Ou Yangming was stunned. He broke out in a cold sweat.

No, he was completely drenched as he was sweating buckets, hence his entire back was wet.

'Your brother?

'You can call it by its name, but if I do the same, God knows what will happen?

'Will this fearsome giant bird blow me into ashes without any effort at all?'

Ou Yangming took a deep breath and reached out to grab the little bird, which was hopping on his head. He put it back on his shoulder, then he bowed at the giant phoenix in the sky and said, "Greetings, senior."

The little red bird was dumbfounded. It widened its eyes and shouted as it was unhappy about how things turned out, "Hey! That's my brother! Not my senior! My brother…"

Ou Yangming simply used his hand to pinch its beak.

The little red bird glared at him but hesitated for a while, then it finally stopped resisting.

On the other hand, the giant bird in the sky was surprised because Lil' Red was a fellow that feared nothing and nobody, yet it was being so obedient at this moment. It wondered, 'Looks like this young human, who's deeply connected with our race, has a higher place in its heart than I imagined.'

It was not that the little red bird could not break free, but its beak was too sharp and might hurt Ou Yangming if it struggled, thus it remained quiet and still.

Perhaps other people could not tell, but the giant bird in the sky knew this very well.

It looked deeply at Ou Yangming and regarded him with special respect. It asked him after a brief moment, "Is that spirit yours?"

"Yes," Ou Yangming answered seriously.

He was already mentally prepared at this time. If the formidable Feng Xiang wanted the spirit, he would not say no.

This was because he obtained the spirit too easily, and he usually did not value such things.

Who knew, Feng Xiang nodded in the sky and asked, "Were they going to steal your spirit?"

The faces of Ghost-clawed Venerable One and the 2 other insect Venerable Ones changed as they were afraid. They shuddered with fear but did not have the courage to escape because they knew they would not be able to get away from the mighty being anyway.

Ou Yangming was moved. He quickly answered, "Yes."

"Okay, watch me stand up for you."

Following that, Feng Xiang whistled and opened its mouth to release 3 flames, which flickered and vanished from everyone's sight.

Even Yuqi the Venerable One and the old macaque did not see when the flames went. Next, shrill shrieks were heard coming from the ground.

When everyone turned to look in shock, they saw the initially dignified and arrogant insect Venerable Ones struggling in a sea of fire. Even so, the sea of fire was limited to an area and did not spread further.

Everyone was in disbelief, and they questioned what they had just seen.

The insect Venerable Ones somehow became weak and vulnerable, so the others could not believe what they were witnessing.

Yuqi the Venerable One and the old macaque exchanged glances. Their bodies seemed to have entered the coldest icehouse as they no longer had any warmth.

Other people would only be shocked and fearful after seeing what was happening but being Venerable Ones, they could truly feel the pressure. Moreover, they also felt sorrowful.

After cultivating hard for 1,000 years, Yuqi the Venerable One and the old macaque would think that they were already at the tip of the pyramid but it was not until now they realized that they were only jokes to a Heavenly Being.

"Pow…"

As a deafening sound was heard, the bodies of the 3 insect Venerable Ones completely exploded and turned into weird red and black substances.

It was evident that Feng Xiang had not cooled down. It waved its wings a little, causing the odd substances to agglomerate.

"You have an Ancient Dragon Coffin with you, right? These 3 little insects might not have high ranks, but their combined power can be sent into the Dragon Coffin." Feng Xiang's voice was heard. "Take out the coffin—I'll give you a gift for our first meeting."

Ou Yangming was slightly moved. He immediately recalled the coffin that he acquired from the secret realm.

Although he could not understand how Feng Xiang saw through the items in his interspatial bags, since it said it so openly, he was left with no choice.

With that, he shook his wrist to retrieve the coffin and put it flat on the ground.

Ou Yangming naturally let go of the little red bird when he took out the Dragon Coffin. Once the little bird was freed, it asked curiously, "Ah, Lil' Ming, when did you get such a great thing?"

The young fellow could not help but laugh. "Is this great? I'll give it to you as a gift then!"

"Puff..."

All of a sudden, the red and black bodies of the 3 insect Venerable Ones exploded; they were crushed into pieces by an enormous power.

Feng Xiang tensed up a little as it knew it had forgotten itself. With one glance, the exploded pieces underwent an even more bizarre change. The pieces actually went back to where they first exploded and merged again.

Nonetheless, anyone that saw what happened was appalled.

This was because they realized that the pieces had not been agglomerated again, but the whole process was replayed.

