Beside the Wutong Tree, Ou Yangming lamented when it looked at the high-rank lizards, which had been tied up by rattans.

He had racked his brain to go against the fellows, where he did anything possible such as sneaking attacks, killing them in secret, as well as adopting other vicious means. Despite doing everything by fair means or foul, he only killed a few high-rank lizards.

On the other hand, once he lured them to the Wutong Tree, they were easily captured by the rattans as though an old eagle caught little chicks.

Ou Yangming cursed internally after seeing how efficient and capable the Wutong Tree was, and he developed a strong urge to improve himself. If he could one day arrive at the Wutong Tree's standard, he would really be able to act without any restraints.

Nonetheless, the powerful Wutong Tree had a huge flaw; it could not shift itself and could only live in this secret realm.

In a way, the secret realm was its living environment but also an enormous cage for it. On a certain level, even the big lazy turtle had more freedom.

Needless to say, Ou Yangming had learned not to see things from his perspective anymore.

At the end of the day, existence was reasonable. The big lazy turtle would rather sleep and take care of the spiritual flowers and herbs inside the Long Feather Band's space than coming out for freedom. Perhaps it was also the Wutong Tree's blessing to be able to live in this place.

"Master, these little fellas offended you. How would you like me to handle them?" A human face surfaced on the extensive tree wall, and it flashed a flattering smile at Ou Yangming.

Ou Yangming answered after some thought, "Beat them up until they're half-dead. I have some questions for them."

The Wutong Tree responded without any delay, "Yes, Master."

With that, the rattans around the lizards kept tightening up so that they would lose their breaths.

Earlier on, the Wutong Tree did not strangle them to their deaths right after it captured them; it only tied them up to stop them from moving at all. Now, the rattans unleashed their powers instead and made the lizards feel hopeless right away.

All of the high-rank lizards struggled with all their might, but their powers, which they took pride in, were useless against the seemingly insignificant rattans.

Ou Yangming watched quietly. He did not pity the lizards at all just because they were struggling.

Back when the lizards slaughtered the people from the towns, they were 100 times more ruthless than this.

Their sufferings at this moment were only a small bit of that.

After a brief moment, the lizards could not struggle anymore due to the tightenings from the rattans. They stuck out their tongues, and their bodies were covered in bruises.

The Insects were known for their remarkable life forces, but there was also a limit to that. Once they arrived at that limit, they would be in dying states.

Ou Yangming took a deep breath and instantly released his mental power. He included everything around him into his spiritual realm.

Normally, as mighty as his mental power was, it would be wishful thinking for him to deal with so many high-rank lizards in one go. In fact, he might not even be able to suppress one of them. However, the lizards could not resist anything at this moment, hence they were easily drawn into his spiritual world.

Inside the spiritual world, Ou Yangming was the ruler. As long as his opponents were not capable of oppressing him, they would not be able to affect his control over them.

"Where's Ghost-clawed Venerable One?"

An overpowering and majestic voice echoed in the lizards' heads. It was so loud that they could not turn a deaf ear to it at all.

Moreover, the voice entered the depths of their hearts, causing their souls to be shaken, so they were frightened out of their wits.

The lizards could naturally resist the power if they were in their peak states, but the problem was that they were in dying states. Whether it was their bodies or wills, they had been weakened due to the immense fear that they were feeling. Therefore, they could not resist the coercion created by Ou Yangming on purpose.

"Sir Venerable One's keeping watch in the Ghost Cave and hasn't come out."

"Why didn't it come after me itself?"

"Sir didn't want to draw the attention of the other Venerable Ones, so it sent us here."

"Why is that so?" Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows and wondered, 'What's Ghost-clawed Venerable One afraid of?"

"The sirs watch over an area each and can sense each other, so the other sirs will be alerted if one of them leaves. Sir wants to claim all of the benefits for itself this time, so it can't act rashly."

Ou Yangming came to a sudden realization after he pondered for a brief moment.

The Insects' society was extremely different from that of the Humans. Human Venerable Ones were not only respectable, but they were also very independent.

On the contrary, the Venerable Ones among the Insects were closely connected. This would be advantageous because the other Venerable Ones would be alarmed if something happened to one of them, and they could provide help whenever necessary.

Of course, everything has its pros and cons. The downside to this was that it would be difficult for any of the insect Venerable Ones to do something without the knowledge of the other Venerable Ones.

Theoretically, even if a person from the lower realm had a big secret, one should not draw the attention of a Venerable One. Nevertheless, Ou Yangming was different because he possessed the Heavenly Phoenix Fire and the Devouring attributes, which were mighty abilities that were beyond this world, thus it made sense for insect Venerable Ones to go after him.

