“Yes, the 9 of us ordered that the news be blocked because we’re afraid of word getting out, which will cause an unbearable consequence.” Yuqi the Venerable One nodded.
The old macaque was bright-eyed, and it noted after some time, “I honestly can’t think of anyone in Danzhou that the 9 of you together will be afraid of. Hmph, even if those fellas come at you at the same time, they might not be able to defeat you, can they?”
Yuqi the Venerable One answered with a bitter smile, “Ah… Everything will be easier if it’s those old opponents.”
The old macaque was stunned. Countless thoughts crossed its mind, but it could not figure out what powerful being could make the Venerable One so dispirited.
Despite being somewhat at odds with Yuqi the Venerable One, it would not make things worse for him.
It pondered for a brief moment then waved its hand. “Forget it. If there’s serious trouble, I’ll return to the mountain to get the Almighty Being’s help even if I’ll risk being shameless. Hmph, I’d like to see if the Beast King Sect will really be eliminated in Danzhou.”
Yuqi the Venerable One’s eyes lit up right away. If the Almighty Being would show up, while it would be hard to say for the other sects, at least the Beast King Sect would be safe.
As the Venerable One bowed at the old macaque, he offered his thanks seriously, “Brother Macaque, I’ll be eternally grateful if you could lend me a helping hand.”
The old macaque was slightly dumbfounded, and it finally had a heavy heart.
Back then, it always thought that the Venerable Ones from the Nine Great Sects could take on any powerful enemy if they joined hands. However, after looking at Yuqi the Venerable One’s expression at this moment, it knew it was wrong.
Perhaps the 2 parties had not really exchanged blows, but the Venerable One had admitted defeat from the bottom of his heart.
How could the old macaque not be terror-stricken by such a figure?
“Tell me—who exactly is your opponent?” The old macaque uttered word by word.
“The 9 of us promised not to leak any information about this matter but since you’re not an outsider, I’ll tell you,” Yuqi the Venerable One responded after a moment of silence. He answered helplessly, “We provoked… A phoenix.”
“A ph-phoenix?” The old macaque widened its eyes. It was struck dumb for some time before it shouted furiously, “You must be blind! How dare you provoke a phoenix? You… Weren’t you too reckless!”
Being a member of the Beasts, it knew better than Yuqi the Venerable One how fearsome the Phoenixes were. Even if the Almighty Being from the Beast King Sect’s guild made an appearance, Yuqi the Venerable One might not be saved.
“It was also an unexpected misfortune for us…” The Venerable One sighed. He shook his head and described the incident where he and the others built the permanent passage on Mount Wuzhi, then he continued, “We worked hard and did our best to establish the passage and send them here. Who knew, a young phoenix came as well. The more tragic thing was its good friend went missing due to a mysterious, unforeseen change in the passage. Ah, it was unusually mad, and it warned us then left…”
The old macaque was stupefied for some time before it spoke, “So this is why you blocked the news.”
“Yes.” Yuqi the Venerable One kept smiling bitterly. “If we didn’t block the news, once people find out that the Nine Great Sects offended a phoenix… Heh, what do you think will happen?”
The old macaque pondered carefully, and it could not help but feel a tingling sensation on its scalp.
If everyone knew that the Nine Great Sects offended a phoenix due to the construction of a permanent interspatial passage, and that the phoenix even left the Spiritual Realm to seek help from an adult phoenix for revenge…
Not only Danzhou, but half of the Spiritual Realm would also be in havoc.
The Humans in Danzhou did not have a particularly formidable being, but the Nine Great Sects were not without foundations; they had their respective backgrounds, hence a slight issue would affect everything else.
Yuqi the Venerable One waved his hand and sighed. “God knows when that phoenix will return, so let’s not talk about this for now.”
The old macaque opened its mouth as it wanted to comfort the Venerable One, but it could not bring itself to do so. After pondering for a long time, it shook its head and commented. “Well, I guess the only thing you can do now is to take one step at a time.”
