Woo Lejia sneered. "Brother Xi, if the spirit beast had pleaded loyalty to you instead, I'm sure there won't be any problem, right?"

Xi Minghua's face changed, and he asked furiously, "Brother Woo, what do you mean?"

Seeing as they were going to break out in a fight, the other people talked them out of it.

Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows. The men were sensible before the Humans' disaster ended, and never had disputes with each other. Even when there were small disagreements between them, they could drop the matter as they considered the bigger picture.

Nonetheless, as soon as the crisis was resolved, the discontented people no longer kept quiet.

Honestly, Ou Yangming could understand where Xi Minghua was coming from. Being a local-bred Supreme Great Ancestor from Changlong County, he must have been greatly affected by the beast tide. In terms of the villages destroyed by the beast herd only, the total loss was inestimable. There would be many casualties and victims in a war, but native families would always be affected the most.

Therefore, Xi Minghua only suffered a psychological imbalance after seeing the spirit beast submitting to Ou Yangming.

Needless to say, given how reputable Ou Yangming had become, Xi Minghua and the others dared not openly express their dissatisfaction.

Ou Yangming sighed and spread out his hands. "Gentlemen, I know that fella caused many painful deaths in Changlong County, so it won't be too much even if we were to peel off its skin and pull out its tendons. That said, it'll be quite wasteful if we simply kill it."

"Exactly. You'll be wasting a natural resource if you don't utilize its combat power," Chen Yixian instantly remarked.

Another great ancestor from the capital agreed with them as well. "Yes. Besides, Master Ou has just subdued the beast. If we suddenly plan to kill it, I'm afraid that it'll revolt, which will only put us in a terrible situation."

The other people were suddenly afraid. Although they had witnessed the strange seen earlier, the Soul-sucking Technique was too profound to be understood or imagined by them. Hence, they did not know Ou Yangming had actually gained absolute control over the Eight-armed Giant Beast. As such, they could not help but wonder about the consequences if the young fellow failed to control the giant beast, which might rebel without warning.

Xi Minghua fell silent for some time, then he noted embarrassedly, "It was only a casual comment; I didn't mean to do anything to it."

At the spur of the moment, a clear voice was heard. "You just want it to redeem itself by doing good deeds, right? Isn't that easy?"

Wu Hanning walked out from the crowd. Wherever she passed, the people made way for her.

She was not a Supreme Great Ancestor, but nobody had the guts to offend her at all. The young lady was unimaginably elegant.

"Your Highness, what do you suggest?" Ou Yangming's eyes lit up as he asked.

For some reason, he just felt that Wu Hanning would not harm him no matter what.

The princess's eyes gleamed as she responded, "Brother Ou, the Humans' capital and the eight counties suppress the world, but a disaster is bound to happen every once in a century. Do you know what a disaster means?"

Ou Yangming slapped his forehead and laughed out loud. "Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness. I get it now."

The other people exchanged glances and nodded too.

They knew they would be grateful if the Eight-armed Giant Beast was left in the forest and did not harass the Humans.

Nevertheless, since the giant beast surrendered itself to the Humans, someone would inevitably bring up its past evil deeds. If the matter was not resolved, though the beast and Ou Yangming would not be very affected, the gossip would eventually be an issue.

On the other hand, if the Eight-armed Giant Beast could perform an immortal feat for the Humans, anyone who attacked it could be punished without prior notice.

There was not only one such disaster; there were a total of four of them every once in a century.

In other words, on average, every two counties would be attacked by a powerful spirit beast. The spirit beasts could be from different breeds, but they were similarly mighty. At the end of the day, the overall disaster would only be considered to be settled only when all four spirit beasts were slaughtered.

The people were in despair when they first saw the Eight-armed Giant Beast.

Since a high-rank spirit beast had descended in the immense forest, what about the other areas?

Perhaps they could take out a high-rank spirit beast if they worked together, but how could they deal with four high-rank spirit beasts?

However, the situation became entirely different after the Eight-armed Giant Beast pleaded its loyalty.

Xi Minghua fell silent for a while, then he shook his head with a bitter smile. "Ah, I can't believe the other counties will be benefiting from our hard work."

Wu Hanning pondered and noted, "Don't worry. I'll report to Father so that the best treatment will be given to Changlong County and Linlang County for 100 years, starting from now. I won't let your counties suffer losses."

Upon hearing that, Xi Minghua and the great ancestors from the prefecture smiled brightly. They knew Her Highness's promise was by no means insignificant, and she could certainly secure huge benefits for them.

