Immortal Path To Heaven

by Srtyi

"Master Ouyang, please smith a divine weapon for me!" "Master Ouyang, you're the only person who can forge a weapon with seven attributes. Please make my dream come true!" "Master Ouyang, could you..." "Ouyang my *ss! My surname is Ou!" Ou Yangming was an orphan who was adopted by a reputable old blacksmith from a military camp. After working as a helper under the old man for years

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Chapter 33: Pry

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The road on the way back was still flat. Although Ou Yangming felt uneasy as he lost some power and agility, he felt much better than when his power increased so suddenly during his journey to the forest.

He returned to the military camp safe and sound and got back to his courtyard easily since he had the waist tag of an official Military Fire Blacksmith.

Just as he fetched a pail of water to clean himself, Old Craftsman's voice was heard.

"Fella, open the door!"

Ou Yangming quickly ran to open the door.

After looking at him from head to toe, Old Craftsman finally sighed a breath of relief, and his tensed face loosened up a little. Nonetheless, he complained, "B*stard, where have you been? You actually know that you should come home?"

While Old Craftsman was being very strict, Ou Yangming felt warmth in his heart, and he was delighted.

Since he was an orphan, he had never been someone's concern.

'Come home.'

The simple words almost made Ou Yangming weep.

Upon sensing his unusual behavior, Old Craftsman's anger disappeared, and he asked worriedly, "Young fella, what's wrong?"

Ou Yangming quickly curbed his emotions as he asked, "Old Man, why did you come so quickly?"

"You disappeared without saying a word. If someone hadn't seen you, I would've thought that…" Old Craftsman scoffed, then paused for a while before he continued, "Sir Kang asked about you, and I told him that you went to run some errands. If you're still not back, I would've sought help from General Chen."

Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. Sir Kang did not look at him in the eye at all back when he was still a helper, let alone care about him. After Ou Yangming became an official Military Fire Blacksmith and handed in five pieces of Attribute Equipment, there was an instant 180-degree change in Kang Weibo's attitude toward him.

Kang Weibo visited personally to ask about Ou Yangming who had not returned for only a few days.

Needless to say, if Ou Yangming had a choice, he would rather Kang Weibo show no interest in him.

"Where exactly did you go?" Old Craftsman asked.

Ou Yangming looked away as he tried to come up with an explanation. Obviously, he was not going to tell the truth, but the thought of fooling the old man made him uncomfortable.

"Forget it, it's fine if you don't want to tell me, but let me tell you something." Old Craftsman suddenly waved his hand, then mentioned seriously, "No matter what you do, you must be careful. Remember, you only have one life, and there's no room for you to regret it at all."

"Yes, I'll remember, Old Man." Ou Yangming nodded hard. He was secretly grateful that Old Craftsman did not force an answer out of him because the old man could tell that it would make things difficult for him.

"Did you gain anything from going wild outside for three days?" Old Craftsman asked.

Ou Yangming pondered for a while before he answered, "Old Man, the world outside is completely different from the military camp, I was extremely enlightened!"

"Oh? How were you enlightened? Tell me about it." Old Craftsman was interested.

"It's a perception, and I can't describe it." Ou Yangming chuckled.

Old Craftsman slapped his head snappily, then commented, "Young fella, enlightened my *ss!"

Ou Yangming quickly replied, "I was, I was. I think… Uhm, I have some ideas about increasing the Unique Attributes of a High Grade equipment."

Due to his purple Military Fire's unique nature, he could simply achieve that effortlessly.

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming never revealed that to anyone, thus even Old Craftsman had no idea that he could already add Unique Attributes to High Grade equipment.

"Young fella, don't reach for what's beyond your grasp. The most important thing about being a Military Fire Blacksmith is to be conscientious. Hmph, High Grade equipment is completely different from Good Grade equipment, and it's more difficult to attach attributes on them. Being able to smith one doesn't mean that you can attach attributes too." Old Craftsman's face tensed up again, and he added after thinking for a while, "Judging from your talent, you'll be amazing if you can achieve that within three to six months!"

Ou Yangming was slightly moved because he could wait if a three-month period was acceptable for Old Craftsman.

"Old Man, I'll definitely try my best, but…" He hesitated for a moment. "I realize that going outside really helps me."

Old Craftsman giggled. "At the end of the day, you just want to go out, don't you? Okay, I promise you. As long as you complete five pieces of Good Grade Attribute Equipment and twenty pieces of High Grade White Slate Equipment every month, you may go."

Ou Yangming was instantly elated, but his eyes suddenly flashed as he asked, "Old Man, are you asking me to complete yours too?"

'Old Craftsman's monthly quota is three pieces of Good Grade Attribute Equipment, and along with my quota of two pieces, doesn't it mean that I'll have to smith everything?'

"Are you going to do it or not?!" Old Craftsman stared at him.

"I'll do it, of course, I'll do it!" Ou Yangming quickly responded, "It's such a small matter, so leave it to me."

Indeed, adding attributes was an extremely difficult task for Old Craftsman, but it was as easy as eating and drinking for Ou Yangming.

After dealing with the old man, Ou Yangming finally felt a bit tired.

Even though he had plenty of blood and flesh in the dense forest to replenish himself when he cultivated, and the martial-art squat helped him get rid of the exhaustion, it did not mean that he could really live without sleeping at all.

Ou Yangming used his Military Fire to draw the attributes from his arm guards and greaves, then put the equipment set in a corner.

Details determined success or failure. Old Craftsman nagged him about this numerous times, so he always bore it in mind.

Ou Yangming was deep asleep shortly after he got on his bed.

The next morning, he stretched his body when he woke up, and the weariness from the last few days was gone.

He strode out of his courtyard and headed to his smithing workshop to begin working.

However, he was unaware that a figure sneaked into his courtyard by going over the wall not long after he left.

The person covered his face using his sleeves. It was Han Changling, the person who blamed Ou Yangming in the past but ended up being beaten by Sui Hezhi. Due to that incident, not only did he get beaten up for nothing, but he also offended Old Craftsman indirectly. If not for Zhang Yinfan from the Provision Camp who stood up for him, Kang Weibo would have added insult to his injury too.

After all, as long as one was not a fool, one would know who to pick between Old Craftsman and Han Changling.

Han Changling walked carefully without touching anything. He searched Ou Yangming's room and courtyard carefully as if he was looking for something.

"Did sir make a mistake? How can this fella have a cylindrical Fire-absorbing Badge? But what exactly is a Fire-absorbing Badge…" He rubbed his neck after a long time as he mumbled. He did not find anything unusual even after searching for some time, but he suddenly noticed a pile of armaments in a corner.

Han Changling approached the pile carefully, then picked up a greave to look at it closely. At the spur of the moment, his face changed as he exclaimed, "High Grade equipment!"

In actual fact, the greave was already at the peak of High Grade, but Han Changling could not distinguish that through his naked eyes.

He measured the greave's size by comparing it with his body and confirmed that the greave was smithed to fit Ou Yangming.

Following that, he put the greave down then picked up the arm guards, the armor, the helmet, and the military saber.

Though the Unique Attributes in those pieces of equipment had been withdrawn by Ou Yangming, the fact that they were of Good Grade was shocking.

In the end, Han Changling was even trembling a little.

'How long has Ou Yangming been using the Military Fire? It has only been three months at most.'

'He actually smithed pieces of Good Grade Attribute Equipment in three months, though people are saying that it was Old Craftsman who smithed them.'

Han Changling had only taken it by a pinch of salt, but after seeing the pieces of High Grade equipment with special specifications, he became skeptical about it.

'Is it true that it wasn't Old Craftsman who forged the pieces of Attribute Equipment, but Ou Yangming?'

'If that's the case, the young fella has a bright future, and it won't be wise for me to go against him…'

Han Changling hesitated for a while, then placed everything back to where they were as though they were never shifted at all.

Subsequently, he left cautiously without making a sound, then headed to the Provision Camp to meet Zhang Yinfan.

"Sir, I've searched everywhere, and I didn't see the Fire-absorbing Badge in his house or his smithing workshop," Han Changling mentioned respectfully, "But I found a few… Pieces of High Grade equipment in his room."

Zhang Yinfan frowned. "What's so odd about a few pieces of High Grade equipment? Old Craftsman even smithed a number of Fine Grade ones before."

Han Changling smiled bitterly. "Sir, I suspect that it wasn't Old Craftsman who smithed them."

"What?" Zhang Yinfan was stunned. His face changed slightly. "Did Ou Yangming smith them himself?"

"It's very… Possible," Han Changling answered hesitantly.

Zhang Yinfan's face darkened a little. He obviously understood what Han Changling meant. It was not just very possible, because it was definitely it.

"Sir, he's not ordinary, and I'm afraid that he'll be very successful in the future. In my opinion, no matter what happened in the past…" Han Changling glanced at Zhang Yinfan carefully when he spoke, but the moment he noticed the fierce look in Zhang Yinfan's eyes, he was so scared that he quickly stopped and left.

Zhang Yinfan was the only one left in the room.

He mumbled as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Does Hanyu's disappearance really have nothing to do with him? But there mustn't be a mistake from the Fire-absorbing Badge no matter what!"

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Chapter 34: Request

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In the West Camp, more than a hundred people who were in a row wielded their military saber and moved their shield as they advanced and retreated in an orderly manner.

Although there were no outsiders around them, they were serious and fully focused when they practiced their formations, and none of them dared to slack.

Chen Yifan governed the army strictly such that if anyone dared to slack during training, not only would that person be punished, but the rest would also be punished too. Hence, the soldiers put their utmost effort during centralized training.

Finally, Liu Zhengye shouted when the formation drill ended, "Halt!"

Everyone stood still immediately, and nobody moved an inch even when the cold wind blew.

Far away, Chen Yifan nodded slowly as he was satisfied that he managed to train strong soldiers in such a short period of time.

He stood up proudly and spoke loudly, "Boys, keep up the good work. In a month, the next round of selections will begin, so show the new recruits the strength of an experienced soldier!"

"Yes, General!" More than a hundred soldiers from the Guards roared loudly.

Chen Yifan laughed for a while before dismissing them.

Subsequently, Sui Hezhi exhaled deeply. He was drenched in sweat, and his body was overheating, but he was joyful.

He shook his clothes as he walked with the rest, and returned to his barrack in no time. The moment he entered the barrack, he was tapped on the back.

Sui Hezhi was shocked as someone actually approached him soundlessly.

He turned around at once but quickly loosened up again after seeing who it was.

"Squad Leader Yan, are you trying to scare me to death!"

The person behind Sui Hezhi was Yan Haobo, one of the ten squad leaders in the Guards.

Though Yan Haobo was the squad leader of another squad, they were friends as they clicked well.

"Hehe…" It was evident that Yan Haobo and Sui Hezhi had an unordinary relationship. He urged Sui Hezhi to sit down. "My boy, I heard that you made a hit during your last hunt."

Sui Hezhi raised his eyebrow. "Haha, you heard it too?"

After receiving Ou Yangming's Attribute Military Saber, his strength advanced further, thus it was reasonable that his performance stood out too.

"Did you think that I don't know? Now that you have a good saber, are you proud?" Yan Haobo smiled indifferently, then tapped the item on his waist. "I have a Good Grade military saber too, and it's not inferior to yours at all!"

A squad leader from the Guards was naturally different from one that led normal soldiers because the former was given a Good Grade military saber. Nevertheless, Yan Haobo heard that Sui Hezhi's saber was at the peak of Good Grade, which was much better than this.

Sui Hezhi chuckled, then handed his military saber to Yan Haobo. "You'll find out if you wield it."

He would never let anyone else touch his weapon, but Yan Haobo was different as they were friends who swore to live and die together.

He swung it a few times after receiving it and was clearly envious because the saber's gleam, toughness, and sharpness were indeed a level above his.

While there was no essential difference between them, one could easily tell the better one apart from the worse.

"Nice, this is a really nice saber!" Yan Haobo handed it back to Sui Hezhi. "My boy, you're quite blessed."

Among squad leaders, the treatments given were different. Those with a strong background could even acquire an Attribute Equipment, whereas someone like him who had a humble background was only given a standard military saber.

Instead of taking his military saber back, Sui Hezhi curled his lips at the squad leader. "Are you done appreciating it?"

Yan Haobo was stunned. "Yes…"

"Hehe, you're inexperienced!" Sui Hezhi remarked, "This saber isn't as simple as you think it is."

"You're the one who's in…" Yan Haobo mocked but suddenly paused to look at the military saber closely.

The moment he channeled a bit of essential Qi into the saber, he was dumbfounded. "An Attribute Weapon!"

Among all Attribute Equipment, the rarest and the most favored ones were undoubtedly weapons.

Normally, between weapons and defense equipment with the same attributes, the former was much more expensive.

"Are you floored now?" Sui Hezhi was proud. He glanced at Yan Haobo's military saber disdainfully, and even a fool could sense the mockery. "How can your standard military saber compare with mine? Hmph…"

Yan Haobo's face reddened a little, but luckily it could not be seen as he had a dark face.

He quickly pulled Sui Hezhi to ask, "What exactly is going on? You must tell me."

Sui Hezhi did not hide the secret from Yan Haobo. He explained how he became associated with Ou Yangming, and Yan Haobo's face changed upon hearing that Ou Yangming was able to smith an Attribute Military Saber at the peak of Good Grade.

"My boy, did you say that Master Ou who's only fifteen or sixteen years old can smith a Good Grade Armament Weapon after obtaining the Military Fire for less than three months?" Yan Haobo asked in disbelief.

Although he was not a Military Fire Blacksmith, he was not ill-informed at all.

Sui Hezhi sighed. "Yes. If I hadn't witnessed and experienced it, I wouldn't have believed it too."

Yan Haobo stood up and paced back and forth in the room. He later stopped as he said, "I'd like to ask you for a favor."

Sui Hezhi shook his head. "Brother, I'm lucky to be friends with Brother Ou. If you'd like to request something from him, I really don't know how I should ask."

Yan Haobo put his hands out helplessly. "My boy, you know how I am, I won't make things difficult for you if I'm doing this for myself. Chengcai signed up for the upcoming selections."

Sui Hezhi was stunned for a while. "Chengcai's strong enough to participate in it, and if he's lucky, he might be picked by Captain to join the Guards."

"The West Camp has a thousand soldiers, and his martial arts cultivation base is only barely a pass, so it won't be easy for him to fight his way out, but…" Yan Haobo chuckled. His eyes glowed when he said, "If he can get a treasure sword that's at the peak of Good Grade, his wish might come true."

Sui Hezhi gritted his teeth, then sighed after some time. "Okay, I'll do my part as an uncle, but I can't guarantee if Brother Ou will agree to this."

"Thank you, my boy." Yan Haobo was elated. He knew that Sui Hezhi was doing him a huge favor.

"What would Master Ou like as a gift?"

"Oh, he…" Sui Hezhi pondered seriously. "He likes wild animal meat very much, so he'll definitely like it if you give him a big one!"

Yan Haobo was struck dumb. He wondered, 'What liking is that? Indeed, capable Military Fire Blacksmiths have weird character…'"Swoosh, swoosh…"

The Military Fire danced like an elf in Ou Yangming's hand. Through the burning fire, a pair of Good Grade greaves were produced.

Since he used the drawing and upgrading ability of his Military Fire, the greaves were top-notch products.

[Item: Outstanding greave]

[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, Good Grade, Rank Five]

[Attributes: Toughness 15, Durability 14]

This was one of the greaves' White Slate Attributes, and the only difference in the other greave's attributes was that the Durability was only 13.

Even though Ou Yangming could increase, reduce, and shift attributes by using his Military Fire, the Durability attribute was out of his control. Among the many pieces of equipment that he smithed and restored, only very few were perfect and flawless. Most of them were flawed in terms of their durability such that they were more inferior than those of the same rank.

Needless to say, he was able to smith more equipment at the maximum threshold the more he practiced, which proved that he could control his Military Fire better.

All of a sudden, an awkward cough was heard outside.

Ou Yangming was startled, but he quickly chuckled.

Someone was waiting for him outside but was afraid to disturb him, so that person announced his arrival through this method.

When Ou Yangming opened the door, he was surprised to see the familiar face.

Sui Hezhi smiled at him. "Brother Ou, I'm here to disturb you again.

Ou Yangming looked at him strangely and counted the days. 'This isn't right. Doesn't he only come once in ten days? Why is he early this time?'

Before long, he noticed some figures moving behind Sui Hezhi.

When Ou Yangming took a step forward, he noticed two burly soldiers behind him. One of them had thick eyebrows, big eyes, had a calm look, and seemed to be in his thirties. On the other hand, the other man was not much older than Ou Yangming and had an immature bearing though he had a sturdy physique. He was looking at Ou Yangming curiously at the moment.

Upon seeing him, the young man smiled brightly yet embarrassedly.

Ou Yangming was taken aback as it was his first time seeing someone shyer than him.

Sui Hezhi smiled awkwardly. "Brother Ou, they're my close associates, and they wanted to meet you after hearing about you."

"Are they from the Guards too?" Ou Yangming was slightly moved.

The young man blushed right away. "My uncle is, I… I'm trying my best, and I'll definitely join the Guards led by the general!"

"Master, please forgive my nephew, he's not good with words." The middle-aged man smiled. He cupped his hands at Ou Yangming. "I'm Yan Haobo, and my nephew's name is Yan Chengcai. Greetings, Master Ou."

Ou Yangming quickly acknowledged the politeness with a bow. Since Yan Haobo was a member of the Guards led by General Chen Yifan, he was not an outsider.

This was a default rule in the military. Since Old Craftsman and Ou Yangming were considered to be under General Chen, Ou Yangming had to treat him with special respect even if it was for the general's sake.

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Yan Chengcai turned his shoulder when Yan Haobo signaled him with his eyes.

It was then when Ou Yangming saw that he was carrying a huge bag.

He was familiar with the bag as he would receive one from Sui Hezhi every ten days.

When he turned to glance at Sui Hezhi, the fellow was smiling awkwardly. "Brother Ou, this is a gift from Squad Leader Yan, so please accept it."

Ou Yangming frowned a little. "Big Brother Sui, I shouldn't receive a reward if it's not deserved… Why are they giving me such a big gift?"

He thought to himself, 'So, Yan Haobo's a squad leader.'

In the military camp, ten soldiers formed a squad, whereas a hundred formed a company. If there were more than five hundred soldiers under command, a camp was formed. Needless to say, every camp had a different number of people, and the good and the bad were intermingled, so there was a huge difference between camps.

Sui Hezhi was part of the Guards led by Chen Yifan, and he was more powerful than normal squad leaders in terms of martial arts. Nevertheless, since Yan Haobo was a squad leader from the Guard, he was probably more valiant than Sui Hezhi.

As for Yan Chengcai, while he was not in the Guards yet, he seemed to sound extremely confident, thus he must not be underestimated too.

After finding out their identities, Ou Yangming could somewhat guess why they visited.

"Master Ou, please forgive us for visiting so disrespectfully, but…" Yan Haobo cleared his throat before he spoke, then looked at his nephew who was beside him. "Soon, the general will select ten brothers from the West Camp to join the Guards. It'll be a perfect opportunity for Chengcai, so I hope that you can fulfill his wish."

Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you allowed to have equipment on during a martial arts contest in the camp?"

He knew how just Chen Yifan was as the general, by which he could not bear having grit in his eyes. As such, Ou Yangming did not know if it would be a blessing or a disaster if he provided Yan Chengcai with equipment.

"Why isn't it allowed?" Yan Haobo was stunned. He quickly shook his head and laughed, then explained, "If that's your concern, you don't have to worry about it. We're soldiers who have to fight in a war at any time. Do you think that we're not allowed to wear equipment when we're on the battlefield? We'd love to have light and tough armor, as well as a sharp military saber."

Ou Yangming's face reddened. It was reasonable, but it did not cross his mind earlier.

He cleared his throat. "Did you visit me to ask me to smith equipment?"

Yan Haobo and Yan Chengcai's eyes glowed as they looked at each other. They were ready to be declined before they visited because they did not expect Ou Yangming to be an easy person to deal with.

However, they had no idea that Ou Yangming was also devising a plan at that moment.

Yan Chengcai cupped his hands in front of his chest. "Master Ou, it'll be great if I can have a military saber similar to Uncle Sui's."

"You want a piece of Attribute Equipment?" Ou Yangming was stunned.

He knew how rare and valuable an Attribute Equipment was, especially an Attribute Military Saber that was very much favored in the military camp. In fact, it was in greater demand than White Slate Equipment.

'They're asking for the moon if they think that they'll get a piece of Attribute Equipment by just giving me a wild beast.'

Yan Chengcai waved his hands. "No, no… I only want the one Uncle Sui previously had."

Only then, Ou Yangming realized that he wanted a White Slate Military Saber that was at the peak of Good Grade.

There was a huge difference between the White Slate and Attribute Military Sabers even if both were of the same grade.

Ou Yangming grinned when he looked at the bag on the floor. "I'm afraid that the gift isn't enough?"

Yan Haobo was secretly overjoyed. Since Ou Yangming did not reject them, they still had a chance.

"Master Ou, don't worry. No matter how many quarries you want, I have them sorted," Yan Haobo assured. "Other than quarries, I'll take care of other matters too. As long as you let me know what you need, I'll do my best to get them done."

Sui Hezhi glanced at him and sighed. 'Looks like Ou Yangming is no longer a special resource for me.'

'Of course, I can still call him my brother since we're closer, whereas Yan Haobo and his nephew won't stand a chance no matter how much they fawn over him.'

Ou Yangming pretended to ponder for a while before he asked, "Squad Leader Yan, does your nephew only need a military saber to guarantee a spot in the Guards?"

"A military saber is enough to increase Chengcai's chance to join the Guards." Yan Haobo was delighted. After a short pause, he asked carefully, "Master Ou, you're saying…"

Ou Yangming laughed. "Please come in."

A smithing workshop was the most important working space for a blacksmith, which was not normally opened to outsiders. Therefore, Yan Haobo and the others would not be mad even if Ou Yangming stalled them at the door for a long time.

Nonetheless, if they were going to talk about serious business, they could not just stay at the door.

After entering the smithing workshop, Yan Haobo instantly noticed the different pieces of equipment piled up in a corner. He wondered, 'Brother Sui really didn't lie to me, Ou Yangming's a powerful master.'

The smithing workshop was extremely simple, but they did not bother about it.

Ou Yangming checked out Yan Chengcai's physique, then proceeded to pick an armor, a military saber, and a pair of arm guards for him. He initially wanted to retrieve a helmet or a pair of greaves too, but he decided not to.

Being an orphan, he knew very well that things that could be acquired easily would not be well-appreciated.

If he wanted Yan Haobo and the others to serve him, the right thing to do was to adopt a long-term plan in return for something big.

"Hehe, Brother Yan, take a look if these pieces of equipment are suitable?" Ou Yangming handed the items to Yan Chengcai.

Yan Chengcai quickly thanked him as he was elated, whereas Yan Haobo had a grave expression on his face.

It did not make sense that Ou Yangming spoke so nicely and even gave two extra pieces of equipment; even Sui Hezhi did not receive that treatment.

When Yan Chengcai put them on and wielded the military saber for a while, it was obvious that he was so satisfied that he did not want to let them go.

Uncle, these are all of Good Grade! Mm, I think they're slightly above Good Grade?" He was thrilled.

Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows. "Slightly above Good Grade? Hehe, would I have shown them to you if they're not at the peak of Good Grade?"

Sui Hezhi and the others gasped right away and inhaled deeply. Yan Haobo's eyes reddened when he looked at the three pieces of equipment.

After exhaling deeply, Yan Haobo looked at Ou Yangming. "Master Ou, let me know if you need anything!"

If one sowed nothing, one reaped nothing. Since Ou Yangming was being so generous, it only made sense that he had something to ask too. Nevertheless, Yan Haobo decided that he would get it done perfectly no matter how hard it would be.

Putting aside the fact that his nephew gained three valuable items, he was already driven knowing that he would be acquainted with Ou Yangming.

Ou Yangming replied straightforwardly, "Squad Leader Yan, I heard that the Guards hunt in the dense forest every ten days."

Yan Haobo answered, "Yes. If you'd like more quarries, I'll get them for you."

Ou Yangming shook his head. "I do have a desire for good food, but I'd like to see how you hunt. I'll be very grateful if I can tag along when you enter the forest."

Although he entered the dense forest, he only stayed along the border without going deep in.

This was because he knew how dangerous it was, and he might not be able to withstand it. Besides, he did not have the experience of surviving in a forest, hence it would not be wise for him to go deeper.

Yan Haobo was stunned and was clearly troubled. "Master Ou, the dense forest is a dangerous place. Even when we entered in the past, we were occasionally injured when we encountered strong, ferocious beasts. I'm afraid that the general won't allow you to join us."

Ou Yangming rolled his eyes. "Did I ask for the general's approval? We can just hide it from him!"

Yan Haobo and the other were speechless as they looked at each other.

"Squad Leader Yan, those pieces of equipment are at the peak of Good Grade. If you bring me there once, I'm willing to repay you with three of them. What do you think?" Ou Yangming pointed as he mentioned.

Yan Haobo and the rest were instantly moved. They might reject Ou Yangming if he only offered one, but he offered three at once…

Upon noticing the passionate look in Sui Hezhi and his nephew's eyes, Yan Haobo knew that if other people found out about this, even if he rejected Ou Yangming, the other squad leaders would approach him like hungry wolves.

"Master Ou, since you're so determined, I'll bear the responsibility." Yan Haobo stomped his foot. After pondering for a while, he asked, "I heard that you've been practicing martial arts too?"

Ou Yangming nodded. "I learned a bit."

"Please exchange a few blows with Chengcai, I have to take a look at your foundation," Yan Haobo mentioned seriously, "You mustn't misunderstand me because I'm not making things difficult for you on purpose. I have to see how far we can go in the dense forest by judging your skills."

It was clear that he was stressing on safety first. If Ou Yangming was strong enough, it would be fine for them to go deeper, but if he had a few fancy tricks, it would be best for them to stay in the periphery.

Even though Ou Yangming would definitely be protected in the forest, protecting a weak scholar was very different from protecting a powerful martial artist.

Ou Yangming's eyes shone. "That's exactly what I wanted. Please come with me."

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Chapter 36: A Genius' World

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Although a smithing workshop was not small, it was definitely not a place to compete with martial art skills.

When Ou Yangming brought Sui Hezhi and the others to his courtyard, they envied him as it was spacious.

Nonetheless, they knew that only Military Fire Blacksmiths were given such treatment, which was similar to how captains were treated. A low-rank officer and normal soldiers like them could not compare.

Ou Yangming gave a fist salute after they entered the courtyard. "Brother Yan, please."

Yan Haobo and his nephew were shocked. The moment Ou Yangming stood at the center of his courtyard, a forceful aura was sensed. He stood as straight as a javelin that was stuck to the ground, and did not bend at all.

It was not a mere form because it was the most standard stance for a fist art in the military.

Sui Hezhi widened his eyes as he was in disbelief.

He was the one who taught Ou Yangming the fist art and the blade technique, and it had only been roughly a month since. A normal person would be considered amazing to be able to match the techniques in some sense, but Ou Yangming who was solemn and upright at the moment did not seem like he had only practiced the fist art for only a month.

"Master Ou, be careful," Yan Chengcai mentioned, then shifted his body to charge at Ou Yangming like a hunting leopard, and aimed a punch at his chest.

Instead of dodging him, Ou Yangming yelled and punched as well.

