Beastmaster of the Ages

Everything in the Violetcloud Battlefield was controlled by the duel committee, including the final victory judgments. Even after Mu Sha had been defeated, Tianming still remained at the center of the battlefield for all to see. Looking up, he saw a glowing purple light coming from the vortex-shaped Violetglory ranking.

The name of the first ranker was flanked on both sides by those of the second and third ranker, which were in turn surrounded by those of the rest of the top ten. All of their names looked humongous, being hundreds of times larger than most other names. Taking the place of Mu Sha's name was 'Lin Feng', a name that Tianming had no real affinity with.

"Dammit, if I knew it would receive so much attention, I would have come up with an impressive name. Maybe something like Zhao Ritian."

Tianming noticed that Mu Sha's name didn't swap places with his old one. Instead, he was merely bumped down to sixth place while the former tenth place fell out of the top ten. Perhaps that was a special privilege afforded to those in the top ten. Names outside their bracket simply swapped ranks with the names of the winner.

"I see, so Mu Sha only fell one place and can still train at the seventh level of the Violetglory Pagoda. Too bad for the tenth ranker though."

Even so, it was still rather fair. The tenth was ranked at that position simply because they were the weakest among the top ten. If one didn't want to be eliminated, they had better grow stronger and occupy a position higher up the bracket. Hanging at the edge of the bracket would always be risky.

"Next, I'll challenge the top three." Tianming looked at those blindingly radiant names. Princess Shen Yu of the Divineglory Dynasty was ranked third. He wondered if he really wanted to challenge the star child that had invited him to join her faction. "Let's pick her, then. I have to join the top three anyway, so no matter who I defeat, she'll be pushed to fourth place."

Xiaoxiao had come to challenge herself in the Violetglory ranking as well. The goal of the three was to occupy all top three spots on the ranking. Tianming couldn't wait to make his next challenge, though he also wanted to leave the battlefield and stay out of the view of the public. However, he was still in there like a caged animal in the zoo.

......

The crowd outside had grown to billions in number. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that most of the disciples of the Violetglory Star had been there to witness Tianming's battle for themselves.

"Mu Sha wasn't his match at all."

"He's the top disciple of the Skyword Shrine, isn't he? Those above and below him in the ranking are disciples from the Divineglory Dynasty or Violetcloud Imperium. Where in the world did this Lin Feng come from?"

"What kind of person raised this monster?"

Tianming's mysterious origins spawned many questions. He had popped out of nowhere and completely shocked everyone involved.

"Even though he's a totemancer, he used lifebound beasts to defeat a specter."

"That's far too impressive."

"I wonder if he can rival the top three."

"A disciple like that can only belong to the Divineglory Dynasty or Violetcloud Imperium, right? If he isn't from either of them, that means those two factions might start fighting over him."

"That's right."

"He defeated Han Xingluan and refused Princess Shen Yu. How interesting."

"Some called him the second miracle of the ranking. Let's see if that's really the case."

Tianming's feat with the ancient idols wasn't much to speak of, especially when compared to his current place in fifth rank. That was the thing that truly spread his name far and wide.

Within the crowd, Liu Xuanxuan rushed over. "Liu Wanwan!"

"What?" she said, turning back.

"The sect master wants to see you, quick! It's to ask about Lin Feng."

"Wait, even the sect master wants to know about this?" Liu Wanwan felt a little faint at Tianming's ridiculous feats.

"Of course! The Violetcloud Imperium came looking for our sect master. You'd better work well with them. They know that you have a good relationship with Lin Feng and will reach out to you to sway him to their side. You know that our sect is allied with the Violetcloud Imperium, right?" Liu Xuanxuan said.

"Yeah. Jeez, this is getting troublesome...."

There were two main alliances on the Violetglory Star, the Violetcloud Alliance and Divineglory Alliance.

I don't think Lin Feng himself knows that once his performance exceeds a certain point, he'll trigger many chain reactions. However, his own feelings about the matter are the most important, she thought as she went back with Liu Xuanxuan. She turned back and looked at him; now, he was so far out of reach from a normal person like her.

......

There were many booths within the Violetcloud Battlefield near the top for people of high status to watch the battle. Within one of those booths were two people, one of them a slender, graceful woman in a violet, astral dress. She wore golden accessories to complement her chest-length light-blonde hair. Her skin was fair and tender, so tender that it seemed that a rogue breeze could pop it. On her nearly-perfect face were two cold and aloof eyes that cast a forlorn gaze at the white-haired youth below. She was Princess Shen Yu.

Beside her was a middle-aged man in a black and gold robe whose face was shrouded in darkness. He had long, thin lips and eyes that glowed in the darkness. He smiled and said, "Did you notice it? He's a little similar to that person."

"Ye Chen?" Shen Yu said.

"Yes."

"Are you talking about their plain-sounding names?" she said, smiling.

"That's part of it. There's other aspects, such as his sudden appearance and rapid progress. There's also a sly arrogance in the both of them, as well as a calculative wit and a penchant for pranks. His bumpkin-like happy-go-lucky attitude is charming to most women, complemented further by a face that's really easy on the eyes. It's the perfect kind of rustic that'll make a proud highborn like you swoon for him. He's the archetypal protagonist of legend, the everyman that always ends up charming the princess of the realm."

"Surely you jest, Imperial Uncle. We needed someone to make Ye Chen stay on our side. I just happened to be that person. Not to mention, he's a charming man himself, and favored by the heavens." Even a princess of her stature wore a genuine smile when talking about the man often known as the first miracle. Before him, even someone others couldn't dream of touching like her seemed like an average girl in love.

"What level is he at now?" asked the middle-aged man.

"He's a fifth-level constellier."

"What about you?"

"I'm at the eighth level."