Chapter 362
Extra Chapter: The Holy Lion Clan
Chapter 362 Extra Chapter: The Holy Lion Clan
Before Jing Shan went to Huangyan Beast City to take up his post, he had already been summoned by Ling Chengen for a private meeting. The two talked for a long time, mainly about the royal family of Beast King City.
The royal family of Beast King City is too mysterious. Jing Shan is one of the few nobles who were exiled from Beast King City to the Northern Wilderness.
Moreover, given his former strength and status, he was even able to come into contact with royalty.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be any talk of him killing members of the royal family.
Ling Chengen didn't beat around the bush at all; he went straight to the point as soon as he entered the room. This made Jing Shan a little uncomfortable, not because he still had feelings for the Nan Yuan royal family, but because this matter involved his past privacy.
Ling Chengen could tell that he didn't really want to talk about it, but since it concerned the overall situation of the Nan Yuan campaign, she had to learn as much as possible about the royal family.
Jing Shan sat in his chair, pondered for a long time, and then said calmly, "Before I was exiled to the Northern Wilderness, I was the chief guard of a member of a royal family. I had a lover with whom I had known for many years, with whom I had a deep affection, and who was about to become my wife. But on the night before we were to become our wife, she was kidnapped by a member of the royal family. I pulled a lot of strings and finally found her, but she was already dead."
Jingshan spoke cryptically, but behind his calm tone lay extreme restraint and forbearance.
He lowered his eyes, looking quietly at his knees, and finally his gaze fell on the tips of his boots.
The clean, soft white soles of the shoes were not as luxurious and exquisite as the ones he wore when he was the head of the guards, but he could never forget the blood that had been flowing from his fiancée that stained the white soles of his old shoes.
On the luxurious carpets and white-gold floor tiles, there was a striking red everywhere.
It made it impossible for him to take a step, let alone put his foot down.
Because with every step he takes, the soles of his shoes will be stained with the blood of the person he loves most.
From the disappearance of his lover to his death, a full eight beastly hours passed.
Those were the eight longest periods of his life spent as a beast.
These were probably the eight longest periods of her life spent as a beast.
From the moment he lifted the curtain and saw her twisted limbs and her body convulsing uncontrollably as she lay dying, his mind went blank. He felt as if his heart and the back of his head were being repeatedly struck by a heavy hammer, and his nasal cavity and lungs were filled with the violent stench of blood.
The girl he had always protected since childhood, who would cry for half a day if she accidentally hurt her elbow.
When he died, his body was completely mangled.
On his fair skin were deep wounds that revealed the bone.
The sheer number of wounds was so intense that even someone as accustomed to killing found it cruel and terrifying.
That was the first time he discovered that blood was such a terrifying thing.
He couldn't hear anything at that time. The royal he served tried his best to persuade him not to act impulsively, not to confront the person who killed his partner, and to find another way later...
But how could he wait?
The girl he loved most looked at him and breathed her last, filled with resentment and regret.
He knew it all too well.
Having served the royal family for so many years, he knew what true power was, and he simply couldn't lie low in such an environment and wait for an opportunity to avenge her.
He also feared that his hatred would be worn away by the daily waiting and despair, losing its last bit of its edge.
So he risked his life.
Standing before his lover's corpse, he vowed to make these culprits die a gruesome death.
Most of the information about his origins in Beihuang is ambiguous.
Only two of them are true.
First, he killed members of the royal family.
But the truth is, there is more than one.
Secondly, he was sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to exile.
In fact, the verdict was not overturned.
Someone arranged for a slave to die in their place.
He took the place of an exiled criminal and came to the Northern Wilderness.
Jingshan spoke in a low, slow voice, recounting his past and some important events.
From his description, Ling Chengen gradually figured out the structural system of Beast King City.
The royal family of Nanyuan is the Platinum Lion Clan.
This race has two pairs of wings on their backs, and their white-gold hair is considered the most prestigious.
The power structure of the Southern Beast King City is actually similar to that of the Far North Sea.
The Beast King rules over the royal family and the clans that follow the royal family.
The Witch Emperor is the supreme ruler who governs all the great witches and royal protectors in the Southern Plains.
Both the Beast King and the Witch King originated from the Platinum Lion Clan.
However, the royal family and the witch temple each have their own jurisdiction and usually do not interfere with each other, and there may even be some friction.
In terms of city governance and united front work, the Beast King is mainly in charge.
