A black figure suddenly zoomed across the sky, and earth-shattering sounds could also be heard on the ground.

Ou Yangming and the little red bird rode the goshawk back to gather with Multi-armed King Kong and the others. Ni Yinghong and the rest were anxious from waiting, but they were not too worried because not many people in this world could trouble the young fellow.

Perhaps Ou Yangming would encounter some problems during his search for peculiar stones, but they did not believe that he would be in danger.

Therefore, they did not think about looking for him although their wait was extended by a few days.

They had absolute confidence in Ou Yangming.

Sure enough, Ou Yangming and the goshawk returned unharmed after several days. As for the little red bird, which had always settled on the young fellow's shoulder, while Ni Yinghong and the rest vaguely knew it probably had some unique skills, they did not think it was a formidable creature.

After Ou Yangming returned, he did not tell the others what happened. In order to avoid arousing suspicion, Hong Feiyu never asked any questions though he was curious.

With that, they all boarded the high platform on Multi-armed King Kong's back and hurried back to Changlong City at full speed.

Halfway through, the goshawk sometimes flew high between the clouds and sometimes descended to mid-air to ridicule the king kong for being as slow as a snail.

Multi-armed King Kong was infuriated, but it dared not act recklessly because Ou Yangming and the rest were behind it, and it was being suppressed by the little red bird. As such, it could only roar from time to time and wave its large arms to scare the goshawk.

Nonetheless, unless it was a normal confrontation between the two, the king kong could not hurt the goshawk easily even though it was forceful. Besides, the goshawk was flying without any burden at the moment, whereas the king kong was carrying Ou Yangming and the others.

In the end, Ou Yangming could not take it anymore, hence he reprimanded the goshawk so that it would act conscientiously.

Hong Feiyu began to respect Ou Yangming even more after he witnessed the scene. The fact that the young fellow could tame the two powerful spirit beasts to be so obedient was incredibly rare even in the upper realm.

Not to mention Ou Yangming was a caster, even if he was not a Spirit Grade powerhouse, he would be honored as a guest by many parties because of that ability alone.

Multi-armed King Kong was not as fast as the goshawk, but it was far better than ordinary elite horses. It caused considerable movements along the way, such that those that saw it were shocked and afraid. Nevertheless, as compared to its speed, everything was worth it.

At last, the city was in sight. Ou Yangming smiled when he looked at the familiar walls.

'It feels good to come home.'

This was not where he grew up, but it was home to Ni Yinghong and Jiang Jiumei, and it was where Old Craftsman—his only older relative—lived. In a way, nowhere else felt like home to him.

The people on the walls heard the thunderous sounds and noticed the incoming guests long ago.

Even so, as compared to the two previous times, the king kong's arrival did not cause any disturbance. This was because everybody knew the humongous creature had a master, who was Changlong City's greatest pride.

Since the king kong was restrained by its master, nobody would fear it. Needless to say, given how gigantic the beast was, nobody would court their deaths by going against it.

Before Multi-armed King Kong went near the walls, Ou Yangming made it stop, then he walked back home with the other people and Big Yellow.

The fellow was too enormous, after all. If it was too close to the city, even if it curbed its aura on purpose, the immense pressure from it could not be withstood by ordinary people. Ou Yangming did not want the soldiers from Changlong City to embarrass themselves in front of the beast.

When the gate was opened, whether it was the soldiers on duty or the common folks around, they saluted Ou Yangming with respect and were more sincere than when Governor Deng Xiyuan patrolled the city. Moreover, none of them were forced to do that; it came from their hearts.

Ou Yangming kept nodding at the people to return the salutations, and he walked swiftly on the main path, which had been intentionally cleared by the people.

The moment he entered the city, he frowned unnoticeably. It only lasted for a split second, but he had a question in his mind.

'Why didn't Supreme Great Ancestors such as Ni Jingshen and Deng Xiyuan show up this time?'

Ou Yangming was not one that paid attention to empty courtesies, and he did not hope to involve many people for something superficial. Despite that, he knew the great ancestors very well, thus he could tell they were staying away from him on purpose.

He did not know the reason behind it, but he had an extremely bad hunch about it.

Having said that, Ou Yangming still carried on calmly and returned to the Ni residence.

The news of his return had long been delivered to the residence, but the Ni family's Three Great Ancestors still did not show up. Instead, Ni Yunhong, who had a close relationship with him, was waiting inside the courtyard.

Of course, the Ni family's unusual act could not be hidden from Ni Yinghong. She was rather frightened, so she beat Ou Yangming to it and asked her older brother, "Elder Brother, what happened?"

It was much better for her to raise the question instead of Ou Yangming. There would still be room for maneuver if something went wrong, whereas if the young fellow was enraged, the whole Changlong City would suffer serious bloodshed.

