He Yicheng hastened into a huge and luxurious residence, and he stopped when he entered the backyard.

A man in black was sitting over there. He seemed similar to He Yicheng in terms of their appearance, but He Yicheng kneeled before the man without any hesitation. "Great ancestor, I made a mistake and failed."

The man in black was He Hanyang, one of the He family's great ancestors. He slowly turned his head and asked in a deep voice, "Who stopped you?"

He Yicheng was not an ordinary Yang Grade powerhouse. He was at the peak of Yang Grade, and his combat power was only possible among the great-ancestor-level powerhouses in the He family. Although he received information that Ou Yangming was peculiar in many ways, how could a martial artist at the peak of Yin Grade escape a powerhouse at the peak of Yang Grade?

'It's very likely that a powerhouse interfered, right?' He wondered.

If they were in Linlang County at the moment, He Hanyang would have ordered an arrest long ago, but he dared not act rashly in the capital.

He Yicheng's face reddened as he answered softly, "I wasn't a match for him, so I fled in a hurry."

"Wasn't a match for him?" He Hanyang was stunned, and he mumbled while he glanced at He Yicheng's body, "You weren't a match for… Ou Yangming?"

"Yes." He Yicheng flushed, and he lowered his head. "It's my fault, so please punish me."

He Hanyang waved his hand and sighed. "Since you can't even take him down, is it true that he has formidable powers?"

"Great ancestor, my martial arts cultivation base is at the peak of Yin Grade, but he's adept in a unique kind of oppression, which was able to affect and limit my abilities. When I exchanged my blows with him, I couldn't even use half of my strength," He Yicheng responded in fear.

"Oppression?"

"That's right. When I fought him, I somehow felt like I was fighting with you," He Yicheng replied to the great ancestor with his head down.

This time, He Hanyang was truly moved. He kept quiet for a while before he noted, "I understand. The young fella's martial arts cultivation base is mediocre, but his mental power is remarkable. Hmph, as long as one isn't affected by his mental power, he isn't fearsome at all."

"Great ancestor, you're right." He Yicheng quickly agreed with the man. He praised the great ancestor, but he secretly wondered with a bitter smile, 'Don't be affected by his mental power? It's easier said than done.'

"Forget it, you don't have to care about this anymore. It's such a pity that the young fella was born at the wrong time." He Hanyang slowly stood up and swayed, then he vanished like a ghost.

He Yicheng was startled for some time before he sighed.

As said by the great ancestor, if the young fellow was born 10 years earlier or later, he would not be a hindrance to the Iron Blood Loyal Heart and the noble sacrifice from the He family and the Ni family. In that case, the He family would not make deliberate plans to get rid of him too.

Unfortunately, the young fellow was born at the wrong time…

※※※※

Ou Yangming returned to the Yi Pavilion's courtyard by using the main road.

He previously left in a carriage, but the Yi Pavilion was a significant force in the capital, hence he could easily find his way back by asking the people around.

Someone welcomed Ou Yangming as soon as he returned, then Du Gaoge arrived to greet him after a brief moment.

Ou Yangming did not inform the shopkeeper about his encounter with He Yicheng because he was somewhat looking forward to what would come next. Since a powerhouse at the peak of Yang Grade had just returned after failing his mission, he figured that a Supreme Great Ancestor would show up soon.

Back then, as presumptuous as Ou Yangming was, he would not have the guts to provoke powerhouses of such level.

Now, not only had he fathomed the Spiritual Fist, but he also had trump cards like the small fireball and the Mental Power Rune, thus he became eager to face stronger opponents.

Needless to say, most importantly, Ou Yangming was in the capital at the moment. He could run away and scream for help if he could not defeat his opponent, and a Supreme Great Ancestor would not act recklessly in the capital. This was also the young fellow's biggest reliance.

Ou Yangming had a casual conversation with the Du Gaoge, then he sent him away saying that he needed to rest.

Nonetheless, he soon realized that Du Gaoge did not leave as he stayed at a place outside the small courtyard. It was evident that the shopkeeper was assigned by the Yi Pavilion to be his special contact person.

He closed his eyes and focused on his sea of consciousness.

Ou Yangming recalled his gains from this journey, especially the path of equilibrium from Wu Hongxi. It affected and changed him so enormously that he had some ideas about the refinement of an interspatial bag.

He reached out his hand and slowly made strokes in the air. Nevertheless, his fingers seemed to carry an indescribable magical power, causing the space in front of him to vibrate a little as his fingers moved.

This did not mean that Ou Yangming possessed the power to affect space; he simply released some power from his Military Fire, which was sometimes cold and sometimes hot. When the heat and cold blended, it resulted in the peculiar occurrence of the undulating space. It was the same theory as when a blazing fire was lit up in front of him, causing the air around the flame to boil.

