Ou Yangming did not know much about carriages back then. To him, a carriage was considered decent if it had seats inside.

Nonetheless, after that night, he had a deeper understanding of influential people's transportations. Therefore, he could now tell at one glance the rough identity of a carriage's owner.

Besides, even if Ou Yangming knew nothing about other carriages, he was familiar with this particular carriage.

He had barged into this carriage that night, resulting in a series of uncontrollable events.

'Her Royal Highness left the capital?'

Wu Hanning was not an ordinary princess; she was brought up as the top genius among the younger generation in the imperial family. Given that she could ask the family's supreme elder to borrow the secret realm's power, one could imagine her status in the family.

According to Ou Yangming's observation and inquiries through indirect approaches, he even suspected that the imperial family had internally decided that Wu Hanning would inherit the supreme elder's position.

If that was true, she would become the Humans' strongest powerhouse after Wu Yuanwei—the present supreme elder—passed away.

The imperial family was the only party in this realm that could offer a boundary beyond a Supreme Great Ancestor, but they could only guarantee the birth of one supreme powerhouse.

A figure like that would not be as important as Wu Yuanwei, but would not be far off.

Theoretically, Wu Hanning had to keep watch over the capital like Wu Yuanwei by observing the changes in the world in silence. However, she had just left the capital, and judging from her carriage's path, she seemed to be traveling together with the 2,000-people convoy.

Bai Shixue scoffed and remarked softly, "Brother Ou, you're incredibly charming! Her Royal Highness has even put aside her reputation for you!"

One would be accused of slandering the imperial family by saying that, hence she spoke so softly that Ou Yangming was the only one who could hear her.

"Don't speak nonsense," Ou Yangming responded softly and glared at her. He glanced at the capital and the sky, then he gestured to her to be careful. Following that, the young fellow patted the horse and went away.

'This young fella still cares for me,' Bai Shixue thought as she curled her lips into a faint smile. As she waved her hand, her carriage caught up to the convoy and joined the rest.

As for Ou Yangming, when he arrived in front of the 100-person army, he noticed a familiar face.

It was Wu Haohan. During the Myriad Treasure Meet, his Simulated Spiritual Fist Technique was secretly learned by Ou Yangming, but he was blessed by the setback and advanced to the peak of Yang Grade in the end.

It was evident from his armor and position that he was the leader of the army.

Wu Haohan immediately cupped his hands when he saw Ou Yangming, and he greeted the young fellow loudly, "Good day, Master Ou."

Ou Yangming nodded and looked at the eye-striking carriage, then he lowered his voice and asked, "Brother Wu, what's going on?"

"What?" Wu Haohan was surprised.

"Why did Her Royal Highness leave the capital?" Ou Yangming looked up and questioned snappily.

Wu Haohan answered seriously, "Her Highness is feeling bored in the capital, so she reported to His Majesty and is going out for a trip."

Ou Yangming was dubious. "Where is Her Highness going for a trip?"

"Hehe." Wu Haohan could not help but laugh. "Her Highness did not specify it, so she'll simply follow her heart."

"Her Highness's destination isn't going to be the same as mine, is it?" Ou Yangming stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

Wu Haohan responded without any hesitation, "That's not necessarily the case. The world is massive, after all, so it's unlikely that you'll meet. Having said that, if you do meet each other, it's certainly fate!"

Ou Yangming did not know to cry or to laugh when he looked at the unsmiling Wu Haohan. He stole another glance at the carriage. They were not speaking softly, hence the young fellow was sure that Wu Hanning heard them clearly, but she did not intend to pull the curtains apart at all.

As bold as Ou Yangming was, he would not have the guts to barge into the carriage this time.

He felt extremely helpless.

'I already have a splitting headache because the smart little fox joined us. Now that Her Highness is also coming with us…

'How should I introduce them to Yinghong once we arrive at Changlong County?' Ou Yangming's head ached more when he thought about that.

Wu Haohan commented softly all of a sudden, "Consort, Her Highness is only worried about you, so you mustn't make her sad!"

Ou Yangming was stunned. He glared hatefully at the man, then he squeezed his horse with his legs to go off.

He knew while Wu Hanning was a lady, she was much more resolute than most men in the world. Since she left the capital regardless of the consequences, nobody could change her mind.

'If that's the case, I can only take one step at a time.

'Everything will turn out to be alright; I just hope it won't be terrible.'

