Beastmaster of the Ages

Chapter 2359 - Strongest Family

Tianming was facing an ebon, so that meant he would be going up against many foes at once. He prepared himself to end it quickly. Her name's Shenxii Yao, so she's from the Shenxi Clan as well. She might be Shenxi Shang's little sister. Tianming had a rough impression of the name, though he hadn't paid much attention to her, as Yi Taoyao was far more well known.

Shenxii Yao was also much younger as well; it was her first time participating in the minor reges mundi ranking event. According to the Lin Clan's records, she was estimated to rank within the top twenty, yet she had actually taken fourth place. She used to be third, too, before Tianming was ranked above her. She was a dark horse in the event, much like him.

"The Shenxi Clan of the ebons are a little like the Nineshades Clan of the Theocracy of the Ancients where the male members of the clan have the Dongyang surname while the female members bear the Jiang surname. For the Shenxi clan, the male surname is Shenxi and the female surname is Shenxii, written a little differently," Tianming said.

"What's the difference?" Ying Huo wondered. The pronunciation sounded too similar.

"The female surname is written with an additional character for 'sun'," Tianming told it telepathically. [1]

"Huh? You'd think that the male surname would be the one with the sun," Ying Huo said.

"Shenxi Yao should be about the same age as Lin Linglin, who's also pretty talented for her age." As he spoke, he saw a golden mist approaching him, radiating soul power. He didn't see any nova wildbeasts within it, only a girl with a small figure approaching him. Oddly, she didn't seem to harbor any killing, or even fighting intent for that matter.

Tianming soon got a good look at her appearance. Her cold, aloof voice was greatly mismatched by her appearance. She looked incredibly young and petite, wearing a short black dress with crimson floral patterns. Her hair was dark brown, and her whiteless eyes sparkled like the darkest obsidian. The slightly dazed look she had on her face paradoxically made her cuter. Her skin was incredibly pale, like snow, making her look like a finely crafted porcelain doll, designed to charm. She looked just like a peeled lychee, its fruity white flesh deliciously glistening. That was probably how Ji Ji and Xian Xian would look if they grew up. There was also an exotic air about her, thanks to her features as an ebon. She was on the polar opposite end of the beauty spectrum when compared to Yi Taoyao's goddess-like proportions.

"What the.... A little vixen of darkness!" Ying Huo was stunned at the sight of her beauty. "Little Li, why don't you start a harem? If you have one, you could get her to join!"

"Shut up." Tianming alertly looked at the seemingly harmless little girl with curly, dark hair. Eventually, his eyes settled on her hands. Even with her palms held together, he could still see her gold soul eyes. So she's also a grade-nine talent with taixi soul eyes. It's no wonder she was able to be ranked third before I was. She would definitely grow as powerful as Shenxi Shang in a few more years.

The second rex mundi is really putting in the work making offspring.... To think there'd be two in this century alone.... Tianming recalled that, among the five ebons ranked in the top ten, four were from the Shenxi Clan. The fifth and seventh were women, and they were also the second rex mundi's wives. The ninth, on the other hand, was the second rex mundi's son and the elder brother of Shenxi Shang and Shenxii Yao. Basically, anyone in Ebonia with gold soul eyes belonged to that family, and they were unquestionably some of the biggest powerhouses in the entire Infinitum Mundus. Shenxi Shang and Shenxii Yao would no doubt be part of the top ten in the future as well. Before Yi Daiyan rose to power, the Shenxi family was the unquestioned number-one faction.

"I heard that the gold-eyed Shenxi Clan has one of the strictest restrictions and controls on their bloodline. I wonder how serious they are," Ying Huo said. Their telepathic conversation barely took any time at all.

"They're so strict that they only have an appetite for their own." Tianming had been quite speechless when he heard that at first. Even the Swordgod Lin Clan that prized maintaining a pure bloodline wouldn't go so far.

"What does that mean? Do they eat those in their own families?" Xian Xian's interest was piqued whenever any mention of eating came up.

"In other words, they only let siblings marry. The second, fifth, and seventh reges mundi are all siblings as well. As for the rest... well, I'm sure you get it," Tianming said.

"That isn't anything surprising. Plants like me can even self-pollinate! Our bloodline's even purer!" Xian Xian said.

"What the?! Xian Xian, are you a hermaphrodite?!" Ying Huo said, completely flabbergasted.

"No! I'm a soft girlie girl!" Xian Xian said, pouting.

"Even if that's the case, if other plants are all hermaphrodites, you'll never be able to find a husband," Ying Huo said with a worried look.

"You stupid chicken, I'll eat your flesh and drink your blood!"

"Mercy! Mercy!" Ying Huo flapped its wings and flew out of the lifebound space, perching on Tianming's head, but he couldn't be bothered with their silly bickering.

Their family’s been practicing strict inbreeding for countless generations to ensure their gold soul eye bloodline stays pure! How dedicated! Those from every single generation had taixi divine eyes without exception. Surely, there was no purer bloodline than that. The way they passed on their legacy was so strict that their partners had basically been determined at the moment of their birth, ensuring the proliferation and longevity of the taixi divine eye bloodline in the Infinitum Mundus for eternity. While there were many clans that strove to protect their bloodlines, nobody did it as coldheartedly as the Shenxi Clan. Even among the ebons, many grade-eight soul eye clans intermarried.

In other words, Shenxi Shang and Shenxii Yao will probably marry in the future even though they're siblings.... There was usually a good reason that one ‘strongest clan’ would emerge above all others. Those that were able to steel their hearts and aim at a single goal were nothing to scoff at. Nobody would dare to criticize them as long as they were the most powerful, even if their marriage practices were normally something most people shunned. Not even Tianming; in fact, he almost respected them for committing so hard to their goals. He split his sword into two, putting one on the ground and holding up the other horizontally, letting his fighting spirit rise.

"Brother Lin Feng, did you hide your Oldgod Ring? That way people outside won't be able to see you fight."

Tianming didn't expect her to address him in that way and pay attention to his right hand. He had been using his sleeves to hide the mysterious ring he had taken from Guchi Xiaoyin, so Shenxii Yao thought he was wearing an Oldgod Ring.

"So what if I am?" Tianming asked. His lifebound beasts would be much faster than her warbeasts, but she didn't seem like she was going to use them. Tianming could end it in an instant with his beasts and divine wonder the moment she attempted to summon them.

"Then I won't wear one either." She removed her Oldgod Ring and put it into her spatial ring.

"Shenxii Yao, are you crazy?" came Shenxi Shang's ghostly voice before Tianming could say anything. They had already shown that destroying the others’ Oldgod Ring was enough to eliminate their foe. While it was possible that those who vanished had died all the same, there was at least a chance of survival, while dying in combat meant actual death! Removing one’s Oldgod Ring was like asking for a fight to the death.

1. Male surname: 神羲 Female surname:’神曦. They're pronounced exactly the same in Chinese, but we’ll be differentiating them by using an additional 'i' for the female version.