Chapter 1124

But that love was always false; once the power was unlocked, affection and devotion shattered instantly like dreams and bubbles.

"What are you planning to do next?" he asked further.

"To lead my people in search of a new habitat." Yun Shang had no choice; her so-called dream had already shattered, and with her heart grown cold, she decided to accept her sister's advice and destiny, devoting herself entirely as the Azure Fox King.

First, find a new habitable habitat for her people.

"I think you don't need to rush so much—there were issues with your Azure Fox clan's former habitat," Lin Cheng said suddenly, stroking his chin.

"What issues?"

Xiao Hong and Yun Shang both turned to look at Lin Cheng.

According to the memories shared by Xiao Hong with Lin Cheng, the Azure Foxes' former habitat lay far removed from Beast Barracks City—not only was the journey long, but the surrounding area seemed to hold nothing worth developing.

Only some plants and streams existed; the environment was indeed beautiful, and the spiritual energy was several times stronger than that of Beast Barracks City.

Could this possibly be the reason those people launched such a massive invasion?

Clearly not.

There must be a deeper reason—some vital interest that drove these people to invade the Azure Foxes' territory at such great cost.

It certainly wasn't for the environment, nor for the Azure Foxes themselves; otherwise, they wouldn't have merely driven them away.

Demonic beasts possess an innate advantage in sensing celestial spiritual energy.

Wait.

In Xiao Hong's memories, there had once appeared small, milky-white stone fragments, roughly the size of a human fingernail, dug from the soil by the Azure Foxes and fed to juvenile-stage Azure Foxes—only by consuming these small stones could young Azure Foxes grow strong.

Now that she thought about it, those must have been…

"Spirit stone veins! Or rather, spirit ore veins!"

"Do you remember those white stones you fed to juvenile Azure Foxes? They were spirit stone fragments—someone must have discovered the spirit stone vein beneath your habitat, which is why so many humans braved the long journey to go there."

But a new problem arose.

"So that's why—but how did the spirit stone fragments become exposed?"

Xiao Hong had only known that the spirit stone fragments dug from the soil by her clan helped juvenile members grow faster; she had never realized they were the precious spirit ore veins spoken of by humans.

Only now, with Lin Cheng's reminder, did it all suddenly make sense.

This was a problem.

She knew how greedy humans were for spirit ore veins—her people's habitat was surely lost.

Even if they reclaimed it, the spirit stone vein beneath the habitat would surely have been completely mined out; it would never again be the Azure Foxes' former home.

At that moment, Yun Shang hesitantly whispered, "It might have something to do with Yun Mo—I once gave him a spirit stone the size of a human fist."

Uh!

Lin Cheng didn't know what to say anymore.

"How did you meet Yun Mo?"

Yun Mo was merely a mortal; Lin Cheng refused to believe he would dare enter demonic beast territory—so the two must have met by chance near the city's outskirts.

"Yeah, how did you two meet?"

Come to think of it, Xiao Hong didn't know how Yun Mo and her sister had met; she only knew that when Yun Mo appeared, her sister had become utterly dependent on him, utterly in love.

It had once made her jealous, feeling her sister had been stolen away by that man.

Yun Shang's eyes filled with memories of their tender moments together, and she began to speak slowly…

"It happened four months ago. I went out for a walk and accidentally encountered a seventh-rank Thunder Eagle. After a fierce battle, I couldn't match it and fled in disgrace. Then I accidentally collided with another demonic beast and was thrown into a river; I grabbed onto a floating log and passed out. When I woke up again, I had drifted near the river close to Beast Barracks City—that's when I met Yun Mo."

"He rescued my true form, cared for me for a long time, and when I recovered, he let me leave. During that time, I slowly fell in love with him."

"To repay Yun Mo, I gave him a spirit stone freshly dug from our clan's territory. I thought if it helped Azure Foxes, perhaps it would help humans too."

"I never expected…"

Yun Shang lowered her head; she hadn't realized this would bring such great trouble to her clan.

After that, Lin Cheng could easily imagine what happened.

Yun Mo, being a mortal, had no use for the spirit stone—he thought it was just some kind of jade and sold it for a high price. When the buyer asked where he'd found it, he naturally told them.

The actual truth might differ slightly from his assumptions, but the result was the same: greedy humans invaded the Azure Foxes' new territory again, all to discover and claim the spirit stone vein.

Do Azure Foxes possess an innate ability to locate spirit stone veins?

If so, then the reason the former Azure Fox King led the clan to relocate near Beast Barracks City was probably because of this.