Beastmaster of the Ages

The Swordsoul Chamber didn\'t belong to the third branch alone, so seniors from all nine branches were there. They had all heard the legends of the Grandvoid Swordfiend and Unisword Goddess growing up, as they were the most recent reges mundi the Lin Clan had. Past reges mundi were too far back in history for them to still be relevant. However, generations of clan disciples had grown up on their words of advice and the sword arts they’d left behind. As such, seeing two apex sword arts being executed by a single disciple caused another wave of shock to spread.

"He really did learn them!"

"They look rather powerful too!"

"To think that a mid-deific-class nova wildbeast would be killed just like that...."

"Do you get it now? How could Lin Feng be so powerful in combat but have no minor stellar chart? Has something gone wrong with his cultivation? Or is he hiding it?"

"Lin Huan is a sixth-level stellaminor, yet he doesn\'t seem stronger than Tianming at all."

The same thought began forming in their minds. Even if a disciple wasn\'t an infinitum-class genius, if they could fight at a level of sixth-level stellaminors before reaching a hundred years old, they definitely weren\'t trash in any sense of the word. The initial impression they’d had of Tianming was incredibly bad, but it was beginning to change despite the uphill battle.

"Actually, as long as he tries to atone, it\'s not too bad. At least his talent\'s normal."

"Since the two reges mundi have already chosen him, what’s left to say?"

"Not to mention, his wife Jiang Feiling faced the bloodline hairfiend without a single trace of fear, and she isn’t even thirty. Her value is immeasurable."

"It’d be shallow of us if we keep mocking him and putting him down without giving him a chance."

"We’re all the same in the Lin Clan. We should be one united family."

Similar sentiments formed all over. Everyone knew that he was Lin Mu\'s son, but his actions were changing how they viewed him. It was a dangerous sign to Lin Xiaoyun, the Lord of the Swordsoul Chamber. Lin Feng\'s slowly being accepted.... That means the hate for Lin Xiao and Dongshen Yue is fading! His brow furrowed deeply as he sat on his throne.

Someone came in and reported, "Chamber lord, Sixth Branch Master Lin Bao is here."

"Noted." Something flashed across Lin Xiaoyun\'s eyes, but he immediately concealed it. He put on a smile and welcomed his guest. "Honored guest, welcome! You have my apologies for the less-than-sterling hospitality I can offer."

A commotion outside could be heard as a huge figure walked in. Upon closer inspection, the person wasn\'t burly, but fat. Blubber was layered upon blubber on his body. His hair looked like thick braided whips, his face was covered in stubble, and he had incredibly small eyes. All of it made him look like Lin Huan\'s splitting image. He was Lin Huan\'s father, Lin Bao, and he was known for an incredibly explosive temper and direct personality.

The moment he entered, he locked eyes with Lin Xiaoyun. "Lin Xiaoyun you lowly dog! How dare you involve the juniors in the politics of the council?!"

Lin Xiaoyun\'s smile faded. "Lin Bao, what do you mean by that? I fail to understand your anger."

"Playing the fucking fool, are we? Do you think your sneaky moves fooled anyone? How could your Swordsoul Chamber\'s aid be so inefficient when we had a breach from a mid-deific-class nova wildbeast? That can only happen with your explicit orders! I knew you were a sneaky fuck, but I didn\'t think you’d be so petty. You don\'t have a shred of class. How could a scheming backstabber like you still claim to be part of the Lin Clan?" Lin Bao stomped on the ground, causing the entire chamber to shake.

"Lin Bao, I won’t tolerate false accusations like this. Even though I’m the chamber lord, the Swordsoul Purgatory encompasses a wide area and it’s difficult to monitor every single corner of it. Do you think your son deserves special rescue rights? We here at the Swordsoul Chamber have to follow protocol, and it isn’t your place to question how we do things. If you have a tantrum to throw, do it at the council. Don’t harass the rest of us here with your ramblings." Lin Xiaoyun looked completely unfazed and sat back in his seat, not even bothering to properly receive his guest.

"Interesting... I really can\'t look up to petty schemers like you. It\'s no wonder my dad said that your lot is short sighted. You only care about short-term gains," Lin Bao said, shaking his head.

"All of us argue in the council for the good of the clan. The Swordsoul Chamber also does its job following established protocol. If you\'ve had your fill venting, you may leave. Your baseless accusations will only create more divisions in our clan. If the two of us start fighting, it won\'t lead to any good outcomes for the clan, so don\'t go looking for trouble where there is none."

"Hehe..." Lin Bao pointed at his head and continued, "I\'m sure you know what\'s going on in that noggin of yours. There\'s no need to lie. I\'ll return the warning you gave me back to you: don\'t mess around with us if you don\'t have a good reason to. It\'s one thing to work for the good of the clan, but if you\'re using underhanded methods to further your own gains and harming the clan, the house rules are off! Be ready to see me in the Infinitum Bodhimanda if that happens." Lin Bao left as quickly as he came.

"He wants to challenge me to an Infinitum Duel? He makes it sound like I\'m afraid of him or something." Lin Xiaoyun just shrugged.

Tianming wasn\'t aware that the differing ideals in the council had developed to this extent. Once Lin Bao left, a projection of Lin Jie manifested from Lin Xiaoyun\'s golden transmission stone. Before the manifestation could say anything, Lin Xiaoyun said, "Brother Jie, hold off on reprimanding first. It isn’t like you don\'t know the troubles I\'ve had with the sixth branch. The other branches are still fine, but I really wouldn\'t mind ending the sixth branch\'s line for good."

"You can say that, but being too obvious and heavy-handed like that will make the other branches wary. You’re destroying the of unity of our entire clan!" Lin Jie hissed.

"Unity? If it\'s so flimsy as to be destroyed just like that, it’ll break sooner or later, whether I\'m the one to do it or not." Upon saying that, Lin Xiaoyun realized the error of his words and hurriedly tried to correct them. "Brother Jie, don\'t worry. People die in the Swordsoul Purgatory all the time. There\'s no such thing as a perfect rescue service. The appearance of the bloodline hairfiend was an accident to begin with, and I’ll take the blame for this incident. At worst, the disciples should just not go to the Swordsoul Purgatory anymore."

There was a hint of truth to what he said. No matter what Lin Bao said, he would find it hard to prove to others that Lin Xiaoyun was intentionally putting his son in harm\'s way. Nobody would think that Lin Xiaoyun would stoop that low. In fact, carelessly accusing him without concrete proof could even result in the opposite effect. People would start to think that Lin Bao was intentionally framing him, especially when those with supervising positions, like chamber lords, only made high-level decisions rather than micromanaging every aspect of the institution they were in charge of.

"Brother Jie, Lin Bao\'s father, Lin Xiong, is the one that argues against you the hardest in the council, right? He\'s the one that’s accusing you of selling out the clan and going against the ancestors\' teachings! If we want to push back against the traditionalist wing of the clan, we have to subdue the sixth branch. Even though Lin Xiong already gave Lin Bao his position as branch master, he\'s still the lord of the Hall of Merit. That makes him much harder to deal with than the two old farts of the second branch. Do you have any way to handle him?" Lin Xiaoyun weakly asked.

"Nothing specific. Ku will eventually die of old age, but Lin Xiong might not!" The fact that Lin Jie had said that meant that their goals were still aligned. The sixth branch was their common enemy and they would even risk the clan\'s unity to see them eradicated."The problem is how in the world is Lin Feng doing all that? How’s he able to steal the show no matter where he is?" Lin Xiaoyun complained. If the bloodline hairfiend had killed Lin Huan, it would have been a nice bonus. Disciples with six-six talent were important assets, after all.