Has It Always Been So, and Is That Right

“Hm?”

Ye Shu, seated in the stands, suddenly shuddered from head to toe.

He glanced left and right, feeling a chill run down his spine. “Why do I have such a bad feeling? I’m freezing all over. I feel like someone’s watching me.”

Fortunately, he cultivated the Dao of Cause and Effect.

An intrusion of this level was easy enough for him to track down.

“With karma above my head, my true self shall reveal itself.”

Ye Shu formed a hand seal and looked up.

There stood Ao Xue, dressed in fluttering blue sleeves and a fairy-like gauze dress. A pair of dragon horns accentuated her lovely features, while three thousand strands of black hair danced in the wind. She wore crystal-glass shoes and was glaring daggers at him.

Golden dragon pupils burned with a flame called fury. Her small mouth was slightly open, revealing two sharp little fangs, as she silently exhaled.

“Haa—”

What the hell, bro?

Ye Shu’s heart jolted. He cursed inwardly, “Why are you looking at me? I don’t even know you! The one opposing your bid to become Beast King is right next to you. Why aren’t you breathing fire at her? Why me?”

“We’re seriously not that close!”

But Ao Xue paid him no heed. The moment she saw him look over, she even raised her two little claws and bared her teeth at him, glaring with ferocious cuteness.

Ye Shu: “......”

He sighed helplessly.

“Whatever, whatever. I’ve completely gotten used to this by now. After all, a good man like me is like a steaming pile of dog crap in a winter snowstorm. Any dog would want to come over and lick me. Whatever, whatever~”

“Bro.”

The bull-headed man beside him gave him a look of utter disdain. “You don’t seriously think the Dragon Girl is looking at you, do you?”

“What’s there to look at? You’re just a human.”

“Handsome is handsome regardless of race.” Ye Shu cast the bull-headed man a melancholy glance. Then he reached into his trousers, pulled out a blade of foxtail grass, and stuck it between his lips. In a languid tone, he said, “You wouldn’t understand~”

“Tch! As if anyone cares!”

The bull-headed man folded his arms and snorted disdainfully. “Back in the day, I was the dream beast of countless beastfolk. The females who wanted to climb into my bed could line up all the way from here to the Eastern Wasteland!”

What a competitive bastard.

Speechless, Ye Shu glanced at the bull-headed man. He was tall and powerfully built, with a pair of bull horns, and looked nothing like someone who had once been adored by countless beastfolk. Assuming the other fellow was merely bragging, Ye Shu turned his head and continued watching the little beast onstage.

“Damn it......”

Seeing Ye Shu turn his attention back to the purple-haired girl, Ao Xue stomped her feet in anger.

This guy really did like little girls!

How disgusting!

What a pervert!

Someone like him ought to be locked up!

Ao Xue thought viciously to herself, but she was not so hotheaded as to lose control onstage. After all, she was already a mature and dependable big girl.

She turned her attention back to the beasts below.

Seeing the hesitation in their eyes, it seemed that the little beast’s words had shaken many of them. If she did nothing now, this election might truly fall apart.

“Everyone.”

Ao Xue cleared her throat, her expression solemn.

“I know you all have your doubts. I also admit that, for certain reasons, I have been absent from the beast race all these years. But please believe me: I did not avoid my responsibilities out of a desire for pleasure. Otherwise, I would never have returned.”

“It was simply that my bloodline had been suppressed. Only now have my memories awakened.”

Ao Xue spoke slowly and deliberately, with complete sincerity and not a hint of falsehood in her voice.

“All these years, I have been searching for my father’s whereabouts, and I have already found some leads.”

“In short, I, Ao Xue, swear this before you all.”

Ao Xue stood in place and raised four fingers toward the heavens, her expression solemn.

“If I become the leader of the beast race, I will devote my entire life to restoring its glory. Should I ever break this vow, may I lose my bloodline, become an ordinary beast, and never awaken my intellect!”

The moment her words fell, thunder rumbled across the sky, and golden light filled the heavens.

“Whoa......”

The beastfolk who had still been hesitating moments earlier stared in shock, their mouths hanging open in disbelief.

To lose one’s intelligence and become an ordinary beast—

For magical beasts that had already embarked upon the path of cultivation, this was the harshest punishment imaginable. For a naturally gifted dragon of the destined ninth rank, it was even more so.

“Damn!”

Even Ye Shu could not help voicing his approval as he looked at the solemn little face of Ao Xue.

Regardless of anything else, at least her determination to fight for the beast race was genuine.

“Not bad.”

Even the Giant Ape City Lord, standing on the stage, nodded sincerely. His gaze toward Ao Xue had softened considerably.

Only the bull-headed man sitting beside Ye Shu snorted coldly.

“Pure nonsense. If she really went looking for the Old Dragon King, I’ll eat my horns. She’s just bluffing the beasts.” Despite saying that, there was a hint of admiration in his eyes as he looked at Ao Xue.

With public opinion now on her side, Ao Xue could not help feeling a little smug.

She pressed her advantage, lifting her snow-white chin and looking down at the little beast.

“No matter how much you say, it’s all meaningless.”

“I possess the Dragon King’s bloodline. I am destined to reach the ninth rank!”

“I can lead the beast race farther than anyone else. The beast race needs a leader—a powerful leader, one who can suppress the entire age and clash head-on with True Immortals!”

“And that leader can only be me!”

“It must be me!”

Her voice grew impassioned. Her draconic bloodline surged in tandem with her speech, forming a domain in midair. The phantom image of a long dragon swam through the sky, soaring through the nine heavens as golden light filled the world. The entire platform was stained by the might of the dragon.

She looked at the little beast and asked coolly:

“You want to become the leader of the beast race. What do you have to offer?”

“Your tiny body? Or that Amethyst Lion bloodline of yours, which will struggle even to reach the seventh rank?”

“If you become the leader of the beast race, how will you convince anyone to follow you?”

“With a bloodline whose limits can be seen at a glance, how could you possibly lead the beast race toward glory?”

“That’s right!”

The beastfolk who had come back to their senses nodded one after another.

No matter how loudly the little beast questioned them, no matter how eloquently she spoke, no matter how thoroughly she disparaged Ao Xue or exaggerated her own achievements, the gap between their bloodlines was an undeniable fact.

It would not change simply because of words.

Ao Xue was born a dragon. She could advance straight to the ninth rank.

The little beast was born with the bloodline of an Amethyst Lion. Her limit was the seventh rank.

This was a fate determined from birth, an accepted truth among the beast race for countless years.

Race above all. Bloodline was king.

“Little girl, no matter how nicely you put it!” The beastfolk below called out in earnest, trying to persuade her. “Bloodlines don’t change. This has always been the way of the beast race. Whoever possesses the greatest bloodline potential is the most qualified to become its leader. This wasn’t decided by us—it has been the rule since the age of our ancestors.”

“If you want someone to blame, blame your bad luck.”

The little beast stood on the platform as the voices of doubt rang endlessly in her ears, yet her expression remained unchanged.

She merely swept her calm gaze across the assembled beasts and asked:

“Just because it has always been this way, does that make it right?”