Ni Xuetian’s face took on a ghastly expression as he exclaimed, “How is that possible?”
He did not find it strange that Ou Yangming fathomed the integration of Heaven and man because the young fellow would not be qualified to enter the Chaos Cave if that was not the case. That said, although Ou Yangming achieved it, it did not mean that Big Yellow could achieve it too. Even if their mental conception was connected through a certain gifted ability, it was unlikely for something like that to happen.
At the very least, Ni Xuetian was not confident about having attained that standard.
The big yellow dog blinked. It instantly understood that it was definitely a great opportunity for it.
Without further ado, it let go of its mind and allowed Ou Yangming’s consciousness to guide it in nature. Their mental conceptions were like a fish that swam in Heaven and Earth as though they were the ocean. The figures in the natural environment near them, as well as the trees and rockeries far away, everything in the world became the goal that they pursued. The integration of Heaven and man.
Under Ou Yangming’s lead, the big yellow dog truly had a taste of the state’s wonder.
On the other hand, the people around them felt something strange.
Ou Yangming was clearly in front of them, but he seemed to not exist at all because he had become one with Heaven and Earth. After a long time, Ou Yangming exhaled deeply and let go of the big yellow dog. He looked deeply at it and winked discreetly.
The big yellow dog cast a grateful look at him, then closed its eyes and lay on the ground without moving an inch.
Ou Yangming turned to say, “Seniors, Big Yellow has cut off its connection with me.”
Ni Jingshen and Ni Jingtong looked at Ni Xuetian simultaneously. Even though they had higher seniority, they had not achieved the integration of Heaven and man, so their sensing ability in terms of the mysterious spiritual aspect was inferior to Ni Xuetian’s.
The look on Ni Xuetian’s face was unpredictable as he studied Ou Yangming and the big yellow dog in confusion.
Ni Jingtong cleared his throat and asked, “Xuetian, how is it?”
“It should be alright,” Ni Xuetian finally answered forcefully after keeping quiet for a long time. Subsequently, he asked in all seriousness, “Lil’ Friend Ou, may I ask how you did it?”
The crowd was stunned, and they widened their eyes to look at Ou Yangming in disbelief.
‘What did the great ancestor just say?’ Due to Ni Yunhong and his younger sister, and the fact that they needed Ou Yangming’s power, the Ni family’s Three Great Ancestors had been addressing Ou Yangming as Lil’ Ou.
However, the crowd heard Ni Xuetian calling him Lil’ Friend Ou instead of Lil’ Ou.
While the terms of address were only different by one word, their meanings were completely different.
Ni Jingshen and Ni Jingtong were also anxious and doubtful when they looked at Ni Xuetian because they did not know what exactly he was up to.
Ou Yangming’s face changed, and he quickly waved his hand and expressed, “Senior, please don’t frighten me, I don’t deserve the term of address.”
“Hehe, if you don’t deserve it, who else in the world deserves it?” Ni Xuetian looked at Ou Yangming with a grave expression, then flapped his sleeve and glanced at the big yellow dog. “It’s fine. Since you’re so eager to save your elder… Have you acquired the golden
pill?”
“Big Yellow has given it to me,” Ou Yangming immediately answered.
“Okay, stay here for a night, I’ll arrange…”
“Senior, I’m anxious to return home so I’d like to leave now. Please fulfill my wish!” Ou Yangming interrupted him without hesitation.
The other Ni family members looked furious as they thought Ou Yangming was courting death for having the guts to cut off a great ancestor. “Okay. Wangyang, escort Lil’ Friend Ou back to the Immense Forest Military Camp,” Ni Xuetian simply smiled and replied to Ou Yangming nicely, then ordered after some thought, “Get some rare restoratives from the storeroom too and tell Xuehai to give the best, there’s no need to be stingy at all.”
Ni Wangyang was baffled because Ni Xuetian did not treat Ou Yangming like that earlier. Why did he change in the blink of an eye? That being said, whether Ni Wangyang understood it or not, he dared not disobey the Supreme Great Ancestor.
He responded softly, “Brother… Ou, let’s go.”