The temple was mainly responsible for sacrifices, medicine, missionary work, and so on.
The clans that followed the royal family were all nobles.
The royalists who followed the Great Shaman were also nobles.
However, these are two separate factions, unrelated to each other.
Among them, the Firefeather Griffin Clan, who originated from Jingshan, is the largest clan that follows the royal family.
Every Firefeather Griffin warrior is born to be a royal guard in reserve.
The royalists, on the other hand, were mainly composed of horned beastmen and pegasusmen.
The relationship between the Witch King and the Beast King was neither good nor bad.
However, the royalists had extremely poor relations with the clans that followed the royal family.
Because more than two hundred years ago, the ruling power of Nanyuan was still in the hands of the Witch King and the royalist clan.
The Beastmaster is more of a symbolic figure than a real ruler.
However, more than two hundred years ago, the Dark Royal Family suddenly appeared. After taking power, they carried out a large-scale massacre of the Witch Emperor's faction and ruled Beast King City with high pressure, monopolizing power for seventy-five years.
At that time, the situation in Namwon was extremely complex, and the internal environment was very oppressive.
After the Dark Royal Family was defeated by the Witch King and the Beast King, the power in Nanyuan began to gradually disintegrate.
Some fell into the hands of the Beast King, and some fell into the hands of the Witch King.
The Witch King ruled for nearly a thousand years, during which time various drawbacks emerged, leading many nobles to gradually defect to the Beast King. This resulted in the current situation where the Beast King's power is growing and the royal family is holding less and less power.
Ling Chengen asked, "Do members of the royal family also awaken five elemental abilities?"
Jingshan shook his head and said, "I can't give you a definite answer."
"The royal family of Beast King City, from the main branch to the relatives, has a total population of more than 50,000."
Ling Chengen exclaimed in shock, "Is the royal family really that numerous?"
"How many people would it take to support so many members of the royal family?"
In particular, the royal family lived a more extravagant and wasteful life than the nobility. It is unimaginable how much blood the lower classes must have been drained from such a large royal family to live so comfortably.
Jing Shan was a little surprised by Ling Chengen's reaction, but he was only stunned for a moment before realizing that it was normal.
Compared to the royal families of Nanyuan, Ling Chengen is hardly like an emperor.
She was like an anomaly in this world.
It is like the greatest miracle bestowed upon this wild land by the Beast God.
He believed that all members of the royal family were the same, and that even if the royal family were replaced, nothing would change.
Ling Chengen's actions, however, completely shattered his prejudice.
Jing Shan raised his eyes and said, "The number of slaves in Nanyuan has only increased, in order to support the huge royal family. The Platinum Sacred Lion Clan itself has a strong reproductive capacity, and twins are often born in one litter. Over the past thousand years, it is actually quite normal for the royal family to have grown to this size."
"If the Dark Royal Family hadn't been massacring the royal family members according to the royal family list more than two hundred years ago, the scale would be even more terrifying now."
Ling Chengen asked in surprise, "What's going on with the Dark Royal Family?"
"The Dark Royal Family is also the Holy Lion Clan." Jing Shan didn't know much about this history. He only learned more about the Dark Royal Family when he was sentenced to death and then replaced in prison.
"Actually, the current Platinum Lion Clan was originally called the Lion Clan."
"More than 80% of the Holy Lion Clan members are twins born in the same birth."
"But there will only be one platinum-colored Holy Lion Clan cub per litter, and the other will be a completely black Holy Lion Clan cub."
"I don't know when it started, but the Holy Lion Clan gradually began to revere white-gold fur. Later, it intensified, and many Holy Lion Clan cubs born with jet-black fur were sent to the Holy Lion Clan's territory for supervision, and then their whereabouts became unknown." "Until more than two hundred years ago, a very powerful black Holy Lion Clan warrior appeared. This person slaughtered his way through the Holy Lion Clan's territory and used extremely bloody methods to kill more than 60% of the royal family members, imprisoned the Witch King, and killed the royalist family so much that they dared not show their faces again."
"Furthermore, this dark royal family massacred the Beast King City and ruled for seventy-five years."
"It was because of him that later generations learned that all the Dark Lion Clan members were imprisoned in their clan's territory, and many did not even live to adulthood. The Platinum Lion Clan members who supervised the territory even withheld the food rations from these cubs, forcing them to kill each other for food, and even to eat their own kind..."
"This is how the dark royal family member who fought his way out survived, lying low for many years, and finally achieved his goal."
