Had this been two months earlier, if this Pig Spirit had dared speak to the Leopard Spirit like that, one great swipe from the Leopard Spirit would have ripped his belly open.
But Stone City was short of food, and the Spirit Monsters were growing ever more numerous. The Leopard Spirit missed nine meals in three days; he had even survived on dung.
The Pig Spirit, meanwhile, had a thick waist and broad shoulders, and easily subdued him.
A cup of tea's time later, the Leopard Spirit limped laboriously toward the Five Elements Fruit Grove with the Pig Spirit on his back. "Brother Pig, what are we going there for?"
The Pig Spirit stroked the Leopard Spirit's spots and gave a strange chuckle. "To seize territory, of course."
"Huh?" The Leopard Spirit was bewildered. "You want to steal fruit? But every fruit on the Five Elements Fruit Trees is accounted for. If even one goes missing, someone will definitely die."
"Even fallen Five Elements Fruit Tree leaves have to be handed over to the Cafeteria. Those are cooking ingredients, and we aren't allowed to keep any for ourselves."
"The cattle grass underneath is controlled by the Spirit Monsters of the Dung Production Alliance, too."
"What good will seizing territory there do?"
The Pig Spirit chuckled. "You fool, this is what you don't understand!"
"Once Five Elements Fruit Trees flower and bear fruit, their ability to regulate the five elements increases enormously!"
"And forming embryonic Spirit Veins requires the support of the five elements."
"As long as we can seize a tree, our efficiency at creating Spirit Veins will at least double in the future, or even double again."
"If you create more Spirit Veins in the future, you'll be able to support yourselves then, too."
At these words, the Leopard