Their movements were somewhat equal since they performed the standard military drill.

The fist art was simple and straightforward, but was the most effective killing technique during the war.

"Boom—"

When the fists clashed, Yan Chengcai was forced to stop, and his fist hurt so much it was as if he had punched an iron plate.

On the other hand, Ou Yangming scoffed and staggered backward. His right hand swelled, and half of his body went numb.

One could easily tell the strong from the weak, and it was obvious that Ou Yangming was not a match for Yan Chengcai.

Despite that, Sui Hechi could not help but shout, "This, it's impossible…"

Yan Chengcai and Ou Yangming turned a death ear to him as they focused on each other.

The former had practiced fist arts and blade techniques for over ten years, thus he already had the disposition. Nevertheless, Ou Yangming had also been training in the dense forest once every few days for a month, so he was different from before.

When the two young men looked at each other again, Yan Chengcai shouted and dashed again. This time, he did not underestimate his opponent at all, and was determined to suppress Ou Yangming by using stronger power.

On the opposite, Ou Yangming lowered himself to not go head-on against him, but instead got away from Yan Chengcai's punch like a fish.

He was extremely familiar with the usage of the purple energy in his mind and the purple light was automatically activated the instant he was in danger, smithing weapons, or cultivating martial arts.

At the moment, his consciousness was already split into two. A part was controlling his body to resist Yan Chengcai, while the other was detached in an odd way that allowed him to watch the battle clearly from above.

Knowing that he was not as strong at his opponent, Ou Yangming stopped looking for trouble. He moved by performing the step technique taught by Sui Hezhi, and was able to dodge Yan Chengcai's punches by swaying his body. Additionally, he waited for the right moment to sneak a few attacks, which truly made Yan Chengcai feel troubled.

As Ou Yangming's purple energy increased, he had a better grasp of his surroundings.

The instant there was a movement from Yan Chengcai's wrist, Ou Yangming identified his punching direction. In the beginning, he had been dodging in advance which meant that he dodged when Yan Chengcai had just started his hits. As such, Yan Chengcai was able to change his punching path halfway through to continue attacking.

After a few times, Ou Yangming learned his lesson. His consciousness watched Yan Chengcai's every move from above, and when there were no new changes to Yan Chengcai's punching sequences, he shifted his body to avoid being attacked.

While it seemed like a dangerous method, it was the best way for Ou Yangming to deal with his enemy as he had the advantage of watching as an outsider.

Eventually, he even became obsessed with the thrill of dodging at a crucial moment, and the battle against Yan Chengcai was no longer a difficult task to him as it became an enjoyable martial arts cultivation.

Only outstanding soldiers in the military could join the Guards led by Chen Yifan.

Though it was not compulsory for the soldiers from the Guards to be near the Yin Boundary like Sui Hezhi, they had to at least be in Force Grade Class Five, only a step away from having hidden energy.

Yan Chengcai was confident about joining the Guards because he was already at that level.

Needless to say, the punches from a martial artist in Force Grade Class Five could definitely suppress Ou Yangming who was only in Class Three. However, Yan Chengcai realized from the exchange of blows after this that he could not get the upper hand at all.

Ou Yangming might not be as powerful as him, but his body technique definitely surpassed his.

Although he could tell that the body technique learned by Ou Yangming was the same as what he learned in the military, the effects were Heaven and Earth apart when they performed it.

Ou Yangming could somehow find the loopholes in Yan Chengcai's punches, and was able to dodge the attacks by using the body technique. He was rather impatient in the beginning, but after finding a balance point, he became more composed.

He seemed like a toddler who experienced adolescence and youth so quickly that he became matured in a flash.

In other words, he transformed from being a rookie into an experienced martial artist in the blink of an eye, which was simply unbelievable.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…"

Fist winds filled the air as Yan Chengcai launched multiple hits, and each punch was so vigorous that he looked like he was dominating in the battle. In spite of that, Yan Chengcai knew very well that he should have hit his opponent if there were no mishaps.

Ou Yangming remained expressionless as he drifted leisurely amidst Yan Chengcai's fist winds, which made him look like he was taking a walk in the park.

Yan Haobo glanced at Sui Hezhi then asked, "My boy, how long did you say that Master Ou has been practicing martial arts for?"

The muscles on Sui Hezhi's face twitched when he answered, "About three months."

"About… Three months?"

Yan Haobo repeated after him. His heart beat fast, and his face reddened.

The distress that they were feeling at that moment was indescribable.

'Three months, the fella had only trained for three months, yet he's able to resist Yan Chengcai who practiced martial arts for more than ten years,' Sui Hezhi said to himself.

"You, didn't you say that he only has the cultivation base of Force Grade Class One?"

"Mm, it's true that he was only in Force Grade Class One, but now… I suppose he broke through?"

Yan Haobo remained silent, but was screaming in his head, 'Broke through… Your *ss! Have you met anyone who repeatedly broke through and arrived at Force Grade Class Three in three months? Is Ou Yangming a reincarnated martial god?'

In actual fact, Yan Haobo and Sui Hezhi could tell from Ou Yangming's punch at Yan Chengcai earlier that his martial arts cultivation base was definitely not in Force Grade Class One.

On top of that, they were also in awe of his performance after that. If they had not witnessed it, they would not believe that Ou Yangming was a newbie who only cultivated for three months.

Ou Yangming's boundary advancements were at least explainable since he could have consumed precious medicine or was simply gifted, but the fact that he grew so fast in terms of combat experience made him a freak.

A thought crossed Yan Haobo and Sui Hezhi's mind when they looked at each other.

'It's a genius' world, we… We won't get it!'

"Boom…"

Ou Yangming and Yan Chengcai's fists clashed for the second time since the beginning of their battle. However, the outcome was different from the first time as they both shook and separated from each other.

Based on that, they were on par with each other.

Yan Haobo and Sui Hezhi were becoming more astounded. They could tell that Ou Yangming was able to resist Yan Chengcai not because his power grew, but because he punched from a tricky angle that it was tough for Yan Chengcai to exert force. With that, the result was equal.

Sui Hezhi shook his head as he mentioned, "Make them stop."

After seeing the second clash of their punches, Sui Hezhi and Yan Haobo knew that Yan Chengcai would not gain an advantage if they continued fighting. In the end, Ou Yangming might actually turn the table.

Moreover, they brought Yan Chengcai to collect his equipment, not to make him lose confidence.

If Yan Chengcai really lost, the impact on him would likely affect his performance during the selections, and the equipment gained would not make up for his loss.

Yan Haobo sighed and nodded. He shouted, "Stop!"

Upon hearing him, Yan Chengcai immediately stopped and retreated, but he was completely embarrassed. He wanted to stop long ago.

Ou Yangming was startled. He felt like he had not gotten enough of the battle.

Nevertheless, he quickly curbed his thought and withdrew his fist. After getting rid of the dirt on his clothes, he smiled proudly. "Squad Leader Yan, did I pass?"

"Master Ou, you're joking. Based on your… Performance, you're good enough to be a scout." Yan Haobo1 smiled bitterly, then said seriously, "I underestimated you earlier, please forgive me."

"Squad Leader Yan, you don't have to be so polite." Ou Yangming giggled.

He was actually elated because he benefited a lot from the battle against Yan Chengcai. At the very least, he took a big leap in grasping the body technique.

It was not merely an improvement in agility, but he gained the skill to use space reasonably.

Ou Yangming had a vague feeling that the skill would play a decisive role in his future.

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Chapter 37: Testing A Saber

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Upon seeing Ou Yangming who was eager to try, and the dejected Yan Chengcai, Yan Haobo had an idea. "Master Ou, I heard that other than a fist art and a body technique, you're adept in a blade technique too?"

'I only taught Ou Yangming the simplest blade technique and fist art in the military saber, I didn't mention that he's adept in the blade technique,' Sui Hezhi wondered as he was stunned. Nonetheless, after witnessing Ou Yangming's fist art and body technique, he honestly looked forward to his blade technique too.

"Squad Leader Yan, are you testing my blade technique too?" Ou Yangming chuckled.

"Master Ou, you misunderstood. You won't need to make a move if you join us in the forest, so having a body technique is enough," Yan Haobo quickly explained, "I'm just excited to see you do what I love to do, so I'd like to see how deep exactly your foundation is, and how deep we can go in the dense forest."

Just as he mentioned, Ou Yangming would not be attacking wild beasts even if he followed them into the forest. As long as his body technique was good enough that he would not be a burden, they would be glad.

Nonetheless, the stronger Ou Yangming was, the more confident they would be, so much so that they could go deeper into the forest as planned since they would not be affected.

Ou Yangming nodded. He knew that the better he performed, he would be less restrained in the forest and could go deeper with the others.

He entered his house to retrieve two military sabers. "I refined these two sabers for fun. Though they're of Good Grade, they're not at their peak, so just put up with it for now, Brother Yan."

Yan Haobo and the others thought to themselves, 'Put up with a Good Grade military saber? Why does it sound so awkward…'

Nevertheless, they knew that Ou Yangming was not shaming them on purpose. After realizing that he could carelessly give three pieces of equipment at the peak of Good Grade to someone, they understood that their vision and financial ability were not comparable with his anymore. As such, it was normal for the master to ask Yan Chengcai to put up with the two Good Grade military sabers.

Just as Yan Chengcai was about to accept the saber, a big hand snatched it away.

Everyone was stunned because it was Yan Haobo who took it.

"Uncle, what are you doing?" Yan Chengcai asked as he was shocked.

Ou Yangming was confused too. He was rather confident about battling Yan Chengcai, but if he were to defeat a squad leader, a squad leader of the Guards led by Chen Yifan… As presumptuous as he was, he knew that it was impossible for him according to his current power.

Yan Haobo chuckled. "Master Ou, a saber doesn't have eyes, and Chengcai isn't very flexible with it yet, so I'll battle you this time."

"Okay, sorry for the trouble, Squad Leader." Ou Yangming understood.

He took a step back, then lifted his saber in front of his chest to be on guard.

On the other hand, Yan Haobo held his saber casually. "Master Ou, please make a move."

Ou Yangming was terrified. Even though Yan Haobo was not in a stance and was holding the military saber loosely which gave off the feeling that there were plenty of loopholes, he seemed extremely threatening.

It was similar to when Ou Yangming was forced into a dead-end in the abandoned depot by Zhang Hanyu, where he was prickled with fear.

Ou Yangming instantly stopped breathing, and the purple light in his mind shone brighter.

The greater the crisis, the more focused he was, and the better the purple light cooperated.

It was not strange at all because any living being would either wait helplessly for death or unleash a shocking potential during desperate moments.

This was what people meant when saying that one would be quick-witted in an emergency, and pressure always resulted in motivation.

Suddenly, Ou Yangming shifted his body to dash toward Yan Haobo, then slashed his saber down.

Yan Haobo was taken aback. The slash was not great as it was not above a Force Grade Class Three martial artist's limit, but he sensed a fearsome killing intent when the slash was made.

It was the violent killing intent that made him shudder with fear.

A saber that was used to kill and was covered in blood was completely different from the saber used by a normal martial artist during cultivation.

In Yan Haobo's opinion, Ou Yangming was exceptionally talented and was a good sprout in martial arts cultivation, but as hard as he cultivated, he could not compete with an experienced soldier who had fought in the war. Hence, it was normal for Ou Yangming to lack the guts and the killing momentum no matter how great his blade technique was.

That being said, Ou Yangming's slash totally overturned Yan Haobo's understanding.

The saber was certainly a murder weapon, and the killing intent did not come from the treasure saber, but the person holding the saber.

Yan Haobo was puzzled. 'Can someone become a cultivating god by cultivating from home?'

Although he could not figure it out, he did not slow down his attack. A saber-light was seen heading for Ou Yangming's wrist when he attacked.

Instead of using the saber blade, he attacked with the saber back because Master Ou would not be injured even if he was hit.

While it seemed like Ou Yangming went all out, he suddenly changed direction the moment Yan Haobo attacked. Additionally, he moved with his saber such that he dodged Yan Haobo's saber, and even went behind him.

The feeling when he battled with Yan Chengcai earlier emerged again, but it was clearer and more thrilling this time.

A flash of saber-light was seen as Ou Yangming swung his saber at Yan Haobo's arm. Needless to say, he did not exert all his force, but his attacking angle was so tricky that it was truly plausible.

Yan Haobo was indeed a towering mountain when he remained still, but when he moved, his flaws were exposed.

COMMENT

"Nice!" He yelled, then faced the attack with his saber.

"Ding—" A loud sound was heard when both sabers clashed.

Ou Yangming's face changed a little, and he quickly moved backward. He finally realized that there was a huge disparity between their strengths.

Yan Haobo's quick reaction was definitely beyond Ou Yangming's reach. His saber hit first though he struck later, and it managed to stop Ou Yangming's saber. On top of that, the snow-white saber-light, as well as the powerful momentum, forced Ou Yangming to retreat.

On the opposite, Yan Haobo did not shake a bit, let alone swaying.

The huge difference made Ou Yangming hopeless.

Despite that, Ou Yangming was not resigned to the outcome yet. Yan Haobo was indeed powerful and agile, but Ou Yangming was certain that he would be superior if he had his equipment set on.

Of course, he was not going to reveal his trump cards yet.

He took a step back to stare at Yan Haobo. Instead of taking the advantage to attack again, the squad leader stayed on his spot to wait for Ou Yangming's next attack.

Perhaps Yan Haobo thought that Ou Yangming would not be threatening at all no matter what tricks he used, because he had a saber with him.

Ou Yangming took a few steps back, and his eyes shone brighter.

Some people would withdraw themselves during difficult moments, whereas some would have a higher fighting spirit upon facing greater dangers.

Ou Yangming was unquestionably the latter.

After knowing that Yan Haobo would not kill him with a slash, Ou Yangming decided not to retreat at all. He had been hoping to train with a powerhouse like him.

Subsequently, he took a deep breath and went against the current.

A saber-light from Ou Yangming's saber was aimed at Yan Haobo's head again, but the instant Yan Haobo moved a little to attempt a block, Ou Yangming's blade force changed. The saber-light that was slashing down took a turn to attack Yan Haobo's arm.

It was as if the same scenario was repeated, but the difference was that Ou Yangming's saber-light became faster.

Yan Haobo smirked and thought to himself, 'So what if it became faster? I'm definitely going to eat him up by suppressing him with my power and speed.'

However, just as there was a movement from his wrist as he changed his direction, Ou Yangming's saber-light flashed and headed for his thigh instead.

Yao Haobo was stunned, and was forced to change accordingly.

Soon enough, he realized that Ou Yangming's military saber was ever-changing, and it was simply impossible to guard against it.

Ou Yangming's blade technique was not exquisite, and his attacks were neither fierce nor fast. In fact, he was actually inferior to Yan Chengcai.

In spite of that, his ever-changing blade technique left them in awe.

Additionally, Ou Yangming's saber-lights were aimed at Yan Haobo's weak point. Though he was much slower than Yan Haobo, Sui Hezhi and Yan Chengcai could tell that the latter lost his dominance and was being led by the former by the nose.

Sui Hezhi and Yan Chengcai were speechless when they looked at each other.

Especially Yan Chengcai who finally understood his uncle's real intention. If he had battled instead, he would not be able to suppress Ou Yangming with his power and speed, and would probably be defeated already.

Yan Haobo who was in the battle at the moment was beginning to feel that way.

Ou Yangming was like a vortex. The vortex was not powerful in the beginning, but it became deeper as his saber-lights kept changing, to the extent that Yan Haobo felt like he was being restrained.

When the feeling grew stronger to a certain point, Yan Haobo felt a sense of crisis.

He must make a change, or like a frog being boiled, he would not even know how he would die in the end.

Following that, Yan Haobo widened his eyes and roared. His voice was thunderous and full of killing intent.

He did not bother about the incoming saber-light as he fixed his gaze on Ou Yangming, then slashed his saber without hesitant.

Under the pressure from Ou Yangming's strange blade technique, he actually put his status aside, and attacked with a method that would cause destruction to the both of them.

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'Danger! Danger! Danger!'

Ou Yangming felt as if a signal rang in his head, and it could only mean one thing.

The slash from Yan Haobo was so dangerous that not only was it threatening his life, but he could actually be slashed in half.

Without hesitation, Ou Yangming decided not to care about the loopholes and the attack anymore. The purple light in his mind emitted an incredible radiance, and something seemed to be vibrating at the core of the light as though it was trying to come out of a shell.

Ou Yangming could not bother about the abnormality as he leaned back and tried his best to leap backward. Almost at the same time, he threw the military saber away like it was a hidden weapon. As long as he obstructed Yan Haobo for a short time, he would be out of danger.

In actual fact, he had another option too. He could stab Yan Haobo with his saber, and it would be covered in blood when he pulled it out after.

Nonetheless, he was not a fool. Dying together with Yan Haobo? One would be extremely foolish to go with that option.

"Ding…"

A saber-light was seen when Yan Haobo hit the military saber that flew to him. Instead of slowing down, he charged forward persistently.

The saber-light from his saber was bright, and his killing intent increased.

While it seemed like a moment of life or death at that moment, Ou Yangming calmed down.

The purple light in his mind was cold, but it tranquilized his mind, and the effect was especially obvious during a time like this.

Ou Yangming found it strange that he was completely calm because he was not at all fearful of the scary saber-light that was about to hit him.

It was as if his body was in an exceptionally wonderful state.

"Pow!"

Something deep in his mind shattered, and he suddenly gained somewhat familiar energy that was ready to cause trouble.

"Move!"

That was the thought that crossed Ou Yangming's mind at that instant. Subsequently, his body twisted unbelievably, and he managed to dodge the violent saber-light that was aimed at him.

All lights vanished at once, and Yan Haobo who was holding his military saber looked at Ou Yangming in shock.

Needless to say, Yan Haobo was not going to endanger Ou Yangming's life. It looked like he went all-out, but he actually left a leeway such that his saber would halt the instant it was very close to Ou Yangming's body.

However, he was soon struck dumb. Just as he thought that he had control and that Ou Yangming could not dodge anymore, the fellow actually did a godlike slide to escape from his saber-light's range.

It was strange because Ou Yangming did not look like he was dodging the attack himself. It seemed more like an invisible hand pulled his body forcefully to get him out of the saber-light's range.

Yan Haobo had goosebumps when he witnessed the peculiar scene.

Afterward, Ou Yangming stood still a distance away from Yan Haobo, and the sense of crisis he felt went away like a tide.

When he took a deep breath, he felt so dizzy that he was about to fall to the ground.

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming had practiced martial arts for a considerable amount of time. He had gained a robust body, as well as a strong will, thus he was able to get through the dizziness by gritting his teeth.

"Master Ou, that was a great move!" Yan Haobo remarked sincerely after he calmed down, "According to your performance, you can definitely join us at the dense forest."

It was worth noting that he commented on Ou Yangming's performance, not his cultivation base.

Ou Yangming forced a smile. "Thank you for your pointers, Squad Leader Yan."

Yan Haobo twitched his mouth as wondered, 'Pointers my *ss, more like you're the one giving me pointers.'

Everyone witnessed the battle earlier. Yan Haobo was able to have a soaring momentum that could kill because he made an unreasonable decision that would cause both of them to be defeated. In terms of their understanding of techniques, he was actually inferior to Ou Yangming. Upon realizing that, Sui Hezhi and the others were resentful.

Later, Yan Haobo cleared his throat and mentioned, "Master Ou, my squad will be hunting in the forest after three days. Would you like to join us if you're free?"

Ou Yangming was immediately spirited. "Yes, I apologize for the trouble in advance."

Following that, Yan Haobo left with the others. Once they returned to the West Camp, he asked, "My boy, are you sure that he only started practicing martial arts three months ago?"

"I heard it from Captain Liu himself, why would I lie to you?" Sui Hezhi smiled bitterly. He then shook his head as he commented, "Actually, I don't really believe it anymore."

Yan Haobo pondered for a while before he said, "There really are gifted geniuses in the world. I initially thought that the legend was fake, but it seems possible now."

Siu Hezhi was surprised. "What legend?"

Yan Haobo replied softly after checking their surroundings. "I heard that the general's son is also an extraordinary genius who could contend and be on par with the general when he was twelve years old. It has been many years since then. I really wonder how much he has advanced."

"Twelve years old?" Sui Hezhi was so shocked that his mouth was wide opened.

Yan Haobo laughed. "I used to think that it was just a rumor, but after meeting Master Ou today, I realize that there really are geniuses in the world, and it's not something that you and I can imagine."

Sui Hezhi and Yan Chengcai looked at each other as they were speechless.Ou Yangming returned to his room after sending them off. He lied on his bed without removing his clothes, and fell asleep as soon as he shut his eyes.

While he consumed a lot of energy during the battles against Yan Haobo and his nephew, the consumption was not that high. It was the last dodge he made that caused an unusual change to his body, thus he ended up like this.

Ou Yangming only awoke after three hours.

When he shook his head that was still aching a little, although he still felt uncomfortable, his mental state was much better.

Ou Yangming pondered for a while on his bed, and ate some snacks as he was hungry. He then tried to figure things out.

The greatest gain from his battle against Yan Haobo was that he understood something.

Cultivation base was the most reliable thing for a martial artist.

Even though Ou Yangming possessed the purple light's unique energy that allowed him to win by skills in a battle, the skills were useless if his opponent's martial arts boundary surpassed his, and if he was suppressed by one's power and speed.

It was exactly like Yan Haobo's final slash that was violent and full of killing intent.

Of course, Ou Yangming eventually realized that he would not be hurt by that slash at all even if he did not avoid it, but it left such a deep impression that he probably would not forget about it for a long time.

Faced with the extreme slash, it seemed like he could only resign himself to death if the purple light could not find a solution.

Yes. He could at most have pounced onto his opponent as well to cause both of them to be defeated, which would be the best ending.

Despite that, it was definitely not the choice that Ou Yangming wanted to make.

The martial arts boundary represented absolute power and speed. If one could eliminate a city with a punch, or split the earth with a slash from a saber, one could not be matched by anyone no matter how exquisite one's opponent's skills were.

Ou Yangming clenched his fists. He was determined to improve his martial arts boundary.

Only by possessing powerful strength could he guarantee his own safety, thus he was surely not going to slack at all.

However, Ou Yangming suddenly had a question in his head. 'What was the power that helped me escape from the dangerous situation earlier? The mysterious power probably came from my mind, and it's something that can help me escape from death during crucial moments.'

He closed his eyes slowly and focused through his consciousness.

At the next instant, he found the abnormality in his body. There was a bottomless hole inside his head at the part between his eyebrows.

A bit of luster could be seen inside the hole, and Ou Yangming was startled as it was similar to his dantian.

He quickly figured out the power that saved him from the saber-light just now.

It was mental power. Just like Old Craftsman had said, he possessed mental power.

Before this, his mental power was unleashed when he used the Military Fire but that was it. Other than that, he did not feel that power at all.

When Ou Yangming sensed the light inside the hole, he was thrilled.

Although he had no idea how to use the power, he knew that it would be his greatest trump card if he used it during important times.

He wondered, 'Since it can help me get away from dangerous areas, can I use it to attack my enemies too?

'If I catch my enemy off guard by sneaking an attack with this power… I really look forward to seeing that.'

After a long time, Ou Yangming curbed his emotions, and began thinking about how his mental power could be used.

COMMENT

He was extremely disappointed because the mental power could not be used flexibly as he imagined, which was unlike his essential Qi that could be used with ease. The power hid in the hole like a hibernating tortoise that was ten thousand years old, and could not be activated no matter how he summoned it.

If Ou Yangming had not sensed the power's existence, he would really think that it was just a hallucination.

He exhaled deeply, and felt that he should seek guidance from someone else instead of figuring it out on his own.

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Chapter 39: Giving Money In Disguise

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Old man, how much do you know about mental power?" Old Craftsman was in his smithing workshop when Ou Yangming asked him the question eagerly.

In the entire military camp or rather the whole world, there was only one person whom Ou Yangming trusted the most, Old Craftsman. Therefore, Ou Yangming went to him whenever he had a problem.

Old Craftsman stopped what he was doing to think, then replied, "Mental power is an extremely mighty power."

Ou Yangming looked at the old man for a long time, but that was the only reply he got, so he quickly asked again, "Old Man, what else?"

Old Craftsman looked at him suspiciously. "Didn't I just tell you? Mental power is very mighty."

"I know, but what else?" Ou Yangming twitched his mouth. In actual fact, being an owner of mental power, he knew better than Old Craftsman how mighty and fearsome the power was.

Since the power allowed him to dodge Yan Haobo's saber-light range discreetly, it could also allow him to catch his enemies off guard by attacking them secretly.

In other words, it was a more peculiar energy and a tougher one to be used as compared to essential Qi. If Ou Yangming could manipulate it, the effects would be significant.

"I told you everything I know," Old Craftsman responded snappily.

"Are you saying that you only know that mental power is very mighty?" Ou Yangming was stunned.

"Yes." Old Craftsman was calm. "Isn't it mighty?"

Ou Yangming stuttered. He was certain that he asked the wrong person.

"B*stard, mental power can't be possessed by normal people, and it's very difficult to practice and manipulate. At least, I don't know how to do it." Upon seeing Ou Yangming's baffled look, Old Craftsman could not help but laugh. He paused for a while, then added, "You're probably gifted with mental power, but don't make blind speculation. Oh, you've gone out a few times lately, are you seeing someone in town?"

Ou Yangming smiled bitterly. It was true that he sneaked out of the military camp every now and then, but he had been hunting at the dense forest's border to replenish his Qi and blood. He always left and returned in haste, and was often covered in a bloody smell, so he did not have time to think about anything else.

"Old Man, you shouldn't make blind speculation too." Ou Yangming was suddenly moved, so he said, "I haven't gone to the town for a long time. I'll go there this time, and I'll bring you some good wine."

"Young fella, at least you have a little conscience. Go ahead." Old Craftsman chuckled. He thought for a moment, then instructed, "The monthly bazaar is probably starting, so take a look at the ore section and bring something back if they're worthy."

Ou Yangming responded to him, then left the smithing workshop, and picked a few pieces of equipment from his courtyard to bring them to the equipment depot.

Xiong Gaoan stood up as soon as he noticed Ou Yangming, and flattered him by asking him earnestly to sit down as he served him tea. However, he kept glancing at Ou Yangming's bag.

Ou Yangming found it funny and interesting. "These are a few pieces of equipment that I refined recently. There are five that are of High Grade, an Attribute Equipment of Good Grade, and the rest are normal ones of Good Grade."

"Okay." Xiong Gaoan smiled so brightly that his eyes were squinted.

In actual fact, while there were many Military Fire Blacksmiths in the military camp, every master smithed a limited amount of equipment each month. Moreover, most of the products were of Good Grade, and it was extremely rare to have High Grade ones, let alone Attribute Equipment. A normal Military Fire Blacksmith received ten precious ores a month, but most of them only submitted one Attribute Equipment.

Ou Yangming had actually finished his task for the month, because he already stored two pieces of Attribute Equipment in the depot. Since he brought an extra one, Xiong Gaoan was elated.

Xiong Gaoan checked the equipment carefully, and recorded it to be stored. "Master Ou, you're really worthy of being Old Craftsman's disciple. It's truly amazing that you refined three pieces of Attribute Equipment in a month."

Ou Yangming shook his head. "The old man is more brilliant than me. He's able to achieve three in ten, whereas I only achieved three in twenty.

