The sunlight in late winter seemed desolate yet somewhat enchanting. It could also drive the cold away.

Even so, the Forest of Death was similar to a forgotten world, where it was lonely, cold, and full of dead Qi as usual.

Outside the forest, the light that was emitted from the Water Suspension Tablet dimmed as well.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming was still shining bright. At this moment, everyone began to guess the origin of this seemingly ordinary young man with a low cultivation base. They wondered how he had such a divine trick.

'Those are 2 top-grade blood crystals. Besides, his group only has one Advanced Spiritualist. What's happening to the world? Can top-grade ferocious beasts be slaughtered so easily?'

Ou Yangming's body seemed to be covered with a layer of black cloth as other people were eager to find out his secret. In particular, some female cultivators even stared at him coquettishly and showed off their beauties as they wanted to attract his attention.

"Let's go!" Ou Yangming simply ignored them and breathed out as he uttered with a smile.

He was extremely pleased with what he gained from the Hunting Meet. He managed to gain a deeper understanding of formations, stumbled upon a technique to use mental power, and was almost done gathering the main materials for him to refine a new spear. Ever since the Blood Condensation Spear crumbled, the young fellow had been wanting to refine a convenient weapon for himself, but the Beast King Sect did not have fine smithing materials, hence this had been delayed.

Now that he possessed the unknown meteorite from beyond heaven, the horned dragon's scale, as well as other materials, he could put this on his agenda.

Xue Boren immediately nodded with a smile after he heard Ou Yangming. He was in a great mood because the Xue family and the Wu family gained notable reputations this time.

Although Xu Heran only mentioned Ou Yangming's name, one could easily find out who the young fellow represented if one asked around. Moreover, this would be much more effective than if the 2 clans advertised themselves actively.

Under the setting sun, Ou Yangming and his companions slowly disappeared from everyone's sighed.

As they walked on the main road, Xue Boren breathed out some murky air and shouted, "This feels great, this feels great! This time, the Xue family can hold our heads up high."

Xue Xuanle twitched her nose as well. She hummed excitedly, and her voice was pleasing to the ear.

Wu Xuning looked around and acted in concert by expressing with respect, "We owe this to Big Brother Yu as we're only basking in his light." He was sincere and did not try hard to flatter the young fellow. He managed it so well that one would only have a favorable impression of him.

Xue Xuanle suddenly blushed as something crossed her mind. Her cheeks were as pink as cherry blossoms, which made her look charming. As the young lady glanced at Ou Yangming through the corner of her eye, she felt like her heart was at her throat.

All of a sudden, a humongous mountain came into Ou Yangming's sight.

By looking from afar, the mountain looked like a sharp sword that was pulled out of its scabbard. Sword Qi was vaguely reverberating in the air, and it seemed to carry the determination to put a hole in the sky. From the bottom to the top, the mountain became thinner such that its very tip was as thin as a strand of hair. It was worth noting that the mountain was not surrounded by other miscellaneous mountains, so it gave off the feeling that it was dead and quiet.

Xue Boren was well-experienced and knew the ways of the world. He perceived Ou Yangming when he saw him looking at the mountain, so he introduced it to the young fellow with a hearty laugh, "Brother Tianrui, this mountain's known as Mount Return Sword. Rumor has it that during a night 10,000 years ago, a rumbling sound was heard, and the universe changed in color. The winds and clouds were overturned, and a hole seemed to have been formed in the sky while a storm went on without an end. Amidst all of that, a sword-light split the chaotic night sky into two, then a giant sword of about 333 meters came from outside of this world. Accompanied by the various unusual phenomena, the giant sword landed and turned into this mountain. On top of that, the mountain grew a few inches every day, and it ended up like this after 10,000 years."

Ou Yangming looked like he was deep in thought, but he did not take it seriously. He asked softly, "Is the rumor real?"

Xue Boren smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I have no idea but once in every 1,000 years, a clear ring could be heard from Mount Return Sword, and a majestic sword intent would burst out from its peak. Each time that happens, the clouds and mists in the sky would be stirred up into fragments. At the same time, all of the longswords in Huixun City would also ring softly. Even Venerable Ones couldn't explain the queer phenomenon."

"Great Elder Boren, have you seen it before?" Xue Xuanle asked curiously with shiny eyes.

Xue Boren stroked his beard and looked like he had seen the vicissitudes of the world. "Unfortunately, I've never seen it before!"

When Ou Yangming probed with his mental power, a subtle sword intent appeared inside his spiritual world. The sword intent was not forceful, but it was incredibly tough, so much so that it only dispersed after he suppressed it with his overbearing mental power twice. The young fellow's eyes gleamed. He looked deeply at Mount Return Sect and smiled faintly.

Wu Xuning was looking into the distance as well. When he finally looked away, he recalled that Ou Yangming wanted to refine a spear, thus he chuckled and said, "Big Brother Yu, what type of complementary materials do you need for your spear? Don't be too polite and just let me know what you need; the Wu family has some substantial resources."

After witnessing a series of unbelievable things that were done by Ou Yangming, Wu Xuning decided to rope him in and gain his favorable impression with all his might. If he did it well, the situation in Huixun City might change drastically. The young master was certain that the young fellow was backed by at least 1 Venerable One.

A Venerable One was considered a top-notch combat power in the Spiritual Realm.

