Beast World: A Fragile Beauty Blessed with Many Children

Chapter 436 - 435: It’s Up to Her Fate

Si Shuo didn’t understand. With reddened eyes, she bit her lip. "Gong You, can Nong Mu really not be saved?" ’Why is everyone just watching in sorrow? Why hasn’t a single person stepped forward?’

Gong You sighed softly. "Actually, the true King of Hundred Birds is the Phoenix, and the Phoenix is five-colored. However, on our Beast World Continent, there are five types of birds that resemble a phoenix: the Red Phoenix, the Green Luan, the Yellow Swan, the Amethyst Phoenix, and the predominantly white Hong Hu.

Those in their Peacock Clan with Divine Clan blood can differentiate into the jet-black Golden Crow or the seven-colored Phoenix.

The former wields the True Sun Fire—the ’Ancestor of All Flames, the Source of a Myriad Fires’—which can incinerate anything between heaven and earth. In other words, a body that hasn’t been tempered by Spiritual Power and truly transformed cannot withstand the True Sun Fire at all; it can even burn the user to ashes. The latter possesses the Nirvana Fire, the flame of life, which offers a certain chance to be reborn from the ashes. It’s just..."

Before Gong You could elaborate, the Fourth Elder put on a show, sighing and shaking his head. "That little female, Nong Mu, has always been so headstrong. After going to Underground Yecheng City and experiencing so much, shouldn’t she have clung to life and learned to compromise? Why did she have to be so stubborn and set herself on fire?

I think she did this on purpose, just to put on a show for us. Why not do it sooner, why not later? Why did she have to do it right in front of us? Isn’t this just meant to tear my third brother’s heart out?

Or did she overestimate herself and think that by burning her own life force, she could achieve Nirvana and become a Phoenix?"

"Wishful thinking. How many in the Peacock Clan have attempted Nirvana in a life-or-death situation? Yet only one or two have ever truly succeeded. She was just seeking her own death..."

Gong You added in a low voice, "Whether it’s the True Sun Fire or the Nirvana Fire, we can’t extinguish either of them. All we can do is see what fate has in store for her."

Little Jing, nestled in Si Shuo’s arms, said with red eyes, "Mother, Sister Nong Mu has suffered so much. I really hope she can pull through, be reborn from the ashes, and start all over again!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Si Shuo saw a flash of red light in the little one’s eyes. It transformed into a thin red thread that rode the wind into the raging inferno. ’This is...’ Si Shuo’s heart clenched. Her gaze shifted to Nong Mu, who was now silent but still burning, and she thought that perhaps things hadn’t reached the worst-case scenario yet.

Nong Yan trembled with fury, glaring at the Fourth Elder. "Nong Kai, she was your own niece! If you want the leader’s position, come at me! Why did you have to go after Mumu?"

The Fourth Elder just smiled and said lightly, "Third Brother, you’re still the leader. Don’t you understand survival of the fittest? The position of leader is the same. As long as you can become the leader, any method is acceptable.

After all, only the capable can protect the entire tribe. In the face of life and death, who has time for conscience and friendship? The strong are revered! Don’t stay in Beast City for so long that you forget how cruel the outside world is."

Nong Yan stared at the flickering crimson flames, his mind flooded with every little moment he had shared with his daughter.

’Was I biased? A person’s heart is a scale; it can’t stay perfectly balanced forever. It’s bound to tip one way or the other. Nong Mu was the youngest. She was smart, adorable, a sweet-talker who knew how to be endearing. She looked like her Mother, and her personality was the most like his own. How could anyone not cherish her?’

Now, she had been forced into self-immolation. All her grievances and suffering seemed to fuel the very flames that consumed her. The searing heat made him feel cold to the bone, while the grief and fury in his heart burned away his sanity.

"Fine, fine, fine," Nong Yan said, nodding through gritted teeth. "Then let’s have a duel. We’ll see who is more fit to be leader. On the arena stage—to the death. How about it?"