Since the Supreme Great Ancestor had actually addressed Ou Yangming as Lil’ Friend Ou, as thick-faced as Ni Wangyang was, he dared not regard himself as a senior anymore. Nevertheless, he could not bring himself to call Ou Yangming an uncle.
Ou Yangming was delighted. He cupped his hands at everyone, then followed Ni Wangyang to the storeroom.
At the courtyard’s entrance, he stopped abruptly to look in a certain direction where he fixed his sharp eyes on someone for a moment. Afterward, Ou Yangming turned and left as if nothing happened.
The Ni family members looked at each other as they were puzzled.
Ni Xuetian instructed with a deep voice, “Don’t clamor and don’t disturb Big Yellow. We’ll talk about it once Big Yellow awakes, you may leave now.”
“Yes.” The crowd subconsciously lowered their voice as they dared not alarm the seemingly asleep big yellow dog, then they left in an orderly manner.
After a brief moment, only Big Yellow and the three Supreme Great Ancestors were left. “Xuetian, what’s going on?” Ni Jingshen questioned.
Ni Xuetian’s attitude change confused the other two great ancestors too. They were obviously not concerned about the spiritual medicine from the storeroom, but they could not neglect Ni Xuetian’s attitude. “Uncles, do you know what happened just now?” Ni Xuetian asked slowly while looking at them, then inhaled deeply before he continued, “If I’m not mistaken, not only has Big Yellow entered Extreme Grade, but it has also achieved the integration of Heaven and man in terms of its comprehension in Heaven and Earth’s energy.”
“What?”
The other two Supreme Great Ancestors gasped.
It was the integration of Heaven and man, a state that they desired and searched for tens of years, but their efforts had been to no avail.
Big Yellow must have broken through to Extreme Grade and arrived at the peak of a half-spirit beast because it had a chance encounter during the adventure. In fact, it could probably advance a step further to have unlimited achievements. In spite of that, it would be too forceful to say that Big Yellow had comprehended the integration of Heaven and man.
“Could it be… Related to Ou Yangming?” Ni Jingshen was moved.
Ni Xuetian nodded. “That’s right. Earlier on, I sensed that Ou Yangming released his mental conception, and he became one with Heaven and Earth. It’s exceptionally rare that someone can achieve such a level in the integration of Heaven and man, but Ou Yangming actually entered the state together with Big Yellow. H-how did he do it?”
He asked himself a question in the end, but it was destined to not have an answer.
Ni Jingshen and Ni Jingtong’s faces changed because they finally understood Ni Xuetian’s attitude change.
“Xuetian, since Ou Yangming helped Big Yellow fathom Heaven and Earth, does it mean that he can help us too?” Ni Jingtong suddenly raised a question.
Ni Jingshen’s eyes glowed as he was deeply moved too.
“I have no idea either, but… It’s very possible!” Ni Xuetian smiled bitterly.
Ni Jingshen sighed. “Do you think we were being too harsh on him just now?”
“Yes.” Ni Jingtong nodded in agreement. “He helped us find the Land of Inheritance, but we gave him such a treatment. Ah, we must apologize to him and seek his forgiveness.”
“That’s right!”
“Yes!”
Ni Xuetian twitched his mouth and cursed, ‘Maintain a reserved manner and have some self-respect. Where’s your dignity as a powerhouse?
‘You’re actually thinking about adm
itting your mistake to a little Yin Grade martial artist for the integration of Heaven and man.
‘If word gets out, what would other people think of the Ni family?
‘But… Even I must admit that if I’m in their shoes where I haven’t perceived the integration of Heaven and man, I’ll likely be worse than them.’
Chapter 135 - Attacked Halfway
When the prefecture’s gate was opened, eight horses galloped out at the speed of light.
Apart from Ou Yangming, Ni Wangyang, and two juniors, who sat on mounts, the other four horses carried two big sacks each.
After receiving orders from Ni Xuetian, Ni Wangyang made a trip to the storeroom indeed. By the time he returned, he carried eight sacks with him. Although Ou Yangming did not know much about medicine and had no idea what the sacks contained, he could smell a faint fragrance when he went closer to the sacks. The fragrance channeled straight to the bottom of his heart, making him feel relaxed.
