Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3519: The Elder Council

Several beastkin noticed Orgal being carried.

Murmurs spread quickly.

"The War Chief is injured."

"He lost a fight?"

"Who did this?"

Eyes turned instinctively toward Cattaleya.

Given her towering frame, dense muscles, and the overwhelming aura she gave off even while relaxed, many beastkin immediately assumed she was responsible. Gorilla beastkin with thick arms and wide chests stared at her with barely restrained eagerness. Rhino beastkin snorted softly, their hooves scraping against the ground as if itching for a challenge.

Cattaleya noticed.

She grinned.

Lin Mu could practically feel her excitement rising, like a blade being slowly drawn from its sheath.

For now, however, no one stepped forward.

The escort continued, weaving through the settlement toward the towering central structure. The apekin who had been guiding them remained calm, clearly accustomed to the attention.

They stopped before the massive bone and timber hall.

"This is the Main Nest," the apekin said. "Where the King resides."

Lin Mu raised an eyebrow. "King?"

"Yes," the apekin replied, amused.

"Not Patriarch?" Lin Mu asked.

Daoist Chu stroked his beard thoughtfully. "You do not follow the human system."

The apekin snorted. "Why would we? Those titles mean little to us."

"Then why call yourselves a sect at all?" Daoist Chu asked. "Why not a kingdom?"

The apekin chuckled, a low rumbling sound. "Because kingdoms bring trouble."

He gestured vaguely outward. "If we call ourselves a kingdom, other human kingdoms begin watching us. Counting our lands. Measuring our strength. Wondering how to carve us up or how to bind us with treaties."

"And a sect?" Lin Mu asked.

"A sect is expected to mind its own business," the apekin said. "Train. Grow strong. Fight when challenged. But not expand endlessly. It invites less scrutiny."

Lin Mu nodded slowly.

It was a pragmatic decision. Clever, even.

They were brought inside.

The interior of the Main Nest was vast and dim. Thick beams of bone and wood formed the ceiling far above, with openings that allowed shafts of filtered sunlight to fall through. The air smelled of earth, resin, and faint traces of blood. Not unpleasant, but unmistakably alive.

There were no ornate decorations. No murals. No incense burners.

Instead, there were trophies of survival. Massive claws embedded into walls. Fangs larger than swords. Hardened hides stretched and used as banners. Everything spoke of struggle, strength, and endurance.

At the center of the hall was a large closed space.

Several powerful presences stirred there.

"The Elder Council awaits," the apekin said.

Lin Mu felt it.

Multiple strong auras, steady and heavy making him think whatever came next, this meeting would not be a simple formality.

Lin Mu slowed his steps as they approached the massive doors of the Main Nest’s inner chamber.

Even before they reached them, the sound leaked through.

It was loud. Crude. Chaotic.

Deep voices overlapped one another, rising and falling like clashing waves. Some were sharp and guttural, others booming and rough, carrying the weight of massive chests and thick lungs.

The tone was not calm discussion. It was an argument, full of snorts, growls, and sharp exclamations that carried an unmistakable edge.

The apekin escort paused, placed one massive hand against the door, and pushed.

CREAK

The doors opened with a heavy creak of bone and timber grinding against one another.

The noise inside immediately spilled out.

No one inside looked toward them.

Not a single beastkin spared them a glance.

The argument continued as if the world beyond the chamber did not exist.

Lin Mu stepped inside with his companions, his gaze sweeping the hall in a calm, measured way. The chamber was even larger than the outer hall, its ceiling supported by enormous rib bones that curved overhead like the inside of a colossal beast’s chest. Thick wooden pillars reinforced the structure, some carved with crude symbols, others left raw and scarred.

At the center was a wide open space, while the perimeter was occupied by massive stone seats arranged in a rough circle.

Nearly every seat was occupied.

The beastkin seated there were all different.

Lin Mu saw a boar beastkin with thick tusks and scarred arms pounding one fist against his knee as he shouted. Across from him, a leopard beastkin leaned forward with narrowed eyes, tail flicking irritably behind him.

A serpent beastkin with dark olive green scales coiled partially around his seat, his forked tongue flickering in agitation. There were wolfkin, hawkkin, apekin, rhino kin, and others whose features blended beast and humanoid forms in ways Lin Mu had only read about before.

They were all arguing.

In their own tongue.

Meng Bai leaned closer to Lin Mu and whispered, "What are they saying?"

Lin Mu listened for a moment, then shook his head. "I cannot understand it."

Daoist Chu frowned slightly. "Nor can I."

The voices were not using the common immortal tongue, nor any of the common beast dialects Lin Mu had encountered. The sounds were rough, filled with clicks, snarls, and guttural inflections that made them difficult to parse even with immortal perception.

Before Meng Bai could comment further, a ripple passed through the shadows near the entrance.

A familiar figure stepped forward as if he had always been there.

Elyon emerged from the darkness.

The apekin escort stiffened immediately, nostrils flaring. His eyes snapped toward Elyon, scanning him with sharp intensity.

"...You," the apekin said slowly. "You smell like us."

Elyon offered a small shrug. "That would be because I am."

The apekin’s brow furrowed deeply. "Then why were you hidden?"

Elyon’s expression remained neutral. "Habit."

Lin Mu understood. Elyon had vanished the moment Little Shrubby sensed pursuit hours ago, positioning himself as a contingency. If things had gone truly wrong, he would have acted from the shadows. That was simply his nature.

Meng Bai turned eagerly toward Elyon. "Can you understand them?"

Elyon listened intently for a few breaths, his brows drawing together. Then he sighed.

"No," he admitted. "This dialect is unfamiliar. It shares roots with other beastkin tongues, but it has diverged significantly."

That answer surprised Meng Bai.