Beastmaster of the Ages

Tianming looked stunned for quite a while before he finally realized that there was nothing bad about this. He couldn't bother with overthinking it and said, "I thank you on their behalf, Astralqueen."

"There's no need to. It's what's expected of me. When you grow in power, you'll bring great benefits to the imperium. You're our future," Ziyan said, enviously looking at him. It sounded like things were absolutely perfect.

Don't tell me that I blamed her for no reason? Did I jump the gun? Does the Violetcloud Archclan really have people who can see the bigger picture? Tianming wondered. He looked at Gong Xiong, who rolled his eyes, signaling that he hadn't expected such a positive response either. The last time he was here, he had been sent packing before even getting to discuss the matter of entry with the Violetcloud Archclan.

"Then, Astralqueen Ziyan, shall I have the four of them come here so you can take a look at them?" Tianming asked.

"Definitely. I heard there's three girls among them. Big sis here wants to make some new friends." She wouldn't stand out if she stood among Feiling, Xiaoxiao, and Qingyu thanks to her youthful appearance.

"Then I'll immediately notify them." Tianming pretended to use a transmission stone as he told Yin Chen to ask them to come.

"Little boy," said a distant voice in his ear.

"Huh?" He looked up and saw Ziyan's smooth face right in front of him. Though she called him a little boy, she looked younger than he was.

"Do you understand the Violetcloud Archclan?" she said, smiling. The eight violet teardrops under her crescent eyes looked both cute and eerie.

"More or less. I believe your archclan specializes in the art of the soul, right?"

"That's right. Totems are essentially part of the terra, after all, and there's the vita in the sea of consciousness, whereas the caelum roams in the great void. Essentially, totemancy is the art of cultivating one part of the tripartite soul. That's why, while totemancers are all over the universe, those of the Violetcloud Archclan walk the most correct path," she said, her head passionately bobbing around.

"Amazing!" Tianming shot her a thumbs-up and made some distance between them; she was being too intimate. Tianming feared that she would even be able to kill him in his personal space. Though she would definitely be punished for something like that, the sovereign couldn't do anything to overturn the entire Violetcloud Archclan so the risk still existed. Her tempting sensuality was a veiled threat.

Tianming had learned from Yin Chen that the Violetcloud Archclan was incredibly adept at soul cultivation, seemingly the only group that was, hence cementing themselves in the power structure of the Violetglory Star. Their proficiency in totemancy and soul arts was unrivaled, with their souls being of higher levels compared to peers of the same level. I wonder if there's someone among them who can compare to Lingfeng in that regard.

As he continued pondering, Astralqueen Ziyan made another approach. The fragrance that wafted around her could easily give Tianming the false impression that she was a delicious meal waiting to be devoured. She lightly blew against Tianming's ear and whispered, "Let me tell you a secret. Don't tell anybody else about it."

"Alright."

"Listen... our archclan had a discussion about you, which was started by my dad. He believes your rise will benefit the Gong Prime Clan, but not us. I'm sure you can understand why we see it that way."

"I do." What he didn't understand was why she was telling him this.

"Personally, I believe that they've got tunnel vision. Based on how you suppressed Ye Chen, you represent the potential to prop up our imperium over the Divineglory Dynasty. You'll become a historic figure that ushers in a new era for our imperium, yet those within it are blind to your light due to internal power struggles. Constantly finding ways to keep the Gong Prime Clan at bay is really boring, don't you think?

"In my opinion, there's no harm at all in letting the Gong Prime Clan become an archclan like us! Everyone, my dad included, looks down on the Gong Prime Clan, still stubbornly refusing to admit that the archclans' Pentarchy is nowhere near what it was in its glory days. That's why their vision narrowed. But I'm different from them! I want to see the day when there's only one hegemon on this star: us! You'll be the only sovereign—only then will the Violetcloud Archclan have a new chance rather than isolating ourselves like this," she said with sincerity. Her breath tickled Tianming's ears.

Tianming turned and looked into her eyes halfway through her speech. They looked clear violet, as if every word of hers was untainted. Not to mention, her logic was sound, unlike the others in her archclan as she claimed. He once more wondered if he had labeled her as one of the bad ones by mistake.

She chuckled a little bitterly and said, "The look in your eyes tells me that you still don't trust me, but no matter. The days are long, and we have all the time we need to learn more about each other. One day, you'll come to understand me as well as I will you, both inside and out."

She really looked like she was tearing up thanks to her bane-rings. However, the unnecessarily suggestive word choice almost made Tianming cough out blood. He looked at her face again and saw no mischievous smile; he was probably overthinking things again. Tianming breathed a relaxed sigh and said, "Alright, let's wait and see. Naturally, I hope the Violetcloud Imperium will remain united. It'll take some time to get people to trust one another, though."

"That's great!" Her eyes lit up as she joyfully nodded. Then she pulled Tianming along by his arm and said, "You'll come here to cultivate often, right? Want me to teach you the soul cultivation method of our archclan? You're a nonabane, so if you learn some soul training techniques, you'll become the perfect totemancer! They'll raise your limits even further!"

Tianming wasn't against learning them, but if she would be personally teaching them to him, it would be risky… though not because he believed she would kill him. He was worried Feiling would decapitate him instead. Feiling's finally nearing bodily maturity.... Angering her now would be like digging my own grave.

Fully lucid, he refused. "Let's wait for a little bit. I've got quite a few things on my plate right now, so I'll have to go through them first."

"Alright. If you want to learn, come find me. Big sis won't hold anything back!" She smiled warmly.

Tianming looked at her in a troubled manner. She was far more welcoming than he had imagined she would be, confusing him to no end. Fortunately, Feiling, Xiaoxiao, Lingfeng, and Qingyu arrived.