings are still transmitting, this might be the perfect opportunity for him to do the deed," Tianming said. There was no way he and Dongshen Xiaoli would want to get involved with Lin Jianxing. He knew that it would be forcing a three against seven situation, but there was simply no way for him to trust Lin Jianxing.

Yet Yi Zhuojun seemed to have a different opinion. He shook his head and said, "Aren\'t you just assuming malicious intent on your part? I know something about Lin Jianxing. He hasn\'t done anything ridiculous in his many years of training and he\'s far more respectable than you are in the Swordgod Lin Clan. The conflict between traditionalists and reformists is a thing of the previous generation, but those of us here are facing potential death. Nobody knows the rules of this round for sure, and if they join up with the ebons to kill us, only for the rules to only allow less than seven people to survive, they\'d be the next ones to go. I refuse to believe that he wouldn\'t understand such a simple concept." It didn\'t seem Yi Zhuojun was easy to convince.

"Look, he\'s coming over here instead of heading toward the ebons. That must mean he trusts us more than them when his life is on the line," Yi Zhuojun added.

"Is that so?" Tianming believed that he understood Lin Jianxing better. Lin Jianxing was a person filled with twisted contradictions and disdain for Tianming, yet Yi Zhuojun was an outsider who simply couldn\'t understand those feelings.

Yi Zhuojun ignored Tianming and approached Lin Jianxing, who supposedly wanted to join up before the ebons made their move. The fact that Lin Jianxing had made his move the moment the ebons were contacting one another showed that he was no fool. If he was the slightest bit slower, he might end up wiped out.

"Let\'s go," Dongshen Xiaoli helplessly said.

"It\'ll be fine," Tianming reassured.

"Will he try to kill you first?"

"He won\'t, but he\'ll definitely want to teach me a lesson."

Though the ebons had wanted to intercept the other two before they arrived, they were too fast for them. Lin Jianxing and Yi Zhuojun eventually joined up.

"Brother Yi, it\'s you!" Lin Jianxing emerged from the fog with a beautiful blonde girl, relieved to see Yi Zhuojun.

"Brother Jianxing," said the other youth as he stopped in his tracks.

"With you around, I can relax. There’s five ebons, but they might not be that powerful." Right as he said that, he saw Tianming and Dongshen Xiaoli approaching. His smile froze stiff and unveiled killing intent began to leak out. He subconsciously turned and looked at Tianming, Yi Zhuojun, and Dongshen Xiaoli\'s fingers. Upon spotting two Oldgod Rings, he took a deep breath and forced a smile, though it seemed rather cold.

"What a coincidence," he said, shaking his head as his lips curved into a smile.

"Lin Feng, it\'s you! And Dongshen Xiaoli...." Lin Linglin was about the same age as Dongshen Xiaoli, but her cultivation was slower even though she had more talent than Lin Jianxing. She didn\'t feel too good for not measuring up to the other girl. Lin Feng, on the other hand, had defeated her and taken the skeleton, which she still took to heart. Back then, she had lost before an audience.

"That\'s right! I just formed an alliance with Lin Feng and Xiaoli against the five ebons. Do the two of you want to join? There’s three Lin Clan disciples here, so it should be a no-brainer, right?" Yi Zhuojun asked. He wanted the alliance to be as large as possible so that they would be able to resist the ebons, or even kill them outright! Though it wasn\'t even certain that they had to kill their enemies, the number of people in the room gave them a sense that what was to come wouldn\'t be pleasant.

"The five of us against the ebons?" Lin Jianxing bit his lip and glanced at Tianming, then laughed, "Sure, why not? The five of us have to work together to survive."

"But we still don\'t know how strong the ebons are. What if they\'re all normal gods?" Lin Linglin asked.

"They’re powerful. We already know who they are," Yi Zhoujun said, before proceeding to tell them the names and ranks of their opponents.

"Qi Xuanzi?" Lin Jianxing recalled that Qi Hongzhen and Qi Qiling didn\'t have nearly as high a status as Qi Xuanzi, who was the scion of the Qi Clan. "Those five all have low-sanctuary-class nova wildbeasts. Qi Xuanzi\'s silver-laced purple soul eye will be a huge problem for us. Given that they\'re all ebons, they\'ll definitely work together, so the five of us have to stand united as well."

