Chapter 4531 — Neither Way Forward nor Back

What was more, it had already sounded out the senior members of every family, great and small, in Anluo Cultivation City beforehand, laying down strict rules for conduct in the assembly hall. And it remembered very clearly that this lad, merely at the Golden Core stage, had arrived late just moments ago—and now he actually wanted to leave early! The sheer effrontery of it!

"Convenient?" The Vermilion Bird's long, narrow phoenix eyes narrowed to slits, and it gave a cold snort, its tone ugly. "Hmph. Whose family does this spirit beast of yours belong to? Let that family's elder step forward!"

Just as in human main cities, the spirit beast powers within a cultivation city were all organized by family—the Great Fire Lion family, the Great Spider family, and the like—and every spirit beast family naturally had its patriarch, its elders, and other such higher-ups.

For a top-tier elder like the Vermilion Bird, so long as it held these family higher-ups in its grip, it could in turn control every spirit beast power, and indeed the entire spirit beast race.

Because the races differed, under normal circumstances it was obvious at a glance which family any given spirit beast belonged to. But once they took human form, their original shapes were hard to discern. This had nothing to do with cultivation level; unless they knew one another well, even the Vermilion Bird would have difficulty telling them apart.

When the Vermilion Bird's words fell, not a single spirit beast in the whole gathering stepped forward to answer. Wei Zhao was a human cultivator who had slipped in to fish in troubled waters—if any spirit beast had actually stood up for him, that would have been a fine ghost story indeed.

Seeing the atmosphere sink into an awkward deadlock, and knowing that if it went on this way something was bound to blow up, Wei Zhao hastily answered, "Reporting to Elder Vermilion Bird, this humble one does not live in Anluo Cultivation City. I only happened to be passing through on business this time, and so came to the assembly to look on and enjoy the excitement. My home, in truth, is the Rufeng Forest."

The Rufeng Forest was the one place Wei Zhao was still relatively familiar with, and because it was an abandoned district—a marginal land the spirit beast race had long neglected—a bumpkin from such a place was unlikely to matter to a chieftain of the Vermilion Bird's stature, and surely none of the many spirit beasts present would be an "old acquaintance" hailing from the Rufeng Forest.

"What? The Rufeng Forest?" The Vermilion Bird's brows arched at that, as expected—yet its tone turned all the more unfathomable. "How is that possible? A mere Golden Core existence—how did you travel so far? What exactly do you do?"

At the same time, every spirit beast present was now looking at Wei Zhao with eyes full of suspicion. The Southern Island was not like human society. In human society, so long as one did not stir up trouble, even a Golden Core cultivator could go to any number of places. But here it was different; in every spirit beast, the sense of territory was deeply rooted.

Under normal circumstances, if a weak spirit beast dared to cut across a powerful spirit beast's domain, there was usually only one outcome: being eaten. In the spirit beast race this was taken as the natural order of things, and no one would intervene.

So in the eyes of any spirit beast, the notion that a paltry Golden Core spirit beast could cross all the way from the Rufeng Forest to this place was simply impossible.

Reading the suspicion on the spirit beasts' faces, Wei Zhao's heart gave a lurch. He had just now unthinkingly lapsed into human logic, forgetting that although many spirit beasts could take human form, in essence they were utterly different from humans.

"I say he's a spy bought off by human cultivators. Guards, seize him!" the Azure Dragon ordered at once from the side.

"Yes, sir!" Several guards stationed around the clearing shot instantly skyward, and once Wei Zhao felt the terrifying pressure they radiated, even his nerves gave a violent start.

The aura of these few spirit beast guards was actually more vast and imposing than that of the mountain-opening stage magnates! Even Xishan Jiuzong, that arrogant and unmatched demonic cultivation magnate, could not compare to these few guards—it was simply inconceivable!

Fiercer and more terrifying than the mountain-opening stage—what realm was this? Wei Zhao's heart was already churning like a stormy sea. The mountain-opening stage had been the highest realm he had ever witnessed, and he had never imagined that today, on the spirit beast race's own ground, his eyes would be opened so wide.

A few guards who popped out at random were stronger than the mountain-opening stage, to say nothing of lofty top-tier existences like the Vermilion Bird and the Azure Dragon. Was the spirit beast race not simply absurdly powerful?

Only at this moment did Wei Zhao finally realize that the spirit beast race's long ability to stand as an equal against human cultivators was truly not without reason. No wonder the Vermilion Bird was so ambitious, amassing wealth on such a grand scale—anyone who commanded such a horrifyingly vast force would surely be just as confident, and perhaps even more brazen.

As had been said before, the spirit beast race's strength far surpassed that of any single human sect. Wei Zhao had more or less always harbored a prejudice against the spirit beast race, always feeling that without the formidable deterrence of the former Spirit Beast King, the race had been declining day by day, splitting apart at the seams.

But looking at it now, even if the spirit beast race's overall strength could not match its former invincible prime, it still could not be underestimated. If full-scale war truly came, human cultivators would absolutely have to pay a tremendous price; even if they laughed last, it would likely be a bitter victory.

In an instant his thoughts were in a myriad tangle, but this was no time for Wei Zhao to stand dazed. With his strength he had been helpless even against Xishan Jiuzong, let alone against these terrifying spirit beasts who surpassed Xishan Jiuzong.

Wei Zhao knew in his heart that this time he was most likely finished. Once seized, before the many methods of these powerful spirit beasts, his human identity would inevitably be exposed—and what would follow needed no spelling out. Even death would probably be a luxury.

When a person's luck turns bad, even a gulp of water gets stuck between the teeth. Wei Zhao felt that this was exactly his state now: a cloud of misfortune hung overhead that would not disperse. He had barely shaken off Xishan Jiuzong when, in the blink of an eye, he ran into these even more ruthless existences…

As Wei Zhao was fuming in helplessness, the ghost-thing was caught in a tangle of hesitation. In a situation like this, it was utterly impossible for Wei Zhao to escape with his skin intact on his own. The only way that might still hold some slim chance was for it to step forward publicly.

As the former Azure Dragon Elder, the ghost-thing reckoned it should still carry some influence within the spirit beast race—especially on a public occasion like the present spirit beast assembly, where even the Vermilion Bird might not dare do anything to it. If it stepped forward to extricate Wei Zhao, the pressure would naturally shift from Wei Zhao onto itself. The premise, of course, was that it had the strength to back it up!

And now—what if the Vermilion Bird refused to play along? R1152