"Hostage?" Ou Yangming had an extremely weird look on his face. Although he was already captured by Qiu Chengwang, he did not panic at all and looked calmly at the man.

Qiu Chengwang's face changed. He suddenly lost confidence.

The young human cultivator was a potent blacksmith that had a pivotal position in the Beast King Sect.

This was clear to see from how Multi-armed King Kong went all-out to protect him.

According to Qiu Chengwang, he could threaten the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One and Multi-armed King Kong by taking down Ou Yangming. Even if he could not find out about the secret behind Master Kurong's recovery, he could at least protect himself.

Nonetheless, his confidence was shaken up when he saw the expression on Ou Yangming's face. 'Is this young cultivator not as important as I imagined him to be?'

Even so, it was only a fleeting thought. He immediately curbed his thoughts and scoffed angrily. "Who set up this Illusion Formation? Quickly remove it!"

The path of formation maps was broad and profound. As experienced as a person was, even if one studied all of them, one could not master every single formation map in the world.

It was worth noting that the same Illusion Map could be separated into many types due to the different attacking directions. Qiu Chengwang was considered a formation master, hence he understood this very well. Especially when he thought about the 2 formidable Venerable Ones that were keeping an eye outside the formation map, he no longer thought about breaking the formation.

Ou Yangming chuckled. Even when he had fallen into the hands of a Venerable One, he was not afraid. "Your Excellency, even at this point, can't you tell whose trick this is?"

Qiu Chengwang tensed up a little and looked with bright eyes at Ou Yangming. His fierce eyes gave off a strong cold intent as though he was going to freeze everything.

"Oh, could this be your trick?" Qiu Chengwang stated, "You're a notable blacksmith, and it's indeed possible for you to study formation maps. Hehe, but in terms of the path of formation maps alone, which sect can be mentioned on equal terms with Reborn in Paradise?"

Ou Yangming kept the smile on his face and replied to him, "You're right, you're right. If that's the case, please go ahead and break this… Formation map!" He emphasized the words "formation map" on purpose as if he was mocking the man.

Qiu Chengwang twitched his mouth and sneered. "You're already in my hands, so why should I waste my effort to derive this formation map?" As he shook his wrists, an enormous spiritual power was released. He was going to teach Ou Yangming a lesson.

Who knew, once his spiritual power gushed out, he was shocked to find that Ou Yangming seemed to have turned into a bottomless hole. No matter how much spiritual power the man released, the young fellow did not look like he was in pain at all. Instead, the fellow squinted his eyes and looked like he was enjoying the moment.

Qiu Chengwang was appalled. 'What exactly is this young fella's origin? Why does he have such a magical trick?'

He grunted and turned his wrist to strike Ou Yangming's chest.

Given that Ou Yangming was such a peculiar person, he must not be underestimated even if he was only an Intermediate Spiritualist. As such, Qiu Chengwang decided to severely injure the young fellow first.

Nevertheless, when Qiu Chengwang's palm almost touched Ou Yangming's body, he halted. This was because his palm was somehow being held by the young fellow's hand from below. Moreover, the big hand appeared to be giant steel pliers that seized his wrist and stopped his arm from moving at all.

'Such power, such power…'

Qiu Chengwang was already in disbelief. As he widened his frog-like eyes, a frightening thought crossed his mind.

"You… You're not Ou Yangming!" He yelled fiercely.

'Is this young fella in front of me disguised by 10,000 Beasts Venerable One?

'If that's the case, this Illusion Formation has a powerful background.'

"Heh, I'm not Ou Yangming? Are you Ou Yangming then?" Ou Yangming laughed out loud. "Stop guessing blindly. You're actually looking in the right direction this time; Master Kurong's new lease of life is indeed related to the Beast King Sect… Or me."

"You?" Qiu Chengwang was puzzled. He truly could not understand how an insignificant Intermediate Spiritualist could play an important role in this aspect.

Ou Yangming sighed. "I seemed to have forgotten to tell you that I have another identity." He beamed as he uttered, "I'm the Phoenixes' messenger."

"The Phoenixes… Messenger?" Qiu Chengwang was startled. He looked strangely at Ou Yangming.

He was displeased that Ou Yangming defeated Qu Zhengde and emerged as the victor in the Big Smithing Competition between the 2 prefectures, but he did not take it to heart. After all, Reborn in Paradise was known for formation maps, thus they did not pay too much attention to smithing art.

Furthermore, Qiu Chengwang was completely immersed in finding out how Master Kurong regained vitality, so he did not have the time to care about anything else.

