Hou Niao took the little peacock to several Dao gatherings and keenly noticed that she was somewhat nervous when facing these Upper Realm Visitors.
"Nineteenth Aunt, the traditions behind these people must be very powerful in the universe. Where does the Peacock Clan stand in relation to them?"
This time, even the ever-proud little peacock had to tell the truth.
"In fact, even our Peacock Clan has the will but not the strength when facing great Daoist sects like these. We're only one clan, and there are many other primordial clans like ours: Phoenixes, Rocs, Dragons, Qilins, Nine-Infants, Xianglius, and so on. Add all of us primordial clans together, and we could probably just about count as a worthy opponent for the Daoist Sect..."
With that explanation, Hou Niao roughly understood, and he also came to understand humanity's standing in the universe's cultivation world.
The little peacock smiled. "There are far too many humans, with countless outstanding great cultivators and quite a few who have joined with the Dao and become immortals. But making a comparison like that is meaningless to begin with, because our Peacock Clan has no particular ambitions. We only want to survive in this universe. We neither want to rule it nor control humanity.
"Besides, precisely because there are so many humans and so many traditions, they often aren't all that united. Their ambitions are great, but their greatest opponents aren't primordial clans like us. They're each other.
"More often than not, we're the ones being courted, rather than the main players. The Heavenly Dao granted us long lives, but kept our numbers on the brink of extinction. So we're more like mascots, the sort that can never take center stage."
Hou Niao sighed repeatedly. That was probably how it was. How much helplessness lay beneath