Chapter 4293 — Together?

So Wei Zhao actually knew experts of the spirit-beast race? Even as Huang Xiaotao rejoiced at the sight, the more she turned it over in her mind, the more absurd the whole thing seemed.

By rank, Wei Zhao was a newcomer who had joined the Sandie Pavilion of North Island barely a year ago, and North Island and South Island were as far apart as the ends of the earth; in strength the two sides were worlds apart. How on earth had they ever come to know each other?

Still, though she had not spent long at Wei Zhao's side, Huang Xiaotao had witnessed no small number of miracles on him. Such strokes of genius were beyond the ken of ordinary folk, but her capacity to take them in was far greater than most—after all, she had slowly grown used to them.

"Right, right, we're all on the same side." The Great Fire Lion and the Great Spider laughed heartily and nodded again and again, then shifted back into human form, which made talking together a good deal easier.

In truth, once they reached this level, the vast majority of skilled spirit beasts preferred to appear in human form; only when locked in a life-and-death struggle and exerting their full power would they revert to their original shapes.

"By the way, how did the two of you simply vanish back then?" After the joy of the reunion, Wei Zhao could not help asking out of curiosity.

"Heh heh, once we activated the teleportation formation, we were both sent straight here to the South Island of the Cloud Terrace Island," the Great Fire Lion answered with a laugh.

"Benefactor, perhaps you don't know," the Great Spider added by way of explanation, "that we differ from you human cultivators. Once we spirit beasts are teleported to Cloud Terrace Island, we are bound to arrive on the South Island. Unlike your random teleportation, ours is fixed."

"So that's how it is. But..." Wei Zhao looked at them, his expression suddenly a little odd. "Aren't you two sworn foes? How is it that you're together now?"

Back in the mortal world, in the Wulonghaote Mountains, the Great Fire Lion clan and the Great Spider clan had been mortal enemies—though not truly mortal enemies, in fact. The two races had done nothing but compete against each other; they had never fought to the death. After all, their origins were there for all to see—they could actually be counted as one family.

Even so, seeing the Great Fire Lion and the Great Spider together now, Wei Zhao still found it very strange. The two had never truly fought to the death, but they had never been as amicable as this either...

"Together?" Hearing that one word, the Great Fire Lion and the Great Spider exchanged a glance and could not help shuddering in unison. Each sprang a step backward and, with remarkable coordination, cried in one voice, "Benefactor, you must never say such careless things! When have we ever been together?"

"Uh..." Wei Zhao's face darkened. Were these two overthinking things? So they had a tsundere streak about them after all. He could only spread his hands helplessly and say, "Then why are you staying together—and getting along so well?"

"Getting along?" The Great Fire Lion and the Great Spider spoke in one voice again the moment they opened their mouths, and only after realizing the problem did their old faces flush red at once; they shot each other a glare. Then the Great Fire Lion said, "Benefactor, you're imagining things. I've no wish to stay with this old codger at all—it's not as if I have a choice. Otherwise I'd have brought him to heel long ago..."

"Ho, quite the big talk. You're counting on the fact that I can't lay a hand on you, so you're just gilding your own face, aren't you?" The Great Spider rolled his eyes and curled his lip in disdain.

"Gilding my face? You've got the nerve to say that. Did I win our little wager just now or didn't I? Are you trying to welsh on it?" The Great Fire Lion was smug with triumph.

"Nonsense—you scooped up those three strong ones without so much as a by-your-leave, and the leader besides. A single bottle of Star Ink Nectar and you wiped out everyone else in a second. Don't you feel that's an unfair victory? And you've the gall to show it off to my face—I can't even be bothered to call you out on it!" The Great Spider curled his lip in contempt.

Here were two formidable beings of the spirit-beast race, the sort before whom the likes of Chang Daoping did not dare so much as break wind, yet just now they squabbled like children—a sight that left Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao quite unable to hold back their laughter.

"So the two of you don't fight anymore—you've switched to making wagers?" Wei Zhao could not help laughing.

"Fight? If we could fight, I'd have been at it with him hammer and tongs long ago—who'd have nothing better to do than play at wagering? We haven't traded blows in ages; our hands are itching. It's not as if we have a choice..." the Great Fire Lion said, all helplessness.

"That's right. Once we came to the South Island, we had to obey the rules of the spirit-beast race, or we'd die miserably. How could we brawl at will?" The Great Spider sighed. "Benefactor, look at these ruins of Aoduo Cultivation City—weren't they all put to death? Word is they brought it on themselves by disobeying back then. These are living cautionary tales right before our eyes—we'd better tread carefully..."

"I never imagined the spirit-beast race's rules were so strict. That's rather unexpected," Wei Zhao said in some surprise.

As he understood it, because the Spirit Beast King had suddenly vanished, the spirit-beast race was now leaderless, each going its own way. Add to that the fact that every powerful spirit beast was a law unto itself and far from easy to manage, and by rights it ought to be utter chaos. Yet from what the Great Fire Lion and the Great Spider were saying, the rules were still very strict—quite different from what he had imagined.

"It's not really so surprising. Compared with you human cultivators, we spirit beasts believe all the more in honoring the strong. If you can beat them, you step up; if you can't, you submit. There's no such tangle of twists and turns. So long as the one at the head truly has the strength to overawe the whole herd, managing us is actually easier than managing humans," the Great Spider explained.

"Mm, that does make sense. By the way—how is it that you two are here? Surely these ruins aren't your territory now?" Wei Zhao asked suddenly.

"Heh heh, benefactor, don't joke with us—how could that be?" The Great Fire Lion waved his hands again and again. "It's true this is a dead city, but it was once one of the foremost major cities of the spirit-beast race. Even now that it lies in ruin, it could never simply be parceled out to some spirit beast. Only one of our spirit-beast race's elders could hold such a vast domain. We two have barely arrived—how could we wield such influence?"

"But your strength now—aren't you both already at the late Nascent Soul stage? Isn't that enough? I assumed you had both been transformed by seizing control of this great store of cultivation resources," Wei Zhao could not help saying in curiosity.

Whether the Great Fire Lion or the Great Spider, back in the mortal world they had both been only at the Heaven rank. Yet in so short a time they had already reached the terrifying height of the late Nascent Soul stage. Wei Zhao considered his own progress already utterly heaven-defying, but set beside these two, he was still a hundred thousand li behind. (To be continued...)