As the leopard shrieked, its skin expanded, making it look as round as an inflated rubber ball.
That said, the ball was soon drowned by numerous shards.
Chapter 551 - The Lazy Turtle Crushes
Sounds similar to raindrops rattling on banana leaves could be heard on Silver Ridge’s body. Perhaps a few stone chips would not be able to hurt the formidable spirit beast, but there was a qualitative change when there was a certain amount of them.
A first wound finally appeared on the gigantic leopard’s inflated body. It was a tiny wound, which seemed as harmless as the kind of accidental small cuts on children during playtime. Nonetheless, having that wound proved that the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard could not defend against the countless shards anymore.
Quickly after, there was a second wound, a third wound…
When the stone awls exploded, and the lime and dust filled the air, though the spirit leopard was not covered in holes, it was severely injured. Its expanded body had somehow returned to its original state, but it was covered in blood. Judging from the leopard’s injury, its muscles and bones were not hurt, but it would not be able to recover in a day or two.
At the spur of the moment, a yellow figure charged at the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard. It was Big Yellow, which was baring its teeth and showing its claws.
It lifted its claws and swung them at the humongous leopard.
The giant leopard suddenly looked up with fierce and bloodshot eyes.
Being the Silver Ridge’s overlord, it rarely suffered such a huge loss. It was deeply infuriated at the moment, hence it lunged at Big Yellow without any hesitation to face violence with violence, to return evil with evil, and to meet force with force.
It was worth noting that the spirit leopard was more than twice as large as Big Yellow, and its aura was also superior. Even so, the leopard was in pain when they clashed.
Following that, they quickly separated and rolled on the ground as though they were on par with each other during the clash.
Nevertheless, Big Yellow immediately got up. It shouted cheerfully and charged at its enemy again as if the clash earlier did not hurt it at all. On the contrary, the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard trembled and was rather slow, but it did not show a weak impression to the aggressive big yellow dog, by which it swung its paw.
“Pow…”
Big Yellow was fended off by the spirit leopard due to the slap, but it left another gash on the leopard’s body when it swung its claws. The cut was so big and deep that it was far worse than the ones caused by the stone chips. As a result, the massive leopard shrieked in pain again.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard widened its eyes and turned its head. The 100 ice arrows, which were floating in mid-air and were ready to be launched, zoomed down.
Although its initial target was Ou Yangming, it could not be bothered about him at this moment.
Despite that, over 10 light rays shone on Big Yellow’s body. Various weird defensive spells were applied to its body, causing the ice arrows that attacked it to be completely drowned.
By the time the lights dispersed, every ice arrow was gone, but Big Yellow was unharmed.
It barked with joy and charged at the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard without any hesitation.
After several intense clashes, the monstrous leopard’s eyes were eventually not tinged with blood. Its heart was filled with deep regret as it thought, ‘Was I possessed or something? Why did I fight recklessly against an equal-ranked spirit beast that’s supported by numerous defensive and blessing runes?
‘Even though that spirit beast’s not as capable as I am, given that it’s supported by so many low-ranked spells, the gap between us has already evened out long ago.’
‘This is evident from how active it is, as well as how its courage mounted as our fight progressed.
‘Besides, that spirit beast’s equipped with a full suit and sharp claws, which were obviously smithed by the Humans. Assisted by those pieces of equipment, it became braver and fiercer.
‘I’m already injured, yet I still went head-on against it like a fool…’ The leopard’s blood was still boiling, but it could not withstand the consequence of it acting blindly.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard noticed when it took a glance that Big Yellow was daringly storming at it again, and it roared internally, ‘If you’re so capable, put away your suit and stop getting help from runes. Let’s have a fair match instead!’ However, it was still rational at the moment, thus it did not say its thoughts out loud.
This time, the spirit leopard did not fight the big yellow dog recklessly anymore. It twisted its body to make a wonderful dodge by flashing past the dog’s body, then it opened its mouth and pounced on Ou Yangming.
Since it could not defeat Big Yellow, it would get rid of the human caster.
As long as the young fellow could not cast Rune Spells on the big yellow dog, the leopard was confident that it could torture the yellow dog to death.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard fixed its gaze on Ou Yangming with its deep and hollow eyes, which were flickering with a cunning and sinister look. ‘I mustn’t let this damn human leave.’
Who knew, it later noticed that the human was smiling with his eyes.
The spirit leopard was bewildered. ‘Why isn’t this fella panicking? Why does he have such an expression on his face?’
Ou Yangming lifted his hand and gently swung it, causing an extensive light to appear to envelop the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard.
The giant leopard was appalled, but it instantly identified that the light was not a particularly powerful spell and could not hard it at all. It seemed like the light was all it was and had no other functions.
‘Has this human gone mad?’
Just as the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard had that thought, it noticed a black figure above its head. A mountainous creature, which was several times bigger than it was, appeared and fell on it.
Due to the unforeseen event, the spirit leopard was crushed hard into the ground as it could not resist at all. On the other hand, an enormous turtle opened its sleepy eyes on the leopard’s back and raised its long neck innocently.
