Beastmaster of the AgesBeastmaster of the Ages
"Suishen Jiguang!" Eminent Ranxing's eyes narrowed. "The most crucial thing is that he isn’t a pure totemancer. In fact, he mainly fights using his lifebound beasts, so the beastmaster House Qitian is involved to some extent. We still can't say for sure whether he’s a blessing or a curse. House Suishen isn't the worst off, so there's no need for us to take a risk and make changes to such an extent."
"We've been falling behind in third place for a long while, and you say we're not the worst off?" The beauty shrugged. "Forget it. Your excuses are hollow. I think you're only afraid of pissing off that vixen from House Yumo."
"Shut it!" Eminent Ranxing's eyes flared with rage.
"Suishen Jiguang, that's enough," the others warned.
"Tch! Keep on agonizing over it. I'm an eminent of House Suishen as well, so I have the right to bring him in without your agreement. If you don't like it, go complain to Dad about it." The beauty rolled her eyes and descended into the crowd below.
The other eminents exchanged glances and turned to look at Eminent Ranxing.
"Hmph!" Eminent Ranxing seemed incredibly displeased. He swept his long sleeves and turned to leave. The other eminents followed him.
Suishen Yuan and Suishen Yue had witnessed the entire proceedings. Suishen Yuan narrowed his eyes with doubt. "Eminent Jiguang...."
The pink-haired beauty had made it to the Ascension Colosseum. Suishen Yuan's expression was tinted green with envy and rage. In fact, a major pathkeeper like him had never experienced a glorious rise like Tianming's in all thousand years of their cultivation.
"Looks like this brat's future path will be smooth sailing. His performance on the Prehistoric Path far outstrips ours. He even earned Eminent Jiguang's fancy," Suishen Yue said with a low voice.
"What about it? He's still a brat who isn't a foundationeer yet. Also, haven't you noticed that the more impressive he is, the more troublesome our parents and Uncle Ranxing believe he’ll be?"
"What’d Eminent Jiguang mean by the vixen from House Yumo?" Suishen Yue asked curiously.
"How would I know? Don't tell me that after Yaoyao's mother passed, he...."
"Are you sure it's after? Could it be before?" Suishen Yue slightly tilted his head.
"Who knows? I haven't heard of anything like that, at any rate," Suishen Yuan said.
"It's no wonder Yaoyao doesn't have a good relationship with her dad." Suishen Yue narrowed his eyes before suddenly smiling. "If such a relation does exist, however.... That means the seniors won’t want to worsen our relationship with House Yumo. Looks like that brat is caught up in quite an awkward predicament."
"What I can't understand is how Little Zhao already calls him a brother. Not to mention, he and his sister actually hate House Yumo!" Suishen Yuan said. He looked Suishen Yue in the eye and only just recalled that this was his biggest rival. He had been falling behind on the Maniverse Path, while Suishen Yue was near the top three!
"Brother Yuan, there aren't many divine idols left. I'll wait for you to pay your respects when the time comes." They had only been casually chatting about Tianming; now that the seniors had left, they no longer had to keep up any pretense.
"Don't celebrate so soon. We still don't know who’ll win," Suishen Yuan said. He still had a chance. The seventh divine idol was a test of talent. If he could clear the sixth and challenge the seventh while Suishen Yue failed it, he would be the victor.
***
Tianming was still explaining to Suishen Yao about his three breakthroughs. Right just then, he heard mentions of 'Eminent Jiguang,' 'truly beautiful,' and 'Goddess of Myriadpath Valley'. He turned back and saw a noble, mature-looking version of Suishen Yao descending toward him. That kind of grace wasn't something Suishen Zhao's spunky elder sister was capable of.
"Oh? Looks like the fun times just got better," Ying Huo said. It had been stunned at first sight. Eminent Jiguang looked too similar to Suishen Yao, save for her figure and aura.
Tianming knew that Suishen Yao had no elder sister, so his first thought was that this was her mother. However, he soon learned that she was the siblings' aunt when they greeted her. She was Eminent Ranxing's younger sister. She must’ve been cherished by many all her life. Suishen Yao will doubtless grow to become someone like her.
Even though she was hailed as the goddess of Myriadpath Valley, Tianming didn't dare to glance at her too much due to her high status. Unlike Eminent Ranxing, Eminent Jiguang seemed really young. Tianming figured that she had become an eminent soon after reaching two thousand years old. That was akin to being twenty in the mortal Vermillion Bird Kingdom; she was in her prime.
Comparatively, Tianming was just a child who wasn't even a year old. Astral gods were simply lifeforms on completely different levels, but that didn't change their physical growth rate all that much. At the very least, most astral gods grew to physical maturity in a few decades.
He only took one look at her and noticed that, while she seemed like someone incredibly noble and elite, she looked at him with admiration.
"Oh, wow, look at that thigh!" Meow Meow said.
"Fool, look at both of those thighs!" Ying Huo said.
They took the words out of Tianming's mind. He had thought that Eminent Ranxing would be the one to acknowledge his performance this time, but it turned out to be Eminent Jiguang... and that could only mean one thing.
When the Suishen siblings happily went to greet their aunt, Tianming followed them. He noticed that Suishen Yao and the eminent seemed incredibly close. They hugged in full public view. The sight of two beauties who were so similar yet felt so different hugging made quite a few men in Myriadpath Valley blush. They couldn't take their eyes off them at all. The fact that Tianming stood so close to them made many envy him.
When they were done greeting, Tianming gave his own. "My most humble greetings, Eminent Jiguang." Like her name suggested, the whites of her eyes that surrounded her pink iris contained hints of the polar lights. It made her seem far more alluring and deep than Suishen Yao.
"Good." Eminent Jiguang looked at Tianming from up close and pulled his sleeve up to see his feather-covered right arm.
"Greetings, beautiful Eminent Jiguang!" Ying Huo said, popping its tiny eyes out.