Magic Tool, High Grade, Rank One.

Ou Yangming was slightly shocked when he saw the equivalent rank. Although he had smithed plenty of magic tools before this, the best magic tools that he made were only at the peak of Good Grade.

A High Grade magic tool was another huge threshold. Before Ou Yangming obtained better secret smithing techniques, he could not have anyhow smithed one.

Nonetheless, he unexpectedly smithed such a piece of equipment at this moment.

When Ou Yangming scanned the waist sash, he knew very well that this was not because his smithing art had improved. Instead, it was because the material used was too fine, hence the equipment's equivalent rank was forced to a higher level—High Grade.

It made sense because after all, how many people in this world could obtain a Wutong Tree's branch and successfully smith a piece of equipment with it?

Perhaps a High Grade magic tool was even the material's lower limit.

Ou Yangming's eyes flickered. He wanted to find out very badly what exactly the equipment's upper limit was.

As he took a deep breath, his Military Fire burned in his hand again. This time, he enveloped 2 different waist sashes with it.

[Drawable composition found, draw?]

'Draw.'

[Upgradable composition found, upgrade?]

'Upgrade.'

Following those 2 orders, Ou Yangming's Military Fire became unusually fiery. It released a scorching and dazzling light as though a comburant was added to it.

Ou Yangmings stared at the flame with bright eyes. He could see every change in the blazing fire.

After comprehending his Military Fire's origin, the normally-muddled changes appeared to be different to him. His smithing art had slowly approached the origin's application, where he no longer used it knowing the hows but not the whys.

Needless to say, he had only scratched the surface of his fire's origin, so he would still need to study it for a long time to achieve mastery.

Nevertheless, he had advanced significantly as compared to the start. At the very least, he had opened the main door and taken a brief look at the view behind it instead of not knowing where the door was.

Ou Yangming's Military Fire slowly distinguished after half an hour, but the 2 waist sashes changed drastically.

The old waist sash had nearly become a piece of White Slate Equipment. It was still somewhat tough but in terms of functionality… Perhaps it could only be used as an ordinary belt after this.

As for the waist sash refined from the Wutong Tree's branch, there was a new change to it. It released a peculiar cold light, which would make one shudder with fear upon looking at it.

Before the Military Fire disappeared, its properties were displayed in Ou Yangming's sea of consciousness.

[Item: Substitution Waist Sash]

[Equivalent Rank: Magic Tool, High Grade, Rank One]

[Attributes: Toughness +31, Power +1 (White Silver), Agility +1 (White Silver), Durability 31]

[Skills: Substitution (Substitute injuries), Illusion Formation, Blood Flight (Activation Condition: Abundant Qi and blood), Mental power's upper limit increased by 6%]

Ou Yangming's unique Military Fire drew the special abilities from the previous waist sash and transferred them to the new waist sash. The even more exaggerating effect of the transfer was the breakthrough of his mental power's upper limit, which increased from 5% to 6%.

Without needing to ask, it was obviously due to the change in the material. The Wutong Tree itself was extremely helpful in improving one's mental power, and it was reflected on the equipment, causing it to be mightier than before.

Ou Yangming nodded satisfyingly. He could not be more pleased with the waist sash.

Fortunately, it was made of a special material, or Ou Yangming could not have gathered so many Unique Attributes on an ordinary material even if he was incredibly skillful.

After putting on the waist sash, Ou Yangming felt more at ease. With this treasure as an ultimate trump card, he might have a certain life-saving ability.

All of a sudden, Ou Yangming's heart skipped a beat, and the bad feeling that he had became stronger as if the formidable being, which gave him a sense of intimacy and fear at the same time, was nearer to him.

Ou Yangming had a grave look on his face, and he shouted without any hesitation, "Big Yellow, let's go!"

Big Yellow and the others were startled. 'What on earth is he up to? Why is he so eager to leave right after he smithed a piece of equipment?'

Fat Antelope opened its mouth. It initially wanted to persuade Ou Yangming but upon seeing his gloomy look and how urgent he was acting, it could not help but feel a chill and dared not say a word.

It had not followed Ou Yangming for a long time, but it knew from their association with each other before this what kind of person he was.

Given that the calm and steady young man panicked, something serious must be happening, and it was not something that Fat Antelope could meddle in. Therefore, it turned its neck and shut its mouth.

In comparison, the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard did not have a say at all. If it dared to offend Ou Yangming here, the Wutong Tree would not let it go at all.

