Beastmaster of the AgesBeastmaster of the Ages
Suishen Yao, seeing that Yumo Yuanni didn't intend to kneel, laughed, "Very well. Looks like the strongest specters in the entire astralscape will be losing all their honor because of you, Yumo Yuanni."
Her mockery was more fatal than any weapon. The eyes on Yumo Yuanni's 'mask' dripped with blood. The entire Ascension Colosseum was completely silent, but everyone knew that had Yumo Yuanni been the one to defeat Tianming, he would have forced Suishen Zhao to kneel to crush his spirit. While kneeling wouldn't hurt the body, it would crush the soul and the spirit.
All of a sudden, a figure dressed in a twilight-yellow-colored robe appeared beside Yumo Yuanni. He seemed taller, but even lankier. He was built like bamboo, making his twilight-yellow robes really loose. He seemed to have not much muscles, being mostly boney all over.
There was a yellow fiend mask on his face. But unlike Yumo Yuanni’s fierce mask, his seemed to embody sorrow. He looked like someone fraught with tuberculosis. Even his steps seemed unstable and light, making it seem like he would perish in a strong breeze.
Mister Taihe had been in a similar state, but it was a far cry compared to this yellow-robed youth. The moment he appeared, the crowd made a commotion.
"It's him!"
Everyone widened their eyes and saw the tuberculous youth press Yumo Yuanni's head down to the ground.
"I won't kneel!" Yumo Yuanni groaned, but it was useless. The other youth forced him to his knees and kept banging his head to the ground. The entire colosseum echoed with the sound of head meeting ground.
Even though it had been a spat among kids, the scale had reached a point where even cultivators who were thousands of years old were shocked. They knew that once these children had a few thousand years to mature, an even bigger conflict might brew from the seeds sown this day. House Suishen had unquestionably won this bout. The fact that no seniors from any side stepped out to stop this showed how delicate the relationship between the Three Exalted Houses was.
"Don't just silently kowtow. I think you're forgetting your lines. Maybe start with apologizing!" Suishen Yao said, her voice even more piercing than the thuds. "Weren't you going to call eminents to kill my disciple? You were going to go that far? It's one thing for a proud disciple of House Yumo to lose to someone a third their age, but you’d send eminents to do your dirty work? You've single-handedly managed to tank the reputation of the Three Exalted Houses.
"Fine! Now everyone in the colosseum knows that you're a sore loser that only knows how to cry to your seniors when you don't get your way. You can't even compare to my brother! At the very least, he admits when he's defeated. He's lost to my disciple twice, but he isn't afraid of admitting it to the public! Even after all that, he still hasn't lost his fighting spirit! Yet all the so-called 'genius' of House Yumo can do is to cry for mommy and daddy after losing!"
Suishen Yao mercilessly laughed, making the other specters there blush from embarrassment. It was truly bad form to get seniors to kill someone one couldn't defeat. Even though it was technically the right of the powerful, it still wasn't something to be proud of, especially when they saw how Suishen Zhao dealt with his losses.
"A black ring disciple that's even more talented than minor pathkeepers has appeared in Myriadpath Valley! It’s a historic moment. It's proof that peak talent can come from outer mundi. Isn’t it our duty to give outstanding people like them chances to rise to become Myriadpath Valley's paragons so that even more outer mundi geniuses will aspire to follow in their footsteps?
"Are we supposed to throw our status around once we lose? Suppress them because we can't measure up to their talent? Who wouldn't lose heart? If that's the case, why should outer mundi geniuses continue coming to Myriadpath Valley just to get themselves killed?"
Suishen Yao used Yumo Yuanni’s defeat to make her argument. She had the benefit of being on the right side of the argument. If she had been the one to be defeated instead of Yumo Yuanni, she probably would have done all the negative things she said they all shouldn't. After all, abusing her power and authority felt absolutely gratifying.
Tianming knew that she was just trying to protect him. By winning the rhetoric game, she would ensure that Yumo Yuanni and the entire House Yumo wouldn't be able to touch Tianming.
She continued disdainfully smiling as Yumo Yuanni kowtowed a hundred times. "If my disciple disappears one day for any reason at all, it’s almost certain that the eminents of House Yumo are behind it. Everyone here’s witnessed how you do things, after all. Are you nothing but thugs? Or do you want to prove me wrong?
"When my younger brother was defeated, he immediately said that he would protect Tianming! But Yumo Yuanni wants daddy and mommy to deal with the kid he bullied once he fought back. What a joke! You are the ultimate shame of Myriadpath Valley!"
Suishen Yao's words were biting and harsh. She had branded Yumo Yuanni with such a shameful reputation. If Tianming perished before he could restore his dignity, that shameful label would never be wiped away for the rest of his life.
It was what she’d meant when she had said that she would ensure that Yumo Yuanni couldn't kill Tianming if he got defeated. With her little brother as the perfect foil to Yumo Yuanni, the argument was even more convincing.
The crowd believed that Suishen Yao was going a bit far, but they could understand that she was just doing it to protect Tianming. "I told you that the elders of House Suishen already talked it over. There's no way that the Little Demon King would protect that kid so fervently otherwise."
"If he continues performing so well, not only will he survive, he'll even rise to the top one day. I just wonder how much stock House Suishen really puts in him."
Some sentiments from Reverend Daolie and other naysayers still persisted, but the average person had good things to say about Tianming.
Eventually, all hundred kowtows were completed. Suishen Yao rolled her eyes. "So, kowtows without saying a word.... Looks like you still aren’t convinced of your loss."
"That's enough," said the tuberculous youth. He glared at Suishen Yao with his twilight-yellow eyes. "You went too far today and didn't leave us with any face. Things will escalate in the future, and you’ll bear the consequences."
"I'll bear everything. I wasn't the one who started it anyway," Suishen Yao said, addressing the person with slightly more politeness.
The youth glanced at Tianming and asked, "Is this your father's intention?"
"It's my own!" Suishen Yao said.
"It’d better be." The tuberculous youth still had his hand on the back of Yumo Yuanni's neck. He dragged the loser off the Fortuna Arena as people parted to make way for him. The entire colosseum was quiet, save for the angry howls of Yumo Yuanni. Huang Daosheng hurried to join them, his legs shaking.
"Yumo Yuanni, what do you think?" the tuberculous youth asked.