Xue Boren was naturally planning to do the same, but he was experienced enough to know that he should take it slow, so he controlled his tempo well.

Ou Yangming shook his head and responded, "Brother Wu, thanks for the good intention!"

Following that, he dashed away without saying anything else.

Since Ou Yangming and his companions were all Spiritualists, they were as fast as lightning when they hurried away. Before long, they arrived at Huixun City and slowed down. The streets were bustling and packed with people, and a strong business atmosphere filled the air.

At the spur of the moment, an exclamation echoed from a certain corner.

"Quickly look—is this… A flying carpet?"

Whether it was the merchants or the cultivators in the city, they instantly looked up enviously.

An aristocratic family's disciple in luxurious clothes took a deep breath and lamented, "This is a flying carpet. There are very few of them in Huixun City, and they're also rarely seen. We can finally feast our eyes on one today."

"Indeed." An elegant young master with a ponytail opened his fan with a fairy's drawing on it at a timely moment. He bragged, "It's very difficult to refine flying carpets, such that ordinary smithing masters can't easily grasp the melting points of the materials. Furthermore, one must have extraordinary comprehension of space!" The crowd instantly approved of what he said.

Xue Xuanle looked in that direction as well. She looked stunning as her eyes flickered.

Even a steady person like Xue Boren could not help but look envious as well.

Due to the flying carpet that suddenly appeared, everyone's heart string was plucked.

Ou Yangming was the only person who twitched his mouth with a strange look on his face. He did not know to cry or to laugh as a thought crossed his mind, 'I wonder what you'll think if you know that I can refine flying carpets.' Nevertheless, the thought disappeared after a brief moment.

Even when the flying carpet disappeared from the sky in the form of a silver light arc, the crowd was still unwilling to look away.

Xue Xuanle squeezed the corner of her shirt with her right fingers as she looked into the distance. When she reluctantly looked away, she lamented, "The flying carpet's so exquisite and appealing."

The elder was slightly dazed as well. He inhaled and said, "Let's stop thinking about it. It's a flying carpet, and it's not something that we can wish for, so let's go!" While he spoke, he strode toward the Wu residence.

After returning to the Wu residence in a hurry, Ou Yangming excused himself and returned to his dwelling.

He meditated for a long time, then he picked up an expensive soft brush to note down everything that had happened since he met the people from the Xue family. Regardless of how big or small the incidents were, the young fellow wrote them down on a fine writing paper in the lesser seal1. After making sure that he did not miss out on anything, he stared at the paper for half a day before burning it with his Heavenly Phoenix Fire.

※※※※

The Wang residence was situated in the east of Huixun City, and it was built by a lake.

Lotus flowers bloomed in summer, so one could sit on a small boat to gather lotus seeds. During winter, one could also make holes in the eye to fish for winter fishes or boil wines and recite poems in the gazebo. It would be enjoyable.

Gorgeous pavilions were built around the small lake, thus one could see undulating ripples whenever one opened the window and looked outside. The view could make one gain a heroic spirit and become ambitious.

Being one of the top 3 influential aristocratic families in Huixun City, the Wang family enjoyed exceptional advantages.

Countless peculiar runes shone at the bottom of the small lake. If one looked closely, one would see that it was a small formation. At the core of the formation, a small fountain was even releasing spiritual Qi; it was a spiritual fountain. About 33 meters above the fountain, a grey-robed elder sat with his legs crossed on the water and absorbed 90% of the magnanimous spiritual power that was released from the fountain. Despite that, his aura seemed to have decayed, his Qi momentum was blocked, and he vaguely seemed like he was near the end. The elder was Wang Mohan, who was the Wang family's great ancestor and one of the prestigious Venerable Ones in Huixun City.

Even when Wang Mohan absorbed the remaining 10% of the spiritual Qi around him, the spiritual Qi around the small lake was still at an unbelievable level. One's pores would open up if one inhaled even a bit of the spiritual Qi, so one could imagine how fast one could improve by cultivating near the lake.

Wang Haobin had an attractive face and wore a red outfit that looked as bright as blood.

He was fishing alone by the lake with his eyes closed, which made him look like he was laid back.

Without warning, an invisible wind blew from afar. The young man opened his eyes, which looked faintly red, and he asked calmly, "You're here?"

"Yes!" The old man looked at the thin fishing rod and sighed. "You won't achieve anything by meditating like this."

Wang Haobin moved his fishing rod. A red light flickered in his eyes as he replied to the old man, "I should meditate if I'm perturbed. Whether it's effective or not, it's a different thing from whether I'm doing it or not. In any case, my attitude is very important."

The old man sat by the lake and breathed out cold air. "Young Master, you're becoming better at arguing irrationally."

"Being able to argue irrationally is also a kind of capability." Nobody could tell if Wang Haobin was happy or mad. He was neither fast nor slow when he spoke.

That said, the more Wang Haobin acted like that, the more the old man knew he was in discomposure, where monstrous waves were surging in his heart. The young master was not the kind that showed his emotions, and he was always deep in thoughts. Ever since Wang Haobin was born, he had only fished by the lake very few times, and he only did it when something serious happened or when he was perturbed. This time, it was because of a mysterious figure that suddenly appeared in Huixun City.

The form of Chinese character standardized by the Qin dynasty