Deep inside the mountain where the Beast King Sect was, Yuqi the Venerable One paced with a dark face.

No attendant could be seen within 100 meters from him because everyone that got close to the sect's greatest powerhouse felt lingering fears. It was an enormous pressure that made them lose their breaths as though they were suppressed by a mountain.

This was the effect of a Venerable One releasing his aura. Even if a top-grade Spiritualist was present, it would be difficult for one to withstand the unbelievable pressure.

Besides, given the circumstances, anyone could easily tell that Yuqi the Venerable One was definitely in a bad mood at the moment.

Nonetheless, there was still somebody that would have the guts to go deep into the mountain to meet the Venerable One at this time.

The white-haired old macaque walked slowly and at a staggering pace toward Yuqi the Venerable One. Although the aura around the Venerable One was still as intense as before, the macaque did not seem to have noticed it at all. The only thing was that it was walking unsteadily due to old age.

Yuqi the Venerable One turned around and sighed. "Brother Macaque, why have you come to find me instead of enjoying a comfortable retirement below the mountain?"

There seemed to be a gap between him and the old macaque. He was not too polite when he spoke, but he still spoke with respect, which was unlike how a senior would speak casually to a junior in the sect.

The old macaque pursed its lips and asked, "What's bothering you? Why are you so restless?"

Yuqi the Venerable One smiled bitterly and expressed, "You're the only one in the sect that's daring enough to ask me."

"Hehe." The old macaque shook its head and responded, "I'm not that bold, but the entire sect will make guesses about your negligence, and there won't be peace."

The Venerable One forced a smile and said, "Brother Macaque, you have no idea. During my trip to Mount Wuzhi this time, I got into huge trouble."

"Based on your identity and abilities, even if you're in huge trouble, you'll be able to solve it. Why are you acting like this and affecting the others?" The old macaque remarked.

Yuqi the Venerable One sighed deeply and replied to it, "Ah, Brother Macaque, you only say so because you don't know how serious the issue is."

The old macaque's face changed, and it asked, "I suppose you went to Mount Wuzhi this time for the world passage built together by the Nine Great Sects, am I right?" It spoke sternly as it continued, "What exactly is it that's making you so sulky? Even if that small world was destroyed, you don't have to act like this." Its eyes suddenly lit up after some thought, and it asked, "You blocked the news this time—could it be that…"

"Yes, the 9 of us ordered that the news be blocked because we're afraid of word getting out, which will cause an unbearable consequence." Yuqi the Venerable One nodded.

The old macaque was bright-eyed, and it noted after some time, "I honestly can't think of anyone in Danzhou that the 9 of you together will be afraid of. Hmph, even if those fellas come at you at the same time, they might not be able to defeat you, can they?"

Yuqi the Venerable One answered with a bitter smile, "Ah… Everything will be easier if it's those old opponents."

The old macaque was stunned. Countless thoughts crossed its mind, but it could not figure out what powerful being could make the Venerable One so dispirited.

Despite being somewhat at odds with Yuqi the Venerable One, it would not make things worse for him.

It pondered for a brief moment then waved its hand. "Forget it. If there's serious trouble, I'll return to the mountain to get the Almighty Being's help even if I'll risk being shameless. Hmph, I'd like to see if the Beast King Sect will really be eliminated in Danzhou."

Yuqi the Venerable One's eyes lit up right away. If the Almighty Being would show up, while it would be hard to say for the other sects, at least the Beast King Sect would be safe.

As the Venerable One bowed at the old macaque, he offered his thanks seriously, "Brother Macaque, I'll be eternally grateful if you could lend me a helping hand."

The old macaque was slightly dumbfounded, and it finally had a heavy heart.

Back then, it always thought that the Venerable Ones from the Nine Great Sects could take on any powerful enemy if they joined hands. However, after looking at Yuqi the Venerable One's expression at this moment, it knew it was wrong.

Perhaps the 2 parties had not really exchanged blows, but the Venerable One had admitted defeat from the bottom of his heart.

How could the old macaque not be terror-stricken by such a figure?

"Tell me—who exactly is your opponent?" The old macaque uttered word by word.

"The 9 of us promised not to leak any information about this matter but since you're not an outsider, I'll tell you," Yuqi the Venerable One responded after a moment of silence. He answered helplessly, "We provoked… A phoenix."

"A ph-phoenix?" The old macaque widened its eyes. It was struck dumb for some time before it shouted furiously, "You must be blind! How dare you provoke a phoenix? You… Weren't you too reckless!"

Being a member of the Beasts, it knew better than Yuqi the Venerable One how fearsome the Phoenixes were. Even if the Almighty Being from the Beast King Sect's guild made an appearance, Yuqi the Venerable One might not be saved.