He retrieved ten more precious ores when he submitted two pieces of Attribute Equipment previously, which amounted to twenty precious ores for that month.

"Master Ou, as long as you achieve the two-in-ten quota every month, it doesn't matter if you ask for more precious ores after that. As for the other ores, you only have to achieve one in ten," Xiong Gaoan quickly responded, then gulped before he asked eagerly, "Are you here to withdraw more ores? I'll ask someone to send you more!"

"I don't need them in a hurry. I'm here to withdraw some silver this time." Ou Yangming waved his hand.

"Ah, I forgot." Xiong Gaoan slapped his forehead. He smiled as he said, "You're now an official MIlitary Fire Blacksmith in the military, and a master who achieves a two-in-ten quota for Attribute Equipment. As such, your salary is equivalent to a centurion's, which is thirty taels of fine silver a month."

Ou Yangming's heart skipped a beat. Being an orphan, although he had come in contact with over thirty taels of gold and silver in his life thus far, he never received this much at once.

Xiong Gaoan grinned. "Master Ou, I'll prepare the banknotes for you now. Are you going to the town's money shop to store them?"

"The bazaar is being held today, so I'd like to see if any special mineral will catch my eyes." Ou Yangming shook his head subconsciously.

"I see, please wait for a moment." Xiong Gaoan was stunned.

He left and returned after 15 minutes. However, instead of returning alone, he brought Kang Weibo to the depot.

Kang Weibo laughed upon seeing Ou Yangming. "Brother Ou, I heard that you're going to the town's bazaar?"

Ou Yangming quickly stood up to greet him with a bow. After all, Kang Weibo was the Armament Camp's supervisor, so he must not be impolite.

"Brother Ou, we're brothers, so you don't have to do this." Nonetheless, Kang Weibo quickly took a step forward to support him by his arm as a way to stop him. He then took three banknotes from his pocket. "Look, are these enough?"

When Ou Yangming accepted them and took a look at them, he was dumbfounded.

He was not illiterate as he was taught by Old Craftsman, and at the very least, he definitely knew the words 'ten' and 'hundred'.

After flipping the notes to check them again, he expressed, "Sir Kang, I asked for thirty taels…"

Kang Weibo waved his hand. "Brother Ou, they're from the public fund, and I'm giving them to you to purchase ores. If you manage to buy something, report them to Gaoan afterward. As for the ores, you can just use them for smithing because it's troublesome to send them here."

Ou Yangming widened his mouth, and he replied after some time, "What if, what if I fail to smith something?"

Kang Weibo answered without hesitation, "If you fail, so be it! Military Fire Blacksmiths like you smith many pieces of high-level equipment, how can you not fail at all?"

Ou Yangming almost choked on his saliva when he heard the confident reply.

He did not need to show them the ores bought as he only needed to report to them, and would not be blamed for failing to smith equipment with the ores…

Even a fool could tell that Kang Weibo was simply giving him silver as a gift.

After looking at Kang Weibo strangely, Ou Yangming kept the banknotes. "I understand, thank you, Sir Kang."

Kang Weibo laughed out loud. "Brother Ou, picking ores is a difficult thing. I suggest you rest a night in the town and return tomorrow."

Ou Yangming agreed to him, then left the military camp where Kang Weibo and Xiong Gaoan sent him off.

When Ou Yangming touched the three banknotes, he sighed. Sure enough, things had been very different for him in the past.

There was a town 1.5 kilometers outside the military camp, which was initially meant to provide the camp with various supplies, and its scale was not very big. As time passed, more people settled down in the town, hence it became bigger in scale, and its population grew bigger than the military camp's. Furthermore, the annual bazaar was always crowded and lively.

Ou Yangming planned to walk there at first, but Kang Weibo insisted that he traveled by carriage. The cart driver was a diligent man from the town, and he showed Ou Yangming his home after dropping him off. "Sir, let me know when you want to leave, I can send you back any time."

After thanking the cart driver, Ou Yangming entered the town.

He was familiar with the town as he visited it a few times back when he roamed about. This time, he visited with a different attitude.

While looking at the streets that did not change much, he smiled plainly.

All of a sudden, there was a disturbance in the crowd ahead, and the passersby cleared a path as a thin person fled in any path he could. Behind him, a few tall and burly men cursed while pursuing him.

Ou Yangming could tell at once that the big men were much faster than the thin man.

As expected, before long, one of the big men caught up to the thin man and kicked him hard on his butt.

"Argh…"

The thin man shrieked and staggered before falling to the ground. He was in so much pain that he could not get up anymore.

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming noticed earlier that the seemingly fierce kick was actually a merciful one because a kick on the man's lower back would have been more deadly.

The big man pulled the young fellow up. "B*stard, how dare you steal from Military Master? Are you tired of living?"

A young man around Ou Yangming's age was seen grimacing in pain on the ground.

When the other big men surrounded the young man, one of them suddenly called out to Ou Yangming and bowed at him, "Master Ou!"

Ou Yangming could not help but chuckle. The person was Yan Chengcai who visited him yesterday, and he did not expect to meet him here today.

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Chapter 40: A Fight Appointment

The men beside Yan Chengcai were stunned too. Although he was the quiet one among them, he was the strongest. After all, the best fighter in the military camp was always the most respected one.

Therefore, after seeing Yan Chengcai's attitude, they thought somewhat highly of Ou Yangming too even though they did not know who he was.

Ou Yangming nodded slightly. "Did he steal your pouch?"

Yan Chengcai nodded. "Yes, he's very fast, and he almost got it."

For some reason, Ou Yangming felt compassion for the young man who was groaning on the floor. He thought about himself because he could not have made it to where he was if he had not met Old Craftsman by chance, who even took him in after. Perhaps the young man in front of him would have been his ending.

"Brother Yan, what do you plan to do with him?"

Yan Chengcai hesitated for a while. "We'll cripple the hand that he used to steal."

After all, the town was actually built for the military camp. Though the military had strict rules, if someone attempted to bully a soldier, the military superiors would choose to protect the soldier even if one were to kill the bully by accident, let alone if one broke the bully's limb.

A fearful look was seen on the young man's face as he implored with his eyes.

Ou Yangming sighed. "Brother Yan, let him go for my sake."

"Okay." Yan Chengcai was stunned. He could not understand why Ou Yangming sympathized with the man, but he could not decline him too.

"Big Bull, let him go, and let him leave."

The strong man who was lifting the young man hesitated for a while before dropping him hard to the ground. "B*stard, you're in luck!"

After giving Ou Yangming a kowtow, the young man endured the pain as he stood up, then escaped.

Yan Chengcai asked softly, "Master Ou, you're in town because…"

Ou Yangming did not hide it from him. "I'm here for the bazaar to see if I can bring some ores back."

"Master Ou, I'm very familiar with this place. How about I guide you around?" Yan Chengcai's eyes glowed.

Ou Yangming could not help but chuckle. He was familiar with the town too, but since Yan Chengcai just did him a favor, it was not like him to leave like that.

Yan Chengcai was elated when he received Ou Yangming's permission, and he began bringing him around the town happily. On the other hand, the other men who followed behind them were confused as they did not know why their proud boss fawned over the young man.

They arrived at a bustling area after taking a few turns.

The bazaar was held around the same time every month, where people from different places came to trade, thus the place was jam-packed with people.

Nevertheless, Yan Chengcai did not bring Ou Yangming into the crowd. They entered a shop instead.

"Master Ou, the mobile stalls outside are disorderly. God knows what ores they're selling! On the contrary, this shop has been here for a hundred years, and customers are treated with honesty, so you get what you pay for," Yan Chengcai mentioned, "We come here when we have enough money to buy equipment."

Ou Yangming nodded. In actual fact, he was well-informed about the shop, but he never planned to shop here.

After all, he could very well make a request if he wanted ores, and it would be a smooth process for him due to his current status in the Armament Camp. Even if Zhang Yinfan would aim at him, Kang Weibo would bear the responsibility.

A Military Fire Blacksmith who could provide three pieces of Attribute Equipment a month and was comparable with Old Craftsman was worth protecting at all costs.

Ou Yangming initially wanted to take a look at the bazaar to see if he could pick up something great, but since he was already at the shop, he might as well looked around.

It was evident that Yan Chengcai was a regular customer because he was instantly attended to by a friendly person.

"Ah, Military Master, you're here again. Please, come in and have a rest!" A person who seemed to be the shopkeeper approached him with a smile.

Yan Chengcai nodded then said, "Master Ou, this is Shopkeeper Lin. He's bold, forthright, and someone worth getting acquainted with."

'He's so young, how is he a master?' Shopkeeper Lin raised his eyebrow, and was puzzled when he looked at Ou Yangming. Nevertheless, he dealt with all sorts of customers all year long, so he did not express it through his face.

"Military Master, this is…"

Yan Chengcai stuck his chest out when he answered, "This is Master Ou Yangming, the youngest Military Fire Blacksmith in our military camp."

'Isn't he just a Military Fire Blacksmith? He probably isn't very capable since he's so young,' Shopkeeper Lin wondered even after finding out Ou Yangming's identity, but he looked delighted.

Right then, an indifferent voice was heard coming from the door. "Oh, so this is Old Craftsman's helper. Hehe, he's just a young fella who just sensed the Military Fire, does he deserve to be called a master?"

Everyone was startled, so they quickly turned to look. Yan Chengcai was furious.

It seemed like he had been slapped in the face because he had just introduced Ou Yangming.

Ou Yangming was also triggered. He could obviously tell the person's ill intention through his words, but he could not figure out who the voice belonged to.

Afterward, a number of men entered the shop one after another. They were equally burly and had sharp eyes, and did not seem inferior to Yan Chengcai and his men at all.

Since Ou Yangming stayed in the military camp for a long time, he could tell by looking at their steps that they were soldiers too. In fact, they were elite soldiers who underwent strict training.

"Huang Jingtian, what nonsense are you talking about?" Yan Chengcai yelled when he realized who the leader was.

"Yang Chengcai, stop putting gold on that fella's face. Hehe, he's Old Craftsman's helper. I wonder if he put a spell on the old man or if the old man pitied him, I can't believe that he was given a chance to acquire the Military Fire. That being said, the fella benefited from it because not only did he not work hard after stimulating the fire, but he also submitted the armaments smithed by Old Craftsman and claimed he produced them instead," The leader was a young man around Yan Chengcai's age, and he spoke scornfully, "Ask him! Is it true, or not?"

The rest instantly had a strange look on their face, whereas the men behind Huang Jingtian were disdainful. While Shopkeeper Lin had the same facial expression, he secretly belittled Ou Yangming. As for the men behind Yan Chengcai, they looked embarrassed.

Ou Yangming's age was actually very deceptive. Unless one witnessed his smithing process like Old Craftsman, Chen Yifan, and Sui Hezhi did, it was extremely difficult for one to believe that his control over the Military Fire was not inferior to Old Craftsman at all.

"You, you're making a dirty accusation…" Yan Chengcai shouted with a reddened face.

Huang Jingtian curled his lips. "Alright, enough with the acting. Aren't you only flattering Old Craftsman so that he'll smith weapons for your general? Hehe, I'm telling you that the old man with an unearned reputation is not going to be the chief of Military Fire Blacksmiths anymore soon!"

Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows. He was deeply infuriated.

He heard rumors that he handed in the armaments smithed by Old Craftsman and faked that he made them, but he was not bothered at all, and did not plan to explain himself. In any case, Old Craftsman was not going to care about the rumor at all too because it would confuse the public.

Hence, Ou Yangming did not mind no matter what Huang Jingtian said about him, and was secretly glad. The further the rumor spread, the happier he was.

However, he could not stand it when Huang Jingtian mentioned that Old Craftsman had an undeserving reputation.

A strong, indescribable rage rose inside of him as he glared. "Old Man is the chief of Military Fire Blacksmiths in the military be it the past, the present, or the future…"

Huang Jingtian laughed and derided him. "Oh, looks like you're not aware? Our general just invited a real master from the prefecture. Hehe, once he performs his skills, can Old Craftsman still secure the throne?"

The faces of Yan Chengcai and the others changed. Although they did not interact much with Old Craftsman, everyone in the military camp knew that he was smithing a weapon for General Chen Yifan, and a new master would undoubtedly cause a negative impact, which would be disadvantageous.

"Huang Jingtian, don't you dare speak carelessly again!" Yan Chengcai took a step forward and shouted, "It seems like you didn't have enough of your last lesson. Would you like to lie in bed for another ten to fifteen days?"

Huang Jingtian was embarrassed and enraged. "Yan Chengcai, don't be so arrogant. If you're so capable, let's have another fight appointment!"

Yan Chengcai laughed out loud, and was not going to be outdone. "It's just what I wanted!"

"Tomorrow night!"

"The same place!"

They mentioned at the same time, "Be there or be square!"

The two of them spoke with strong killing intent, and the soldiers looked so fierce as though they were ready to fight any time.

Upon seeing the terrible situation, Shopkeeper Lin quickly said, "Everyone, military masters, please talk things out!"

Huang Jingtian was rather fearful when he looked at him. He suddenly reached his arms out to clash them together.

"Ding…"

A loud voice echoed in the shop.

Huang Jingtian expressed seriously, "Yan Chengcai, I'm not going to take advantage of you. Let me tell you, the master invited by the general has already researched on a smithing skill to transform arm guards into Good Grade, and it'll likely become the military's standard in the future. Hehe, we're lucky to have enjoyed the benefit first, so we're already wearing the equipment. If you'd like to surrender, it's not too late yet."

Following them, the men behind him reached their hands out to clash them together too.

The sound of metals clashing was heard endlessly.

After Huang Jingtian and his men demonstrated, they turned to leave, and no longer had the mood to stroll around the bazaar anymore.

On the other hand, Yan Chengcai and the others had a grave expression on their faces, and a few of them even gasped. For some reason, their fighting will reduced by a lot.

All of a sudden, a cold, chilly voice was heard.

"Brother Yan, what's a fight appointment?"

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Chapter 41: Equipment Appraisal

It was suddenly dead silent in the spacious hall.

Yan Chengcai and his brothers were obviously embarrassed. In actual fact, private fights were not uncommon in the military, but they only happened between brave and ruthless soldiers and had nothing to do with Military Fire Blacksmiths.

Besides, private fights had to be kept hidden. Although the generals from different camps were already aware, nobody actually brought it up.

Ou Yangming put on a straight face. "Brother Yan, are you not willing to tell me?"

"Hehe…" Shopkeeper Lin forced a laugh. "Gentlemen, I prepared a quiet room for you. How about you take a short rest inside?"

Yan Chengcai quickly nodded at him gratefully.

Ou Yangming figured out that it must be something secretive, thus he entered the room too.

Sure enough, Yan Chengcai had no concerns inside the room, and he told Ou Yangming about night fights.

It was very simple. Nights fights were fight appointments made by bored soldiers with excess hormones, who usually agreed to fight on a dark and windy night at the same place because they disliked each other.

In the beginning, it was individual fights, but it was normal for soldiers to have good friends in the military camp.

Therefore, the fights became more intense, so much so that the battles between the lower class became a contest between the upper class.

Yan Chengcai and his brothers were soldiers from the West Camp under General Chen Yifan's command, whereas Huang Jingtian clearly belonged to another camp. The soldiers from both camps fought openly and covertly, which was likely because they had tacit consent from the upper levels.

"Whose command is Huang Jingtian under?" Ou Yangming asked coldly.

"The East Camp." Yan Chengcai did not hide the truth from him.

"General Tian from the East Camp…" Ou Yangming mumbled. He was slightly fearful after mentioning the name, but it did not mean that he could just watch with folded arms.

"Brother Yan, did you win the previous night fight against them?"

"Yes," Yan Chengcai replied proudly, "We beat them up terribly during the last fight, and earned respect for our general."

"They didn't defeat you the last time, but they're suddenly so brave now," Ou Yangming mentioned slowly, and paused for a while before he continued, "Could it be due to their arm guards?"

Yan Chengcai and his brothers immediately had a grave expression on their faces. After a brief moment, Yan Chengcai sighed and explained with a bitter smile, "Master Ou, you don't know this yet. There are actually some rules for the night fights. For instance, the participants from each party mustn't exceed ten people, Yin Grade martial artists can't be involved, and… We can't bring weapons, armors, and helmets, or the target will be too big."

Ou Yangming pondered for a while and quickly understood.

Though night fights were tacitly agreed, they were in the military camp.

The generals might be glad to see their soldiers fighting each other to remain bold and powerful, but if weapons were involved, the nature of the fights would be completely different.

As such, restrictions on the scale, weapons, and equipment were unquestionably necessary.

"I understand. Each of them have Good Grade arm guards now, so they'll have the upper hand since no weapons, armors, and helmets are involved."

"That's right." Yan Chengcai felt helpless. "Those are Good Grade arm guards!"

One could tell from his tone how worried he was.

Yan Chengcai and the others regarded night fights as battles for reputation, which was the most glorious event even though they were not encouraged in the military camp. Hence, they paid a lot of importance to it.

Ou Yangming began wondering seriously. If one had to fight with bare hands without wearing any armor, a pair of tough arm guards would definitely give an advantage. If the night battle was only between two people, the little advantage would not affect the final outcome, but if ten people were involved from each side, the accumulated advantages would be significant.

He twitched his mouth then asked, "Is your appointment tomorrow night?"

"Yes."

"Okay, come find me tomorrow morning," Ou Yangming said plainly. "Pick ten good men, and don't embarrass General Chen."

Honestly, Ou Yangming would not get involved if it was merely a normal fight between soldiers, but Huang Jingtian spoke about Old Craftsman and mentioned a so-called master, thus he was eager to teach that fellow a lesson.

Yan Chengcai suddenly looked up surprised and delighted. "Master Ou, you have Good Grade arm guards too?"

Ou Yangming smiled without saying a word, but his confident smile said it all.

"Master Ou, if we have Good Grade arm guards, even if they're slightly lower in quality, we won't lose for sure!" Yan Chengcai was elated.

Ou Yangming was stunned, and he could not help but look at Yan Chengcai unhappily.

'What do you mean that they're slightly lower in quality? You're belittling me. Are the pieces of equipment I gave you yesterday not enough to shut your mouth?'

Shopkeeper Lin who was very experienced could tell at once that Ou Yangming was displeased. While he did not believe that Ou Yangming could produce good products, he stated with a smile, "Master Ou, since it's your first time here, how about you take a look around? We might have some collections that'll catch your eyes."

Ou Yangming nodded. "Okay, I'll go take a look."

Subsequently, Shopkeeper Lin nodded at Yan Chengcai apologetically, then ordered someone else to attend to them before he brought Ou Yangming out of the room earnestly.

Though Ou Yangming was quite young, he was an official Military Fire Blacksmith and had a position much higher than Yan Chengcai, who was a tough man who had not risen yet.

Once Ou Yangming left, the men behind Yan Chengcai asked, "Big Brother, are you going tomorrow?"

Yan Chengcai glared at him. "Why not?"

Another man responded too, "Yes, normal soldiers like us can't even get our hands on arm guards. If he can provide them for us, even if they're just normal arm guards, we'll be able to fight well!"

The rest agreed. Quality was one thing, but having arm guards itself was another matter.

They would not ask for much as long as they had the equipment.

Yan Chengcai hesitated for a while, then was extremely spirited when he suddenly recalled the three pieces of equipment in his room. 'Perhaps Master Ou can really surprise me.'

The shop was bigger than Ou Yangming expected.

Various equipment and medicine were sold. Even though he was not very knowledgeable in this, he knew that a normal person could not have opened a shop like this.

After taking a look around, he realized that the equipment sold did not catch his eyes at all because they were mostly Good Grade equipment. There were rarely any High Grade ones, let alone Attribute Equipment.

Without Ou Yangming knowing, his vision was already at a high level.

As for medicine, he could not evaluate them since he knew nothing about them. Nevertheless, he was certain that they were not precious items as they were placed together with the normal equipment.

Shopkeeper Lin frowned a little as he noticed the disdainful look from Ou Yangming.

He cleared his throat. "Master Ou, the first floor might not have anything that'll attract you. Please come with me."

Shopkeeper Lin did not actually intend to bring Ou Yangming to the other floor, but Ou Yangming's scornful look triggered his emulation.

"Master Ou, this is the VIP room in our shop, where General Lin and General Tian have visited many times!" Shopkeeper Lin said with a smile when they were on the second floor. Though he only mentioned two names, it was enough to let Ou Yangming know that his shop had a solid background.

Ou Yangming was secretly surprised because he really noticed a few precious items on the walls when he looked around.

He could not identify the equipment's specific attributes by looking at them, but he could at least judge if they were good or bad.

Shopkeeper Lin chuckled to himself as he thought that he finally suppressed the pretentious child. Nonetheless, he uttered, "Master Ou, you're welcome to appraise them if you'd like to."

Ou Yangming looked at Shopkeeper Lin strangely. He was not a flower in a greenhouse and had experienced the fickleness of the world since he was young, thus he could tell the shopkeeper's intention.

He scoffed and retrieved a broad ax from the wall beside him.

It was a Qimen Weapon 1, but many strong men in the military camp were fond of it.

The faintly discernible Military Fire burned in Ou Yangming's hands, and Shopkeeper Lin did not notice it at all even though he was just next to him.

As Ou Yangming weighed the broad ax in his hands, he thought to himself, 'Its weight, its weight. It's not light at all…'

"Master Ou, what do you think about this Star Moon Ax?"

Ou Yangming smiled. "It's only a High Grade Rank One item, it's nothing much."

Shopkeeper Lin was so stunned that he widened his mouth, and words were stuck in his throat. Being one of the shopkeepers here, it was natural that he was aware of the Star Moon Ax's quality, but if he were to appraise it himself, he could only tell that it was a High Grade one, and could only guess its rank.

However, Ou Yangming actually mentioned the Star Moon Ax's equivalent rank just like that, which really shocked the shopkeeper.

Ou Yangming put the broad ax down, then picked up another saber. The saber was slightly different from a typical military saber in terms of its style because it was long and narrow like a rapier. Despite that, he praised after taking a look at it, "High Grade Rank Four, this is much better than the ax."

While both items were of High Grade, their equivalent ranks were important.

Ou Yangming picked up a helmet after putting the saber down. He took the opportunity to use his Military Fire in a flash.

"High Grade Rank Three."

"Mm, High Grade Rank Four."

"This one's a High Grade Rank Two."

"Oh my, this one's a Rank Five at the peak of High Grade. Hehe, Shopkeeper Lin, you have the different ranks of High Grade equipment here."

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Chapter 42: Mistake?

Shopkeeper Lin was so shocked that he became speechless.

He initially brought Ou Yangming to the second floor with the intention to see him make a fool out of himself. After all, the fact that Ou Yangming was called a master at this age but was disdainful when he looked at the items on the first floor earlier made him very unconvincing.

However, Shopkeeper Lin dared not belittle him anymore.

He was appalled when Ou Yangming listed the equipment's equivalent ranks casually. If he was not certain that Ou Yangming had never seen the equipment before, he would actually think that the young fellow actually worked there and managed the equipment in the store.

Ou Yangming became more interested the more he assessed the equipment. As he identified the attributes of the pieces of equipment through his Military Fire, he was also observing the slight differences between them.

The pieces of equipment were not smithed by Old Craftsman or another Military Fire Blacksmith in the military camp. It was obvious that they were made by someone famous.

Normal people could not learn anything from them, but like a connoisseur who recognized the artistry, Ou Yangming noticed the mystery in them and was sometimes enlightened.

Needless to say, he did not gain a lot as he only had a short time.

"High Grade Rank Two," Ou Yangming mentioned after looking at another armor. When he looked closely again, he noticed that a lot of effort was put into the smithing process because the details were managed much better than how he usually did. Additionally, its durability exceeded the limit of High Grade Rank Two as it was at least at the peak, which was 15 points.

Shopkeeper Lin's eyes glowed, and he suddenly uttered, "Master Ou, take a closer look at it."

"Yes, it's a High Grade Rank Two." Ou Yangming was stunned, so he quickly used his Military Fire again. After a short pause, he added, "It's a White Slate Equipment, not an Attribute Equipment."

Shopkeeper Lin thought to himself, 'You don't say. Why would I hang it up if it's an Attribute Equipment?'

"Master Ou, you might've made a mistake. This equipment is High Grade Rank Three." He chuckled and sighed a breath of relief to himself because Master Ou finally made a mistake. If Ou Yangming did not make an error at all, it would be quite hair-raising.

Ou Yangming looked at the shopkeeper strangely. After checking with his Military Fire for the third time, he mentioned firmly, "It's impossible, this is a High Grade Rank Two!"

Shopkeeper Lin hesitated. "Master Ou, the pieces of equipment here were sent from the prefecture, and were appraised by a special appraiser, so they're definitely right."

Ou Yangming was a young and spirited man, thus he was furious when he heard the shopkeeper criticizing that he was inferior to an appraiser from the prefecture. "Shopkeeper Lin, I didn't lie, this is indeed a High Grade Rank Two."

Shopkeeper Lin laughed but was suddenly indecisive due to Ou Yangming's resolute attitude.

This was because Ou Yangming's performance earlier really gave him a deep impression. The ability to appraise an item so casually was only possible for old tributaries at the capital, such that even the chief appraiser from the prefecture could not do it so easily.

"Master Ou, our shop received a batch of products two days ago, and an appraiser from the prefecture escorted it." Shopkeeper Lin then suggested carefully, "May I invite him over to take a look at it?"

"Okay. Once he takes a look at it, you'll understand," Ou Yangming replied without hesitation as he was extremely confident about his Military Fire's judgment.

With that, Shopkeeper Lin gave an instruction to his staff, and a middle-aged man was brought to the second floor before long.

"Shopkeeper Lin, which equipment were you talking about?" The middle-aged man asked with a serious look on his face. Although he noticed Ou Yangming, he was not bothered about him at all.

"Master Zheng, it's this one." Shopkeeper Lin immediately pointed at the armor.

"Shopkeeper Lin, this armor was evaluated to be High Grade Rank Three, there shouldn't be any problem," Master Cheng said with a frown after he touched and knocked the armor for a while. After a short pause, he asked, "Who said that the appraisal is wrong?"

"Master Zheng, it's Master Ou who said it," Shopkeeper Lin looked at Ou Yangming strangely when he answered.

"Master Ou?" Master Zhang was stunned. He cast an odd look at Ou Yangming.

Who was Master Zhang? He was an official appraiser who became an apprentice when he was around Ou Yangming's age, where he helped handle different pieces of equipment under the old master in the shop. Due to his diligence and outstanding talent, he was noticed by the tributaries and was officially taught the appraisal technique. It was after he accumulated plenty of experience from working hard for more than a decade that he advanced to his current position.

On the other hand, who was the so-called Master Ou? He was just a fifteen to sixteen-year-old teen.

How could someone like him lie about being able to appraise equipment?

Master Zhang laughed. "Shopkeeper Lin, come on, don't be so gullible, okay? You asked me to come because of this? Don't you know that I'm very busy?"

Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows a little. Even if he was dumb, he could tell that Master Zheng was looking down at him.

He scoffed and expressed seriously, "Master Zheng, I'm sure that this armor is High Grade Rank Two. Although a lot of effort was put into the smithing process, and its durability is much better than other armors of the same grade as the details were perfected, it's definitely a Rank Two!"

Master Zheng was stunned and doubtful.

A normal warrior would have yelled at Ou Yangming by now, but appraisers were a group of exceptionally careful people, hence they would not take even a bit of suspicion lightly.

