From the vast main road, endless undulating hills could be seen ahead.
Every one of the Humans’ eight counties had unique sceneries. While Yongxiang County was mainly covered in hills, Huangsha County was a boundless place with sand. Nonetheless, the two counties shared a similarity—they were suitable for the reproduction and the survival of the Insects.
In these two counties, the Humans’ greatest enemy was not the Beasts nor the Birds, but the lurking Insects.
Needless to say, even the most foolish insect would not court their deaths if they sensed Multi-armed King Kong and Big Yellow’s auras.
Therefore, Ou Yangming and his companions were not attacked by any insect anymore on their way to Yongxiang City. Although they could sense some insects along their way, the insects were so insignificant that they did not want to make a move at all. Nevertheless, as they got closer to the city, they began to have grave looks on their faces.
Based on the number of insects and the way they were distributed, Yongxiang County seemed to have been “caught” under the Insects’ net.
It was definitely not a coincidence. Given that plenty of insects had gathered here, there must be a reason behind it.
Despite that, Ou Yangming and the others did not notice the so-called insect king, or Multi-armed King Kong and the goshawk would have attacked and devoured it already.
They finally noticed the massive city from a distance away, but they stopped because they did not want Multi-armed King Kong’s existence to cause any misunderstanding.
Ou Yangming and his companions learned their lesson from their experience at Feiya City, and they did not want to face another attack similar to the fire rocks.
Zuoqiu Hongyuan volunteered to inform the people in the city. “Please wait here while I go over to notify them.” Jiang Jiumei shook her head and said, “Brother Zuoqiu, since we’re at Yongxiang City, you’re our guest. I should go to inform them instead.”
“Miss Jiang, Huangsha and Yongxiang are one, after all, so you don’t need to be so polite.” Zuoqiu Hongyuan laughed out loud, then he zoomed toward the city. Wu Hanning and the others found it funny because Zuoqiu Hongyuang was being cunning. He clearly meant something else when he said that the two counties were considered as one. Having said that, judging from Jiang Jiumei’s silence, she seemed to have not noticed the hidden meaning. When Ou Yangming and his companions thought about how Zuoqiu Hongyuan was winking to the blind, they could not help but want to chuckle. Zuoqiu Hongyuan’s reputation in Huangsha and Yongxiang was higher than in Feiya City. As such, the gate was quickly opened, then several riders headed toward him in a flash.
However, the fine horses stopped when they were roughly 340 meters away from where Ou Yangming and his companions were. No matter how the riders urged their horses to move, they either spun on the spot fearfully or proned on the ground as they dared not take another step forward.
This was because they sensed Multi-armed King Kong’s aura. The king kong had done its best to suppress its aura, such that Ou Yangming and the others could not really sense it anymore. That said, walking beasts could still sense the king kong’s aura due to their nature.
The fine horses were too lowly ranked, thus they could not accept the aura right away and ended up losing control as they were frightened.
While the riders reproached the horses, nothing could be done. They looked at each other and decided to abandon their horses and the carriages, then they ran toward Zuoqiu Hongyuan.
Following that, Zuoqiu Hongyuan led over ten different elders and middle-aged men toward his companions. Ou Yangming noticed that the people were all Supreme Great Ancestors, which was evident that the most powerful figures from Yongxiang City had come. If they were suddenly wiped out altogether, the city would surely be doomed.
As soon as they arrived, two elders went forward at the same time. They could not help but glance at Multi-armed King Kong in shock.
Anyone that saw the enormous creature for the first time would probably react the same way.
The elder quickly looked away and bowed at Wu Hanning. “I’m Yu Jinshuang, Yongxiang City’s governor.”
“I’m Lao Boyi, Yongxiang City’s commanding general.”
“Greetings, Your Highness.”
The two of them were the governor and the military master assigned by the imperial family to Yongxiang County, respectively. Without a doubt, they were loyal subjects. As for the other people that came, they introduced themselves one after another as well. They were important figures in the city, but they humbled themselves in front of Wu Hanning without showing the arrogant bearing of a Supreme Great Ancestor.
This was due to Wu Hanning’s status as the princess, but what truly made the great ancestors stoop down was the three fearsome creatures behind.
Big Yellow had a threatening aura, but it was not enough to scare the great ancestors. On the other hand, the goshawk and Multi-armed King Kong were terrifying, especially the latter, whose gigantic build spoke volumes.
Wu Hanning nodded and remarked, “You’ve worked hard to protect the city.” The men immediately expressed that it was their responsibility to do so. Of course, while they answered politely, they knew the city pursued the imperial family’s ruling by name but was actually managed by the local influential families.
