Ou Yangming and the big lazy turtle looked at the same time. They were sharp-eyed, hence they immediately recognized that the yellow figure in front was Big Yellow, whose blood was boiling when it left in a hurry earlier. Behind the big yellow dog was a spirit beast that looked like an antelope. It was extremely fast—faster than Big Yellow, where it sometimes caught up to the big yellow dog and kicked its butt.
Big Yellow roared furiously but dared not turn around to challenge the antelope. Instead, it sped up and ran toward Ou Yangming.
It was still fully equipped. Although the pieces of equipment would not allow it to defeat its opponent, it could block several hits throughout its escape.
Ou Yangming and the lazy turtle looked at each other. They did not go to save the big yellow dog because they could tell that its life was not threatened yet. Nonetheless, they were having entirely different thoughts.
After the 2 encounters, Ou Yangming had a rough understanding of the Spiritual Realm.
The realm was indeed different from the lower realm. One could only find a few spirit beasts after traveling across the Humans’ 8 counties, whereas spirit beasts seemed to be standard in this realm. It had only been a while since they came, but they already encountered 2 spirit beasts.
On the other hand, the lazy turtle was mad. ‘This yellow dog is too good at causing troubles. Why did it provoke another spirit beast in such a short period? This is the 10,000 Beasts Ridge, which is the Walking Beasts’ territory. Do you really want to be so rampant?’
In actual fact, the turtle would not be too afraid if they only met spirit beasts, but they would be in deep trouble if they drew too much attention and ended up attracting Venerable Ones.
Perhaps the Venerable Ones would forgive Ou Yangming for the sake of the Phoenixes’ but the old turtle would likely be cooked into a rich and nourishing soup.
The 2 incoming figures were so fast that they arrived in front of Ou Yangming and the rest in no time.
Big Yellow’s eyes lit up, and it went behind Ou Yangming right away. It was much larger than the young fellow, by which it was already leveled with him by being on fours. Even so, the big yellow dog hid behind him obediently and turned to bark at the antelope; it was using Ou Yangming’s power to threaten its opponent.
Ou Yangming shook his head and thought, ‘It never changes its bad habit…’
Big Yellow was a spirit beast, but its nature as a dog was already assimilated into its bones and could not be changed.
The antelope stopped a distance away and scanned Ou Yangming and his companions with its deep and hollow eyes.
Since it was a spirit beast, it was not a fool. After seeing equal-ranked powerhouses from different races and a defeated Silver Ridge Giant Leopard, it would not deserve being a spirit beast if it still charged forward foolishly.
Ou Yangming cleared his throat and waved his hand. As a result, Big Yellow instantly stopped.
“Big Yellow, why did you provoke it?” Ou Yangming asked sternly as he gave the antelope a fist salutation.
The big yellow dog glanced at Ou Yangming as though it was wronged. “Since when I provoked it? I was running energetically on the road when that fella appeared out of nowhere, so we fought. Hmph, I’m not afraid of it. I just, I just… Didn’t want to waste my energy!”
Even though the lazy turtle could not be bothered to move, it could not help but turn to look at the big yellow dog in disdain.
‘This damn dog is really presumptuous…’
The antelope suddenly stood up like a person and cupped its hooves as Ou Yangming cupped his hands.
Ou Yangming was stunned and amazed. He quickly returned the salutation and said, “Your Excellency, you’re being too polite.”
“I was cultivating just now when I suddenly saw that fella running while its body was glowing. Its Qi and blood were boiling as if it was going to lose control, so I wanted to help it. Who knew, it went mad and bit me as soon as I showed up, and it also ignored my question. Ah…” The antelope expressed and shook its head like a person. “A fight broke out between us. We were evenly matched at first, but when its light faded away, it simply… Escaped.”
Ou Yangming twitched his mouth because the antelope’s description fit Big Yellow’s character very well indeed.
He figured that the runes applied on Big Yellow had not gone away when it encountered the antelope, hence its combat power was still top-notch. It was probably why the big yellow dog was so confident that it attacked the antelope without considering the antelope’s capability.
When the supporting runes on Big Yellow slowly went away, it could not take the antelope’s blows anymore. Moreover, judging from its character, even if it could contend with the antelope, it would not continue to fight properly. After all, the big yellow dog would always choose to seek help.
Ou Yangming sighed and glared at Big Yellow. It seemed to know it was in the wrong, thus it tucked its tail and flashed an innocent smile at the young fellow while it stuck out its tongue.
“I see, it was its fault indeed.” Ou Yangming bowed at the antelope again. “I apologize on its behalf.”
He was being very polite, but he did not intend to introduce himself no matter what.
