Beastmaster of the Ages

Huiye Shi sucked in a deep breath before looking at Li Tianming. "It'll be a fake marriage between us, and most importantly, you can't be my official husband. You can at most be a concubine I take before marriage. It isn't a glorious position, so don't expect any ceremony."

"I'll basically just bring you to see my parents, then record it in the clan records. It'll save a lot of time. It's just to give you a status in the clan and won't really affect your life. Live-in in-laws are all over the place here, so no one will mock you. Of course, the status will still be lower than us clan members.

"However, with me around, no one will bully you. As your talent and level increases, your name will spread and your status will shoot up. You'll probably even pull me up along with you. In the end, this is just a meaningless status. If you don't like me, I can't force love, can I?"

Tianming understood. In the end, this status would only be a little above a servant.

Huiyue Yin had many such concubines. It was the same for men and women. There wouldn't be any ceremonies, and not even any announcements. After he joined the clan, he would need to make introductions only if he met someone. It wouldn't affect his life, and was just a fake relationship just to fool outsiders.

Honestly, Tianming would never have considered this method if not for Ye Lingfeng. After all, he and Feiling hadn't even gotten married yet.

"There's nothing to hesitate about, is there? Honestly, I just want to escape sooner, so I'll do my best to help you. In the end, it's just a fake relationship." Huiye Shi smiled.

"Go out first, let me talk to him," Feiling said.

"Alright! This is my room, so no hanky panky! I'm still a young girl!" Huiye Shi left the room, leaving behind Tianming and Feiling.

"Big Brother," Feiling said softly, making Tianming look over with a gentle gaze. "I understand. I know you're doing this for Little Feng. His life is in danger, so this much is no big deal. What matters is what's inside your heart, right?" Feiling held Tianming's hand and smiled warmly.

"I'm just afraid you'll be uncomfortable inside," Tianming said.

"How's that possible? I'm not so petty!" Feiling winked at Tianming. "Of course, I'll smack her if she keeps trying to tease you!"

"I can't be bothered with her. Her heart is too fickle, so I need to keep a respectful distance."

"Then isn't it settled? Tomorrow, go and become a live-in son-in-law!"

Feiling hugged him from behind. Her long hair fell onto his shoulders and Tianming grabbed a few strands and sniffed, fragrance entering his nose.

"Alright then, it's time to begin my new life!" Tianming's eyes blazed as he looked out. "That so-called Sovereign Xi should be at the peak of the Ascendant stage, or even higher. If I have enough resources or fortune, I can catch up!"

His sovereign inheritance, Primordial Chaos Beasts, and the Aeonic Grandbane gave him unshakable confidence.

"The first step is to use the divine moonrace's caelum to reach ascendance!"

"The power of the stellunar source here is majestic, so I can continue on as well," Feiling pinched his ear and said. Feiling was different from Tianming; she wasn't good at combat. However, her Perpetia Sutra came from Xuanyuan Xi's memories and gave her a path of growth.

Those caelum might very well be useless to her. Her path of cultivation could only be found in her memories and Perpetia City.

The two hadn't been talking long before Huiye Shi got impatient. "Hey, dear concubine, don't cuckold me before we're even married!"

Tianming snorted in amusement before letting her in.

Huiye Shi gnashed her teeth. "I realized something. You're a Li! That… Li Qingyu is a Li too! Are you two related?"

"That's my sister!"

"Seriously, blood related this time?"

"Yes." Although they weren't, actually, there was no difference to Tianming.

"Eh, you two do look similar. So you have a sworn brother who's the Nightfiend and your sister is the Ninemoon Goddess. Why're you so lousy then?"

"Hey, you're looking at Flameyellow Continent's number one genius here," Tianming said confidently.

Huiye Shi simply giggled.

Tianming was too lazy to care. "Help me prepare somewhere to stay. When I make my rise, you won't be forgotten."

"Sure, I have a lot of rooms here. However, the soundproofing isn't good here, so if you're going to cuckold me, don't do it too passionately. I can't take too much excitement," Huiye Shi said.

Tianming was speechless.

It didn't take long before they settled down, and the three discussed the matter of identity.

……

It was late at night.

"The clan is huge and complicated. We really care about rules and etiquette. Don't just offend anyone, our rules are very strict. Your talent is good, but you're still young, so you aren't strong enough," Huiye Shi said.

"What's the standard of my age group here?" Tianming asked.

"Eighth or ninth-level samsara for those around twenty. The best would be eleventh-level," Huiye Shi replied. In the Flameyellow Continent, those of Tianming's age would only be fourth-level.

"There aren't any ascendants your age," Huiye Shi said. That was the reason she had thought so highly of Tianming. If he could reach the same height as the divine moonrace's greatest geniuses in the Flameyellow Continent, where would he end up if he grew up in the Divine Moon Realm?

"Ok, you can go away now." Tianming pointed at the door.

"You're going too far! Hmph!" Huiye Shi had just taken two steps when she suddenly realized something and looked back at Tianming in shock.

"What?"

"My gosh!" Huiye Shi was stunned.

"What happened?"

"I just realized that Li Qingyu is a miracle of the divine moonrace and rootbeast race. She has totems and a lifebound beast. If you're her brother, you also have a lifesbane! You can get totems too!"

"Don't let anyone know my relationship with her," Tianming said sternly.

"Why? If you have enough bane-rings, you'll have the same treatment as her and go straight to Orderia!" Huiye Shi said. She could clearly tell that Tianming's lifebound beasts were much stronger than Li Qingyu's.

"I can't."

"I get it! Li Qingyu was just dragged away like that. If that happens to you, too, no one can save Ye Lingfeng!"

"Exactly."

Tianming didn't share the other reason. From Li Wudi's letter, Tianming didn't trust the celestial orderian race. He had a feeling that nothing good was happening on Qingyu's end, so he had to stay hidden in the dark.

"Hey handsome, mind revealing how many bane-rings you have?"

"The highest your clan has is seven, right?" Tianming asked.

"Yes, that's our Sovereign Xi!"

"I, too, have seven." Tianming held some in reserve. He was only telling Huiye Shi because she had guessed it and he was curious about totems.

There was no reason for him to reject the boost from totems!

"Seven! Lemme see!" Huiye Shi nearly fainted.

Tianming's bane-rings were in his saint palace, so they weren't visible.

"Mine are special, they're inside my body," Tianming said.

"Where? Three inches below your abdomen, in a bold and powerful place?" Huiye Shi winked.

"How are you so… this?" Tianming rolled his eyes and gestured at her.

Feiling was still drinking tea at the side. In her surprise, she coughed it all out onto Tianming's face.

"One more question," Tianming said.

"Come, come, come!"

"If I create totems and have both totems and lifebound beasts but want to hide my relationship with Qingyu, and especially the number of my totems, is there a way to do so?"