Beastmaster of the Ages

Chapter 3019 - Speechless Scandal

"Are ancient houses that terrifying?" Tianming asked.

"Brother, here's the deal! Gold and black aren't that different in essence. However, there are really complex relationships between the factions in Myriadpath Valley. Any faction that forms a house will favor their members really heavily. Their numbers are a sign of their might, got it? Families or houses are for people to combine their might and to watch over each other. Every single injury or slight done to them will be clearly accounted for. What in the world made you feel so unattached to your own life?" Li Fan said.

"Fine!" Tianming had no choice in the matter, either, since he’d been under the influence of the dark mirror spirit. But regret was pointless, so he could only focus on mitigating the damage as best he could. "I can't just leave the Skyward Grandpath.... Looks like the only way out is near the end of the path."

Li Fan interjected, "Here's what. Just stop making any moves and wait for elimination. If you're lucky, you'll be flung out and I'll be able to fetch you. Then we can immediately run. If we escape to the far corners of the universe, we might yet be able to live. By the way, how many points do you have now?"

"Some twenty thousand."

"What's your rank?"

"Let's see.... Fifth place."

Even someone as serious as Li Fan literally coughed out blood. "That means that even if you stand there and stop moving, you're guaranteed to join Myriadpath Valley! Once you're in, you can't leave."

"That seems to be the case."

"Let me think.... Look for someone and let them defeat you. You'll lose a third of your points that way."

"Even if I do that, I'll still be in the top ten."

"Then get someone to kill you. You'll lose all your points then!" Li Fan snapped.

"Then you'll also die."

Li Fan fell silent.

"How about this? Hear me out and tell me how likely this would be to work," Tianming suggested. He was doing his best to keep calm after the dark mirror spirit ruined his plans right after he came to Myriadpath Valley. Even though killing those arrogant shits had been a pleasure, he had to change if he was to survive.

"Let's hear it!" Li Fan said.

"I'll bring my rank up to first place to show my talent and potential. Once this is over, I'll have a backer to protect me," Tianming said.

"Don't even dream about it. A tainted beastmaster like you with fragmented totems will only be seen as someone who messed up their cultivation by taking shortcuts like forbidden medicines. You may be seen as powerful now, but your foundation is a mess. Nobody will think that the ceiling for your potential is high. It'll already be a boon if you don't get looked down on. Wanting others to see you as talented is mere fantasy."

"There must be someone out there with a good eye."

"Keep praying then. Maybe if you try hard enough, pigs will fly."

"I'll aim for the top, then."

"Fine. I don't really see any other way out of this apart from that bet. You really are a special kind of talent. I didn't think you'd embark on a path to certain death the moment you arrived here." Li Fan simply couldn't understand how someone like Tianming even existed.

Tianming ignored him and focused on his next goal. The annoying side details simply didn't matter. "I’ve already killed him and had my fun. There's no point in fussing over this established fact. As Ying Huo said, I might not want to kill my way up the ranking, but I should be able to draw a few people that cherish talent if I defeat enemies to reach the top, right?"

There was no other way but to go all in!

......

What Tianming didn't know was that someone in Skyward Hall had actually started paying attention to him. The pink-haired girl widened her eyes as she snacked. "Huang Daolie, someone from your house was killed! This is exciting!"

Huang Daolie had seen the situation unfold. He hadn’t reacted too much, being a reverend of his stature. "That is true. Minor Pathkeeper, death is common on the Skyward Grandpath."

"However, the one who killed him is a black ring holder. It’s truly rare to see an outsider who dares to kill a disciple of an ancient house. He’s very interesting! I really want to know how his mind works and where he gets that courage from!" The pink-haired girl blinked as she stared at the white-haired youth in the fog.

Huang Daolie cleared his throat, seemingly not wanting to say more. The other cultivators in Skyward Hall knew that their boss was feeling rather miffed. Had the matter gone unaddressed, Huang Daolie could have quietly sent someone to take care of Tianming after the trial ended. But the minor pathkeeper kept yapping on about it nonstop, and there was nothing Huang Daolie dared to do to stop it.

"Eh? Isn't he a legendary tainted beastmaster? I heard that people like them are ugly and stinky! Who invited a tainted beastmaster to Myriadpath Valley? The scandal makes me speechless!" The girl lazily laid back into her golden seat. Even though she acted like a spoiled child, her curves were incredibly alluring. Her fair, snowy skin accentuated her pink eyes even more.

"Then again, he fights well for a tainted beastmaster. He managed to kill someone from House Huang like slaughtering a chicken. He made it look too easy. Not to mention, his ugly-hot looks give him some personality." The girl kept her attention on Tianming for a good while, talking about him nonstop.

"Huang Daolie, do you think he'll be discriminated against in Myriadpath Valley? I think most people will pinch their nose and avoid him out of fear that his tainted blood will touch them, right? Hey, why’re you so quiet? Oh, I know! You're planning on quietly getting rid of him later, right? I'll let you know right now that I forbid you from doing so. I want to study that tainted beastmaster to see how he's fused with his beasts. Do not touch my experimental sample, got it? Huang Daolie!"

Huang Daolie had no choice but to nod when she shouted. "Minor Pathkeeper, rest assured that the Skyward Grandpath is a fair place. As the proctor, I’ll handle it by the books."

"You of all people know that those are worthless sentiments. Who actually believes you?" She kept muttering for a while until she stopped caring. To her, it was all just a bit of fun. As fights erupted in other places, she turned her attention to them and quickly forgot about Tianming.

......

Tianming decided to increase the number of Yin Chens he let out to aim for the top. "Either way, I'll focus on getting my name up there. It shouldn't be too hard with Yin Chen helping."

He still mainly focused on hunting wildbeasts to raise his points, quickly dispatching any sanctuary- and ether-class beasts he came across. However, he didn't dare to make straight beelines toward them and feigned coincidental encounters with the beasts. If the proctor realized that he had been 'cheating', it might give them a good reason to kill him outright. Myriadpath Valley was a dangerous place for someone with no backing like him.

There were many beasts, but none of the mid-ether-class ones were even a threat to him. He gave it his all to hunt them, but he still found that his rank was slipping. He was now in eighth place!