There was no helping it. Although the individual combat strength of Wolf Clan warriors made it difficult for them to rank among Super-First-Rate Experts.
Their formidable reproductive capacity gave them a numerical advantage, which in turn posed a subtle threat to the Lion and Tiger Clans.
Thus, no matter how the Lion and Tiger Clans schemed against one another—or even spilled blood within five paces—while fighting over dominance of the Golden Clan.
Whenever they faced the Wolf Clan, the Lion and Tiger Clans, who had been beating each other bloody moments earlier, would invariably understand each other without a word and join forces to restrain the wolves.
Lest the lions and tigers fought while the jackals and wolves reaped the spoils.
That said, it was ultimately an internal struggle within the Golden Clan. They could not make things so ugly that bayonets met and blood flowed.
Therefore, the most conventional balancing method was to win over one faction while suppressing another, supporting the relatively weaker factions among the Wolf Clan and elevating the leaders of minor and middling lineages, who had originally been unqualified to lead, into Wolf Clan Leaders.
This had been an unwritten convention for the past three thousand years.
Those Wolf Clan settlements with long histories, brilliant battle records, immense wealth, and powerful armies were all key targets of the Lion and Tiger Clans' vigilance. Their chieftains rarely gained command over the entire Wolf Clan.
Meanwhile, the nominal wolf kings forcibly propped onto high platforms were universally known puppets. Even with the Lion and Tiger Clans backing them, they could not possibly cow the unruly Wolf Clan chieftains who held heavy military forces in their hands.
As a result, despite possessing the largest number of elite warriors and the finest source of soldiers within the Golden Clan,