Beastmaster of the Ages

Will the king allow me to bring Ling'er away? He was hesitating when I said we would go to Heaven's Elysium. However, in the Grand-Orient Sect, I have the connections of blood and Lifesbane to the Li Saint Clan. He should agree now, Li Tianming thought on the way to the palace.

Li Jingyu was still admiring him, while Li Qingyu maintained her gentle and elegant demeanor.

When Li Tianming looked at her, she smiled and said, "Hello, big brother Tianming."

"Just a question, but little sister Qingyu, what stage are you now?" Li Tianming asked.

"Qingyu isn't that talented, so I've only reached fourth level Unity," she replied.

Li Tianming was dumbstruck. An "untalented" fifteen year old had reached fourth level Unity. Vermilion Bird's premier genius, Lin Xiaoting, had only just barely reached Unity at twenty. This simple comparison made it obvious what kind of existence the Grand-Orient Sect was.

"Big brother Tianming has a Five Bane-Ring Physique. You'll catch up to me soon enough," Li Qingyu consoled, afraid he was discouraged.

"Right. You were born in Vermilion Bird, so you awakened later. No need to care about your current cultivation. Look forward, toward your eventual goal of the Saint stage! When you reach that, you'll be able to live two centuries, at the very least. If you can accomplish it before seventy, you'll be one of the Grand-Orient Realm's powerhouses."

Seventy? That was a distant concept.

They quickly arrived at Vermilion Bird Palace.

Suddenly—⁠

"Ling Yichen is here?" Li Jingyu's gaze turned cold as she quickly pulled Li Tianming and Li Qingyu into the palace.

Li Tianming, however, was confused. Who was Ling Yichen? In fact, that name sounded rather similar to Jin Yixuan and Song Yixue!

As soon as they entered the palace, they encountered six people. Li Tianming recognised three of them: Jin Yixuan, Song Yixue, and Yueling Ji. He had only expected to see them tomorrow, unaware that the Sanctum Replacement Challenge in Aquamarine had already finished and the group had hurried back to Vermilion Bird.

However, most importantly, Jiang Feiling was in that group. Her expression was slightly pale, and she even looked slightly frightened. Li Tianming immediately felt blood rush to his head; what had they done to Jiang Feiling?

Li Tianming hadn't seen the last two before.

One was a middle-aged man, dressed in black. He was frighteningly skinny and had a gloomy gaze, as well as hands like a crow's talons. However, the pressure he gave off was startling, enough to lower the temperature of the palace. Furthermore, the two vice-inspectors, Jin Yixuan and Song Yixue, were respectfully following behind him and reporting the events in Aquamarine to him.

Li Tianming also vaguely heard Jin Yixuan say that Murong Canghai was dead, his family line gone, and how they were now free of worries.

Li Tianming had already known that they wouldn't give up on making the Yueling Clan into a Sanctum clan. Now, they seemed to have succeeded; it was unfortunate for the Aquamarine Sanctum.

Clearly, this middle-aged man was the leader of the two vice-inspectors.

However, the young woman in the lead had an even more noble status. Her face was covered by a veil and her eyes were filled with a harsh light of contempt, as if she was the ruler of the world. Everyone she laid eyes on would have to assume a kneeling position in front of her.

That gaze alone was enough to allow Li Tianming to personally experience the level of the geniuses of the Grand-Orient Realm!

As for Li Qingyu, her personality was too gentle, unlike this tyrannical woman.

Although she was beautiful and possessed an exquisite figure and pretty eyes, her icy aura would deter anyone from talking about her external appearance. She was clearly the leader of this delegation, and even the middle-aged man obsequiously stood by her side.

Both parties met at the gate of Vermilion Bird Palace.

"Big brother!" Jiang Feiling anxiously shouted as soon as she saw him. However, she was surrounded and had no way to get to Li Tianming.

Li Tianming's eyes narrowed.

"Li Jingyu?" The man frowned. "Why is a member of the Li Saint Clan here for no good reason?"

"Let me ask you that: why is an inspector of Heaven's Elysium here?"

"Vermilion Bird is a tributary state of Heaven's Elysium. It's my territory. Why wouldn't I be here?" Ling Yichen sneered.

The two were like fire and water as soon as they met.

"Well, this is my son Li Wudi's illegitimate son! I've searched all over the Grand-Orient Realm for him to bring him back to the Grand-Orient Sect," Li Jingyu replied.

Illegitimate son? Excuse me? Wasn't he supposed to be a foster son? Li Tianming didn't think too much of it, since Jiang Feiling was in their hands.

"This is Li Wudi's illegitimate son? Excuse me, this is a disciple of Heaven's Elysium we recruited three days ago. We're currently bringing him back!" Jin Yixuan said.

"Forget it. He's a member of my Li Saint Clan, a talented heir of three banes. You'll chase him out anyway, even if you bring him back," Li Jingyu said.

