In a spacious room, Ou Yangming gently put down the book in his hands. As he turned his wrist, he retrieved the black soil.

The black soil, Concentric Knots, and Dragon Coffin were treasures that he obtained from the Wutong Tree's secret realm. He valued them before this, but things became slightly different. In particular, after seeing how Feng Xiang and Lil' Red pay so much attention to the Dragon Coffin, there was no way he could not care about it anymore.

Therefore, during Ou Yangming's few days in the library, not only did he read about smithing art and formation maps, but he also found many ancient books with miscellaneous contents as he wanted to find the answer.

Unfortunately, perhaps he was unlucky, he did not manage to find any records about Dragon Coffins.

Nonetheless, he found some information about the black soil in his hand.

The black soil seemed to have another name, which was Growing Soil, and it was said to be the best material for the refinement of interspatial treasures. Moreover, the soil was also a fatal attraction for walking beasts. If spirit beasts of that kind refined Growing Soil, they could cover themselves with a layer of natural battle armor with notable defensive power. Needless to say, Growing Soil still had endless wonderful functions, but the specific ways that they could be used were not recorded in books.

Even so, the Wish-fulfilling Clay, which was used by numerous blacksmiths in the Spiritual Realm, was said to be the product of residual Growing Soil that had been diluted 100 or 1,000 times. It was evident how valuable this item was.

When Ou Yangming pressed the black soil in his hand, he could sense that it was indeed different from normal soil, but he could not figure out how it could be used.

He felt rather regretful as he looked at the book with miscellaneous content in front of him. Although it had information about Growing Soil, it did not state how the soil could be refined, which was quite a pity.

With a flash of thought, Ou Yangming released fire from his hand. After being spiritually guided by Feng Xiang, he had gained better control of the Heavenly Phoenix Fire. Even though he released the Military Fire, the area outside the fire was not hot at all.

It was extremely dangerous to release such a flame in the library, but Ou Yangming did it without any hesitation because everything was under his control.

"Woosh…"

His Military Fire burned and immediately enveloped the black soil.

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming quickly furrowed his eyebrows because he realized that the so-called Growing Soil was simply incompatible with his Heavenly Phoenix Fire.

When the fire's various magical powers came into contact with the soil, they were not very useful as the soil seemed to naturally resist the fire.

Of course, if Ou Yangming increased his Military Fire's power and raised its destructiveness, he could also turn the black soil in his hand into nothing. Having said that, how could something as precious as that be wasted just like that?

Ou Yangming pondered for a long time, then he began to handle the black soil using other methods.

Despite that, the young fellow's achievement in smithing art had an inseparable relationship with his Military Fire. Once he cast aside his fire's mysterious powers, it became ordinary and even more useless toward the Growing Soil.

He sighed and shook his hand to curb his Military Fire helplessly.

This was his first time feeling so powerless against a material, hence he could not help but feel upset.

It was an unforgettable feeling, which kept spreading uncontrollably in his sea of consciousness. All of a sudden, the giant head that was hiding quietly in a corner swayed and released forceful energies, which were almost not inferior to the Heavenly Phoenix Fire at all.

Ou Yangming's eyes lit up right away. The unique power possessed by the Devouring attribute was also one of his trump cards, but he did not think about using it because it seemed to be useful against flesh and blood only. However, in the endless starry sky inside the poisonous pill, the Devouring attribute and his Military Fire had combined to act against something that was neither flesh nor blood. They achieved a great result too.

In that case, since his Military Fire lost its effectiveness this time, would the creature formed by the Devouring attribute be able to surprise him again?

As Ou Yangming moved his wrist slightly, peculiar energies were instantly released from his palm. The energies quickly gathered and finally turned into a head that was identical to the one in his sea of consciousness.

Following that, the head widened its mouth to its limit and devoured the Growing Soil.

Ou Yangming was startled. He had not controlled this, but the head naturally attacked the soil after it was formed.

The Devouring attribute had an obvious trait, where it only devoured without spitting anything out. No matter what the object was, once the large mouth swallowed it, it would not be spat out anymore as though it fell into a bottomless hole.

He had a strange look on his face as he thought, 'Am I losing the Growing Soil, which I acquired by chance, just like that?'

That said, Ou Yangming's eyes gleamed after a brief moment. Strands of hair emerged from the top of the head without warning. They were long, black, and shiny, but they also carried violent auras.

Ou Yangming reached out to pinch one of the strands.

