Armipotent

Tang Shaoyang currently faced the four leader tribes of the main tribe of the Orin Forest. He recognized two of them, and his eyes landed on Kairu, 'This blockhead is truly a leader of the tribe.'

—Blockhead commented on another blockhead, kinda funny.

Tang Shaoyang accidentally shared his thoughts with the spirits. Wen and Kairu were among the four, so only two left for the introduction.

The third beastmen was a white tiger, he had the same frame as the Flaming Lion, a little bit shorter though. The ivory eyes scanned him calmly, there was no change of emotion on him even after the announcement from Rumru that the four had to follow him.

As for the last beastmen, he was not expecting to see this species to be the four major tribes of the forest. It was a short monkey, around the same height as the goblin but with reddish-brown fur.

Another surprise was the equipment on the monkey. Yes, the short monkey was fully equipped with plate armor and a high-quality spear. While the other three just wore leather clothes, the monkey had armor on his body.

"The Snow Tiger of Ivory Tribe, Frost, and The Whiz Monkey of the Armoured Tribe, Jacky. Don't look down on his small build, but their tribe is the best smith, they have produced many excellent types of equipment!" Rumru introduced his four subordinates. Wen, Frost, and Jacky bowed their heads slightly toward Tang Shaoyang.

"Tang Shaoyang, Origin Emperor of the Tang Empire. You may never hear the name that because I come from another world," he boldly introduced himself. If he was in front of his subordinates, he would not be so bold.

It was kinda embarrassing to say it in front of his subordinates, but since none of them here, he dared to say it aloud.

The three tribes' leaders acted politely while Kairu remained defiant even in front of the old man. The Flaming Lion took a big step forward toward the old man, "Old Man, I can't accept your arrangement! At least not until he could prove himself that he is stronger than me!" The lion beastmen basically was challenging Tang Shaoyang. Then Kairu turned toward Tang Shaoyang with a big grin, his face was telling Tang Shaoyang that the battle could not be avoided.

"Oh, really? But I heard from Wen you lose a contest against him, and Wen told me too that you can't win against him in one vs one. Unless four of you fight together against him, then you have a chance to win against him, right Wen?" Rumru's dignified voice rang.

The way the Dragon was talking now was completely different. Before, the old man was giving off the gentle and kind old man, but how he looked like a serious and stern old man.

"That's Wen's judgment, and he's wrong! Let me fight him, I will prove you wrong by defeating him!" Kairu slammed his chest while pointing his finger toward Wen.

"How about my view? In my view, you stand no chance against him, and I don't want you to throw your life away because I know that once you know that you will lose, you will go all out, I don't want that to happen," Rumru shook his head, "If you don't want to follow my words, you and your tribe can go independent. I will not prevent you from leaving and this includes you three too!"

Since this was the internal talk, Tang Shaoyang stepped out. He got three steps backward and let them talk.

"You know, the reason I asked you to follow him because of my selfish desire. As you already knew, I have seen the future, and this man would be the one who helps me avenge my daughter and my wife!" Rumru pointed his finger at Tang Shaoyang, "He is the fateful man I have been waiting for. I hope you follow him to help him for my vengeance."

The four beastmen already knew about their King's backstory and his vengeance on the human gods. Hearing that, Kairu stepped back and looked toward Tang Shaoyang.

"You are thinking if he's worth being your new King?" The Dragon asked while knowing what in his four beastmen's thoughts.

"I don't doubt your decision, My King," Wen immediately kneeled toward the old man.

However, Frost and Jacky merely lowered their heads. It was pretty clear that there was a doubt in their hearts, and Rumru had expected that from the start.

"Hehe…" the old man let out a chuckle, "That's because you have seen him fight before," then he glanced at Jacky and Frost, "Why don't you give him a chance to prove his strength? Waskin City may be the best place for him to show you guys his true strength."

"Those knights are weak, I have killed–" Kairu tried to refute but Rumru cut in, "Do you think they are weak? Have you forgotten who drove you and your tribes into hiding in the Orin Forest, Kairu?"

Rumru's words silenced the Flaming Lion as the latter lowered his head while gritting his teeth.

"Your heads and your people's heads are just trophies for the adventurers, and you and your people's existences are condemned by churches. You have been hunted by humans and they forced you to hide, but you never changed even after all of this! You are just going to repeat your father's path if you keep looking down on your opponents," The old man shook his head.

"Just like my head, it could be considered as the biggest trophy for the human, but I never lost my head for thousands of years because I always respect all my opponents, and always go all out to right them. But of course, I have a few reckless moments, but you have to learn from those moments and live on!"

The Dragon seemed to want to continue but he shook his head again.

"Let's not talk about your father or what path you will choose, everything is in your hand. Just telling you that besides my selfish vengeance, it is because I want you and your tribe to thrive, and I have seen the potential where this man will even surpass me hence I asked you to follow him. I guess that's it, my last wish for you is to destroy Waskin City, I can't ask you more than that."

"My Lord!" The four beastmen were alarmed when they heard the last part. Last wish which meant their King would die soon, the four immediately grasped the situation.

"Yes, this will be our last meeting. My time is coming…" the old man closed his eyes as a gentle smile formed on his lips.

The four beastmen were beyond shocked since it came too sudden. They had prepared for this, just not expecting it would come this soon, "You will be free after the city is destroyed…"

Rumru opened his eyes and walked toward the four beastmen. He squatted next to Jacky and hugged the frozen monkey, "Make the decision and live with it, may your wisdom bring you to your rightful place," the old man stroked the monkey's fur.

The Dragon then hugged Frost and Wen, he repeated the same words for them too. The last was Kairu, the old man hugged the Flaming Lion, "Make the decision and live with it, and may your strength, your experiences, your wisdom bring you to your rightful place."

After the parting words, the old man returned to his original spot, "Now, can you leave me and Tang Shaoyang?"

The four beastmen kneeled, the four seemed to have something to say but no words came from them. They kneeled and showed their last respect before finally, they left the crystal cave with no words.

"Quite emotional for beasts, right?" The old man suddenly turned toward Tang Shaoyang and read his thoughts aloud.

"Do you have a skill like [Mind Reading] or something similar? How can you read my mind?" Tang Shaoyang blurted out.

"You will learn it if you can live for thousands of years like me," the old man grinned as it seemed he had picked the grin habit from Tang Shaoyang.

Tang Shaoyang shrugged while glancing at the four beastmen's back, "Are you sure this is enough for the parting? Why don't you spend a day or more, it's not like we are in a hurry."

"I may treat them as a kid, but they are not. Moreover, they have to face this eventually, the sooner the better so they can sever the attachment with me quicker too. Rather than that…" The Dragon scanned the man from the top to bottom, "Are you ready for the Bloodline Inheritance?"

"Of course, I am, anytime," Tang Shaoyang nodded without hesitation.

"You don't want to inform your people? The ritual itself only takes one to two hours, but the latter party is riskier. Because your body just will not accept the new heart, your body will resist the foreign component, especially your mana whirlpool, that's why the process is beyond painful. There's a chance you will die, but you will be fine since I will help you. As for how long your body will accept the Dragon's heart, it may take a day or even a week, and it could be a month. Everything depends on you!" Rumru summarised the whole process.

Tang Shaoyang furrowed his brows, he felt the Dragon underestimated him, "As I say, I am ready anytime. The question should be asked for yourself, are you ready to end your life?"

The old man grinned ear to ear when he heard that, "I want to see your pained expression later, that may be the last bliss of my long life. Since you are ready, let's start the Bloodline Inheritance then."