As such, Master Zheng walked around the armor carefully to evaluate it again.

Shopkeeper Lin and a few of his colleagues on the second floor held their breaths at that moment as they were afraid that even a bit of noise would distract the master.

After some time, Master Zheng suddenly said, "Gentlemen, please forgive me for the impoliteness."

Following that, he nodded and shut his eyes, then a wave-like momentum gushed out from his body.

Ou Yangming could not help but take a step back. It was then when he knew that Master Zheng was a hidden martial artist, and he could tell based on the master's aura that he was not inferior to Squad Leader Yan at all.

At the spur of the moment, Master Zheng opened his eyes and scanned the armor with bright lights from his eyes.

Even though it all happened in a flash, Ou Yangming had goosebumps as if something dangerous was right beside him.

When Master Zheng closed his eyes again, his face turned slightly pale. It was evident that the consumption of what he did earlier was beyond Ou Yangming's imagination.

"Master Zheng, you…" Shopkeeper Lin spoke carefully as he took a step forward.

"Thank you, Master Ou." Master Ou waved his hand, and his eyes were already back to normal when he opened them. Subsequently, he kowtowed at Ou Yangming.

Shopkeeper Lin and a few apprentices at the store were stupefied. As things turned out this way, even a fool would know who was right and who was wrong.

"Master Ou, thank you." With that, Shopkeeper Lin bowed at Ou Yangming too.

It was Ou Yangming's first time seeing this response. Back when Kang Weibo and the others flattered him, they only gave him banknotes in secret, which was not exaggerating at all.

"Shopkeeper Lin, Master Zheng, you don't have to do this!" Ou Yangming was at a loss.

Master Zheng sighed. "I'm Zheng Ziwen, and I've been an appraiser for thirty years, yet I'm not as capable as you. I feel guilty!"

Shopkeeper Lin cleared his throat. "Master Ou, you identified the flaws of the equipment in our store, which is equivalent to preserving the shop's reputation. I'm very thankful for that."

Ou Yangming laughed. He felt great looking at them, especially Zheng Ziwen who changed from being arrogant to being humble.

Apart from having a profound background, reputation was very important for one to open an equipment store. If someone bought equipment unworthy of its name, and other people found out, it would cause suspicions, which would be terrible for the store's business.

After all, the items sold in the store were much more expensive than the ones sold at the stalls outside. If the store failed in quality assurance and practiced fraud, who would still buy from them?

"You're being too polite, it was just as easy as lifting a finger." Ou Yangming waved his hand, then looked at Zheng Ziwen curiously. "Master Zheng, what power were you using earlier?"

"Master Ou, I dare not call myself a master in front of you…" Zheng Ziwen quickly responded. Though Ou Yangming was much younger than him, so much so that the young fellow could be his son, he was being unusually respectful. "I used the appraisal art."

"Oh, does that consume a lot of mental power?"

"It wasn't just consumed, it was basically squeezed out from me." Zheng Ziwen smiled bitterly, then put three fingers up. "Based on my ability, I can use it thrice a day, and I'll be so exhausted after that that I need to sleep."

Ou Yangming came to a sudden realization that Zheng Ziwen did not use the appraisal art at first as the secret technique had a huge restraint.

In comparison, his Military Fire's accessory abilities were quite awesome.

"Master Ou, I have a request to make. Can you appraise every other piece of equipment in the store?" Shopkeeper Lin asked all of a sudden, then said in a serious tone, "If you allow me to, I'll make the decision to let you pick something from the equipment, the pills, or anything else."

Ou Yangming was startled as he was slightly moved.

It was true that the pieces of equipment here were great, but he could smith them himself too. That being said, every person had his shortcomings and merits, so it would be beneficial if he took a piece of unique equipment back to practice.

One could only improve by taking from the long to supplement the short. Ou Yangming remembered what Old Craftsman told him.

Therefore, he nodded and began walking around the store under Shopkeeper Lin and Zheng Ziwen's companion.

Zheng Ziwen would do anything he could to stay in the store at that moment even if someone tried to get rid of him.

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Chapter 43: Qi Return Necklace

The store's second floor was much smaller as compared to the first, but it stored Fine Grade equipment, and the rest were at least of High Grade. On top of that, Ou Yangming also came across over ten pieces of Attribute Equipment. Of course, they were only of Good Grade, but even then, their value was way above a White Slate Equipment of High Grade.

Ou Yangming appraised more than a hundred pieces of equipment on the second floor, and he really found about ten that did not match Shopkeeper Lin's description.

Needless to say, the differences were not big, by which the gaps were only one or at most two ranks, so none of them had a difference of three ranks apart. Even so, Shopkeeper Lin had a ghastly expression on his face.

'A tenth, it turns out that the real attributes of a tenth of the equipment in the store are wrong.'

'Luckily, this isn't spread to the public yet, or the store will be doomed,' he thought to himself.

On the contrary, Zheng Ziwen was not affected upon seeing the situation as if he was already used to it.

Once all the pieces of equipment were appraised, Shopkeeper Lin thanked Ou Yangming sincerely. "Master Ou, thank you for your effort."

Ou Yangming chuckled. "Shopkeeper Lin, I've fulfilled my promise, so…"

"Master Ou, take anything you like, it's a reward for you from the store," Shopkeeper Lin quickly mentioned.

"Thank you." Ou Yangming was elated, but he added, "If I don't want a piece of equipment, can I pick something from the gems or jewelry?"

After looking around the second floor earlier, he noticed that the store sold pills and jewelry other than equipment.

He could not differentiate the pills, but the jewelry attracted his attention.

Shopkeeper Lin laughed. "I told you, you can pick anything from the second floor."

With that, Ou Yangming began looking at the jewelry. Plenty of gem jewelry was displayed, such as earrings, headwear, necklaces, thumb rings, rings, bracelets, anklets, and so on.

Ou Yangming pointed at a necklace after glancing around. "Show me this."

The necklace was smithed delicately, and he liked it very much.

Shopkeeper Lin giggled. "Master Ou, you have good eyesight. If you give this to your girlfriend, she'll definitely be pleased."

A fifteen or sixteen-year-old person was at the age of having increasing hormone levels, thus it was not strange for him to find friends of the opposite sex at all.

Ou Yangming blushed as he knew that he picked a women's necklace. He wanted to pick something else but felt guilty since the others were watching, so he gritted his teeth and decided on the necklace. "I made my decision, I'll take this!"

When Shopkeeper Lin and Zheng Ziwen sent him off at the door, Shopkeeper Lin told him softly, "Master Ou, about today, it's best…"

"Don't worry, I'm not a talkative person," Ou Yangming quickly replied as he was considerate.

Shopkeeper Lin smiled brightly. 'This young fella's a sensible person.'

On the other hand, Zheng Ziwen approached him to ask, "Master Ou, if you still have time today, can you make another visit?"

Ou Yangming was surprised. "What's the matter?"

"We're going to escort a batch of products to the prefecture lately, but there are some pieces of equipment that I can't appraise accurately, so I'd like to ask for your help." Zheng Ziwen grinned, then said to him seriously, "Don't worry, we'll reward you generously."

Ou Yangming paused for a while before he replied, "Okay, I'll definitely come if I'm free."

Once he left, Shopkeeper Lin and Zheng Ziwen returned to the private room on the second floor. The shopkeeper then gathered the pieces of equipment picked out by Ou Yangming, and asked, "Master Zheng, is it true that these were appraised wrongly?"

"I think so," Zheng Ziwen answered without hesitation.

"Master Zheng, this…" Shopkeeper Lin was delighted.

"Did you notice that even though there are errors in the appraisal, the differences were only two ranks apart, and most of them only had a one-rank gap?" Zheng Ziwen sighed.

Shopkeeper Lin was stunned, so he muttered, "If I may ask, why is that so?"

Zheng Ziwen exhaled. "You saw the price I had to pay to use the appraisal art, right?"

The shopkeeper began wondering with a serious face.

"Honestly, the pieces of equipment were not assessed using appraisal art. They were evaluated by three extremely experienced old masters separately, and conclusions are made once the masters have the same opinion," Zheng Ziwen explained, then shook his head before continuing, "The three old masters might've made some mistakes, but they're able to keep the differences within two ranks due to their rich experience. Hence, we won't use our appraisal art unless the debate is huge or if the piece of equipment is extremely valuable."

Shopkeeper Lin pondered for some time, then finally sighed.

There were more than a thousand pieces of equipment being transported in the world, but there were only very few appraisers. Nobody in the world could use the appraisal art on every piece of equipment, let alone the appraiser of a store.

Therefore, three appraisers were able to determine an equipment's quality by looking at it, and even if there was a slight difference, it would not be noticed.

Perhaps this was already the regulation followed by everyone in the equipment industry.

At the very least, that was what Shopkeeper Lin understood as he rarely encountered disputes about this matter throughout his years at the store.

After thinking for a short while, he cast that question aside, and asked something else instead, "Master Zheng, why was Master Ou able to evaluate by just looking at it once?"

Zheng Ziwen smiled bitterly. "Some people are born with the ability. It's considered a natural gift, and it can't be learned by others."

Shopkeeper Lin was envious and jealous, but he knew that he would never become someone like that.

Subsequently, Zheng Ziwen asked, "When is Head Shopkeeper Fang coming back?"

Shopkeeper Lin quickly curbed his thoughts. "Head Shopkeeper went to check some goods, so he'll only return tomorrow."

"Okay," Zheng Ziwen responded, "Once he's back, tell him what happened today. I'd like to invite Master Ou to inspect this batch of goods, and I need his permission."

"Yes." Shopkeeper Lin agreed and kept it in mind.

It was an important matter for the store, so it must not be neglected.Ou Yangming returned to the military camp after he left the shop as he was not interested in walking around anymore.

He ran back instead of finding the cart driver because he was so thrilled that he could not wait to return to the camp.

Yan Chengcai and his brother would have a night battle with the others tomorrow night, thus he needed to make preparations in advance. Nevertheless, what made him really excited was the necklace.

Finally, Ou Yangming hurried back to his courtyard the moment he was back at the military camp.

It was extremely quiet since he rarely had visitors, hence he was able to do whatever he wanted quietly.

Ou Yangming removed the necklace to put it on his palm. Although he never really paid attention to accessories, it was human nature to be attracted to beautiful things.

The necklace was very pretty, and the gem embedded in the center was even more appealing.

Though he did not know its price, he knew that it was certainly valuable, and Shopkeeper Lin only gave it to him without hesitation to shut his mouth.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming was never going to mention what happened at the store to anyone else as he was not a talkative person.

When he placed his other hand on top of the necklace, he began thinking.

'The mysterious Military Fire can smith armaments, but can it be used on accessories too?

'If I'm not careful, this necklace is probably going to be ruined.'

Ou Yangming put his concern aside very quickly. He needed to focus on increasing his power at the moment because only by having powerful abilities could he face murderous schemes.

In order to achieve that, he was willing to destroy ten or a hundred accessories, let alone just one.

He began the process as soon as he made the decision.

As such, his Military Fire danced on his palm, and the purple light in his mind flickered at the same time, which split his consciousness into two.

Consequently, he became like an outsider who watched from above his body.

When the Military Fire burned around the necklace, it made the necklace look strange and mysterious, which caused it to be more attractive.

However, it was just bright and clear from the outsider's point of view. Ou Yangming was as calm as an iceberg and was not distracted at all.

Eventually when the fire enveloped the necklace completely, the words that Ou Yangming had been expecting appeared in his mind.

[Upgradable composition found, upgrade?]

Ou Yangming made a firm choice. 'Upgrade.'

As a result, the various purple lights that were hidden in his mind emerged slowly.

Since he was not upgrading an armament, he controlled the process carefully, and only picked an attribute out of the many.

Following that, the purple light entered the necklace at a speed a few times slower than usual.

Perhaps he was already very adept in controlling the Military Fire, he did not have any trouble although it was his first time attaching an attribute into a piece of jewelry.

The process was slightly slower than usual, but Ou Yangming was satisfied.

As compared to its original state, the necklace on his palm did not change very much, but for some reason, there was a peculiar, unexplainable luster on it. The luster seemed to be able to penetrate one's heart and was able to draw one's attention even more.

Despite that, what really exhilarated Ou Yangming was the fact that the necklace became a piece of equipment through the Military Fire.

[Item: Necklace (Red)]

[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, Fine Grade, Rank One]

[Attribute: Qi Return 1]

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Chapter 44: Smithing Arm Guards

Fine Grade.

The small necklace was actually a piece of Fine Grade equipment.

Ou Yangming widened his eyes in disbelief.

There was no reaction when his Military Fire first touched the necklace, which meant that the necklace was just an ordinary accessory, not a piece of equipment. However, as the fire burned and the Qi Return attribute was added, the necklace actually became a piece of Fine Grade equipment.

The Qi Return attribute, which was the only attribute in the necklace, made it into a piece of Fine Grade Attribute Equipment, which surpassed High Grade.

Ou Yangming could not understand the sudden twist.

Similar to how Shopkeeper Lin and Zheng Ziwen could not understand how Ou Yangming could identify equipment rankings so easily, he also had no idea how an Attribute Necklace had such a high rating.

After hesitating for a while, Ou Yangming put the necklace on.

Though it was a women's necklace, nobody would notice if he wore it inside his shirt.

Once he released a little essential Qi into the necklace, there was a mysterious resonance between him and it, which was an effect caused by the stimulation of the Unique Attribute.

Subsequently, Ou Yangming sensed a peculiar power spread inside his body. The power was extremely strange as it did not give him extra power and speed, and did not cause any change to his body.

At the next instant, his face suddenly changed.

It was because he realized the essential Qi that was consumed earlier was slowly being recovered.

Ou Yangming's essential Qi would always be used first when he used the Military Fire; he cultivated martial arts. After all, essential Qi was more durable than physical power as it could last longer. Moreover, essential Qi recovered much faster than physical power.

Nonetheless, there was a limit to its recovery speed because it was still an extremely slow recovery that could not be felt at all.

It was at this moment when he clearly felt his essential Qi being recovered quickly. Although the recovery was not completed in a flash, the current speed and the speed before were Heaven and Earth apart.

Ou Yangming's eyes glowed right away as he finally understood the wonderful function of the Qi Return attribute. It turned out to be an amazing ability that allowed one to recover essential Qi quickly.

No wonder the attribute alone was able to make a worthless necklace reach a Fine Grade rank.

The Qi Return ability was too powerful. It would be extremely useful during a fight against someone else, or when he smithed using the Military Fire. Besides, the longer the time consumed during the process, the more the Qi Return's function was amplified.

Ou Yangming took a deep breath and smiled brightly.

He did not expect an attribute that he encountered by chance to be so useful.

Following that, he quickly left his courtyard to head to the abandoned depot.

The depot still had piles of discarded equipment. Ou Yangming entered the depot excitedly, then casually picked up pieces of equipment to draw their attributes. It was only half an hour later when he finally calmed down.

Nevertheless, he smiled bitterly.

It was not easy to come across Unique Attributes. Ou Yangming had already filled up the purple light slots in his mind, but apart from Sharpness and Toughness, he did not chance on any Unique Attribute.

This made him realize that it was definitely accidental luck when he previously drew a Unique Attribute at the depot.

Luck could be discovered but not sought. When he looked forward to searching for it, he could not find it anymore.

All of a sudden, Ou Yangming who was feeling regretful was shocked.

He trembled when he sensed the number of purple lights in his mind because there were more than what he imagined.

Ou Yangming did not notice it as he was focused on finding a Unique Attribute earlier, but when he came back to his senses, he realized that he already had more than a hundred and seventy purple lights in his mind.

After advancing to Force Grade Class Three in martial arts, he was able to store ten more purple lights due to the improvement of his essential Qi. Despite that, it only amounted to seventy slots, which was a huge difference from the present hundred and seventy slots.

Ou Yangming vaguely guessed the reason behind it.

Mental power.

This was probably the change that occurred after he incited his mental power.

Even though he could not fully grasp his mental power's application yet, the complementary benefit that came with it was already revealed.

A bit of mental power was able to increase the purple light storage by a hundred, and in terms of efficiency only, mental power was much better than essential Qi.

After a long time, Ou Yangming finally composed himself and went to his smithing workshop with numerous attributes in his mind.

Yan Chengcai and his men would be joining a night battle tomorrow night, and Ou Yangming was determined to keep his promise since he agreed to help them. Furthermore, the battle's purpose was also to fight for Old Craftsman's reputation, thus he was not going to take it half-heartedly.

Based on Ou Yangming's current place in Kang Weibo's heart, his smithing workshop was naturally equipped with normal materials.

He even had precious ores, let alone steel, and featured iron ingots. In fact, he had as many iron ingots as he wanted.

Ou Yangming picked a featured iron ingot, then began smithing a piece of equipment with his Military Fire.

By controlling with his conception, the iron ingot took the shape of an arm guard very quickly. Ou Yangming was already very familiar with forging normal equipment, such that the mass appraisal that he did earlier was a rare experience for him. He had the chance to see the merits and drawbacks of different equipment, which helped him comprehend the smithing process even better.

Having experiences as references and making summaries were mandatory for anyone in any industry to improve skills. Needless to say, Ou Yangming was very keen as well.

Soon enough, an arm guard was formed. Afterward, purple lights in his mind began flickering as they moved into the guard slowly to turn it into a product at the peak of Good Grade.

Ou Yangming smiled proudly because only very few could smith an arm guard at the peak of Good Grade so easily.

Other blacksmiths could smith Good Grade arm guards simply by using the Military Fire, but it was impossible for them to make all of them be at the peak.

Only by using the Military Fire could one achieve something as unbelievable as this.

Ou Yangming nodded happily, then continued smithing the same equipment.

He soon realized two things. One was when he used the Military Fire, not only his essential Qi was being consumed, but the mental power light between his eyebrows was also releasing some power.

This meant that the fuel for Ou Yangming's Military Fire was no longer physical power, but a mixture of essential Qi and mental power.

Before this, Ou Yangming heard from Old Craftsman that he was able to use Military Fire for a long time before he cultivated martial arts, and was likely consuming mental power. That being said, mental power was invisible, thus Ou Yangming did not know how it was being consumed.

He finally felt it this time.

The mental power was not under his control, but it was truly beneficial for him.

As for the second thing, it was the necklace on his neck.

The necklace was worthy of being a piece of Fine Grade equipment; the power it was capable of recovering was not just limited to essential Qi because mental power was also within its scope.

Whether it was essential Qi or mental power, they would definitely be consumed once they were used. As long as one Ou Yangming did not overuse them, adequate consumptions would actually help him improve, and would also increase their capacity.

Additionally, they would also recover slowly. Of course, the recovery speed and consumption rate were not proportionate, thus it was possible for Ou Yangming to be depleted of essential Qi and mental power.

Nonetheless, the consumption process was slowed down by a lot when he wore the Qi Return necklace.

The effect became more obvious when Ou Yangming began smithing the tenth arm guard. Back then, he would already be exhausted from smithing for a long time, and would also be lethargic due to the power consumption.

His condition at the moment was very different from before because his essential Qi and mental power were being recovered quickly although they could not catch up to their consumption rate.

Ou Yangming initially planned to smith ten arm guards at that moment and ten more the next day to gather ten pairs for Yan Chengcai and the others.

However, he suddenly realized after smithing ten arm guards that he still had energy and was still extremely thrilled.

Without any hesitation, Ou Yangming continued smithing for the whole night. By the time he stopped, he noticed that he had finished all ten pairs of arm guards, and their quality was much better than expected.

Eight of them were White Slate Arm Guards at the peak of Good Grade Rank Five, and one of them was a High Grade Rank One arm guard which Ou Yangming specially prepared for Yan Chengcai. The last guard was a piece of Attribute Equipment at the peak of Good Grade, which had a Precision 1 attribute.

Ou Yangming swore that he did not attach any Unique Attribute to that arm guard. The Accuracy 1 attribute appeared out of nowhere just like when the Vision 1 attribute appeared on the High Grade helmet during the smithing process.

The Military Fire contained a mysterious power. It would occasionally attach some energy absorbed from the void to a piece of equipment, which would form a Unique Attribute. Although it was extremely rare, the situation was not impossible.

Needless to say, the situation was a good thing for Ou Yangming.

After looking at the arm guards contentedly, he returned to his residence to rest.

The next morning, Ou Yangming went to his smithing workshop again to continue smithing until Yan Chengcai visited him nervously in the afternoon.

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Chapter 45: High Fighting Spirit

Upon seeing Yan Chengcai, Ou Yangming was happy even though he had been working tirelessly for a day.

How could he not be happy?

He drew a conclusion from yesterday's practical test that the Qi Return attribute allowed him to prolong the Military Fire's usage duration by thirty percent although the used amount was the same. The increased duration was not to be underestimated at all because it was a significant difference for other Military Fire Blacksmiths.

Needless to say, the time could be prolonged further if the Military Fire's usage intensity was reduced. Similarly, it would be shortened if the intensity was increased.

Ou Yangming would love to acquire more Qi Return attributes if it was possible, but it was difficult for him at the moment.

He smiled when he saw the hopeful yet awkward Yan Chengcai. "Brother Yan, you don't have to be so prudish.

Yan Chengcai smiled bitterly, but wondered, 'Even my uncle and Uncle Sui are very respectful toward you, how can I be unrestrained?'

"The items are there, but I'm afraid that you can't carry everything yourself." Ou Yangming brought him into his smithing workshop, then pointed at the pieces of equipment in a corner that were already prepared in advance.

Yan Chengcai was struck dumb, and he instantly widened his eyes.

There was indeed a pile of equipment at the corner, but instead of the expected ten pairs of arm guards, there were also ten pairs of greaves.

Yan Chengcai was already mentally prepared before he visited.

Ou Yangming would definitely not make him come in vain, so the ten pairs of arm guards needed would be ready. Even if there were not ten pairs, Ou Yangming would prepare a few. Nevertheless, Yan Chengcai would be thankful.

After all, equipment was sometimes the determining factor of a party's victory or defeat in a fight.

No matter how great Yan Chengcai's imagination was, he would not have expected Ou Yangming to prepare ten pairs of arm guards and ten pairs of greaves in just a day.

Force Grade soldiers like them were only insignificant people at the bottom class in the military camp.

Other than military sabers and leather armors, other types of equipment were not distributed in the camp, thus arm guards and greaves were considered luxurious items.

As such, Yan Chengcai was naturally in disbelief when Ou Yangming prepared so much for them.

"Th-these…" Yang Chengcai asked carefully, "Master Ou, are you giving all of them to us?"

Ou Yangming replied snappily, "If I'm not giving them to you, am I going to keep them and play with it?"

Yan Chengcai rubbed his hands embarrassedly. "Th-these are too valuable…"

"Brother Yan, there are ten pairs of arm guards and greaves respectively here. Among them, eight pairs of arm guards and greaves are at the peak of Good Grade Rank Five."

"Ah, at the peak of Good Grade Rank Five!" Yan Chengcai gasped.

In his opinion, the pieces of equipment were amazing if they were of Good Grade, but if each of them were at the peak of Rank Five… He could almost see the outcome of the night battle tonight.

Ou Yangming added, "One pair of arm guards and greaves are of High Grade Rank One."

Not only did Yan Chengcai widen his eyes, but his jaw dropped.

'High Grade, it's actually a piece of High Grade equipment. How did this blessing come so soon?' he wondered.

"As for the last pair of arm guards and graves, it's an Attribute Equipment of Good Grade that has a bit of Power and some Agility."

In actual fact, the arm guard's attribute was not Power, but Accuracy. However, it was Ou Yangming's first time coming across the Accuracy attribute, thus he changed the attribute to Power.

He purposely added some Power to a pair of equipment to show that a pair of arm guards had a Unique Attribute, whereas the other one did not.

Nonetheless, Yan Chengcai quivered when he heard that. His face reddened and was so dumbfounded that he could not let a word out.

"I'll follow you to tonight's battle, but I'll be watching from afar. If you perform well, I'll make the decision to give you the pieces of equipment." Ou Yangming scoffed.

In actual fact, he did not have the authority to do so as a blacksmith in the military. Despite that, he believed that as long as he submitted the number of Attribute Equipment required for a month, Kang Weibo would turn a blind eye on the matter even if he found out.

As for the Attribute Equipment… Would it even be an issue for Ou Yangming if he had sufficient materials?

Attributes that the other people dreamed of were simply at his fingertips.

"Master Ou, are you, are you being serious?" Yan Chengcai suddenly asked. His eyes were glowing red.

"Of course I was being serious, but if you don't do well…" Ou Yangming replied proudly. A flash of cold light was seen in his eyes, and Yan Chengcai knew what he was going to say without him finishing his sentence.

"Master Ou, don't worry!" Yan Chengcai stuck his chest out and cut him off for the first time. "We'll be embarrassing you if we lose, so I'll bang my head to death!"

"Brother Yan, you're exaggerating," Ou Yangming shivered as he quickly replied. He said to himself, 'What do you mean by you'll embarrass me? That's nonsense.'

"Master Ou, you don't have to say anymore. You should come to watch since you gave us these valuable items," Yan Chengcai shook his head and mentioned with a pause in between. He then packed the arm guards and greaves into a bag. "Please return to the camp with me."

Upon seeing the excited Yan Chengcai, Ou Yangming was slightly perturbed.

He began wondering if he overdid this.In a barrack at the West Camp, nine men were waiting anxiously. They looked outside the window from time to time, and also whispered to each other.

An especially burly man suddenly asked, "Why isn't Big Brother back yet?"

Another person chuckled. "Big Bull, don't be so anxious. The master's not a rough man like us, he's a meticulous blacksmith, so it's normal for him to be slower."

"Ah, I know. I'm just feeling nervous from waiting, I wonder what Big Brother will bring." Big Bull rubbed his hands together.

"He's bringing arm guards for sure, but I don't know how many there will be, and if they're of Good Grade or Common Grade," Another thin yet tall man mentioned, "Even if they're of Common Grade, it's better than having bare arms!"

Big Bull scoffed. "Even if our arms are bare, I'm not afraid of them!"

The thin man said lazily, "You're not afraid of them, but can you beat them?"

Big Bull kept quiet. Being a soldier, he obviously knew the difference between having equipment and not having one. Besides, it would be extremely advantageous to have equipment during a group fight. When Big Bull recalled the scene where Huang Jingtian and his men previously knocked their arm guards together before leaving the store, as much as he was stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat, he dared not say that they would win.

All of a sudden, someone yelled, "Big Brother's back… Eh, Master Ou is here too!"

After a brief moment, Ou Yangming and Yan Chengcai entered the barrack together.

The men immediately fixed their gaze on Yan Chengcai's face and noticed that it was glowing. On top of that, his smile was bright, and his eyes were filled with a high fighting spirit and strong killing intent.

Therefore, they were half-relieved, and they quickly looked at the bag that he was carrying.

Yan Chengcai looked around him, then placed the bag on the floor. The sound of metal clashing was not pleasing to the ear but was unquestionably heavenly music for the men.

When Yan Chengcai opened the bag, the pieces of equipment were revealed.

"Wow…"

Although everyone knew the moment they saw Yan Chengcai's face that there was good news, they could not help but cheer when they saw so many pieces of equipment.

Forget about the ten pairs of arm guards because they were already expecting them, but what about the ten pairs of greaves? It would simply be too luxurious for men like them to have the equipment.

"Clap!" Yan Chengcai clapped his hands to catch everyone's attention, then he announced, "Brothers, look, these are the pieces of equipment that Master Ou provided us with."

