Two days passed by very quickly.
Morning arrived with the sun rising on the horizon.
The Beast God Shrine radiated a mysterious aura beneath the brilliant sunlight, shrouded in an air of ancient regality.
The square in front of the Beast God Shrine that could accommodate over ten thousand in number was currently filled with disciples from the many beastmen tribes.
Standing in the center of the square were the Lion Tribe, Wolf Tribe, Snake Tribe, Fox Tribe, and all the top ten tribes that had arrived. All but the Tiger Tribe.
A large area was fenced up at the center as the sparring competition venue for the disciples.
At the moment, the enormous square was buzzing with excitement, disciples and Elders of different tribes were either whispering or discussing a similar topic.
"Rumors say that this time a new Beast God will be elected!"
"I wonder who our new Beast God will be! But whoever it is, it has nothing to do with our Insect Tribe."
The noises of discussion on the square grew louder.
The Lion Tribe's Patriarch Andrew was seated on a chair with his eyes closed in meditation posture, as if the discussions around had nothing to do with him.
As the noises in the square reached a peak, they halted abruptly. From every corner of the square, heads turned toward the entrance, watching Chuck and a group of Tiger Tribe Saint realm experts as they made their way to the square center. What surprised them was the human walking beside Chuck!
Andrew, who seemed to be meditating, opened his eyes, a sharp light glinted as his piercing gaze focused on Chuck.
Sensing something, Chuck looked over. Two rivals' gazes collided in mid air, creating an invisible surging energy that exuded a silent pressure over the square. The slightly weaker Patriarchs and Elders quickly retreated away, failing to withstand the pressure.
A mere second later, Chuck and Andrew retrieved their gazes.
The people in the square immediately breathed out in relief.
Andrew turned to his steward, Andy, signaling with a look. Andy nodded in acknowledgment and walked over to the Tiger Tribe group. Stopping in front of Chuck, Andy raised an arm to block Chuck's path, speaking in a voice that was neither too loud or soft, "Patriarch Chuck, today is our beastmen tribes' congregation but you actually brought a human here, what is the meaning of this? Your action is a desecration of the Beast God!"
"Desecration of the Beast God?" Chuck sneered coldly, and in a split second, his hand clenched into a fist and shot out at Andy. Startled, Andy raised an arm to block the attack, but the force still forced him backward, landing him in quite an awkward appearance.
"You—!" Andy was both frightened and angered.
"Who stipulated that humans cannot join our beastmen tribes' congregation?" Chuck sneered, "Liege Lord Beast God has never made this rule, perhaps you made it up?
Andy's face flushed a deep red, but the words were stuck in his throat, not knowing how to reply.
As Chuck stated, there was no rule that forbid human from joining the beastmen tribes' congregation. It was just that there had never been any humans that participated before this, therefore everyone inevitably formed a misconception that humans were not allowed to be present.
Ignoring Andy, Chuck led Huang Xiaolong and the group of Tiger Tribe experts toward the square center. Arranging for another chair to be added, Chuck, Huang Xiaolong, and all the Tiger Tribe Saint realm experts sat down.
Andy retreated back to Andrew's side. Andrew didn't speak, maintaining a stoic face as if nothing happened just now.
Sitting far away, the Snake Tribe's Patriarch's took a quick glance at Huang Xiaolong with cold eyes.
With the Tiger Tribe's arrival, all the tribes had arrived before the Beast God Shrine.
Andrew commanded to Lion Tribe High Priest, Phil, who was beside him, "Begin."
During the tribes' congregation, disciples from each tribe would participate in the sparring competition, and the next year's tribe congregation would be hosted by the winner's tribe. Last year, the first place winner came from the Lion Tribe, therefore this year's congregation was hosted by the Lion Tribe.
The Lion Tribe's High Priest Phil stood up, complying with Andrew's order as he made a respectful bow before walking to the center of the square, then he spoke in a sonorous voice, "Today is our beastmen tribes' congregation, and according to the usual events, the congregation should begin with the disciples' sparring competition. However, this year, the disciple sparring competition will be pushed back."
