“Did you succeed?” Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up.
“I did it myself so of course, it was a success,” the little bird answered proudly while it stretched its feathers.
Ou Yangming nodded and expressed rather regretfully, “It’s a pity that I couldn’t witness such a marvelous secret technique.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get the chance!” The little red bird moved its eyes around. It secretly decided that it would let Ou Yangming observe the process once it became more familiar with the secret technique. After all, the little bird did not want to embarrass itself in front of its comrade, which it stumbled upon by chance.
“Woof!”
Big Yellow barked in confusion.
Ou Yangming turned to look and asked as he was surprised, “Lil’ Red, why is he still looking like that?”
The little red bird had finished its trick, but Hong Feiyu was still dazed, which was the same as how he looked just now.
Upon seeing this, the little red bird blinked as it looked at Hong Feiyu, and it was feeling somewhat guilty. It had indeed seen and learned the secret technique to erase one’s memory, but the magic art was incredibly difficult, and it did not have many chances to perform it.
Although the little bird had a good feeling that it probably succeeded, it was not confident about the actual effect.
‘Did I make a mistake and tried to outsmart myself but ended in failure? Did I turn this fella into a fool?’
Ou Yangming and the creatures looked at each other, but they secretly had the same thought—turning the fellow into a fool was also a way to solve the problem…
“Ah—”
All of a sudden, Hong Feiyu’s body quivered intensely, and he screamed as though he was utterly shocked.
Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows and began to gather power in his body. If a supreme powerhouse like the scholar suddenly went into a killing mode because he lost his mind, he would certainly cause irreparable damages. Therefore, the young fellow would not mind killing him if an accident really happened.
Nevertheless, Hong Feiyu did not turn violent. He half-crouched and half-kneeled as he put his hands on his head and seemed to be in extreme pain.
He inhaled deeply after a brief moment and finally calmed down.
“Brother Hong, are you feeling better now?” Ou Yangming twitched his mouth and asked.
Hong Feiyu opened his eyes in a daze, and his eyes seemed to have lost focus. Despite that, he looked like he finally recalled something after he looked at Ou Yangming for some time. “Bro-brother… W-what happened to me?”
Ou Yangming glanced at the little red bird, which was looking around but refused to look at him.
Feeling helpless, the young fellow cleared his throat and questioned, “Brother Hong, you suddenly passed out just now. Have you not fully recovered yet?”
Hong Feiyu looked dumbfounded as he pondered, then he answered with a bitter smile, “Brother, please forgive me. For some reason, I feel like everything is in a mess in my head. Mm, I suddenly ended up in the lower realm and was defeated by you… Ah, I remember now! We promised that the loser will worship the winner for a century!” His eyes suddenly lit up.
Ou Yangming stammered and looked at the little red bird.
The little fellow had a special ability to distinguish the authenticity of one’s words.
It made an unnoticeable nod, which indicated that Hong Feiyu was not lying and meant what he said. As for why he had such a bizarre thought, it was probably related to how the little bird erased his memories.
“Hehe, Brother Hong, you’re right.” Ou Yangming smiled embarrassedly. “May I ask why you came to the lower realm?”
“Why I came to the lower realm?” Hong Feiyu frowned and was struck dumb. He was immersed in his memories as he replied to the young fellow, “I seemed to have infuriated a formidable spirit beast and was pursued by it. Oh, I accidentally got caught up in an interspatial disorder and ended up here.” He furrowed his eyebrows very much as he asked himself, “Why did I infuriate that spirit beast?”
Ou Yangming was relieved, and he quickly said, “Brother Hong, no matter what, since you’re here, you should stay here for the time being. Let’s find a way back to the upper realm together another time.”
Hong Feiyu was stunned, then he nodded and bowed at Ou Yangming. “Yes, thanks for your guidance, brother.”
“I’m Ou Yangming, and this is Big Yellow.” Ou Yangming chuckled.
The little red bird rolled its eyes because Ou Yangming introduced Big Yellow but ignored it, thus it was very irritated.
However, it was then when Ou Yangming channeled his thought into its mind.
