Ou Yangming gently waved his hand and asked, “Lazy turtle, we ended up in this fella’s territory when we entered the Spiritual Realm. It wanted to kill us, so what should we do?”
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard was frightened out of its wits. It immediately defended itself. “Sir, I didn’t mean to kill you!”
“Shut up!” Ou Yangming uttered coldly with a long face.
The spirit leopard instantly kept its mouth shut, but it gave pleading looks to the others.
It was arrogant when it first came, by which it treated Ou Yangming and Big Yellow lightly. Now, it ended up being a captive, such that it dared not talk too much.
“Where’s this place?” The lazy turtle suddenly asked after some thought.
Ou Yangming glanced at the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard, which was alert because it had a run of luck. It quickly answered, “This is Danzhou’s 10,000 Beasts Ridge, which is the Walking Beasts’ territory. Sir, if you let me go, I”m willing to bring you across the ridge to return to the Humans’ boundary.”
Big Yellow was still warm-blooded, but it did not feel light fighting anymore when it saw how miserable and pitiful the gigantic leopard was. It barked and asked, “What other powerful spirit beasts are there nearby? I’d like to meet them!”
The young fellow was stunned, then he shook his head and sighed. ‘I applied too many direct runes on it, so it’s overconfident now.’
He reached out to pat the big yellow dog’s head and said, “Go on and play first. I’ll look for you once I’m done questioning it.”
“Okay!” Big Yellow roared and leaped into the air, then it turned into yellow light and vanished.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming was not too worried. Although Big Yellow was not considered invincible, based on its state, not many beings could hurt it. Besides, since this was the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard’s territory, there could not be more powerful creatures around.
Therefore, no matter how unrestrained Big Yellow was, at the very least, it was safe.
“How’s the situation between the Humans and the Beasts now?” Ou Yangming asked seriously.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard dared not hide anything from him, hence it answered, “Sir, the Humans and us are still the same as before; we fight but also work together. That said, generally speaking, we’re in harmony now.”
It tried its best to promote the idea of harmony because it hoped that the young fellow from the lower realm would settle things peacefully with it for the sake of that.
Ou Yangming turned to look at the lazy turtle, which nodded and said, “That’s probably how it was before I left. Since this is the 10,000 Beasts Ridge, it won’t be easy for a human like you to leave this place safe and sound. How about you accept its suggestion and let it bring you back to the Humans’ boundary?”
“Is there no other way?” Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows.
‘You’re truly cruel and merciless human. Are you planning to kill me?’ The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard quivered a little and thought.
“Perhaps you can follow me and take a nap inside the space. Hehe, you could ask the foolish dog to bring you back to the Humans’ boundary. Hopefully, it’s smart enough to do that,” the lazy turtle proposed after some time.
Ou Yangming was dumbfounded. He imagined the fully-armored Big Yellow wearing 2 Long Feather Bands and carrying a bunch of interspatial bags while it traveled across a place where humans were rarely seen…
‘Can Big Yellow really bring me and the lazy turtle to the Humans’ boundary? It won’t deviate from the right path, will it?!’
He shook his head and firmly rejected the idea.
The young fellow did not want to entrust his life to the not-so-reliable Big Yellow.
Ou Yangming pondered and asked, “How can I trust it?”
The lazy turtle looked strangely at him and asked him in return, “There are many ways to temporarily control a spirit beast. Do you not even know?”
‘Such ways aren’t recorded in the lower realm’s ancient books,’ Ou Yangming thought. As for the method he knew, it belonged to the Phoenixes. If he wanted to adopt the method, he would need to take the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard as his follower. However, after witnessing the abilities of Multi-armed King Kong and the goshawk, the young fellow was not too interested in the humongous leopard, whose combat power was not too outstanding.
If the spirit leopard knew what Ou Yangming was thinking, it would surely shed bitter tears.
After all, it was a formidable spirit beast and a dictator of a certain plot of land, but it was despised by a human from the lower realm. That human was none other than Ou Yangming.
“Fine, I can help you this time,” the lazy turtle noted after clicking its tongue for some time. It raised its large paw and slammed it down abruptly, generating an incredibly violent power.
Consequently, the injured leopard rolled its eyes and passed out right away.
Ou Yangming gasped. The lazy turtle had always been quite tamed in front of him, but it seemed like it was actually a violent creature too. A thought crossed his mind at that moment, ‘How can I stop it if it suddenly leaves with the spiritual item?’
Without Multi-armed King Kong’s help, even if he and Big Yellow joined hands, they might not be able to make the lazy turtle stay.
Nevertheless, Ou Yangming kept a straight face as though he did not notice this at all. He questioned slowly, “Why did you knock it out?”
