Ou Yangming scoffed and suddenly fell butt first on the ground. Blood could be faintly seen coming out of his nose.

He had a splitting headache at the moment as though numerous little knives slashed his brain and stirred it.

"Chirp… Are you okay? Quickly get well soon and don't scare me!"

The little red bird had long recovered its original look in the real world and was hopping around Ou Yangming. It kept blabbing away because it was frightened.

Ou Yangming gritted his teeth in pain but still glanced at the little fellow. "This is strange—this little fella can actually speak human language, but I was clueless because it didn't expose itself throughout these 2 days of being together.'

He waved his hand gently and said, "I'm fine, so stop shouting."

Before entering the spiritual world, Ou Yangming was rather afraid of the little bird's origin, hence he was always wary against it. Now, he knew the little fellow was from the Phoenixes, but it was still young and was almost equivalent to a human toddler.

Although the little bird had memories from its bloodline inheritance, Ou Yangming could not treat it as an adult due to its race.

Needless to say, this was also because he possessed the Military Fire. If anyone else had spoken to the little red bird in that way, it would have spat fire at that person to burn him or her into ashes.

Sure enough, the little bird was relieved after seeing that Ou Yangming was safe. It blinked and asked, "Are you feeling better?"

"Much better." Ou Yangming smiled bitterly and calmed down for a while before he sighed and remarked, "The Phoenixes' secret techniques are really something else."

"Of course," the little bird uttered proudly.

"I meant that one has to change one's mental power property to learn the Phoenixes' secret techniques because the consumption is huge. In fact, one will be doomed if one makes a slight mistake!" Ou Yangming looked at it snappily.

The little bird blinked and found it strange. "That's not true, why didn't I ever feel that way…"

Ou Yangming was speechless. The little bird was a part of the Phoenixes, thus it was naturally easy for it to learn the secret techniques.

If the secret techniques were cultivated by the other races, it would be incredibly tough and dangerous instead.

Ou Yangming could only pick up one of the secret techniques with ease due to the Military Fire in his sea of consciousness. With the fire's help, he saw through every hurdle without problems and learned the technique in one attempt. Nevertheless, the young fellow was a human, after all, so the sudden transformation was a heavy burden for his body. In particular, the mental power consumption arrived at an indescribable value.

Fortunately, Ou Yangming was not the person he used to be. Not only had his mental power broken through the world's limit, but his essential Qi was also at the peak of Extreme Grade. Most importantly, his body constitution became similar to a spirit beast's after he was tempered by the Heavenly Thunderbolts.

His unbelievable growths were the exact reason he managed to hold on.

Despite that, Ou Yangming noticed that his physical quality seemed to have improved again after this cultivation. Besides, he also knew he only ended up being worn out because it was his first time cultivating a secret technique from the Phoenixes. Nonetheless, since the young fellow endured the first time, for his second and third time or as he cultivated more techniques, the intense reaction will reduce. In the end, he would be able to cultivate the secret techniques with ease as the little bird could.

The little bird shouted all of a sudden, "Hey, someone's looking for you outside!"

Ou Yangming was slightly stunned, but he forced himself to get up. He felt his strength being recovered quickly, and his head no longer hurt. Even though the young fellow was not as clear-headed as he was in the beginning, at the very least, there were no negative impacts. When he twitched his ears, he instantly heard the noises outside.

Fang Zhaoyang—an experienced Supreme Great Ancestor—was talking to Big Yellow outside. He wanted to meet Ou Yangming, but the big yellow dog refused to let him in. The great ancestors could not tell the dog's real foundation, he dared not barge in.

Not to mention this was the Ni family's territory, even if the Ni family's Three Great Ancestors turned a blind eye against him, Fang Zhaoyang could not defeat Big Yellow too. Moreover, the goshawk—a legitimate spirit bird—was keeping guard on the other side of the courtyard. Even if the great ancestor plucked up his courage, he would not use force at all.

Ou Yangming's face changed when he listened closely.

This was because he heard Old Craftsman's voice. Given that Fang Zhaoyang was thick-faced and refused to leave, he figured that the Ni family's Three Great Ancestors must be aware. However, since the great ancestors did not come to stop Fang Zhaoyang, it meant that there was a tacit understanding between them. Old Craftsman could not help but become curious when he heard the noises outside, so he went out to take a look.

Ou Yangming cleared his throat and said, "Lil' Red, stay here to play while I go out to handle something."

"What is it? I want to go too!" The little bird's eyes lit up in curiosity.

"It's something related to the Humans, so you don't need to bother." Ou Yangming smiled bitterly.

"No, I insist!" The little bird was being unreasonable. It finally found its kind in this place where there was scarce spiritual power. It would not matter if they had not met but since they met and got to know each other, the bird was not going to let him go.

