It took Ou Yangming some time to comfort the rather agitated Old Craftsman. Although the old man was reasonable, he was selfish because he did not want the young fellow to take risks. He was not affected when the Insects attacked the city, but it was impossible to ignore the deafening battle cries in the city.

Even when Ou Yangming descended from the sky and brought the good news that the Insects were wiped out, the old man did not seem to be happy.

This was because Old Craftsman could tell it was Ou Yangming and Elder Universe that eliminated the Insects. What saddened him more was Elder Universe perished together with a spirit insect, and the thought of it gave him palpitations.

Fortunately, Ou Yangming returned to Old Craftsman alive. The old man slowly relaxed after being worried for the whole day, and he finally fell deep asleep.

Ou Yangming tiptoed out of Old Craftsman's room, and he immediately spotted a little burnt thing lying lazily on the floor. Big Yellow, which had always been close to him, stayed far away as it seemed to fear the little bird.

The young fellow tilted his head and observed for some time. Even though he could not tell what about the little bird that frightened Big Yellow and the goshawk so much, he collected himself and placed his hand next to the little bird.

Upon seeing this, the little bird blinked several times. According to its plan, it was not going to meet Ou Yangming at all at this time.

Nonetheless, the sudden strike of a thunderbolt left the little bird with no choice. When it was pursued by the thunderbolt and noticed Ou Yangming, it subconsciously regarded him as its comrade, which was why it drew the thunderbolt to him. Once the thunderbolt was gone, the little bird was still afraid. At the end of the day, Ou Yangming might be its comrade, but his cultivation base was too low. If even it could not resist the thunderbolt, how could the young fellow fend it off?

Who knew, the outcome shocked the little bird because Ou Yangming successfully stopped half of the thunderbolt power.

The little bird contributed to half of it but given Ou Yangming's ability, it was quite unbelievable that he could stop half of the thunderbolt power.

If it was previously proud and felt superior to Ou Yangming, it would consciously lower its head now. Every comrade in its race was important, but they were different in strengths.

After a moment of hesitation, the little bird finally made a move and hopped on to Ou Yangming's palm.

The goshawk widened its eyes again from a distance away. It was witnessing the scene itself, but it still felt like it was dreaming.

'Mm, Master is definitely not a human. He must be a part of that race but is in human skin…'

On the other hand, the big yellow dog was envious. It seemed like it wanted to step forward, but it flinched after taking half a step forward because the little bird looked at it half-intentionally. Though the little bird did not seem fierce, Big Yellow felt like it was poured with cold water, and it quickly gave up the unrealistic thought.

Ou Yangming carried the little bird into his bathroom. By then, the servants had prepared a basin of water for him.

The little bird jumped when it saw the basin. A look of disgust could also be seen in its seemingly psychic eyes.

"Knock it off. You're too dirty, so you should clean up." Ou Yangming smiled bitterly.

The burnt look was certainly not the little bird's original appearance. He wanted to see what exactly it looked like if it recovered its true self.

Just as he forcefully tried to put the little bird into the basin, its burnt feathers glowed in intense red light. The red light was striking, and water that contacted it instantly turned into vapor as they were dried up by the light.

What shocked Ou Yangming was the red light only dried the water around the little bird. As for the basin and the items around it, they were perfectly fine. Furthermore, the young fellow sensed a fluctuation from the Military Fire in his sea of consciousness when the red light shone. Unquestionably, the red light was connected to the fire, or they could not have resonated at all.

Ou Yangming's eyelids twitched. 'Sure enough, this fella is mystical. No wonder the goshawk and Big Yellow revere and fear it.'

Once the little bird curbed the red light, the black spots on its body disappeared, and they were replaced by a bright red color. Despite that, not only was the red color catching, but it also carried an unspeakable sense of danger.

The little bird looked up and expressed its proudness through its lively eyes.

'Hmph, trying to soak me in the water? Impossible.'

Ou Yangming forced a smile. He was extremely surprised when he looked at his hands.

He sensed intense heat when the red light glowed, but it was not painful at all because he felt like he was releasing the Military Fire.

This made him more certain that the little bird was related to the Heavenly Phoenix Fire.

He put aside his curiosity and remarked with a smile, "Little fella, you have some tricks up your sleeves."

The little bird lifted its head high and glanced disdainfully at Ou Yangming as though it was displaying its arrogance. Nevertheless, after a while, it looked half-intentionally at the young fellow.

