Long Dexing’s power was too forceful, so much so that the thunderbolt powers could not fully wear away his essence and blood. While this was related to Ou Yangming’s existence, the fact that this happened proved how terrifying his power was.
Without having the Military Fire and the Devouring power, Ou Yangming did not know how far he could go.
He curbed his thought and released his mental conception. His body could not help but shiver a little.
Chapter 475 - An Unexpected Disaster
Powerful mental conception spread out in all directions. It took only a split second for Ou Yangming to notice a drastic change.
Distance.
Under the integration of Heaven and man, his sensing range became a whole 10 times greater than before.
With him as the center, there was a frightening change in the sensing distance. This could only mean that his mental power underwent a qualitative change.
A 10-times increase in the sensing range did not mean that the growth of his actual power was only 10 times its original level. If Ou Yangming’s previous mental power was equivalent to the heat quantity produced from burning papers, it was now equal to the energy produced from oil combustion. The disparity between the two was not as simple as a mere digital overlay.
Although Ou Yangming expected his mental power to exceed the world’s limit and would greatly improve after he withstood the Heavenly Thunderbolts, he was deeply in awe when he finally sensed the margin of increase.
He took a deep breath and slowly withdrew the mental conception that he spread out earlier.
The young fellow was elated, and the strong impact almost flooded his rationale.
Fortunately, Ou Yangming dared not relax too much because the thunderbolt disaster was still fresh in his mind, hence he slowly composed himself.
Intense essential Qi, which was almost going to burst into the sky, rose from his dantian and instantly filled his meridians. The essential Qi was abundant and vigorous, unlike anything he had ever seen.
It was different—it became vastly dissimilar from his previous power as though he would advance in another form if he became slightly stronger.
Ou Yangming curled his lips into a faint smile. His mental power had certainly gone past 100 points and broke through the world’s limit. Besides, his essential Qi cultivation base did not show a weak impression too. Even though the young fellow had not overtaken a great ancestor, he was only a fine line away from Wu Yuanwei, who was already at the peak of a great ancestor.
Perhaps it would be tough to break through in this world, but if one had the opportunity to advance into the upper realm, going beyond the great ancestor boundary would likely be as easy as eating or drinking.
Moreover, Ou Yangming’s physical quality became even more terrifying. When he touched his arm, he felt like he became similar to a spirit beast.
If he were to challenge a spirit beast at the moment, he believed that he could beat the creature up so badly that it would be disfigured.
“Woof…”
All of a sudden, a bark was heard coming from a distance away.
Ou Yangming was moved. He quickly flashed toward Big Yellow and the goshawk, then he asked with a smile, “Why? Are you worried about me?”
“Master, your good fortune floods the heavens, so we weren’t worried at all.” The goshawk looked down as it responded carefully.
It found out Ou Yangming’s strength by sensing the change in his aura. Needless to say, after witnessing the strikes of the Heavenly Thunderbolts, anyone would know that the young fellow would surely become a powerhouse beyond Extreme Grade if he endured the process.
Ou Yangming had indeed achieved that.
“Hey?”
The young fellow suddenly turned to look in the direction he came from.
For some reason, the Military Fire in his sea of consciousness moved as if something burst out in the distance and attracted it.
The goshawk quivered intensely almost at the same time. It looked in the same direction and seemed to be taken aback.
※※※※
A light was seen amidst the faint yellow clouds and mist. In particular, a blazing flame emerged in the center.
It was an incredibly forceful fire, and its violent flames seemed to be able to burn the devilishness in the universe. Once the scorching fire burned, even the vague yellow clouds and mist could not stop it anymore.
Eventually, the fire covered a broader range, and it tended to the yellow clouds and mist as its fuel.
At the center of the fire, a gigantic bright and multicolored bird flapped its wings and spat divine fire as it floated proudly in mid-air as though it was the incarnation of the flames.
Endless powers arose around it. It only happened in one spot, but it was majestic and invincible.
When Ou Yangming previously released the Military Fire in the sky above Feiya City to light up the Birds Formation, he caused many casualties among the Birds. Back then, the fiery fire was appalling, but it was mediocre as compared to the fire in this area.
They could not be mentioned on equal terms especially in terms of energy intensity.
Nonetheless, there was a peculiar change in the sky above the fire when it was about to break through the faint yellow clouds and mist.
Dense black clouds drifted over from afar. They seemed to be formed from nothing as they appeared in the blink of an eye.
They gathered and floated above the yellow clouds and mist, and they slowly became denser. It looked like they were waiting for something.
The little bird, which had turned into a giant bird, kept cursing at the center of the poisonous miasma. It was cursing at a Venerable One from the Insects in the upper realm because it was smart enough to know that the thick and potent miasma was not meant to be used against Ou Yangming, but to trap it.
If it was only an ordinary poisonous miasma, the little bird would not be bothered at all. However, the miasma was actually secretly hosted by a Venerable One. Though the poisonous miasma could not hurt it, it was purposely made to confuse its sense of direction, thus it became lost and slowly fell deeper into the trap.
