Nonetheless, Ou Yangming’s understanding was overturned by the ape in front of him.
He took a deep breath and asked, “Your Excellency, may I ask which Venerable One is it?”
The ape answered proudly, “Since we’re on the 10,000 Beasts Ridge, there can only be one Venerable One.”
Fat Antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard were so agitated that they trembled, and they looked eagerly at Ou Yangming. Although they did not have the right to call the shots, it was evident from their expressions that they would love to meet the Venerable One.
Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows. ‘Why did that Venerable One suddenly want to invite me? Why do I sense a familiar aura from that direction?’
It seemed like he would only find answers if he met the Venerable One.
Needless to say, Ou Yangming was not willing to meet the Beasts’ Venerable One if it was possible. This was because the Ghost-clawed Venerable One truly left him a terrible impression.
After estimating his chances of escaping from the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One, he finally sighed and said, “Your Excellency, please lead the way.”
Unless Ou Yangming immediately retrieved the long bamboo that represented an interspatial node to flee through an opened space, it would be nearly impossible for him to get away from the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One. Even so, after having just gotten out from the space of nothingness, the young fellow was not willing to go back at all.
The ape bowed at him again and headed toward the mountains in the distance.
Fat Antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard were overjoyed as they looked at each other. It seemed like being summoned by the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One was an extremely glorious thing to them.
The ape was incredibly fast. It arrived at a mountain range after only 15 minutes.
Layers of white mist surrounded the mountain range. As remarkable as Ou Yangming’s vision was, he could not see through the mist.
Nevertheless, when the ape arrived in front of the white mist, they automatically moved to the sides and revealed a smooth path as though they had life and wisdom.
Ou Yangming was surprised. He released his mental power to sense the white mist but realized that they were formed weirdly and not naturally. Despite that, given the situation, he dared not study the mist in detail, hence he could only suppress his curiosity and followed the ape onto the path.
The passage was not long, but even Ou Yangming’s heart beat faster when he walked on it.
All of a sudden, they were greeted with something bright as they went past the mist.
When Ou Yangming blinked and finally adapted to the brightness, his eyes lit up as he exclaimed, “King Kong?”
At the end of the white mist was an old ape with tall stature and a dignified appearance, but it had 6 more arms than normal apes, making it look like a reprint of Multi-armed King Kong no matter the angle. No, it would be more appropriate to say that it was the king kong’s model because its build was too far from the king kong’s.
The old ape stood up straight but only had a similar build as Ou Yangming. It could not be mentioned on equal terms with King Kong, which had a burly and mountainous body.
“Who’s King Kong?” The old ape turned and asked.
Ou Yangming could sense its vague aura, and his face had taken on a ghastly expression long ago. This was because he knew the supreme powerhouse in front of him was surely closely related to Multi-armed King Kong.
Not to mention the old ape was a shrunken version of the king kong, its aura alone was enough to confirm this.
The young fellow smiled bitterly. With a flash of thought, he released the aura of the king kong’s illusory figure inside his sea of consciousness.
Next, the old ape had an exceptionally fearsome look in its eyes. It swayed its body and arrived in front of Ou Yangming right away, then it stared at his eyes with a threatening killing intent that filled the whole area.
Fat Antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard fell to the ground almost at the same time. Their eyes were filled with indescribable fear.
‘Ah, this is Sir Venerable One. We’re especially blessed to be able to meet it.’ Having said that, before they could even move forward to greet the Venerable One, it was infuriated and showed its viciousness toward Ou Yangming. As such, they were almost frightened out of their wits.
Ou Yangming twitched his eyebrows but did not move at all. He continued to release Multi-armed King Kong’s soul aura.
After some time, the old ape’s sinister voice was heard. “Why did my child acknowledge you as its master?”
Fat Antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard widened their eyes at the same time. ‘Did we hear it wrongly? The 10,000 Beasts Venerable One’s child actually acknowledged this human master as its master? It’s simply unbelievable!”
Ou Yangming shook his head and answered, “I have no idea.”
“Heh, you have no idea…” The old ape uttered leisurely, “I’ll let you know then!”
It reached out its finger and slowly pointed it at Ou Yangming.
On its fingertip was a faint light, which was so peculiar that anyone would be terrified.
Ou Yangming was horrified, but he did not want to suffer for nothing. Without any hesitation, the Military Fire in his sea of consciousness burned, and almost concurrently, he recalled the dragon and the phoenix’s appearance inside Lil’ Red’s spiritual world.
The enormous dragon was as firm as a mountain while the phoenix did not show a weak impression at all.
At this moment, the images of the 2 appalling prehistoric creatures were born in Ou Yangming’s mind in an unimaginable way.
In actuality, Ou Yangming could not have triggered the images with his power alone. He had only reproduced the images of the spine-chilling creatures because the Military Fire and the queer Devouring attribute in his sea of consciousness seemed to have unleashed magical effects.
When the old ape’s finger just only touched the spot between Ou Yangming’s eyebrows, its body quivered, and a menacing voice burst out from its throat. It sounded unbelievably forceful, so much so that its sound waves caused Fat Antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard to roll their eyes and pass out.
