Chapter 4529 — True Purpose
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
"Humans have bullied and humiliated our spirit beast clan like this—tell me, my fellow spirit beasts, what should we do?" the Azure Dragon incited them openly, without the slightest attempt at concealment.
"Damn the humans, **! Blood for blood!"
"That's right, make the humans pay! We spirit beasts won't be cowards!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!..." In an instant, a killing intent that shook the heavens erupted from every spirit beast present, so fierce that even the sky itself was infected and the winds and clouds shifted. What had been a cloudless expanse of blue was now ominously dark, thunder rolling and lightning flashing.
That calculated provocation had thoroughly stirred the spirit beasts' towering fury. Any powerful spirit beast was by nature wild and untamable; in their eyes human cultivators were nothing but food. Now that it had suddenly dawned on them that their proud clan was being bullied to such a degree by humans, how could they possibly go on swallowing their pride and accommodating them?
"Quiet, everyone." Seeing that the effect had been achieved, the Azure Dragon signaled the assembled spirit beasts to calm once more, then said in a grave voice, "The cost of launching a war is too great. Unless we are absolutely driven to it, we cannot take that step. But by the king's decree, even if our spirit beast clan does not go to war with those shameless humans, we must at the very least keep our own territory firmly in hand. Southern Continent belongs to our spirit beast clan, and they humans will absolutely not be permitted to come and go as they please!"
Wei Zhao and the ghost-thing were startled at the same time. Judging by the Azure Dragon's tone, did he mean to drive every human out of the nearby Southern Sea waters entirely—even to wipe them out root and branch?
If that was truly the plan, then although it was not as severe as all-out war, it was still no small matter. Mishandled at any point in the process, it could easily escalate to a point beyond all control.
The two of them were secretly alarmed, but the powerful spirit beasts present, their passions already at a boil, harbored no such misgivings. Apart from a tiny handful of cautious individuals, the vast majority were out-and-out warmongers, and would have relished an all-out war. If the word came from above to wipe out these humans of the Southern Sea waters, they would have raised both hands and both feet in enthusiastic approval.
"Therefore, in accordance with the king's decree, Elder Vermilion Bird and I have deliberated and decided that we shall establish city lords and administrative bureaus across every main city of the Southern Sea waters, specifically charged with collecting taxes from each of these waters. From this day forth, every human cultivator who comes to travel or dwell in the Southern Continent must pay taxes to our spirit beast clan!" the Azure Dragon declared loudly, seizing the moment.
Taxes? Wei Zhao and the ghost-thing were both taken aback, and strange looks came over their faces. So that was the scheme. It seemed the Vermilion Bird and this new Azure Dragon were not about to start a war after all—they meant to use this pretext to rake in wealth on a grand scale...
"Among all the Southern Sea waters, the Demon Cold Sea is the most prosperous and peaceful, and its position is fairly close to our Anluo Cultivation City. So after deliberation between Elder Vermilion Bird and me, we have decided to hand this most lucrative stretch of water over to the spirit beast brothers gathered here. The king needs you to keep the peace, and even more, he needs you to collect the taxes on his behalf. Are you willing?" the Azure Dragon coaxed and stirred them on.
"We are!" the spirit beasts answered in a chorus at once, every one of them rejoicing, elated and eager. "The king is wise! Those shameless humans should have been paying tribute to the king long ago! We will serve the king and guarantee the mission is accomplished..."