Chapter 4528 — What Are They Really Thinking?

"Senior, calm yourself. A small patience is the price of a great design. We are too weak as things stand—even if we stepped forward now, we could not stop the Vermilion Bird. But one day, this wrong will be repaid in full!" Wei Zhao's tone was firm.

He said this not merely to comfort the ghost-thing; he truly meant it. Given the bond between them, he could not simply stand by when such a thing happened. Wei Zhao believed that one day he would grow strong enough to intervene in the great affairs of the spirit beast clan—and when that day came, everything the Vermilion Bird had taken from the ghost-thing would be forced back out of it, twofold.

"You little wretch…" The ghost-thing could not help laughing at that, and the gloom that had weighed on it eased a good deal. "Do you take me for a brainless fool, that I don't understand such a simple truth? Though to be honest, with the temperament I used to have, patience was never my strong suit. But lately I've been sitting on you day in and day out, hearing and seeing it all—and what doesn't come naturally has been learned all the same. You've taught me a fair few lessons, you little wretch."

"Senior, you flatter me." Wei Zhao, for his part, was rather embarrassed, and scratched at his head.

"No need for modesty—this really isn't empty praise." The ghost-thing smiled, then sighed with feeling. "Take patience as your watchword in all things; wait until your strength is sufficient, then strike with the force of thunder. Watching enemies whose power once far exceeded your own be trampled underfoot one after another—I've realized that only by becoming a man like you is one truly ruthless!"

"Pff—" Wei Zhao nearly spat out a laugh. He only just managed to choke it down, sparing himself the notice of the surrounding spirit beasts, and said with a strange look on his face, "Ahem… Senior, is that a compliment or a jab?"

"A compliment, of course. Few are capable of it. Cultivators claim to cultivate body and mind, yet the vast majority are anything but lofty in spirit—hot-blooded brawlers are everywhere, and the hot-tempered are hardly rare. Many, to win a moment's pride, would sooner die than keep their heads down. You're different, you little wretch. If you can't win, you run—that's why you're still alive and well today." The ghost-thing spoke with feeling.

"Fine, then I'll take it as a compliment." Wei Zhao rubbed his nose, then asked, "Senior, the way you put it—does that mean you're not going to show yourself and reveal who you are?"

"What kind of foolish question is that… Look at the situation. From top to bottom this is the Vermilion Bird's own house, its word absolute. If I dared show myself now, not only would my soul scatter to the winds, but you'd be finished along with me." The ghost-thing curled its lip.

"True enough." Wei Zhao nodded. That was what he had thought all along; he had only been worried that the ghost-thing might lose its temper in the heat of the moment. Since the ghost-thing could hold itself in check, so much the better.

"Very well. I have gathered everyone here today because there is a great matter concerning our spirit beast clan that I must discuss with my spirit beast brothers. The Azure Dragon Elder will explain it to you in detail." The Vermilion Bird shot a glance at the Azure Dragon beside it, then retreated to its own seat, handing the floor to this newly installed Azure Dragon Elder.

The Azure Dragon cleared its throat, its voice carrying an odd metallic ring like striking metal, and addressed all the spirit beasts present: "Brothers of the spirit beast clan, by the King's decree, the Southern Continent has always been our spirit beast clan's territory. Yet look around us now—the waters of the Southern Continent are thick with human cultivators, who have all but taken the leading place for themselves. By what right?!"

The Southern Continent he spoke of was of course not limited to the Southern Island alone, but took in all the surrounding waters—Demon Cold, True Segment, Wei Arc, Distant Star, and the rest. The Southern Island together with the vast seas around it: that was the whole of the Southern Continent.

"That's right—by what right!" The spirit beasts erupted in a fury.

True, the spirit beast clan and the human sects had by now reached a tacit understanding of mutual non-aggression, and in recent years there had been no great upheaval. But in truth, the hostility between spirit beasts and human cultivators had never ceased.

Everywhere across the Five Cloud-Step Islands, the two sides had always been killing one another. Human cultivators coveted the spirit beasts' myriad heaven-made materials, while the spirit beasts in turn regarded humans as choice delicacies. It could be said that every day, great numbers of human cultivators and spirit beasts of every kind died at each other's hands.

Only, such casualties counted as the ordinary course of natural competition, and fell far short of the level of war—so everyone simply turned a blind eye.

Thus the Southern Continent, the spirit beast clan's stronghold, still harbored great numbers of human cultivators in the surrounding waters, and the two sides had on the whole kept a peaceful coexistence. But now that the Azure Dragon had put it this way, that balance was likely to be thrown into turmoil.

"And that is not all. These shameless human cultivators have not only brazenly occupied the Southern Continent waters that belong to our spirit beast clan—they even dare to slip into our Southern Island borders on so-called adventures, seizing our heavenly treasures and slaying our spirit beast kin. Tell me, brothers—can we swallow this insult?" The Azure Dragon stirred their emotions on purpose.

"No! No! No!…" The spirit beasts' anger grew yet more uncontainable.

"Indeed. The Southern Continent is the domain of our spirit beast clan, and our spirit beast clan alone is the sole overlord of the Southern Continent. This insult must not be borne!" The Azure Dragon nodded in satisfaction, then pressed both hands down in a gesture for calm. Once the assembled spirit beasts had quieted, it went on: "I have also heard that our spirit beast kin scattered across the other Cloud-Step Islands—because they are few and isolated, because those places are humanity's home ground—are often slaughtered at will by human cultivators, and even taken as spirit pets to be driven at humans' command. Tell me, brothers—is this not a monstrous disgrace to our spirit beast clan?"

"Disgrace! Disgrace! Disgrace!…" Every spirit beast present had gone red to the neck, eyes bloodshot and blazing, as though ready at any moment to devour someone alive.

At the sight of ten thousand beasts roaring, Wei Zhao, standing in their midst, felt his scalp prickle and was struck dumb with shock. If this incitement went on, a fresh war between the spirit beast clan and the human cultivators would be all but unavoidable. What on earth were the Vermilion Bird and the Azure Dragon after—did they truly mean to start a war?

"What are those two scoundrels thinking?" The ghost-thing was frowning as well. If the spirit beast clan could unite its strength, it would be far mightier than any single human sect—but human sects were not a mere handful; they numbered in the hundreds, even thousands. Were a full-scale war truly launched, the spirit beast clan had only one fate in store: a grave with no burial ground. R1152