Therefore, Xu Yingda dared not underestimate the powerhouse at all.
The powerhouse with the surname Leng asked sternly, “Brother Xu, may I ask if Master… Master Ou will allow us to acknowledge him as our teacher?” He quivered a little when he spoke, which was evident that the question was unusually important to him.
Xu Yingda laughed out loud. “Of course! As soon as I entered the secret realm, Master Ou asked if I’m willing to be his apprentice and acknowledge him as my master.”
The eyes of the other people lit up right away. In particular, the Yang Grade powerhouses that had not entered the secret realm smiled brightly and were overflowing with happiness.
“H-how did you answer him?” The powerhouse, whose surname was Leng, still spoke in a trembling voice.
“How could I miss such an opportunity? Of course, I agreed to it,” Xu Yingda answered without any hesitation. He looked at the people and seemed to have guessed something, thus he added with a smile, “Master Ou also said that he’ll customize a magic tool for me if I advance to Extreme Grade. Hehe, brothers, I’m sure you’ll be treated the same.”
“Ahh hail Master Ou…”
Someone suddenly shouted due to excitement, and the sound spread outside the secret realm in waves.
Wu Hanning turned to look and was delighted, but she kept a straight face and yelled, “Who’s clamoring there? Can you afford to affect Master Ou?” She scanned the crowd with bright eyes.
Everyone else shut their mouths and dared not say anything anymore. Despite that, they cursed internally, ‘That’s the secret realm anyway. As loud as we shout, Master Ou can’t even hear us…’
Having said that, nobody dared to question Her Royal Highness, who was rumored to have a complicated relationship with Master Ou.
Wu Hanning nodded and added, “Speak and act cautiously, and maintain your mental states. Those that clamor from now on will be kicked out of this place.”
“Yes,” the palace guards responded loudly and kept a close eye on the powerhouses.
They were far from the capable powerhouses at the peak of Yang Grade, but none of the powerhouses had the guts to stand out.
Xu Yingda laughed. He was no longer a part of those that were being watched, hence he walked outside. It was when he saw Dai Hongru, so he noted with a smile, “Brother Dai, you came out earlier than me.”
Dai Hongru’s face was as dark as ash. He subconsciously nodded at Xu Yingda.
The other Yang Grade powerhouses and imperial guards, who knew what happened, looked at him with pity. At this point, they knew it was not that Ou Yangming did not give him a chance, but he did not seize the opportunity when it was right in front of him.
Xu Yingda stared blankly at Dai Hongru and thought, ‘Did he fail?’
That said, he briefly sensed Dai Hongru’s aura and confirmed that he entered Extreme Grade.
“Brother Dai, you’re…”
Dai Hongru looked up and forced a smile, which was uglier than a crying face. “Brother Xu, it’s a long story.”
“Hey, leave first and don’t affect the rest.” Wu Hanning sighed softly.
The two newly-advanced powerhouses dared not reject the princess at all, thus they went outside with different moods.
After they left the imperial family, Xu Yingda hesitated for a while before he asked, “Brother Dai, since you’ve advanced to Extreme Grade, why are you pulling a long face?”
He did not know what happened just now, so he never expected someone to make such an error.
Dai Hongru looked bitter as he explained, “Brother Xu, frankly speaking, Master Ou asked me the same question when I entered the secret realm.”
“Master… Ou?” Xu Yingda was struck dumb, but he had a weird look on his face after a brief moment. “Brother Dai, did you not agree?”
“I’m ashamed—I was thinking about it, so I held some time,” Dai Hongru answered softly.
Xu Yingda’s face twitched. He shook his head and sighed. “It’s such a pity that you didn’t seize the great opportunity.”
They came from different places but were allocated to the same group. Since they were also neighbors in terms of their entering order, they conversed a bit before they entered the secret realm.
After coming out from the realm, while they both advanced to Extreme Grade, their development futures would be entirely different due to their dissimilar choices.
A customized magic tool would surely be a magic skill tool.