Putting aside everything else, Ou Yangming could tell from the fragrance itself that the medicine contained in the sacks were incredibly valuable.
No matter how the Ni family’s Three Great Ancestors treated Ou Yangming before, he was no longer resentful because of the eight bags of medicine. Nothing could compare to Old Craftsman’s life, so it was undoubtedly more worthwhile for the great ancestors to express goodwill to the old man instead of flattering Ou Yangming
The fine horses from the Ni family were superior to the carefully chosen horses in the military camp.
Even after galloping fast for half a day, the eight horses were still in high spirits, hence Ou Yangming could not help but exclaim.
Nonetheless, Ni Wangyang still decided to stop and rest at night. He proudly explained to Ou Yangming that the horses were not ordinary horses, but creatures that carried the rare bloodline of a spirit beast.
Ou Yangming began guessing after hearing him.
Not only did the Ni family have the big yellow dog, which was a half-spirit beast, but they also had fine horses that carried the rare bloodline of a spirit beast.
When Ou Yangming recalled the odd creatures and the magnificent Land of Inheritance in the Chaos Cave, he wondered how many more secrets the Ni family had yet to uncover…
Needless to say, Ou Yangming was somewhat moved, but he knew very well that he would never devise a plan on the Ni family. As long as Ni Yinghong and Big Yellow were still in the clan, he would unlikely do anything to harm them.
Ni Wangyang was also extremely friendly toward Ou Yangming. He asked, “Brother Ou, when are you returning to the prefecture?”
Ou Yangming was taken aback.
‘I haven’t even returned to the Immense Forest Military Camp, why is he asking me something without a basis?’ Upon seeing Ou Yangming’s confusion, Ni Wangyang said with a smile, “I heard from Yunhong that he promised to teach you the Suit Skill if you manage to find our clan’s Land of Inheritance. Oh, there’s also Yinghong’s appraisal art, hehe…”
He curled his lips into a smile when he uttered the last sentence.
Ou Yangming blushed because he knew why Ni Wangyang had smiled. Just as he was about to defend himself, his face suddenly changed, and he looked at their surroundings vigilantly.
Ni Wangyang was startled. “Brother Ou, you don’t have to be so nervous, nobody will touch the Ni family’s goods on this path.”
He was a bold man due to his skills such that he carelessly rested on an empty space on the ground after traveling quickly for a long time. According to what Ni Wangyang said, he had also done it out of his experience. Even though Ou Yangming disliked an experience like that, he agreed with Ni Wangyang’s action because he was also hurrying home.
Nevertheless, Ou Yangming somehow had a bad feeling about their surroundings at the moment as if a huge crisis was lurking somewhere. After advancing to the thoroughly meticulous state, his sensing ability became much stronger, and he became sharper especially when someone harbored evil thoughts against him.
“Senior Ni, be careful!”
Following that, Ou Yangming unloaded his new equipment set from the horse and began putting it on. The equipment set was revamped where each piece was at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five. In actual fact, after the pieces of equipment were upgraded, the upper limit of the attachable attributes increased as well. Despite that, Ou Yangming had used all his stored attributes on the big yellow dog’s equipment set in the Chaos Cave, thus his equipment set retained the original attributes.
Even so, when Ou Yangming retrieved the pieces of equipment, other than Ni Wangyang, the two Yin Grade masters were envious.
Ni Wangyang’s face darkened, and he thought, ‘This young fella’s really making a fuss out of nothing. I’ve already told him that nobody will dare to touch the Ni family’s goods, but he’s still being so pretentious. He’s not showing me respect at all.
‘If it wasn’t for Yinghong, I’ll definitely teach him a lesson.’
However, just as Ni Wangyang thought so, he felt a tingling sensation on his scalp as a sharp sound pierced the air.
It was an arrow, and it was one that was directly aimed at Ni Wangyang. The arrow’s speed and accuracy were excellent but most importantly, it was shot unexpectedly. The archer had shot the arrow right after locking on to Ni Wangyang as the target.
Though Ni Wangyang had finally sensed it, he could not evade the arrow perfectly.