Yuqi the Venerable One nodded, then he asked, “I’ve been neglecting matters in the sect. Are there any major events lately?”
“How could so-called major events in the sect affect you?” The old macaque chuckled as it mocked the Venerable One a little, but it added after some thought, “That said, there was a happy event, but it became a bad thing instead.”
“What’s the happy event? What’s the bad thing?” Yuqi the Venerable One furrowed his eyebrows.
“Bai Zhiyi went to participate in the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One’s Trading Meet. Once the meet ended, he brought a smithing genius back to us. Hehe, that young fella’s truly capable. Given his age, if he’s trained with sufficient resources, he’ll likely become the smithing god of this generation!” The old macaque sounded more excited as it spoke.
Yuqi the Venerable One raised his eyebrows. He might not bother at all if the young fellow was an ordinary blacksmith—even if he was a level higher than Bai Zhiyi. On the other hand, things would be different if the young fellow was qualified to become a smithing god in the future.
A smithing god was an Almighty Being that was 100 times greater than ordinary blacksmiths. Not to mention Yuqi the Venerable One, even for beings that were stronger than him, they would not easily offend a smithing god.
“Oh? Is there such a genius? Quickly recruit him into our sect.”
“Ah, I didn’t know that young fella’s that gifted, so while I made arrangements, I was a step slower. In the end, he was infuriated by 2 idiots in our sect, so he simply left,” the old macaque stated helplessly.
Yuqi the Venerable One’s eyelids flickered as he listened, and his hands could not help but tremble too.
“He left? You actually let a future smithing god leave?”
The old macaque waved his hand and said, “Don’t be so impatient. He made up his mind to leave, so do you think he’ll like it if we force him to come back? Hmph, don’t worry, I have a backup plan, so he’ll surely come back. Heh, but some fella that’s being eyed by a phoenix might not be able to witness everything.”
Yuqi the Venerable One was stunned, and his frightening aura vanished right away.
Indeed, he had not solved his problem yet. He had headaches and felt dizzy whenever he thought about the terrifying little red bird.
He had cursed internally countless times because the little red bird was truly unreasonably, but he knew better that the Phoenixes… Were never reasonable beings to begin with.
Yuqi the Venerable One sighed after a long time, and he asked, “What’s that young fella’s name? What’s his background?”
The old macaque pondered for a while before it answered, “That person’s name is Ou Yangming. As for his background, I suppose he’s from another state because he doesn’t know much about Danzhou… Hey, what’s wrong with you? What’s that… Look on your face?”
After hearing what the old macaque said, the Venerable One had an extremely weird look on his face.
He widened his eyes so much that they almost took up a fifth of the space on his face. Following that, he stared at the old macaque strangely and questioned word by word, “What did you say his name was?”
The old macaque was taken aback by his fierce reaction, so it quickly replied to him, “I heard it from Bai Zhiyi that his name is Ou Yangming, and he’s from… Hey? No way—is he the one that the phoenix is looking for?”
Yuqi the Venerable One suddenly looked up. He let out a thunderous sound, which echoed in the entire Beast King Sect.
“W
here’s Bai Zhiyi? Quickly come and meet me!”
The words rumbled in the air, such that everyone in the sect heard him well.
Having said that, the people were shocked as they could not understand why the Venerable One summoned the elder out of the blue.
At the foot of the mountain, Bai Zhiyi was also dazed. He finally sighed and forced a smile as he uttered, “Well, it’ll be a blessing if it isn’t a misfortune, but if it’s a misfortune, I won’t be able to avoid it…”
He stood up and got dressed, then he walked slowly toward the peak.
Chapter 643 - Small Town
2 figures flashed in a cave as Ou Yangming and Big Yellow returned to the secret realm’s entrance without a sound.
Ou Yangming lamented as he looked around him. He definitely gained a lot from his trip to the secret realm this time. Whether it was the Concentric Knots, the poisonous pills, or the various spiritual realms, they were rare treasures, such that even just one of them would have made his trip worthwhile.
