Beastmaster of the Ages

"Apologies… I didn't think she'd be so fierce," Long Yaojin said, riding her dragon to Li Shenjian's side. Others aside, even she showed signs of being hurt by the Dragonblood Desecration. Even the slightest brush of the arrows could take away huge chunks of flesh and cause one to continue withering as if one was poisoned.

Long Yaojin was in her fifties and her power should've been enough to take down the ninth-level Li Haochen, yet she had been injured by Xiaoxiao despite ganging up on her with others. It was rather distressing for the celestial orderians that a nameless female disciple like that could perform so well, to the point that the celestial orderian youthgrand disciples began to doubt themselves.

"Enough." Li Shenjian locked gazes with Tianming, who was just ahead of him. Even though he was someone more than twenty years younger than him, his aura wasn't one bit inferior. It was clear now that Li Shenjian wouldn't be able to take Xiaoxiao captive. "Thankfully, I got the Dragonblood Desecration."

He used a few of his totems to suppress the struggling bow that had turned into its dragon form. It required quite a lot of effort on his part, and the slightest mistake would allow it to escape.

"Lord Ninth, they still have the blood arrows that come with the bow. The Dragonblood Desecration is useless without its arrows," Long Yaojin said in a low voice.

"Oh!" Li Shenjian grit his teeth. "This'll suffice for now. We'll see if it's good enough bait for Li Tianming to follow me into the Infernal Dragon Purgatory. If anything, he should be the one that's anxious about losing the bow."

As expected, Tianming was quite brave as a Sky Palace disciple. He came toward Li Shenjian and the tens of people there with Xiaoxiao by his side. "Li Shenjian, you attacked us for no reason and took away our weapon. If you don't offer an adequate explanation for that, you won't be allowed to leave the seven thousand Earthdragon peaks!"

"For no reason?" Li Shenjian had wanted to see Tianming mad. He patted Long Yaojin on the shoulder and said, "I'll let those from the Veildragon Palace tell you why."

Long Yaojin cleared her throat and repeated what she had said to Xiaoxiao. "Lin Xiaoxiao, hand over the nine arrows and we'll even forgive you for the crime of assimilating the exalted blood. Otherwise you'll be punished according to the sect's regulations!"

Even though it was daylight robbery, they sure had dressed it up with all the right-sounding reasons. By now, the elites of both sides had arrived. Tianming was surrounded by many powerful fighters of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect; the Seven Dragon Imperials and Yang Ce had coordinated the timing with Tianming and arrived right on time to hear Long Yaojin's justification. Not to mention the Seven Dragon Imperials, the other elites were also enraged.

"Nonsense! The Ninedragon Emperor himself picked Lin Xiaoxiao to be the successor of his Dragonblood Desecration!"

"Again with your lawless nonsense, you robbers!"

"Li Shenjian, if you don't let go of it, don't blame us for getting rough."

Li Shenjian was naturally unfazed by the threats. While he hadn't discussed anything in detail with his seniors, he had told them about his plans right before he left. By now, quite a few senior celestial orderians had already come. Even the three Dragon Imperials of the Veildragon Palace, Li Xiaoyan, and Apothecary Li were there. Nearly a thousand people had almost instantly gathered.

"What's going on here?" Though Apothecary Li immediately knew what was going on when he saw Li Shenjian holding the Dragonblood Desecration, he feigned ignorance.

Long Yaojin explained the situation again, and the Torchdragon Emperor nodded in acknowledgment. "Long Yaojin is correct. The Dragonblood Desecration is an artifact that was passed down by our ancestor, and traditionally, nobody outside of our branch has taken it. Reclaiming it is only right. However, we also understand that young people often act without too much thought, so we won't punish Lin Xiaoxiao for assimilating the exalted blood. After all, she's also part of our sect." He turned to her and said, "Don't be afraid, Xiaoxiao. Hand us the blood arrows and all will be well."

As he spoke, Apothecary Li and Li Xiaoyan came to Li Shenjian's side, secretly approving his actions. It had been one of the things on their agenda for quite some time, and having a junior like Li Shenjian take care of it was perfect, as Xiaoxiao was also among the young generation.

"If you take any action in the future, do inform us about it in advance," Li Xiaoyan said.

"Very well. It's too bad that Lin Xiaoxiao is more powerful than I expected. Otherwise we could've got the arrows as well," Li Shenjian said.

"Why'd you take it?" Apothecary Li asked.

"Apothecary, my true goal today is to force Li Tianming to come into the Infernal Dragon Purgatory with me. They definitely won't be willing to lose the Dragonblood Desecration just like that," Li Shenjian said.

"Well done, Young Lord Ninth," the apothecary said with a look of approval.