As for Big Yellow, it endured the soundwaves tenaciously under Ou Yangming’s intentional protection.
“Woosh…”
The old ape withdrew its hand abruptly, which was 1,000 times faster than when it reached out to Ou Yangming earlier.
It took a step back and looked quietly at Ou Yangming, but there was a strange look in its eyes.
‘The appearance of a dragon and a phoenix—this was definitely what I saw. But why did I see it inside a tiny human cultivator’s sea of consciousness?’
“You—who exactly are you?” The 10,000 Beasts Venerable One questioned, “What’s your relationship with them?”
Just by seeing the appearance of a dragon and a phoenix, the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One dared not act rashly.
The more profound one’s cultivation base, the more one was afraid of the ancient legendary dragon and phoenix, which were divine creatures. Moreover, it knew very well that if Ou Yangming was unrelated to any of them, he could not have shown the unusual scene.
Ou Yangming was secretly relieved. He naturally had nothing to do with the dragon or the phoenix, but it would not stop him from relying on their powers to frighten others.
He cleared his throat and answered, “Senior, I only met Multi-armed King Kong once, but it insisted on acknowledging me as its master. I have no idea what happened, but I figured that it has something to do with them.” He smiled bitterly.
Judging from the fact that Multi-armed King Kong was near the peak for a spirit beast, how could it have willingly worshipped him after their first meeting.
Besides, the goshawk had also asked to become his follower after he burned it and forced it to leave.
Ou Yangming used to be very alert about this, but he was not dubious anymore after he became close
to the little red bird; he found out who the mastermind was.
Of course, he would only keep it to himself. Even if a Venerable One forced an answer out of him, he would not reveal everything in detail.
The old ape looked deeply at Ou Yangming as if it wanted to see what exactly was unique about the young fellow, such that he managed to show the unusual phenomenon. That said, it gained nothing even after staring at the young fellow for a long time.
It sighed moments later and said, “Sit.”
Many stone benches were placed on the mountain range. They varied in height but had particularly shiny surfaces as though they were cleaned every day.
Ou Yangming saluted the old ape with respect and said, “Thank you, elder.”
He slowly sat, whereas the fat antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard continued to lay on the ground as they dared not get up.
“Senior, how do you and King Kong address each other?”
The old ape spoke as if it forgot about their confrontation earlier, “That fella’s my child. Since it acknowledged you as its master, you’ll take good care of it, right?”
Ou Yangming answered without any hesitation, “King Kong’s my best partner, so I’ll treat it with due respect and won’t let anyone bully it.”
“Bully?” The old ape laughed and remarked, “I’ll be glad if it doesn’t bully others.”
The young fellow was stunned. It recalled King Kong’s childish nature and did not know to cry or to laugh. Nonetheless, he confirmed the Venerable One’s identity because of this.
“Did King Kong follow you here?”
“Senior, it’s up here already.” Ou Yangming answered right away.
The old ape frowned and sighed. “I made a lot of effort to send it there. Why did it return in such a hurry?”
Curious, Ou Yangming questioned, “Senior, why did you send it… There?”
“Since you’re allies now, are you not aware of its power?”
Ou Yangming forced a smile and answered, “Its power is formidable, and it’s nothing like I’ve ever seen.”
“Mm, can you tell how long it’ll take before it draws the Heavenly Thunderbolts?”
Chapter 562 - An Agreement With The Venerable One
“The Heavenly Thunderbolts?” Ou Yangming was slightly stunned, and he had a strange look on his face. He shook his head and answered, “I have no idea, but according to King Kong, there’ll probably be a few decades before it faces the thunderbolts?”
Upon hearing him, the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One laughed and noted, “Over there, the punishment can indeed be delayed by several decades but if it stays here, it’ll be struck by the Heavenly Thunderbolts after a decade at most!”
Ou Yangming’s eyes twitched as he was appalled. “It… Can it become a Venerable One?”
This was the Spiritual Realm, where the world’s power was extremely forceful and was far from what the lower realm could compare. Ordinary Spiritualists would not draw the attention of the universe’s power at all; only Venerable Ones would attract the Heavenly Thunderbolts.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming immediately shook his head and added, “That’s impossible, its aura isn’t that powerful.”
Ou Yangming had experienced how fearsome a Venerable One was. Although he only faced one for a split second and from different worlds, he knew he could not resist such a being.
In comparison, even though Multi-armed King Kong was as enormous as a mountain, it was far from a Venerable One, which possessed powers as deep as a sea.
“What you sensed isn’t its true aura but the aura it released,” the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One explained and sighed. “I personally sealed half of its power.”
Ou Yangming and Big Yellow looked at each other, and their hearts pounded.
Given that King Kong, whose power was half-sealed, was so frightening, what would its ability be if its power was unsealed?
It was no wonder Multi-armed King Kong did as it wished when it faced the big lazy turtle; apart from its size advantage, most importantly, it was full of confidence due to its absolute power.
