It had never heard of such a marvelous control ability in smithing art.
If the antelope missed this human, it would not be able to meet another one.
At last, the antelope stomped its foot and expressed, “Master Ou, since you value me so much, I, Mountain Lord Fat Antelope, am willing to leave the ridge with you!” Once it made up its mind, it addressed the young fellow differently.
“Fat… Fat Antelope?” Ou Yangming was stunned, and he had a strange look on his face.
”This antelope has such a weird name. I wonder if it named itself or was fooled by someone else…’
The antelope was rather embarrassed, but it explained, “Master Ou, before I became successful in cultivation, I was determined to taste all of the delicious and fresh grass in the world to become the fattest antelope ever, which was how my name came about.”
Ou Yangming opened his mouth, then he laughed and remarked, “Nice, that’s a great ambition. Nice, very nice.”
‘Humans and spirit beasts are indeed very different.’
Big Yellow and the big lazy turtle exchanged glances, which was obvious that they did not approve of the antelope’s thinking too.
The fat antelope was surely ludicrous among spirit beasts, but that might be the exact reason its fur mutated.
Despite that, they could not understand why Ou Yangming valued the soft and almost useless fur so much.
Ou Yangming was somewhat delighted after receiving the antelope’s promise. He turned to look at the unconscious Silver Ridge Giant Leopard, which was still lying on the ground. The leopard was quite pitiful; it should have woken up long ago based on its physical quality, but every time it made some movements while still being in a daze, the lazy turtle would lift its front limb to slam it hard.
The lazy turtle controlled its power so perfectly that the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard simply fainted again but was not harmed. Having said that, the leopard was in quite a poor state.
After noticing the look in Ou Yangming’s eyes, the lazy turtle knew what he had to do. It opened its mouth to shoot a water arrow on the giant leopard’s head.
The water arrow did not contain too much power, but it carried an intense chill. Consequently, the spirit leopard shivered and woke up at once.
As it blinked, it had a splitting headache, so much so that it could not remember what happened.
This was the aftereffect of being knocked out by the big lazy turtle multiple times. Fortunately, the leopard was an incredibly strong creature, or it would have been killed by the turtle long ago.
After a brief moment, the humongous leopard stared at Ou Yangming. It finally awoke and widened its eyes as it wanted to roar.
It was then when Ou Yangming turned his wrist to retrieve a black badge, which was the Restraining Badge given by the lazy turtle. With a flash of thought, he channeled his mental power into the badge and understood how the item should be used. By sending a conception into the badge, it shone slightly, causing the noisy leopard to jump. Moreover, its roar turned into a mournful wail.
The spirit leopard suffered an indescribable pain in its head, and the pain was so intense that it almost passed out again.
That said, the pain happened fast but went away faster; it disappeared right after the leopard landed.
The Spirit Ridge Giant Leopard was not a fool, thus it spotted the badge on Ou Yangming’s hand. It had a ghastly look on its face as it yelled, “You—how dare you restrain me!”
Ou Yangming grinned. “Since you wanted to attack me, why couldn’t I restrain you?”
The spirit leopard was startled, then it smiled hideously and commented, “How dare a human like you come to the 10,000 Beasts Ridge and… Awoo!” It suddenly stopped talking and let out a shrill scream.
“You’re quite unyielding. Let’s see how long you can endure this.” Ou Yangming crossed his hands in front of his chest and smirked. He was quite curious about the lazy turtle’s skill, and he wondered if the leopard would surrender to him.
The lazy turtle was unperturbed as if it did not pay any attention to this. This was because it was confident about the restraining order that it made.
Sure enough, it took only a short while before the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard roared, “Stop, stop, I surrender, I surrender…”
Ou Yangming did not stop right away; he only stopped 15 minutes after the leopard wailed.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard sprawled on the ground like a pile of mud. It perspired so much that the ground beneath it turned wet.
Fat Antelope’s eyes flickered. It had mixed feelings after seeing the gigantic leopard’s situation.
It was happy to see the fellow being punished, but it also thought about itself. ‘If I hadn’t accepted this human blacksmith’s invitation, would I have ended like this leopard too?’
Ou Yangming waved the black badge in his hand at the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard. The paralyzed leopard shrieked and begged, “Human powerhouse, be the bigger person and spare me!”
“You surrender?” Ou Yangming laughed.
“I surrender—I definitely surrender.”
“Okay, then I’ll make a deal with you. Send us back to the Humans’ boundary, and I’ll let you go,” Ou Yangming noted.
“As you wish,” The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard responded without any hesitation. When it looked away, it finally noticed Fat Antelope, which was standing somewhere behind Ou Yangming. It could not help but blink as it was puzzled.
Fat Antelope knew it could not keep it a secret from the leopard, hence it simply told it the truth, “Silver Ridge, I’ve decided to leave the Silver Ridge Boundary with Master Ou, so I won’t be fighting for this territory with you anymore.”
Back then, it would have hoped that the massive leopard never returned. Ever since it decided to follow Ou Yangming, it started thinking differently.