Everyone's eyes sparkled as they were eager to try them out.

They had never seen so many pieces of equipment in the military camp. Perhaps only the Guards under the generals' command were worthy of having a full equipment set.

As for the other normal soldiers, it was simply difficult for them to get a full set.

"Listen well, these are not normal equipment. Eight of them are at the peak of Good Grade!" Yan Chengcai suddenly lowered his voice.

The men were stunned at first, but bright smiles were soon seen on their faces.

That was because Huang Jingtian and his men only had normal Good Grade equipment, whereas theirs were at the peak of Good Grade. In terms of individual capability, Yan Chengcai and his brothers were already slightly superior, or they would not have won the previous fight.

With the difference in their equipment quality this time, the upcoming fight's result would naturally be the same.

However, that was not all because Yan Chengcai continued, "The ninth piece of equipment is a High Grade Rank One!"

"High Grade!"

"Oh my god! A piece of High Grade equipment!"

Yan Chengcai's brothers' eyes were burning, and it was clear that they could not wait to grab the equipment.

"As for the last equipment, it's a piece of Attribute Equipment at the peak of Good Grade. It has Power and Agility attributes."

At the next instant, the barrack was dead silent.

Ou Yangming was slightly surprised. Just as he was feeling puzzled, he heard breathings as heavy as a cow's.

There was a hint of red light in the men's eyes, which made one's heart palpitate.

Yan Chengcai finally mentioned, "Master Ou said that as long as we perform well tonight and if he's satisfied, he'll give these pieces of equipment to us!"

"Ah! Long live, Master Ou!"

When someone suddenly shouted, the others became thrilled too.

"Master Ou, don't worry, I'll definitely beat them up badly, and they'll never dare to show up in front of you anymore!"

"Master Ou, I'll surely kick their balls! We'll only stop once you're satisfied!"

"Master Ou…"

Beads of cold sweat were suddenly seen on Ou Yangming's forehead. He wondered, 'Why did these soldiers suddenly become so cruel.'

Yan Chengcai roared, "Quiet!"

The others instantly kept quiet without making a sound.

Ou Yangming sighed a breath of relief. 'At least one of them is sober.'

Subsequently, Yan Chengcai turned around and slapped his chest. A hideous look then replaced the shy look that he originally had on his face. "Master Ou, I'll certainly bash their heads, and I won't disappoint you!"

"Bash their heads!"

"Kick their balls!"

"Break their legs!"

With that, endless savage roars filled the room.

Ou Yangming wiped his cold sweat as he thought to himself, 'What expectations can I have? You're really overthinking…'

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Chapter 46: You're Cheating

Many men sneaked out of the military camp at dusk.

They would unquestionably be courting death if they did this during a war, but Yan Chengcai had obviously made well-thought-out arrangements tonight. Even if the patrols noticed them, they would just walk past without looking at them, and would leave them alone.

The night battle's location had to be very particular. It could not be too close to the military camp, or the noise would surely draw attention. However, it could not be too far either, or it would be troublesome for them to return to the camp before sunrise.

Yan Chengcai and the others were very experienced, thus they traveled roughly 2.5 kilometers out of the military camp without making a sound.

With a bit of moonlight, they made their way to a spot.

After checking each other's equipment, they sat down to rejuvenate themselves. They were passionate and full of spirit earlier at the barracks, but they became extremely calm when the battle was happening soon, by which none of them made noise.

Ou Yangming watched them quietly. Although he had seen soldiers training on the training ground, it was his first time seeing actual combat like this.

Soon enough, some figures were seen approaching from another direction.

Yan Chengcai mentioned softly, "Master Ou, you can watch from here, but don't show yourself."

"Okay." Ou Yangming quickly nodded. Honestly, he had the impulse to give this a go, but he quickly suppressed the thought.

After all, this was a fight between two camps, and the most he could do was to provide them with equipment. If he were to get involved, he would likely be in trouble.

Once Yan Chengcai waved his hand, he and his men stood up together. They covered their faces with scarves, and covered their arm guards and greaves with their sleeves before heading toward their opponents.

The moon was not that bright at that moment. Though they were on empty ground, they could only see blurred figures if they were too far away.

Seeing as both parties were almost within each other's reach, one of them retrieved a fire igniter to light a torch and then threw it. The moment the torch landed, it stuck to a hole in the ground firmly.

It was then that the men from both sides could roughly see each other.

Ou Yangming initially thought that they would communicate before fighting, but the instant the flames on the torch stabilized, both sides roared at the same time, "Charge!"

With that, twenty men charged at each other.

Though each party only had ten men, they were all soldiers, hence they did not fight messily. The men from each side advanced and retreated orderly as though they were one person as a whole.

"Bam, bam, bam…"

The first two people to clash were Yan Chengcai and Huang Jingtian. Even with their faces covered, they identified each other right away.

They first launched multiple hits at each other, and they either dodged or defended. When their arms clashed, ear-splitting sounds of metal clashing were heard.

Arm guards. Both of them were wearing arm guards.

Huang Jingtian was not surprised at all. He knew that Yan Chengcai's father was a squad leader, so it would not be hard for him to acquire arm guards. Nevertheless, it was not easy to gather ten pairs of arm guards in a day.

Furthermore, Huang Jingtian was wearing Good Grade arm guards!

In spite of that, he noticed after a few exchanges of blows that something was off.

What a mighty force!

It was evident from their arm powers that Yan Chengcai was more powerful than Huang Jingtian, so the latter's arms were numbed.

What was happening? It was not Huang Jingtian and Yan Chengcai's first encounter as they exchanged blows a few times on different occasions other than the previous night battle. The men from Huang Jingtian's side recalled Yan Chengcai's power to be on a par with Huang Jingtian's. How did he have the upper hand this time?

Fortunately, Huang Jingtian's face was covered, or the other would see that he was grimacing in pain.

After confronting his opponent heedlessly for a few times, Huang Jingtian dared not just go head-on. He shifted his body to retreat, but Yan Chengcai suddenly took a leap forward and moved as fast as lightning without giving him a chance to respond.

A punch was aimed at Huang Jingtian's chest, the force was swift and violent.

Huang Jingtian lowered his body. He fell to the ground at that crucial moment, then rolled backward like a rubber ball.

Despite that, he sensed a strong wind brushing past his scalp. After managing a narrow escape, he was traumatized as Yan Chengcai had somehow changed into another person. Someone who was not an easy opponent at all due to his mighty power and fast speed.

Perhaps Huang Jingtian and his men would have to gang up against Yan Chengcai after the other opponents were taken down.

That being said, a shrieking cry pierced the silent night sky at the next moment. Huang Jingtian was terrified as the cry was not from their opponent.

Instead of shouting, both parties were fighting quietly under the night sky.

It was supposedly hard for both sides to break each other's formation as they adopted their military formation, but moments after they began fighting, Ou Yangming noticed a huge change.

Big Bull advanced forward behind Yan Chengcai, and was soon faced with a big man who was about his size.

Needless to say, the burliest and most valiant man was usually at the front in a night battle like this. Big Bull was familiar with the big man, so they attacked at the same time as soon as they met. They had equal shares of power after hitting each other with their arms a few times.

Later, Big Bull did a side kick with his leg.

The big man on the opposite smiled sinisterly, and kicked sideways too without showing any sign of weakness.

He put a lot of effort into practicing martial arts skills in the military camp, especially his legs that were as tough as steel from kicking timber piles every day. While the big man could not defeat Big Bull with his punches, he was confident about kicking Big Bull away with one kick.

As such, two legs danced in the air like two whips, then clashed with each other hard under the flickering flames.

Big Bull's body froze for a moment as he wondered, 'This fella's quite strong!'

Subsequently, he heard a loud "pop", and the big man's face immediately twisted beneath the cloth.

The big man tried his best to find his footing, but fell to the ground instead, and when he grabbed his leg with both hands, his body was already drenched in a cold sweat due to the immense pain.

During a battle in the dark, clashes between fists and legs were inevitable since no weapons were allowed. It would be fine if they only fought with punches, but whenever someone from Yan Chengcai's side attacked with their legs, gasps or groans were definitely heard from their opponents.

Upon hearing the sound, Ou Yangming thought about his greaves.

'Mm, the collision between one's bare leg and a greave at the peak of Good Grade Rank Five…' Ou Yangming felt chills on his back when he thought about it, and his legs seemed to hurt too.

At the spur of a moment, a painful scream was heard. "They have greaves, they're cheating. Ah—"

The person who spoke was the big man whose leg had broken after fighting Big Bull recklessly. He was also a tough man, so he did not make a sound at all even after experiencing sharp pain. Only after the pain slowly disappeared did he warn his partners.

However, his warning was too late.

More than half of the men from their side had already been defeated, but they were not as good as the strong man in terms of martial arts skills with the legs. Therefore, they defended with their legs instead of making active attacks, and they did not meet force with force. In that case, they were only racked with pain when they were kicked by greaves, and their legs were not broken.

Upon hearing the big man's shriek, the others could not help but have teary eyes.

'You were the first who suffered, why didn't you tell us earlier…'

Yan Chengcai and Big Bull were unstoppable when they charged forward together. They broke their opponents' formation very quickly since their opponents lacked Huang Jingtian and the big man.

Once Yan Chengcai's side gained the advantage in numbers, they ganged up on their opponents; multiple people against one. The attacks from their arm guards and greaves were like downpours of rain that instantly hurt their opponents such that they lost their ability to resist.

Before long, half of Huang Jingtian's men were down. They were so badly beaten that they could not get up anymore.

Nevertheless, Yan Chengcai and his brothers had a sense of propriety even though they sounded fierce and ruthless, thus they did not injure their opponents seriously. Other than the big man who broke his leg, the others were only mildly injured.

Following that, Yan Chengcai and Big Bull sandwiched Huang Jingtian, then smiled hideously before pouncing on him together.

Huang Jingtian knew that it would be pointless for him to beg for mercy, hence he braced himself for the attacks, and was soon beaten to the ground.

Yan Chengcai laughed out loud. "Huang Jingtian, do you surrender?"

Nobody had spoken before the fight started, but now that Yan Chengcai's side won, they became unrestrained.

"You… You actually used greaves, you cheated!" Huang Jingtian spat to the ground.

"Is that so? Who were the ones who used arm guards when they first challenged us?" Yan Chengcai sneered disdainfully.

Huang Jingtian and his men were instantly speechless. Normally, equipment was not involved during night battles like this, but they were the ones who had first used arm guards first. Since that was the case, how could Huang Jingtian reprimand Yan Chengcai?

Just as they were feeling extremely ashamed, a sound was heard coming from a silhouette that came out of nowhere.

"There's actually a night battle here too. Hehe, how about you count me in?"

Yan Chengcai and his brothers were shocked. They quickly made a circle, and stood in front of Huang Jingtian and his men.

Although they had fought mercilessly during the night battle, if an outsider was present, they became comrade-in-arms.

"You, who are you?" Yan Chengcai asked with a heavy voice.

When the figure slowly walked into the light, a handsome and tall man came into view. He had his hands behind his back, his eyes were sharp, and he carried a threatening aura.

"You don't deserve to know my name. All of you, come at once!"

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Chapter 47: Skillful

Yan Chengcai and the others had ghastly expressions on their faces. Although their faces were covered, rage could be seen through their eyes.

It was natural for them to be enraged because a fop had come out of nowhere, speaking conceited nonsense. Besides, they were still in high spirits and were proud after just winning a fight, thus they could not stand being provoked.

Big Bull roared, "Let me do it!"

He darted forward, then attacked with Iron Fist, which caused the wind to blow due to its strong momentum.

Among the twenty men involved in the night battle, Big Bull's power was one of the best, and only the unlucky big man who broke his leg could contend with him. In fact, even Yan Chengcai and Huang Jingtian were inferior to him.

However, when Big Bull swung his fist swiftly and was about to hit the fop, the fop sneered disdainfully.

By turning his body to the side slightly, the fop dodged Big Bull's fist, which ended up brushing past his body. At the same time, he ten tripped Big Bull, causing Big Bull to fall forward to the ground.

The other soldiers were shocked, and dignified looks were seen on their faces.

Ou Yangming, who was hiding a distance away, was suddenly enlightened. He felt as though there was a strike of lightning in his head when the fop attacked earlier, and seemed to have spotted or comprehended something.

At the next instant, the purple light in his mind was automatically activated, which split his consciousness into two and allowed him to watch the fight as an outsider.

Yan Chengcai yelled, "Big Bull, are you okay?"

"Boss, I'm fine, I just accidentally fell earlier." Big Bull's face was red when he sat up.

Though he was unwilling to admit it as he was stubborn, the others knew that it was definitely not an accident.

"Don't worry, I won't bully you. I also have the cultivation base of Force Grade Class Five, and I'm not wearing any equipment," The fop mentioned proudly as he clapped his hands, and did not hide the fact that he was belittling them. "If you still don't want to attack me , I'll initiate the attack!"

"Okay, since you're so interested, I'll oblige you." Yan Chengcai gestured for his brothers to calm down, then strode toward his opponent with clenched fists.

Although he could tell that the fop was a tough opponent, he had two pieces of Attribute Equipment on him. The extra Power and Agility attributes were boosting his confidence.

The fop stood with his hands behind his back, and his expression made him seem like he was taking a leisurely walk under the moonlight instead of preparing to fight an enemy.

"Be careful!" Yan Chengcai shouted and threw a punch at the fop's chest.

While the punch seemed to have a powerful momentum, in truth, he had slightly held back.

Nonetheless, it was obvious that the opponents he had been facing lately were different. The fop swayed a little, and actually dodged Yan Chengcai's fist right before he was about to get hit.

If the fop had dodged a little later, Yan Chengcai's fist would have hit him, and if he had dodged a bit earlier, Yan Chengcai could have changed his attack. Nevertheless, the fop avoided at such perfect timing that he managed to slide out of Yan Chengcai's punch, and he was even able to get closer to Yan Chengcai.

Yan Chengcai was appalled. He quickly curbed his energy then swung his arm at the fop, but before he succeeded, a mighty force that hit the side of his body had already sent him flying away.

One move. In just one move, Yan Chengcai flew away without the ability to control his body at all.

Ou Yangming was stupefied, and his face actually reddened a little. Under the purple light's assistant, he witnessed everything clearly.

As mentioned by the fop earlier, his cultivation base was at the peak of Force Grade Class Five. In terms of power only, he was actually inferior to Yan Chengcai, who had gained extra power, but his skills were too powerful and his combat timing was simply on point. The way he fought was very pleasing to the eye.

In actual fact, nobody else would have the same impression, not even Squad Leader Yan Haobo or Centurion Liu Zhengye.

Ou Yangming was the only one who had the impression as he saw everything clearly, as well as understood the difficulty and theory behind it. Besides, he vaguely felt that the ability was extremely important for him.

"Brothers, joint attack!" Big Bull roared. He was not bothered when he fell, but his face was ghastly pale when he saw Yan Chengcai being sent flying away.

The eight remaining soldiers quickly responded to him, and wielded their fists as they approached the fop in a single file.

Yan Chengcai did not stop them because he knew from facing the fop himself that there was a great disparity between their abilities. Therefore, he gritted his teeth after standing up again, and charged at the fop without hesitation.

When ten well-trained soldiers surrounded their enemy, their combat power increased.

Despite that, the fop was still smiling fearlessly. "Hehe, didn't I tell you earlier? You should've done this a long time ago."

Subsequently, he swayed while advancing with strides. Even as he was encircled by Yan Chengcai and his brothers, he moved like a slippery fish. It was as if he was treading on water without being hurt at all.

Huang Jingtian and his men who were on the ground were already stupefied.

They were very familiar with Yan Chengcai and his men, thus they knew that they had already given their all, yet they could not do any harm to the fop. Moreover, they noticed from their perspective that there was constantly something wrong. Instead of Yan Chengcai, who had multiple people on his side, the fop, who was fighting alone, was the one in control of the fight.

Ou Yangming was full of spirit as he had already substituted himself into the fight.

Being besieged by ten soldiers, the step technique and skill performed by the fop was extremely strange as he could do what was unachievable by the others. This was also the exact reason that he dominated the scene like he was walking a monkey.

Yes. In Ou Yangming's opinion, the fop was walking a monkey, and he seemed to be enjoying it very much.

That being said, it was the odd situation that gave Ou Yangming unbelievable benefits.

His consciousness that was being an outsider slowly grasped the key points of the fop's body technique, and was making a copy in his head.

The feeling was indescribable, but Ou Yangming felt like he had transformed into the fop who was moving between the men freely and easily regardless of the threatening fist winds around him.

Ou Yangming was able to contend with and defeat the strong Yan Chengcai previously due to the wonderful purple light.

However, he had that performance because he explored and thought things through. In other words, the breakthrough was forced out of him as he was helpless back then.

On the other hand, the fop's performance seemed to have opened a door that would lead Ou Yangming to the peak, and a beautiful view was seen behind the door.

It turned out that combat skills were this mighty.

If the strengths between two people were Heaven and Earth apart, combat skills were obviously pointless, but if one's skills were at a certain level, one could challenge someone more superior.

Ou Yangming clenched his fists unknowingly as he felt an upsurge of emotion that could not be controlled.

If he had fathomed the skills long ago, would he still be flustered when he faced the seemingly awe-inspiring and unstoppable slash from Yan Haobo's saber?

No. Even if he were to face Squad Leader Yan, Ou Yangming would be able to fight!

Skills. Real skills were truly magnificent.

At the spur of the moment, Ou Yangming had it all figured out.

Therefore, while feeling eager to try, the purple light in his mind glowed again.

This time, a hint of the purple light even entered the mental power between his eyebrows.

Mental power was originally invisible, but Ou Yangming stimulated it by luck during a moment of life or death, so it took a form. In spite of that, the mental power was so peculiar that he could not normally control it.

After seeing the fop's skillful tricks, Ou Yangming came to a sudden realization.

It was no longer a normal trick, but a superpower that allowed him to trigger his mental power.

The moment the purple light and his mental power came into contact, Ou Yangming finally felt like he had control. This meant that he could use his mental power from now on.

As expected, a hint of mental power was released from the eyebrows according to his thoughts, and existed in a thin form that was much thinner than a thin thread.

Needless to say, the mental power was unnoticeable through the naked eye, but Ou Yangming knew that it truly existed.

'Mm. I can use my mental power now, but it's not very useful…' He wondered.

"Hey!" The fop's lazy voice filled the air. "If that's all you have, I'm too lazy to be playing with you."

The fop had only been dodging attacks without counterattacking at all, but his face suddenly changed as he made continuous hits.

Consequently, shrieks were instantly heard. Yan Chengcai and his brothers watched the fop attacks, and though the attacks were not fast at all, they somehow suffered heavy blows on their bodies.

After a brief moment, nobody was left standing besides the fop.

The fop fluttered his sleeves as if he had just done something not worth mentioning.

Just as he was about to leave proudly, he noticed through the corner of his eyes that a figure was approaching him. Nonetheless, the person who was walking toward him in a straight line made him feel like he was swaying strangely.

The fop had a grave expression on his face for the first time.

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Chapter 48: Secretly Learning Skills

The person who was walking toward the fop had his face covered by a scarf, thus his face could not be seen. Nevertheless, the step technique used by that person gave the fop a sense of familiarity, and the flashing figure also gave him an enormous pressure.

Previously, when the fop had exchanged blows with Yan Chengcai and the others, he saw through their movements in a flash. With assistance from his hearing, sense of smell, and sense of touch on his surroundings, he naturally formed an invisible network that helped him observe everything.

The fop could tell what was true or false, and could take control of the situation even if he encountered a Yin Grade powerhouse, let alone a Force Grade martial artist.

However, while the person who was approaching the fop at the moment seemed like he was taking normal steps, the fop could not grasp his drifting figure at all. In other words, the fop could not see through that man.

As such, the fop trembled a little, then bent his knees slightly to be ready for a battle.

Yan Chengcai and the others lied on the floor and widened their eyes. Nonetheless, Ou Yangming had not only covered his face with a scarf when he came out, but he had also removed his outerwear, revealing a martial artist's outfit. On top of that, he went around them to appear from a different spot instead of coming out from his hiding spot right away.

Therefore, apart from Yan Chengcai, who was suspicious, Big Bull and the others could not have guessed Ou Yangming's identity because they would not believe that a blacksmith could defeat their boss.

"You, who are you?" The fop asked seriously.

Despite that, he soon felt disappointed or even angry because the masked man had no intention of talking to him at all. The man simply attacked him with his fist.

The fop was enraged as he was always the pretentious one, and nobody ever dared to treat him without respect.

Subsequently, he scoffed and devised a plan in his head while staring at the masked man. Oncenthe fist was three millimeters closer, he would dodge to teach that fellow a lesson.

When the fop fought with Yan Chengcai and his men earlier, he showed a little mercy, but he was ready to exert all his force this time. This was not only because of the masked man's attitude, but also mainly because he sensed a huge threat from the masked man.

"Closer, closer…" The fop said to himself softly with a contemptuous look on his face. It was at that moment that the fist suddenly stopped.

Yes. It just stopped without any warning.

The fop was stunned as his planned routes were forced to freeze at that moment.

It was as though a person was going all out at a wooden pile, but realized the instant he hit the wood that his fist did not hit anything at all because it was just an illusion.

The ingenious pause caused the fop's plan to fail at once, and he was forced to stop just as he was ready to unleash his accumulated energy.

At the next instant, the fist that had stopped suddenly struck again.

"Pow…"

It hit the fop's chest hard and straightforwardly.

The fop groaned as a result, but quickly shifted his body to take a few steps back.

Ou Yangming sighed to himself. 'It's a pity that my power isn't sufficient yet. If my cultivation base was also at Force Grade Class Five, I could've more or less injured him with the punch, but I'm only in Force Grade Class Three. Besides, I'm not wearing any equipment, so the most I can do is to let him suffer in pain for a short while.'

In spite of that, he had no idea that the damage he caused to the fop was far beyond what he imagined.

The damage was not physical, but something that was done to the fop's mentality.

Before this, the fop defeated his opponents and dominated the scene even though he was outnumbered as he was unstoppable, but now an enemy had come out of nowhere and the unusual by counterattacking successfully. Additionally, it was clear that the masked man's cultivation base was lower than the fop's. Was the tide turned because the former's grasp of skills was better than the fop's?

How could something like this happen?

The fop's state of mind was messed up at that moment, such that his breathing became unstable.

Ou Yangming took another step forward.

He already had a rough understanding of the fop after observing in secret just now, but he had a strong, irrepressible urge to act after Yan Chengcai and the others collapsed.

Ou Yangming wanted to battle the fop who had exceptionally powerful skills because he could only experience the power's mightiness by confronting it.

Hence, he attacked without hesitation.

He did not do it to take revenge for Yan Chengcai and the others as he only wanted to verify his thoughts on skills.

Thus, no matter what the fop's background was and why he got involved in the night battle, Ou Yangming was determined to fight him.

The fop was battle-seasoned. Even though he felt uneasy, he curbed his thoughts and braced himself to face the fight with all his strength.

Once he gathered all his spirit, his body condition changed.

Every move that the fop made was accompanied by a mysterious power that was like a trap set to capture prey.

After being hit by Ou Yangming, the fop knew that the masked man's cultivation base was actually lower than his, so he decided to employ this method. It was a brilliant method, but it had a huge loophole, which was he was going to use himself as bait. Furthermore, based on the masked man's sudden pause earlier, the fop believed that the man could definitely notice the flaw.

Of course, the loophole was not obvious, and it was not going to be constant. It would usually appear after a few breaths, and would disappear in the blink of an eye. It was definitely not there to leave an impression on purpose.

Nevertheless, the fop was unaware that Ou Yangming's consciousness was already split into two. One was fighting him, whereas the other one was observing like a bystander.

It was a huge advantage because the person closely involved was usually baffled, whereas the onlooker always saw things clearly.

The fop's actions and intentions could not escape the bystander at all, thus the interlinked traps would not be useful at all.

Ou Yangming moved in line with the fop's fist force at that moment, and he was so agile that the fop's violent fist force could not threaten him at all. From time to time, Ou Yangming launched hits that seemed to be hitting nothing, but the fop was forced to retreat as if he was greatly threatened.

Yan Chengcai, Huang Jingtian, and the others were completely bedazzled. The fist technique that they cultivated in the military stressed on one shot one kill, hence they had never seen a graceful yet strange and ever-changing fist art that was extremely mighty. The more they watched, the dizzier they felt.

On the other hand, the two people fighting were walking as if they were on wings, and attacked at the speed of lightning.

Ou Yangming grew happier the more he fought because he benefited a lot from exchanging blows with the skill master. Especially when the fop put in a lot of effort to set up new traps, he was suddenly enlightened. In addition, Ou Yangming also realized that he could control his mental power better the more he fathomed skills.

If the fop knew that Ou Yangming was actually thinking of something else during the intense fight, he would probably vomit blood.

Nonetheless, the fop was becoming more frightened as the fight progressed. In that short period of time, he had performed almost all the skills that he had cultivated for more than ten years, yet he was helpless against the masked man. It would be fine if that was all, but the masked man was starting to attack in a very similar style to his the longer they fought.

The fop suddenly had a strange thought that he was fighting himself, or how could his traps be seen through so easily?

Sure enough, other than the very first amazing punch, he predicted the masked man's fist art and step technique, but his opponent changed so quickly that he could not find any weak points at all, hence they were in a deadlock.

'How can I be victorious?' The fop pondered.

Just as he was feeling troubled, Ou Yangming sighed to himself.

Ou Yangming was certain that he had emptied the fop's foundations, so he no longer had the desire to let this battle go on any longer.

He shifted his body sideways in a flash, then leaped forward to punch the fop.

The fop followed his plan inflexibly, but just as he was going to dodge the punch, it took a turn to hit his shoulder.

He groaned. The punch obviously did not injure him, but it broke off his step technique, causing him to lose balance.

Ou Yangming showed no mercy, and blasted multiple hits with his fists.

The fop was fearful, so he did everything he could to block, to dodge, or face those fists with his own without caring about the outcome. He did not hesitate at all even if both of them would be defeated.

Unfortunately, Ou Yangming had already seen through his skills, hence his fists either turned halfway or stopped to make a critical hit, and he repeated the process.

All in all, the fop's movements were already predicted by Ou Yangming, and Ou Yangming was able to counter smoothly with the best move.

Fist after fist, the fop was hit. Before long, his handsome face was so badly hit that it swelled and bruised, and his body was full of injuries too.

After some time again, the fop roared. Just as everyone thought that he was going to give everything he had, he swayed and moved backward. Following that, he disappeared under the night sky, and was nowhere to be found.

Yan Chengcai, Huang Jingtian, and the others were stunned for a while before they realized that the fellow had escaped. When they turned to look at the masked man, he was also gone.

They had the same thought as they looked at each other.

Why was the masked man able to hit his target even though his punches seemed normal, yet they could not even touch the fop at all even when they went all-out?

They wondered, 'Are they even humans…'

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Chapter 49: Everyone Was Happy

Ou Yangming returned to his original spot soundlessly. He removed the scarf, put on his outerwear, and instantly became a blacksmith who had nothing to do with the masked man that had fought the fop in an intense battle earlier.

It was his first time participating in a night battle. Although he was only involved as a bystander, he was already prepared and fully equipped to escape if anything uncontrollable happened. Nonetheless, he did not expect to encounter an unforeseen person like the fop.

