Ou Yangming held the insect king's inner core and instantly sensed the surging energy inside.

It was a forceful power that moved Ou Yangming, but he thought about Big Yellow the instant he contacted the power.

The queer insect king was clearly an earth-series spirit beast. It was not most skilled at individual strength, but the ability to control its kind. Nonetheless, it was reflected on its inner core that it had the capability of a spirit beast.

If the inner core was given to Big Yellow, it would be indescribably beneficial toward its growth.

Ou Yangming did not know why he had such a thought, but it appeared involuntarily the moment he touched the inner core.

He pondered then asked, "Fat Antelope, do you know where we're heading to after this?"

Fat Antelope was stunned, but it answered, "Yes."

It was not very smart, but it was definitely not dumb.

Ou Yangming and the others initially wanted to enter a certain area but were obstructed by a swarm of insects. Therefore, Fat Antelope could easily guess where they wanted to go.

The young fellow nodded and raised another question, "Okay, I need a safe passage, so can you help us?"

Fat Antelope immediately lifted its head and stuck out its chest. "It might be a little tough if the insect king's still around, but it won't be a problem now."

Ou Yangming reached out and patted it. "Okay, show me what you're capable of. I hope that by the time we set out again after an hour, it'll be a smooth journey."

"An hour—that'll be enough." Fat Antelope nodded hard.

Following that, it dashed toward their original path. As for the insect carcasses all over the ground, it did not spare a glance at them anymore.

The insects looked delicious to it but since they were poisoned, it could not be bothered anymore.

Seeing as it had gone far, Ou Yangming ordered in a deep voice, "Giant Leopard, follow Fat Antelope. Let it be if it's not in danger, but notify us right away if it is."

The Silver Ridge Giant Leopard quickly responded, "As you wish."

It had been wanting to work for Ou Yangming to be truly acknowledged by him.

Hence, although Ou Yangming had only ordered the spirit leopard to carry out an insignificant task, it roared with excitement and leaped away. At this moment, it wished that Fat Antelope would encounter more mishaps so that it could save it or seek help.

It was certainly not guilt-ridden about highlighting its importance through the fat antelope's tragic encounters.

Afterward, Ou Yangming waved at Big Yellow then looked at Xia Zizhen and Poisonous Saber Gentleman with bright eyes.

The 2 men were smart enough to have understood him at once. They did not know what Ou Yangming was sending them away, but they made the right choice without further ado.

Needless to say, it was also due to Ou Yangming's shocking performance earlier.

Ou Yangming managed to locate the insect king among the endless sea of insects, and he also killed it with his saber. Even though he borrowed a poison-series power, the strength that he displayed at that time stunned the 2 men.

"Hehe, Brother Ou." Xia Zizhen chuckled and expressed, "We're quite worried too, so we plan to go over to take a look. How about you provide support behind us?"

"Okay. Please do as you please, Brother Xia." Ou Yangming nodded as he was satisfied.

Xia Zizhen and Poisonous Saber Gentleman had brought up the insects when they invited him, but the swarm of insects that they described was different from the sea of insects that he saw.

If Ou Yangming looked into the matter, it was possible that the men had indeed hidden the truth from him. As such, he was not as friendly as he was to them at the beginning.

Nevertheless, since Xia Zizhen was tactful, Ou Yangming cast aside his discontent for the time being.

Once everyone else left, Big Yellow asked in confusion, "What is it that you must send them away?"

Ou Yangming grinned. "Something good."

He stretched out his hand and revealed the earthly yellow inner core that rolled slightly on his palm. Even so, the insect king was badly poisoned, thus the color of its inner core was rather dull.

Big Yellow was indifferent. "Are you trying to poison me?"

"Is this how you reward my kindness?" Ou Yangming scoffed. Without explaining anything, he turned his wrist to retrieve Ghost Mo's poisonous pill. As he gently shook his wrist, a peculiar power was released from the pill, and it enveloped the earthly yellow inner core.

Next, an odd yet wonderful luster was emitted from the inner core, and it was absorbed by the poisonous pill bit by bit. Almost after a few breaths, the earthly yellow light on the inner core seemed to have a new lease of life as it was full of vitality.

It was true that the insect king was utterly dead, but once the toxic inside its inner core was removed, it was full of vitality again.

Ou Yangming's face changed. He was the one who drove Ghost Mo's poisonous pill to release the mysterious power, and this was the exact reason his mental power was constantly watching the insect king's inner core. After the poison inside the inner core was completely driven away, he sensed a mental conception inside.