Needless to say, nothing else would be worth mentioning as compared to being acknowledged by the Wutong Tree.
The only thing was the Wutong Tree was overly powerful, and there was a huge disparity between Ou Yangming’s powers and that of the tree. As such, the young fellow could not borrow its powers.
“Lil’ Ming, we’re out.” Big Yellow wagged its tail with excitement.
It was trembling with fear below the Wutong Tree in the secret realm, by which it dared not be offensive nor disobedient.
The big yellow dog knew the giant Wutong Tree was extremely important to Ou Yangming, hence even though it disliked the oppressive place, it stayed by the young fellow’s side.
“Yes, we’re out. Hehe…” Ou Yangming nodded and smiled faintly. Although there were constant setbacks, they finally had the best outcome.
“Lil’ Ming, why didn’t you take some treasures from it?” Big Yellow blinked and asked all of a sudden.
Ou Yangming grinned and asked the big yellow dog in return, “Do you know what they are?”
Big Yellow quickly shook its head and answered, “How would I know?”
“You don’t know them, and neither do I recognize them,” Ou Yangming expressed helplessly, “We must be careful of those items with unknown origins. Besides…” He hesitated for a while before he spoke as if he was talking to himself, “It’s better not to keep its things for now.”
The big yellow dog was startled for some time, then it asked curiously, “Why?”
Ou Yangming smiled without saying a word. He shook his head and walked into the distance. As for Big Yellow, it tilted its head but could not understand why, so it gave up wondering and followed the young fellow.
With that, the human and the dog left the area and went back by the way they came.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming did not want to return to the Beast King Sect just like that. Xia Zizhen was not a top-notch figure from the sect, but he was a part of it. Moreover, Bai Zhiyi knew about them going on an adventure together to explore the secret realm.
Now that Xia Zizhen died, Ou Yangming felt cornered because he did not know how he should explain to Bai Zhiyi.
He could not tell the truth, of course, because he could not reveal the situation inside the secret realm.
Under the circumstances, his best option would be hiding in the secret realm to cultivate. Once more time passed and people forgot about this matter, he would then come out to the outside world.
However, Ou Yangming was worried about the lower realm, thus he could not stay in the secret realm and pretend as though nothing happened.
After walking for a day and a night, Ou Yangming identified the direction and headed elsewhere.
He wanted to go around the Beast King Sect’s boundary to explore the other areas. Perhaps he could find out about the people from the lower realm through the other sects.
Throughout their journey, they walked past a small town, which was of an average scale as it housed hundreds of families. Furthermore, the young adults from every family had great physical strength and courage, where they carried auras unique to martial arts powerhouses.
Ou Yangming did a quick visual assessment and was rather surprised.
There were no Spiritualists in the small town, but most of the martial artists were equivalent to Yang Grade cultivators in the lower realm.
Yang Grade cultivators were incredible combat powers for any clan in the lower realm. On the other hand, it seemed like they could be seen everywhere in the Spiritual Realm. It was worth noting that Ou Yangming had only chosen a direction by random instead of being served by the Beast King Sect along the way.
Therefore, what he was seeing this time was probably the normal situation for the Humans in the Spiritual Realm.
The small town was bustling with noise as if a festival was being held. A cheerful aura filled the air.
Ou Yangming joined the people happily and went inside a luxurious restaurant.
The restaurant’s decoration was normal, but it was certainly second to none in the small town.
When Ou Yangming brought Big Yellow, which was much bigger than him, upstairs, he immediately sensed tens of people staring…. At the big yellow dog behind him.
Big Yellow naturally sensed those looks too. It bared its teeth as it was displeased, and it glared at the people. Upon seeing the big yellow dog’s fierce look, most of the people looked away and were slightly afraid.
A spirit beast—spirit beasts were the only ones with such a ferocious look and momentum.
At the spur of the moment, there was a heavy atmosphere in the restaurant, and the people lowered their voices as they spoke.