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming knew his return to Changlong County would surely stir up a sensation like never before.

※※※※

Outside the Immense Forest Military Camp in Changlong County.

Fierce roars filled the air. Even so, whether it was the elite Guards or ordinary soldiers from the five camps, they were no longer fearful like they were in the beginning.

A month ago, many unordinary changes happened in the immense forest. Despite that, the ferocious beasts did not intend to leave the forest. The soldiers were the ones who entered the forest to kill the beasts, and they did not worry about the creatures coming out of bounds.

That said, the soldiers still had to be careful because plenty of new vicious beasts appeared in the forest, causing many soldiers to be injured.

Nonetheless, one day, everything changed.

The ferocious beasts, who had been staying in the forest for generations, suddenly went bad and left the forest. Moreover, they began to attack the Humans.

Villages, small towns, and camps were attacked, causing countless people to die tragically under the beasts' claws.

Li Xinfan instantly ordered the military to counterattack. He also asked the common folk around to leave their homes for the time being, so they could retreat to safer grounds.

Although the Humans' disaster, which would occur once in a century, was not publicly announced due to political reasons, many related stories circulated among the people. With help from the government and the military, many folks were transferred to the prefecture or fortresses with big cities.

Needless to say, those from the Immense Forest Military Camp, which was closest to the forest, could not retreat. The soldiers were harassed and attacked by ferocious beasts almost every day.

In the first few days, there was a lack of experienced soldiers and the new recruits were rather afraid. As time passed, and as there were more desperate fights from both parties, everything changed.

The new recruits gained experience. As long as they survived by luck from the battlefield, they were reborn, quickly becoming qualified and experienced soldiers.

As the closely-fought battle lasted for a month, the Immense Forest Military Camp's loss rate increased to 50%. Even though the other soldiers improved greatly through the flames of the war, it was inevitable that the military had low morale and was dispirited.

If it was not because military orders were imperative and must be obeyed, someone would have crumbled and escaped long ago.

Chen Yifan carried his magic spear and led the West Camp's soldiers as they patrolled the camp. When he looked in the distance at the dark forest, he was concerned.

The Humans' huge disaster was finally coming, but could Changlong County and Linlang County overcome it this time as they did before?

While the He family's Iron Blood Loyal Heart was ready, there was an unforeseen change in the Ni family's sacrifice.

This was not only because of the relationship between Ni Yinghong and Ou Yangming, but most importantly, it was because the Ni family had lost the connection with their clan's secret realm for decades. As such, nobody from their younger generation could play a pivotal role.

Though Ni Yinhong had been sent to the secret realm to receive the inheritance, how could the difference of decades be compensated in a short period?

The eight counties had four disasters altogether, each one could possibly develop into one that could overturn the Humans.

It was true that the Humans still had the imperial family's supreme elder keeping watch in the capital, but Chen Yifan's confidence could not help but waver when he looked at the pitch-black view ahead. It was as though his future had turned dark too.

At the spur of the moment, a shrill sound was heard coming from the horn, which was sounded at the military camp's periphery.

The soldiers on duty ran in that direction at once. The ferocious beasts were the most active at night, by which they roared and pounced out from the dark to fight the brave and skillful soldiers.

Chen Yifan kept a straight face and strode toward the area where the fight was the most intense.

His composure had unknowingly caused the other people to calm down. As long as their general was around, so what if the creatures showed up? In the end, the beasts would be forced to retreat, leaving a number of carcasses around.

However, Chen Yifan's face changed as he made his way to the fight. He pricked up his ears and listened closely.

The shrieks were mournful and panic-stricken in that direction, and the change happened in an instant as if the line of defense over there could not hold on any longer.

Chen Yifan reached his hand to the back to retrieve his spear, then he exerted all his force to charge in that direction.

He arrived at the scene after a brief moment, where a giant crawler behaved brutally by making threatening moves. Whenever it attacked, one or several soldiers were sent flying away. Seeing as how the soldiers spat blood in the air and twisted their bodies, it was obvious that they were in terrible states.

On the other hand, only small sparks were made when the soldiers hit the crawler with their weapons; the creature did not suffer substantial damage at all.

Chen Yifan's eyes were filled with rage, but he was also appalled.

'A great-ancestor-level half-spirit beast appeared so soon?'

The general took a deep breath as he held his magic tool, which gave him great confidence. He later roared and lunged at the beast by being one with his spear.