Chapter 2467 - The Tenth Branch
Ever since coming to Gladeus, Tianming didn't feel that it was too different from Ebonia. At most, its nova source was a bit more volatile, but it wasn’t as dense as Ebonia’s—though that only made Ji Ji like it even more. It was absorbing it at a rate so fast that its actual body gained quite a lot of mass. It was starting to look like a small nova source world without a formation that actually controlled it.
"Looks like the manna you got helped. You’ve gained weight," Tianming said.
"I’ll speak to no oath breaker," Ji Ji said, rolling its eyes. It still remembered the pleasure balls Tianming had never given it.
"We've arrived at Skycross Bladegrave," Lin Xiaodao said as the youths took a deep breath in anticipation. The Reaper had crossed many gigantic storms and finally reached a quiet place. It was like an oasis of tranquility in a desert of chaos.
The world ahead of them brightened all of a sudden as they passed through the formation that kept the storm at bay. They didn't need a sanctuary-class formation for that. Every human in Gladeus had to live within such formations.
Tianming looked around and saw a picturesque utopia filled with many old trees that reached across endless stretches of mountains, adorned with beautiful lakes and rivers that contained rich nova source. Such a place would be a heaven in heliacal- and skypiercer-class worlds.
"Why’s such a beautiful realm called Skycross Bladegrave?" Nothing about the place suggested that it was a place of rest and mourning. However, Tianming noticed not long after that countless swords were embedded within the trees, mountains, rivers, and fortresses. Some of them were defective, while others were old and rusted. The Infinitum Swordsea was also filled with countless random swords like those.
"Our branch of the Lin Clan used to be a line of smithing gurus back in Ebonia. As Gladeus was rich with divine ores and had around half of the mass of Ebonia, we decided to move over for good! Most people from our branch are talented smiths who make their own swords. At least on that front, we're much better than the Infinitum Swordsea," Lin Xiaodao said.
"Divine ores? Are there a lot of metallic ones?" Tianming asked.
"Too many! We might have even more metallic divine ore reserves than Ebonia. Gladeus is the biggest producer and exporter of sanctuary- and ether-class divine ores in the entire mundus! Through the Prime Myriadsword Corporation, the swords we forge here are sold all throughout the mundus!"
"Give me! Give me!" Yin Chen excitedly spouted.
"Those ore veins belong to you, right, since you're the etherean?" Tianming asked.
"Seven-tenths of them do. I know that lifebound beast of yours needs metallic divine ores. I'm your master, so you don't need to hold back. You'll get what you deserve. I'll give it its fill of deific-class divine ores until it chokes to death on them!" Lin Xiaodao generously said.
"Holy shit! Master, you're amazing!" Tianming was all too happy to have a proper sponsor once more. Then again, part of Lin Xiaodao's generosity was that he expected to use Yin Chen's help in the upcoming conflicts. While it was a bit limited on Ebonia, thanks to the gravity, it could freely use its tiny cockroach form here. Not having to move as larger units also made them even harder to detect.
"Head to Bladebath Palace. The other clan members are waiting for our return there."
"Alright."
"You've read about Lin Zhongtian and Lin Zhonghai already, right? They’re my eldest and third uncles. In the Bladegrave, they’re second only to me."
"I read it, yes."
"Good. Let me remind you that they're really disillusioned by anyone from the Infinitum Swordsea because of the incident involving your father. They believe that the matters of Ebonia will bring trouble to Gladeus, so they’re trying to protect themselves by cutting ties with the Infinitum Swordsea."
"I see... got it." It seemed that there were dissenting opinions within the tenth branch as well. While Lin Xiaodao was the etherean and the eighth rex mundi, the other two were his relatives and had their own lofty reputations. If they didn't agree to Lin Xiaodao taking the risk, things would be troublesome. "Master, I read that Lin Zhongtian's family is the actual line of succession. Is that the case?"
The tenth branch hadn't truly been formed yet, but those at Gladeus already considered it such and had even established their own line of succession.
"That's right," Lin Xiaodao said.
Soon, they arrived at Bladebath Palace. Tianming saw a lake that was as large as an ocean. Above it were seventy thousand people in attendance; they were probably the figures of import of the Gladean Lin Clan. They looked up as the Reaper made its descent. Lin Xiaodao was the first to disembark, followed by Tianming.
"Congratulations on your return, Eighth Rex Mundi!" all seventy thousand cheered at once, half kneeling. At least there wouldn't be problems when it came to Lin Xiaodao's reputation. He was deeply trusted and held in high regard, especially after defeating the tenth rex mundi.
"Rise!"
The youths behind Lin Xiaodao looked at all of them. Tianming noticed that they were all astral gods! "They should be all the astral gods of the clan in Gladeus.... There's even more of them than the second branch has!"
While there weren't as many top cosmic cartographers compared to the other branches, the astral gods here seemed much younger. It was a sign of their rapid growth in the past two millennia.
"Congratulations, Etherean, for ranking in the top ten and shaking the mundus!"
"All hail Etherean Gladeus!"
Congratulatory cheers came in constant supply.
"It's no big deal! I was only fighting normally. It isn’t worth bragging about!" Lin Xiaodao said, then pulled Tianming forward, much to the surprise of many others. They didn't know that he would be bringing someone back. Some of them couldn't even recognize him.
"Let me introduce him to all of you!" He pointed at Tianming and excitedly continued, "He's the second branch master of the clan, a swordgod disciple, and the first ranker of the minor reges mundi ranking, Lin Feng!"
The seventy thousand astral gods that heard the name were stunned and didn't react.
"However, he’s gaining a new identity today." Lin Xiaodao pointed at himself and smiled. "As my personal disciple."
There was nothing but enduring silence.