Edited by Aelryinth

Mo Fan gasped. He wondered where Jiang Shaoxu had learned all that from!

"Therefore, it's very obvious that the Deer God you found is the vassal of another leader of the Totem Beasts. It's not from the same heirarchy as the Moon Moth Phoenix," Jiang Shaoxu went on.

Lingling glanced at Jiang Shaoxu. Everything she had said was exactly what Lingling had concluded about the Totem Beasts already.

Lingling had been studying the Totem Beasts while Mo Fan was busy in foreign countries. She had discovered there were many different types of Totem Beasts in the ancient past of their homeland. Some were specifically referred to as the Sacred Totem Beasts, who were basically the leaders Jiang Shaoxu had mentioned.

An example of the Sacred Totem Beasts was the Black Tortoise, whose symbol was a combination of those of the Black Totem Snake, Baxia, and some other Totem Beasts.

Now they had also discovered the existence of another Sacred Totem Beast! Both the Moon Moth Phoenix and the owner of the mysterious feather were its vassals. Lingling initially thought the Deer God was one of its vassals, and that the Seals of the Totem Beast, the mysterious feather, and the Deer God would point to the Sacred Totem Beast. However, it turned out that the Totem Seal of the Deer God was incompatible with the Seals of the Moon Moth Phoenix and the mysterious feather!

In other words, the Moon Moth Phoenix and the mysterious feather were related to one Sacred Totem Beast, while the Deer God was the vassal of another one!

Unfortunately, they only knew about a few Totem Beasts. They lacked the pieces to speculate on the appearances of the Sacred Totem Beasts!

"We've helped you with your goal this time, just tell us what you know," Mo Fan stated. The explanation about the Totem Beasts had gotten his attention.

Zhao Manyan was a Totem Guardian, too. He quickly stepped closer and listened carefully.

Jiang Shaoxu noticed the Violet Imperial Battalion had gone ahead, leaving only Mo Fan's close associates behind. She lowered her voice and said quietly, "Long ago, the Nine Provinces actually had many ancient beasts. They were hostile to one another and fought each other. It was extremely chaotic. Humans were frail, too, so they had no choice but to submit to the powerful ancient beasts. The ancient beasts who were willing to provide humans with protection were called the Totem Beasts, but the Totem Beasts opposed one another, too, so the human tribes ended up constantly waging war against one another.

"With those rules, humans, Totem Beasts, and ancient beasts were able to enjoy some peaceful eras. Didn't we just participate in the Ceremony of the Winged Beasts? It's actually one of the rules that a Sacred Totem Beast came up with to stop the winged beasts from massacring one another, using the height they can reach as a way to decide their status and earn respect from their tribes. That being said, many winged beasts are reluctant to obey the rules. After all, the Sacred Totem Beasts are no longer around, and the Totem Beasts have almost gone extinct. The winged beasts are relatively conservative, hence the Qinling Mountains are well-preserved, and the creatures here are still sticking to the old tradition to compete fairly with one another."

Mo Fan, Lingling, Zhao Manyan, and the others stared at Jiang Shaoxu in astonishment. She knew far more than they had imagined.

There had to be a reason why the Ceremony of the Winged Beasts was held. The ruler of the winged beasts must have started it, and the latter generations agreed with it too, so they continued to pass the ceremony down to their descendants.

"The peace lasted for some time, allowing humans to grow stronger, even while the ancient beasts expanded their territories. Humans discovered magic and began to control their own destiny, while the ancient beasts left the Totem Beasts and turned into the demon creatures that are crawling all over the mountains and wilds as we speak. However, the Totem Beasts that initially took care of humans and ancient beasts all disappeared for an unknown reason. Perhaps the humans whose wings had fully grown overthrew them!" Jiang Shaoxu finished.

"Ah? Why couldn't it be the powerful demon creatures that overthrew the demon beasts? The demon creatures are crueler and fiercer than us. They have a lot of strong species too!" Zhao Manyan protested.

"Well, you're saying that because you're thinking from a human's point of view. I only said humans, Totem Beasts, and ancient beasts, because we always differentiate ourselves from the demon creatures, but try thinking from the Totem Beasts' point of view! Humans are actually no different from other ancient beasts to them!

"It wasn't like the Totem Beasts were particularly kind to humans. They were just too powerful, hence they were unwilling to harm creatures who were weaker. Humans were simply too weak in the past, so the demon creatures always picked on them, which is why they relied more on the protection of the Totem Beasts. Besides, humans were grateful to and respectful of the Totem Beasts, so they ended up getting closer to them! The truth is, the Totem Beasts were never biased toward any species. They were just maintaining order during ancient times with their power and status," Jiang Shaoxu rebutted him.

The Totem Beasts were protecting every weak living creature, and humans were one of them!

When the Magic Civilization was born, humans finally grew stronger and became a powerful species.

If the Totem Beasts were overthrown by a certain species that had risen abruptly, the humans who had learned magic were clearly one of the suspects. Humanity only became powerful after the Magic Civilization was born. Before that, they were not so different from the ancient beasts and demon creatures!

"It's what we thought, too," Mo Fan smiled wryly.

Humans were most likely the ones who had annihilated the Totem Beasts. They might not be able to find any proof in the ancient records of their country, but they had arrived at the same conclusion by looking at the history of countries like Egypt and Greece.

"Therefore, it's actually quite stupid that we are searching for the Totem Beasts now. HAHAHA, it was our ancestors who annihilated them!… Luckily, the Totem Beasts that are still around are not the same as the Totem Beasts in the past. Since they have been tangled up with humans for so long, they are no longer used to living with creatures besides humans. They have become extremely rare, and are actually considered a weak species. They might even end up becoming vassals to humans!" Jiang Shaoxu went on.

As a single entity, the Totem Beasts were still insanely strong, yet when compared to an entire species, they were indeed at a disadvantage in terms of numbers.

The Black Totem Snake who had long resided in the West Lake had only shown himself once, but he had almost died to Zhu Meng!

The Moon Moth Phoenix had lived in the deep forest with only her final breath left. She would have died if she did not have a Totem Guardian!

Jiang Shaoxu was absolutely right. The Totem Beasts were very likely to become vassals of humanity!

"You must have learned all this from Jiang Shaojun. Does that mean the strongest Totem Beasts he was looking for were the leaders of the Totem Beasts, the ones who implemented the rules?" Mo Fan asked her.

"Mm, my brother was looking for the Sacred Totem Beasts! Those Sacred Totem Beasts were insanely powerful. Even if there was only one of them alive in this world, it could still solve the problem we are facing with ease," Jiang Shaoxu admitted.

Mo Fan gasped, suddenly lost for words.

It seemed Shao Zheng was aware of the truth too, which was why he had assigned Mo Fan to look for the Totem Beasts!