The 10,000 Beasts Venerable One looked deeply at Ou Yangming and asked, “Human cultivator, what’s your name?”
‘I’ve been here for some time already, and yet you only ask for my name now,’ Ou Yangming roasted the Venerable One internally, but he dared not look displeased at all. “I’m Ou Yangming from the Humans.”
“Ou Yangming. Alright, I don’t care how you and my child met but since you took it under your wings, you must take responsibility for it,” the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One replied to the young fellow and had a meaningful look in its eyes. “If not, I won’t let you go even if I have to risk my life.”
After witnessing the appearance of the dragon and the phoenix, it decided to not question Ou Yangming closely to find out the reason anymore.
In actuality, the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One was slightly glad. If Multi-armed King Kong built relationships with the successors from those 2 races, it would be great news, and it would ask for more. However, Ou Yangming was a human, so how could he maneuver the Phoenixes’ powers?
The Venerable One could not figure it out, but it dared not get to the bottom of it.
Ou Yangming questioned sternly, “Senior, do you mean helping King Kong get through the thunderbolts disaster safely?”
“That’s right.” The 10,000 Beasts Venerable One nodded.
The thunderbolts disaster was incredibly mighty for those that became Venerable Ones. For generations, those that managed to survive it were potent, well-prepared, and lucky enough.
According to the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One’s estimation, if Multi-armed King Kong faced the thunderbolts disaster now, its chances of surviving it was less than 30%. This was the reason it did everything it could to seal half of the king kong’s power and sent it to the lower realm.
Perhaps the king kong’s temperament would improve after training in the lower realm for decades, and it would have a higher chance to survive the disaster.
Nevertheless, if it really became involved with the 2 races, its chances of surviving the thunderbolts disaster would increase by at least twice.
Ou Yangming grinned. “Senior, don’t worry, I believe that Multi-armed King Kong will definitely get through the thunderbolts disaster safely.”
“Definitely?” The 10,000 Beasts Venerable One was dumbfounded, and it sneered. “Have you experienced how mighty the thunderbolts disaster is? How dare you boast so shamelessly!”
Big Yellow opened its mouth but was glared at by the Venerable One. It instantly tucked its tail and hid behind Ou Yangming as it dared not show itself anymore.
On the other hand, Ou Yangming looked calmly at the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One and responded in a deep voice, “Senior I’m a blacksmith, and I have a special smithing technique that’ll escort King Kong through the thunderbolts disaster safely.”
“A blacksmith?” The Venerable One’s eyes gleamed, but it quickly shook its head and remarked, “Based on your experience and cultivation base, what kind of good items can you smith? Ah, you might as well… Seek help for them; they might be able to help my child.”
Fat Antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard looked at each other. They guessed that Ou Yangming had a notable background, by which even the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One feared the hidden power behind him. Despite that, they could not think of any force that could help Venerable Ones resist the thunderbolts.
They lowered their heads at the same time. At this point, they dared not make wild guesses anymore.
Ou Yangming pondered and expressed, “Senior, words alone are no proof. If that’s the case, how about you look into this again once I meet up with King Kong and smith and equipment set for it?”
“Why isn’t my son with you?” The 10,000 Beasts Venerable One questioned.
The young fellow smiled bitterly. “We encountered an accident on our way here, but I believe I’ll meet King Kong as long as I return to the Humans’ bounda
ry.”
While the Venerable One wanted to question him further, it shut its mouth when it thought about the appearance of the dragon and the phoenix. Having said that it cursed internally, ‘Is this related to those 2 races?’
“Since you’re a blacksmith, that’ll be great,” the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One said as a thought crossed its mind. It pointed its finger and continued, “I’m holding a Trading Meet on the mountain, so how about you participate in it so I can take a look at your abilities?”
Though it did not believe how a human blacksmith, who had just come from the lower realm not long ago, could surprise it, it somehow looked forward to his performance when it recalled the queer appearance of a dragon and a phoenix.
The Humans might be useless, but if one was involved with those 2 races, even the most useless fellow would become a lively dragon or an active tiger.
“Elder, I’ll do as you say.” Ou Yangming nodded.
“Alright, I’ll wait and see.” The 10,000 Beasts Venerable One reached out its arm, then it moved slowly and left like a ghost.
Ou Yangming and the others were taken aback. They paid full attention to it when they spoke to the Venerable One, but they did not know how the powerhouse left.
If the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One had evil intentions against them, they probably could not have escaped at all.
The ape, which escorted them here just now, hopped over and said, “The Venerable One invites you to the Trading Meet’s venue.” It later brought them away from the mountain range and journeyed between some mountains before they arrived in front of a tall mountain.
Ou Yangming and the others had not climbed the mountain, but they could already sense numerous strong auras at the top.
Without a doubt, those that could enter the venue were spirit-beast-level powerhouses.
The ape glanced at Ou Yangming curiously and asked, “Can you really help Great Master resist the Heavenly Thunderbolts?”
Ou Yangming was struck dumb. When he realized that the ape was referring to Multi-armed King Kong, he smiled and answered without any hesitation, “I can.”
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 331