The conception was extremely distinctive. It did not belong to a human, but the inner core's owner before its death.

Ou Yangming finally understood something after he received the mental conception.

Why did the insect king still order swarms of insects to pursue them after meeting Fat Antelope—a natural enemy?

He initially thought that it was the Insects' nature whenever they went against their enemies, where they would be determined to kill opponents that were identified.

It turned out that that was not the case; the real reason the insect king acted like that was him.

After sensing Ou Yangming's aura, the insect king went mad. It wanted his blood, and it wanted to suck his life force.

It did not hesitate to give all it had to achieve its goal.

Ou Yangming twitched his mouth and felt ashamed.

He previously blamed Xia Zizhen and Poisonous Saber Gentleman for hiding the truth from him, but it turned out that he was the real culprit.

His very existence was the reason the insect king hotly pursued them.

Even at this moment, Xia Zizhen and Poisonous Saber Gentleman were probably still puzzled about why the Insects suddenly had such high endurance.

"Woof…"

Ou Yangming was awakened by Big Yellow's bark. When he turned to look, he noticed that the fellow was no longer arrogant. Instead, it opened its mouth, stuck out its tongue, shook its head, and wagged its tail around the young fellow to fawn over him.

The big yellow dog also fixed its gaze on the inner core, whose toxicity had been removed.

Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. He teased Big Yellow, whose attitude changed drastically, "What is it? You're not scared of being poisoned now?"

Big Yellow flattered him, "We're friends, so you won't poison me to death. Besides, I'll be very useful to you if I stay."

"How useful?" Ou Yangming smiled with his eyes squinted.

"I can… Guard you. Yes, I can guard you whenever you cultivate." Big Yellow's eyes gleamed like stars in the sky.

Ou Yangming shook his head and remarked helplessly, "Lazy fella." He later shook his wrist and tossed the inner core to the big yellow dog.

Big Yellow was as fast as lightning, It got to the inner core before it landed on the ground, then it swallowed the core.

It was undoubtedly the fastest at this moment.

Ou Yangming was dumbfounded. He could not help but smile bitterly and thought, 'This fella's too impatient.'

"Big Yellow, you should've waited." Ou Yangming sighed. "I could've invited an alchemist to refine this inner core into a pill so that its effect can be fully utilized."

Who knew, Big Yellow rolled its eyes and noted, "Lil' Ming, you don't understand. I wouldn't have wasted natural resources if it was some other inner core, but the insect king was an earth-series spirit beast too, so I guarantee you that its inner core won't be wasted at all."

As it spoke, it suddenly burped, and its body swayed as if it was drunk.

Ou Yangming frowned. The inner core's energy had exceeded his imagination, to the extent that Big Yellow almost could not bear it.

The inner cores of normal spirit beasts—even high-rank ones—would not contain such fearsome energy.

Big Yellow did not have a high cultivation base, but it was unusually gifted. In particular, its stomach was an interspatial bag in disguise. Given such a stomach, it was naturally unbelievable that the big yellow dog could not withstand the inner core's power.

"Crack, crack, pop, pop…"

A series of explosions were heard coming from inside Big Yellow's body, and its body expanded by more than 3 times.

It was an instant change, causing Ou Yangming to be taken aback.

Big Yellow's body was bloody at the moment, and it gave off a strange aura. Despite that, the aura did not stay for long as it began to disperse after a few breaths, and the big yellow dog's body returned to normal in a split second.

Ou Yangming was stupefied, and he wondered, 'What power was that?'

When Big Yellow's body grew all of a sudden, its aura increased as well. Once everything went back to normal, its aura recovered and did not weaken just because it activated its potential on purpose.

Big Yellow shook its head hard. When it stopped after a brief moment, the look in its eyes went back to normal.

Ou Yangming asked eagerly, "Big Yellow, how was it?"

The big yellow dog tilted its head. It was surprised yet overjoyed. "I gained a new innate ability, and it's mighty…" It nodded and repeated, "It's really mighty, Lil' Ming, do you want me to show you?"

Ou Yangming looked deeply at it and laughed. "Not now; we must catch up to the rest. As for your new ability, hehe, I believe that you'll be able to use it soon."

After Big Yellow obtained the new ability, its combat power skyrocketed.

It had not broken through to a new boundary, but if it were to have a life-or-death fight against Fat Antelope or the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard, Ou Yangming would be optimistic about it instead.

The period when the momentum of Big Yellow's body increased suddenly was short, but if it was utilized well, it could defeat middle-rank spirit beasts, let alone low-rank spirit beasts.