Upon hearing the words of the Emeraldine Sky Light Monk ape, smiles appeared on the faces of the sect elders.
"Run away now beast, and forfeit this orchard, and we'll let you live!" they said, much to the beast's expectations.
The beast looked at the faces of the humans one by one. He saw that the nascent soul realm elders that belonged to the sects seemed to be the most excited about their prospects, while those from the Luguo kingdom and the pale marble kingdom were a little less so.
In the case of the Ling Kingdom though, the beast could see some hesitation. At least on the face of the minister. The other two elders were similar to the other sect elders.
"Just like master said…" The ape beast muttered.
The nascent soul realm elders heard his words but didn't mind it, other than the minister, whose expression fluctuated a bit.
"Let me ask you all this… Do you not know what this forest is and whose territory you are standing in?" The Emeraldine Sky Light Monk ape questioned.
"That doesn't matter to us. What matters now is that this is what you have and what we will take in compensation for not killing you." One of the elders from the sects stated rather arrogantly.
~Sigh~
The ape beast shook his head.
"And here I thought the elders of the human race would have better wisdom than this. The children before, they were far better than you all…" The Emeraldine Sky Light Monk ape replied.
"Silence! We will not offer you any more chances. Leave now!" The sects' elders yelled.
"Hang on! Perhaps we can do something else!" The minister of the Ling Kingdom hurriedly spoke.
His actions were surprising for all others, even those that had come with him.
"What's the issue Minister Ting?" One of the elders of the Pale Marble Kingdom questioned.
"Don't tell me you are scared of this one beast, minister Ting?" The sect elder who had arrogantly threatened the ape beast before spoke.
"Yeah, he's merely at the Child Soul Stage of the Nascent Soul realm." Another elder chimed in.
"DAMMIT! Have you all lost your minds!" Minister Ting couldn't keep his calm anymore.
'Can none of them sense the calmness of this beast? I'm having really bad feeling.' Minister Ting thought.
The elders were certainly taken aback by the sudden outburst of Minister Ting and wanted to say something but were interrupted. The Emeraldine Sky Light Monk ape though raised a brow in surprise seeing the minister's sudden action.
"His words… Can you all not read between the lines? He never stated that he was the owner of this orchard, but merely taking care of it." Minister Ting stated for them.
The nascent soul realm elders were finally coming on track, but were still a bit lacking.
"Do you mean to say that the Twin Lights Liger King is the owner? Even if he is, that won't matter, Minister Ting." The elder from the Pale Marble Kingdom spoke.
"Yeah, we just need to kill this beast. I doubt even the Twin Lights Liger King will even know in that time." The elder from the Lily sect spoke.
"Once we're gone from here, none will be the wiser." Another elder joined in.
~Shua~
But just as they said those words, all the elders felt a faint pressure on them.
"Is that so?" A new voice suddenly spoke.
~WHOOSH~
"WHO?!" The elders were surprised.
Deep down, they knew that the Twin Lights Liger King was a threat that they wouldn't be able to go against, but they also knew that the different rulers wouldn't go in the other's territory.
Doing so was just provoking conflict thus, what happened in one ruler's territory was usually isolated. This was of course, only if the said ruler didn't ask for help. But the elders would never think of a beast doing that.
Not from another beast that was at the same rank as a ruler. In fact, they reckoned that the beasts would let one ruler die and take over their territory later.
If it were not for the greed clouding their judgment right now, the elders would realize the flaws in their thoughts. Perhaps only Minister Ting was thinking logically right now. He may have been swayed by greed at the start, but his instincts were screaming at him now.
They told him to run and never look back.
"The humans have certainly gotten arrogant. I never expected this from the Luguo kingdom, seeing as we had some genial exchanges in the past." The Slim Arm Ape King who had just appeared spoke.
His tall body stared from the sky, and disappointment was apparent on his face.
"The Slim Arm Ape King?" The elder from the Luguo kingdom muttered.
The Slim Arm Ape King used to have interactions with humans in the past and even exchanged some goods with them. But after the arrival of Lin Wu, all such exchanges had been stopped by him.
It was simply because they were no longer necessary. All that the Slim Arm Ape king exchange for was some pills that he couldn't get and a few miscellaneous goods that he liked.
These were things that he was used to since his life as a tamed beast in the past and was used to them. One such thing being wine that he had tasted in the past and needed humans to get it from.
"Another beast! It will be difficult to get the fruits. Look what you did, minster Ting! You wasted our time." The arrogant elder scorned.
"Still so arrogant?" The Slim Arm Ape King was honestly lost at their attitude.
"Why are you here, Slim Arm Ape King? Is this other ape beast your kin? If so be wise and go away. You do not want a conflict with us." The elder from the Luguo kingdom spoke.
"Yeah, on account of our kingdom having some exchanges with you, we will let this pass." The second elder from the Luguo kingdom added.
"IMBECILES!" A thunderous voice yelled as an oppressive presence suddenly appeared.