Beastmaster of the Ages

"Bastard."

As Li Tianming spoke, Ying Huo had already flown over to Wei Jing. Its eyes were already ablaze when it saw this scene. Its beak, which was flaming as well, began to peck the Bloodhell Worms to death one by one.

However, that didn't end Wei Jing's pain. Bloodhell Worms contained the paralytic Bloodhell Poison, which was administered into their prey during feeding. Furthermore, even more Bloodhell Worms were approaching Wei Jing from her bedside. The swarm would never end as long as the Bloodhell Broodmother continued to spawn them.

This was the most troublesome part of broodmother-type lifebound beasts.

"Your head is worth one thousand yellow-patterned spirit gems. I'll be borrowing it." The black-clothed man took action as he spoke. As killers, they never talked too much.

He was holding a blood-coloured dagger that looked similar to Li Tianming's Crimson Blood Dagger, except that it was of a much higher quality.

The moment of mortal danger had arrived. The little chick was busy protecting Wei Jing, tied down by the many worms. Hence, Li Tianming had to deal with both the man and the Bloodhell Broodmother himself.

When the black-clothed man turned into a blur, the broodmother opened its maw and let loose a piercing screech that nearly ruptured Li Tianming's ears. His mind descended into chaos immediately, his vision distorting. This was a sound-based spiritsource ability. It was the hardest to defend against, and could only be endured. Li Tianming hadn't expected such an ability from this Bloodhell Broodmother.

Things were definitely going to be hard for him and the little chick who lacked such spiritsource abilities.

"Die!" Even more frightening was that the assassin was at least at fourth level Spiritsource! He was much stronger than Fang Zhao, enough to crush Li Tianming.

Bloodflower Chamber always did things with complete confidence. The assassins they chose would not give Li Tianming any chance to escape.

In the same moment Li Tianming was assaulted by the broodmother's 'Wailing Banshee', the assassin appeared in front of him, while at least five hundred Bloodhell Worms surged towards him from the roof and floor.

A moment was enough for dozens to attach themselves to his body, whereupon they began to nibble at his flesh. They went straight for his arteries, preparing to feast on his blood.

Li Tianming could only struggle before the deadly, two-pronged threat. The other side was much stronger than he was. With a blur, the assassin appeared behind him, the dagger resting against Li Tianming's collarbone. A nick of the blade later, blood began to flow freely.

"Let's not waste anything." The assassin pulled aside his veil and gave Li Tianming's dripping blood a lick. "Mhm, quite hot."

The black-clothed man chuckled, continuing, "My babies seem to like your blood a lot. I'll let you live a little longer for their enjoyment. Human blood is the warmest when the human is still alive, after all."

He leaned in so close to Li Tianming that their eyes were almost right next to each other.

The Bloodhell Poison had already spread to his whole body. It felt like an electric shock had run through his body and Li Tianming found even moving a finger to be difficult.

"How does it feel to be sucked dry?" The assassin looked at him, clearly enjoying it and not wanting it to end yet.

"Careful my blood doesn't burn you to death!" Li Tianming glared at him, his eyes bloodshot.

Wei Jing's pain was unacceptable to Li Tianming. She was his reverse scale, something that could make him descend into becoming a crazed demon. Li Tianming no longer considered the gap in strength between his opponent and him. Only the thought of killing him filled his entire mind. This was the first time his killing intent had been so stirred since Midas died.

"Burn to death? Good joke." The man laughed unbridledly.

However, the next moment, the worms crawling on Li Tianming started to spontaneously combust. They were quickly reduced to ash that fell to the ground.

The assassin's eyes widened. Something like this had never happened before. How was he expected to know about Primordial Chaos Beasts?

"Unusual, but so what? You can only die with the Bloodhell Poison in you." The assassin now understood not to give this young man any chances. Li Tianming couldn't move, so he drew his dagger and prepared to decapitate Li Tianming.

"Who decided I can only die?" Li Tianming, who the assassin believed was immobile, raised his left hand.

The assassin saw something unbelievable. There was a strange eye on the young man's palm. Then, beast ki circulated through its illusion-type spirit veins and the Bewildering Eye revealed itself.

The assassin had never expected Li Tianming to move nor plunge him into an illusion!

He was too close. Unable to react, he could only watch as Li Tianming's beast claw immediately ran him through and crushed all his organs!

"Die!" Li Tianming snarled as the assassin looked at him, eyes filled with disbelief. The assassin slowly sank to his knees, blood gushing out like a river.

His body finally crumpled over, dead.

"You as well!" Li Tianming swung his right arm, and the Thunderfire Chain wrapped around the Bloodhell Broodmother. Its strong point was its army of Bloodhell Worms, but it was too close to Li Tianming.

It attempted to use Wailing Banshee to confuse Li Tianming, but Li Tianming was a step ahead in using his Bewildering Eye.

The chain's sharp edges split the broodmother into several sections. It didn't matter what level of lifebound beast you were, you would still go to hell before the current Li Tianming!

All of the worms collapsed into dust at the death of the broodmother, as they were originally just a part of it.