"An heir of three banes? I couldn't tell." Song Yixue examined Li Tianming.

"Since that's so, we don't want him anymore. Let's go," Ling Yichen said. There were no benefits to bringing a genius from the Li Saint Clan back, and he would likely get scolded instead. Friction had existed between the two groups for millennia.

Heaven's Elysium had stepped on the Grand-Orient Sect to dominate the Grand-Orient Realm.

"Wait." Li Jingyu pointed. "You can go, but leave my granddaughter-in-law behind."

"Granddaughter-in-law?" Ling Yichen looked at Jiang Feiling. He sneered, "You must be joking, this is Lady Long's new servant girl."

"Servant girl?" Li Tianming was even more furious now. It seemed that the young woman was the so-called Lady Long.

When Li Jingyu saw Li Tianming's expression, she panicked, because she could infer exactly how important the girl was to Li Tianming.

"Lady Long, could you let her go? That's my granddaughter-in-law, and I won't let you bring her back to Heaven's Elysium," Li Jingyu said in a low voice. Her current attitude was very dignified, a far cry from her rash behavior in Wei Manor.

"What will you do if I say no?" This was the first time Lady Long spoke, and her voice was laced with sheer arrogance.

"If you don't, you all should plan to never leave Vermilion Bird," Li Jingyu said.

She was the mother of the Grand-Orient Sect's sect master, while the other side was an inspector of Heaven's Elysium. In terms of status, she was probably higher, but Li Tianming wasn't sure what that meant in terms of combat prowess. However, it was likely that she was stronger if she dared say such things.

"Li Jingyu, do you know what tier of genius Lady Long is? If you offend her, can those invalids left in your Li Saint Clan do anything but suffer when the time comes?" Ling Yichen said coldly.

"Boss, what Li Saint Clan? They already lost their title as a Saint Clan five hundred years ago. They're the ones who keep lying to themselves and proclaiming they're a Saint Clan," Jin Yixuan sniggered.

Li Jingyu considered Lady Long. "Naturally, I do recognize her. I'm even aware she's a candidate to become the future Elysium Emperor."

Despite Li Jingyu's gaze, the young woman didn't flinch in the slightest.

"Good that you know. Considering her rise and fortune, she'll be one of the three strongest in the realm within decades! You're old already, so you should some self-awareness about what'll happen if you offend her." Ling Yichen smiled.

"Correct. Your clan is no longer the Saint Clan it was a millenia ago. That absolute trash, Li Wudi, is the weakest sect master in history! Even I could kill him with one hand tied behind my back." Song Yixue was even more rude.

The inspectors expected these words to frighten Li Jingyu. However, they were underestimating her.

Li Jingyu merely pursed her lips and said, "Cut the crap. I'm an old lady, so why would I care about some Lady Long? It doesn't matter how heaven-defying the genius is, they're still a chickling in front of me. I'll butcher her if you dare touch my granddaughter-in-law!"

"Heaven's Elysium will exterminate my clan? Sure, she'll be dead, but we'll still come out the winners! Ling Yichen, you're just a lackey. If you believe you can keep yourself alive, you're welcome to try to bring my granddaughter-in-law away."

Li Jingyu began approaching them and the three inspector's faces turned ugly.

"Li Jingyu, do you really want to do this?"

The inspectors admitted that her words were true. The whole reason Heaven's Elysium gave the elysian children servants was because the elysian children were only peerless when it came to others their own age. There still existed a gap between them and the older generation.

If Li Jingyu really did take a hard stance, something may very well happen to Lady Long. And it was true—Lady Long's value was far beyond the old and weak left in the Li Saint Clan.

"Lady Long, we may not necessarily lose if we fight her. However, I'm afraid she'll target you. She's famous for being a crazy old codger who'll always defend her relatives. No one can stop her when she goes crazy…" Ling Yichen said with a headache.

"Then let them go." Yueling Long didn't have an angry reaction. Instead, her eyes just grew colder. She wasn't an idiot, and knew that her life was the most precious of all.

Song Yixue released Jiang Feiling, who quickly hurried to Li Tianming's side. He finally relaxed when he saw that she wasn't really injured, other than being frightened.

Frankly, Li Tianming felt very grateful toward Li Jingyu. If it weren't for this "grandmother", Jiang Feiling would surely have been taken away today.

To become a maid? Serve Lady Long?

To Li Tianming, all these "peerless geniuses" weren't worth a fart. It would be better if this "Lady Long" became Jiang Feiling's maid instead!

Just as Jiang Feiling returned, Lady Long stepped forward, her eyes ablaze. "Li Jinyu. I'll remember how you threatened me today. In twenty years time, I'll make my way to the Grand-Orient Sect to exterminate your Li Clan. We'll see who in your sect dares to stand up for you. Who knows, maybe a decade will be enough for the Li Clan to be exterminated!" Her words were filled with venom.