As for Big Yellow, it found it weird, but it would not mind as long as it could stay by Ou Yangming's side.

The Wutong Tree was the only one that seemed like it knew nothing but knew everything at the same time. No matter what, it did not disobey Ou Yangming at all.

Ou Yangming tidied things up a little. Even though the Wutong Tree offered him more treasures and more of the immortal liquid, he rejected everything.

In actuality, if it was not due to Ghost-clawed Venerable One's pressure, Ou Yangming would not have wanted to wear the waist sash too. After weighing the pros and cons several times, he decided to wear the waist sash and covered it carefully. At the end of the day, the young fellow would somewhat have an extra life if he wore the waist sash. As for whether he would encounter Ghost-clawed Venerable One outside the secret realm, he could not be sure.

After bidding farewell to the Wutong Tree and the others, Ou Yangming left the secret realm without any hesitation.

The secret realm's entrance did not change at all; it was still inside the dark cave. Once Ou Yangming left the realm, he first got rid of the lizards' traces in the cave. As he cleaned the place on purpose, even a Venerable One would not be able to spot the high-rank lizards' tracks here.

Following that, Ou Yangming left the cave and went in the opposite direction of the secret realm to remove the high-rank lizards' traces bit by bit.

Moreover, each time he cleaned a certain area, he would make some distinctive setups nearby to create false appearances of high-rank lizards having passed by. His setups were simple but particularly effective, where nobody else could distinguish them.

After a few days when Ou Yangming was still setting up tirelessly on the other side, he suddenly had a feeling of immense danger.

Ou Yangming's face changed. He immediately turned around and fled to tens of meters away. Subsequently, he retrieved 2 cloaks for himself and Big Yellow, thus their auras and odors disappeared in an instant.

The young fellow did not know where the sense of danger came from, but he trusted his hunch very much.

Sure enough, an enormous shadow appeared in the sky after just a few breaths. The shadow appeared out of nowhere and covered the sky as it landed.

Ou Yangming squinted his eyes. He was well-hidden at the moment, but he dared not take deep breaths at all. Big Yellow could sense how nervous he was, so it quickly stopped breathing and dared not make a sound.

It was a humongous lizard that descended from the sky. The lizard was exceptionally sturdy. It was far from Multi-armed King Kong in the lower realm but in terms of momentum alone, it was easily superior to the king kong.

Ghost-clawed Venerable One!

Ou Yangming narrowed his eyes even more. He finally saw the real body of the supreme powerhouse.

Unfortunately, the powerhouse was his enemy. As long as he showed up, he would suffer a miserable end.

Ghost-clawed Venerable One's eyes flickered. It scanned its surroundings as if it was deducing something.

Venerable Ones were beings that could oppress ordinary Spiritualists with their naturally-overflowing auras without intentionally releasing their pressures at all.

If one looked at their eyes, which looked like worlds full of stars, one would feel like one was being perceived and could not hide anything from them.

This was what Venerable Ones were—potent beings that were revered and feared by everything.

Ghost-clawed Venerable One was not an exception. Its body was similar to the size of a small hill, and its surging killing intent impacts everything around it. At this point, even the buzzes and chirps, which never stopped on normal days, disappeared.

The Venerable One carried an unusually violent aura as though it was a reflection of how terrible its mood was.

After looking around, Ghost-clawed Venerable One fixed its gaze on Ou Yangming's set up earlier.

It was so sharp-eyed that it perceived the truth almost at once. It scoffed coldly, and its eyes were filled with strong killing intent.

Without needing to ask, it became aware of the 6 high-rank lizards' deaths, and it also found a piece of evidence that wanted to lead it astray.

Despite that, Ghost-clawed Venerable One did not know who did all these.

Ou Yangming was no doubt one of the suspects, but the Venerable One did not believe that a cultivator from the lower realm could pull out something so unbelievable. It was worth noting that those were 6 high-rank lizards. It would be astounding if the young fellow could go against one of them, but if he were to catch all 6 of the high-rank lizards… Unless he sought help from a Venerable One.

Ghost-clawed Venerable One's eyes flickered as it stared at the half-complete setup made by Ou Yangming. It suddenly lifted its head and let out a sharp roar.

On a col far away, similar sounds were also heard. Before long, tens of such sounds slowly approached.

3 high-rank lizards were the leads. This was the most powerful force that could be summoned by the Lizards in Danzhou at this time.