"It was also an unexpected misfortune for us…" The Venerable One sighed. He shook his head and described the incident where he and the others built the permanent passage on Mount Wuzhi, then he continued, "We worked hard and did our best to establish the passage and send them here. Who knew, a young phoenix came as well. The more tragic thing was its good friend went missing due to a mysterious, unforeseen change in the passage. Ah, it was unusually mad, and it warned us then left…"

The old macaque was stupefied for some time before it spoke, "So this is why you blocked the news."

"Yes." Yuqi the Venerable One kept smiling bitterly. "If we didn't block the news, once people find out that the Nine Great Sects offended a phoenix… Heh, what do you think will happen?"

The old macaque pondered carefully, and it could not help but feel a tingling sensation on its scalp.

If everyone knew that the Nine Great Sects offended a phoenix due to the construction of a permanent interspatial passage, and that the phoenix even left the Spiritual Realm to seek help from an adult phoenix for revenge…

Not only Danzhou, but half of the Spiritual Realm would also be in havoc.

The Humans in Danzhou did not have a particularly formidable being, but the Nine Great Sects were not without foundations; they had their respective backgrounds, hence a slight issue would affect everything else.

Yuqi the Venerable One waved his hand and sighed. "God knows when that phoenix will return, so let's not talk about this for now."

The old macaque opened its mouth as it wanted to comfort the Venerable One, but it could not bring itself to do so. After pondering for a long time, it shook its head and commented. "Well, I guess the only thing you can do now is to take one step at a time."

Yuqi the Venerable One nodded, then he asked, "I've been neglecting matters in the sect. Are there any major events lately?"

"How could so-called major events in the sect affect you?" The old macaque chuckled as it mocked the Venerable One a little, but it added after some thought, "That said, there was a happy event, but it became a bad thing instead."

"What's the happy event? What's the bad thing?" Yuqi the Venerable One furrowed his eyebrows.

"Bai Zhiyi went to participate in the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One's Trading Meet. Once the meet ended, he brought a smithing genius back to us. Hehe, that young fella's truly capable. Given his age, if he's trained with sufficient resources, he'll likely become the smithing god of this generation!" The old macaque sounded more excited as it spoke.

Yuqi the Venerable One raised his eyebrows. He might not bother at all if the young fellow was an ordinary blacksmith—even if he was a level higher than Bai Zhiyi. On the other hand, things would be different if the young fellow was qualified to become a smithing god in the future.

A smithing god was an Almighty Being that was 100 times greater than ordinary blacksmiths. Not to mention Yuqi the Venerable One, even for beings that were stronger than him, they would not easily offend a smithing god.

"Oh? Is there such a genius? Quickly recruit him into our sect."

"Ah, I didn't know that young fella's that gifted, so while I made arrangements, I was a step slower. In the end, he was infuriated by 2 idiots in our sect, so he simply left," the old macaque stated helplessly.

Yuqi the Venerable One's eyelids flickered as he listened, and his hands could not help but tremble too.

"He left? You actually let a future smithing god leave?"

The old macaque waved his hand and said, "Don't be so impatient. He made up his mind to leave, so do you think he'll like it if we force him to come back? Hmph, don't worry, I have a backup plan, so he'll surely come back. Heh, but some fella that's being eyed by a phoenix might not be able to witness everything."

Yuqi the Venerable One was stunned, and his frightening aura vanished right away.

Indeed, he had not solved his problem yet. He had headaches and felt dizzy whenever he thought about the terrifying little red bird.

He had cursed internally countless times because the little red bird was truly unreasonably, but he knew better that the Phoenixes… Were never reasonable beings to begin with.

Yuqi the Venerable One sighed after a long time, and he asked, "What's that young fella's name? What's his background?"

The old macaque pondered for a while before it answered, "That person's name is Ou Yangming. As for his background, I suppose he's from another state because he doesn't know much about Danzhou… Hey, what's wrong with you? What's that… Look on your face?"

After hearing what the old macaque said, the Venerable One had an extremely weird look on his face.

He widened his eyes so much that they almost took up a fifth of the space on his face. Following that, he stared at the old macaque strangely and questioned word by word, "What did you say his name was?"

The old macaque was taken aback by his fierce reaction, so it quickly replied to him, "I heard it from Bai Zhiyi that his name is Ou Yangming, and he's from… Hey? No way—is he the one that the phoenix is looking for?"

Yuqi the Venerable One suddenly looked up. He let out a thunderous sound, which echoed in the entire Beast King Sect.

"Where's Bai Zhiyi? Quickly come and meet me!"

The words rumbled in the air, such that everyone in the sect heard him well.

Having said that, the people were shocked as they could not understand why the Venerable One summoned the elder out of the blue.

At the foot of the mountain, Bai Zhiyi was also dazed. He finally sighed and forced a smile as he uttered, "Well, it'll be a blessing if it isn't a misfortune, but if it's a misfortune, I won't be able to avoid it…"

He stood up and got dressed, then he walked slowly toward the peak.