Chapter 518: A Peculiar Flame Stone
The next morning, Ou Yangming packed up and was going to leave with Ni Yinghong and the others.
They had come to Canghai City to resist the Aquatics. Now that the crisis was over and the celebration had ended, it was time for them to leave.
Just as they wanted to leave, Feng Yiyuan came with Zhong Fengcai and Xiao Hualing. The three most authoritative Supreme Great Ancestors in Canghai City bowed down to Ou Yangming and fawned over him. Not only did they present the young yellow with precious treasures from their respective treasure houses, but they also expressed their willingness to serve him.
Ou Yangming did not mind it, but he was more delighted about the treasures given to him; there was a rare and unknown ore among them.
He could not identify the ore through appraisal art, which was evident that the ore was a flying stone beyond this world and did not belong here. The young fellow had gathered various bizarre ores in his interspatial bags, and he adored them from the bottom of his heart because he was a great blacksmith. Therefore, when he found a new ore, he loved it so much that he did not want to let it go.
Seeing how Ou Yangming looked at the ore, Feng Yiyuan’s eyes lit up. He said respectfully, “Master Ou, we’ll do our best to find all sorts of minerals for you if you need them, and I guarantee that you’ll be satisfied.”
Ou Yangming was stunned. He laughed and asked, “How do you know what kind of minerals I’ll be satisfied with?”
“I suppose you fancy peculiar stones from beyond this word. Those stones came from above, but there’s a higher chance they’ll fall into the sea.” Feng Yiyuan laughed, and he sounded confident. “It’s extremely difficult to find ores from the sea, but the probability of finding them is also the highest. As long as I inform everyone that you need flying stones beyond this world, I assure you that everyone in Canghai County will serve you.”
Unquestionably, Ou Yangming contributed the most to the end of the Humans’ disaster. Once the news was spread, everyone would remember his saving grace.
It was true that flying stones from outside of this world were precious and important, but given Ou Yangming’s status and his identity as the greatest blacksmith, people would present them to him.
Ou Yangming responded after some thought, “Okay, please look out for me if there are new stones.”
Feng Yiyuan and the two other great ancestors slapped their chests and gave their word. Following that, Ou Yangming nodded and left with Ni Yinghong, Jiang Jiumei, and the others even though the people tried to make him stay.
Behind them, Feng Yiyuan and his people waved their hands while seeing them off. Only when Ou Yangming and his companions were out of sight, Feng Yiyuan stopped smiling and shouted, “I hereby order everyone to search for flying stones from beyond Heaven. Once they’re found, immediately send them to Changlong County. Remember—collect flying stones at all costs!”
Other than the people from the Feng family, everyone else in the city responded to him.
Peng Huachi and Nian Xinran looked at each other and remembered this well. They sneered and thought, ‘How can the Feng family be compared with the imperial family? How can it be so easy to fawn over Master Ou?’
Although Ou Yangming did not take the side of the evildoer, he did not seem like he planned to serve the imperial family. Was it worth it to pay such a huge price for him to maintain neutral ground?
They did not know what happened yesterday night. If they were aware of everything that took place, they would not have such thoughts at the moment.
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The goshawk flapped its wings and soared in the sky. This time, instead of riding the mighty bird, Ou Yangming and the others sat on the big platform on Multi-armed King Kong’s back.
Hong Feiyu was afraid when he first set foot on the platform.
He witnessed how Multi-armed King Kong trampled over the spirit turtle, hence he revered the ferocious and invincible beast very much.
Nonetheless, after seeing how Ou Yangming and the others were cool about it, he gritted his teeth and boarded the platform. Needless to say, he also stole a glance at Ou Yangming and admired the caster even more.
It was amazing that the young fellow managed to subdue Multi-armed King Kong, but it was an entirely different matter to make the spirit beast carry him and the others willingly. This proved that Ou Yangming had controlled the king kong on an unimaginable level.
Multi-armed King Kong dashed on the ground. It was incredibly fast yet stable, so much so that unless Spiritualists like Ou Yangming inspected on purpose, one could not sense the sways at all. It seemed like the king kong’s upper body was as steady as a rock no matter how it moved.
It was good news for the people on the steel platform because the journey was comfortable for them, but it was an extra burden for Multi-armed King Kong. Even so, the spirit beast did not complain at all, and it seemed to be elated instead.
The fact that it managed to snatch Ou Yangming and the others from the goshawk was a surprise. As long as the young fellow and the little red bird valued it more than they did the goshawk, it would endure any hardship gladly.