A waiter seated Ou Yangming respectfully and laid out a gorgeous rug for Big Yellow.
Ou Yangming was slightly stunned. He did not think that the restaurant would have such good hospitality where a customer’s pet would be treated so well.
Big Yellow lay on the rug approvingly. After walking with Ou Yangming for such a long time, it was finally time to enjoy.
Once Ou Yangming made an order, delicious dishes were sent to him one after another, and he tasted all of them. Every place had its specialties, and it was the same here. Nevertheless, the dishes here were not to the young fellow’s liking, whereas Big Yellow ate delightfully.
Out of the blue, Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows. He was sitting by the window, where his back was facing the aisle. Even so, he could sense through his mental conception that an enormous aura was appearing on the aisle.
He was shocked. ‘Are there Spirit Grade cultivators in this small town too?
‘As many Spirit Grade cultivators as there are in the Spiritual Realm, they can’t be everywhere, can they?’
The entering person walked up and scanned the place, then he instantly fixed his gaze on Big Yellow. It was inevitable because of the big yellow dog’s build and formidable aura. Unless one was blind, one would not be able to ignore it.
“Elder Teng, you’re here.”
“Welcome, Elder Teng!”
“Elder Teng, everything has been prepared for you. Please…”
Ou Yangming could not help but turn to look.
Over there, over 10 people came up in succession. Other than the white-haired elder—a Spirit Grade powerhouse—at the front, the rest were equivalent to Supreme Great Ancestors in the lower realm.
Seeing how everyone greeted the elder, Ou Yangming knew he was surely a local resident in this small town.
This was only a small town for the Humans, but there were so many powerhouses. While Ou Yangming had once helped 1,000 over powerhouses at the peak of Yang Grade advance to Extreme Grade, he was deeply in awe.
If every town for the Humans had such a large scale of powerhouses, how fearsome would their overall combat power be?
Perhaps the powerhouses from 2 to 3 towns combined could run amuck in the lower realm.
This was the gap between the Spiritual Realm and the lower realm, and it was an irreparable
discrepancy.
Elder Teng nodded at the people, then he hesitated for a while before he approached Ou Yangming with a smile. “Hehe, I’m Teng Liangpeng. How should I address you, little brother?”
Ou Yangming beamed and answered, “I’m Ou Yangming. Greetings, Elder Teng.”
Teng Liangpeng laughed out loud. “Oh, Brother Ou, you’re being too polite. You flatter me!” He glanced at Big Yellow again with a bright smile on his face, but he was secretly alert.
‘This big dog carried an immensely strong aura. If I were to go against it, I might not be able to defeat it at all.
‘On top of that, there’s also this mysterious young man. Given that he’s with such a formidable spirit beast, even if his cultivation base is inferior to that of the dog, he can’t be much weaker.’
Teng Liangpeng curbed his thought and smiled politely. “Brother Ou, have you come to join the Hunting Meet?”
Ou Yangming was dumbfounded, but he responded, “I passed by the town unintentionally and noticed the liveliness here, so I came to take a look. As for the Hunting Meet that you were talking about, I know nothing about it.”
For some reason, Ou Yangming sensed that the martial arts cultivators around them seemed to be relieved.
Teng Liangpeng looked regretful, and he sighed. “That’s such a pity. If you could join our town’s Hunting Meet, you’ll definitely get an excellent ranking.”
Ou Yangming grinned. “I’m not familiar with this place, so it’ll be better for me to stay put instead of moving around. I guess I’ll just take a break here.”
The elder did not try to persuade him. He later suggested, “Brother Ou, since you came to our town, it must be fate. How about you join us for a chat?”
Ou Yangming pondered for a brief moment and asked, “My companion…”
Teng Liangpeng laughed out loud. “Since it’s your companion, we’ll naturally treat it equally.”
The young fellow looked deeply at him. It turned out that it was not rare for spirit beasts and humans to travel together in the Spiritual Realm. The people from the Beast King Sect’s boundary found it normal, and it was also the same case in places far from the sect.
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