Chapter 4527 — The Azure Dragon Elder
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Unlike human cultivators, who are always scheming against one another, these spirit beasts were far simpler by nature. Having chosen to submit, they would submit in earnest—until such time as they possessed the strength to turn the tables, they would not pay lip service while plotting treachery behind your back.
"Anluo Cultivation City?" Wei Zhao echoed the words while playing along, and could not resist muttering in puzzlement. Privately, he asked the ghost-thing, "Senior, what does that mean?"
"The Southern Island is not like you humans' territories—there are no complicated regional divisions with cities and towns of every rank. The whole Southern Island is divided into just five great regions, and at the heart of each region stands a single cultivation city. The Anluo Region is one of those five, and it lies near the Southern Island's Demon Cold Sea." The ghost-thing cleared up Wei Zhao's confusion.
"I see." Wei Zhao was at once reminded of Odor Cultivation City in the Lufeng Forest. Though it had since been abandoned and left in ruins, before its desertion it too must have counted as one of the Southern Island's great regions—only now, thoroughly laid waste, the spirit beasts active there had grown fewer and fewer, and it had gradually declined into a place of adventure for human cultivators.
"By the command of the previous Spirit Beast King, every cultivation city is garrisoned by a top elder, and each may essentially be regarded as that elder's sphere of influence," the ghost-thing went on.
He had never been much inclined to speak to Wei Zhao of the spirit beast clan's affairs. But this time he deliberately meant to let Wei Zhao learn a little more of the inside story—after all, they were now within the borders of the Southern Island, and if they were to get out safely, Wei Zhao must at least first know clearly what situation he was in.
"So that means the spirit beast clan has five top elders in all?" Wei Zhao asked.
"No. There have only ever been four places for top elders." The ghost-thing paused, then explained, "The other four cultivation cities each have a top elder garrisoning them, but Anluo Cultivation City is different. Because of the Four Seas Escort Agency, the Demon Cold Sea has always been the center of the Southern Island, and so Anluo Cultivation City is as well. This place needs no elder to garrison it, because the Spirit Beast King himself is here."
Wei Zhao nodded. Anluo Cultivation City had the Spirit Beast King himself presiding over it, while the four top elders were something like frontier lords, each guarding a territory on the King's behalf. The arrangement could hardly be called subtle—simple and crude, if anything. Yet it suited the spirit beast clan's blunt, straightforward style.
"Then when the Spirit Beast King is absent, doesn't Anluo Cultivation City become masterless?" Wei Zhao asked instead.
A nation cannot go a day without a ruler, nor a city a day without a master. And from the previous Spirit Beast King's disappearance to the present, there had been a long stretch of empty time. As the center of the Southern Island, Anluo Cultivation City could hardly have been left in a chaotic, masterless state all that while.
"That it was not. After the previous Spirit Beast King vanished, the four great elders discussed it and decided to take turns coming to hold the city in his stead. At first all went peacefully enough. But as time wore on, each of them began harboring his own designs, wanting to supplant the others, and in the end the strife grew fiercer and fiercer. Seeing that they were about to fall apart, or even slaughter one another, I proposed going to the mortal world to seek the Spirit Beast King's bloodline. What happened after that, you already know." The ghost-thing spoke with no little ruefulness.