Even so, Ghost-clawed Venerable One's hands were tied because it wanted to fully benefit from this.

Ou Yangming sneered and questioned, "Will Ghost-clawed make a move itself if you're all dead?"

"Of course," the lizards answered subconsciously, "Sir will have an excuse to leave the Ghost Cave to pursue the murderer so that it can avenge our deaths."

The young fellow curled his lips and said, "Ghost-clawed Venerable One planned this so well; it's sacrificing you for a chance to make a move. Heh, it's quite merciless."

If Ghost-clawed Venerable One was present and heard his remark, it would probably vomit blood.

The Twelve Walkers were the strongest powerhouses among the Lizards in Danzhou for the last 1,000 years, and they were all top-notch. As long as there were sufficient resources, they could become spirit beasts at the peak and might be able to become Venerable Ones.

Of course, judging from the Lizards' resources, not all of them would be given the opportunity.

Having said that, it was clear how formidable they were in their race in terms of their statuses and natural gifts.

In a way, the Twelve Walkers represented the future of the Lizards in Danzhou.

As selfish as Ghost-clawed Venerable One was, it would not sacrifice them.

In actuality, it was a first that the Twelve Walkers were sent to track and find a human from the lower realm. Everyone would think that it was a waste.

Who knew, Ou Yangming managed to kill 9 high-rank spirit beasts and cleaned out a lizard's nest in one go. It was a nature-defying miracle.

When Ghost-clawed Venerable One found out about everything, it would definitely break its heart.

As Ou Yangming continued to interrogate them with his mental conception, the 6 high-rank lizards answered his questions accordingly, allowing him to gain a deep understanding of the Insects.

After a long time, Ou Yangming slowly exited his spiritual realm and waved his hand gently. "Kill them."

"Pow…"

The 6 rattans tightened all of a sudden, and their forceful powers squeezed the lizards into meat pastes.

As potent as a high-rank spirit beast was, one would merely be a big ant in front of the Wutong Tree.

Once the lizards turned into meat pastes, 6 large holes appeared on the ground, then the rattans sent the flesh and blood into them.

Ou Yangming watched the process without stopping the Wutong Tree at all. Since it did all the work, the flesh and blood would be its reward.

"Master, they have a Venerable One behind them!" The face on the tree wall laughed. "You can lure it into the secret realm, and I'll handle it for you."

"You're confident?" Ou Yangming asked as he looked at it.

A Venerable One was not a Spiritualist. They might only be a level apart, but there was a huge disparity between their strengths.

"I never dealt with a Venerable One before, but I'm certainly more confident than them." The Wutong tree chuckled. Several rattans waved in mid-air as it continued, "This is my territory, after all. Apart from you, Master, any other living being would be walking right into a trap if they come here."

Ou Yangming could not help but laugh when he sensed how confident it was.

The only thing was that it would be tough to lure Ghost-clawed Venerable One here.

Ou Yangming was about to speak when his face changed. This was because the fire that became one with him somehow exploded in his sea of consciousness and released tremendous energy.

It was an unforeseen change, so Ou Yangming was caught off guard.

The blazing flame's aura spread involuntarily, so much so that even the Wutong Tree could sense it.

That said, the Wutong Tree enjoyed the aura very much, such that the face on the tree squinted its eyes and moaned with pleasure.

Ou Yangming's face twitched. He looked up at the sky in the secret realm, but he seemed to be looking past the realm and saw an unknown place faraway.

It was not accidental that the fire without warning; there must be a reason behind it.

He could sense that an incredibly mighty power of the same source seemed to be getting closer, and it was exactly the reason for the change inside his body.

There was such a notable reaction from his body when the power was only nearby. If it was right in front of him…

Ou Yangming's face changed. He was doubtful if he could resist such a fearsome being.

After a long time, he finally controlled the unusual change inside his body. He looked up and stared at the face on the tree wall coldly, then he asked, "Wutong, do you have a way to seal the secret realm's entrance temporarily and cut off any connection with the outside world?"

"Why do you want to seal the entrance?" The Wutong Tree was shocked.

Ou Yangming waved his hand impatiently and uttered, "I'm asking if you can do it."

The Wutong Tree dared not delay the matter as it sensed the unordinary fear and rage from Ou Yangming, so it quickly answered, "Yes, yes, yes…"

Ou Yangming sighed a breath of relief and mumbled, "That'll be great…"