“Uh, it’s you, honorable human… Hey, what’s this?” The lazy turtle finally sensed something strange beneath it, so it stretched its limbs and slowly shifted its body.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard, which was crushed by the oversized lazy turtle and had become dizzy, finally took a long breath. While the tremendous weight on it had been shifted away, its body condition was poor.
Almost a fifth of its bones were broken, and its closed wounds split open again. Plenty of blood splattered out of its wounds, and it ended up in an incredibly weak state.
The spirit leopard glanced at Ou Yangming and could sense 3 mighty auras targeting it. It wanted to cry but had no tears.
It was not too bothered when it sensed the auras that belonged to Ou Yangming and Big Yellow. They were Spiritualists, but their auras were not solid enough, which meant that they had only advanced not long ago. As such, the leopard was confident that it could make them stay.
Only after the giant leopard exchanged blows with its enemies, it realized how fearsome their combination was.
When it was later crushed by the lazy turtle and became heavily injured, it found out that another spirit beast was hiding among them. What frightened it more was the spirit beast’s aura was superior to its aura.
‘They were pretending to be weak—the 3 of them were definitely pretending to be weak to take advantage of others!’
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard tried its best to struggle. It dared not wish for any benefits anymore; it would be content as long as it could escape from the 3 of them.
Nonetheless, as soon as it twitched its body, the 3 auras around it became threatening. In particular, the seemingly lazy turtle suddenly reached out one of its large palms to press the leopard down.
The spirit leopard quivered, and it stopped moving right away.
It was
true that the turtle of considerable size was lazy, but it was not an idiot, or it could not have known so many ways to do things half-heartedly and to slack.
While pinning down the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard, it took a few breaths and explained, “Ah, we returned to the Spiritual Realm?” The universe’s spiritual power here and that in the lower realm were Heaven and Earth apart, thus the lazy turtle could tell at once when it paid attention to it.
Ou Yangming was moved. “Is this really the Spiritual Realm?”
“Yes. Based on the universe’s spiritual power here, this is no doubt the Spiritual Realm,” the lazy turtle answered after it took a careful look at its surroundings. It stammered before it commented, “I haven’t been sleeping for long, but you entered the Spiritual Realm already. You’re truly amazing!”
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard was puzzled. ‘Why is their conversation so odd? Are they… Not local beings from the Spiritual Realm?’
Upon realizing this, it regretted its actions more than before.
“Sir, please forgive me for being impolite.” The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard no longer moved, but it begged, “If I knew you’re from the lower realm, as daring as I am, I wouldn’t have made this difficult for you.”
Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. “Why? Can we enjoy special treatments because we’re from the lower realm?”
The spirit leopard quickly cast a flattering smile at the young fellow and explained, “Those that cultivate in the lower realm and successfully become Spiritualists have promising futures once they enter the Spiritual Realm. Moreover…” It paused for a while before it continued, “Moreover, their combat powers will be unusually remarkable, and they can’t be compared with local Spiritualists in the Spiritual Realm.”
“Yes, it’s 100 times tougher for you to become Spiritualists in the lower realm. In terms of potential development, we’re far from you.” The lazy turtle nodded and continued after a short pause, “It’s especially tough to advance to the Spirit Grade in the lower realm. Every powerhouse will only make it after getting past a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, so your combat powers should be superior to that of your peers.”
Ou Yangming and Big Yellow wanted to burst out laughing when they looked at each other.
Perhaps the remarks would apply to other people but honestly, the journey to becoming Spiritualists was not really difficult for Ou Yangming and Big Yellow.
With the help of the Devouring abilities, they did not need to consume too much energy. By only taking good control of their powers, they naturally entered Spirit Grade.
Needless to say, the Heavenly Thunderbolts in the lower realm were a substantial hurdle for them, but they went through it with their Thunderbolt-resistant Suits.
Nevertheless, Ou Yangming and Big Yellow did not feel anything special when they entered Extreme Grade. That said, it was a nice experience to be respected by the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard and the lazy turtle.
Chapter 552 - Temptation And Promise
Ou Yangming gently waved his hand and asked, “Lazy turtle, we ended up in this fella’s territory when we entered the Spiritual Realm. It wanted to kill us, so what should we do?”
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard was frightened out of its wits. It immediately defended itself. “Sir, I didn’t mean to kill you!”
“Shut up!” Ou Yangming uttered coldly with a long face.
The spirit leopard instantly kept its mouth shut, but it gave pleading looks to the others.
It was arrogant when it first came, by which it treated Ou Yangming and Big Yellow lightly. Now, it ended up being a captive, such that it dared not talk too much.
“Where’s this place?” The lazy turtle suddenly asked after some thought.
Ou Yangming glanced at the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard, which was alert because it had a run of luck. It quickly answered, “This is Danzhou’s 10,000 Beasts Ridge, which is the Walking Beasts’ territory. Sir, if you let me go, I”m willing to bring you across the ridge to return to the Humans’ boundary.”
Big Yellow was still warm-blooded, but it did not feel light fighting anymore when it saw how miserable and pitiful the gigantic leopard was. It barked and asked, “What other powerful spirit beasts are there nearby? I’d like to meet them!”
