It was only when Bai Yunfei drew even closer to the mountain Hong Yin described that he felt the distinct auras that were seemingly within the mountain. There had to be a cave somewhere, then. A cave the wolf clan was using to rest and gather the others.
Now at the midway point of the mountain, Bai Yunfei could see several "caves". It was perhaps better to call these places to be "dwellings" with an atmosphere fit more for someone of a regal nature rather than someone with nothing at all. The aura that flowed from within the cave was already more than enough to tell that a Soul King resided here.
This was where the cla.s.s seven soulbeasts of the wolf clan resided.
There were multiple caves and multiple cla.s.s seven soulbeasts, but all of the soulbeasts were concentrated within the largest cave in the middle as if waiting for Bai Yunfei to arrive. Or so Bai Yunfei imagined.
“Yunfei, we"ll head into my father"s cave to discuss the enemy"s movements. Everyone is already inside.” Hong Yin told Bai Yunfei.
“There"s no time to lose then, the faster we talked the sooner we can get a plan started.”
Bidding goodbye to everyone else, Bai Yunfei and Hong Yin traveled up towards the cave. On the way, groups of cla.s.s six soulbeasts stared reverently at the two of them until they disappeared into the cave.
Though it was a cave, Bai Yunfei couldn"t help but note how different the inside was from the outside. s.p.a.cious and well-lit, this cave was very impressive with even several cla.s.s six soulbeasts standing guard nearby.
Under Hong Yin"s guidance, the two of them arrived in front of a tremendously large hall with multiple stone chairs, half of them already being occupied. At the very back of the hall was a fiery-red chair made from fine stone with a tall figure reclined on it. The elbow of his right hand rested on top of the chair so that his hand could rest against his chin as if in a thinking position. Despite not being able to see what he looked like, Bai Yunfei could sense a tremendously bloodthirsty aura radiate from him.
“I"m back, father…this is the Bai Yunfei I told you about before.”
Striding into the hall, Hong Yin bowed once to the tall figure while Bai Yunfei followed suit.
The person lifted his head. At once, Bai Yunfei felt a s.h.i.+ver run up his spine when the person"s eyes met with him and scanned him from head to toe. The amount of pressure Bai Yunfei felt nearly made him choke on his own breath, though he managed to remain relatively calm.
“Is this the pressure a Mid-stage Soul Emperor can bring? How terrifying…” He remarked to himself once the Soul Sentinel Scarf managed to clear his mind.
“This junior is Bai Yunfei, it is an honor to meet you, Bloodhowl Wolf King.”
He bowed.
Something flickered in the Bloodhowl Wolf King"s eyes. “You are young, but I feel the strength of a Peak Late-stage Soul King in you. How nice to have talent like that…”
Bai Yunfei could finally look at the man"s face. He had a squarish face with thick eyebrows and had hair that reached his shoulders. Even when he was praising Bai Yunfei, the man looked almost stern still.
“Take a seat.”
Obeying the man"s gesture, Bai Yunfei sat down in one of the chairs along the first rows on the right while Thunderfire and the Lightning Wolf King sat behind.
The auras of many of the individuals here were especially strong. Well-suited to being called powerful individuals, these soulbeasts were among the strongest the wolf clan had to offer, but Bai Yunfei could also sense that they held very little warmth for Bai Yunfei.
In the eyes of a soulbeast, there wasn"t much of a friends.h.i.+p with a soul cultivator.
“Wind Slicer reported that the Beast Taming School allied themselves with the bloodthirsty blood ape and the four-winged golden roc clans against us. Have you any particular information about this?”
“I do.” Bai Yunfei nodded. “I already saw one of the clans join with the Beast Taming School earlier today.”
Several of the individuals within the clan peered suspiciously at him as he shook his hand. Then out tumbled the captive elder Yang Lin.
The Bloodhowl Wolf King"s eyes grew wide at the sight of the man.