‘I’ll let Silver Ridge have this worthless place…’
“What Master Ou?” Silver Ridge asked after it gasped for breath. It suddenly fixed its gaze on the antelope and questioned, “Where did you get those pieces of equipment from?”
It had fought the antelope countless times for the Silver Ridge Boundary. Though it was always victorious, it could not eliminate its opponent, hence they knew each other very well.
The leopard’s heart thumped after it noticed the antelope’s equipment set, and it thought, ‘If that fella’s equipment set isn’t just for show, I might not be its match anymore in the future.’
Chapter 560 - An Invitation From A Venerable One
Fat Antelope laughed out loud. “Silver Ridge, speaking of which, I’ll have to thank you for this!”
“Thank me?” The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard hesitated for a moment and was soon in disbelief. It later turned to stare at Ou Yangming and shouted, “Y-you’re a human blacksmith?”
The antelope chuckled. “Silver Ridge, you’re so slow! Let me tell you—he’s not only a human blacksmith, but is also a master!”
In actuality, Fat Antelope was not too clear about the division between human blacksmiths, but it felt that Ou Yangming was a prominent figure after witnessing his smithing skill. Besides, how could ordinary blacksmiths have made pieces of equipment with triple expansion-and-contraction limits?
Therefore, Fat Antelope naturally regarded Ou Yangming as a master-level powerhouse.
Silver Ridge was startled, and it looked bitterly at Ou Yangming. “Human master, why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Ou Yangming shrugged. “You never asked, and you attacked us right away!”
The giant leopard regretted its actions very much. If it knew the human Spiritualist was a blacksmith, it would not have attacked him and would not have ended up in such a miserable state.
“Silver Ridge, Master Ou said that he’ll let you go once we arrive at the Humans’ boundary, so you don’t need to worry too much.” Fat Antelope suddenly sighed. “I won’t be fighting for the Silver Ridge Boundary with you anymore, so you can cultivate at ease!”
Earlier on, the fat antelope earnestly wished for the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard to be killed, but its attitude was entirely different at the moment. It was a ludicrous creature indeed.
Regardless of what the fat antelope was thinking, as long as it did not touch Ou Yangming’s bottom line, he would not be bothered.
In any case, since he was already in the Spiritual Realm, it did not matter if he killed or spared a spirit beast such as the humongous leopard.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard swept its tail but was not delighted at all. This was because it could tell that the fact that its old rival made such a decision meant that it had completely viewed the Silver Ridge as a useless place.
Since the antelope was given the choice of a better future, it would not care about the Silver Ridge anymore.
Ou Yangming looked around then asked the lazy turtle, “We’ll be setting out now. Are you going inside, or are you walking with us?”
The big lazy turtle answered without any hesitation, “I think I’ll sleep, but…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my promise.” Ou Yangming grinned.
The lazy turtle nodded and rolled its large eyes as it said, “Master Ou, I can come out to help you if you encounter other enemies!”
Ou Yangming looked strangely at the turtle and wondered when it became so hardworking. He came to a sudden realization after he recalled the spirit beast’s aim, hence he responded with a smile, “Okay.”
Following that, he extended his arm, causing his Long Feather Band to release an extensive while light that enveloped the lazy turtle. When the light dispersed and took in the turtle, Fat Antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard were stupefied.
They were spirit beasts, thus they were familiar with treasures inside interspatial bags.
After all, some spirit beasts had body parts that played the role of an interspatial bag. Even if they did not have the ability, at the very least, they had seen it before.
Nevertheless, interspatial bags varied in size. Ordinary interspatial bags could only store items such as some weapons and herbs, whereas better ones could keep more items but were 100 times more difficult to be refined.
As for an interspatial bag that could accommodate a monstrous creature such as the big lazy turtle and provide sufficient life energy…
Fat Antelope possessed an interspatial bag, which stored the ores that were gathered by it. It went through a lot and almost emptied its substantial resources to obtain the interspatial bag.
Even so, how could its interspatial bag be compared with Ou Yangming’s Long Feather Band?
‘Such an interspatial item can’t be acquired by ordinary forces for sure.’ The fat antelope sighed.
With that, Fat Antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard lowered their heads as they dared not look straight at Ou Yangming anymore.
At this point, they had regarded Ou Yangming as a disciple from a supreme force. They figured that only an influential force would be able to gain such a remarkable piece of interspatial equipment.
Ou Yangming looked at the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard and ordered it, “You’ll be leading the way. Let’s go.”
“Yes,” the leopard responded right away, then it swayed its rather dizzy head and led the way.
On the other hand, Ou Yangming shook his wrist to make the 2 Long Feather Bands move closer to each other. Afterward, he transferred the long green bamboo and the spiritual herb into the space where the big turtle was in.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard was indeed worthy of being the mountain lord of this area. Once it released its aura, the beast herds around them either lay prone on the ground or fled; none of them dared to get close to the formidable mountain lord.
Nonetheless, the gigantic leopard was clearly not in a good mood. Apart from being restrained, its old rival of many years seemed to have left its circle and found a better opportunity for development. As such, it could not be cheerful at all.
After walking in a direction for several days, they had crossed the Silver Ridge Boundary. Guided by the enormous leopard and the fat antelope, which were familiar with the area, they easily eliminate any troubles along their way.