The night's events came to a close, leaving behind a room covered in blood. The little chick was exhausted too, having fended off many worms to protect Wei Jing.

It had been a really close shave, but strangely enough, Li Tianming felt no fear. He realised his heart was much stronger than before, stronger than anyone else. It was through this heart he had weathered this crisis.

Although the assassin was dead, Wei Jing was still being tormented by the poison. Killing him hadn't been enough to soothe Li Tianming's anger nor save Wei Jing. Li Tianming had also been poisoned, but the poison within him had been neutralised already. However, he was still aware of how vile it was. Moreover, he was a healthy youth in his prime, while his mother was like a flickering candle about to go out.

"My apologies for arriving late." A young-looking man appeared in the room. He was dressed in a long robe covered in stars. His eyes sparkled in the darkness like a starfield. He no longer hid his identity and showed his true appearance.

As expected of one of the Starry Twins, Sage Chen of Xing & Chen Merchantry did possess a dignified and elegant bearing.

The moment he had been thrust into danger, Li Tianming had crushed the spirit gem he had been given. Still, Sage Chen still needed time to arrive no matter how mighty he was. He had already arrived rather swiftly, considering everything had wrapped up quickly.

"Sorry, I didn't expect such a situation." The spirit gem Sage Chen had handed him had been for more standard situations, such as a senior suppressing Li Tianming or Wei Jing's illness flaring up.

He definitely hadn't expected someone to try assassinating this nameless nobody.

"It's alright. My mother's been infected with the Bloodhell Poison." This was what Li Tianming was most worried about now.

"Bloodhell Poison? Don't worry, I can cure it."

Li Tianming had faith in Sage Chen's abilities, so he stepped back.

Sage Chen took a quick glance before saying, "It'll be fine. Bloodhell Poison is a type of paralytic agent. It'll hurt, but it won't have any adverse effects on the body. I'll just use spirit herbs to hasten the detoxification."

Li Tianming felt much more relieved after hearing that. He didn't add anything, and as Sage Chen helped Wei Jing, he brought the corpse to the courtyard to incinerate the corpse, leaving no trace behind.

Then, he cleaned up the bloodstains in the room.

"You're back, young master?" The auntie in charge of looking after Wei Jing finally woke up from the firelight. The disturbance before hadn't been very loud as Li Tianming had quickly killed his enemy.

Li Tianming smiled. "I'm bringing my mother along to watch my ranking battles in the institute tomorrow."

"Young master really is a genius! I'm jealous of the madam for having such a great kid."

"You flatter me. I should be the one thanking you for caring for my mother."

"Young master pays me well and the madam is so nice as well. I'll naturally do my best. Right, what are you burning?" She asked curiously.

"A corpse!" Li Tianming grinned.

"You really do know how to crack jokes. I won't be scared so easily." Auntie Li laughed back.

"Is that so? Have a good rest, I'll be going in to accompany my mother."

"Alright. Give me a holler if you need anything."

The ordinary people in the city really were so pure that it was cute.

On the other hand, the powerful clans were so vile to the point demons were probably better friends.

Who was it that had been so vicious to call a hit on him?

"To think that the Bloodflower Chamber was even involved... who did you offend? Their rules insist on accepted missions being completed. This means another will come soon."

"How is she?" Li Tianming asked.

"She'll be fine after a night's rest. The main problem is her Lifesbane. As long as it's removed, she will recover her vitality."

"How do I do that?" Li Tianming asked.

"It's not convenient for me to say if she didn't tell you. Anyway, someone in Heaven's Sanctum can do it," Sage Chen said.

"Alright." Li Tianming nodded. "The Chamber won't dare do anything as long as I'm within the institute compound, right?"

"Yes."

"What about my mother?"

"Don't worry. It was my negligence this time. I'll assign someone to protect her from the shadows."

"Thank you." Li Tianming wouldn't know what to do if not for this man. Perhaps his only option would be to beg Mu Wan to bring his mother into the institute.

"It's fine. Your mother and I had a friendship. I couldn't possibly stand by and watch her die. Still, it's better for you to not tell her I came by, or about the guard detail."

"I understand."

"I'll be going first. I'll be watching your performance tomorrow." Sage Chen rose to his feet, probably to arrange for the protection. He had so many trusted subordinates that this wasn't anything difficult.

After he left, Li Tianming lay together with the little chick in the courtyard to watch the starry sky.

"I thought I was going to die," Li Tianming said softly. "But I didn't. Now I suddenly have this feeling, that maybe, I won't die in this life."

Everything seemed to have calmed down, but in reality, the fire in his heart was still raging.

"What does that mean?" The little chick asked, confused.

Li Tianming suddenly stood up and looked at it passionately.

"What?" The little chick subconsciously covered its chest. "Hey, if you have those kinds of desires, don't come to me. I don't like guys!"

"Moron." Li Tianming gave it a smack. "I suddenly have some enlightenment. Why don't we shoot for Spiritsource tonight?!"

They had only been in ninth level Beast Vein for three days.

"Have you gone cray cray?"

"Nope." It was only that his confidence had suddenly become boundless, enough to attempt for Spiritsource!