Ou Yangming was helpless. "Your identity is too shocking. If the others…"

Before he could even finish, he noticed a flash of red light in front of him. The young fellow tensed up, and the first thing that crossed his mind was how fast the little bird was.

The little red bird was so fast that it simply exceeded Ou Yangming's expectations. When he finally calmed down, he saw the little bird waiting quietly in the birdcage and was blinking its small eyes at him.

It seemed to be very easy-going at the moment, but Ou Yangming knew if he did not satisfy it, it might turn into an invincible big devil and would cause a disaster.

Ou Yangming shook his head and went forward to pick up the birdcage, then he pushed the door and left his room.

Old Craftsman and Fang Zhaoyang were conversing at the courtyard's entrance. Judging from the old man's expression, he seemed to have been convinced by Fang Zhaoyang's sweet talk and was about to bring him into the courtyard.

Big Yellow widened its eyes, but it dared not bare its teeth in Old Craftsman's presence. It wagged its tail instead and cast a flattering look at the old man. Of course, the big yellow dog was not afraid of Old Craftsman, but it knew how important he was to Ou Yangming, hence it would not offend the old man no matter what.

The goshawk stared with its bright eyes at Old Craftsman and Fang Zhaoyang. An ordinary bird would have made a move by now, but it saw how Ou Yangming and the old man interacted with each other and noticed how the big yellow dog was fawning over the old man without holding back. With that, the goshawk made its decision right away and closed its eyes to pretend as if it saw nothing.

That said, they were alarmed when Ou Yangming opened the door.

Next, the goshawk and Big Yellow fixed their gazes on the… Birdcage in Ou Yangming's hand.

Especially when they saw the little red bird staying in the birdcage for Ou Yangming to carry it out, their bodies stiffened.

Eventually, the gigantic goshawk even tilted to one side. It did not notice at all how its body was moving as it only focused on the bird in the birdcage.

"Boom…"

The goshawk's massive body finally collapsed to the ground and caused an earth-shattering sound to be heard.

It was a humongous creature, after all. It was not as mountainous as Multi-armed King Kong, but it could not be compared with ordinary creatures at all.

By standing inside one of the courtyards in the Ni residence, the goshawk's enormous body occupied the entire courtyard and became the center of attention. When it suddenly fell and caused the other people to exclaim, Old Craftsman and Fang Zhaoyang were shocked too.

Every building on the other side of the courtyard was crushed when the goshawk fell. Luckily, the Ni family's Three Great Ancestors had ordered them emptied, so nobody was hurt.

"Master Ou, w-what's wrong with Brother Goshawk?" Fang Zhaoyang stammered.

Ou Yangming twitched his mouth and was exasperated at the way things turned out. He answered coldly, "This fella must've been tired after the exhausting journey, so it probably wants to sleep. Let it sleep and don't disturb it." He waved his hand.

The goshawk came back to its senses as soon as its body landed on the ground. It initially wanted to get up but after hearing Ou Yangming, it looked around and lay conscientiously on the spot without moving an inch.

It could tell from Ou Yangming's tone that he was very displeased, but it was stupefied by the little red bird in the birdcage. As such, it dared not disobey the young fellow at all.

Earlier on, the goshawk and Big Yellow even thought that Ou Yangming was courting his death when he brought a birdcage into his room. Who knew, he managed to carry it out with the bird inside.

For Big Yellow's case, it could somewhat tell that the little bird could not be messed with, but it did not know the details and had Ou Yangming to rely on, thus it was not too concerned.

On the other hand, the goshawk knew very well Ou Yangming's identity, so it admired its human master greatly.

"Old Man, it's already so late at night, so why aren't you sleeping yet?" Ou Yangming looked away and asked Old Craftsman, then he cast a hostile look at Fang Zhaoyang. If it was not because they were well acquainted, he would have denounced the great ancestor.

"Many things happened today and many people from the city died, so how can I fall asleep?" Old Craftsman sighed and added after a pause, "Senior Fang must've come to find you about something urgent. I can't control you anymore now that you've grown up, but you must be attentive toward the people in the city."

Ou Yangming quickly replied to him, "Old Man, don't worry. After all these years, don't you know what kind of person I am?"

"Hmph. You've always been mischievous. Don't think I'm clueless!" Old Craftsman was displeased.

"Old Man, there's an outsider here," Ou Yangming reminded the old man embarrassedly.

The old man was dumbfounded, then he laughed and said, "Senior Fang, the young fella's here. Since you have something to tell him, I'll make a move first."

Fang Zhaoyang immediately bowed at him. He did not act superior at all.

The little bird was confused as it watched Old Craftsman leave. 'Why did he treat the old man with such respect? Is that old man a hidden brilliant figure among the Humans?'