All of the broken pieces went back to their original state according to their tracks, such that there was no difference at all. The change was so frightening that it could not be put into words.

As for Yuqi the Venerable One and the old macaque, they mumbled, "Time, going back to origins…"

It was a legendary power that could control time, and they accidentally witnessed it.

Feng Xiang glanced at them indifferently.

'How ignorant—but I guess this is how it is in this realm, so I shouldn't have high hopes.'

The little red bird, which was hopping at first, stopped and widened its eyes at Ou Yangming.

For some reason, the young fellow felt a tingling sensation on his scalp. There was no reason, but he just had a feeling that something was off about the way Feng Xiang and Lil' Red looked at him.

The only thing was that no matter how Ou Yangming racked his brain, he could not figure out what exactly he had done wrong.

"Uhm, Lil' Red, what's wrong with you?" Ou Yangming bit the bullet and asked.

In actuality, if Feng Xiang was not looking from above, Ou Yangming would not be so nervous. He and Lil' Red were too close, so it would not do anything to him even if he did or said anything wrong. On the other hand, it was his first time meeting Feng Xiang.

The giant phoenix was still quite polite to him at the moment, but the thought of it burning 3 Venerable Ones just like that was terrifying.

If it was possible, Ou Yangming would rather stay as far away from it as possible.

The little red bird looked like it had just been shocked. It waved its wings and flew down from Ou Yangmingʼs shoulder, then it hovered above the Dragon Shield and asked, "Do you really want to give that to me?"

Ou Yangming was struck dumb. He sighed a breath of relief and thought. 'Ah, it's because of this coffin.'

No matter what treasure the coffin was, in Ou Yangmingʼs opinion, it was not more useful than the poisonous pillʼs spirit. Of course, he might have missed something because he was ill-informed, but he would not regret it. After all, it would be worth it for him to fawn over the Phoenixes with a Dragon Coffin that he had not been able to use yet.

"Yes, I'm giving this to you," Ou Yangming responded with a smile.

"Hmph, even if you want to give it to me, I might not want it!" The little red bird was startled for a moment, then it suddenly flapped its wings and turned into a sharp red arrow as it soared into the sky. It zoomed into the light around Feng Xiang and disappeared.

Ou Yangming was stupefied. He could vaguely sense that the little red bird was not mad, but he could not understand why it was acting this way.

He looked at the Dragon Coffin again and thought anxiously, 'What exactly is this thing?'

"Heh, hehe, hehehe…" Feng Xiang laughed out loud. At the spur of the moment, its dignity seemed to have gone away, and it was no longer overbearing as it was before.

Nevertheless, nobody dared to move still. At the end of the day, it was a ferocious being that would kill Venerable Ones without blinking at all.

It seemed like Ou Yangming was the only one qualified to be unrestrained in front of it.

"Chirp, chirp…"

The little red bird appeared on top of Feng Xiang out of the blue. It made threatening gestures as it attacked the giant bird with its sharp bear and claws. Despite that, Feng Xiang's humongous body seemed tough enough, hence it did not look troubled being attacked like that.

After some time, Feng Xiang finally spoke, "Alright, do you want the Dragon Coffin or not? If you don't want it, I'll reject him on your behalf."

"Hmph, since he wants to give it to me, I-I… I'll accept it reluctantly!" The little red bird pondered seriously for a while then added, "You mustn't make things difficult for him."

Feng Xiang laughed out loud. "Okay, I'll be your witness, but whether or not he'll be able to go on the path to Heaven, it'll still be up to his fate." Subsequently, it made the numerous red and black pieces of meat gush into the Dragon Coffin with a glance. The coffin closed after that and floated into the sky before it spun toward the giant bird.

"Heh, I initially wanted to give you a small gift but since you want to give this Dragon Coffin to Lil' Red, the gift will also belong to it."

"Yes, of course." Ou Yangming cursed internally, but he responded to the giant bird without any delay.

Feng Xiang stared at him and noted, "You might've gifted the Dragon Coffin to Lil' Red, but whether or not you'll be able to go on the path of Heaven to see it again, it'll still be up to your hard work." It scanned the young fellow with its eyes.

Ou Yangming felt like his body was burning as Feng Xiang's eyes seemed to be a blazing fire that was burning him.

Furthermore, correspondingly, the Military Fire in his sea of consciousness seemed to be moved as well, where it became fervent.

Ou Yangming's eyelids flickered. At that moment, his soul seemed to be illuminated as luck was on his side, by which he let go of his mental conception and burned together with the scorching fire...