Li Tianming turned to look at Wei Jing. He would be embarking on his own journey now, and of course the one he was worried for the most was his mother. That was also why he wished to seek her opinion before leaving.
It would be a hard decision for any mother to send her own son into a new world filled with unimaginable risks and danger. But for Wei Jing, she simply gave him a thumbs up, and he immediately understood. She wanted him to make his own decision and follow his own heart.
Because of the rigging of the Abyssal Trials and the Sanctum Replacement Challenge, Li Tianming really didn’t have the best impression of Heaven’s Elysium. But then again, that might have just been because of the two vice-inspectors. He couldn’t tell what kind of a place the Elysium truly was simply by observing them.
On top of that, he didn’t have anywhere else to go. Every beastmaster in Vermilion Bird dreamt of stepping out of the nation to explore the world beyond, and Li Tianming was no exception. After overcoming the obstacle named Lin Xiaoting, he wanted to try out new challenges and interact with more powerful figures. For that to happen, Li Tianming would have to set aside his personal grudges with the two inspectors and replace Lin Xiaoting to become the new Elysium disciple.
This wouldn’t even have been an option while he was still causing trouble for the Elysium, but now the inspectors themselves had personally expressed interest in him. If he were to reject them now, it could even be a sign of disrespect and create another rift between them.
“That’s right, Li Tianming, join Heaven’s Elysium. That’s where a genius like you belongs!” Even the crowd was cheering him on.
Li Tianming barely hesitated. He looked at the inspectors and said, “But inspectors, what if I prefer to keep my own name?”
Both Jin Yixuan and Song Yixue smiled.
“Then ‘Li Tianming’ shall be the new disciple of Heaven’s Elysium!”
It was a deal! Li Tianming’s future was set to be a challenging, yet rewarding one.
“That’s the spirit. We’ll give you some time to bid farewell to your family. Three days from now, we’ll come and pick you up, then you’ll get to explore the vast world beyond Vermilion Bird!” For the inspectors, that was still an acceptable level of change to their plan. They were set to spend another three days in Aquamarine, anyway.
“Yes sir.”
After Li Tianming nodded, the two inspectors took their leave with the Yueling Clan tailing behind them.
“Yueling Ji,” Song Yixue called out to the slightly dazed girl.
“Yes, Madam inspector?” Yueling Ji replied.
“This Li Tianming is not too bad. Now that you’re both going to Heaven’s Elysium, it won’t hurt to make a good friend. Perhaps even more.” Song Yixue smiled gently.
“Understood.” Yueling Ji had been wholeheartedly convinced by him during their battle.
“Thankfully, there was nothing between you and Lin Xiaoting. Guess that Gelding Blight did a good deed,” Song Yixue added.
“Yes, madam inspector.” Yueling Ji suddenly recalled something else. “But from what I heard, Li Tianming already has a lover—the daughter of the Vermilion Bird King.”
“He will forget about that good-for-nothing girl soon. Worst case scenario, you’ll just need to erase her.”
“Understood.”
“I wonder if Lady Long is done with her vacation yet,” Jin Yixuan spoke up.
“She’s probably at Aquamarine now. I reckon she’ll like that country, since it has really good scenery and their sanctum is positioned on an island. Aquamarine is quite a peaceful place, and would make a good home for the Yueling Clan.”
“Sorry for troubling the two inspectors, and using up another three precious days of your time,” Yueling Hong immediately apologized.
“Doesn’t matter, we’ll just take it as a road trip.”
With that, the group stepped out of the stadium, leaving tens of thousands of citizens staring at Li Tianming in envy. Only Lightning Manor was still moaning and crying for their loss. When the inspectors expressed interest in Li Tianming, they knew that all was lost for the Lightning Manor.
“Back, back!” the Lightning Seigneur commanded, puking out more blood. Only the weak and old remained in the group, and they faced countless jeers and laughter from the crowd.
Lightning Manor had finally gotten a taste of their own medicine. In a world where strength was beyond all, they had no other choice but to face cruel reality. From now on, Lightning Manor was no more, and Li Tianming and Mu Yang were destined to be the peak of Vermilion Bird!
……
There were many others in the stadium who were deeply absorbed in their own thoughts, one of them being Li Yanfeng, hidden beneath his black cloak. He stood in a corner of the stadium, his fist repeatedly clenching and unclenching. Finally, he let out a bark of laughter.
“Damn straight, Li Tianming. I have never been this impressed with someone before, and never would I have imagined it would be the ‘son’ I never cared about. It’s too bad I chose the Lightning Manor, and there was never any kinship between us. Even though you treated me like a real father for sixteen years of your life, I never gave anything to you.
“It was my mistake to choose the Lightning Manor. Those bastards are way more heartless than I thought. Even though I was just using them for my own benefit, and they were using me for theirs, I won’t rest until I make that bastard pay!
“I hope that before you leave Ignispolis, you’ll hear one more tale about me….” Li Yanfeng silently left the stadium, trailing behind the remnants of the Lightning Manor. No one knew that he had returned on the third day, that he was impressed by Li Tianming just like everyone else, or that he was filled with regret then and there. Of course, no one would notice him leaving, either, as most people were still cheering the young man who returned to his family a hero.