“If I don’t, how are we going to use the Restraining Art on it…” The lazy turtle answered without any hesitation. Following that, it lowered its huge head and kept drawing circles on the spirit leopard’s body. Each time a circle was drawn, a light ring descended, by which the layers of lights ring were ropes that constrained the leopard’s body. After a whole hour, the lazy turtle finally stopped drawing circles.
“Ah, it’s so tiring—I’m exhausted! Putting a restraining order on an equal-ranked being is truly the most taxing task ever.” The lazy turtle panted.
Ou Yangming frowned and thought, ‘Is this lazy turtle as tired as it appears to be?’
The lazy turtle later lifted its neck and exhaled a white airflow, which gathered into a badge and landed on Ou Yangming’s hand.
“I’ve already restrained it, so you can control its life by controlling the badge with your mental power. If at any time you feel like setting it free, you can simply make the badge disappear.” The lazy turtle added after a short pause, “But the Restraining Art on it can only last for a certain period, so don’t blame me if the time is up.”
Ou Yangming nodded and asked, “How long can it be maintained?”
He did not know how long it would take for them to get from the 10,000 Beasts Ridge to the Humans’ boundary. It would be troublesome if the period was too short because it seemed like the lazy turtle was not willing to waste any time.
The lazy turtle answered after some thought, “Around a decade.”
“A… Decade…” Ou Yangming was struck dumb. He twitched his mouth and thought, ‘Given that amount of time, I’ll be able to get out even if I’m crossing the 100,000 Beasts Ridge.’
Being a newcomer in the Spiritual Realm, it seemed like his sense of time was very much different from that of the lazy turtle.
“Honorable powerhouse, since you brought me to the Spiritual Realm, I should leave now.” The lazy turtle blinked and shook its enormous back as it continued, “I’ve put a restraining order on it, so take it as a repayment of your kindness for letting me have the Tree of Splendour.”
Ou Yangming raised his eyebrow and thought, ‘Sure enough, the more I’m afraid it’ll happen, the more likely it’s going to happen.’
Despite that, he was well prepared, thus he grinned and responded, “Alright, all good things come to an end. In any case, we had a fateful encounter. Please go ahead, Brother Turtle.”
The lazy turtle looked at Ou Yangming in confusion. It could not figure out why the young fellow suddenly became so easygoing.
It had not spent a long time with Ou Yangming, but it knew the human was not someone with good intentions. It wondered, ‘Not only am I leaving, but I’m also leaving with the spiritual item. Is he really indifferent about this?’
The lazy turtle turned to look around it as it was not confident. ‘Is that fearsome Multi-armed King Kong hiding somewhere? Once I’m far away, will it suddenly jump out to capture me again?’
Even after looking around for some time, it did not notice any trace of the king kong. Having said that, just as it turned around to say its last goodbye to Ou Yangming, it widened its eyes like never before.
Ou Yangming had unknowingly retrieved a long bamboo, which had faint green halos around it. It looked gorgeous when it was being swung around, and a warm tiny flame could be seen on its tip. The pairing between them formed an extremely unique view, causing the lazy turtle to shiver.
“Wh-what’s that?” The lazy turtle’s voice was even trembling.
The young fellow chuckled. Given how much the lazy turtle loved and was persistent toward spiritual items, it would only be strange if it could still move its legs after seeing the peculiar spiritual item, which could also take on the role of an interspatial node.
“This? Hehe, how about you sense what the flame is?” Ou Yangming tempted the turtle.
The lazy turtle indeed released its mental conception to sense the fire carefully, and its face changed as it was shocked. “Is this… A treasure that belongs to that race?”
Ou Yangming nodded. “That’s right. You have a good eye.”
The turtle stared at the long bamboo with an unpredictable look in its eyes, and it was clear that it was not willing to part with it.
Its rationale was telling it that the item was incredibly important to it; it would benefit greatly from simply sleeping beside the item. When the turtle thought about the tongue of a flame on the bamboo, it wanted to take forcible possession of it even if it would die.
Since the treasure belonged to that race, even if it managed to obtain it, it would not live to enjoy it.
Nonetheless, the lazy turtle did not want to give up just like that.
Ou Yangming giggled and said, “Lazy turtle, if you stay with me for the time being, I’ll place this item beside you; if you insist on leaving, hehe, I’m sure you understand what you should do.”
The lazy turtle was startled for some time, then it replied to the young fellow with a bitter smile, “Yes, honorable powerhouse, I understand…”
“Roar…”
Just as the lazy turtle lowered its head to admit defeat, a deafening roar was heard coming from afar. Subsequently, 2 forceful auras headed in their direction one after another.
Ou Yangming tensed up. He immediately kept the long bamboo and looked into the distance.
One after another, where one was chasing while the other was escaping, 2 figures approached at the speed of light.