Ou Yangming turned to ask Jiang Jiumei, “Jiumei, where’s your master and the others?”
There was a considerable dissimilarity between Yongxiang City and the other cities. Those that could communicate with the upper realm from the other cities were inherited aristocratic families. This was because the people from those families had bloodlines that allowed them to borrow certain pieces of equipment, which gave them the ability to interact with the upper realm.
This was also a restraint to protect a clan’s inheritance. One must be inherited with the bloodline to be able to connect with the upper realm, and it could also help a clan last longer.
Nonetheless, Yongxiang City was different. It was said that the ones that could communicate with the upper realm were not from a family clan but a sect.
It was the Mysterious Mirror Sect.
The sect was incredibly old, making it on par with the imperial family. Even so, they never got involved in disputes among the people nor did they care about worldly powers. They focused on nurturing elites for the Humans.
Without the shackles of an inherited bloodline, the sect was able to recruit talents from the capital and the eight counties into their sect.
Other than the imperial family’s greatest powerhouse, who had surpassed the Extreme Grade, a great ancestor at the peak of Extreme Grade was considered the mightiest powerhouse.
Legend had it that it was not the imperial family that had the most Supreme Great Ancestors at the peak, but the Mysterious Mirror Sect.
Furthermore, instead of the influential clans, the Mysterious Mirror Sect had the greatest power of discourse in Yongxiang City.
However, none of the people that welcomed Her Highness was from the Mysterious Mirror Sect. Regardless of the reason, it did not seem to be a good sign.
“Elder Brother, you mustn’t misunderstand us. The Mysterious Mirror Sect has a rule; the disciples mustn’t initiate contacts with officials and aren’t allowed to take up official posts.” Jiang Jiumei grinned and whispered to the young fellow, “My master and the others aren’t here because they want to avoid arousing suspicion.” Ou Yangming nodded. He seemed to be indifferent, but he respected the Mysterious Mirror Sect’s decision.
Wu Hanning stepped forward. She was already used to such situations, so she dealt with it easily and made the people from Yongxiang City feel the attention and warmth from the imperial family. Not to mention the governor and the general, who were already depending on the imperial family, even the other Supreme Great Ancestors treated the princess with respect.
Seeing as Wu Hanning handled everything like an expert, Ou Yangming could not help but lament.
Sure enough, the legendary talented young lady, who was given all the resources from the imperial family since young, was different from ordinary ladies.
Before long, they all found their paths back to the city.
Given Wu Hanning’s identity, Yu Jinshuang and Lao Boyi had obviously arranged the grandest carriage to welcome her into the city.
In spite of that, none of the horses could stay within 34 meters from Multi-armed King Kong. As a result, the governor and the general could only walk anxiously with Wu Hanning, and they secretly prayed that she would not bear a grudge against them because of this.
Once Ou Yangming waved his hand, Multi-armed King Kong and the goshawk stopped following them. The two humongous creatures looked at each other, then the goshawk soared into the sky.
It fixed its gaze on Ou Yangming wherever it went, and it could see everything as long as no buildings were in the way.
At last, Yu Jinshuang and his people sighed breaths of relief when they were more than 340 meters away from the king kong.
Even though they had intentionally avoided asking about the king kong’s background and neglected the uncontrollable factor, they were still very worried. They were afraid that the gigantic creature would suddenly rage and harm them.
They would be fine if they were the ones hurt, but they would end up in an even more miserable state if Her Highness was harmed instead.
“Your Highness, please.” After guiding Wu Hanning into the carriage, Lao Boyi turned to look at Multi-armed King Kong, then he quietly approached Ou Yangming and asked, “Master Ou, did you really subdue it?”
Ou Yangming smiled. Seeing as Zuoqiu Hongyuan nodded at him from a distance away, he knew the young man had told the others about him and the king kong. “General Lao, King Kong is my pet beast indeed,” he answered.
“Ah! H-how did you do it?” Lao Boyi asked the young fellow eagerly. “Uhm…” Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows and thought, ‘How would I know? Who exactly is that hidden Almighty Being?’
Lao Boyi quickly explained himself when he noticed the look on Ou Yangming’s face, “Master Ou, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not trying to find out about your secret; } only want to ask for a favor.”
Ou Yangming relaxed and questioned, “What is it?”
He would not decline the general if he asked for a magic tool.
Lao Boyi was the city’s commanding general, after all, and was closely connected with the imperial family. Even if it was for the sake of Wu Hanning, Ou Yangming would not reject the general. Who knew, Lao Boyi stopped and bowed at him. “Master Ou, since you’re able to conquer two spirit beasts, please do the same to the one in Yongxiang County!”