"The problem is..." Yi Zhoujun gave Tianming a glance and continued, "Brother Jianxing, Lin Feng said that you will join the ebons to wipe us out since your father is a reformist who wants to curry favor with the ebons. He also said that the two of you have a grudge. Not to mention, there’s also the possibility you\'ll kill Dongshen Xiaozhi to worsen the Lin Clan\'s relations with the Dongshen Clan as a contribution to the ebons."

Lin Jianxing broke out in laughter. "That sounds far too naive. Does he think I’m a fool? If I join the ebons and wipe out the three of you, what would happen to me if the rules of this room only allow for only two or three to survive? As long as five or fewer are allowed to live, they\'ll no doubt kill me first. This place is for real. But if the five of us can strike a balance of power against them, they won\'t dare to be rash. Before we learn the real rules of the game, I won\'t help the ebons, since that could spell the end of me."

"What an idiot! Do you even have a brain?" Lin Linglin said, rolling her eyes at Tianming while she held Lin Jianxing\'s arm.

"Do you understand now, Lin Feng?" Yi Zhuojun asked.

"I do. Brother Jianxing has seen the bigger picture that I failed to grasp. How embarrassing," Tianming said with a smile.

"Huh?" Dongshen Xiaoli didn\'t think that her cousin\'s attitude would shift so quickly.

"It\'s good that you do. Just try not to cause trouble," Yi Zhuojun said. In other words, he wanted Tianming to stay put and be protected.

Tianming nodded; he understood Yi Zhuojun\'s train of thought. Between Lin Jianxing and Tianming, Yi Zhuojun would no doubt pick the former if he had to, since Lin Jianxing was by far the stronger one. Only then would they be able to measure up against Qi Xuanzi. Lin Jianxing alone could outpower Tianming and Dongshen Xiaoli combined.

Just like that, they joined the party. Lin Linglin shot Tianming a sharp look of disdain. "All five ebons are astral gods, so having a normal god as an ally makes no difference. They\'re just useless baggage."

Tianming retorted, "Aren\'t you a normal god yourself?"

Lin Linglin held Lin Jianxing\'s arm tight. The fight to turn their heads to normal had scarred her. She’d almost burst out in tears of joy when she survived and rejoined Lin Jianxing, and her spirit had completely caved. She had been utterly dominated by Lin Jianxing and was completely attached, unwilling to let go of his hand in the slightest. "Brother Jianxing is going to protect me. What about you?"

"My cousin sister will protect me," Tianming said, putting his arm over Dongshen Xiaoli\'s shoulder.

"Hehe." The girl shyly smiled, pulling her chin in.

Lin Linglin was completely speechless. Dongshen Xiaoli wasn\'t even comparable to Lin Jianxing at all. Being in a dangerous situation like this made her see the man that protected her in a much better light.

"Lin Feng is capable. He\'s defeated an astral god," Yi Zhuojun said. "That\'s enough for now. Since the five of us were fortunate enough to meet here, we should help each other against the ebons."

"Brother Yi is right." Lin Jianxing smiled, feigning complete indifference to Tianming, though the smile didn\'t last long. He suddenly recalled something and his gaze turned cold. Smirking, he said, "Lin Feng, since we\'re allies now, return the skeleton you stole from Linglin."

"I got it fair and square after defeating her. It wasn\'t theft," Tianming calmly said, meeting his gaze.

"Is that so? That makes it even worse." Lin Jianxing stood directly in front of Tianming at an angle Yi Zhuojun couldn\'t see. "We’re both from the same clan. How could you hurt her and take what belongs to her? I want you to return her things and apologize to her." Though his voice was calm, the fury in his eyes whipped up a storm. His order also began stretching toward Tianming.

"I won\'t return it," Tianming said, smiling and shrugging.

"This won\'t do." Lin Jianxing turned to Yi Zhuojun and said, "Brother Yi, can you help me talk to him?"

"It\'s pointless even if he does. Unless I\'m dead, you won\'t be taking anything from me. So let me ask this, Lin Jianxing: are you trying to kill me?" Tianming said, much louder than before.

Lin Jianxing\'s body shuddered from the anger he could barely hold in.

"Holy crap...." Dongshen Xiaoli covered her mouth. Though she was quite nervous, the thought that her cousin was really badass flashed across her mind.