Chapter 917: Subtly Exerting Influence
The words of the Juhe King were like cold water being splashed on everyone’s faces.
The expressions of the kings darkened, and a little fear rose in their hearts.
“Other than the initial loud and screeching sound, this attack has no other traces. I’m sure all of you sensed that the energy wave didn’t even have any spirit Qi in it.” The patriarch off the Dark Plains sect said.
“Indeed… if it was used in a closed space… like the underground, no one will hear its initial activation.” The King of the Zhan Kingdom agreed.
“And not being a physical or spirit Qi attack… it might not even be registered by an array.” The King of the Peony Plains Kingdom added.
Everyone present felt a collective chill going down their spines as the realization downed on them.
All of them had the same thought, if a beast like this was unleashed on their territories, what was there to stop or even detect it?
It could very well travel through the ground and sink entire cities to the ground by simply liquefying the ground. While there was a chance that the cultivators might have a chance to escape the collapsing buildings, it wouldn’t be the same for mortals.
Even cultivators at the core condensation realm might be caught off guard if they didn’t fly up in time.
The biggest damage though would be to the infrastructure. They might rebuild once, twice or even thrice. But if a guerrilla attack of this kind was committed against their territories, they might just be bankrupted before that.
“Chief Disciple Wang Xiong, you’ve lived in the Millennium Forest for a long time right?” the King of the White Loom kingdom asked.
“I have indeed.” Wang Xiong responded, not knowing what the man wanted to know.
“Then… have you seen any more of such beasts? This Emeraldine Pulse Cicada?” The king of White Loom Kingdom questioned.
“That… is hard to say.” Wang Xiong answered. “There are a lot of beasts in the forest, and I don’t dare say I’ve seen all of them. Not to mention I haven’t been to the forest in a few years now so there is no telling how many of such beasts are there.” He explained a bit more.
“Then, is there a chance that there is more than once such beast?” The White Loom Kingdom’s King asked.
“There may very well be… there are indeed several beasts of the same type there. The Emeraldine Monkeys being the best example. Also, I think I’ve heard of some ant beasts too. They are called Emerald Jaw ants.” Wang Xiong said, much to the dread of them all.
The kings looked at each other before looking at the patriarchs of the Chan sect and Dark Plains sect.
“I think I’ll return first.” The King of the Jehu Kingdom suddenly said.
“I have matters to attend too and need to assuage the people in my kingdom.” The Zhan Kingdom’s king said too.
One by one the kings all gave their excuses and flew away.
The patriarch of the Chan sect looked at their figures disappearing in the distance and sighed. “Seems like we need to re-evaluate the status of the Millennium Forest Kingdom.”
The patriarch of the Dark Plains sect simply nodded his head while thinking something. Wang Xiong watched everything happen and now had a good guess.
‘Senior can really sway opinion without even being here. It doesn’t seem like we’ll have to do a lot more to spread his influence.’ Wang Xiong thought to himself.
He turned to look at the spot where Cang Ci and the Emeraldine Pulse Cicada had disappeared to before turning to face patriarch Bing.
“Should we return?” Wang Xiong asked.
“Yes, we don’t have anything else to do.” Patriarch Bing replied, his face expressionless less again.
It was unknown what he was thinking, but Wang Xiong was sure his face was simply a facade he was putting on for now. Even he himself was stunned by the performance of the Cicada beast and Cang Ci.
And this was when he was privy to a lot of things others didn’t know.
‘The patriarch is probably trying to figure out a way to fight against it… even if a situation like this is unlikely to arise, he is a person who would be extra cautious.’ Wang Xiong reckoned.
He took one last glance at the mountains before flying away with Patriarch Bing. The rest of the task was now left for Cang Ci to finish.
About ten days later, the kings of the seven kingdoms affected by the blight saw the change in their crops. The fungus simply disappeared and no new outbreaks of the blight occurred anywhere.
From this it was confirmed that the cure or beast Dung in this case had worked.
With one part of the deal satisfied, now it was turn for the Kingdoms and sects to fulfill their part. Before the end of that very month, several detachments from the kingdoms sect out while a group of envoys were sent out by the Chan sect and Dark Plains sect.
Their destination?
The Millennium Forest Kingdom.
Their objective?
Creation of a new alliance by the kingdoms and strengthening of pre-existing alliance by the sects.
They came bearing a lot of gifts and even the two kingdoms that were the most affected, Zhan kingdom and Peony Plains kingdom sent plenty of them. They cut deep into their coffers and brought out their best that they could offer despite the condition of their kingdoms.
This news spread around the continent quickly and alarmed most of the powers of the Long continent.
But all this was done by the kingdoms and sects on their own. The cost for the help that Lin Wu had provided was yet to be exacted. In fact, their second goal for this visit was to ask that very thing.
What did Lin Wu want from them as payment?
The Beast King in question wasn’t even in the Forest. Or more accurately his consciousness wasn’t there. Instead, it was below Tieba city along with two individuals, Feng and Cang Ci.