Ou Yangming grinned and did not bother at all. He stood up and carried the little bird in his hand.

The little bird struggled a little and stared at one of Ou Yangming's fingers as if it was considering pecking it once. The young fellow was not inferior to spirit beasts anymore after his body was tempered by the Heavenly Thunderbolts, but the little bird was confident that it could make him bleed by pecking his finger once.

It finally gave up after it fell silent for a moment, and it lay quietly on Ou Yangming's hand without moving anymore.

Ou Yangming, who was clueless about the little bird's thoughts, brought it into a room. They were in a big courtyard, and this was the most luxurious room other than Old Craftsman's. It used to be the young fellow's residence, but he let it out now.

"Lil'... Red, this will be where you'll stay in the future. If you're unsatisfied with anything, please let me know," Ou Yangming said with a smile.

'Lil' Red?'

The little bird was stunned at first, then it understood what the name represented. It hopped about 10 meters high and released a whooshing flame aura when it spread its wings. As such, it displayed its majesty as a powerhouse.

However, it later noticed a confused look.

A thought crossed its mind at that instant, 'Given that he resisted more thunderbolts than I did, he's probably more capable than me so it doesn't seem much if he gives me a name. The name is… Okay, I'm lucky that it's not Lil' Water or Lil' River, so I'll just accept it for now.'

The little bird's rising power vanished at once. It landed on the ground angrily and glanced resentfully at Ou Yangming, then it flapped its wings to make its way to the soft and comfortable bed.

Honestly, the presence or absence of the huge bed made no difference to the little bird but since it was a noble being, it would not reject the condition to enjoy.

With that, the blanket on the bed was painted in red light, then it was automatically spread out to cover the little bird's body. The bird later shut its eyes and ignored Ou Yangming as if it fell asleep right away.

Ou Yangming looked at the little bird in shock. When he offered the room to the bird, he never thought he was going to stay inside anymore.

Having said that, he was astonished when he saw the little bird lay on the bed like a human and the blanket covering it automatically.

'This little fella must've gained spiritual nature.

'But is it comfortable for a bird to sleep like that?'

Ou Yangming turned to leave after some thought. Since the little bird was willing to do this, he would not object to it nor stop it.

Changlong County was soon in peace again. There were numerous casualties due to the disaster, so much so that the numbers were higher than when the Beasts caused a mass slaughter. Even so, the city could still operate in order as long as the higher-ups were well-organized.

Ni Jingshen and the others visited Ou Yangming that same night, where Deng Xiyuan and Li Xinfan—the two people-in-charge—arrived together.

The governor flashed a bright smile and said, "Master Ou, everything in the city has been settled now. Please instruct us on the next step."

Ou Yangming was surprised. "Shouldn't you be considering the next step instead? Why are you asking me?"

He was formidable in terms of martial arts, but he did not know much about affairs among the people. If he had to give orders, the city would likely end up in a mess.

Deng Xiyuan's eyes glowed. "Master Ou, you don't have a recommended candidate in mind?"

"Do I need to recommend someone?" Ou Yangming was even more bewildered.

"Since you're not going to nominate anyone, I'll continue to take up the governor's role." Deng Xiyuan smiled embarrassedly.

Ou Yangming was dumbfounded. He scanned the governor from head to toe before he came to a sudden realization.

"Governor Deng, I don't know your concerns, but I'm merely a rogue cultivator. Regardless of the achievement, I won't claim credit for myself and will never overthrow the government, so stop worrying for nothing."

Deng Xiyuan and the others were relieved. Based on Ou Yangming's martial arts, not to mention stealing a city, even if he wanted to dominate a county or go against the imperial family, he could triumph in the end.

Before figuring out Ou Yangming's real intention, the Supreme Great Ancestors could not help but be afraid and worry.

Ou Yangming got up but stopped abruptly when he was at the door.

The other people tensed up, but the young fellow simply turned around and noted, "I have a favor to ask."

Deng Xiyuan quickly responded, "Master Ou, please go ahead."

"Are there toys suitable for playing with a bird? I need some."

"Playing with… A bird?"

"Yes!"

Deng Xiyuan and the others looked at each other strangely.

'What's with Master Ou? Is he losing his ambition by riding a hobby to show that he doesn't intend to meddle in the imperial family's affairs?'