"Hum…"

The horn was suddenly sounded loudly on the top of the city walls, so Ou Yangming turned to look. He had lived in the military camp for years, so he could naturally tell that it was not a warning. In fact, judging from the sound, it carried a cheerful tone.

Ou Yangming could not help but laugh when he figured out what it was.

According to his calculations, the convoy had probably arrived.

He patted the big yellow dog and said, "Big Yellow, I'll go to welcome our guests. You may rest here for a while."

The big yellow dog shook its head and wagged its tail to show the young fellow that it was not tired. It wanted to join the fun too but was immediately rejected.

It had grown too big and had become the center of attention, after all, so Ou Yangming figured that it was better to let it appear in public after the others settled down.

With that, Ou Yangming left the courtyard and met the Ni family's Three Great Ancestors, as well as Ni Yinghong. They generally knew what the horn meant.

74 newly-advanced Supreme Great Ancestors from the capital had come to help. Given that they were important figures in the prefecture, everyone from the city had to welcome them. Nonetheless, they also knew that the great ancestors had come not because Changlong County's prefecture was important, but because of Ou Yangming.

Therefore, even when everyone from the prefecture went to welcome the Supreme Great Ancestors, it was nothing as compared to Ou Yangming welcoming them personally.

Ou Yangming nodded and walked past the Ni family's Three Great Ancestors. He held Ni Yinghong's hand and said, "Seniors, let's go."

Ni Jingshen and the two other great ancestors exchanged glances and smiled.

When Ou Yangming left for the capital, they were not hopeful that he could stop the beast tide. Hence, they still let Ni Yinghong cultivate the Noble Sacrifice Technique, so she could join hands with He Liangce to fight the spirit beast in the end.

Who knew, Ou Yangming returned and surprised them.

100 Supreme Great Ancestors were coming to help, each one was given a customized magic tool. Moreover, the young fellow had also displayed oppressive powers when he fought the three Earthly Dragon Beasts. Eventually, the three great ancestors developed a firm trust in him.

They no longer forced Ni Yinghong to cultivate the Noble Sacrifice Art.

The change was done subtly, but it was the exact proof of Ou Yangming's position in their hearts.

Before long, they headed to the gate where the horn was sounded.

The gate was already wide open as Deng Xiyuan and Li Xinfan led numerous Supreme Great Ancestors to welcome the guests with sincere smiles on their faces.

Nevertheless, they had strange looks on their faces when they noticed Ou Yangming and Ni Yinghong holding hands.

In particular, Deng Xiyuan's face was as dark as ash.

Even so, under the circumstances, he knew he could not offend the Supreme Great Ancestors.

Ni Yinghong blushed and struggled a bit. The young lady was abashed, and she did not want to seem too intimate with Ou Yangming in public, but the young fellow grabbed her hand tightly without letting it go.

She was touched and instantly understood Ou Yangming's intention.

"Uhm, Master Ou, the capital's reinforcements are arriving soon, so please… Take care of your image!" Deng Xiyuan noted in a deep voice.

Ou Yangming blinked and asked, "What image? Sir, do you think I'm unpresentable?"

Deng Xiyuan stopped breathing for a moment. When he looked around him, he noticed the prefecture's Supreme Great Ancestors looking away, let alone the great ancestors from the capital.

Realizing that he could not clap with one hand, he looked at Li Xinfan for help.

Li Xinfan cursed to himself, 'Why are you provoking Ou Yangming? Don't you know if he wants your head to be chopped off, at least 18 Supreme Great Ancestors will sneak into the governor's residence at night?

'Even if you want to flatter Her Royal Highness, you should do it at the appropriate time!'

Despite that, being the prefecture's military's commander, as displeased as he was, he could not sit idly by.

Li Xinfan sighed and said, "Lil' Friend Ou, Brother Deng meant to ask if we should go out to welcome them. They've come all the way from the capital, after all."

Ou Yangming responded after some thought, "General Li, you're right. Let's go welcome them."

He led the way and walked hand-in-hand with Ni Yinghong out of the gate.

Deng Xiyuan was red with anger, but just as he wanted to speak, the other people made their way out too.

The Supreme Great Ancestors had all walked past him and Li Xinfan as they followed Ou Yangming out of the gate like a myriad of stars surrounding the moon.

Deng Xiyuan gasped, and he swallowed his words. He was stunned and felt a chill over his body when he looked at the tall, short, fat, and slim figures, who all released frightening auras.

Li Xinfan shook his head and sighed. "Brother Deng, please conduct yourself properly!"

The governor's face twitched, and he questioned softly, "Where does he leave Her Royal Highness if he does this?"

