Chapter 4533 — What Was the Point?

"Boy, aren't you going to thank His Majesty at once? Otherwise, with your suspicious identity, you'll certainly die today!" The Vermilion Bird swept Wei Zhao a cold glance, its eyes plainly carrying a trace of anger it could hardly conceal.

Its fury was not on account of so insignificant a figure as Wei Zhao, but because the King of Spirit Beasts had dared, before all present, to defy the Vermilion Bird openly.

After all, this so-called new King of Spirit Beasts was a puppet the Vermilion Bird itself had discovered and raised up; at any time and on any occasion, it must act entirely in accordance with the Vermilion Bird's will. Its conduct thus far had been obedient enough, but today it had suddenly spoken up to interfere with its own command—one might even say it had slapped the Vermilion Bird's face in public. Was this rebellion?

What enraged the Vermilion Bird even more was this: in private it could order this new King of Spirit Beasts about as it pleased, but here, in this public setting, that was absolutely out of the question. Now that the new King had ascended the throne, everyone in the spirit beast clan, from top to bottom—including Elder Vermilion Bird itself—must bow the head and swear allegiance to it, without the least hint of disobedience.

Though it was a matter of holding the sovereign hostage to command the feudal lords, the public show still had to be done properly. Everyone could know the truth in their hearts, but the one thing forbidden was to name it openly—otherwise this so-called sovereign would lose its legitimacy, and this so-called holding the sovereign hostage to command the feudal lords would have nothing to stand on.

So however towering its rage, with all eyes upon it the Vermilion Bird had no choice but to endure. Not only endure—it must show itself more supportive of this King of Spirit Beasts than any other spirit beast, without the slightest room for hesitation.

Every word the King of Spirit Beasts spoke in public might leave other spirit beasts some small room for doubt, but the Vermilion Bird alone must treat it as a royal decree and carry it out to the letter. Otherwise it would leave itself open to gossip; after all, this was the master it had raised up with its own hands—if even it did not take that master seriously, how could it expect anyone else to?

Of course, once this Spirit Beast Assembly was over, and the doors were shut, then it could teach this King of Spirit Beasts a lesson for acting on its own as it pleased—entirely according to the Vermilion Bird's mood.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Wei Zhao hastily bowed and cupped his hands, seizing the moment to study deeply this noble presence shrouded within the seven-colored bamboo hat, while pondering in his heart the same question every spirit beast present was asking. Why had this creature suddenly spoken up to help him out of his predicament?

Others might not have noticed, but the other party had deliberately mentioned the Great Fire Lion clan in its words—could there be some hidden meaning in that? Wei Zhao was no Great Fire Lion, but that clan was one of only two among all the spirit beasts to have close ties with him. Without some basis, how would the other party dare assert so rashly that he was a member of the Great Fire Lion clan?

He was utterly in the dark, but clearly no one at such an occasion would enlighten Wei Zhao. That mysterious new King of Spirit Beasts had fallen silent again after speaking its piece. No one knew what it was thinking, and because it was concealed beneath the seven-colored bamboo hat, not even its expression or gaze could be seen; the impression it gave was mysterious, and nothing but mysterious.

At any other time or place, Wei Zhao would truly have been inclined to probe the depths of this new King of Spirit Beasts—who knew, there might even be some unexpected gain. But now there was no such possibility. This was no place to linger; before the Vermilion Bird and the other spirit beasts present could reconsider, he had best turn and be gone.

They watched helplessly as Wei Zhao's figure vanished into the dense forest. The other spirit beasts showed no particular reaction, but the Vermilion Bird's face darkened several degrees further. It truly could not understand why this puppet king it had raised with its own hands would suddenly interfere in this matter. However one looked at it, this was a trivial matter of no consequence at all.

A mere small fry of the Golden Core stage—for any spirit beast present, snuffing him out with a casual wave of the hand was no trouble at all, let alone for the exalted King of Spirit Beasts. To speak up specially for such an insignificant small fry, even at the cost of publicly defying both itself and the Azure Dragon—what was the meaning of that?

Since being raised to the throne, this king had been nothing if not sensible; it had always obeyed the Vermilion Bird's words, and by and large never opened its mouth. Even when it did occasionally speak, it invariably followed the script the Vermilion Bird had arranged beforehand, and so the Vermilion Bird had always been well pleased with it.

But the Vermilion Bird also knew that whoever occupied such an exalted position as King of Spirit Beasts, once having tasted the flavor of power, would in the end never be content to remain a puppet at its beck and call. In time there would inevitably be various attempts and gestures of disobedience—that was unavoidable.

The Vermilion Bird had long been prepared for this. Yet in its view, even if this puppet king wished to shake off its control, it would surely choose some momentous affair on which to make its voice heard—only on such an occasion would there be a chance to proclaim the authority of the King of Spirit Beasts. But this trifling bit of nonsense now—what was there in it worth interfering over?

Even if the Vermilion Bird had no choice but to give way in public, what benefit could the King of Spirit Beasts gain? Not a damn thing. At most, that Golden Core spirit beast it had let go would be grateful to it—but such a small fry was not even fit to serve as cannon fodder. Even if it were won over, what fucking use would that be?

The Azure Dragon turned its head and exchanged a glance with the Vermilion Bird. It too was filled with doubt. Evading the eyes and ears of all the spirit beasts present, it sent a thread of divine consciousness straight to the Vermilion Bird and gestured with its gaze toward the King of Spirit Beasts: "What in the world is this thing trying to do? Could it be that it wants to take advantage of this Spirit Beast Assembly to make its presence felt before everyone, to make them think their king cares for his subjects, and thereby win their hearts? Isn't that a bit too naive?"

The whole business of benevolent rule might work on humans, but among spirit beasts, who revered strength above all, it had not the slightest feasibility. If one's strength fell short, then no matter how benevolent and loving this King of Spirit Beasts might be, those powerful spirit beasts of real strength would long since have bitten it to pieces—it could not even hope to keep its little life!

"Perhaps. Perhaps it simply wants to use this chance to test us. It seems we'll have to be on our guard from now on..." A cold gleam flashed through the Vermilion Bird's phoenix eyes as it thought to itself: could it be that it first makes some small move in a trivial matter, to see how I react, and on that basis decides whether it can push its luck a step further? (To be continued...)