On the Sidelines (Twenty-Four)

As the story went, the Eastern King Duke had set out to "achieve great things" and, in one stroke, built his faction into the second-largest in the Primordial Wilderness, behind only the Witch Clan. However you looked at it, that rate of "growth" was swift and worthy of others' "study." Wasn't efficiency what mattered these days?

The Eastern King Duke's growth was swift, but some people were unhappy about it. Chief among them were Dijun, Taiyi, and Kunpeng. Of course, the Sun Palace and the Northern Sea Faction weren't alone. Most notably, there was the Witch Clan, known as the greatest power in the Primordial Wilderness.

By rights, the Witch Clan was a race unto itself. No other races lived within its territory; it had only its own people. No matter how the Eastern King Duke's Purple Palace "recruited troops and bought horses," he could neither recruit nor buy his way into the Witch Clan. What did the growth of his Purple Mansion Faction have to do with them?

The Witch Clan should not have "objected" to the Eastern King Duke's Purple Mansion Faction. You take your broad, sunlit road; I'll cross my narrow wooden bridge. Neither side need bother the other. Yet the Witch Clan truly was unhappy with the Purple Mansion Faction. Why?

Because the Eastern King Duke had already encroached on its interests. True, he could not "recruit" from the Witch Clan. Presumably, he still did not dare dig on the Grand Duke's head—pick a fight with them—because that would be asking for death. Even if the Witch Clan failed to destroy him, Dijun and Kunpeng would surely kick him while he was down.

The Eastern King Duke's strength was growing rapidly. His Purple Mansion Faction had surpassed Taiyi and Dijun's Sun Palace to become the second-largest