During a fight between equal-ranked powerhouses, if one party used such a magic tool, would there still be a need to determine victory or defeat?
Moreover, many people must have acknowledged Ou Yangming as their teacher, and those people altogether would become an extremely terrifying force. Though some of the powerhouses were from the imperial family while some were from the inherited aristocratic families from the 8 counties, given the same identity, they would play big and unimaginable roles.
At the very least, rogue cultivators and Supreme Great Ancestors that were not from influential families would follow Ou Yangming’s lead from today onward.
Dai Hongru’s lips trembled, and he did not know how to explain.
It was too late for him to regret it. If he was given another chance to choose, he would not hesitate at all.
However, would he be given another chance?
Outside the secret realm, flashes of light were seen one after another as cultivators that arrived at Extreme Grade walked out one by one.
Whenever powerhouses came out, they would be questioned by their acquaintances for the same thing.
Naturally, those that acknowledged Ou Yangming as their teacher were congratulated by the people.
As for the newly-advanced Supreme Great Ancestors that did not choose to follow Ou Yangming due to various reasons, they suddenly realized that people were looking strangely at them.
Once they knew what was going on, they felt like a pail of cold water was splashed on them, and they were freezing from head to toe.
At that time, the Supreme Great Ancestors had different thoughts in their minds; some joyful, some sorrowful.
Chapter 538 - A Secret Discussion Among The Imperial Family
Inside the secret realm, a flash of light was seen.
Liang Xin had already entered. He looked around and noticed people sitting with their legs crossed in the distance. Their auras, sometimes weak and sometimes strong, circulated them, which was the representation of them breaking through to Extreme Grade.
Further away from them, 9 powerhouses at the peak of Yang Grade were punching and kicking as though they were having life-or-death fights against invisible ferocious beasts. Liang Xin raised his eyebrows and understood what situation he was in.
When he thought about how he might join in the action soon, he had an upsurge of emotion.
Nonetheless, he was extremely elated when he finally saw Ou Yangming.
Ou Yangming vacated his mind a little to glance at Liang Xing, but he did not have any impression of the new powerhouse. Perhaps he saw that person once at the cottages, but the person was ordinary, hence he could not remember him after seeing him once.
This was the enormous change that came with a disparity between statuses.
When Ou Yangming appeared at the cottages once, the 1,000 over people remembered his face well, whereas he did not pay attention to remember the powerhouses at the peak of Yang Grade.
Seeing as the new powerhouse was done checking his surroundings, Ou Yangming was about to raise the same question he did to everyone else. Who knew, Liang Xing already took a few hurried steps forward and kneeled before him as he shouted, “I, Liang Xing, am willing to follow you, Master Ou. Please give me your approval, teacher.”
Ou Yangming was slightly stunned. ‘Why did he take the initiative to do this when I haven’t even asked him the question?’
Nevertheless, it was a good thing, so he nodded and said, “Okay, I promise you.”
“Thank you, Maste
r Ou.” Liang Xing was overjoyed.
“Liang Xing, let me ask you—why did you worship me as soon as you entered?” Ou Yangming asked after some thought.
The powerhouse dared not hide anything from Ou Yangming, thus he explained, “Master Ou, the people that left the secret realm before this told us that if we decide to follow you, we’ll be given a… Ah, that, we’ll be able to…” He mumbled and could not finish his sentence anymore.
He suddenly realized that if he told Ou Yangming the truth, it would mean that he only decided to follow the young fellow because he coveted the customized magic tool. Liang Xing figured that if he made Master Ou angry, his apprenticeship would be taken away from him right away.
‘Why didn’t I consider this just now?’ Liang Xing regretted his action at this moment, but he did not know how to explain himself to patch up his lie.
‘I see.’ Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. Even so, it was a good thing because he would not need to ask the other powerhouses one by one anymore.
The smithing of magic tools was a piece of cake for him.
Besides, he only needed to spend a bit more time to add a skill to a magic tool.