Li Shenjian was glad that things were going his way. As expected, the Seven Dragon Imperials immediately disputed the Torchdragon Emperor's words.

As for the Saintdragon Emperor and the rest, they criticized Li Shenjian and the Torchdragon Emperor's actions, citing the Ninedragon Emperor as justification. Tensions began rising on both sides as more and more people gathered. As most of them didn't know that this was all part of Tianming's plan, they were getting angry for real—none of them would accept losing the Dragonblood Desecration to the enemy for no good reason. Not to mention, it was partly their fault for underestimating how shameless the Veildragon Palace would be to attack their disciple in their territory and take the bow away. If it weren't for Li Shenjian wanting more of the credit, they would have taken the nine arrows too.

The issue was that the bow and arrows were part of a set and couldn't do without each other, so the situation was rather awkward as the enemy only had the bow. It was as useless as a broken sword. Naturally, Li Shenjian was fully aware of that fact.

By then, the Dragon Imperials on both sides were already furiously shouting at one another. Long Wanying even dragged Xiaoxiao along and yelled, "Are you really going to be so shameless, Veildragon Palace? Lin Xiaoxiao was acknowledged by the exalted blood of the Ninedragon Emperor! How dare you say that she doesn't have the right and refute the Ninedragon Emperor's decision? You are the ones who're bringing our ancestors to shame! She isn't even thirty, yet not even the tenth-level Long Yaojin is her match! If we're to be real, perhaps the Ninemoon Goddess can't even compare to her in terms of talent! She's the person best suited to wield the Dragonblood Desecration, yet you're trying to rob it from her? Open your eyes and look! See if the Dragonblood Desecration agrees with your decision!"

As she spoke, the bow was still struggling in Li Shenjian's hand. By now, she knew what Tianming was planning to do. Giving away the bow was no doubt risky, but they had to risk something to gain something. At the very least, this was better than letting Xiaoxiao be taken hostage. Her words only sowed more discord—especially among the celestial orderians, whose precious goddess was brought into the conversation. Even though Qingyu didn't show her hand often, it was still quite improbable that she would be able to defeat Long Yaojin within such a short time of cultivation. The celestial orderians truly didn't have anything with which to refute the power of Lingfeng and Xiaoxiao, leading to their current awkward predicament.

"Shut up, Long Wanying! Who knows how many pills you had her pop?"

"You think she can even compare with the Ninemoon Goddess? Laughable!"

"What an ignorant wench!"

Those from the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect didn't take it sitting down.

"Stop boasting and have your goddess step up and fight for once!"

"So anyone that defeats you is doping? Maybe you should give it a try then, since it's obviously not working out for you! Celestial orderians have many alchemy gurus among them, right? Make some pills for Li Haochen and Li Shenjian, why don't you?"

The two sides were on the brink of conflict. At that moment, Li Shenjian found his chance, staring at Tianming as he said, "Since this is a conflict within the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, let's resolve it another way."

"How do you plan to resolve it?" Long Wanying asked.

"I heard that the Sky Palace Disciple, Li Tianming, has become unrivaled among youthgrand disciples. Not even solarians are a match for him, but I beg to differ. I believe that every disciple from both the inner and outer sect would like to witness the power of an absolute genius like him. So, I challenge him to a duel to decide who gets to keep the Dragonblood Desecration. That should put an end to the arguments and speculation," Li Shenjian said. Naturally, the rumors he mentioned didn't exist and were entirely inflated fabrications of his making, but many people simply took things at face value. It was quite a claim to say that a less than thirty-year-old disciple was unrivaled among youthgrand disciples, even those up to a hundred years old. The tens of thousands of people raised their brows upon hearing his words.

"Was there such a rumor going around?"

"I think so!"

"That Feng kid defeated Long Wangyu, so they began asserting that Li Tianming was unrivaled. They said that not even Li Shenjian would be able to defeat him."

"That's too far-fetched. Consider the age difference!"

"Since the moment he defeated Li Haochen, it's no longer an issue of age."

Tianming's defeat of Li Haochen was something that still heavily weighed on the minds of the celestial orderians. The prouder they were, the more humiliated they felt. Even if they needed the much older Li Shenjian to show Tianming his place, it would still be some kind of relief to them, hence their immediate support for the idea.

"Accept the challenge if you dare, Li Tianming!"

"Don't tell me he'll chicken out?"

"I don't think he will. He's proud and arrogant. Someone like him will definitely fight!"

The crowd grew rowdy in almost an instant. Tianming smiled at how well Long Wanying understood him. The moment he'd been waiting for had finally arrived, and without even needing him to say a word no less! Needless to say, Yin Chen had contributed the most to the state of events, allowing Tianming to understand the plans and motivations of his enemies. He just needed to play by the script they laid out in order to get his plan running!