Dai Hongru looked around and noticed everyone looking strangely at him. He could not help but get goosebumps, and his excitement from having advanced to Extreme Grade seemed to have disappeared at this moment too.
Although he did not know what happened, he could tell from the looks on everyone’s faces that something was off.
His good friend twitched his face and said, “Brother Dai, you… Oh, you’re the eleventh person to enter, so you don’t know, do you?”
The other people were stunned too, then they sighed and discussed with one another.
It seemed like the treatment could only be enjoyed by the first group of 10 people. All of a sudden, the remaining powerhouses at the peak of Yang Grade became sulky. They did not lose their fighting spirits, but they kept sighing.
Dai Hongru furrowed his eyebrows, and an odd feeling arose from his heart. He questioned closely, “Brother Liang, what exactly happened?”
His good friend’s name was Liang Xing, who was also at the peak of Yang Grade. With a look of regret, he explained, “Ah, Brother Dai, you have no idea. The 10 people from the first batch have acknowledged Master Ou as their teacher.”
Dai Hongru’s eyelids flickered. Needless to say, he did not forget what Ou Yangming told him when he entered the secret realm.
Besides, he clearly remembered Ou Yangming asking him if he would like to become his student too.
However, Dai Hongru hesitated for a while but because of that, Ou Yangming never gave him another chance.
For some reason, Dai Hongyu felt like he missed something important. He took a deep breath and asked, “Brother Liang, what will happen if someone acknowledges Master Ou as their master?”
Liang Xing looked strangely at him and responded snappily, “Hey, did you forget who Master Ou is? Ah, that’s Master Ou—the greatest blacksmith in the world, and someone who can smith magic tools!”
Dai Hongru cut him off because he was impatient. “I’m aware of all of that, but what does it have to do with being his student?”
Liang Xing shook his head and sighed. “Master Ou promised to customize a magic tool for each of his apprentices. Those are magic tools, and they’re custom-made, so they must be at least magic skill tools. Tell me… Hey, Brother Dai, what happened to you? Why do you look so pale?”
He was so focused on talking that he just only noticed that Dai Hongru had a ghastly look on his face. On top of that, the man’s aura of a newly-advanced Supreme Great Ancestor was also becoming unstable.
Dai Hongru inhaled deeply and suppressed his agitation, but his face looked awful and frightening.
As dumb as the others were, they could tell that something was wrong. They looked at each other and had the same thought, ‘Did this fella know about this but rejected Master Ou?’
In actuality, if one was asked to acknowledge someone as their teacher, one would likely not agree to it and might even beat up that person.
Nevertheless, if the presumptuous person was Master Ou, how would the situation turn out to be?
Dai Hongru’s face changed, which became so gloomy and fearsome that nobody dared to get close to him anymore. He had just become an Extreme Grade powerhouse, after all, hence the other Yang Grade powerhouses would not have the guts to offend him before they advanced.
After a brief moment, another flash of light was seen as Xu Yingda walked out from the secret realm.
A cheerful smile could be seen on his face, and his joy from entering Extreme Grade made him seem less steady. Even so, nobody would ridicule him because they could sense the intense change in his emotion. If they were in his shoes, they would probably behave in a more exaggerated manner.
Someone approached Xu Yingda as soon as he came out. The person bowed and greeted, “Brother Xu.”
Xu Yingda chuckled and said, “Ah, Brother Leng. Hehe, looks like you’re about to go in too.”
“I should be next.” The Yang Grade powerhouse, whose surname was Leng, nodded hard. Before Xu Yingda could say anything else, he quickly expressed himself and bowed to the ground, “Brother Xu, I have something to ask.”
“Brother Leng, please tell me what it is.” Xu Yingda was dumbfounded, and he immediately helped that powerhouse get up.
Even though that cultivator at the peak of Yang Grade had not entered Extreme Grade, he would soon enter the secret realm. As such, he might be on par with Xu Yingda once he came out after that.
Therefore, Xu Yingda dared not underestimate the powerhouse at all.
The powerhouse with the surname Leng asked sternly, “Brother Xu, may I ask if Master… Master Ou will allow us to acknowledge him as our teacher?” He quivered a little when he spoke, which was evident that the question was unusually important to him.
Xu Yingda laughed out loud. “Of course! As soon as I entered the secret realm, Master Ou asked if I’m willing to be his apprentice and acknowledge him as my master.”
The eyes of the other people lit up right away. In particular, the Yang Grade powerhouses that had not entered the secret realm smiled brightly and were overflowing with happiness.
“H-how did you answer him?” The powerhouse, whose surname was Leng, still spoke in a trembling voice.
