Beastmaster of the Ages

To be fair, the wondersky realm's limits were the real reason Tianming hadn't won. There was no way that the Grand-Orient Sword would be any more fragile than the Ninedragon Imperius even though it wasn't that powerful in regard to divine hazards. It definitely wouldn't shatter in a clash with the Grand Godless Liberty, yet the rigid parameters of the wondersky realm had to specify a breaking point for it no matter what. There was nothing he could do about it.

If I could fight him in the real world, I would've won even without using my pandemonium constellation. It was good enough that he knew the truth himself. It wasn't like the wondersky realm would heed his complaints anyway, though it still troubled him. I wonder if I'll still get to train in the ninth level of the Violetglory Pagoda?

Would a tie be enough? It was a troubling predicament, but at least Ye Chen hadn't come out of the duel much worse off. It was true that his power was on par with Tianming's, to the point that Tianming wasn't able to overwhelm him, though Tianming didn't expect what Ye Chen would say to him the moment they left the battlefield. "The wondersky realm wasn't able to assess my true power, so there's things that I had to hold back. If we could fight in real life, I would've been the winner. You were lucky. Lin Feng. To be honest, I wasn't too satisfied with our duel. If you don't mind, let's meet up in the real world for a proper contest."

Tianming was almost struck speechless. "We'll talk about it if an opportunity surfaces." He didn't bother arguing about it. What he cared more about was how the administrators of the wondersky realm would regard this result. As people were arguing, they both turned to look at the ranking. Tianming didn't care about the fame that came with being at the top, only whether he could train at the pagoda's ninth level. That was the only thing that mattered to him in the wondersky realm, while everything else was nothing more than an ethereal dream, including fame and respect.

Even so, being able to tie with Ye Chen had already impressed the audience to no end. Now, even normal folks were curious about this up and coming star. At that moment, the 'Lin Feng' name surpassed Gong Yin's. Then, Ye Chen's name moved away slightly to make way for 'Lin Feng' as the names grew to be the same size. Now, the two names floated at the very top of the ranking, looking like really bright binary stars. The crowd immediately cheered with fervor.

"That means he's ranked number one!"

"There's two top rankers, so there won't be a runner-up. Gong Yin fell to third place!"

Such a thing had seldom happened in the top ten.

"So having both of them in first place is the best possible outcome, right?"

"Probably. Both of them are powerful enough to rank first. There's nothing wrong with considering them equals."

"Does that mean both of them will qualify to enter the Violetglory Pagoda's ninth level? It used to be that only one junior was allowed to enter at a time."

"That should be the case. The only qualification required should be that they're ranked first, after all."

An old man from the duel committee appeared to clarify the situation. "As a result of the draw, both contestants have been deemed worthy of being ranked first. The committee has decided to let them share the rank for one year, during which time both of them will be allowed to cultivate at the ninth level and enjoy other benefits pertaining to the top ranker. However, they'll have to duel again a year from now to settle the score. Should another draw happen, they'll continue sharing privileges for another year, then the next, and so on until the victor is decided."

Everyone seemed supportive of the motion.

"That's fair."

"A good decision indeed!"

"I'm in favor of it."

"Let them keep fighting then! Who knows, love might just spark between them! Haha!"

Countless gazes of envy landed on the two of them. Many young women were thirsting after 'Lin Feng' now, as he didn't have someone like Princess Shen Yu around him.

"One year, eh…" Ye Chen furrowed his brows. "Alright. Let's fight again a year later. It'd be even better if we could fight in real life."

"Alright." Tianming gave a non-committal nod. Either way, his biggest goal of gaining the privilege to enter the ninth level of the pagoda had been achieved. What happened a year later was something he would worry about when the time came. No matter the commotion, the wondersky realm would always only be a small part of his concerns. While he was sure that countless people, including those from the Divineglory Dynasty and Violetcloud Imperium and their sovereigns, would love to meet him, he really didn't care. The matters of the Azurecloud Continent were far more pressing, so he immediately disappeared from the battlefield, having left the wondersky realm completely. That left everyone else there completely silent.

"Where is he?"

"Did he leave just like that?"

"It's such a glorious moment! Why didn't he stay for the afterglow?"

Tianming was a complete oddity to them, and even Old Master Shengui was stunned by his abrupt departure. He had prepared a lot of congratulatory verses and had even finished discussing the conditions to recruit him into the Violetcloud Imperium with his sovereign, only for Tianming to just disconnect.

"I guess it can't be helped. That kid simply does everything at his own pace. I'll just seek him out later. I heard the imperial marshal of the Divineglory Dynasty has also requested to meet him, but he didn't bother, so we'll still have a chance," Old Master Shengui said to a figure in the dark.

"I see…." The figure nodded. "Tell him that my eighteen daughters are still unwedded, so he's free to pick one."

"What if he wants all of them?"

"He can have them."

"How generous of you, Sovereign."

"I don't have a choice. I can always make more daughters, but the Violetcloud Imperium can't make even a single epochal genius."

……

There was another reason Tianming had quickly left the wondersky realm: Yin Chen informed him that Shi Yan wanted to see him and was waiting outside. The fight with Ye Chen had taken most of the day, so she'd been waiting for quite a while. When he went out, he saw a worn-out, tired woman that was completely unlike her former fierce self. Her stone-like skin seemed to have vanished, making her seem prettier and more gentle than before.