Despite that, he would profit significantly if he could learn new rune abilities from the powerhouses.
The other people did not know the real reason, so they felt that Ou Yangming invested too much in this. The young fellow was the only one that knew how rare of an opportunity this was, and it would only be intolerable if he missed this chance.
“Alright, isn’t it just a customized magic tool? Since I’m able to do it for them, you won’t be an exception,” Ou Yangming remarked snappily.
Liang Xing suddenly looked up in shock but also with joy. He was worrying about his gains and losses and felt like he was on a rollercoaster ride, but he became at ease after he received Ou Yangming’s promise.
“Now, curb your thoughts and strive to pass in one go,” Ou Yangming sounded grim as he spoke, “If you can’t even enter Extreme Grade, everything will mean nothing to you.”
“Yes. Master Ou, don’t worry, I won’t let you down for sure,” Liang Xing expressed sternly.
Subsequently, great mental power was released to envelop him.
Following Liang Xing, whether they were elders with white hair or robust young men, the powerhouses at the peak of Yang Grade that entered the secret realm took the initiative to acknowledge Ou Yangming as their teacher.
Regardless of what they were thinking, Ou Yangming promised to accept them.
※※※※
The inside of the secret realm appeared to be a boundless plain, but there was a hidden mystery.
Far away from where Ou Yangming was performing the Spiritual Fist, Wu Yuanwei and Wu Kanzhe, who was His Majesty the emperor, were quietly watching every move of Ou Yangming and the others.
They kept straight faces, but their hearts were filled with billowing waves.
“Ah, I didn’t expect this!” Wu Yuanwei sighed. “I can’t believe that Master Ou’s mental power is so potent that it can open the minds of 10 people at the same time. It’s truly, truly, truly… Unbelievable.”
He was a legitimate Spirit Grade powerhouse and was also the only one before the Humans’ disaster.
Having said that, he was deeply in awe after witnessing Ou Yangming’s power. Even after repeating the word “truly” 3 times, he still could not fully express his thoughts.
“Grandfather, Master Ou must’ve adopted a skill, or his mental power alone can’t achieve this,” Wu Kangzhe noted after some thought.
Wu Yuanwei nodded slowly. “Regardless of the skill, he’s capable enough to not let us notice it.”
“Grandfather, that skill is incredibly useful. How about…” Wu Kangzhe’s eyes lit up, and he suggested in a deep voice.
“Hmph!” Wu Yuanwei scoffed. “Do you think Ou Yangming is still his old self? Putting aside his powers and reputation, we can’t even go against the two humongous creatures outside the city.”
“Grandfather, please calm down, I didn’t mean now,” Wu Kangzhe immediately noted and continued after a pause, “Since Master Ou is going to the upper realm, he’ll eventually meet the seniors from the different sect in the upper realm. When that happens, we can just ask them to ask him for us.”
Wu Yuanwei’s eyes flickered as he was rather moved, but he shook his head after a brief moment. “You’re still too short-sighted.”
The emperor opened his mouth but kept it shut in the end.
“Hehe, do you think I’m exaggerating it?” Wu Yuanwei sneered. “Master Ou isn’t only an expert in mental power; his greatest skill is smithing art.”
Wu Kangzhe pondered and questioned, “Magic tools are indeed rare here, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in the upper realm, right?”
“Who said I was talking about magic tools? I meant interspatial bags!” Wu Yuanwei commented snappily.
The emperor was slightly dumbfounded, and he asked carefully, “Grandfather, are interspatial bags much more valuable than magic tools?”
He was the emperor in this realm, but his understanding of the upper realm was not much better than his understanding of the other members of the imperial family. After all, those secrets had always been known by the imperial family’s greatest powerhouse only.
According to Wu Kangzhe’s understanding, for generations, very limited things were sent from the upper realm.
That said, there did not seem to be a huge difference between the proportions of magic tools, spirit pills, and interspatial bags sent to the lower realm. Therefore, he had always thought that interspatial bags and magic tools were of similar values in the upper realm.