"Most members of the royal family do not use their superpowers in public, and many even appear to have no superpowers at all. That's why they are always surrounded by a large number of guards... Only a very small number of royal family members awaken the five elements of superpowers, but most of these are mixed-race."
"Whether the pure-blooded Platinum Lion Clan has any special abilities, I'm not entirely sure."
"Of the royals I killed, only one was pure-blooded; the rest were mixed-blood."
"However, when I made my move, they had almost no chance to fight back and quickly died under my blade."
Ling Chengen listened attentively until the very end, when she suddenly asked, "Are there still any Dark Royal Families now?"
“After the Dark Royal Family’s regime was overthrown, any cub of the Holy Lion Clan that turned black was immediately put to death,” Jingshan said.
Ling Chengen lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, you said you only learned more about the Dark Royal Family after you were replaced, so... the person who helped you escape was the Dark Holy Lion Clan?"
Jing Shan remained silent for a long time before nodding and saying, "The Dark Holy Lion Clan still exists, but they are very well hidden. Most of those active in Beast King City are nobles who follow the Dark Royal Family. The people who replaced me are the Scorpion Lion Clan and the Black Dragon Clan."
"The Scorpion Lion Clan is also a large noble group in Beast King City. They are currently on the Beast King's side, while the Black Dragon Clan is the royalist clan. However, this clan is very ancient and not very prosperous, but because of their strength, ordinary clans dare not offend them."
Ling Chengen paused for a few seconds, then said, "This Dark Royal Family is quite shrewd; they've planted their own people in both factions."
Ling Chengen had learned almost everything she wanted to know, and she got up to see Jingshan out.
As they reached the door, Jingshan stopped and turned to look at her, saying, "Actually..."
"The Dark Royal Family shares some of your ideas."
Ling Chengen raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you recommending them to me?"
Jing Shan shook his head and said, "The Dark Royal Family is, in the end, the Southern Plains Royal Family. Even if they have a deep-seated hatred for the Platinum Sacred Lion Clan, their inherent idea of being superior to other races has never changed."
"However, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
"It can be used when necessary."
Ling Chengen said with a smile, "Don't you feel guilty treating the person who saved your life by replacing you like this?"
Jingshan chuckled and said, "How do you know they didn't get the compensation they deserved for replacing me?"
Ling Chengen was stunned for a moment, and Jing Shan was no longer willing to say anything.
Before leaving, he left only one last sentence.
"If you are not worried about me colluding with the enemy, I will lend you a hand when we attack Beast King City."
……
On the morning of the day the war with Beast King City resumed, the wind was strong in the wilderness.
By the time the army set off and reached the middle of the road, the wind had completely stopped.
Before the height of summer, the daytime temperature was already approaching 30 degrees Celsius. Ling Chengen sat on the back of the misty bird, gazing into the distance from high above.
Although the outline of Beast King City was not visible, the army of Beast King City could be vaguely seen.
Wu Zhuo's eyesight is better than Ling Chengen's, and with the excellent weather and high visibility today, he can see further.
He slowed down and said to Ling Chengen, "It seems that as soon as we set off this morning, Beast King City received the news and began preparing for battle very early."
Ling Chengen rested his elbows on his knees, reached out to press down his hat which had been blown open by the wind, and said with drooping eyelids, "In the last battle, Chang Tianchen was defeated by their commander, which probably boosted the confidence of Beast King City. So this time they opened the city gates and released their troops to meet us on the open plains."
Wu Zhuo said, "Last time, the Fire Feather Griffin Clan cooperated with the royal family in battle. They suppressed our army from the high ground, so we were at a great disadvantage in the fight."
Ling Chengen looked down at the scouts returning from the front and soon received the latest news about the enemy.
"The army that is fighting alongside the royal family this time consists of warriors from the Elephant Ape Clan."
Ling Chengen's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he smiled, saying, "The methods of this Beast King City are indeed quite interesting."
“Jingshan had said before that the two major clans that follow the royal family, the Fire Feather Griffin Clan and the Elephant Ape Clan, have had a long-standing feud.”
"Last time, the Firefeather Griffin Clan cooperated with the royal family to win a battle. The Elephant Ape Clan is not to be outdone this time and is eager to prove on the battlefield that they are no less capable than their mortal enemies."
"Jingshan really did foresee it."
Wu Zhuo grinned and said, "If it's the Elephant Ape Clan this time, our chances of winning will be much higher."