At the back of the crowd, He Liangce watched everything quietly. The God-favored child from Linlang County laughed after the people were done discussing.

He took a long and deep breath, and he did it slowly but it seemed like he could go on until the end of the world.

The people around him were immediately alarmed by his unusual act. Due to his special identity, they dared not touch him at all, and they jumped away as though they were avoiding a plague. Soon enough, many people were attracted by the disturbance, so much so that even Ou Yangming and the others turned to look too.

Next, some people could not help but exclaim.

"A breakthrough!"

"Supreme Great Ancestor…"

In particular, the Supreme Great Ancestors from the capital had complicated looks on their faces, and they stared at the young man enviously.

They could tell He Liangce was initiating a breakthrough to the Extreme Grade.

In actuality, given He Liangce's natural gift and the He family's resources, he could have become a Supreme Great Ancestor long ago.

He Liangce was only chosen as the cultivator for his clan's Iron Blood Loyal Heart Technique because the beast tide was about to happen. Being the last line of defense and the trump card of the two counties, he could not advance to a higher boundary as he wished.

Thus, he must remain at the peak of Yang Grade.

Nonetheless, He Liangce's worries were completely gone after Ou Yangming subdued the Eight-armed Giant Beast. It was as if a heavy and pressuring burden was suddenly lifted off its chest, and he felt so relaxed that he wanted to fly.

He Liangce chose to break through at this moment to arrive at his long-desired boundary.

Before long, intense energy waves surrounded his body as he released a formidable aura, which belonged to a Supreme Great Ancestor, bit by bit.

His advancement was smooth as everything happened naturally without any danger nor obstruction.

It was the exact reason Woo Lejia and the others were envious.

They knew He Liangce had successfully advanced and would become a mighty great ancestor once he solidified his state.

When they thought about the hard work they had to put in to break through then at how effortless it was for He Liangce, they noticed a stark contrast.

Even a fool knew He Liangce would have a brighter future than them even though they were all Supreme Great Ancestors. In terms of getting to the peak of Extreme Grade, He Liangce would likely succeed whereas the other great ancestors would have little hope.

Ou Yangming looked deeply at He Liangce and smiled faintly.

Given that the Iron Blood Loyal Heart Technique would not be performed anymore, the noble sacrifice would no longer be needed.

The moment he saw He Liangce becoming a Supreme Great Ancestor, he was finally not on tenterhooks.

"Master Ou, you…" Li Xinfan asked after a moment of hesitation, "Is it really fine to leave that fella in the wilderness?"

The other people tensed up a little. It was true that they could not see the massive creature anymore, but they were still horrified when they thought about how it was still lurking somewhere out there.

Nobody was willing to get close to the powerful spirit beast, but the people also hoped they could always supervise it.

Ou Yangming grinned. "General Li, please be rest assured, it's certainly going to be fine."

Seeing how confident Ou Yangming was, the others looked at each other. They felt like one could scoop more inside stories from a process of a spirit beast acknowledging its master.

Even so, very few people in the world would have the guts to attempt it.

※※※※

The Eight-armed Giant Beast kept running and was out of everyone else's sight a long time ago. He arrived at an enormous valley.

The valley was deep and quiet. Most importantly, the rolling hills there made it a good hiding spot. On top of that, this was the only area around Changlong County's prefecture that could accommodate such a gigantic creature like it.

It kowtowed as soon as it arrived at the valley. "Thank you, sir."

A flash of red light was seen as the little bird appeared on a big branch and asked, "How was it?"

The Eight-armed Giant Beast quickly answered, "Sir, that master belongs to your clan indeed; he has the purple fire."

"Oh? The purple fire…" The little bird seemed to be dumbfounded as well, and it widened its eyes. It recovered its normal state after some time and commented, "Since you're able to become the pet of a powerhouse with the purple fire, it's considered an incredible opportunity, so you must conduct yourself well."

"Yes, I'll do my best to serve him and will be loyal to him only," the Eight-armed Giant Beast swore. It sounded delighted, which contrasted its feeling of despair when it first met Ou Yangming.

The little bird flapped its wings, and its eyes looked like two dancing flames. It mumbled, "It's quite unbelievable that he's a comrade with the purple fire , but how can the purple fire appear in this lowly world? Did something happen here but I wasn't made aware of it… This won't do, I must return to notify the elders of the purple fire, and he must acknowledge his ancestry…"