Pushed back!
A commotion spread throughout the large crowd as if they could already guess what was about to take place.
As expected, the Lion Tribe's High Priest went on, "More than ten thousand years ago, our glorious Liege Lord Beast God led the beastmen tribes in conquering this Ten Directions Continent, all other races surrendered under his rule. But after Liege Lord Beast God disappeared, we fought amongst ourselves, internal conflicts and discord arose, never seeming to cease, resulting in the decline of our beastmen tribes' power. If we continue down this path, us beastmen will be suppressed by the demonic beast clans, or worse, swallowed by them!"
"Therefore, we beastmen tribes must come together and elect a new Beast God, so the new Liege Lord Beast God can lead us to become stronger again, to prosper, conquering the Ten Directions Continent once again, to recover our past glory and might!"
The Lion Tribe's High Priest was righteous in his words, stirring the crowd's emotions.
"A new Beast God?" An ironic snicker sounded from the Tiger Tribe's direction, from Chuck. "Pray tell who this new Beast God is going to be. Let me guess, will it be your Lion Tribe's Patriarch? Your words flowed much better than a song."
In an instant, the crowd quieted.
High Priest Phil coughed lightly to ease the sudden awkward atmosphere, "Suggesting to elect a new Beast God this time, of course, depends on one's capability. Regardless whether it is in the Martial Spirit World or other worlds, strength is the fundamental qualification. Therefore, our new Liege Lord Beast God would be selected based on the strongest one amongst us!"
The strongest one amongst us!
The beastmen's number one strongest expert was none other than the Lion Tribe's Patriarch, Andrew.
It was evident from High Priest Phil's words that no candidate was more befitting than their Lion Tribe's Patriarch Andrew as the new Liege Lord Beast God!
Chuck snickered, he was about to speak again before hearing Huang Xiaolong's voice in his ear, stopping his next action.
"I strongly nominate my Lion Tribe Patriarch Andrew as the new Beast God, only our Patriarch is capable of leading us to a stronger force, reproducing our beastmen ancestor's glory!" High Priest Phil lauded.
Some in the crowd were moved by his words.
The Beamon[1. Beak animal? I imagined it to be something like this aka platypus.] Tribe, Cattle Tribe, Violent Horse Tribe, Goat Tribe, and Hundred Bird Tribe's Patriarch each had a tiny frown on their faces.
"I also agree with Patriarch Andrew as our beastmen tribes' new Beast God!" The Snake Tribe Patriarch Danny spoke up at this point, "Only a strong person like Andrew is capable of leading us as the beastmen's new Beast God!"
"I also nominate Patriarch Andrew!" The Wolf Tribe's Patriarch, Hayden, also spoke.
Subsequently, the Fox Tribe's Patriarch, Grace, echoed the same tune.
Andrew stood up, greeting Danny, Hayden, and Grace with a cupped fist and then turned to face the crowd. "If there's anyone here that thinks his strength is stronger than me, I gladly accept the challenge; if I am defeated, I shall yield the Beast God position to the winner!"
"Yield the Beast God position?" The Tiger Tribe Patriarch Chuck rose to his feet, a satirical smile hanging on his lips, "What a joke! Who are you to yield the Beast God position? Andrew, are you implying that you're already the new Beast God now?"
Andrew ignored all Chuck's words, calm as ever, "Chuck, are you issuing a challenge?"
Chuck's eyes lingered over the crowd as he said, "I don't object to electing a new Beast God, however, it should adhere to our long standing rule—whoever has the Beast God Scepter, that person will be our beastmen tribes' new Beast God!"
"Right, all in accordance to our ancestor's rule, whoever has the Beast God Scepter, that person will be our Beast God!" The Beamon Tribe Patriarch Clay agreed.
"That's right! Andrew, if you can take out the Beast God Scepter, we have no objections with you taking over the Beast God position, otherwise, don't fart around here!" The Violent Horse Patriarch Charles snorted, not leaving any face.
With someone spearheading the objection, the smaller tribe Patriarchs echoed their support.