"Roar..."

King Kong's eyes were wide open as it roared at the bamboo rat. Its surging aura soared into the sky as if it wanted to destroy everything.

It was definitely not reasonable for the bamboo rat to rashly ask about the origin of the weapon in someone else's hand. Especially since it came from such a formidable Venerable One, it was even more alarming. This was an extremely serious provocation, so King Kong was definitely not going to sit by idly.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming waved his hand slightly and said, "King Kong, calm down."

King Kong looked around angrily and responded, "Master, this fella has ill intentions."

The bamboo rat's eyelids twitched slightly. Although it had already thought highly of Ou Yangming as a human, It could not help but shudder when it heard the term of address.

A Venerable-One-level spirit beast actually called an Advanced Spiritualist "Master".

Such a matter seemed to be incomprehensible no matter what.

Ou Yangming shook his head slightly and said, "I'll talk to it first." He was not loud, but he sounded very firm.

King Kong immediately shut its mouth tightly. It could fight for Ou Yangming but if the young fellow decided on something, it would not question him at all.

Ou Yangming shook the long spear in his hand and noted seriously, "This spear is known as the Dragon Slayer. I smithed it myself."

"The Dragon Slayer?" The bamboo rat was slightly stunned, and it instantly had a strange look in its eyes.

Ou Yangming was moved, and he asked, "Senior, are you not satisfied with this spear?"

"Heh, this spear carried the Dragons' aura indeed, but its name is rather taboo," the bamboo rat remarked, "It's fine if you're in the Spiritual Realm but if you're lucky enough to get out of the Spiritual Realm and see the Great Wide World, the name will surely bring you bad luck."

Ou Yangming's face changed a little. He scanned the spear and was deep in thought.

The Dragon Slayer was an awe-inspiring name indeed but if the spear's reputation reached a certain level, the Dragons' powerhouses would most likely show up to seek trouble with him.

Even though the Dragons had long disappeared, after witnessing the arrival of a phoenix powerhouse, Ou Yangming did not believe that the Dragons were truly extinct.

Perhaps they left the spiritual realm for some reason.

The bamboo rat suddenly focused and asked, "This weapon has the Dragons' materials in it, but it also carried their aura. What's going on?"

Ou Yangming pondered for a moment and answered, "This... Senior, please forgive me, it's not convenient for me to tell you why."

Very few would have the courage to refuse a Venerable One's inquiry, but Ou Yangming was clearly one of them.

After all, the so-called Dragons' aura on the spear was left behind by Ou Yangming when he added the Devouring attribute into it.

It was worth noting that the Devouring attribute was not originally included in the Blood Spear Dragon Slayer's properties. Nevertheless, as long as Ou Yangming was willing to transfer the giant head's power, he could attach the ability to the spear. Of course, the young fellow would not be so bold in public; he was only unrestrained when he tested the spear in the Forest of Death.

The bamboo rat frowned slightly. Just as the king kong gathered its spiritual power and was ready to prevent the rat from making trouble, it heard the rat say, "If I'm not wrong, the ones with the Dragos' aura are you... And it."

It turned to look at Ou Yangming and Big Yellow.

"Woof..."

Big Yellow opened its big mouth and barked.

Despite that, it did not sound angry at all. Instead, there was a hint of ingratiation in its voice.

King Kong glared at the big yellow dog unhappily and questioned, "Big Yellow, what are you trying to do?"

Now that the 2 parties were in a confrontation, Big Yellow was acting so weak, thus King Kong was displeased.

Who knew, Big Yellow shook its head and replied to it, "You still haven't realized—it doesn't have ill intentions at all."

Ou Yangming and King Kong were struck dumb. They exchanged glances and became slightly relaxed.

Big Yellow's combat power was somewhat lacking, but it was incredibly good at sensing spiritual objects and predicting danger. In fact, it could even be described as unique. Since the big yellow dog said that the bamboo rat did not mean ill, that was probably the case.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

All of a sudden, faint squeaks were heard. Following that, a small bamboo rat came out of the dark in a flash and went to the side of the big bamboo rat.

It looked calmly at Ou Yangming with a pair of small eyes.

'It was it!'

Ou Yangming's eyes lit up as he said with a smile, "Ah, it was you. Long time no see."

The little bamboo rat blinked its small eyes. Its eyes moved nimbly as it swept its tail around and nodded like a human.

King Kong looked solemnly at the little bamboo rat. The small bamboo rat clearly did not speak human language but judging from its aura, it must not be underestimated.

The big bamboo rat extended its front leg and gently stroked the little bamboo rat's body for a moment before it sighed and explained, "I came here because it informed me that a few amazing guests have come to the forest and have even gone to the underground cave. Heh, now that I've seen you, you really didn't disappoint me."