‘Lil’ Red, you’re my ultimate trump card, so it’ll be better if lesser people know about you.’
The little red bird was taken aback, then it lifted its head high. Before long, it could not help but wonder, ‘This isn’t right; I must keep a low profile since I’m his ultimate trump card.’
With that, the little bird jumped on Ou Yangming’s shoulder and laid low to conceal its magnificence.
‘Mm, keeping a low profile like this seems quite interesting too.’
Following that, Hong Feiyu bowed at Ou Yangming and said, “Ah, so it’s Brother Ou. Since I lost, I’ll keep my word and obey you.”
Ou Yangming flapped his sleeves and commented, “Brother Hong, you’re being too polite.”
Since the fellow forgot about the Tree of Splendour, Ou Yangming was not too wary of him. Moreover, having a helper like Hong Feiyu in this world could result in notable deterrence.
They conversed for a while longer. Hong Feiyu seemed to have acknowledged Ou Yangming’s identity, so he said everything he knew without reservations.
Furthermore, other than the Tree of Splendour, it did not forget anything else. In particular, the three fights he had against the Aquatics in Canghai City were still vivid in his mind.
The Aquatics’ spirit beast this time was a rare spirit turtle. Once it utilized a water-mastery spell, the seas would rise, and the Aquatics would rage.
Having said that, the spirit turtle’s greatest ability was not its offense, but its defense. Hong Feiyu had encountered the spirit turtle three times, each time was an earth-shattering battle, causing numerous powerhouses to be dead or injured from both sides, but both parties always ended up helpless.
The spirit turtle could not take down Hong Feiyu, but Hong Feiyu could not break the spirit turtle’s defense too.
That said, Ou Yangming seemed indifferent after he heard Hong Feiyu’s description of the spirit turtle.
Even though the spirit turtle’s defense was remarkable, it depended on who it was up against. Hong Feiyu might not be able to break its defense, but it did not mean that Multi-armed King Kong was powerless too.
Ou Yangming believed that as long as the king kong was present, the spirit turtle would definitely regret having descended to this realm.
Even so, he raised another question as he was struck with a thought, “Brother Hong, do you know where the spirit turtle usually hides?”
“We looked into it before. The spirit turtle is extremely bold; it knows we can’t do anything to it, so it’s hiding only by the beach among dark reefs,” Hong Feiyu answered without any hesitation. He flushed as he added, “Frankly speaking, I tried to sneak an attack on it once but suffered a small loss.”
“Since you know where it’s hiding, that’ll be great.” Ou Yangming nodded and said, “Brother Hong, please come with me.”
After leaving the woodshed, Ou Yangming brought Hong Feiyu to a room and ordered the servants to prepare some toiletries and hot water. The scholar came out after half an hour feeling refreshed as he had washed off the dark spots on his skin. As a result, he looked like a brand new person as if he recovered his identity and bearing as a powerhouse.
Ou Yangming nodded as he was pleased. He instructed someone to invite Feng Yiyuan to his residence.
Feng Yiyuan hurried over and arrived after a
short while. He was full of smiles, but a look of worry could be seen deep inside his eyes.
Ou Yangming never spoke about how he would deal with Hong Feiyu after he captured him. Feng Yiyuan would typically be unconcerned because he could not meddle in fights of such a level but this time, the city was up against a big enemy. If Ou Yangming suddenly refused to take any further part in the matter, and if something happened to Hong Feiyu, who could resist the Aquatics’ spirit beast?
Besides, Feng Yiyuan had other thoughts after communicating with the upper realm, which was why he was feeling more anxious.
Hence, he hastened over as fast as he could when Ou Yangming sent someone to invite him.
Who knew, Feng Yiyuan noticed Hong Feiyu standing behind Ou Yangming after he entered the main hall. The scholar seemed to have turned into another person as though he became the young fellow’s bodyguard, so the great ancestor was quite puzzled.
Of course, he dared not question it at all, so he simply cupped his hands with a smile. “Master Ou, why have you summoned me?”
“We’ve discussed, and I know where the spirit turtle is hiding, so I’d like to go there to catch the whole lot in one go,” Ou Yangming expressed.