The little bird was furious, but it dared not act recklessly. It became more alert after it sensed the Venerable One’s aura.
Nevertheless, the aura of the Insects’ Venerable One suddenly disappeared just now. The little bird initially thought the Venerable One was scheming something, but it realized after spying through a secret technique that the fellow’s aura had really disappeared.
Due to the Heavenly Thunderbolts, the Venerable One’s arm that was extended into this realm was completely cut off. Not only did the Inescapable Trap no longer contain its aura, but it also vanished from the poisonous miasma.
Therefore, the little bird released its race’s secret technique after making sure that its opponent was gone. It turned the poisonous miasma into a massive fire, which would burn the Venerable One’s unique set up in this realm.
Just as the little bird was enjoying the burning process, it suddenly heard deep, rumbling thunders.
It tensed up right away because it knew what was going on. It was so immersed in the process that it did not control the fire’s power well enough, causing the whole poisonous miasma to be lighted up, and it released its greatest aura.
Even Multi-armed King Kong dared not act so unrestrained in this realm, let alone the profound and capable little bird.
The little bird shrieked and distinguished its direction, then it spread its wings and flew into the distance.
It was as fast as a meteor once it went all-out, but a substantial Heavenly Thunderbolt pursued it hotly.
From far, it looked like two shooting stars were racing across the sky and went out of sight.
The multicolored big immediately shrunk back into its original size as a little bird. With that, the gloomy clouds above the poisonous miasma dispersed, and the universe seemed to have stopped raging because it could not spot the large multicolored bird.
The little bird was regretful because it was too careless.
At the spur of the moment, it focused in one direction because it noticed someone through its superb vision.
Without any hesitation or subconsciously, the little bird made a turn in mid-air and flew in that direction.
※※※※
Ou Yangming, the goshawk, and Big Yellow remained in their spots as they stared into the distance.
They were fearful because they sensed a power over there. It felt like an oppressive power, so they could not help but become afraid.
Subsequently, they looked at each other because they knew a sudden change must have happened over there. Having said that, judging from the different levels of changes, they knew they could not get involved in the matter.
“Hey, what’s that?” Big Yellow shouted abruptly.
Ou Yangming’s face changed when he looked. He shook his wrist to swiftly put on his Thunderbolt-resistant Suit, which he had previously removed.
Thunderbolt—it was an unimaginably huge thunderbolt.
What shocked them more was the thunderbolt was zooming toward them at an unbelievable speed.
The instant Ou Yangming put on his suit, the thunderbolt hit him right on his head.
He roared without any hesitation and jumped to charge at the thunderbolt.
Ou Yangming and his companions could not evade the thunderbolt at all given how fast it was. On top of that, the goshawk did not have enough pieces of Thunderbolt-resistant Equipment. If it was struck by the thunderbolts, there would definitely be a chain reaction, causing it to be killed at once.
Hence, Ou Yangming decided to initiate an attack instead. Since he had a Thunderbolt-resistant Suit and was tempered by the thunderbolts just now, he could probably resist the Heavenly Thunderbolts in this realm.
As soon as he rose into the sky and raised his shield to face the thunderbolt, he sensed a gust of him blowing past him. When the young fellow narrowed his eyes, he seemed to notice a flash of red light.
‘How can there be a red figure amidst the thunderbolt?’
Before Ou Yangming could react in time, the immense Heavenly Thunderbolt struck him.
His body shivered vigorously at that instant.
‘What’s this Heavenly Thunderbolt? Why is it so mighty? It’s probably the combination of all of the thunderbolts that I resisted earlier, isn’t it?’
Fortunately, there was only one of the Heavenly Thunderbolt; there were no follow-ups.
Protective shields glowed one by one on Ou Yangming’s body as they continuously weakened the thunderbolt power. Following that, an explosive “pow” was heard as every piece of Thunderbolt-resistant Equipment cracked.
Chapter 476 - A Little Bird
Ou Yangming fell hard to the ground. Although the thunderbolt had disappeared, his body still kept twitched and shaking. The thunderbolt’s remaining power rage inside his body, making it seem like he had epilepsy.
Nonetheless, when his powerful Thunderbolt-resistant Suit shattered into pieces, the remaining power could not threaten his life anymore.
After a brief moment, Ou Yangming gritted his teeth and stopped twisting his body. He panted while still feeling afraid, and his body completely went weak.
He was in high spirits after having surpassed the great ancestor boundary but was suddenly zapped by the extremely fearsome thunderbolt. In fact, he was in despair the moment his Thunderbolt-resistant Suit cracked. The thunderbolt power was so forceful that it could not be resisted by someone his level.
Fortunately, while he did not know where the Heavenly Thunderbolt came from, there was only one. If he were to be hit by another one, he would only end up losing his life.
Ou Yangming’s face suddenly changed because he sensed something beneath his body.
He forced himself to get up, and he immediately heard the goshawk exclaim.
When he looked down in shock, he noticed a burnt, unknown thing, which was only slightly bigger than his fist, twitching a little.
Ou Yangming could tell from the way the thing acted that it was struck by the thunderbolt too, which was why it was in such a pitiable state. He had experienced the same situation himself and knew it felt like he was as good as dead.
