Tianming stood beside a pavilion in the courtyard. He watched as the burly man landed on the ground and glared at him coldly.
"You dared to kill my son... Was life too peaceful for your liking? I'm Fu Yonghuan, and I'll make sure it's over for you for good." As he spoke, he applied a heavy pressure belonging to someone of the Samsara stage. Even though he looked young, he was already in his seventies. He said nothing else and immediately applied the pressure, intent on taking Tianming away and making him suffer for good.
Just as he was about to reach out to Tianming's head, Tianming took out an emblem.
"The Human Sacred Seal?!" Fu Yonghuan immediately knelt on the ground and shivered as he looked at the emblem with his eyes about to pop out. He then shivered and turned to Tianming, his killing intent from before completely gone. Based on his exaggerated reaction, Tianming recalled how Jian Wuyi had said that the emblem would be able to solve all his problems.
The Trinity Almanac said that the Human Sacred Seal represented the sect master of the Human Branch himself. While Jian Wuyi was nervous and respectful before Feiling, he was a godly existence to the likes of Fu Yonghuan.
"This lowly one didn't know that my lord is with the sect master! Please forgive me for my transgressions!" Fu Yonghuan immediately said.
"Guess your son's death was for naught."
"It was his honor to die by your hand, Lord!"
Tianming narrowed his eyes at his surprise. For him to be able to say something like this showed how highly valued discipline was as a virtue in this sect. What Fu Yonghuan feared more than anything wasn't just his death, but rather his whole clan's.
"You don't have to be so nervous about it. He came to cause trouble for me twice. Had he not threatened me with my friend's life, I wouldn't have killed him." Ending his life was simply the cleanest way to deal with the situation, for one wrong move could have caused Lin Xiaoxiao to die.
"Fu Bo deserved to be punished! Please forgive us, Lord! I will make sure he doesn't get a proper burial!" he said as his tears flowed.
"There's no need to go so far. I won’t hold this against you, but I have a request I want you to hear out."
"Anything, Lord."
"Make sure to not let word of this spread, especially the Human Sacred Seal. I wish to maintain a low profile. If word gets out, you’ll be doomed," Tianming threatened.
"Definitely!" Fu Yonghuan kowtowed and made sure to commit it to memory.
"Now go."
"Understood!" Fu Yonghuan backed away on his knees until he reached the entrance, then quietly jumped out. Tianming found it rather funny.
"This thing turned out to be pretty useful," he said as he put the seal away.
"Is Jian Wuyi really that scary?" Ying Huo asked. It had seen the man treat Tianming courteously before, so it didn't think he had so much power.
"He probably isn't. Her Eminence is. So this is the Archaion Sect, eh...." He now understood that without anyone watching his back in this dog-eat-dog environment, there was only one way for him to survive: beg for forgiveness.
Being in this environment, trouble would come looking for him even if he didn't seek it himself, especially with the faction battles. He would have to find some allies for it.
......
Outside the courtyard, Fu Yonghuan dusted his clothes.
"Uncle Fu? Where is he? Did you kill him straight away? Isn't that being too nice?" Xuanyuan Xixi asked.
He gave her a look and said, "First, you got my son killed. Now you want to get me killed, too?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Fu Yonghuan simply left, not wanting to remain at this location any moment longer.
"Did he kill him or not?" some people approached and asked.
"Let's go in and see!" Xuanyuan Xixi had a bad feeling about this as she pushed the door open, only to see Tianming glaring at her furiously. "You're still alive?!"
"Buzz off!" Tianming gave her a kick square in the chest and sent her flying. As the door slammed closed, she fell and tumbled on the ground.
"Fourth Lady! Are you okay?" those around her came to ask.
"Waaaah!" She broke out in tears, having never been bullied to this extent in the Human Branch before. "Get me my brother! Get him to come here!"
......
Tianming could hear her throwing a tantrum outside. "I must've used up all my luck to run into someone like that."
He found it rather troublesome to always be pestered by people like that. He only had two options: lick her boots or resist. However, he was never afraid of them.
"If they want a fight, they'll get one. It's not like their backing can match up to mine in the entire sect, after all."
Given that he had protected Feiling, it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to watch over him in the sect. Though, he wouldn't really need her to involve herself. The Human Sacred Seal would be more than enough.
......