“Master Ou, the hiding spot of the Aquatics’ spirit beast isn’t a secret, but I heard they set up a formation there. If we go over, I’m afraid…” Feng Yiyuan was startled, and he stole a glance at the quiet Hong Feiyu and mumbled to himself, ‘What exactly are they up to…’
Ou Yangming was slightly stunned. He turned to look at Hong Feiyu.
Hong Feiyu immediately explained, “Brother Ou, please don’t worry. The Aquatics’ formation is exceptionally crude, so it won’t affect us at all.”
“What about Extreme Grade martial artists?” Ou Yangming frowned.
“Perhaps there’ll be some negative effects,” Hong Feiyu answered after some thought.
Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows and glanced at the little red bird half-intentionally. He later noted with a smile, “It’s not a big problem; I’ll handle it.”
Hong Feiyu looked where he was looking too but somehow shivered. He thought, ‘This is absurd. What’s so scary about a pet bird…’
Chapter 503 - Initiate An Attack
The next morning, Ou Yangming left Canghai City with the others and headed to the shoal mentioned by Hong Feiyu.
Ou Yangming was familiar with formations. Needless to say, even if someone set up a formation in this world that lacked spiritual power, it could not have exceptionally powerful effects. Normally, cultivators would rather invest their time and effort in cultivation than wasting them on formations, which was a bottomless hole.
As for the foreign cultivators in this realm… They probably did not know what formations were at all.
Nonetheless, since the spirit beast came from the upper realm, the situation was naturally different. Besides, among the Aquatics, the Turtles were considered as one of the more intelligent races, so perhaps a spirit turtle knew some wonderful formations. Of course, as marvelous as it could be, it would be extremely difficult for it to make a difference in this world.
Unless it was similar to the Birds Formation, which was formed by gathering the powers of countless birds and transferring nature’s mightiness, it could not release earth-shattering effects.
If a formation was fixed in one spot, it would not have any tricks even if plenty of aquatics were assembled.
Those were what the little red bird claimed, and Ou Yangming received confirmation from Multi-armed King Kong and the goshawk too.
Therefore, he ordered the two gigantic beasts to hold the line behind while he brought Big Yellow, the little red bird, Hong Feiyu, and the two young ladies to the shore by the vast ocean.
As said by Hong Feiyu, it was a shoal, where there were undersea traps nearby clustered by dark reefs. Perhaps the Aquatics loved those spots, but they were nightmares for fishing boats.
Nevertheless, once Ou Yangming and the others arrived at their destination, they first felt a long sea breeze, causing them to feel lazy under the scorching sun. They felt like they wanted to cast aside their worries and have a good nap on the beach.
Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “Brother Hong, is this the formation’s power?”
Hong Feiyu smiled bitterly. “Yes. The spirit turtle is quite capable, so it set up two formations here. One is a formation to increase its water-mastery spell’s power while the other is meant to weaken the Humans’ willpower. That said, the spell is only useful against cultivators below Spirit Grade.”
‘Spirit Grade—the term for being above Extreme Grade.’ Ou Yanming was moved.
Such a being was known as a spirit beast among the Beasts but was known as a spirit cultivator among the Humans. Even so, cultivators were also separated into casters and warriors in the upper realm.
Ou Yangming looked at Ni Yinghong and Jiang Jiumei, who were thrilled as though the peculiar formation map did not affect them at all. On the contrary, he vaguely felt like he was shot and wanted to sleep right away.
This was not because Ou Yangming’s willpower was inferior to that of Ni Yinghong and Jiang Jiumei, but because formation maps would affect people differently. Moreover, the effect of a formation map would also vary according to one’s mental state.
Ni Yinghong and Jiang Jiumei knew they were about to face a spirit beast, thus they were in extreme excitement. As such, the little effect caused by the formation map was driven away by their exhilaration long ago.
On the other hand, Ou Yangming encountered more than one spirit beast. Given that the spirit turtle could not do anything to Hong Feiyu, he figured that it was not a threat to him at all. Hence, the young fellow was very relaxed and came here with the mindset of going on a trip, which was why his reaction and the young ladies’ reactions were polarized.
