Turning point

The moment the Second Elder returned in triumph with the body of Chi Yan of the Panther Cat Tribe and stepped into the Dog Tribe fortress, cheers from the Dog Yokai engulfed the entire stronghold.

Wave after wave of voices rang out, releasing the fighting spirit and joy that had long been bottled up in their hearts.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere among the Leopard Cat Tribe was utterly frozen and oppressive.

Oyakata, the Panther Cat Great Lord who had become a great yokai by cultivating his yokai body, stood quietly in the center of the tribal grounds, his enormous form towering like a mountain.

Red-and-black samurai armor of the Warring States period covered his towering yokai body, which stood over thirty meters tall.

It not only gave Oyakata an unparalleled sense of power, but also lent his vigorous frame an even fiercer presence.

His brown fur was sleek and smooth. Two thick horns, each two or three meters long, jutted from his shoulder armor, while his exposed fangs gleamed coldly, giving him an indescribably savage appearance.

"The Fifth Elder, Chi Yan, has been confirmed dead at the hands of the Dog Yokai Great Elder and Second Elder working together. Winter Gale and the other rising talents of our tribe also died at the Dog Yokai Highland Outpost."

After successfully killing Chi Yan, the Dog Tribe had swiftly spread the battle report far and wide through the Third Elder, Zi Yan.

For one thing, they wanted to proclaim their glorious victory. It was like a shot in the arm for the dispirited Dog Tribe Alliance, bolstering the morale of the forces aligned with the Dog Tribe.

After years of war and years of being suppressed, the exhausted Dog Tribe Alliance had long been desperate for a victory to lift its spirits.

For another, it was a warning to their allies and vassals: the Panther Cat Tribe would inevitably escalate the fighting in the battles to come.

They needed those forces to shoulder some of the pressure on the local fronts of the Cat-Dog war and prevent the Panther Cat Tribe from redeploying its elite fighters too easily.

Thus, the Panther Cat Tribe soon reported the broad outlines of the incident to Oyakata.

Afterward, the three Panther Cat elders still in the tribal grounds held a high-level meeting with Great Lord Oyakata.

Most members of the Leopard Cat Tribe followed Oyakata's example and cultivated their yokai bodies, so the buildings in their main base were especially spacious and rugged.

In the open-air stone hall, Oyakata sat upright on an enormous throne carved and polished from bluestone, listening to a Panther Cat below him finish the report.

His feline eyes, each nearly the size of a baby, slowly swept over the three elders seated below. His voice was deep and resonant, without any of the brutality and arrogance he would display upon his resurrection in later years.

"There is no need for further words. Since the Dog Yokai have struck so ruthlessly, if we do not retaliate and slaughter one of them to consecrate our battle flag, the entire order of the Western Country will shift."

With that brief statement, Oyakata set the meeting's uncompromising tone. The Panther Cat Great Elder, whose gray-blue yokai body stood nearly fifteen meters tall, understood his king's fury all too well.

News of the Fifth Elder's death had thrown the entire Leopard Cat Tribe into an uproar.

The Panther Cat Great Elder had witnessed his tribe go from the sole overlord of the Western Country to sharing power with a rival. Though anger burned within him, several centuries of life had also given him the cunning of an old fox.

He had proposed the strategy of bleeding the Dog Tribe dry, and after decades, it had already yielded considerable results, leaving the Dog Tribe and the other factions barely clinging to life.

But such an unexpected setback midway through the strategy was undoubtedly the result of their own carelessness.

The loss of an elder-level fighter, along with promising future combatants, would sting the Leopard Cat Tribe for quite some time, surrounded as it was by enemies.

Under Oyakata's imposing gaze, the Great Elder, second only to him in both strength and standing within the Leopard Cat Tribe, tilted his head up slightly and spoke.

"As you command, my king."

The Panther Cat Great Elder paused, gathered his words, and continued.

"Given the Dog Yokai's way of doing things, they will undoubtedly center the coming battles around the Dog Tribe fortress and abandon their outlying territories."

"Just as they did twenty years ago, they will commit to a defensive war against us and force us to withdraw of our own accord."

There had been two turning points in the war between the cat and dog tribes. The first was the emergence of the Dog King, which had utterly transformed the Dog Tribe's standing, turning it from a piece on the board into a player.

The second was the meteoric rise of the Dog Tribe's Third Elder, Zi Yan, which had given the tribe the means to expand its territory.

That had also prompted the Leopard Cat Tribe to launch a large-scale assault. The battle had been exceptionally brutal, and the Dog Yokai Second Elder had nearly died on the spot.

The Panther Cat Great Elder continued his analysis.

"So, to avoid being drawn into a prolonged war of attrition that leaves the Dog Tribe largely unscathed while exhausting us instead..."

The Panther Cat Great Elder's voice deepened. "We must recall the elders stationed on the other two fronts against those two factions. With the strength of all five of us combined, we will make the Dog Yokai pay blood for blood!"

"Then do as the Great Elder says. We must teach the Dog Yokai a lesson as quickly as possible, blunt their edge, and break their backs!"

Oyakata nodded his agreement without hesitation and swept his enormous arm through the air. The seven- or eight-meter-long limb whipped up a gale.

The powerful wind made even the Panther Cat Sixth Elder, the weakest person present, feel as though he was about to be blown away.

"I will make the arrangements at once."

After the meeting ended, Oyakata turned around. His enormous body slowly rose into the air and flew toward the high mountain, eventually disappearing through the mouth of a cave.

Of the three Panther Cat elders who remained, two leaped into the air at the Great Elder's direction and sped toward their respective destinations.

"This time, besides gathering the elders, we must also deal those other two factions a heavy blow, so they cannot counterattack the Panther Cats left behind to hold those positions once the elders depart."

Most people feared power rather than cherished kindness. In a world where the strong reigned supreme, strength was the only truth.

As long as the Leopard Cat Tribe remained powerful, it had no need to worry about others kicking it while it was down.

After all, a great yokai was the pillar that held up an entire tribe!

The Panther Cat Sixth Elder, seven or eight meters long with white fur tinged blue, flew through the air, the Great Elder's instructions still echoing in his ears.

He was older than Chi Yan, yet had become a high-ranking yokai later than him.

He was even slightly weaker than Zi Yan, the Dog Tribe's Third Elder, and could only maintain a stalemate against her.

Such strength was not much of a problem in ordinary times. Everyone built up their power bit by bit through years of cultivation.

In another century or two, he would no longer be among the weaker high-ranking yokai.

But on a chaotic battlefield where life and death were uncertain, he was the easiest target among the five Panther Cat elders.

It would be strange if the Dog Tribe's three elders did not look for a chance to kill him.

I cannot just sit around waiting to die. The Fourth Elder is stationed at Wind-Thunder Gorge.

The yokai faction in the gorge is the Karasu Tengu Tribe. Their Azure Wings of Wind is a rare treasure. I must find a way to seize it.

Seeking to improve his chances of surviving the battlefield, the Panther Cat Sixth Elder considered how he might obtain the Azure Wings of Wind. Worry gradually surfaced in his brown eyes.

It soon turned to malice!