After Ou Yangming kept his biggest gain—the Phoenix Fire Bamboo’s branch—from his trip to the secret realm this time, he turned around to say a few words to the rattan tree person. Following that, he summoned Fat Antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard.
The secret realm was quite boring, but it was a cultivation shrine for powerful spirit beasts such as the fat antelope and the spirit leopard. This was because the realm was much more abundant in spiritual power than the 10,000 Beasts Ridge.
Perhaps due to the Wutong Tree’s existence, the whole secret realm had turned into an indescribably massive treasure land. Not only was it filled with spiritual power, but the various animals and plants here carried enormous energies, which was extremely rare.
The 2 spirit beasts indulged in their time cultivating in the realm so much that they forgot about their home.
Needless to say, it was also because the Wutong Tree had specially looked after them. If not, they might have been killed in certain dangerous areas in the secret realm.
Ou Yangming was pleased when he saw Fat Antelope again.
Fat Antelope shuddered and forced an ugly smile at Ou Yangming. Subsequently, it turned around and ran far away.
Nonetheless, the secret realm was the Wutong Tree’s territory. A brief moment after the fat antelope ran away, it was wrapped up tightly by a rattan, then it was being pulled back to where it was without being able to move at all.
Ou Yangming grinned and asked, “Fat Antelope, are you not happy seeing your old friend? Why did you run away?”
Fat Antelope felt wronged as it answered, “Judging from the look in your eyes, you must have an ill intention.”
It was not a human, but it was smart and emotional enough to be identical to a normal human. When the fat antelope saw the smile on Ou Yangming’s face, it immediately knew how it would end. Although it knew it would not be able to avoid it, it did not want to admit defeat without resisting at all.
Ou Yangming cleared his throat and said, “Fat Antelope, we agreed on a deal…” He smiled brighter as he said, “You’ll trade your wool for my equipment!”
He tried his best to put on a friendly smile, but it still seemed devilish and fearsome to the fat antelope.
Fat Antelope glanced at its newly grown wool and sighed. “Fine, come and get it.”
Ou Yangming could not help but laugh when he saw how it looked when it accepted its face. Even so, he would not be merciful. After all, the fat antelope’s wool could be considered a peerless treasure on a certain level, hence he would not miss any opportunity he had.
The young fellow then went forward and turned the fat antelope bald.
Fat Antelope wanted to cry but had no tears when it saw its body becoming bald again.
Ou Yangming then turned around and asked the rattan tree person, “Wutong, do you have extra spiritual herbs here? Can you give some to Fat Antelope to compensate it?”
Fat Antelope’s eyes lit up right away. It looked eagerly at the rattan tree person.
The secret realm was great, but some lines could not be crossed.
Everything here belonged to the Wutong Tree and was under its control. To put it extremely, none of the herbs and trees were an exception.
Fat Antelope could enjoy the ordinary flowers and herbs as much as it wanted. In fact, it could use the rich universe’s spiritual power here. Nevertheless, it could not use spiritual flowers and herbs.
Those were the Wutong Tree’s exclusive properties. Unless it was willing to, nobody could take them away from it.
Back when Poisonous Saber Gentleman found the oasis and obtained rare items from the place, the Wutong Tree had acquiesced in it. After staying in the secret realm for a long time, some fresh blood needed to be replenished, so a certain price must be paid.
However, Fat Antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard were different.
At the very least, under the Wutong Tree’s watch, the fat antelope would not dare to act rashly.
The rattan tree person immediately bowed and responded, “Master, your wish is my command.” It turned around and said to the fat antelope, “Since Master asked for it, I’ll allow you to take 3 spiritual flowers and herbs, so go ahead and pick what you want.”
Fat Antelope was so elated that it jumped. It no longer felt unhappy about how merciless Ou Yangming was earlier. Instead, it cast a flattering smile at him and hoped that he would strive for more benefits for it in the future.
The fat antelope’s wool was a priceless treasure to Ou Yangming, but it was merely a natural product, which could be eliminated at any time, to the fat antelope.
Therefore, Fat Antelope felt that it was a costless trade for it to exchange its useless wool for spiritual herbs.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard was envious. Ou Yangming had only given Fat Antelope a special treatment because of its wool, whereas while it was more formidable than the fat antelope, it became a second-class citizen.
It widened its eyes pitifully at Ou Yangming, hoping that something on it would be valued by him.
Despite that, the spirit leopard knew better that it must not force this, or it would not be able to turn things around if Ou Yangming was infuriated.
Ou Yangming kept the wool and noted with a smile, “Fat Antelope, stay here and do your best to upgrade yourself.”