Ou Yangming did not reject it. That was because the fop's movements had opened a brand new door for him, which helped him understand the definition of skills.

While boundaries represented power and were the clearest reflection of power, skills could indicate power perfectly in a different manner.

Needless to say, the biggest advantage of skills for Ou Yangming at the moment was they allowed him to adjust his mental power.

It was something that had happened by coincidence, so Ou Yangming might not be able to get the same reward again even if he observed the fight again.

After a brief moment, Yan Chengcai and the others returned while grimacing in pain, and they looked embarrassed. Even though they beat Huang Jingtian and his men up terribly, they were wiped out by an unknown fop.

Even one who had a thick face would be unhappy, so they were certain that they had let Master Ou down.

"Guys, why are you so upset when you've won?" Ou Yangming could not help but laugh when he saw the dejected men.

Big Bull exhaled deeply, then removed his arm guards and greaves. "Master Ou, we didn't keep you satisfied, so we'll return these to you."

The others did the same even though they were unwilling to, and it was obvious through their expressions that they were very sad. As though they were cutting flesh off their bodies.

"Forget it, I'm very happy with your performance, so I'll give them to you." Ou Yangming frowned a little.

"What?" The men were stunned. Other than Yan Chengcai, who had seen it coming, the others looked at each other as if they heard him wrongly.

Their performance?

Without the fop who appeared after and caused trouble, their performance had been perfect. Nevertheless, they were ashamed because of the discord that happened.

"Why? Do you not want them? I'll take them back then," Ou Yangming glanced at the men as he spoke unhurriedly, then acted like he was going to take the pieces of equipment back.

Big Bull and the others looked at Yan Chengcai at the same time, who waved at them while saying, "These are gifts from Master Ou. If any of you don't want them, there are other brothers who are waiting to get their hands on them!"

After coming to a sudden realization, the men quickly went to pick up the pieces of equipment that they removed earlier as if they hit the jackpot.

Yan Chengcai mentioned, "Brothers, we've received such a huge gift from Master Ou, so we must offer him our help in the future if he needs us. If anyone dares to ignore him, don't blame me for not treating you as a brother anymore!"

Big Bull slapped his chest. "Big Brother, don't worry. As long as Master Ou orders me, I'll be at his service even if there'll be immense dangers and difficulties, or I won't die a natural death!"

The other men swore as well whether they were willing to or not. Ou Yangming was not bothered at all at first, but he did not stop them as he was slightly moved.

He did not have much support in the military, so apart from Old Craftsman, who cared for him dearly, he did not trust anyone else. Since Yan Chengcai made a move to be on his side, he would accept it with open hands.

While he knew that Yan Chengcai was only doing this because of his smithing ability, why would someone be on his side if he could not offer anything?

Once everyone calmed down, Yan Chengcai suggested, "Master Ou, it's quite late now, so it's best for us to return as soon as possible."

Ou Yangming looked at the direction where the fighting group was at, and noticed that the torch was still burning for some reason, but nobody was there anymore.

He nodded, thus everyone used their body technique to sneak back into the military camp.

They entered the West Camp immediately once they were back, and a hoarse voice was heard the moment they entered. "What was the result?"

Yan Chengcai quickly answered, "We defeated the East Camp."

"Good fella, you didn't bring disgrace to the general's name." The owner of the voice sounded extremely delighted. "Go back and rest, you don't need to train tomorrow."

"Yes, sir, but there was an unforeseen event that happened after we won."

"Oh? You should go back first, we'll talk about this tomorrow."

After Yan Chengcai led his men back to the military camp, he waved to signal them to return to their barracks. On the other hand, he escorted Ou Yangming back to his courtyard in the Armament Camp.

Ou Yangming pondered before he said, "Brother Yan, I hope that you won't spread that I left the camp today."

Yan Chengcai nodded. Don't worry, I'll definitely keep my mouth shut, and I won't let the others speak nonsense."

There were hidden meanings in what they said, so much so that the other men could only understand, at most, half of what they had said. Only the two of them knew very well what they meant.

Ou Yangming nodded then entered his residence. He was relieved after getting Yan Chengcai's promise.

Yan Chengcai waved his hand hard, and was obviously elated. He would have never imagined that he could get acquainted with Master Ou, and could even receive such a huge benefit. In this case, he no longer despised the fop that much because the outcome would not have been so perfect if the fop had not suddenly intervened.

The next morning, Yan Chengcai woke up his brothers to instruct them not to spread what had happened yesterday, and especially stressed the point that Master Ou did not join them.

The men were grateful after receiving gifts from Ou Yangming, and they figured that the master did not want to be involved in the grudges between the two generals, thus they agreed without suspecting anything.

As for the superior who asked about the battle, Yan Chengcai told him everything that happened except the part where Ou Yangming followed them.

The superior would never relate the masked man who defeated the fop with a Military Fire Blacksmith no matter how well he imagined things.Even though it was peaceful in the West Camp, the East Camp was in a clamor.

A bearded man glared at Huang Jingtian and his men. He was exasperated that they did not meet his expectations. "Idiot, I humbled myself to borrow Good Grade arm guards for you, why did you lose? You even lost more terribly than you did the last time!"

Huang Jingtian lowered his head as he dared not defend himself. He knew his superior's temper very well, and things would only be worse if he tried to explain.

As expected, the big man was tired of scolding him after some time. "What happened? Tell me!"

"Sir, we didn't lose unjustly this time…" Huang Jingtian looked up.

"What?" The bearded man widened his eyes.

Huang Jingtian endured the pain as he responded, "Sir, we may have arm guards, but each of them had arm guards and greaves. We were caught off guard, which is why we lost."

Feeling startled, the big man furrowed his eyebrows. "That doesn't sound right. I didn't hear about anyone from the West Camp making transfers at the depot. Hmph, it was only a day, how did they gather those pieces of equipment if they didn't withdraw them from the depot?"

Huang Jingtian was helpless. Since the man had no idea, he was even more clueless.

"Even if they had greaves, your arm guards are of Good Grade, so you couldn't have lost this badly," The big man hesitated before mentioning.

"Sir, please take a look at me." Huang Jingtian gritted his teeth. He rolled up his sleeves to show his arms, as well as the arm guards, but the guards had many holes in them, and some were especially obvious that they even dented.

"Wh-what happened?" The big man's face changed as he exclaimed.

"We matched force with force against them, and we ended up quite seriously injured." Huang Jingtian smiled bitterly.

The big man instantly had a grave expression on his face. Being an elder in the military, though he did not know how to smith equipment, he was aware of equipment properties very well.

There could only be one explanation for the awfully damaged arm guards, which was that their opponents had more powerful equipment than them!

"Sir, Brother Han cultivated the Iron Leg Technique very well, so if they were normal Good Grade greaves, his leg wouldn't have been broken…" Huang Jingtian added after a short pause.

The big man's face turned dark. "Are you saying that they had pieces of High Grade equipment?"

Huang Jingtian lowered his head without saying a word, but his expression said it all.

Brother Han was the fellow who fought Big Bull, and he was extremely unlucky because the only High Grade equipment given by Ou Yangming was worn by Big Bull. If Brother Han's Iron Leg Technique was blocked by a Good Grade greave, he probably would not have broken his leg, but he had a miserable ending since he went against Big Bull out of everyone else.

"High Grade equipment, the West Camp cheated too much!" The big man's eyes shone.

He did not mention his soldiers' lack of preparation at all, and blamed everything on the West Camp.

Huang Jingtian then talked about the fop who challenged them, as well as his escape after that.

"Could that person be him?" The big man's face changed.

"Sir, do you know that fella?" Huang Jingtian's eyes glowed.

The big man glared at him. "Hmph, you don't have to find out about that person. If it's really him, he's not someone who can be provoked by us!"

Huang Jingtian felt chills down his spine. "Yes, sir."

Afterward, the big man gestured for him to leave. Huang Jingtian then looked for the medical officer to treat the others.

On the other hand, the burly man who was superior to Big Bull was deep in thought. The fact that the West Camp was able to gather so many pieces of equipment secretly and even let normal soldiers use them was truly worrying…

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Chapter 50: Skill—Self-explosive

Ou Yangming slept the moment he returned to his room.

Although he had benefited greatly from the opportunity tonight, he curbed his thoughts and slept soundly.

He recovered half of his energy after sleeping for only two hours, and was full of energy when he finally awoke.

Ou Yangming then began practicing the martial-art squat, the blade technique, and the fist art in his courtyard. This was his homework every day, and he never once slacked.

In actual fact, as his position in the Armament Camp became more stable, he was safe from assassination as long as he stayed in the military camp.

Forget about Zhang Yinfan who could not identify who killed his nephew because even if he did, he would not dare to send a killer as he had before.

Making a helper disappear soundlessly was completely different from making an official Military Fire Blacksmith who could submit three pieces of Attribute Equipment a month disappear.

For the former, even if Old Craftsman who was not resigned to the outcome were to search for him, the others would likely agree overtly but neglect the matter instead.

As for the latter, all the generals would be so enraged that they would join hands to find the murderer.

Therefore, Ou Yangming was not worried about his safety for the time being. Zhang Yinfan's existence in the military camp was still a huge threat to him, but it was also driving him to work harder.

If Sui Hezhi was watching him at that moment, he would notice that even though Ou Yangming was still practicing the blade technique and fist art that was taught by him, they were strangely different from what was originally taught. While the movements were still the same, the changes added a sense of elegance into them, which simply made them different.

This was the result achieved by Ou Yangming after incorporating his experience into the techniques. It was not the techniques that changed, but something that was indescribable.

Ou Yangming stopped after a long time. His Qi and blood had declined significantly due to the intense training, but he was not concerned because the quarry sent by Squad Leader Yan that day was still at home.

As his Military Fire danced, he channeled the Devouring attribute into his military sword to absorb the wild beast's flesh and blood completely.

Subsequently, he withdrew the Devouring attribute.

Among the attributes stored, Ou Yangming valued Devouring the most, and he would never reveal it to anyone else no matter what.

When he became rich in Qi and blood again, his mental power was affected as it became more powerful.

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming knew that it was just a false appearance.

A person was normally in high spirits when one's body was abundant in Qi and blood, thus it was not easy to feel exhausted. On the contrary, how spirited could a person be if one was weak and without strength?

Nonetheless, it was true that rich Qi and blood were only beneficial for one's body.

Ou Yangming headed to his smithing workshop after cleaning up to begin smithing equipment.

Since he gave out quite a number of arm guards and greaves, it would not be kept a secret no matter how many times he reminded the men, especially when Kang Weibo would definitely find out through his ways. If that was the case, he needed to submit more pieces of equipment to shut Kang Weibo's mouth. Of course, it was just a small issue that was not worth mentioning at all to him.

As his Military Fire burned, a military saber took form in his hands. Under normal circumstances, the equipment was already completed. He could either attach Unique Attributes or stop.

However, Ou Yangming was suddenly moved.

He recalled the different skills that he learned yesterday. It was true that the skills only applied to body techniques, but they were so smooth and wonderful that it made him yearn for more.

It was exactly because he learned the skills by chance that allowed him to transfer the mental power between his eyebrows.

Ou Yangming quickly shifted his thought to his mental power.

He wanted to find out what would happen to the smithing process if he increased his mental power usage.

In the past, Ou Yangming could not have done this even if he thought about it because his mental power was never under his control. This time, after putting a bit of purple light aside, more mental power flowed into his mind.

Once his mental power fluctuated, he quickly guided it. Although the process was unstable, and more attempts were needed for him to maneuver it smoothly, he was able to handle it for his current experiment.

Feeling rather anxious, Ou Yangming channeled a stream of mental power into his MIlitary Fire, then eventually into the military saber.

He did not release much mental power this time because the attempt was a very fresh one for him. Hence, he wanted to prioritize his safety.

The instant the mental power in his Military Fire touched the saber, a peculiar thing happened.

Both the mental power and the Military Fire vanished.

Yes. whether it was Ou Yangming's mental power or his fire, they detached from him and were nowhere to be found. Despite that, he vaguely noticed a trace right before they disappeared. They seemed to have merged into one, and were absorbed by the military saber.

Ou Yangming was puzzled and at a loss when he held the brand new military saber.

What was that? After smithing so many pieces of equipment, it was his first time encountering an unexplainable situation as such.

The feeling that was beyond his imagination and made him lose control frightened him. Ou Yangming actually understood how the fop felt yesterday when they battled; they both lost control.

Smithing with the Military Fire was how Ou Yangming based himself in the military camp, thus he must not make a mistake.

By taking a deep breath, he finally calmed himself down. Next, he turned his wrist to activate his Military Fire again, then controlled it while getting it closer to the strange military saber.

Before long, the military saber's attributes appeared.

[Item: Outstanding military saber (Red)]

[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, Good Grade, Rank Three]

[Attributes: Sharpness 7, Toughness 6, Durability 6]

[Skill: Self-explosive when released]

Ou Yangming's eyes sparkled. There was a new row of words at the bottom of the military saber.

Skill.

Ou Yangming quickly understood where it came from. The mysterious change happened because he comprehended the essence of skills, and transferred his mental power to merge with his Military Fire before channeling them into the weapon.

While it was not an added attribute, Ou Yangming gained something new.

That being said, the words 'self-explosive when released' were rather hair-raising.

Ou Yangming hesitated for a while, then used his Military Fire to draw the saber's Sharpness and Toughness attributes. Only after it changed from being an outstanding item of Good Grade Rank Three to Common Grade Rank Three, which was when the Sharpness and Toughness had only 3 points each, did he stop.

Following that, he put on the equipment set that he kept at his smithing workshop, then went over to the hearth.

The hearth could be used to smith armaments, but one could imagine the hardness and thickness of the armaments produced. Ou Yangming, who was fully armored, hid behind it, thus he would not be injured even if his smithing workshop exploded.

After confirming his safety again, he channeled his essential Qi into the military saber.

Once his essential Qi's threshold was at its highest, he threw the saber to the front of the hearth, then quickly squatted to hide.

"Pow—"

The flying military saber suddenly exploded the moment it touched the wall, and a loud sound was heard.

Ou Yangming somehow heard a buzzing sound as well, then the workshop was dead silent.

When he looked up carefully, he widened his eyes. The wall in front of the hearth was heavily damaged, by which countless tiny and densely packed holes were seen.

Based on Ou Yangming's experience and eyesight, he could instantly confirm that the tiny holes were caused by thin iron shards.

It was then when Ou Yangming completely understood the meaning and the might of self-explosive.

The meaning was pretty much self-explanatory, and one would understand as long as one was not a fool. On the other hand, its might was very worth looking forward to.

A military saber of Common Grade Rank Three that exploded actually caused such a fearsome effect. What if it was at the peak of Good Grade, or even High Grade?

Once the thought crossed Ou Yangming's mind, he felt chills down his spine.

Other people might not know, but he was certain that he would be doomed if a military saber at the peak of High Grade suddenly exploded in front of him, and if he was not well-prepared.

'It turns out that when mental power and the Military Fire merge, and is channeled into a weapon, a skill like this is produced.

'Hmm, even though the skill feels quite weak, it'll definitely be effective if used during an appropriate situation.

Just as Ou Yangming was trying to figure things out, someone knocked on the door.

Ou Yangming frowned and opened the door impatiently, but was stunned when he saw who it was.

Upon seeing the unfriendly look on his face, Yan Haobo was rather nervous. "Master Ou, we'll be heading to the mountain tomorrow, would you like to come along?"

Ou Yangming was no longer displeased when he recalled the matter, so he smiled. "Squad Leader Yan, I'll definitely join. Hehe, please take care of me when we hunt in the forest!"

Yan Haobo quickly humbled himself, then slapped his chest and claimed that he would let Master Ou have an enjoyable experience.

Seeing as Yan Haobo was being so energetic, Ou Yangming knew that he already knew about the night fight, as well as where Yan Chengcai and his brothers acquired their pieces of equipment from.

After sending Yan Haobo away, Ou Yangming pondered and began smithing.

This time, instead of smithing a military saber, he forged an exquisite dagger that could be carried around easily.

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Chapter 51: Tycoon And Tramps

The next morning, Ou Yangming reported to Old Craftsman, then left with Yan Haobo's ten-men squad.

Although Old Craftsman was confused and slightly displeased about Ou Yangming being so keen to enter the dense forest, he did not make a fuss out of it. He looked at the young fellow, then sighed just as he was feeling a tingling sensation. "You've grown up, so you should have your own ideas. I just hope that you won't pursue instant results because doing things step by step is the norm that we should follow."

Ou Yangming nodded. In actual fact, if he had not acquired the purple brilliance from the Military Fire Badge, he could not have had such unbelievable performances. Back then, he would have followed Old Craftsman's teachings methodically to advance steadily.

Perhaps he could be on par with or surpass Old Craftsman one day.

Nevertheless, since Heaven gave him the opportunity, he would try to accomplish something to not waste his youth.

Needless to say, Ou Yangming could think about it or even put it into practice, but it was best for him to keep it low in front of Old Craftsman.

Ou Yangming set out smoothly since Old Craftsman did not stop him.

While it was a ten-men squad, there were actually more than twenty men who followed Yan Haobo, and they even prepared mules and horses to transport items.

It was then when Ou Yangming realized that hunting in the dense forest was not as simple as he imagined because there were fixed procedures to follow in the military camp.

All pieces of equipment were carried by the mules and horses, which were only distributed once they were outside the dense forest.

It was a much more relaxed trip than when Ou Yangming ran with full equipment by himself.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming twitched his mouth a little when he took a closer look at the pieces of equipment.

These men were the Guards under General Chen Yifan's command, and each of them had the cultivation base of at least Force Grade Class Five. In fact, more than half of the soldiers were already at Yin Grade, such that Squad Leader Yan Haobo was even a master at Yin Grade Class Three.

Despite that, the pieces of equipment that they had were unsightly. While they did not lack a military saber, a shield, a helmet, arm guards, and greaves, not every one of them had armor.

Yan Haobo chuckled when he glanced at Ou Yangming. "Master Ou, please don't laugh at us. One who joins the Guards will be given a full equipment set, but the general gave orders that those who aren't at Yin Grade yet can't be wearing armor."

Ou Yangming was slightly surprised. "Why?"

"Because they don't have enough power." Yan Haobo sighed. "If they're fully equipped, they won't last long in a battle, let alone surviving in the dense forest."

Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows as he came to a sudden realization.

When he previously wore full equipment at the dense forest's border, they seemed to be weightless, so his speed was not affected at all.

As such, he neglected a fundamental issue.

Power.

A martial artist's power was far above an ordinary person's. When Ou Yangming exchanged blows with Yan Haobo, he felt that Yan Haobo was very powerful, and estimated that he was the equivalent of roughly 9 points of attributes, but definitely below 10 points.

After being fully equipped, Yan Haobo actually had a total of 11 points of Power and 4 points of Agility.

The armor's weight should not be underestimated, but it was not worth mentioning if compared to 11 points of Power.

Ou Yangming suddenly comprehended the mightiness of Attribute Equipment like never before. With sufficient attributes, even a rookie could kill an old master by punching crazily.

He frowned when he glanced at the remaining pieces of equipment. "They're mostly Common Grade items…"

The soldiers behind Yan Haobo were dissatisfied. 'What do you mean they're mostly Common Grade? Other than a few of them, the rest are all Common Grade items! But this is a treatment that's only given to the Guards, and many men in the military will train hard just to be a part of them because having a full set of equipment is simply enviable.'

'This young man talks really big, he's quite annoying.'

On the other hand, Yan Haobo's eyes glowed. He was the one among everyone else who knew about the fight two nights ago, and he knew where Yan Chengcai and his brothers got their arm guards and greaves from.

Honestly, he coveted those pieces of equipment too. If it was not for his nephew and that he dared not offend Ou Yangming, he would have done everything he could to get them too.

"Yes, they're mostly Common Grade items. Ah, I actually wanted to upgrade their equipment qualities so they can at least withstand longer if they encounter stronger enemies or beasts," Yan Haobo quickly mentioned upon hearing Ou Yangming, and he shook his head helplessly before continuing, "but we only have this much funds in the military. Even with strict budgeting, it's impossible for us to change everyone's equipment!"

He sounded like he was not resigned to the outcome because Yan Chengcai and those new soldiers already possessed Good Grade arm guards and greaves, yet old soldiers like them from the Guards only had Common Grade ones.

The pieces of Common Grade equipment that Yan Haobo valued in the past seemed to have lost their color.

"Be more diligent when we enter the forest later, and you'll receive benefits once we're out." Ou Yangming looked at him plainly.

Feeling elated, Yan Haobo quickly replied, "Thank you, Master Ou!"

The soldiers behind him looked at each other as they wondered why their squad leader was so polite toward a young man. Even if the young man was a Military Fire Blacksmith, they felt that he should not be flattering him.

"Brothers, take a good look at him. He's Master Ou Yangming from the Armament Camp, and he's entering the dense forest with us to look for ores. It's extremely dangerous in the forest, but the master's safety is our priority at any time," Yan Haobo turned around to announce, then yelled with sharp eyes, "Even if every one of us dies, we must let the master return safely!"

"Yes, Squad Leader!"

Nine soldiers who stood in a row responded at the same time.

Even though there were only nine of them, their aura grew at that moment, and they showed soaring heroic spirits as they roared.

These were tough soldiers in the military. Once they were given orders, they would not cower no matter what they were facing.

Ou Yangming was moved as he envied them.

"Master Ou, when you follow us, the most important thing for you to do is not to kill, but to avoid all dangers." Yan Haobo had a serious look on his face. "I've seen your body technique, and I'm sure that you'll do well as long as you remain calm."

In actuality, based on Ou Yangming's performance during his battle against Yan Chengcai, he was a good fit for a scout, but Yan Haobo would never let him be one even if his head was chopped off.

"I get it." Ou Yangming nodded slowly.

"Everyone, suit up now!" Yan Haobo turned around to instruct the others.

Subsequently, everyone began putting up pieces of equipment. Those who were at Yin Grade and above wore armors, whereas two men who were not at Yin Grade yet wore a specially made breastplate to protect their organs. Though the breastplate could not be compared with armor, it was better than nothing.

When everyone was done wearing their pieces of equipment, they were stunned when they fixed their gaze on Ou Yangming.

Ou Yangming carried a big box from the mule cart, then retrieved pieces of equipment from it. He put on his arm guards, greaves, then his armor, which seemed like he was going to protect his upper body.

Yan Haobo's face changed a little as he could tell that the armor was heavy.

"Master Ou, we're going to stay in the dense forest for a few days. If you wear heavy items, it'll only become a burden for you!"

Since Master Ou prepared the armor himself, it was obviously the best item, hence Yan Haobo would have asked him to put it on if they were going to stay in the forest for a short time. However, if the armor became a burden for Ou Yangming, not only would it be inconvenient, but he would also become the biggest burden in the squad.

"Squad Leader Yan, don't worry, I'll act according to my capability," Ou Yangming replied with a smile, and insisted on wearing the armor.

Following that, he equipped himself with a helmet and a military saber. Although he lacked some pieces of unique equipment, he had the necessities.

Yan Haobo smiled bitterly. Since Ou Yangming was so insistent, how could he reject him?

He made his decision. If he could not carry Ou Yangming, he would have to discard pieces of equipment, but it would be his that would be thrown away, whereas Ou Yangming's would naturally become his.

"Let's go!" Yan Haobo waved his hand as he ordered.

The others responded to him, then someone led the path while another person held the line at the back. Everything was done in an orderly manner as it was not their first time entering the dense forest.

After a brief moment, they could not help but look at Ou Yangming strangely.

They more or less looked at him scornfully before they entered the forest as he was fully equipped, but they soon looked at him respectfully.

That was because Ou Yangming walked soundlessly although he had heavy pieces of equipment on him, and it was as though he was covered in thin paper instead of armor. No, it seemed like his body was actually weightless.

It could not be explained as talent, thus the men suspected if he cultivated a secret technique that allowed him to do so.

Even if the men were to think about it for three days and three nights, they would have never imagined that Ou Yangming had a total of 11 points of Power and 4 points of Agility on his equipment set!

As compared to Ou Yangming the tycoon, the men were simply tramps.

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Chapter 52: Hunting A Ferocious Beast

Life in a forest was never relaxing and comfortable. Ou Yangming experienced this before.

The first time he came here alone, he only stayed around the border without going deeper as he was mainly afraid of getting lost. Once he was lost in the forest, he could be stuck in there forever.

With Yan Haobo and the others around, he was not concerned about this.

Besides, they taught him how to identify directions when they journeyed into the forest, which was a preventive measure that would help him leave the forest if they lost each other. Of course, it was merely a preventive measure because as mentioned by Yan Haobo, Ou Yangming would not have to make a move unless everyone else died.

Instead of staying at the border, they went straight into the forest. Eventually, even the rustling sounds that were made from them stepping on leaves became quite hair-raising.

None of them made a sound as they looked at their surroundings carefully.

All of a sudden, Yan Haobo stopped. He looked in front of him as he mentioned, "Be careful, something's found!"

Ou Yangming knew that it was the two pathfinders in front who found something, but he could not find anything even when he used the Vision ability. When Ou Yangming thought about it, he was certain that Yan Haobo's vision was not as good as his, so he figured that the men had secret signals that he did not understand.

Yan Haobo looked around him as he said, "We found a beast track, and it might belong to a big fella, so brace yourselves!"

The soldiers were instantly spirited because it was their aim to hunt for big beasts in the dense forest, but they usually only found a quarry of this level after staying in the forest for a day, hence they were excited since they found one so quickly this time.

After signaling the man who was holding the line at the back, everyone quickened their pace.

On the other hand, Yan Haobo took the chance to explain to Ou Yangming about beast tracks.

If there was a powerful ferocious beast that could occupy a whole area, the paths that it took were known as beast tracks.

Small animals who smelled the ferocious beast's aura would quickly stay away.

On the contrary, hunters who found fresh beast tracks would celebrate as it meant that they found a quarry.

Ou Yangming nodded. His main purpose in joining this trip was to learn different experiences, thus he was pleased when Yan Haobo explained everything to him patiently.

Similarly, Yan Haobo was flattering Ou Yangming intentionally because he knew that the master was interested.

With that, both of them were happy.

Yan Haobo's judgment was accurate, because Ou Yangming noticed after fifteen minutes through the Vision 1 attribute that a figure was running in their direction.

Nonetheless, he did not alert the others because it was one of the two pathfinders.

That person ran toward the squad in a flash to mention excitedly, "Squad Leader, there's a forest leopard in front, and we found its den!"

The forest leopard was one of the most dangerous ferocious beasts in the forest. In terms of power only, perhaps there were many other beasts that were more superior, but it was the most agile animal as it could even climb trees and make holes.

If there was a ferocious beast that hunters would prefer not to encounter, it was unquestionably the forest leopard.

Needless to say, Yan Haobo and the men were wild prepared because the forest leopard was their target.

An order was given, and someone retrieved bags of medicinal powder to sprinkle them on everyone's body.

It was a specially made powder that could conceal their odor. Even if a ferocious beast were to pass by, it would never notice them as long as it did not see them.

Everyone walked even more carefully after. Before long, they arrived at a more open area, which was extremely quiet as not a single small animal was seen.

Yan Haobo nodded, then everyone split up to hide, by which two men even climbed up to a big tree like apes.

"Master Ou, that forest leopard is probably out to hunt, so it's not back yet," Yan Haobo mentioned, "We'll be hiding here for now. Two archers will shoot it once it returns, and once it's injured, we'll be doing the rest."