Everyone gasped. They were going to fight on the arena stage, with death as the price.

The Fourth Elder’s brow twitched. Although he was completely confident, seeing Nong Yan’s expression—as if he wanted nothing more than to lunge forward and tear him apart with his teeth—made him feel a little unnerved for some reason.

"Clan Leader, we know you’re in pain over the loss of your daughter, but the Fourth Elder is still your older brother. A duel on the stage to determine a winner should be enough. There’s no need to wager your lives, is there?" the crowd urged, trying to persuade him.

Nong Yan’s expression was cold and desolate, filled with the resolve to die. "Winner takes all, loser gets nothing. Do you dare? Either you become the leader, or you sacrifice your life. It’s a perfect chance for everyone to see who is more qualified to be leader. After all, strength is one of the criteria for being a leader. We have to make sure everyone is thoroughly convinced, don’t we?"

The Fourth Elder suddenly burst out laughing. "Fine! What’s there to be afraid of? I’m just worried that when you’re burned to ashes and meet your Mumu before the Beast God, you’ll still have to thank me."

Nong Yan watched as the once-blazing fire gradually weakened. The delicate figure within turned to nothing, and the pile of ashes on the ground was scattered by the flapping wings of a few Beastmen...

In his sorrow and despair, he let out a shrill, mournful cry to the heavens, one call after another. The males behind him also shifted into their Beast Forms and joined his cries, sending their sister off on her final journey.

Only when his cries drew blood and the funereal send-off was complete did he turn a detached gaze on Nong Jing. "From this day forward, you are no longer a daughter of mine, Nong Yan. As long as I am in the Tongdong Tribe, you are forbidden from taking a single step inside it.

So you’d better pray I don’t make it off that arena stage, and that you can be one big happy family with your dear great-uncle!"

Nong Jing’s face was deathly pale. Her Father and brothers before her were disappointed and cold to the core. ’Weren’t they the very people she had always relied on?’

Without her Father—the leader of one of Guangshou City’s most prominent tribes—and her powerful brothers to support her, her future would be visibly harsh!

"Father, big brothers, little brothers, you can’t do this! Mumu is already gone. I’m the only female cub left in the family..."

"Shut up," one of the young males snarled. "Nong Jing, do you even have a heart? You sent Mumu to suffer in Underground Yecheng City, a trip from which she never returned. And yet you stand here, accepting twice the affection from us with a clear conscience? The only reason we haven’t cut you down ourselves is that we’re afraid your disgusting, filthy blood would stain our hands. Get out! Otherwise, I’ll beat you every single time I see you, and I won’t care one bit that you’re a female!"

The other males were also so filled with hatred that veins bulged on their bodies. The bloodthirsty killing intent in their eyes was too much for Nong Jing to bear. She covered her face and ran away.

Gong You narrowed his eyes slightly and whispered to Si Shuo, "My dear, that Fourth Elder should be a Beastman at the Peak of Level 14, while Nong Yan is at Peak Level 13."

Si Shuo looked over. The weather was just starting to warm up, and everyone had shed their heavy clothes for lighter ones. Yet the Fourth Elder was still wearing a high-collared fur, hiding the Beast Mark on his neck.

’That must be his trump card for seizing the leadership position, right?’

She handed Da Hai a Bone Marrow Cleansing and Vein Cutting Pill. This was one she had replicated according to a system’s formula, with the best possible effects.

Without needing to be told, Da Hai flew over and pressed the elixir into Nong Yan’s hand. "Grandpa Nong Yan, take this elixir before you go on stage."

Nong Yan popped the elixir into his mouth without a second thought. It dissolved instantly, and a vigorous, powerful life force washed through his body like crashing waves, flushing out all sorts of impurities and sweeping away his hidden injuries...

His eyes trembled violently. But then his thoughts returned to his own little one, and his heart twisted in agony.