Chapter 331: Quality or Quantity

With the completion of Nagrand’s town hall, Wu Qingsong and the others no longer had to live in cramped icehouses.

Wu Qingsong saw no need to promote equality in this world. Nagrand existed because of them, and the beastkin lived because of their efforts. Naturally, they deserved a better quality of life.

The building featured tightly sealed double-layered wooden walls with excellent insulation. Combined with carefully designed fireplaces, heated brick beds, and underground ducts for circulating warm air, it provided remarkable comfort during the harsh winter.

However, such structures consumed an excessive amount of timber, making citywide expansion unfeasible for at least several years. They could only be gradually constructed as rewards for meritorious service and devout believers.

As the weather grew colder, outdoor work decreased significantly. The beastkin girls huddled together lazily, playing the board and card games Wu Qingsong had taught them—or engaging in more intimate activities with him. Only on clear days would they take turns accompanying him on flights around the Ice Sea, checking if any beastkin needed assistance.

Ram and Nina had drawn up plans for the coming spring. Yet, with the long winter ahead, they had reviewed those plans so thoroughly that they could recite every detail from memory. Eventually, they lost interest in further discussions.

Nonetheless, the weekly sermons continued without fail, undeterred by wind or snow. The hostages, initially resistant, gradually grew curious. As they attended more gatherings, they became accustomed to the rituals.

Though they showed no signs of conversion, they no longer viewed the Xuanyuan Church as some demonic monstrosity. Some had even memorized a few stories about Xuanyuan and could hum several hymns.

“Morin is doing quite well,” Wu Qingsong said. 

At this rate, by winter’s end, a few hostages might become nominal believers—or even shallow followers.

However, Alice, who Liuli had just called over for a game of Aeroplane Chess, shook her head, showing her disagreement.

“Do you see a problem, Alice?” Wu Qingsong asked.

“I believe he is going against Xuanyuan’s will, my lord,” Alice replied in the warmth of the room.

For a priestess, this was a serious accusation—especially considering they were discussing her father.

“Why do you say that?” Wu Qingsong asked, surprised.

“Beneath the snow outside, many mousekin are hibernating,” Alice continued. “My lord, I believe they should be our next focus.”

“Mousekin?” Wu Qingsong blinked.

It was only then that he realized Morin’s plan targeted powerful beastkin clans. As a rabbitkin himself, Morin had overlooked weaker races like mousekin and rabbitkin.

“What does your father think?”

“He believes the church currently lacks enough priests to expand widely. Therefore, we must first focus on key targets, the dominant beastkin within each clan. Once these beastkin submit to the church’s leadership, weaker groups like mousekin and rabbitkin will naturally follow.”

The reasoning wasn’t without merit, but it was clear that Alice disagreed.

“I’d like to hear your thoughts,” Wu Qingsong said.

“I believe those beastkin still harbor hostility toward us. Though they outwardly submit out of fear of your power, deep down, they will surely try to obstruct our influence. These hostages may seem to have accepted the grace of my lord Xuanyuan, but that’s only because they are surrounded by believers and naturally influenced by their environment. Once they return to their clans, back into territories hostile to us, they will never behave the same way. It’s already difficult for us to preach within the Silvermoon Wolf Clan’s controlled areas. It will only be harder elsewhere. Without several years of effort, there won’t be any meaningful results.”

Alice rarely voiced opinions, especially ones that contradicted her father’s. Clearly, they had already debated this issue many times.

Wu Qingsong nodded silently.

“Even among the Silvermoon wolfkin, there’s always a sense of disdain when they interact with us rabbitkin. Our priests have to spend several times the effort just to challenge these ingrained perceptions. This prejudice is deeply rooted in the beastkin’s very blood, changing it is extremely difficult.”

Encouraged, Alice’s thoughts grew clearer.

“But we wouldn’t face the same problem when preaching to the mousekin. On the contrary, our identity would actually inspire familiarity and trust, making it easier to spread the faith. That, however, is not the main reason I’m proposing this. I believe the mousekin should be our next focus because their lives are too miserable. If we can provide them with the most basic support and assistance, they’ll readily embrace the faith of Xuanyuan. If we can show them hope for a better life, they will quickly become the most devout believers, just like what happened in Orgrimmar.

“Bearkin, tigerkin, wolfkin, and taurkin are the rulers of the plains. They already hold the highest status and enjoy the best living conditions. While we might offer them something better, I believe they will never forget what we’ve taken from them. They will focus on their losses rather than what we’ve given.

“Pouring immense resources and effort into converting these dominant beastkin, hoping for results years down the line, seems wasteful when we could gain ten or even a hundred times more believers among the mousekin in a much shorter time. Why should we abandon the near for the far?”

“But the mousekin’s combat strength and potential are far too weak,” Ram interjected.

She had heard Alice’s argument before and had already considered it carefully.

The reality was undeniable: even a hundred devout mousekin couldn’t defeat a single bearkin. Among the sixteen talented beastkin girls under their command, only four were mousekin and rabbitkin combined—and they were the weakest of the group, barely meeting the threshold for cultivation.

Ram never doubted their devotion. Nearly all rabbitkin and mousekin could be awakened, the highest success rate among all beastkin. But their abilities were so lacking that it was hard to overlook.

In Ram’s view, their greatest value lay in producing more soul stones. Yet, with Wu Qingsong unable to directly convert soul stones into combat power, the current supply was already sufficient for most of Nagrand’s needs. Under such circumstances, the priority had to be identifying more talented beastkin girls—not stockpiling soul stones.

Even ten thousand devout mousekin couldn’t defeat a hundred bearkin—or perhaps not even ten. What was the use of such believers, no matter how many there were?