Fat Antelope quickly nodded. ” Don’t worry, I’m doing well here, and I can already sense the threshold for a middle-rank spirit beast.” It looked proud, and it expressed its joy from the bottom of its heart.
When it was previously still on the 10,000 Beasts Ridge, it had spent so much energy and undergone a lot of danger to become a spirit beast.
Being able to stand out among all of the spirit beasts was astounding. Having said that, its strength improved like never before ever since it lived in the secret realm.
If everything went well, it would be able to become a middle-rank spirit beast after consuming the 3 spiritual herbs that were promised by the Wutong Tree.
“Great,” Ou Yangming praised it loudly. He exhorted the Wutong Tree to look after the spirit beasts, then he conveniently spoke to the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard for a while before he left the secret realm.
Since he obtained the Phoenix Fire Bamboo and Fat Antelope’s wool, he naturally wanted to go back as soon as he could to attempt the refinement of an Eternal Pill.
Old Craftsman had a few more years to live in the lower realm, but Ou Yangming wanted to plan ahead and make proper preparations.
※※※※
Once Ou Yangming left, the rattan tree person and Fat Antelope could not help but look regretful and upset.
The rattan tree person was unhappy because it lost its opportunity to gain the Heavenly Phoenix Fire, but the fact that Fat Antelope was sulky… The tree person and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard were bewildered.
Upon seeing this, the spirit leopard reached out its paw to slap the fat antelope’s bald body.
Fat Antelope jumped and questioned furiously, “What are you trying to do?”
‘It hurts!’
Back when Fat Antelope’s body was protected by its wool, its resistance was stronger. Now that its body was bald, it could not withstand being hit by such power.
“Hmph, Fat Antelope, you really have good luck.” The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard was displeased, “Master’s already treating you so well, so what are you still unhappy about?”
“Master?” The fat antelope cast a sidelong glance at the spirit leopard and chuckled as it remarked, “I don’t remember Master Ou taking you under his wings.”
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard flushed and responded angrily, “Since Master didn’t shoo me away, he has naturally admitted my identity.” It could not help but lament when it spoke.
This was because its mentality had changed drastically before it knew it.
The Silver Ridge was not considered a great territory on the 10,000 Beasts Ridge, thus a small low-rank spirit beast like it could occupy that spot for a long time and benefit a lot from it. Back then, the spirit leopard’s cultivation base was slightly lower, but it was full of confidence. Not to mention submitting itself willingly to a human, it would not even bow down to the rare top-grade spirit beasts on the 10,000 Beasts Ridge.
That said, ever since it left the Silver Ridge with Ou Yangming, it experienced how prosperous the world really was and saw notable pieces of equipment that were unreachable for it. As such, its mind changed subtly.
Now that the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard entered the secret realm with Fat Antelope and cultivated here, it benefited very much as well. At the very least, it benefited 10 times more than it used to on the 10,000 Beasts Ridge. Most importantly, it could obtain endless cultivation resources without any danger.
Based on the Wutong Tree’s abilities, even a bit of what it had in total would be more than enough for Fat Antelope and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard to enjoy.
This was why the spirit leopard’s mentality had changed completely. Its biggest worry was that Ou Yangming would kick it out of the secret realm one day, hence it overreacted when the fat antelope teased it; it was its weak point.
Fat Antelope was puzzled because it could not understand why its old fellow, which it had been fighting against for half its life, was so agitated.
The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard scoffed loudly. “Fat Antelope, since Master likes your wool, you should grow more of them. Hmph, if I were you, I wouldn’t have needed Master to ask for them.”
Fat Antelope blinked its large eyes and replied to it madly, “Do you think that it’s easy to make my wool grow? Do you think that I can control how much wool will be grown out of my body? If you don’t believe me, you can try it yourself.”
Upon hearing such an unreasonable response, the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard rolled its eyes out of anger. It cursed internally, ‘If I can also grow wool that Master will be fond of, why would I stay by your side to fawn over you?’
“Alright,” the rattan tree person uttered coldly, “Fat Antelope, Silver Ridge is right, so you should listen to it.”
Fat Antelope lowered its head. “Okay.”
It had the guts to give the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard tit for tat, but it naturally feared the Wutong Tree.
Furthermore, everything in the secret realm was controlled by the Wutong Tree. If it offended the might being here, it would not end up well.
The rattan tree person added, “I’ll provide you with spiritual herbs regularly from now on, so accumulate more energies to grow more wool. Master will surely be delighted.”
Fat Antelope responded helplessly, but it curled its mouth into a bright smile when it heard that it would be given spiritual herbs regularly.
On the other hand, the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard sighed and lowered its head. It looked enviously at the fat antelope.
‘This fella’s really born with good luck!’