"They can't fly. If we can't win, we won't be able to hide in the air."
Ling Chengen raised his hand and tapped him on the head a few times, then sneered, "We haven't even fought yet, and you're already underestimating your opponent? Can't you learn something good from following Chang Tianchen?"
Wu Zhuo let out a few wails of pain and immediately admitted his mistake, saying, "I was wrong, Sister En, please stop hitting me!"
"If you hit me again, my brain is beyond saving."
Ling Chengen: "..."
She stopped, took a deep breath, and said, "A clan that can counterbalance the Firefeather Griffin Clan is not as simple as you think. Even if they can't fly, they must have their own strengths."
Jing Shan briefly mentioned that the Elephant Ape Clan possessed immense strength and were high-level superhuman warriors, capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks with ease.
As the saying goes, brute force can overcome any skill.
This opponent might be even more troublesome than the Firefeather Griffin Clan.
Chang Tianchen waved to the air, and Wu Zhuo quickly landed on the vehicle with Ling Chengen.
Chang Tianchen handed the intelligence to Ling Chengen: "The Beast King City commander I fought last time was the seventh son of the Beast King, Feganandi Royster. He's the commander this time too, and he's accompanied by a royal warrior, but their relationship seems strange."
Ling Chengen took the report and said, "The Beast King has a total of five sons and three daughters, which are four pairs of twins."
"The four direct royal families that are still alive today all inherited the bloodline of the Platinum Lion."
"The one you fought was the Seventh Prince. The Beast King also has an eldest son who has been designated as the Crown Prince."
"The remaining two children of the Platinum Lion bloodline are two princesses."
Although the number of members of the royal family is so large that it is very difficult to find out their identities, the identities of the few heirs to the throne are not a secret.
Chang Tianchen sighed and said, "I know this eldest prince. His name is Gosman Royster. He is almost forty years old this year and has not yet been able to succeed to the throne."
Ling Chengen said without any surprise, "The old beast king is too long-lived. If he wants to inherit the throne legitimately, he can only obediently sit on the bench and be an old crown prince."
"If he rebels and takes power, his younger siblings, who are eyeing him covetously, will find an excuse to seize power from him."
"I heard he's 39 years old, has more than a dozen children, and is a very promiscuous person."
Upon hearing this, Chang Tianchen couldn't help but retort, "Is this called promiscuity? Shouldn't this be called being a scumbag?"
"When I was still in Nanyuan, I heard about this eldest prince. He even got involved with a female that the old beast king had taken a fancy to. It caused quite a stir at the time. I don't know why the old beast king kept him around..."
"Compared to the old crown prince who can't control his lower body, the seventh prince, Feganandi, is made to look exceptionally outstanding."
"The relationship between these two brothers is only superficially peaceful; behind the scenes, the eldest prince almost hates his younger brother to death."
Ling Chengen watched Chang Tianchen gossip with her so fluently and asked curiously, "Ferganandi almost beat you to death, and you still admire him?"
Chang Tianchen immediately fell silent.
After a while, he retorted, "I'm not admiring it, I'm just stating the facts."
"Compared to the cowardly and lustful eldest prince, he is indeed quite capable."
"But Figanandi isn't a good guy either!"
"During the time I was awake, I heard a lot of gossip from Jingshan."
"This seventh prince is said to have a terrifying fetish: he enjoys eating the blood of underage females..."
Ling Chengen stared at him for a few seconds, then shook his head speechlessly: "Instead of sharing royal gossip with me, you should be thinking about how to command the battle later! I think your last defeat was probably because you were too relaxed and underestimated the enemy before the battle."
"If we lose again this time..."
"We might have to go and report to our ancestors together..."
Chang Tianchen reacted extremely quickly, disappearing from his seat in the blink of an eye. He suddenly covered her mouth with his hand, staring intently into her eyes. His expression was completely different from usual as he solemnly warned her, "Don't say another word of such unlucky things!"
"Even if I die, I will never let those Southern Plains people harm a single hair on your head."
Ling Chengen slapped his hand away, kicked him back to his seat, and sneered, "Do what you're supposed to do. My safety is none of your concern!"
Ling Chengen jumped onto Wu Zhuo's back and quickly left the vehicle frame.
Chang Tianchen gritted his teeth, lifted the carriage curtain, and instructed Lin Quan, who was accompanying him, "Go and tell Yu Heng to make sure to follow up with her."