“This is an attendant of the Beast Taming School and one of the people Wind Slicer had chasing him…”
A wave of killing intent flooded the hall before Bai Yunfei even finished his sentence. Feeling the brunt of it all, Yang Lin began to sweat furiously and shake head to toe as if on the verge of fainting.
“He"s already surrendered to me. I"m sure everyone here will be able to tell if he tells a lie about the plans of the Beast Taming School.”
And so Yang Lin began to talk. Quaking where he knelt, the man spilled everything he had to know about the Beast Taming School"s plan. The pressure he felt was slowly alleviated as everyone felt their malice for him be turned into shock at what they were hearing. Soon, everyone within the cave was looking at one another in disbelief.
They knew the Beast Taming School would send a wave of intruders to their lands. They knew there was a chance they would be helped in their attempts. But…for both the bloodthirsty wind apes and the four-winged golden rocs to join forces…the wolf clan had no chance!
There wouldn"t even bee a chance for the wolf clan to call upon their own allies. Defeat was inevitable!
The Wind Ape King was already strong enough to keep the Bloodhowl Wolf King busy. Who else from the wolf clan could keep the early-stage cla.s.s eight Golden Roc King busy then? And if the Beast Taming School had a Soul Emperor with them…that meant they had a cla.s.s eight soulbeast puppet!
The Bloodhowl Wolf King remained calm, however. His eyes remained on Bai Yunfei as he thought. “Rumors about you have made their way even here. They say….the Soul Sealing Mandate and Core Stone is in your possession. And this man"s appearance…he was held captive in the Core Stone, was he not? Wind Slicer told me you had several Soul Kings and cla.s.s seven soulbeasts with you and yet I have yet to see them. Are they within the Core Stone as well?”
All eyes were on Bai Yunfei now.
Undaunted by the attention, Bai Yunfei nodded. “They are. Both the Core Stone and Soul Sealing Mandate are mine to wield. Several powerful individuals are currently within the Core Stone as well.”
A light s.h.i.+ned within the Bloodhowl Wolf King"s eyes. “And what are your numbers?”
“Soul cultivators and soulbeasts combined…” Bai Yunfei smiled, “would equal to about twenty or so.”
“What?!”
Many sucked in their breaths. Even the Bloodhowl Wolf King found himself staring wide-eyed at Bai Yunfei. He could have brought out Wu Dijian, the Yao clan, and the soulbeasts for the wolf clan to see, but he didn"t.
“This junior sees no point in lying or exaggerating anything. I hope senior Bloodhowl will believe my words—I came here to aid the wolf clan. What we should be doing right now is discuss how we shall deal with the enemies.”
“The Beast Taming School, the four-winged golden roc, and the bloodthirsty wind ape clans have joined hands. What has you so confident that you can aid us in our fight?”
The Bloodhowl Wolf King"s sense of self-preservation was telling him to command the clan to retreat. Winning against a unified force of three major powers wasn"t within the realm of possibility for his clan. Their clan could at the very least make a hasty retreat and bide for enough time to have the other soulbeasts join them.
“I"m eighty percent confident that our enemies will be stopped here once in for all if my plan works out!”
“Pah! What talk is this!” The white-robed elder by the Bloodhowl Wolf King"s right side sneered. “The enemies have four Soul Emperors if the Beast Taming School"s cla.s.s eight soulbeast puppet is to be included. Our leader can stop the Wind Ape King, but that still leaves three more Soul Emperors to fight. What makes you think twelve-or-so Soul Kings would be enough to deal with the rest?! Have you lost your ability to measure and compare?”
Bai Yunfei"s patience was starting to wear thin now. “I never said I only had "twelve" Soul Kings for help…”
“Then what else might you have to better the odds?”
A flash of golden light erupted from one of Bai Yunfei"s s.p.a.ce rings as soon as the elder finished speaking. Stunned, everyone watched as a single figure materialized into the world along with an aura that subdued almost everyone else in the room.
The eyes of everyone, the Bloodhowl Wolf King included, widened the moment they saw the figure.
“That"s…the Demon-eyed Tiger King!!”