The young fellow was stunned, then he shook his head and sighed. ‘I applied too many direct runes on it, so it’s overconfident now.’
He reached out to pat the big yellow dog’s head and said, “Go on and play first. I’ll look for you once I’m done questioning it.”
“Okay!” Big Yellow roared and leaped into the air, then it turned into yellow light and vanished.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming was not too worried. Although Big Yellow was not considered invincible, based on its state, not many beings could hurt it. Besides, since this was the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard’s territory, there could not be more powerful creatures around.
Therefore, no matter how unrestrained Big Yellow was, at the very least, it was safe.
“How’s the situation between the Humans and the Beasts now?” Ou Yangming asked seriously.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard dared not hide anything from him, hence it answered, “Sir, the Humans and us are still the same as before; we fight but also work together. That said, generally speaking, we’re in harmony now.”
It tried its best to promote the idea of harmony because it hoped that the young fellow from the lower realm would settle things peacefully with it for the sake of that.
Ou Yangming turned to look at the lazy turtle, which nodded and said, “That’s probably how it was before I left. Since this is the 10,000 Beasts Ridge, it won’t be easy for a human like you to leave this place safe and sound. How about you accept its suggestion and let it bring you back to the Humans’ boundary?”
“Is there no other way?” Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows.
‘You’re truly cruel and merciless human. Are you planning to kill me?’ The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard quivered a little and thought.
“Perhaps you can follow me and take a nap inside the space. Hehe, you could ask the foolish dog to bring you back to the Humans’ boundary. Hopefully, it’s smart enough to do that,” the lazy turtle proposed after some time.
Ou Yangming was dumbfounded. He imagined the fully-armored Big Yellow wearing 2 Long Feather Bands and carrying a bunch of interspatial bags while it traveled across a place where humans were rarely seen…
‘Can Big Yellow really bring me and the lazy turtle to the Humans’ boundary? It won’t deviate from the right path, will it?!’
He shook his head and firmly rejected the idea.
The young fellow did not want to entrust his life to the not-so-reliable Big Yellow.
Ou Yangming pondered and asked, “How can I trust it?”
The lazy turtle looked strangely at him and asked him in return, “There are many ways to temporarily control a spirit beast. Do you not even know?”
‘Such ways aren’t recorded in the lower realm’s ancient books,’ Ou Yangming thought. As for the method he knew, it belonged to the Phoenixes. If he wanted to adopt the method, he would need to take the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard as his follower. However, after witnessing the abilities of Multi-armed King Kong and the goshawk, the young fellow was not too interested in the humongous leopard, whose combat power was not too outstanding.
If the spirit leopard knew what Ou Yangming was thinking, it would surely shed bitter tears.
After all, it was a formidable spirit beast and a dictator of a certain plot of land, but it was despised by a human from the lower realm. That human was none other than Ou Yangming.
“Fine, I can help you this time,” the lazy turtle noted after clicking its tongue for some time. It raised its large paw and slammed it down abruptly, generating an incredibly violent power.
Consequently, the injured leopard rolled its eyes and passed out right away.
Ou Yangming gasped. The lazy turtle had always been quite tamed in front of
him, but it seemed like it was actually a violent creature too. A thought crossed his mind at that moment, ‘How can I stop it if it suddenly leaves with the spiritual item?’
Without Multi-armed King Kong’s help, even if he and Big Yellow joined hands, they might not be able to make the lazy turtle stay.
Nevertheless, Ou Yangming kept a straight face as though he did not notice this at all. He questioned slowly, “Why did you knock it out?”
“If I don’t, how are we going to use the Restraining Art on it…” The lazy turtle answered without any hesitation. Following that, it lowered its huge head and kept drawing circles on the spirit leopard’s body. Each time a circle was drawn, a light ring descended, by which the layers of lights ring were ropes that constrained the leopard’s body. After a whole hour, the lazy turtle finally stopped drawing circles.
“Ah, it’s so tiring—I’m exhausted! Putting a restraining order on an equal-ranked being is truly the most taxing task ever.” The lazy turtle panted.
Ou Yangming frowned and thought, ‘Is this lazy turtle as tired as it appears to be?’
The lazy turtle later lifted its neck and exhaled a white airflow, which gathered into a badge and landed on Ou Yangming’s hand.
“I’ve already restrained it, so you can control its life by controlling the badge with your mental power. If at any time you feel like setting it free, you can simply make the badge disappear.” The lazy turtle added after a short pause, “But the Restraining Art on it can only last for a certain period, so don’t blame me if the time is up.”
Ou Yangming nodded and asked, “How long can it be maintained?”
He did not know how long it would take for them to get from the 10,000 Beasts Ridge to the Humans’ boundary. It would be troublesome if the period was too short because it seemed like the lazy turtle was not willing to waste any time.
The lazy turtle answered after some thought, “Around a decade.”
“A… Decade…” Ou Yangming was struck dumb. He twitched his mouth and thought, ‘Given that amount of time, I’ll be able to get out even if I’m crossing the 100,000 Beasts Ridge.’
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 325
