Madness of the Zhangchu State

"I'm afraid it's not just birds. There are probably plenty of beasts too; they're just too far away for us to see!"

Alone together, with their unusual relationship, the two spoke freely. Hua Qiandai had come from the Jianghu and knew her share of strange tales. She quickly explained:

"There's a kind of 'beast-luring incense' in the Jianghu that attracts birds and beasts. With enough of it, gathering this many wouldn't be strange. But it's extremely expensive to make, so drawing in this many fierce creatures seems unlikely. Besides, Immortal Beastmaster Xu Fu..."

Hua Qiandai broke off and looked at Jian Shang in surprise...

"A Zhangchu State scheme?"

Jian Shang and Hua Qiandai spoke in unison.

Jian Shang, in particular, had studied the Beast Speech Immortal Manual himself and knew its wondrous intricacies better than most.

"That's impossible, isn't it?! Immortal Beastmaster Xu Fu was only a Loose Immortal. Even if he obtained an Immortal Fruit and became a True Immortal, he couldn't command this many birds! And we don't even know how many beasts there are!" Hua Qiandai shook her head, her certainty edged with doubt.

"It's possible! One person couldn't do it, but an entire nation could!"

Jian Shang's grave reply left Hua Qiandai puzzled. He continued, "Take Chen Sheng. Even with his master, Grand Hermit Han Zhong, he couldn't forcibly conscript over ten million recruits at once. But with eighty-one Heaven-Sacrificing Altars as a medium, he could. The same principle..."

Jian Shang fell silent. His fists clenched tight with anxiety.

"Ah... If the Zhangchu State had such a method, why hadn't they used it before..."

Before Hua Qiandai could finish, she understood Jian Shang's anxiety, anger, and shock.

If their guess was right, Immortal Beastmaster Xu Fu could not be behind this—Jian Shang had killed him with