On the high platform, Ou Yangming curiously observed the flying stone that he gained.
It was his first time seeing the stone. When he held it in his hands, it felt as smooth as jade and also carried faint heat. Nevertheless, the heat did not disperse, and it maintained the same temperature as the stone’s surface. Ou Yangming would not attach so much importance to it if that was all; what surprised him the most was the stone’s core.
He released his mental conception and invaded the stone bit by bit.
This was a way of using mental power, and he had become very familiar with it. Despite that, he stumbled upon a big issue on this stone.
Once his mental power entered the stone, it seemed to have fallen into a bottomless pit. No matter how much mental power he channeled into it, there was no return. Not to mention exploring the entire stone, his power could not fill even a tenth of the stone.
Ou Yangming naturally became interested in the stone’s odd property. Unfortunately, he could not figure out its origin no matter how hard he tried to recall.
All of a sudden, the little red bird on Ou Yangming’s shoulder chirped.
Since other people were present, the little red bird’s voice became chirps, but Ou Yangming heard it clearly.
‘What’s this? Is it so interesting?”
Ou Yangming grinned and connected his mental conception with the little bird’s. “You can give it a go.” He added after some thought, “Use your mental power.”
The little red bird was curious. It was not an expert in mental power but due to its bloodline inheritance, its mental power was far greater than its peers, to the extent that it was much more formidable than human casters of its rank.
It blinked and released its mental power.
Next, its mental power came into contact with the peculiar stone but was devoured in the blink of an eye.
The little red bird’s eyes instantly lit up, and it became unusually serious.
Ou Yangming tensed up a little because as far as he could remember, he had never seen that expression on the little bird’s face. It seemed like the little bird was not unreliable at all at this moment, and it became unconventionally matured.
For a split second, Ou Yangming even suspected if the little red bird suddenly grew. If that was not the case, how could it have released such an aura?
The little red bird continued to release its mental power. Faced with the same situation, it made the same choice as Ou Yangming did; it released more mental power as it wanted to fill up the bottomless hole.
Being someone who had experienced it before, Ou Yangming smiled bitterly. He had not given up releasing his mental power. In a way, he and the little red bird were releasing their powers at the same time.
There would be an opposite effect if someone else did the same and caused two dissimilar mental powers to intersect. In fact, other people would restrain one another and fight for life or death. On the contrary, once the mental powers of Ou Yangming and the little bird merged, they did not resist each other. Instead, they were like rivers flowing into the sea, and they finally joined to become a turbulent river.
Moreover, after their mental powers combined, they even complemented each other, which was amazing.
“Screech…”
Strange sounds were heard from the stone, and the temperature around seemed to be slowly increasing.
Ou Yangming and the little red bird exchanged glances as they were surprised yet overjoyed. It was a marvelous stone with fire-mastery energy, and they vaguely sensed an aura that belonged to their kind.
‘Was this left behind by an Almighty Being from the Phoenixes?’
Whether it was Ou Yangming or the little red bird, they became curious.
On the platform, Ni Yinghong, Hong Feiyu, and the others looked at Ou Yangming and the stone in his hand in shock. As for the little red bird on the young fellow’s shoulder, apart from Big Yellow, the other people ignored it.
The wonderful changes on the peculiar stone could not be hidden from them but when they noticed the grave look on Ou Yangming’s face, even Ni Yinghong dared not question him about it yet. That said, she believed that he would not keep it a secret from her once he found out what it was.
In the beginning, the mental powers channeled by Ou Yangming and the little red bird were fierce as if they wanted to decipher the peculiar stone’s secret at once. However, they could not stand it anymore after an hour. Nonetheless, they would not give up just yet. After making a spiritual connection with each other, they made up their minds.
Subsequently, great mental power was still transferred into the stone, but its margin was reduced.
Eventually, Ou Yangming exhaled deeply and curbed most of his mental power. He sat with his legs crossed and retrieved a precious pill from his interspatial bag to consume it. As such, his mental power was being recovered little by little.
During this period, the little red bird shifted its mental power into the stone as much as it could.
Another hour had passed when Ou Yangming opened his eyes. He took over the process, whereas the little bird seized the opportunity to rest.
The two of them took turns every hour. Fortunately, their powers were very much interoperable, by which they were almost from the same person. If not, they could not have cooperated with such tacit understanding.
After 3 days and 3 nights, Ou Yangming and the little red bird were almost exhausted. It was then when the bottomless stone was finally filled by their mental powers.