“Alright, let’s not care about the formation map.” Ou Yangming waved his hand. “Where’s the spirit turtle? Let’s find it and get rid of it, then we’ll go back.”
Hong Feiyu hesitated for a while before he warned Ou Yangming, “Brother Ou, you mustn’t underestimate the spirit turtle. It’s not fast, but its defensive power is unordinary, and it has great stamina as if it won’t run out of energy at all.”
Although Hong Feiyu was defeated by Ou Yangming and Big Yellow, he was rather afraid of the spirit turtle. After all, he was incredibly troubled by the spirit turtle’s notable defense. If they could not break the defense, their attacks would end up being useless.
Ou Yangming smiled. “I understand. Brother Hong, please.”
Hong Feiyu felt helpless. He had reminded Ou Yangming but it was out of his control whether the young fellow would accept his help.
He looked into the distance and stated in a deep voice, “That spirit turtle is smart, but it’s a sleepy head. Every time it orders the Aquatics to attack but suffers a setback, it’ll immediately lose patience, and it actually came here because it’s more convenient for it to sleep. Finding that turtle is easy—we just need to make sure it’s not sleeping.” Following that, he lifted his hand and let out a deafening whistle.
His whistle sounded like rumbling Heavenly Thunderbolts. When the repercussions reached the waters, they even caused visible ripples to be seen.
It was quite amazing that a human’s voice could be so mighty, but the little red bird was scornful. ‘How dare you show you incompetence if that’s all you can do? If my kind did the same thing, you’d be so terrified that you won’t be able to move at all.
The thunderous whistling lasted for 15 minutes without a stop.
Ou Yangming looked at Hong Feiyu in shock, and he knew the scholar must have cultivated a secret technique to be able to do this. ‘These powerhouses that can advance to Spirit Grade in the upper realm have useful qualities too.’
All of a sudden, the sea in front of them split as a humongous creature slowly emerged.
It was a gigantic aquatic, whose build was not as exaggerated as Multi-armed King Kong’s
but was much larger than the goshawk. Having said that, the massive creature was very slow as compared to the king kong, and they could be described as an obtuse person and a normal person, respectively. In fact, one would feel anxious by looking at the creature itself.
Despite that, Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up because fighting against such a giant creature was undoubtedly the best choice.
Hong Feiyu stopped whistling and noted in a deep voice, “Brother Ou, this is the creature.”
The giant turtle had finally floated completed. It stuck out its long neck from its shell and let out a booming roar. “Human, you’re here to disturb my sleep again. You really deserve to die!”
“We’re from different races and can’t coexist, so I’m obviously not going to let you live well.” Hong Feiyu sneered. He turned around and lowered his voice as he said, “Bother Ou, I’ll take the lead.” He had gained enough experiences after exchanging blows with the giant turtle several times. Even though he knew his attacks could not break the creature’s defense, he had to at least show Ou Yangming and his companions.
Seeing was believing. Perhaps Ou Yangming would change his original thought after he witnessed the giant turtle’s defensive ability.
However, just as he flashed, Ou Yangming reached his hand out to stop him and said with a smile, “Brother Hong, please wait and watch; someone will go against it.”
Hong Feiyu was stunned, and he instantly looked at Big Yellow. He remembered he was defeated by the big yellow dog. Though Ou Yangming was assisting on the side, it was how a caster and a warrior should cooperate, so he did not find fault in it.
That said, Big Yellow ignored him and stuck out its tongue as it lay on the beach. It did not seem to care about him or the spirit turtle in the distance at all.
Just as Hong Feiyu was feeling confused, he noticed two figures going past him. They charged at the giant spirit turtle on the water like wind and fire.
Hong Feiyu’s face changed. When he looked, he recognized them at once.
They were Ni Yinghong and Jiang Jiumei. When the young ladies followed Ou Yangming here, Hong Feiyu initially thought they were here to broaden their knowledge. Who knew, they went forward eagerly after seeing the spirit turtle as if they were afraid someone would snatch the opportunity from them.
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