When Ou Yangming clasped his hands together then let go, he felt that his palms were already sweaty.

He nodded slightly, but cursed to himself for being useless. However, it was inevitable for him to be nervous as it was his first time facing a big ferocious beast.

After some time, a soft voice was heard.

Ou Yangming became alert, then tried his best to curb his aura like how Yan Haobo taught him to, and squinted his eyes as well. Through a gap, he saw a long forest leopard covered in prints on the beast track.

Everyone laid in ambush away from the track, hence the leopard had not noticed the human traces yet.

Just as it was about to return to its den, it quickly sensed his surroundings as if it sensed something.

Ou Yangming quickly lowered his head. Though he fixed his gaze on its body, he dared not look at its eyes.

Right then, the sound of arrows being released from bows was heard.

Following that, two sharp arrows pierced the air like flying stones that were aimed at the forest leopard.

Being well-known for quick reflexes among countless wild beasts, the forest leopard twisted its body to jump to the side as soon as the arrows were heard. Nevertheless, the archers were by no means ordinary, thus one of the arrows hit its hind leg.

Despite that, the arrow did not hurt the leopard much due to the angle it was shot when it evaded. As such, the arrow only brushed past its body, causing it to bleed and lose some flesh.

The forest leopard roared with a fierce look, and was about to climb up a tree. It was then when a few people jumped out, who were the soldiers who laid in an ambush earlier.

Even when facing a ferocious beast, the soldiers did not fear. They wielded their military sabers and carried their shields as they slowly surrounded it.

The way they encircled the beast was fascinating because the forest leopard only had one escape route.

Seeing as there were so many enemies around, the leopard decided to abandon its den, as well as its plan to take revenge. As such, it turned to escape through a window.

All of a sudden, the empty window was occupied by a burly figure.

Yan Haobo pulled his saber out, and a threatening aura was released when he yelled.

Afterward, his saber seemed to have turned into waves that were going to surround the forest leopard.

He was planning to suppress the beast by himself!

Ou Yangming was moved. A few days ago when he exchanged blows with Yan Haobo, the squad leader released his aura too, and his violent saber-lights made it hard for Ou Yangming to breathe. If Ou Yangming's mental power had not been stimulated by chance, which helped pull him away from danger, he would have been defeated.

In spite of that, the mightiness of Yan Haobo's saber this time was completely different.

Yan Haobo dared not go all-out when he fought Ou Yangming back then because the general would surely chop his head off if Ou Yangming was hurt. Therefore, the power, the killing intent, and even the might from his saber previously were more inferior than the current ones.

That being said, in Ou Yangming's opinion, Yan Haobo was no longer undefeatable this time although he exerted all his force.

The momentum was violent, but Ou Yangming realized that it did not affect him anymore when he entered the mysterious state of multitasking.

More importantly, the mighty saber-light from Yan Haobo's saber was full of flaws. By just looking at it once, Ou Yangming had already come up with seven to eight ways to break or dodge it.

This would have been impossible for Ou Yangming a few days ago.

A flash of light was seen in Ou Yangming's eyes. He knew that he grew after the fight against the fop.

Power and skill were actually relative to each other. When he improved in one aspect, his combat power would increase by a huge margin, and it seemed like his skills achievement had surpassed his martial arts accomplishment.

Of course, Ou Yangming was able to achieve it because of the mysterious Military Fire. Without the ability to multitask where he watched the world from an outsider's perspective, he could not have comprehended the mysterious technique.

The forest leopard roared amidst the flickering saber-light.

Yan Haobo inflicted serious damage on the forest leopard with his saber and suppressed the beast by himself.

On top of the sneak attacks from the arrows earlier, when the other soldiers continued to attack together, the forest leopard's fate was set.

Ou Yangming stood up slowly from his hiding spot, and looked at Yan Haobo differently.

Before the slash from Yan Haobo just now, Ou Yangming had regarded him as an irrepressible powerhouse, but after calming himself down, he was able to treat the squad leader like they were equal.

This was because he was confident that he would be the one left standing even if he were to fight Yan Haobo without wearing his equipment set.

Only Ou Yangming understood the change in his mentality.

"Master Ou, this is our first quarry. Hehe, we were really blessed to have fought a big fella this soon, perhaps we can achieve our target earlier than planned, and we can return to the camp," Yan Haobo said with a smile after putting his saber away.

The forest leopard did not struggle for long since many men surrounded it. It finally collapsed to the ground and died.

At last, the men sighed a breath of relief, then began handling the beast's carcass.

They covered the forest leopard with another medicinal powder, which was extremely wonderful as it could conceal the beast's bloody smell, as well as maintain its Qi and blood. The medicinal powder was truly one of the special products in the military.

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Chapter 53: Poisonous Dragon Enters A Hole

After the forest leopard was handled, a soldier went to carry it.

The soldier was not considered very burly, and he was one of the soldiers who had not advanced to Yin Grade yet. The leopard might not be the heaviest among the other ferocious beasts, but it was definitely a burden for the soldier.

Nonetheless, the soldier carried it without a murmur, and the others acted like it was a very normal thing.

Ou Yangming looked at him then asked, "Squad Leader Yan, how many beasts do we have to kill to achieve the target?"

"Normally, if nobody's injured, we'll leave after hunting five big-sized ferocious beasts," Yan Haobo answered after thinking for a while, then explained, "After all, it's quite dangerous here, so it's hard for us to leave completely unharmed without enough resilience."

Ou Yangming nodded. 'It turns out that every squad that enters the dense forest can only kill five ferocious beasts.'

Although it was impossible that there was only one squad hunting in the forest, the fact that Sui Hezhi sent Ou Yangming a ferocious beast once in every ten days proved that he had put in a lot of effort.

For the next three days, they simply roamed in the dense forest. The biggest takeaway for Ou Yangming was that he understood the way to judge the depth of the forest by observing the surroundings.

Needless to say, it was not easy to survive in the deep forest. Even if one had exceptional martial arts skills, one who was not fully prepared would be in serious trouble. In fact, one could even be killed.

Ou Yangming paid attention to every detail because he needed to be well-prepared if he came alone next time.

Perhaps they were very lucky, they hunted five big-sized wild beasts by the third day. Other than the forest leopard from the start, they killed three wild boars and a giant wolf.

The giant wolf was a unique species in the forest, which was much larger than a normal wolf. Even though it did not appear as a pack, it was quite a problematic beast to handle. Despite that, they managed to kill it by working together.

After gathering five wild beasts, they achieved their hunting target.

It was worth noting that they could not overdo it when they were trying to survive in the dense forest. If they were too greedy, it was possible that all of them would be wiped out.

Nevertheless, there were still injuries among the soldiers when they tried to subdue the giant wolf, by which two soldiers were hurt. One was injured on the leg, whereas the other's right shoulder and groin were hurt, all while having protection from their armor. If it was not for the pieces of equipment, they would have been half-dead.

Among the squad, five of them carried quarries, and two of them were injured, so they could not hunt in the forest anymore. In fact, it would be difficult for them to leave the forest with ease.

All of a sudden, Ou Yangming stopped and furrowed his eyebrows because the Vision 1 attribute allowed him to see things that were beyond a normal person's range.

He noticed a dark shadow that had become one with a big tree far away, but he knew that it was a forest leopard that was a size bigger than the one they encountered in the beginning.

It stayed on the tree quietly and curbed its aura, so it was not eye-catching at all.

Nobody from the squad was being the pathfinder at the moment as they had limited manpower, thus they were not as careful as they were before.

The person at the front was a Yin Grade soldier, but it did not notice the danger above his head at all.

Ou Yangming hesitated then stopped. "Wait!"

Everyone stopped right away to look at him strangely.

"Squad Leader Yan, I sense danger. How about we stop to look around before we leave?" Ou Yangming proposed.

Yan Haobo was slightly stunned and frustrated. Ou Yangming had been very cooperative without causing any trouble throughout their journey, yet he suddenly raised this suggestion when everyone was eager to leave the dense forest after finishing their hunt.

"Squad Leader, there's no danger ahead," An archer frowned as he expressed, then continued after a pause, "Some of us are already injured, which lowered out combat power, so it's best for us to leave before sunset!"

The others nodded in agreement.

In actual fact, the archer was one of the scouts in the squad, thus the others naturally believed him when he said that everything was fine. On the other hand, Ou Yangming was just a stranger who did not do much during the hunt, hence it was quite difficult that they would trust him.

Yan Haobo pondered. "Master Ou, I'm sure you can see that there are some in the squad who are injured, and we have quarries to carry, so we need to leave as soon as possible. We'll only draw attention from wild beasts once it's nighttime, and I'm afraid that there'll only be more injuries. It's best that we leave this place now."

He would have agreed if Ou Yangming suggested this when they first entered the dense forest, but they were currently in a different situation. Besides, they could not afford to waste more time.

Ou Yangming sighed but was determined that he would enter the forest alone next time.

With that, they continued their journey but were more alert after Ou Yangming's warning.

The archer did not leave the squad behind as he was still leading in front. Ou Yangming felt helpless because the archer soon took the path where the forest leopard was hiding above.

Since the big tree was very dense, and the leopard's color was very similar to the branches', it could not be easily spotted.

Therefore, Ou Yangming was the only one who noticed it.

Ou Yangming slowed down as he circulated his essential Qi inside his body while holding his saber tightly. He was ready to attack at any time. The soldiers who brought him into the dense forest taught him plenty of useful knowledge, thus he was not going to watch them die no matter what.

He soon felt strange because the forest leopard did not move an inch when the archer who was at the front walked past the big tree, let alone pounce on the archer.

Ou Yangming wondered, 'Did it notice how powerful our squad is, so it didn't dare to come down?'

If that was the case, it would be good for him as he would not need to waste his energy.

Ou Yangming would have devoured the forest leopard's Qi and blood after killing it if he was alone, but he would not do something so improper since he was with the rest of the squad.

As they advanced forward, Ou Yangming walked past the big tree as well, but it was at that moment when he figured it out.

He came to a sudden realization that the forest leopard's target was not the archer in front, but the last person in the line.

Hence, he quickly stopped.

Right then, the forest leopard that was hiding above him seemed to have sensed something, so it leaped down at the last person in the line.

"Oh no!"

Those who saw the black shadow screamed.

They knew that they had encountered a violent beast that lurked in the dark like a venomous snake.

Whether it was Yan Haobo or the archer who turned to look because of the noise, they were extremely regretful. Why did they not listen to Ou Yangming's suggestion earlier? As a result, one of their brothers was going to be in grave danger.

The person at the back of the file was a stern-looking middle-aged man. He was being very cautious, but the moment the sound of wind above him, a black shadow came into view.

Knowing that he could not dodge in time, he faced danger fearlessly and quickly squatted while wielding his saber.

However, the forest leopard seemed to have interacted with humans before, thus it swung its claw at the middle-aged man's hand. Instantly, the back of the man's palm had numerous deep cuts, forcing him to let go of his saber as he lost his grip.

The man was appalled, but just as he had no choice left but to wait for his death, a strong force pushed him away.

"Scree—"

A sharp, shrill voice was heard as the forest leopard scratched the man's armor with its claw to the point that sparks were seen as well.

It was Ou Yangming who pushed the man away during the crucial moment earlier, but his back was scratched by the leopard's claw as he could not dodge in time.

Yan Haobo roared as he was exasperated. A frightening thought crossed his mind at that moment.

'This is over. Even if Ou Yangming doesn't die, he'll be heavily injured!'

Wild beasts in the forest must not be taken lightly. Due to their sharp teeth and claws, one's armor could even be torn apart if one faced a beast head-on. Since the forest leopard was able to hide himself to deceive the soldiers, it was obvious that he was unordinary and outstanding.

How could one's armor withstand a ferocious beast like that?

If anything were to happen to Ou Yangming, Yan Haobo had no idea how he could explain to his good friend and the general.

After all, Ou Yangming was a Military Fire Blacksmith valued by the general.

With bloodshot eyes, Yan Haobo lifted his military saber while charging at the forest leopard. He only had one thought at that moment, which was that he would kill the brute no matter what, even if it meant that he had to sacrifice himself.

Just as he was going to attack, he was surprised by what he saw.

Ou Yangming did not collapse to the ground. Instead, he turned around with his military saber in the air, then shifted outward strangely yet reasonably to go around the forest leopard's claws and body. While doing all that, he stabbed his sharp saber deep into the leopard's rear.

"Roar—"

The forest leopard's shriek was piercing, and its mournful cries shocked all of them.

Apart from that, the soldiers who witnessed this squeezed their butt subconsciously while shivering in fear.

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Chapter 54: Boundary Advancement

When the forceful leopard claw hit Ou Yangming's back, he felt an enormous impact that almost made him collapse even though he was protected by armor that was High Grade Rank Five.

Ou Yangming understood something at that moment.

He gained enough power with the help of his equipment set's attributes, but his body quality could not complement the power yet.

Just like the forest leopard behind him at that moment, its power exceeded his withstandable limit.

Ou Yangming's armor protected him against the leopard's claw, but it could not defend him against its great power. If he were to resist it by force, his bones would break and tendons would be torn for sure.

Therefore, he quickly fell down by following the momentum to minimize the damage.

All of a sudden, the purple light that allowed him to multitask began flickering intensely as if it sensed that he was in danger.

Next, the light arrived between his eyebrows to merge with his mental power.

This was not the first time Ou Yangming did something like this. After learning the extremely powerful skills, he was able to transfer his mental power into his Military Fire whenever he smithed weapons.

However, other than the time he was forced to release his mental power when he was pressured by Yan Haobo, he never initiated the power during a fight.

This time, his potential was unleashed again as he was in a critical moment of life or death.

"Swoosh…"

Although no voice was heard at that instance, Ou Yangming's consciousness seemed to have ascended from his mind and soared mid-air.

There was a drastic change in the view of the consciousness that was detached.

The observing angle was not parallel with Ou Yangming's body anymore because his consciousness was overlooking the area from mid-air.

By watching from that angle, he felt like a divine being who had everything under control.

Almost at the same time, countless light spots appeared on the forest leopard's body. No explanation was needed as Ou Yangming somehow understood what they were.

The light spots were the forest leopard's force-bearing points and weak points when it leaped, which were fully exposed to Ou Yangming's consciousness that was looking from above.

'Skill…'

The word crossed Ou Yangming's mind at that moment, and he gained a brand new and unexplainable perception of it.

Following that, his mental power suddenly left from the middle of his eyebrows and transformed into an invisible rope that appeared beside him. His mental power was suddenly pulled, causing a strange turning point for his body that was on the ground.

The pull was not done to resist the forest leopard's enormous force as it only made a tiny adjustment according to the leopard's power, but it was as though the bit of power levered the natural moat's foundation.

From the soldiers' point of view, Ou Yangming's body twisted, and he staggered as if he was going to fall anytime.

Despite that, the seemingly unstable teen managed to dodge the continuous attacks from the forest leopard, and soon arrived behind the beast.

It was then when Ou Yangming's consciousness in the sky identified the leopard's weakest point.

Therefore, Ou Yangming stabbed it with his saber without hesitation…

The forest leopard shrieked while falling to the ground, and rolled away with the intention to escape, but it fell down again as soon as it moved. Its body twitched, and plenty of blood along with some odd substance flowed out from the back of its body. Eventually, its eyes turned dull.

Ou Yangming took a step back, then looked at his military saber that had 15 points of Sharpness. He was secretly glad that he did not add the Devouring attribute into it as he had companions, or he would have endless troubles if something strange happened to the leopard's carcass.

After putting his saber away, Ou Yangming sensed that the atmosphere was unusual.

When he turned to look, he realized that everyone was looking at him, and they were dumbfounded and in disbelief. Other than that, some of them looked at him respectfully and fearfully.

Regardless of how Ou Yangming killed the forest leopard, be it his real strength or just pure luck, he answered everyone's question perfectly and was recognized by all of them.

"Handle the carcass," Yan Haobo ordered as he was the quickest to react.

The men immediately removed the forest leopard's internal organs to cover them, then spread medicinal powder on its body. Even though they worked very fast, a bloody smell filled the air.

Yan Haobo noticed the deep wound on the last soldier who was injured, and he could not help but sigh. "Throw half of the quarries away, we must leave as soon as possible."

Ou Yangming was stunned. "Squad Leader Yan, we acquired a new quarry, why are we throwing the other quarries away?"

"We're short-handed, and we must have two scouts to scout the trail this time, so we have to discard half of our gains."

After experiencing the dangerous incident earlier, Yan Haobo dared not take things lightly anymore. Even if they had to reduce their gains by half, he must guarantee everyone's safety.

"I haven't been contributing, so let me help you carry some stuff," Ou Yangming hesitated for a while before he suggested. After all, they put in a lot of effort to obtain those items, so he carried the dead forest leopard, as well as another wild boar. "We can go now."

The other men looked at each other as they wondered, 'How strong exactly is this fella?'

"Okay, let's go." Yan Haobo sighed.

Since Ou Yangming carried two ferocious beasts, he did not ask them to abandon any of the quarries anymore. Nevertheless, everyone was more cautious this time.

The archer led the way with another partner at the front of the line. After verifying that there was no danger around them, they gave a secret signal to the others.

Perhaps their bad luck was all used up, they did not face any more danger for an hour.

However, the two men conversed secretly.

"Hey, what do you think about… Master Ou's strength?" The archer hesitated before addressing Ou Yangming in a respectful way.

"He's very strong!"

"Indeed, but don't you think that he's overly strong?"

"What do you mean?"

"Master Ou's power is probably related to his equipment set, don't you think?"

The soldier who was scouting the trail with the archer stopped suddenly to stare at his partner.

"Why are you looking at me like this?" The archer forced an embarrassed laugh.

The soldier replied, "Brother, Master Ou is Squad Leader's guest, and he saved our brother just now. Do you remember?"

"You misunderstood me, I was just saying, and I didn't mean anything else!" The archer's face changed, and he quickly explained.

"It's best if you didn't mean anything else." The soldier nodded, then continued checking their surroundings seriously.

The archer sighed to himself helplessly and cast his thoughts aside to continue scouting.

On the other hand, Ou Yangming was crying to himself bitterly at that moment because he regretted deeply the fact that he showed off his abilities earlier.

It was true that he possessed sufficient power after wearing the powerful pieces of Attribute Equipment, but comparatively, his body quality was far from his gained power.

Ou Yangming did not feel much when he journeyed in the forest with his equipment set.

After all, the 11 Points of power were not added in vain.

Nonetheless, he realized that something was off when he had nearly 500 kilograms extra burden on his body.

The 11 points of Power allowed him to withstand the weight easily, but his physical power was obviously insufficient. Before long, he found it difficult to walk and was also breathing heavily.

Ou Yangming was suddenly struck with an idea, thus he retrieved his dagger.

Following that, he used his Military Fire to attach the Devouring attribute into it. The dagger was one of the daggers that he especially refined to have the self-explosive skill, but it was extremely sharp as it was at the peak of High Grade. Hence, it could be used as a weapon before it was thrown out.

By utilizing the chance where the two quarries were blocking him, Ou Yangming turned his wrist to stab the dagger into the wild boar's body.

The Devouring attribute showed a great effect right away as a substantial amount of Qi and blood were transferred into his body through the dagger.

It was an extremely enjoyable process, but Ou Yangming had other plans this time. Seconds after the Qi and blood flowed, he pulled the dagger out decisively.

With that, the Qi and blood stopped flowing, and everything went back to normal.

Consequently, Ou Yangming was no longer weary, and was full of power instead.

While he did not absorb a lot of Qi and blood, the amount was more than enough for him to compensate for the lost physical power.

In return, the wild boar that he carried shrunk a little.

Nevertheless, it was dead for more than a day, so who would notice even if it shrunk a bit?

Through his Military Fire, the Devouring attribute was transformed back into a purple light in his mind.

Yan Chengcai glanced at Ou Yangming strangely, and he let him carry two wild beasts without offering any help. Clearly, it was because he needed to be alert, but more importantly, he hoped that Ou Yangming would give up after some time.

Just a few moments ago, he heard Ou Yangming breathing heavily, hence he began counting down to the time that he would give up.

Who knew, not only did Ou Yangming begin breathing normally again after a brief moment, his footsteps became lighter.

Yan Haobo was astonished and had more respect for Ou Yangming who was enigmatic.

Without warning, a deep yell was heard in front, which interrupted his train of thought.

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Chapter 55: Half-spirit Beast

Once Yan Haobo put his hand out as a signal, the squad stopped.

They were not terribly frightened after the forest leopard's sneak attack, but they were much more alert than before.

The few soldiers who were carrying quarries quickly put them down, then retrieved their weapons and hid carefully. If there was something unforeseen in front, their lives would be threatened, let alone the quarries.

Ou Yangming followed suit by putting the quarries down too. He hid behind a big tree but was not actually concerned because he had already seen what was ahead through the Vision 1 attribute.

Soon enough, the two scouts returned, but they were followed by a middle-aged man who dressed like them. They were conversing casually, which was obvious that they were acquainted.

After a brief moment, the man cupped his hands at Yan Haobo. "Greetings, Squad Leader Yan, I'm Zhuang Juncai from the South Camp's Guards."

He only did a simple bow at Yan Haobo, but since they were in a forest, nobody would make a fuss about it.

"So you're our brother from the South Camp. Have you just entered the forest?" Yan Haobo nodded slowly.

"We followed Captain Yu into the forest, and it has been more than ten days." Zhuang Juncai's face reddened.

Yan Haobo was stunned. "Is Captain Yu here?"

The military camp was divided into five camps, which were the East, South, West, North, and Middle camps. Clearly, the Middle Camp was where the commanding general was located, whereas the ones from the four other camps were brothers but also competitors.

Captain Yu was Yu Hailiang, the captain of the Guards under the South Camp's general command. According to his status, he should not be in the forest, so either he had a sudden impulse or the normal soldiers encountered something that could not be handled.

"Yes." Zhuang Juncai had a grave expression on his face.

"Since Captain Yu is here personally, I'm sure your visit has been rewarding?" Yan Haobo laughed.

Zhuang Juncai looked at the six wild beasts on the floor, then smiled bitterly. "Squad Leader Yan, honestly, we haven't gained anything unlike your squad did. In fact, we lost three brothers."

Yan Haobo's face changed as he was in disbelief. "What?"

Yu Hailiang was comparable with Captain Liu Zhengye from the West Camp's Guards be it his status or his cultivation base.

If Liu Zhengye led soldiers into the forest but did not gain any quarries after more than ten days, and even lost some men, it could only mean one thing.

Yan Haobo stared at Zhuang Juncai as he asked, "Brother Zhuang, did you encounter a big fella?"

Ou Yangming was moved. He obviously knew that the big fellow he meant was not an ordinary wild beast.

As expected, Zhuang Juncai replied seriously, "Frankly speaking, we met a half-spirit beast, and we ended up like this after an intense battle. Captain Yu's just in front, and he needs help from you, long-range archers, and brothers who have the cultivation base of Yin Grade Class Two and above."

"A half-spirit beast!" Yan Haobo gasped and smiled bitterly. "Brother Zhuang, this is a serious matter, so I need to discuss it with my brothers."

"Of course. If that's the case, I'll head back first to wait for your good news." Zhuang Juncai smiled. Instead of persuading Yan Haobo, he gave him a fist salute then left.

Once he was far away, the archer and soldier who were scouting earlier mentioned, "Squad Leader, let's do it!"

Ou Yangming was stunned because they answered before Yan Haobo raised the question. It seemed like Zhuang Juncai also knew that Yan Haobo's men would agree to this.

Sure enough, the other men, even the three soldiers who were injured, were very keen and eager.

Yan Haobo looked at them coldly. "It's a half-spirit beast, which is nothing like a ferocious beast. You know who Captain Yu is, but even he is helpless, and they suffered heavy casualties. Heh, even if we join them, we might not return safely!"

The soldier who was with the archer earlier stuck his tongue out to lick his dry lips. "Squad Leader, we're soldiers who are destined to fight, and we're always ready to sacrifice. Wealth comes from danger, and the only thing I know is that we'll benefit greatly if we really kill that half-spirit beast."

Upon hearing him, the others who were still undecided were firm with their decision, and they looked more thrilled than before.

Normal soldiers might be afraid of death, but those who were part of the Guards were courageous, fearless men. If they only cowered in the face of trouble, how could they be qualified in the first place?

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming began regarding the soldier with special respect because of this.

He knew from their journey that the soldier was Jin Tao, a master who was only second to Yan Haobo in the squad. Having the cultivation base of Yin Grade Class Two, he would not lose terribly even if he fought against Yan Haobo.

"Squad Leader, we're doing it!"

The other men yelled, and none of them backed off.

Yan Haobo scoffed. "You're being foolish. Didn't you hear? They only need archers and those who are above Yin Grade Class Two. As for the others, wait here, take care of our captures, and don't cause any trouble."

The soldiers smiled embarrassedly. Apart from Jin Tao and the two archers, the rest looked regretful.

Ou Yangming suddenly asked out of curiosity, "Squad Leader Yan, what's a half-spirit beast? Is it worth risking your life for it?"

"Master Ou, half-spirit beasts are actually mutated species of ferocious beasts in the forest. They're more inferior to the legendary spirit beasts, but they're powerful enough that it's difficult for normal people to fight them. Even if the general gets involved, help from the military is needed to subdue and to kill them." Yan Haobo smiled then changed his tone as he added, "But if we really succeed, it'll be considered an extremely meritorious service!"

Ou Yangming knew how big the merit would be by just looking at the luster in Yan Haobo's eyes.

Merits were very useful in the military in many ways, especially in exchanging pieces of equipment and medicine. Without enough merits, some things could not be acquired even if one had plenty of silver.

Although Ou Yangming did not require any equipment, he understood the importance of merits.

He only had the chance to come into contact with the Military Fire because of the merits accumulated by Old Craftsman for over more than a decade.

Ou Yangming pondered for a while before he asked, "Squad Leader Yan, how about you bring me along?"

"Master Ou, this is not a joke, our lives are at stake if we join them." Yan Haobo's face changed. He simply meant that it was too dangerous and that it was not a place for Ou Yangming.

Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows a little. He knew that he could not get Yan Haobo's approval if he did not show some real stuff, let alone getting Captain Yu's consent.

Subsequently, he retrieved his dagger. "Squad Leader Yan, what do you think about this dagger?"

Yan Haobo praised it after taking a few looks at it. "It's a sharp dagger, and I believe that it's a High Grade?"

The others were envious and they looked at the dagger with greedy eyes. It was a High Grade weapon, so even though it was just a dagger, they wanted it very badly.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming only smiled. He took the dagger back, then threw it at a big tree as far away as hard as he could.

Yan Haobo and the others were confused as they did not know what he was doing. When the dagger finally hit the tree, an explosion was heard, and countless iron shards shot into the tree like a fall of rain.

While the areas around the tree were slightly affected, the effect mainly took place in one direction.

The faces of Yan Haobo and his men changed as they were dumbfounded. They wondered at the same time what would happen to them if the dagger exploded on them. In fact, Yan Haobo's heart palpitated as well because he figured that he would have been a bloody corpse if that happened to him.

"Wh-what is this…" Yan Haobo mumbled.

"This is a new smithing skill that I learned, which allows weapons to explode when they're thrown at enemies." Ou Yangming shrugged, then looked at the two archers. "Since Captain Yu asked for archers, I'm sure arrows like that will be useful?"

Yan Haobo and the others were instantly interested.

After seeing the dagger's explosive skill, there was a 180-degree turn in their attitude.