While the Humans' disaster was over, it did not mean that the spirit beasts were eliminated or dead. Apart from the spirit insects, the 3 other spirit beasts were with Ou Yangming. Once he decided to make a move, blood would flow into a river, and there would be millions of corpses.

Ni Yunhong looked at Ou Yangming and his little sister bitterly and with regret.

He bowed at Ou Yangming and apologized, "Brother Ou, I'm sorry—I didn't complete what you entrusted to me."

Ou Yangming immediately reached out to help him up, and he asked, "Brother Ni, what do you mean?" He looked around and suddenly recalled something, so his face changed.

Back then, he would always be welcomed by the cheerful old man whenever he returned; this time, he did not see any signs of Old Craftsman.

The young fellow's heart sank right away, and his hands and feet turned ice-cold. He did not realize it when he spoke, but his voice was trembling involuntarily. "Brother Ni, w-where's Old Man?"

Ni Yunhong sighed again, and he seemed like he was not resigned to the outcome.

"Buzz." There was an explosion in Ou Yangming's head. He felt dizzy, and it was simply heart-wrenching, which was so painful that it could not be put into words.

He flashed to the front of Ni Yunhong and extended his arms to grab the young man's shoulders as he shouted. "What exactly happened?"

"Ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts…" Ni Yunhong rolled his eyes and screamed.

Ou Yangming was already at the peak of Extreme Grade, and his power was superior to equal-ranked powerhouses. Fortunately, he was rational enough to not exert all his force, or Ni Yunhong would have been crushed already.

"Lil' Ming!" Ni Yinghong was appalled, and she yelled, "Calm down, calm down first!"

Jiang Jiumei approached Ou Yangming too. "Elder Brother, don't do this!"

It was then when Ou Yangming stopped his violent behavior. He let go of Ni Yunhong and apologized, "Brother Ni, I'm sorry."

Ni Yunhong responded with a crying face, "It's okay, it's okay. I'm glad that I'm alive…"

Earlier when Ou Yangming made a move, his threatening aura was fully unleashed, by which an oppressive spiritual storm was released on Ni Yunhong, who was not terrified to death because he cultivated since young to have great willpower.

"Elder Brother, what exactly happened? What happened to Old Man?" Ni Yinghong asked in a deep voice.

Ni Yunhong dared not hide the truth anymore, so he answered, "Old Craftsman was deceived, and he left the Ni residence."

"Uh, w-what?" Ou Yangming was stunned, and he had a strange look on his face.

The answer really took a 180-degree turn.

Ou Yangming initially thought a mishap happened to Old Craftsman, which was why he was filled with indescribable hatred at first. When he knew the old man had merely left the Ni residence, he instantly relaxed.

He felt like he fell from a 3048-meters-tall mountain into a 3048-meters-deep groove in an instant; the up-and-down feeling was similar to a rollercoaster ride, which was unimaginably fantastic.

Ni Yinghong was also struck dumb for some time. When she finally came back to her senses, he kicked Ni Yunhong hard.

She did not hold back at all, hence Ni Yunhong shrieked in pain.

Ou Yangming curled his lips and thought, 'You deserve it!'

Ni Yunhong was considered his brother-in-law, after all, so as resentful as he was, he could not hit the man. Nevertheless, the young fellow felt much more pleased when Elder Sister Ying did it for him to cool him down.

Hong Feiyu was bewildered by everything. He asked carefully, "Miss Jiang, who's… Old Craftsman?"

Jiang Jiumei covered her mouth and smiled, then she answered softly, "He's an old man that adopted my older brother and taught him."

"Hiss…" Hong Feiyu gasped. He suddenly had unlimited respect for Old Craftsman, whom he had not met before.

'Given that Old Craftsman managed to bring up a powerhouse like Ou Yangming in this realm, he's simply equivalent to a deity.'

If Ou Yangming and the others knew what Hong Feiyu was thinking at the moment, they would not know to cry or to laugh. That said, nobody was paying attention to him.

Ou Yangming cleared his throat and pulled the outraged Ni Yinghong. "Elder Sister Ying, please calm down. Brother Ni was just pulling a prank on me." His mood changed as he asked, "Brother Ni, who was Old Man deceived by? Where did he go?"

Ni Yunhong pressed the spot that hurt on his leg and answered, "Old Craftsman went to the capital!"

"What? The capital…" Ou Yangming was taken aback, and his face took on a grave expression.

He would not be bothered if Old Craftsman went somewhere else because as long as he was alive, forces in this realm that would harm the old man would be cautious and would not act recklessly.

However, Old Craftsman went to the capital.

Now that the Humans' disaster had ended, the inherited aristocratic families from the 8 counties began to fight openly and covertly with the imperial family.

Ou Yangming did not want to get involved, which was why he avoided going to the capital. Who knew, Old Craftsman headed there before he did. The young fellow sensed incoming spite.