He spoke ruthlessly but softly, such that only Li Xinfan could hear him.

General Li smiled bitterly and knew the fellow was afraid. He shook his head and remarked, "Her Highness might not actually be bothered."

Deng Xiyuan was appalled, and he had a strange look on his face.

Li Xinfan no longer cared about him and walked out of the gate too. If Deng Xiyuan still could not figure it out, he had nobody to blame even if there was a plot to kill him.

Ou Yangming held Ni Yinghong's delicate hand and stood side by side like a match made in Heaven. When their clothes were blown by a breeze, they somehow looked like deities.

Far away, a 1,000-people convoy hurried in their direction. The convoy traveled fast but in great order, making them look like a trained emergency detachment.

Ou Yangming nodded as he acknowledged Bai Shixue's capability to command such a huge troop so well. A battle-seasoned general could not have necessarily done the same.

Upon noticing the movements at the gate, the convoy slowed down.

The sharp-eyed Li Xinfan commented in a deep voice, "Nice—military orders are like mountains! Who's the person in charge? This is amazing!"

Deng Xiyuan approached him with a dark face and scoffed. "Brother Li, I'm sure your subordinates can do the same, right?"

Li Xinfan shook his head and replied to the governor, "My followers have been training every day, so they can obviously do the same, but… Can't you tell their backgrounds and cultivation bases?"

The governor was startled. He looked at the convoy for some time before he gasped again.

Before he was assigned as the governor in Changlong County's prefecture, he used to be from the capital and was also quite reputable.

He could tell from the flags on the carriages that the travelers came from various renowned aristocratic families in the capital. Apart from a few clans, the others had sent their representatives to the prefecture. Furthermore, almost 40% of the protectors in the convoy were Yang Grade powerhouses.

What did it mean to have nearly 500 Yang Grade powerhouses?

The Immense Forest Military Camp was in charge of supervising the immense forest's beast tide, but there were only five Yang Grade powerhouses in the camp. They were nothing as compared to the number of powerhouses in the convoy.

Besides, given that the Yang Grade powerhouses in the convoy were from the capital and rebellious, it would be wishful thinking if one wanted them to listen to orders like normal soldiers.

On top of that, the over 70 powerhouses in the carriages were powerful Supreme Great Ancestors.

Deng Xiyuan finally understood why Li Xinfan was so surprised.

A person who could lead these people like an army…

As much as Deng Xiyuan racked his brain, he could not figure out who could be so prestigious.

In particular, since Ou Yangming and Her Royal Highness were not with the convoy, it seemed more like an impossible task.

Most of the carriages began to slow down, but one of them suddenly sped up.

It overtook the other carriages and headed toward the gate.

Ni Yinghong was slightly shocked because she could feel Ou Yangming tightening his grip on her hand a little. It was an incredibly small change, but she picked it up right away.

Ou Yangming exhaled and uttered, "Young Pavilion Master, thank you!"

When the carriage stopped, a graceful and beautiful lady came out.

Almost everyone was dumbfounded the moment she appeared. Even Elder Universe, who had seen the vicissitudes of life, was somewhat distracted.

Ni Yinghong had unknowingly held Ou Yangming's hand tighter, and she thought, 'Who's this now? Who's this?!'

She could not help but look at Ou Yangming, who was right next to her, but she did not receive any hints.

When Ni Yinghong thought about the subtle change from Ou Yangming earlier, there was an upsurge of emotions from his heart.

"Brother Ou, you're being too polite." Bai Shixue smiled coquettishly and looked at Ni Yinghong. "This must be the Ni family's young lady? She's lovable indeed."

"Yes, this is Elder Sister Ying." Ou Yangming shifted sideways to be in front of Ni Yinghong. He later turned to inform her, "Elder Sister Ying, this is Miss Bai Shixue, the Yi Pavilion's young pavilion master. She was in charge of leading the convoy to Changlong County."

Ni Yinghong nodded and expressed, "Ah, so you're Miss Bai. Thanks for helping Lil' Ming."

On the other hand, Deng Xiyuan and Li Xinfan looked at each other and thought, 'It was the Yi Pavilion's young pavilion master who commanded the troop? And she's a lady?'

They were quite knowledgeable, but they felt like they had just seen a ghost at that moment.

All of a sudden, a cold voice was heard coming from the gate. "Bai Shixue, you're too late."

The other people were stupefied. When they turned to look, they noticed that Her Royal Highness had arrived at the gate.

Many Supreme Great Ancestors looked at each other. Looking at the three stunning yet dissimilar young ladies, they felt like a fight was going to break out.

When they looked at Ou Yangming again, they could not help but lament, 'Master Ou's great in everything, but… He attracts too many young ladies!'