The black soil.

It was definitely the black soil, but its properties underwent a magical yet indescribable change.

After thinking for some time, Ou Yangming pulled out all of the hair and enveloped them with his Military Fire.

Sure enough, the soil's resistance toward his Heavenly Phoenix Fire just now was completely gone. After being devoured and discharged by the head, the soil's basic properties remained the same, but they could be used by the Military Fire.

It was a remarkable change.

Ou Yangming stared at the illusory head on his palm for some time, then he shook his hand to curb it and his Military Fire.

Ever since he possessed the Devouring Head, his abilities improved greatly in a certain aspect. In spite of that, he was somehow very worried.

Given how incredible it was, it probably had an unbelievable origin.

Ou Yangming did not know if possessing it at the same time as the Heavenly Phoenix Fire was a blessing or a misfortune for him.

Nonetheless, since it already existed in his sea of consciousness, he was not going to give it up easily.

He gathered the mutated Growing Soil and got up to return the book to where it was.

The young fellow spotted Shui Wenliang at once when he turned around. The Advanced Spiritualist, which was in charge of the library, followed him like a shadow and smiled as soon as he looked at him.

Ou Yangming cleared his throat after some thought and asked, "Brother Shui, which side hall can books related to alchemy art be found?"

"Alchemy art?" Shui Wenliang was dumbfounded, and he had an odd look on his face.

The Beast King Sect was a sect with a significant inheritance. Their library, especially, had a strict arrangement.

Alchemy art, smithing art, and formation maps belonged to different categories, but they were big branches, thus they occupied different side halls in the library.

It was normal that Ou Yangming was not aware of that, but his question… Shui Wenliang found it weird.

"Master Ou, are you asking about books related to alchemy art?"

"Yes." Ou Yangming grinned. "I'm suddenly interested in alchemy art, so I'd like to read about it."

Shui Wenliang was puzzled. "Master Ou, alchemy art and smithing art involve refining techniques, but they're entirely different."

Ou Yangming nodded. "I know, but I still want to read about it."

Shui Wenliang hesitated for a while before he sighed. "Alright, since you insist, please come with me."

He would not have agreed to it if any other blacksmith requested to enter the side hall for alchemists. Moreover, due to existing restrictions, other blacksmiths would not be able to enter even if they knew where it was.

On the other hand, Ou Yangming was different because he had Yuqi the Venerable One's authenticating item. It was a universal pass, such that he could go anywhere in the Beast King Sect.

While Shui Wenliang was leading the way, he thought that it was quite a pity.

For generations, there were plenty of notable blacksmiths and alchemists, and many of them became legends in the Spiritual Realm.

The fact that Ou Yangming could refine flying carpets when he was only an Intermediate Spiritualist proved that he was naturally gifted in smithing art. For all he knew, he could also become a legend. However, instead of continuing to study smithing art, the young fellow was being overconfident by starting to learn formations and alchemy art.

Smithing art, formations, and alchemy art were exceptionally profound knowledge. Even if one invested one's lifetime in them, one might not be able to achieve anything. Now that Ou Yangming was hoping to learn them at the same time… Shui Wenliang did not know how to describe the genius young man.

After a short while, Shui Wenliang stopped and said, "Master Ou, this is the side hall for alchemists."

Ou Yangming nodded with a smile. "Thanks."

Just as he was about to enter, Shui Wenliang looked up and advised him, "Master Ou, you better think this through. It's… Not easy to learn this art." Ou Yangming had not joined the Beast King Sect yet, but Shui Wenliang had already regarded him as a part of them.

The young fellow was struck dumb, and he could not help but laugh. Nevertheless, he was quite grateful. "Brother Shui, you misunderstood. I've actually come to learn the refining method of only one type of pill."

"Oh, one type of pill?" Shui Wenliang was confused. "If you're only thinking about learning one type of pill, why don't you work together with a potent alchemist?"

"I can do that for any other pill, but I can't find anyone to work together with for this one…" Ou Yangming sighed. He cupped his hands and expressed, "Thanks for your kind reminder, Brother Shui. I'll be going in now."

Shui Wenliang quickly waved his hand. "I don't deserve that." As he watched Ou Yangming's long figure disappear from his sight, he kept quiet for a moment and recalled a unique type of pill. With that, he looked up abruptly and mumbled, "No way—this kind of pill… If he succeeds, there'll be a huge sensation in the entire Spiritual Realm, right?"