“Since it’s a misunderstanding, it’s great that we resolved it so quickly.” The smart antelope nodded. It shifted its gaze to the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard and asked, “Isn’t that Mountain Lord Leopard of the Silver Ridge Boundary? Did it offend you?”
Ou Yangming shrugged. “We came here by accident but the Silver Ridge’s mountain lord wanted to make us stay no matter what, so we could only resist it to protect ourselves.”
“Make you… Stay?” The antelope looked at Ou Yangming, Big Yellow, and the humongous lazy turtle in disbelief.
‘Silver Ridge was so reckless to have had the guts to attack such a combination of beings.’
Nevertheless, it did not know that the lazy turtle had not appeared when Silver Ridge met Ou Yangming and Big Yellow. If not, it would not have made a move even if it was given another gall[1].
Ou Yangming was not going to explain himself. He grinned and said, “If you don’t believe me, you can question it once it wakes up.”
“Heh, that’s not necessary.” The antelope had a strange look in its eyes. “I only want to know—will the leopard still show up on the Silver Ridge in the future?”
“What do you mean, Your Excellency?” Ou Yangming was surprised.
The antelope explained, “I have nothing to say if Silver Ridge returns, but if it doesn’t, the Silver Ridge will be vacant. I’m only trying to plan ahead.”
Ou Yangming understood the antelope at once. It turned out that the competition between the spirit beasts on the 10,000 Beasts Ridge was quite intense.
He pondered and responded, “Whether or not the leopard will appear on the Silver Ridge in the future, it’ll depend on your choice.”
The antelope was shocked yet overjoyed. “Silver Ridge has been occupying this place for far too long, so it’s time for a new master.”
Ou Yangming replied to it with a smile, “It’ll be easy to change the master, but you can’t be all talk and no action, right?”
“Human powerhouse, what do you want?” The antelope asked after a moment of hesitation.
“I need it to lead me back to the Humans’ boundary. I can make it stay once I’m back in the boundary, but what’s in for me?” Ou Yangming questioned.
“You can easily benefit from this, but how can I trust you?” The antelope asked the young fellow in return.
Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. “I can’t guarantee that, but if I’m in a bad mood, I might release it without any conditions once I arrive at my destination.”
The antelope had a grim look on its face. It seemed like it had suffered heavy losses from the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard in the past, so while the leopard was unconscious, it was still afraid and resentful of it.
“Alright, human powerhouse, I’ll trust you this time.” The antelope suddenly whipped its tail and retrieved an item from its thick fur. “This is a spiritual herb that I found during my adventure on the mountain. It has a wonderful function of gathering Qi if you carry it with you, and it’ll help you upgrade your cultivation base and stabilize your boundary quickly. As long as you promise me 2 things, this belongs to you.”
Ou Yangming was dumbfounded. He released his mental conception to the spiritual herb.
The antelope sensed it, but it was not afraid at all because it was confident about the spiritual herb.
When Ou Yangming scanned the spiritual herb with his mental conception, his heart could not help but pound. This was because the herb was indeed filled with rich spiritual power, which was not the universe’s typical spiritual power, but one that was unique to plants. The young fellow sensed the same power in the Tree of Splendour and the green bamboo, but the 3 powers had dissimilarities too; perhaps their directions of development were different though they had the same origin.
The lazy turtle and the big yellow dog were drawn to the spiritual herb too. In particular, the former slowly extended its huge neck.
Upon seeing this, the antelope became alert, thus it stomped its feet and jumped far away.
It was fearful of the lazy turtle’s aura, so it dared not stay too close to it. Needless to say, the antelope was also on land. It would not be frightened if it was only facing the lazy turtle, but it dared not be careless because there a human and another spirit beast were also present.
The lazy turtle smiled embarrassedly then turned to look at Ou Yangming. Its intention was clear.
‘Is this going to be a deal or… An attack!’
Big Yellow barked excitedly, but it was also vexed.
There was something strange about the antelope. Perhaps some sort of restraint was applied to it because the yellow dog did not notice the spiritual item at all.
It was worth noting that Big Yellow had an instinctive sense toward spiritual items. In fact, it could spot them through a node even if it was in an endless space.
Ou Yangming pondered and asked in a deep voice, “What are your conditions?”
The antelope answered without any hesitation, “Firstly, this leopard isn’t allowed to appear in the Silver Ridge Boundary anymore.”
“That’ll be easy.” Ou Yangming nodded.
“Secondly…” The antelope was undecided, but it later pointed at Big Yellow and said, “I want the pieces of equipment on its body.”
[1] Having a leopard’s gall is an idiom that means that one is courageous. Since Silver Ridge is a leopard, the author used a figurative expression to describe that the leopard wouldn’t attack Ou Yangming and Big Yellow even if it gathered more courage