He roared and twisted his body forcefully, but he knew very well that he could probably not escape the sneak attack. While Ni Wangyang would not lose his life, a severe injury was likely inevitable.
Ni Wangyang was surprised and mad at that moment, but he could only watch helplessly as the arrow shot toward his shoulder.
In actuality, the arrow was initially targeted at his chest, but he managed to switch its final target by forcing a dodge.
That said, a flash of saber-light suddenly appeared at the spur of the moment.
Ou Yangming’s military saber had touched the arrow lightly. It did not seem like he had exerted much power through the saber, but the slash was so wonderful that the arrow’s direction was shifted up a little, with the precondition that the arrow’s speed and power were unaffected. The slight shift caused the deadly arrow to change its direction by which it brushed past Ni Wangyang’s hair. Apart from a few strands of long hair that were lost as a result, Ni Wangyang was not harmed.
“Ah
“Who’s that fella hiding in the dark? Get your *ss out here!” Ni Wangyang roared furiously after he managed to dodge the attack. Before his voice died away, he had retrieved his weapon, which was also a military saber.
Ou Yangming was slightly stunned. It was common for tough men in the military to use a military saber as a weapon, but a clan member from the Ni family had plenty of other choices.
Therefore, it was unusual for a clan powerhouse to use a military saber as a weapon.
Ni Wangyang flashed and darted in the direction where the arrow was shot. He had identified the enemy’s identity right away although only a shot was made.
A Yang Grade powerhouse, the attacker was definitely a powerful Yang Grade master. One would be courting death to confront a Yang Grade divine archer from a distance away, hence Ni Wangyang charged at the attacker without any hesitation.
Nevertheless, three more arrows were shot in a row.
Ni Wangyang was well-prepared this time, so he either blocked with his saber or shifted his body to avoid the arrows. Ni Wangyang played it safe, but he was not afraid at all.
Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up as he noticed a hint of military skills in Ni Wangyang’s body technique and blade art. The Ni family powerhouse had surely served in the military, and his character was rather similar to a soldier’s style, which was why he preserved such a deep impression of a soldier.
All in all, Ou Yangming felt a close connection with Ni Wangyang when he saw the saber technique.
Seeing as Ni Wangyang was close within reach, a black figure jumped out abr
uptly and stabbed his longsword at him.
Ni Wangyang yelled, and the two Yang Grade powerhouses instantly clashed. In spite of that, Ni Wangyang was quickly relieved when their weapons clashed and sparks flew. The Yang Grade powerhouse’s power and essential Qi were inferior to Ni Wangyang’s, and he was at most in Yang Grade Class One. Being an elder of the Ni family’s direct line of descent, Ni Wangyang could easily take down the enemy.
All of a sudden, Ou Yangming shouted as he noticed something, “Senior, be careful, there are two of them!”
Subsequently, another arrow was shot from the dark, and it was aimed at Ni Wangyang once more.
Ni Wangyang was so infuriated that he bellowed a few times. Fortunately, he was able to shift and evade the arrow as he was more powerful than his opponent. The two Ni family disciples made up their minds after exchanging glances, but just as they were going to charge out regardless of the cost, Ou Yangming ordered softly, “Hide behind the horses and protect yourselves. Don’t distract Senior Ni, or you’ll be harming him instead of helping him!” If Ou Yangming had given another reason, the disciples would have ignored him, but they were hesitant to make a move after hearing what Ou Yangming said. Their shoulders were not solid enough, so they could not take the responsibility of having harmed their clan’s senior.
Afterward, Ou Yangming dashed out.
They were on empty ground at the moment, but the ground was uneven and there was a flowing river beside. Ou Yangming moved up and down, and he seemed to be moving forward by stepping on different nodes each time he leaped, which was an exceptionally strange feeling.
The Yin Grade archer, who was still hiding in the dark, was appalled.
Being the long-range archer of the sneak attack, he had noticed Ou Yangming long ago and hated the young fellow for blocking the first arrow that was supposed to hit its target. Thus, he was determined to kill Ou Yangming when the young fellow actually approached him. Of course, the archer was not going to spare Ou Yangming even if he begged for mercy because the archers’ ultimate goal of this attack was the golden pill.
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 80