Ou Yangming was silent for a long time before he finally looked away and asked in a deep voice, "Senior, are you..." He paused as he did not know how to describe it.

Instead, the big bamboo rat laughed and asked, "You want to ask if we're actually ferocious beasts, right?"

Ou Yangming had trained himself to be very thick-faced, but he could not help but blush as he answered, "That's right."

"Heh, you can say that we're fierce beasts, but you can also say that we're not." The big bamboo rat grinned, "If you want to find the answer, I can provide you with some clues."

Ou Yangming twitched his mouth and thought, 'Why is it being so mysterious?'

He was intrigued about the matter, but he would not believe the Venerable One so easily because of this.

The big bamboo rat asked with the same smile on its face as if it saw through Ou Yangming's thought, "Do you know where the Forest of Death came from?"

Ou Yangming looked over in shock and saw the big bamboo rat's serious expression. He could not help but shake his head and answer, "I have no idea."

Not to mention he, even the oldest human in Zhangzhou would not be able to give an accurate answer.

The bamboo rat let out a long sigh and raised another question, "Have you heard of the Great Ruins?"

Ou Yangming's eyes suddenly lit up. His biggest goal in coming to Zhangzhou was to explore the Big Ruins, but he did not expect to stumble upon a mysterious Forest of Death before that. Moreover, judging from the bamboo rat's tone, it seemed that the place was somewhat related to the Big Ruins.

The young fellow nodded and responded solemnly, "The Big Ruins is the most important place in Zhangzhou so of course, I've heard of it."

"Heh, have you entered it before?"

"No," Ou Yangming answered without hesitation.

The big bamboo rat looked at him silently with an odd look and remarked, "Given your aura, if you enter the Big Ruins, you might cause some unnecessary... Wonders."

"Wonders?" Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows and asked humbly, "Senior, what do you mean by that?"

The big bamboo rat shook its head and replied to him, "I'm not sure either—it's just that there are 2 exceptionally powerful auras in your body, but they're mortal enemies. I don't know how you managed to fuse them into one."

Ou Yangming immediately understood that the bamboo rat was referring to the Dragons' power and the Heavenly Phoenix Fire.

While the powers of the Dragons and the Phoenixes were mighty, just as the big bamboo rat had said, they were born to be mortal enemies.

Whether it was dragons killing phoenixes or the other way round, they were understandable. However, he had never heard of dragons and phoenixes getting along well with each other.

Ou Yangming smiled bitterly and spread out his hands. "I can't answer you because even I don't know why."

In actuality, what Ou Yangming initially obtained was the Heavenly Phoenix Fire. Having said that, after he absorbed the Devouring attribute, which represented the Dragons' power, he formed quite a deep relationship with the 2 races. This was something that countless people dreamed of but were unable to do.

That said, what made him feel strange was that he never felt the confrontation between the 2 different powers in his sea of consciousness.

Therefore, he was in doubt when the big bamboo rat brought this up.

Whether it was in the legends or in Lil' Red's inherited memories, the almighty beings of the Dragon and the Phoenixes that he knew were like sworn enemies. Logically speaking, their powers should resist each other to a certain degree.

Nonetheless, based on Ou Yangming's personal experience, he noticed an entirely different situation.

After pondering for a long time, Ou Yangming finally let out a long sigh and gave up on thinking.

He raised his head and asked sternly, "Senior, is the Big Ruins... Related to the Dragons of the past?"

The big bamboo rat looked at him with a faint smile and answered, "Even if I say it now, you might not believe it, so you should find out the truth by yourself in the future."

Ou Yangming smiled bitterly and asked, "Where can I find out such a secret..."

The big bamboo rat's eyes flashed, and it blurted, "My bloodline has been passed down in the Forest of Death for generations to protect a shrine." It slowed down and asked, "Are you willing to follow me into the forest?"

Its eyes were bright as it stared at Ou Yangming and silently waited for his answer.

King Kong opened its mouth as if it wanted to dissuade Ou Yangming, but it finally shut up after it looked at Big Yellow.

This might be a risk, but it was also a rare opportunity. The decision would be Ou Yangming's.

Ou Yangming fell silent. He suddenly turned to look at the little bamboo rat, which was staring at him with its black round eyes.

For some reason, Ou Yangming felt an extremely intimate feeling in his heart.

He felt sincerity from the little bamboo rat. It was vague, but he was moved.

With that, Ou Yangming made his decision in the blink of an eye.

He nodded hard and expressed, "Alright. Thanks for the trouble then, senior."