He reached out to touch the thing, and sure enough, he sensed numbness through his fingertip. Nevertheless, the feeling was insignificant and not worth mentioning at all if it was compared to the thunderbolt that attached to his body.
The young fellow pondered and extended his arm to pick up the thing.
“M-master…”
Ou Yangming turned to look at the goshawk, only to find that the creature was staring at him with wide eyes as if he was a monster.
He frowned and asked in shock, “What is it?”
The goshawk’s beak trembled, and it smiled bitterly. “B-be careful.”
Ou Yangming was slightly stunned. He looked at it in confusion, then at the burnt thing in his hand. All of a sudden, he felt a penetrating chill…
“Goshawk, what’s this… Thing?”
The goshawk widened its eyes again. It felt like crashing its head to its death at this moment.
Ou Yangming did not know what the thing was, whereas the goshawk identified it right away. Even so, as bold as it was, it dared not say it out loud.
Seeing as the goshawk was hesitant, Ou Yangming vaguely understood something. He looked away from the spirit bird and carefully studied the burnt thing in his hand. For some reason, he had a friendly thought about it.
It was as though the thing on his palm was not an awful-looking burnt object, but something that gave him joy… He shook his head and cursed to himself, ‘Since when I started liking burnt things?’
Despite that, he knew the little thing did not originally look like this. It probably ended up in this state because it was struck by the thunderbolt.
Ou Yangming shuddered with fear when he recalled the intense thunderbolt earlier.
Fortunately, there was only one thunderbolt, but it was all it took to destroy his Thunderbolt-resistant Suit.
After possessing such a suit, Ou Yangming initially thought he would not fear the Heavenly Thunderbolts anymore, but he dared not underestimate them anymore after this lesson. In particular, when the thunderbolt wrecked the young fellow’s suit, it felt like he took a trip to Hell’s gate and was almost frightened out of his wits.
So far, he finally understood something—the pieces of Thunderbolt-resistant Equipment that he smithed still had shortcomings and were lacking in quality.
Magic tools were the best type of equipment in the present era, but tools of a higher rank and quality would be needed to resist greater Heavenly Thunderbolts.
The upper realm.
Perhaps the legendary upper realm would be where Ou Yangming could find better smithing materials.
Ou Yangming sighed and looked at the burnt thing again. At the spur of the moment, it quivered a bit and revealed a pair of watery eyes.
“Hey?” Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up, and he smiled. “It’s a little bird, not a creature.”
The burnt thing was curled up at first but as the little bird awoke and opened up its body, Ou Yangming could identify what it was despite its burnt surface.
Upon hearing him, the little bird was dumbfounded, and it finally realized the state it was in. It turned its watery eyes to look at the black feathers on its body.
The little bird sprung up at once and glanced at itself angrily. When its shivering body finally calmed down, it tilted its head to look at Ou Yangming and his companions.
As soon as the little bird looked at the goshawk, the goshawk was so appalled that it almost fell to the ground because it noticed a faint killin
g intent from the little bird’s eyes.
The goshawk turned its head and instantly understood what was going on.
After all, the noble little bird seemed to have not shown up in such an embarrassing state before. Therefore, any living being that witnessed its appearance became a thorn in its eyes. Judging from the Phoenix’s temper, they would not stint on sacrificing to hide their bad reputation. Needless to say, their race was not the only one that was willing to make such sacrifices.
While the goshawk knew the problem, it did not have a solution.
Its legs are tied in front of the little bird, by which it could not disobey the little bird even if it was asked to commit suicide.
Ou Yangming did not notice the danger in his hand. He reached out to casually pinch the little bird’s body and remarked, “You’re quite blessed to have survived the Heavenly Thunderbolt.”
He lamented because it was especially tough to stay alive after being struck by the thunderbolt.
The little bird flapped its wings as hard as it could to get rid of Ou Yangming’s hand.
Ou Yangming laughed out loud. “Little fella, you’re quite reserved. Alright, I’ll bring you back to clean you up; I’m sure you feel uncomfortable having black feathers.” Following that, he removed his already-torn shirt, revealing his black skin, which was the result of being hit by thunderbolts.
Even though Ou Yangming had pieces of Thunderbolt-resistant equipment to reduce most of the thunderbolt powers, he could not fully evade the remaining power. That said, the black spots on his skin were merely superficial injuries.
The little bird stopped struggling after it noticed the black spots on the young fellow’s skin. In fact, the fierce look in its eyes disappeared as it looked gentle and helpless instead.
It did not know Ou Yangming suffered attacks from the thunderbolts before this, hence it thought his injuries were due to the thunderbolt that it attracted.
When the little bird thought about how it was saved by Ou Yangming this time, a wonderful feeling arose from its heart.
‘How should I treat him?’
If Ou Yangming was switched out for the goshawk, the little bird might return kindness with ingratitude by killing all living beings that witnessed its appearance. However, the bird had long regarded the young fellow as its kind. As such, while it did not express it through words, it was incredibly grateful that he saved it.
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