This was the advantage of being guided by beasts. If Ou Yangming and Big Yellow were by themselves, although they would not be in such deep trouble that they could not move even a step forward, it would be tough for them to have a safe journey.
“Ah, Master Ou, I suddenly recall something.” All of a sudden, Fat Antelope stopped. It looked at Ou Yangming and asked, “Did you come for the Trading Meet?”
“What Trading Meet?” Ou Yangming was stunned.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard stopped and turned around to ask the young fellow, “Human master, the Trading Meet is prepared by the 10,000 Beasts Ridge for human masters like you. Don’t you know?”
Ou Yangming grinned and replied to it, “I’ve been on an adventure and have been away from the people here, so I never heard about that.”
Big Yellow stuck out its tongue and thought, ‘We just came from the lower realm so of course, we’ve been away from the people here. It’ll only be weird if we heard about the meet.’
Even though the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard and Fat Antelope found it odd, they dared not point it out in front of Ou Yangming. The antelope shook its head and explained, “Master Ou, the 10,000 Beasts Ridge has spirit beasts that require many pieces of equipment and pills, whereas human blacksmiths and alchemists need various minerals and special spiritual medicines from the ridge. Thus, the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One ordered that a Trading Meet be held between the Humans and the Beasts once a decade so that both parties can take what they need.”
Ou Yangming was moved, but he raised another question as he found it strange, “Won’t there be any conflicts if they’re in the same place?”
“Of course, there will be conflicts, but the Venerable One set several rules. The Beasts mustn’t attack them during the meet, and as long as trades are made during the meet, the Beasts can’t attack the Humans if they’re still in the 10,000 Beasts Ridge.” The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard looked distantly at Ou Yangming and expressed, “If you showed your mark as a human master earlier, I wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
The young fellow chuckled and thought, ‘Do human blacksmiths and alchemists have unique marks on them?’
‘This doesn’t seem unusual; there are precedents in the lower realm anyway, where I’m known as an honorable Superior Blacksmith.
‘I wonder what my equivalent rank will be in the Spiritual Realm.’
Needless to say, Ou Yangming would not inquire about this from the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard, or he would be admitting his cluelessness. Most importantly, they would suspect his identity.
“Fat Antelope, can we go to take a look?” Ou Yangming asked after some thought.
He did not want to create more problems but given that he did not need to worry about his safety, he wanted to know more about this world.
“Of course. You’re a human smithing master, so they’ll welcome you for sure,” Fat Antelope answered at once.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard’s eyes lit up. “Human master, are you planning to participate in the meet to smith pieces of equipment for them?”
Ou Yangming laughed. “I’ll see. If there’s a suitable opportunity, there’s no harm for me to try.”
“Human master, if I provide you with materials too, can you help me smith an equipment set too?” The spirit leopard asked after a moment of hesitation, and it added after a pause, “I’ll reward you well!”
Big Yellow sneered disdainfully. “That’s wishful thinking. Your life is in Lil’ Ming’s hands, so how dare you hope that he’ll smith an equipment suit for you? You’re so reckless!”
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard immediately looked gloomy, and it was also a little afraid.
Ou Yangming gently patted the big yellow dog’s head and noted, �
��That depends on the situation. If you have something that’ll move me, I might just accept your request.”
Fat Antelope nodded as well. “Master Ou, if this little leopard wants to hold on to its position as the Silver Ridge’s mountain lord, it’ll need some pieces of equipment indeed. Heh, it might not even be a match for me now. If another spirit beast gains fine items from this meet and challenges it in the future, it’ll definitely suffer a huge loss.”
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard smiled embarrassedly and looked gratefully at the fat antelope. They used to be competitors, but they shared a friendly relationship now.
Just as Ou Yangming was about to respond, his face changed, and he turned abruptly to look into the distance.
For some reason, a distinctive aura could be sensed in that direction. Judging from how forceful the aura was, it certainly belonged to a Venerable One. However, Ou Yangming sensed something familiar in that aura.
‘If it isn’t the Ghost-clawed Venerable One, which Venerable One is this?’
While he was confused, a whistle was heard coming from that direction.
Subsequently, a massive ape hopped over to Ou Yangming and his companions. It was so fast that it arrived in front of them in the blink of an eye.
Fat Antelope and the Siler Ridge Giant Antelope stared at the ape and instantly became respectful as if they feared the ape very much.
In actual fact, the ape was not even a spirit beast yet.
It jumped down from a tree and fixed its gaze at Ou Yangming, then it bowed and uttered, “Human cultivator, my clan’s Venerable One invites you for a conversation.”
Chapter 561 - King Kong’s Father
An ape cupped its hands like a human. Without looking at its appearance and by only listening to it, nobody would have suspected if it said it was a polite gentleman.
Ou Yangming twitched his eyebrows and had a strange look on his face.
According to what he knew, beast cultivators could speak the human language too, but they could normally do that after they became spirit beasts.
Before becoming a spirit beast, even the intelligent Big Yellow could only bark without being able to communicate with ordinary people.
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