Despite that, what Ou Yangming did was a hundred times more technical than lighting a fire.

Following that, Ou Yangming carefully retrieved a leather bag. It was not big nor was it hefty as it was only the size of his palm, but he regarded it to be far more precious than any other piece of equipment. In fact, even the magic tools that he smithed in the past were inferior to it.

This was because the leather bag was the material used to refine an interspatial bag, and it was obtained after a Big Abdomen Ghost Spider's death.

As soon as Ou Yangming retrieved the item, it automatically opened and was so attracted by the fluctuating space in front of him that it was going to be drawn into the space.

Ou Yangming's face changed. The leather bag was a non-living object, but it underwent a wonderful change when it contacted the varying space. It was evident that the item was indeed one of the best materials to refine an interspatial bag.

Even so, Ou Yangming dared not carry out the process right away.

The inheritance from the crystal ball made it clear that the interspatial bag could be crafted many times, and the space in the bag could grow if one possessed better craftsmanship.

That said, crafting was risky.

The success rate for the first time was the highest, but the space in the interspatial bag would have the risk of collapsing during the consequent crafting. The consequence of the space crumbling was obvious.

Ou Yangming had just gotten an idea of how it could work, and the range of space that could be affected by his hot and cold fire was not broad. If he rushed into refining the interspatial bag, he would not gain a lot of space even if he succeeded. Therefore, he kept the leather bag without any hesitation.

However, the fluctuation in the void did not reduce because of this. The range of the alternation between heat and cold gradually expanded due to Ou Yangming's intentional doing and roughly a cubic meter space in front of him became strange.

Ou Yangming felt his forehead twitched a little, and beads of sweat could be seen as well.

In actuality, it was not difficult to maintain the Military Fire in such a huge area.

The problem was Ou Yangming had to maintain the Military Fire, and he also had to constantly merge the fire's hot and cold aspects while stirring up an intense vibration in the space. The stronger the movement, the higher the probability of successfully refining an interspatial bag in the future.

Ou Yangming was fully focused on the process. His mental power was consumed rapidly, but the wave motion of the space in front of him grew more intense, to the extent that it became quite shocking.

This could not be achieved by any martial arts technique, but the odd scene was possible after the Military Fire and his mental power merged.

Ou Yangming sighed. The space, which was the size of a cubic meter, was not large, but it contained a substantial amount of energy. Unfortunately, the energy could not be used or he would not fear even a Supreme Great Ancestor.

At the spur of the moment, the young fellow was alarmed.

He waved his hand without any hesitation, then the undulating space instantly returned to normal like the fall of a tide.

Even though Ou Yangming felt slightly exhausted, he was still quite stimulated.

He looked up to take a look outside, then he went out to the courtyard.

The sky had darkened, and the servants left the courtyard as Ou Yangming made them leave.

After all, Ou Yangming was doing something secretive, so he could not let anyone stay by his side. He was neither at Old Craftsman's house nor the Ni residence; he was at the capital's Yi Pavilion.

Hence, he was the only person in the spacious courtyard.

Having said that, a man in black was quietly standing in the middle of the courtyard.

He had a cold look, and his eyes were as sharp as lightning. On top of them, he looked similar to He Liangce.

Ou Yangming guessed the man's identity and his purpose of visitation. He grinned and cupped his hands at the man. "Greetings, senior."

He Hanyang asked coldly, "You know who I am?"

"The He family's Three Great Ancestors are well-known in the world. I just don't know which senior you are," Ou Yangming answered with the same expression.

"I'm He Hanyang."

"I see, it's Senior Hanyang." Ou Yangming's eyes lit up. "According to my understanding, you're the direct line elder of He Liangce—Brother He—am I right?"

He Hanyang sneered. "You made quite detailed inquiries!"

Ou Yangming smiled bitterly. Since he was informed about the beast tide and was aware of the contradiction with the He family, he naturally had to find out about everything.

He Hanyang was He Liangce's grandfather and one of the He family's Three Great Ancestors. He was a Supreme Great Ancestor, and his mightiness was unpredictable.

"Ou Yangming, Liangce wrote me a letter and said he built a friendship with you, is it true?" He Hangyang questioned.

"Yes, and no." Ou Yangming was startled, but he answered seriously after some thought.

He Hanyang's eyes were hollow, and he uttered slowly, "Your smithing art is highly beneficial toward the Humans, and I don't want to make things difficult for you. I'm sure you know why I've come, and I'll leave and pretend I never came as long as you make me a promise. What do you think?"

Given that he was a Supreme Great Ancestor, he was showing Ou Yangming—a Yin Grade martial artist—a lot of respect by talking to him like that.

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming pondered for a while and sighed. "I'm sorry, I can't do it."