Despite that, he instantly thought about many things after he heard the words "the Phoenixes' messenger".

"The Phoenixes—did they descend to the Spiritual Realm this time for you?" Qiu Chengwang stared at Ou Yangming as he uttered word by word.

Ou Yangming grinned without saying a word. He cast an approving look at the man and thought, 'This fella's not a complete idiot, after all.'

Qiu Chengwang twitched his mouth. At this point, he felt that Ou Yangming was no longer a human, but an ancient ferocious beast that hid its true colors.

He spoke bitterly, "The Phoenixes? Eternal Pills—it must be Eternal Pills…"

Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows as he was surprised. 'This fella's quite capable indeed. He has a well-deserved reputation.'

Qiu Chengwang looked up abruptly and said, "Master Ou, I was reckless and ignorant to have offended the Phoenixes' messenger. Please forgive me."

The young fellow sighed. "When you attacked me earlier, did you think about letting me off the hook?"

Qiu Chengwang was struck dumb and speechless.

He could make up lies, but he knew he would not be able to fool the Phoenixes' messenger.

Ou Yangming looked coldly at him and responded, "I won't mess with people that don't mess with me; if somebody messes with me, I'll surely pay it back by 100 times…"

An invisible slowly rose into the void and pressed toward Qiu Chengwang's body bit by bit.

Qiu Chengwang sensed the power right away. He was even more terrified because he noticed that the shackles, which he initially thought to have loosened up, seemed to have regained power to constrain his spiritual power again.

Under the circumstances, not to mention an Intermediate Spiritualist, even a Common Grade powerhouse that was new to martial arts could easily beat him up.

He smiled miserably and said, "I get it now—this isn't an Illusion Formation. It's… A spiritual world that's unique to the Phoenixes according to legend."

Ou Yangming was surprised. "You're a Venerable One from Reborn in Paradise indeed. I admire how knowledgeable you are."

When he approached the man earlier, he did not set up an Illusion Formation indeed. Instead, he released his spiritual world and drew Qiu Chengwang inside.

If Qiu Chengwang was neither injured nor constrained, as bold as Ou Yangming was, he would not have done that. The Phoenixes' spiritual world was incredibly mighty and could directly connect with the world's origin. Having said that, an Intermediate Spiritualist would be courting death by trapping a Venerable One with his mental power.

However, Qiu Chengwang was half-dead after suffering so many blows from Multi-armed King Kong.

A man that lost his power would be humiliated—if Ou Yangming did not seize the opportunity to act unrestrained, he might not find another unlucky Venerable One.

As expected, the Phoenixes' spiritual world's profoundness was unparalleled. It completely worked according to Ou Yangming's wish and even gave Qiu Chengwang a misconception that he was no longer trapped.

That said, at this time, both parties were going to fight till one's last gasp.

Ou Yangming's remarkable mental power penetrated Qiu Chengwang's body like a sharp blade. The man's body in the young fellow's sea of consciousness at the moment was merely his mental conception, but the second the virtual spiritual saber stabbed it, his body in the outside world quivered intensely.

The 10,000 Beasts Venerable One and Multi-armed King Kong exchanged glances. They both realized how unpredictable Ou Yangming's trick was.

It was true that the Phoenixes' various powers were exceptional, but they were nearly legendary. Unless one was in Qiu Chengwang's shoes, it would be difficult to imagine how profound those powers were.

Inside the spiritual world, as the powerful mental power impacted Qiu Chengwang's illusory body repeatedly, his aura eventually weakened.

Qiu Chengwang was a legitimate Venerable One, but he was skilled at formations, such that he was inferior to even Multi-armed King Kong in terms of spiritual will. Besides, Ou Yangming was using the Phoenixes' secret lost art at the moment.

When one rose, the other would fall. Qiu Chengwang, who was seriously injured, could not resist anymore. After being attacked by the mental power that contained the Heavenly Phoenix Fire, his mind finally crumbled.

Following a shrill shriek, Qiu Chengwang's body shook intensely then finally relaxed.

Nonetheless, his eyes were no longer focused. His strength was still there, but his spiritual world had turned into a white sheet, by which his memories were wiped out to be cleaner than that of a newborn.

The change was apparent to the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One and Multi-armed King Kong, so they were both shocked. They knew Ou Yangming was a friend and not a foe, but they could not help but look at him in fear.

Such an ability was truly nature-defying and unbelievable. Of course, most importantly, it was too fearsome.