Wu Yuanwei glanced at him and explained, “In our realm, magic tools and interspatial bags are things that almost can’t be refined by anyone, so their values and quite similar; in the upper realm, they’re Heaven and Earth apart. Moreover, blacksmiths that can refine interspatial bags are definitely naturally gifted in interspatial power, and… Nobody can be sure of what they’ll achieve in the future.”
In actuality, he left out something—during the meeting between the Venerable Ones in the upper realm, the biggest reason they eventually promised his condition was the fact that Ou Yangming could refine interspatial bags.
Being able to grasp the skill to refine interspatial bags in the lower realm was simply unbelievable.
If Ou Yangming entered the Spiritual Realm and cultivated, even those big bosses in the realm would look forward to the person he would become.
Wu Yuanwei shook his head and stressed, “You must remember that we can’t provoke Ou Yangming anymore, so you must befriend him and not become enemies with him no matter what, or the Wu family will suffer a misfortune.”
“Yes, I understand.” Wu Kangzhe nodded after a moment of hesitation.
The emperor was a smart and decisive person. He verified one thing from Wu Yuanwei, which was Ou Yangming had become a figure that could not be provoked anymore.
However, seeing as the cultivators at the peak of Yang Grade acknowledge Ou Yangming as their teacher one by one, he could not help but ask, “Grandfather, what will we do now that many powerhouses at the peak of Yang Grade decide to follow Master Ou?”
Wu Yuanwei looked strangely at him and asked in return, “Regardless of the number of apprentices Master Ou accepts, he’ll leave our realm one day, so what are you worried about?”
“I’m worried if they’ll join forces.”
“I’ll be worried too if Master Ou stayed in this realm, but hehe… Once he leaves, those people will lose their leader and won’t be able to play any tricks.” Wu Yuanwei laughed out loud.
Seeing how confident the imperial family’s greatest powerhouse was, Wu Kangzhe relaxed.
If 1,000 Supreme Great Ancestors united, they would be forceful enough to overturn the dynasty. Even if the imperial family was being watched over by the greatest powerhouse, who was in Spirit Grade, they would not be able to resist that many great ancestor
s.
Nonetheless, if the 1,000 Supreme Great Ancestors could not gather as one and fought individually without cooperating, regardless of their number, the imperial family would not be afraid.
It would not be tough for the imperial family to defeat them one by one.
For several days, the 2 big bosses from the imperial family watched quietly and developed more respect for Ou Yangming.
The young fellow was still using the Spiritual Fist against 10 people at the same time after an extensive period. His endurance was simply daunting.
All of a sudden, Wu Kangzhe’s face changed, and he exclaimed, “Impossible!”
“What?”
“Grandfather, have you noticed that Master Ou hasn’t missed so far…” Wu Kangzhe asked in a trembling voice.
Wu Yuanwei was struck dumb. Countless thoughts crossed his mind, and he could not help but turn pale too.
Chapter 539 - 1,000 People Under Him
The Simulated Spiritual Fist was a skill that Ou Yangming secretly learned from the imperial family.
It was true that the effect displayed by Ou Yangming was 100 times greater than that created by the imperial family member known to be the most adept in the skill. Even so, in terms of the detailed understanding of the fist technique, he might not be comparable with the imperial family’s record of experiences over a millennium.
Ever since Ou Yangming used the fist technique to help people advance to a higher boundary, Wu Yuanwei and the others began paying attention to the secret technique.
They clearly remembered that many of the fist technique’s descriptions and achievements could be found in the thick record.
Throughout the generations, the senior that was the most skilled in the fist technique used it to help several martial artists at the peak of Yin Grade to advance to Yang Grade.
It was evident that the fist technique indeed had precedents in this aspect. Advancing from Yin Grade and Yang Grade were entirely different, and the effects were Heaven and Earth apart. Nonetheless, those were still similar examples.
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