“How could I miss such an opportunity? Of course, I agreed to it,” Xu Yingda answered without any hesitation. He looked at the people and seemed to have guessed something, thus he added with a smile, “Master Ou also said that he’ll customize a magic tool for me if I advance to Extreme Grade. Hehe, brothers, I’m sure you’ll be treated the same.”
“Ahh hail Master Ou…”
Someone suddenly shouted due to excitement, and the sound spread outside the secret realm in waves.
Wu Hanning turned to look and was delighted, but she kept a straight face and yelled, “Who’s clamoring there? Can you afford to affect Master Ou?” She scanned the crowd with bright eyes.
Everyone else shut their mouths and dared not say anything anymore. Despite that, they cursed internally, ‘That’s the secret realm anyway. As loud as we shout, Master Ou can’t even hear us…’
Having said that, nobody dared to question Her Royal Highness, who was rumored to have a complicated relationship with Master Ou.
Wu Hanning nodded and added, “Speak and act cautiously, and maintain your mental states. Those that clamor from now on will be kicked out of this place.”
“Yes,” the palace guards responded loudly and kept a close eye on the powerhouses.
They were far from the capable powerhouses at the peak of Yang Grade, but none of the powerhouses had the guts to stand out.
Xu Yingda laughed. He was no longer a part of those that were being watched, hence he walked outside. It was when he saw Dai Hongru, so he noted with a smile, “Brother Dai, you came out earlier than me.”
Dai Hongru’s face was as dark as ash. He subconsciously nodded at Xu Yingda.
The other Yang Grade powerhouses and imperial guards, who knew what happened, looked at him with pity. At this point, they knew it was not that Ou Yangming did not give him a chance, but he did not seize the opportunity when it was right in front of him.
Xu Yingda stared blankly at Dai Hongru and thought, ‘Did he fail?’
That said, he briefly sensed Dai Hongru’s aura and confirmed that he entered Extreme Grade.
“Brother Dai, you’re…”
Dai Hongru looked up and forced a smile, which was uglier than a crying face. “Brother Xu, it’s a long story.”
“Hey, leave first and don’t affect the rest.” Wu Hanning sighed softly.
The two newly-advanced powerhouses dared not reject the princess at all, thus they went outside with different moods.
After they left the imperial family, Xu Yingda hesitated for a while before he asked, “Brother Dai, since you’ve advanced to Extreme Grade, why are you pulling a long face?”
He did not know what happened just now, so he never expected someone to make such an error.
Dai Hongru looked bitter as he explained, “Brother Xu, frankly speaking, Master Ou asked me the same question when I entered the secret realm.”
“Master… Ou?” Xu Yingda was struck dumb, but he had a weird look on his face after a brief moment. “Brother Dai, did you not agree?”
“I’m ashamed—I was thinking about it, so I held some time,” Dai Hongru answered softly.
Xu Yingda’s face twitched. He shook his head and sighed. “It’s such a pity that you didn’t seize the great opportunity.”
They came from different places but were allocated to the same group. Since they were also neighbors in terms of their entering order, they conversed a bit before they entered the secret realm.
After coming out from the realm, while they both advanced to Extreme Grade, their development futures would be entirely different due to their dissimilar choices.
A customized magic tool would surely be a magic skill tool.
During a fight between equal-ranked powerhouses, if one party used such a magic tool, would there still be a need to determine victory or defeat?
Moreover, many people must have acknowledged Ou Yangming as their teacher, and those people altogether would become an extremely terrifying force. Though some of the powerhouses were from the imperial family while some were from the inherited aristocratic families from the 8 counties, given the same identity, they would play big and unimaginable roles.
At the very least, rogue cultivators and Supreme Great Ancestors that were not from influential families would follow Ou Yangming’s lead from today onward.
Dai Hongru’s lips trembled, and he did not know how to explain.
It was too late for him to regret it. If he was given another chance to choose, he would not hesitate at all.
However, would he be given another chance?
Outside the secret realm, flashes of light were seen one after another as cultivators that arrived at Extreme Grade walked out one by one.
Whenever powerhouses came out, they would be questioned by their acquaintances for the same thing.
Naturally, those that acknowledged Ou Yangming as their teacher were congratulated by the people.
As for the newly-advanced Supreme Great Ancestors that did not choose to follow Ou Yangming due to various reasons, they suddenly realized that people were looking strangely at them.
Once they knew what was going on, they felt like a pail of cold water was splashed on them, and they were freezing from head to toe.
At that time, the Supreme Great Ancestors had different thoughts in their minds; some joyful, some sorrowful.
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