Among the crowd, Sage Chen dragged Xue Lan with him and exited the stadium.
“Are you happy now? Still want to compare with her?” Sage Chen asked.
“Never again,” Xue Lan sobbed.
“Finally. If you’re so free, spend more time educating our children. ”
Of course there were more people who had all kinds of thoughts in their mind. For example, Fang Zhao and the rest of Li Tianming’s old classmates almost had their eyes pop out as they watched his battle. And on another side of the stadium, Supernal Mentor Liu Xueyao’s face was as pale as paper as she thought of what she needed to bring as a gift when she went to apologize at the Wei Manor later.
But as Li Tianming walked out of the arena, he cast one last glance at the stone gate. Was she still there?
“Her spirit must still be here. She must have seen it.”
Mu Qingqing must have witnessed the Lightning Manor’s destruction, Lin Xiaoting’s crying and howling, and of course, how Li Tianming would move towards a brighter future as a disciple of Heaven’s Elysium!
……
As he joined the Wei Clan, he could see that almost everyone was crying tears of joy. Their child was now the hero that had defended the entire clan. Though, Li Tianming only did it for the sake of his grandfather, Wei Tiancang, his mother, Wei Jing, and Mu Yang, the future potentate. As for Wei Tianxiong, Wei Zikun, and the rest… he was still reluctant to acknowledge them as relatives.
But needless to say, Mu Yang and Li Tianming’s extraordinary performances had brought glory to them as well, so they could no longer pick fault with him from now on.
“That’s my grandson!” Wei Tiancang beamed as he looked at Li Tianming like a boy looking at his favorite toy.
“Tsk, who was the one hooting about how he wasn’t your grandson? Regretting it now that he achieved more than you thought he could?” Wei Qing smirked.
“Shush, it was just me testing him,” Wei Tiancang awkwardly snapped, giving everyone a good laugh. Even Wei Zikun cracked up. He might have been crippled, but the Wei Clan was saved and he couldn’t have asked for anything more. Without Mu Yang and Li Tianming, the Wei Clan would be in Lightning Manor’s position now. It wouldn’t be a surprise if no one in the Wei Manor would have survived that scenario.
Wei Tiancang looked at Li Tianming, tears welling up in his eyes.
“The gods haven’t abandoned me after all! A grumpy old man like me really doesn't deserve such good fortune. Now I’m astonished by the very grandson I refused to acknowledge simply because he wasn’t brought up by me,” Wei Tiancang sighed.
“Heh, are you feeling a sense of defeat now that your methods of education are proven to be a failure?” Wei Qing said. Even though he had lost his lifebound beast, at least Mu Yang and Li Tianming had taken revenge for him. They had won this battle, and he would visit his brother’s grave, to drink with him and to talk about the Wei Clan’s glory.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Wei Tiancang stroke his beard, “Exhibit one! Mu Yang proved that I have been a good mentor. Exhibit two, Li Tianming, proved that my daughter has done an exceptionally good job.”
Between the two brothers, Wei Tiancang was never one to tone down his bragging.
“The world belongs to these youngsters, now. I hope to live for a few more years just to see what they’ll achieve in the future!” Wei Tiancang exclaimed.
“We’ll find out,” Wei Qing replied. But at least for now, he was definitely satisfied with Li Tianming’s performance. And he wasn’t the only one, as Wei Tianxiong and Wei Zikun appeared before Li Tianming and Wei Jing.
“Tianming, today, you are the Wei Clan’s hero. As your uncle, I hereby apologize for everything that I said about you in the past.” Wei Tianxiong’s head was bowed.
“Second sister, I apologize for trying to stop father from saving you. Please forgive my ignorance,” Wei Zikun apologized sincerely as well.
“Let bygones be bygones. As siblings, we should all drop our grudges and help our father together.” Wei Jing held their hands.
No matter how much conflict there was between them, blood was thicker than water. If they had sincerely reflected on their actions, Wei Jing would naturally prefer the family to be more united.
“Come apologize to Tianming!” Wei Tianxiong beckoned to his children. As ashamed as they were, Wei Guohao and the rest had no choice but to walk up to Li Tianming while trying to avoid his gaze.
“There’s nothing wrong with being ignorant while you’re still young. Now that you learned your lesson, remember to behave like members of the Wei Clan should. While I’m not around, you’ll be the ones to uphold the Wei Clan’s image.”
That was Li Tianming’s advice for them.
“We understand, elder cousin.” All of the youngsters had their heads lowered. They, too, had learned and grown from this experience.
Seeing that, Li Tianming realized he would never regret fighting for the Wei Clan. They were his family, after all. This included not just Wei Tiancang and Mu Yang, but even Wei Tianxiong as well.
At that moment, the Vermilion Bird King arrived. Li Tianming had been anticipating his arrival, since there was something important he needed to say; he wanted to take Jiang Feiling with him.
But would the king let him? It was equivalent to sending his own daughter into an unknown world full of risk and danger, and he wouldn’t even find out if anything happened to her. What were the odds that the king would agree to that?