In the training room next door, Lin Xiaoxiao stood in the darkness. Her Bloodsoul Bolthell Fienddragon glared at her while it perched on the ground. However, only she knew that it was no fienddragon, but rather the Archaionfiend itself.
"Have you had a taste of death today? Do you know how frustrating it is to be weak and helpless now?" the fiend asked.
"I tasted that long ago."
"And yet, you still don't desire power? Only with power will you be able to alter your fate and stop being whisked around! Just because he's nice to you now doesn't mean he always will be. He's just assessing what kind of threat you pose to him. If you get found out by him, he’ll immediately kill you without question!"
"But I have no ill will toward him. I think he's a pretty good person, too."
"Lin Xiaoxiao! Do you have any dignity left? He lifted you up by the throat! How can you think well of him when he was about to kill you? Does working with the Wei Clan to kill your whole family make him a good person, huh?"
"You don't need to bother corrupting me. My mind's clear."
"You! If this goes on, you'll never get my eye! If you can't fulfill your contract then I'll never release those two's souls! They'll never be able to rest in peace!" the Archaionfiend spat angrily.
"Don't go overboard. The worst that can happen is that none of us gets what we want! I'm not afraid of you!" she said with a furious glare.
"What's so overboard about that? Come here, I'll let you in on a secret."
"Just say it!"
"Do you know who he is?"
"Li Tianming. Who else?"
"Hehe... He's from the Sky Plunderer Clan, my clan's arch enemy! Even though I have devolved and become your lifebound beast, my memories remain intact. It was one of their clan that dug our eyes out!" it said with seething hate.
"What clan?"
"Sky Plunderer Clan. Their left arms have hexagonal scales. That's the most obvious sign."
"So is he amazing like you are? Did they come from the cosmic aether too?"
"That's right."
"What else do you know?"
"It won't do you any good to learn of it now. With my current power, we're trapped in the Flameyellow Continent. There's nowhere else to go."
"So, what’s your goal?"
"I can be certain that he has come to the Archaion Sect for the Archaionfiend Eye!"
"Why would he?"
"Those of the Sky Plunderer Clan need our eyes to awaken their power. It’s shameless thievery!"
"So he'll fight you for the eye?" Lin Xiaoxiao grit her teeth.
"That's right. You won't be his match and will always be one step behind. Back then, you didn't have a rival and could take your time with cultivation. But now you have to surpass him, or your two lifebound beasts will be doomed forever!" it said with a sinister laugh.
Lin Xiaoxiao fell silent as she faced her hate, suffering, and dilemma. "If he's so capable, how can I hope to catch up?"
"I have a way."
"Out with it."
"Even though I've deteriorated a lot, I still have millions of years' worth of memories and cultivation insights. We cultivate along the same path, so I’m able to raise your heavenly will to the very peak. You’ll be able to cultivate what I have directly without needing to rely on Astral Will."
Thanks to the limitations of symbiotic cultivation, it needed Lin Xiaoxiao to grow powerful before it could. Beastmasters were the main core of the cultivation pair, after all.
"Then why didn't you do that from the start?"
"There’s a chance your heavenly will will collapse and cause your soul to disperse! If not for the presence of a Sky Plunderer, I wouldn't have to take this risk. But if he gets the eye, it'll be over for me! That eye can increase our recovery by ten times!" it said hastily.
"My will's so weak that my soul might just get scattered after all."
"You won't. You'll survive."
"Why?"
"Because even if you fail, I’ll continue torturing them. You don't have the right to fail. You have to survive," it said as it continued snickering.
"Wu You, will you control me for the rest of my life with those two?" Her voice sounded torn and hurt.
"Why not? It's not my fault you can't let go of your attachments toward them. Why do you have to be so sentimental? To feel is to sin, young one. The weak deserve neither feelings nor dignity." The Archaionfiend stuck its tongue out and licked her hair, causing a black liquid to drip off it.
"Curse you, Wu You." Her voice was as cold as the depths of an abyss.
"Likewise."
......
A gentle breeze blew through the courtyard's pavilion. Tianming felt the soul servant swirl around his left arm; it now considered his left arm its vessel and had been staying there ever since.
Tianming stretched his arm out and took a book out of his spatial ring. It was none other than the samsara-ranked art worth three hundred million saint crystals. On the cover were large words that read: Ninenether Fiendgod Claw.