If the explosive ability was transferred to an arrow… The image was too emotional for them, thus they dared not think about it anymore.

"Okay, Master Ou, please come with us!" Yan Haobo made his decision.

He was extremely glad at that moment because he made the right choice in bringing Master Ou to the forest.

Everyone dug a big hole in the ground to put their quarries inside. Following that, Yan Haobo brought Jin Tao, two archers, and Ou Yangming away. As for the rest, they took care of the injured ones and guarded their quarries.

Forget about long-range archers, but those who were going to fight the half-spirit beast at a close range must have the cultivation base of at least Yin Grade Class Two, or one would only be a burden.

Needless to say, a blacksmith like Ou Yangming was in another category.

Before long, they met Zhuang Juncai who was not surprised by Yan Haobo's decision at all, or he would not have stayed to wait.

With that, they advanced two hundred meters forward together until they saw a group of people sitting or standing around. There were at least twenty people there including the ones who were keeping watch nearby, as well as the lost men. There were at least three groups of men from the South Camp who entered the dense forest.

A tall man with muscular arms who was in the middle looked over.

His eyes were as sharp as lightning, which showed that he was a highly capable person.

"You're Squad Leader Yan from the West Camp, right?" Yu Hailiang smiled, then pointed at the man beside him. "This is Squad Leader Jiang Chengwei from the Middle Camp. Hehe, three camps have to work together this time to kill the half-spirit beast."

Yan Haobo and Jiang Chengwei greeted each other. Jiang Chengwei was the Middle Camp's squad leader, and his status was slightly above Yan Haobo's.

Jiang Chengwei frowned when he glanced at Ou Yangming. "Squad Leader Yan, we're here to kill a half-spirit beast, which is extremely dangerous. This is not a sightseeing tour, so it's best for those who aren't capable to return."

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Chapter 56: Wows Everyone With His Skill

Ou Yangming looked at Jiang Chengwei snappily. The man's impoliteness was truly infuriating.

"Squad Leader Jiang, there's no harm." Yu Hailiang chuckled. "He can stay since he's here, but he can only watch from afar to broaden his experience."

Jiang Chengwei sighed. "Captain Yu, you're too kind and generous."

Yan Haobo and Ou Yangming looked at each other, and were both filled with pent up anger.

Based on Jiang Chengwei and Yu Hailiang's tone, it was clear that they treated Ou Yangming as a young fellow who was here to freeload.

When Ou Yangming looked around him, he noticed the soldiers looking at him scornfully without hiding their expressions at all.

Jin Tao and the two archers looked at each other. In actual fact, if they had not seen the dagger's powerful might, as well as Ou Yangming's miraculous performance throughout their journey, especially his accomplishment of stabbing the forest leopard through the rear with his saber, they would not have obeyed him.

Additionally, they had progressed from knowing Ou Yangming to getting more familiarized with him, thus they accepted him.

However, it would simply be nonsense for the other soldiers present to respect a fifteen-to-sixteen years old teen.

"It looks like Captain Yu doesn't need my help. Okay, I'll be leaving!" Ou Yangming scoffed as he was furious, then turned around to leave without hesitation. Though he was really eager to see what exactly a half-spirit breast was, he hated the feeling of being treated coldly. After all, he was no longer the little helper he once was, and had become an official Military Fire Blacksmith.

"Master Ou, wait!" Yan Haobo's face changed right away. He quickly pulled Ou Yangming's hand to beg him, "They only misunderstood because they don't know your identity. It'll be fine once I explain everything."

Yu Hailiang and the others were slightly startled. Upon seeing Yan Haobo's behavior, they realized that they might have made a mistake.

The seemingly young teen was not Yan Haobo's junior, and was not here to gain credit by doing nothing.

Nevertheless, Yu Hailiang and the others could not figure out how the young fellow could contribute in any way against the half-spirit beast. Ultimately, it was a half-spirit beast that they were facing.

"Master?" Jiang Chengwei smiled disdainfully. "What master? A boasting master?"

Yan Haobo turned around to reprimand him, "Squad Leader Jiang, if you're still going to be so disrespectful, I have no choice but to withdraw from the hunt!"

Jiang Chengwei's face reddened as he quickly replied, "Squad Leader Yan, I was just being frank and outspoken, it's nothing personal. Please don't misunderstand."

Yu Hailiang cleared his throat. "Squad Leader Yan, this is…"

Yan Haobo answered, "Captain Yu, this is Master Ou Yangming, a Military Fire Blacksmith from the Armament Camp. He followed us into the forest because he wanted to find some rare ores.

He dared not mention that Ou Yangming's purpose was to hunt, so he made an excuse that the master was here to look for rare ores.

Sure enough, Yu Hailiang and the others did not suspect anything because such cases were not rare in the military camp. Nonetheless, there were very few who entered so deep into the dense forest.

"Oh, so it's Master Ou…" Yu Hailiang pondered for a while. "Master Ou's indeed an excellent logistics member. How about we let him stay here, so he can restore our pieces of equipment if they're damaged."

Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows. "Captain Yu, thanks for your kind words, but I'm not here to restore any equipment."

Yu Hailiang was a little displeased but he was shrewd enough to keep a straight face. "Oh, why did you come then?"

Ou Yangming turned to scan Yan Haobo from head to toe.

After a brief moment, he mentioned, "Squad Leader Yan, remove your armor for me."

Yan Haobo would not have bothered if anyone else said something like that without rhyme or reason. While he had many comrades around, it was a dangerous place in the forest, hence it was not wise to remove his armor.

Despite that, Yan Haobo, who knew Ou Yangming very well, was elated, so he removed his armor without any hesitation.

Yu Hailiang and the others quivered a little. A squad leader was not an outstanding figure in the military, but one was a basic-level officer. As such, they knew that the teen was not as simple as he seemed since Yan Haobo trusted him so much.

Once Ou Yangming accepted the armor, he turned his wrist to activate his Military Fire, instantly engulfing the armor.

"Refining with the Military Fire?" Yu Hailiang and the others looked at one another, and noticed that they were not very impressed.

It was true that refinements done using the Military Fire were rare, but it was a compulsory ability for Military Fire Blacksmiths. Even though the soldiers could not do it, they more or less knew the reason behind it.

Not only did Ou Yangming not impress them by doing what he did, but he also disappointed them.

Ou Yangming suddenly mentioned, "Squad Leader Yan, your armor is of Good Grade Rank One, am I right?"

Yan Haobo nodded. "Yes."

"There aren't any materials here, so I can't upgrade your armor's quality," Ou Yangming responded.

Yu Hailiang and the others thought to themselves, 'You don't say! Keep boasting if you can!'

The upgrading of an armor's quality was a change made with the precondition that the armor's exterior and its other aspects were unaffected. It was worth noting that it was a much more difficult process than smithing armor from scratch.

That being said, the crowd was in an uproar after hearing what Ou Yangming said next.

"But I have a few precious ores with me, so I'll attach a random attribute on it for you." Subsequently, Ou Yangming retrieved an ore, then tossed it into his Military Fire casually.

"What? Attaching an attribute?"

"Precious ore?"

Countless exclamations were heard from the others and even Yu Hailiang and Jiang Chengwei looked at each other as they could not believe what they heard.

It was already tough to upgrade an armor's quality, but attaching an attribute to it? That was ten times harder than a quality upgrade.

In their opinion, Ou Yangming, who was a Military Fire Blacksmith at his age, was considered great because he was able to smith qualified and complete pieces of equipment. They thought that it would take a few more years for him to upgrade equipment qualities.

As for attaching attributes, was that not something that was only possible for experienced Military Fire Blacksmiths?

Although nobody believed Ou Yangming, when they saw that the precious ore that was thrown into the Military Fire slowly melted due to the flames, they held their breaths subconsciously as though heavy breathings would distract him.

Yan Haobo was the only one who was elated. He never expected such a huge blessing to fall from the sky, and it was a blessing for him!

He wondered, 'Attribute Equipment, this is a piece of Attribute Equipment!'

Honestly, after seeing his old friend, Sui Hezhi's Attribute Military Saber, as well as the two pieces of Attribute Equipment given to his nephew, Yan Chengcai, Yan Haobo knew that he could acquire one someday as long as he served Ou Yangming well.

However, he did not think that his dream would come true so soon.

While taking quick glances at Yu Hailiang and Jiang Chengwei, he thought, 'Angels, they're my angels!'

Nonetheless, he did not realize that while Ou Yangming was doing this partly because he felt wronged, it was mainly because he wanted to show his worth.

Since Ou Yangming decided to enter the forest alone in the future, it was best that he learned the dangers as much as possible.

Though he seemed like he was going to leave earlier out of anger, he would not have actually left even if Yan Haobo did not make him stay.

As Ou Yangming's Military Fire flickered, the precious ore disappeared completely. Following that, he exhaled deeply, and turned his wrist again to curb the fire.

"Squad Leader Yan, put it on to try it." Ou Yangming looked at Yu Hailiang and Jiang Chengwei indifferently.

The two men turned a blind eye on him because they were fully focused on Yan Haobo.

They were certainly not going to be nice to Ou Yangming if he failed to refine an Attribute Armor and wasted a precious ore, but what if he succeeded?

If a Military Fire Blacksmith who had the ability to attach Unique Attributes wanted to join them, they would happily allow him to regardless of his attitude earlier.

After all, they were the ones who had treated him lightly first.

It would be very dumb of them to offend a Military Fire Blacksmith who had a bright future.

Yan Haobo reached his hands out, which were trembling due to overexcitement. Without being bothered if the heat on the armor had dissipated, he put it on right away.

Next, he channeled a hint of his essential Qi into the armor.

Yan Haobo's eyes glowed, and he looked very delighted when he clenched his fists.

'Okay, there's no need to ask…'

Upon seeing Yan Haobo's reaction, Yu Hailiang and the others had their answer.

They could not help but feel regretful.

While they did not fear Ou Yangming, they were dejected when they thought about how they had offended him earlier.

There was a perfect explanation as to why Yan Haobo respected Ou Yangming so deeply.

Jiang Chengwei suddenly bowed to Ou Yangming. "Master Ou, I was as blind as a bat. Please forgive me for offending you earlier."

"Yes, we neglected you earlier!" Yu Hailiang apologized with a fist salute. "Master Ou, we're very impressed by your wonderful skill!"

After witnessing Ou Yangming's skill, the others began treating him differently.

Ou Yangming smiled. "You're being too polite, hehe. I'm just curious about the half-spirit beast, so I wanted to come to take a look, please forgive me."

Yu Hailiang laughed out loud. "Master Ou, we welcome you!"

Yan Haobo finally calmed himself down, so he mentioned, "Captain Yu, Master Ou has a way to increase the might of our arrows by ten times, which is why I invited him here."

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Chapter 57: The Birth Of An Explosive Arrow

"What? Increase an arrow's might by ten times!" Jiang Chengwei's eyes glowed as he exclaimed, "Squad Leader Yan, you're not lying?"

"Yes." Yan Haobo nodded. He felt chills down his spine again when he recalled the damage caused by the explosive dagger. "It's at least… Ten times or above."

Although a huge increase in might would cause the equipment to be destroyed, an explosive piece of equipment was unquestionably more attractive to archers that faced powerful enemies.

Yu Hailiang and Jiang Chengwei looked at each other, and the surprised look on their faces was unimaginable.

Yan Haobo laughed. "Captain Yu, can you tell us now what half-spirit beast you encountered?"

"Okay, we met a brown bear this time. We're not sure what opportunity it chanced upon in the forest, but it's gained Mother Earth's power."

"Defensive power?" Yan Haobo was stunned.

He finally understood why Yu Hailiang and the others reacted the way they did earlier.

There were two kinds of Mother Earth's power, one was an astounding defensive power, whereas the other one was a mighty power. Of course, one would have to witness the powers before evaluating the extent of those abilities.

"Yes. The Brown Earth Bear's defensive power is extremely shocking. We went all-out when we hunted it previously, but there were only roughly four men who could really hurt it," Yu Hailiang said seriously and shook his head with a mournful look, "We lost three of our brothers, and one of them was even a squad leader. Other than that, another squad leader is heavily injured, but I asked some men to send him away since it's inconvenient to treat him here."

Jiang Chengwei sighed. "Three squads from our side joined hands, yet we were defeated. Out of all the squad leaders, one died, one's injured, and we even lost a few brothers."

Ou Yangming looked at him strangely.

Jiang Chengwei quickly explained, "Master Ou, I didn't escape before the fight, but I was in charge of long-range backup during the fight against the Brown Earth Bear, so I wasn't directly involved."

Ou Yangming was surprised. "Squad Leader Jiang, you're an archer?"

"Yes." Jiang Chengwei smiled bitterly. "If I had joined the encirclement, I probably wouldn't be alive."

Yan Haobo nodded and frowned. "Captain Yu, you returned without accomplishing anything, and even lost some men. Even if my squad joins, we might not succeed."

He had been rather excited before coming here, but had now become anxious after knowing the details of the situation.

If one of the squad leaders had been killed, and another was injured, how could he contribute by getting involved? Perhaps their overall strength might even be lower than before.

"Squad Leader Yan, don't worry. We wouldn't have decided on this if we haven't found a way," Yu Hailiang said, then nodded at someone beside him, who quickly turned around to retrieve a small earthen jar.

"After the encirclement failed, we wanted to return to seek help from the general." Yu Hailiang took the earthen jar then opened it, revealing a layer of a black, sludge-like item. "But we came across some Bewitching Grass on our way back, so we collected and crushed it."

"Bewitching Grass!" Yan Haobo's eyes glowed. "That's a great item. If it's used appropriately, we'll stand a chance!"

Ou Yangming craned his neck to look into the earthen jar.

He had heard of the Bewitching Grass. It was a rare herb that if crushed and smudged on arrows could produce mighty poisonous arrows.

Needless to say, the poisonous arrows could not kill someone, but if they cut someone's body, the poison would flow into one's blood to reach one's brain, causing one to fall unconscious.

Nevertheless, if there was too much poison, the victim might not wake up anymore.

Jiang Chengwei smiled bitterly. "If you didn't join us, it'll be a fifty-fifty chance for us, but if Master Ou can really increase the arrows' might by ten times, our success rate will increase."

Yan Haobo was stunned. "Is that Brown Earth Bear's defensive power that great?"

"Yes. Although the brown bear didn't completely transform into a spirit beast, its defensive power makes it invulnerable," Jiang Chengwei replied seriously and sighed, "Other than Captain Yu's sword that managed to hurt it, the others can only contain it. Ah, our archers were the most useless, we couldn't even damage the outermost layer of its skin."

Yu Hailiang quickly comforted him, "Squad Leader Jiang, you shouldn't blame yourself. If it didn't fear your godly arrows, we wouldn't have made it back."

During that battle, Yu Hailiang and the others miscalculated the Brown Earth Bear's strength, so on top of the failed attacks, they lost some men. Nonetheless, when the brown bear was going to chase after them, Jiang Chengwei led the archer team to shoot its eyes and the vital points below its groins. They complemented Yu Hailiang's confrontation very well, which allowed them to carry on the fight while retreating, and they finally managed to escape.

Even after witnessing the Brown Earth Bear's strength, Yu Hailiang and the others kept thinking about it, which meant that they were quite confident about defeating it this time.

Once the men discussed for a brief moment, they looked at Ou Yangming at the same time.

Normal arrows could definitely not hurt the Brown Earth Bear, but if the arrows' might was increased by ten times, the effects would be completely different. Additionally, if the arrows were smudged with the Bewitching Grass, the brown bear would be in serious trouble.

Ou Yangming grinned. "Give me an arrow."

He was given an arrow right after he asked for one. When Ou Yangming and Yan Haobo noticed Jiang Chengwei, who was smiling at Ou Yangming earnestly, they did not know whether to laugh or to cry.

If Jiang Chengwei knew that it would come to this, he would not have acted the way he did before.

After receiving the arrow, Ou Yangming released his Military Fire without shying away from the others.

Regardless of how his Military Fire changed, even Old Craftsman would not figure out anything, let alone the soldiers who were present. Hence, he was not afraid of showing it to them.

As Ou Yangming's Military Fire burned, a hint of mental power was also released slowly.

When he first formed and used his mental power, he was unusually exhausted, but after grasping the power, he was able to use it easily.

Ou Yangming controlled his mental power to transfer it into the arrow through his Military Fire.

Next, the Military Fire that merged with his mental fire disappeared as they had been incorporated into the arrow.

If Old Craftsman and the other experienced Military Fire Blacksmiths witnessed this process, they would surely find it odd. This was because the Military Fire disappeared so strangely that it seemed to have entered the piece of equipment instead of being withdrawn by Ou Yangming.

Despite that, the ones who were watching at the moment could not tell the difference.

Ou Yangming handed the arrow back. "Try it, but make sure that everyone stays three steps clear of the arrow."

Jiang Chengwei's face changed a little. "Thank you for the reminder, Master Ou."

Subsequently, he gave an order to the soldiers to clear a huge area. Since it was a warning given by the refinement master, everybody obeyed it.

Jiang Chengwei then placed the arrow on his bow. Instead of aiming properly, he simply pulled and released the arrow. However, Ou Yangming's eyes glowed upon seeing the movement.

The seemingly simple move somehow had a lingering charm to it.

Similar to the skills used by the fop, who had appeared out of nowhere during the night battle, it was a feeling that resembled nature itself.

Ou Yangming exclaimed to himself. It made sense that Jiang Chengwei, who was an archer, was given the squad leader role because his arrow technique was astonishing.

Yu Hailiang did not lie at all as only an arrow technique like this could frighten the half-spirit beast.

The arrow shot a rock in a flash.

"Pow…"

It exploded right away, and turned into countless chips that shot out. Of course, around seventy percent of the chips shot in the forward direction.

A deafening sound pierced the air, and everyone was appalled when the sound was finally gone.

The stone was covered in densely packed tiny holes. Based on its hardness, it was impossible for flying iron shards to damage it, but the explosive arrow's might was far beyond everyone's imagination.

In fact, even Yan Haobo, who had seen this before, could not help but feel a chill down his spine.

Upon seeing the exceptional arrow, Yan Haobo figured that he would not resist it if he faced it. Moreover, a strange thought crossed his mind at that moment. If arrows like that could be mass-produced, what was the point of practicing martial arts? If they were shot by the arrow, they would be killed right away if they could not avoid it.

Fortunately, only one person could smith a divine weapon like that.

Yu Hailiang and Jiang Chengwei walked closer to the rock to look at it, and were clearly taken aback. Yu Hailiang sighed after a long time. "Master Ou, if we succeed this time, you'll be credited the most."

Jiang Chengwei hesitated for a while, but soon nodded in agreement.

They would not have believed the arrow's might if they had not seen it, but after witnessing it, they quickly understood how weighty it was.

"Master Ou, please reform the arrows, and incorporate them with the Bewitching Grass. We'll definitely kill the Brown Earth Bear this time," Yu Hailiang mentioned seriously.

Ou Yangming pondered for a while before answering, "Captain Yu, based on my current power, I can only refine five arrows. Will that be enough?"

Jiang Chengwei laughed. "Three arrows will be enough."

Following that, everyone looked at each other with passion and excitement.

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Chapter 58: Good Eyesight

"Swoosh…" When the Military Fire burned, a burning heatwave was released.

However, nobody despised it because everyone was looking forward to the outcome.

After witnessing the explosive arrow's might, even an obtuse person knew how important Ou Yangming was, and they somewhat feared the arrow that exploded in the air.

Another arrow was upgraded after a brief moment.

[Item: Explosive arrow (Red)]

[Equivalent Rank: High Grade Rank Five]

[Attributes: Sharpness 15, Toughness 15, Durability 10]

[Skill: Self-explosive]

Ou Yangming exhaled deeply. He finally knew why Jiang Chengwei mentioned that three arrows were enough because the squad leader only had three High Grade arrows left in his quiver.

Other than normal arrows, Jiang Chengwei prepared twelve High Grade arrows before entering the dense forest.

For the same archer and bow, different arrows would result in completely different powers. Unfortunately, nine of the arrows were used when they previously attacked the Brown Earth Bear. It was such a pity because it had been impossible for them to retrieve those arrows during the chaotic situation, thus they lost the nine arrows.

Nevertheless, Jiang Chengwei did not regret it. If it was not for the nine High Grade arrows that threatened the brown bear, they could not have gotten away.

Jiang Chengwei's face changed a little when he picked up the three arrows carefully. He turned to look at Ou Yangming, but could not let a word out.

Before this, he would have just spoken to Ou Yangming casually, but he respected the master very much after witnessing his great smithing skill.

Yu Hailiang mentioned, "Squad Leader Jiang, ask away if you have any question, you mustn't keep it to yourself."

Jiang Chengwei hesitated for a while before he nodded. "If I may ask, Master Ou, are the arrows' quality better than before?"

A High Grade arrow could be good or bad.

The arrows provided by Jiang Chengwei were initially of High Grade Rank One or Rank Two, but in order to increase their lethality, Ou Yangming had upgraded them to the material's highest withstandable limit.

15 points of Sharpness and Toughness were the tolerable limits for the three levels. If they were increased further, they would likely break.

After all, the three arrows were Jiang Chengwei's trump cards, so he was very familiar with them, and could instantly tell that their quality had improved by just holding them.

Nonetheless, since he was not an appraiser, he could only tell that the arrows improved, but did not know in which aspect.

Ou Yangming grinned. "There were some impurities in the three arrows, so I got rid of them."

Upon hearing him, the others respected him even more.

A master was a master. Even though he did it casually, he was able to upgrade the items' quality.

"With help from these three arrows, we'll surely succeed this time." Jiang Chengwei nodded and touched the arrows lovingly. "Perhaps I'll only need two arrows."

Yu Hailiang chuckled. "Squad Leader Jiang, you mustn't be stingy. Once we return to the camp, I'll give you double the number of arrows lost."

Jiang Chengwei's eyes sparkled. "Thank you, Captain Yu!"

Since he was just a squad leader, he subsidized almost half of the expenses for the twelve High Grade arrows himself, so it was obviously heartbreaking if he lost all of them during the fight. As such, Jiang Chengwei was elated when Yu Hailiang promised to compensate him.

"Get ready, we'll set out once you're done," Yu Hailiang mentioned as he opened the small earthen jar.

Jiang Chengwei scooped some crushed Bewitching Grass up using a tool, then began spreading them on his arrows. If these were normal arrows, he only needed to cover the arrowheads, but Ou Yangming's explosive arrows were different, thus most of the areas had to be covered.

Fortunately, the herb would only unleash its effect upon contact with one's blood, or Jiang Chengwei could not have used it at all.

Yu Hailiang smudged the medicine on his military saber too. Although the other men were envious, they did not do the same because they knew that only Yu Hailiang, who had a treasure saber, had the ability to slash the Brown Earth Bear's skin. The other men would only be in charge of harassing the brown bear.

Ou Yangming turned to ask softly, "Squad Leader Yan, are you going to fight too?"

Yan Haobo laughed. "Of course, we're not here to watch with folded arms."

The direct attacks were important, but it was crucial for the others to contain the beast too. Needless to say, even the ones who were in charge of containing the brown bear had to have a cultivation base of at least Yin Grade Class Two, or one would simply be courting death.

Ou Yangming tapped the military saber carried on his waist, then handed it to Yan Haobo. "My armor's tailored to my size, so it can't fit you, but this saber will be useful for you."

Yan Haobo's eyes glowed right away. "Thank you, Master Ou."

Dazzling light was seen the moment he pulled the military saber out. When he channeled some essential Qi into it, a mysterious power was fed back into his body.

"An Attribute Military Saber!" Yan Haobo's eyes shone brighter, and he became more confident.

Yu Hailiang cast a confused look at him. "This is a High Grade Attribute Military Saber, and it looks like it's better than mine…"

Ou Yangming could tell that Yu Hailiang's military saber was of High Grade too, but it was not at the peak. Nonetheless, it would easily be a great saber if it had some Power attribute. On the other hand, the saber given to Yan Haobo was a weakened version of an already weak saber. Not only did it not have the Devouring attribute, but its Power attribute was reduced from 4 points to 2 points.

Despite all that, the military saber given to Yan Haobo was superior to Yu Hailiang's.

Fortunately, Ou Yangming only lent it to Yan Haobo. If he had given it as a gift instead, Yu Hailiang would be moved.

"Squad Leader Yan, come over and spread some on your saber too," Yu Hailiang called out to him. With the sharp military saber, Yan Haobo was able to be one of the main forces in the fight.

After half an hour, everyone finally set out.

Not everyone was qualified to join, so there were only more than ten of them including Ou Yangming and the archers.

When Ou Yangming mentioned that he wanted to watch the fight, Yu Hailiang and the others refused to let him come along, but Ou Yangming raged and swore that he would head there himself even if they disallowed him. Consequently, they could only allow him to join them, but he had to promise that he would stick with Jiang Chengwei without moving around himself.

Ou Yangming agreed right away. He was a smart person, hence he was definitely not going to play with a half-spirit beast.

Besides, he could watch the fight safely by staying with Jiang Chengwei, so how could he be unhappy?

They journeyed slowly in the forest. According to Yu Hailiang, although they failed their mission and escaped, they did not actually give up, hence they left two forest experts to keep watch over the beast from far.

Sure enough, a figure jumped down from a big tree when the group of people reached a spot. The person was thin, had a physique similar to Ou Yangming's, and appeared to be a teen. However, the wrinkles on his face gave his real age away.

"Captain, that fella is still lying in its old spot. I'm guessing that it's accumulating its power to break its blood meridians' shackles, and transform into a real spirit beast."

"Hmph, how can it turn into a spirit beast so easily? The Brown Earth Bear is having wishful thinking! Everyone, we'll stick to the plan." Yu Hailiang sneered, then looked at Jiang Chengwei deeply. "Squad Leader Jiang, our victory depends on your arrow art."

Jiang Chengwei slapped his chest as he assured, "Captain Yu, don't worry, there won't be a mistake."

Yu Hailiang nodded, then they proceeded to their own stations.

"Stay here, I'll go up to shoot three arrows," Jiang Chengwei instructed after leading Ou Yangming and the archers to a quiet spot, then added after a pause, "If the Brown Earth Bear goes crazy, Captain Yu and the others will contain them, and you'll shoot its eyes with your cold arrows. Remember, its eyes are its only weak spot, and your arrows can't shoot anywhere else."

"Yes," The archers responded to him. They were aware that their powers only allowed them to contain the beast, and the main forces were not actually Yu Hailiang and the others, but the Bewitching Grass' drug efficacy.

Jiang Chengwei staggered forward with his bow and arrows, but he soon realized that something was off. He trembled when he turned to look. "Master Ou, why are you following me?"

Ou Yangming giggled. "Captain Yu asked me to stick with you, so I followed you."

"Okay, you must be careful." Jiang Chengwei smiled bitterly, but when he realized that Ou Yangming actually followed him quietly without being noticed, he felt chills down his spine.

Jiang Chengwei walked slowly and carefully to a giant tree, then climbed up like an ape.

Ou Yangming quickly followed suit, and when he was up there, he quickly fixed his gaze on a huge block far away.

The thing looked like a giant rock when it lay on the ground. If it was not because of its stomach that undulated rhythmically, Ou Yangming could not have noticed it so quickly.

"Squad Leader Jiang, is that fella a Brown Earth Bear? Why is its body yellow in color?" Ou Yangming asked curiously.

Jiang Chengwei was shocked. "You, you can see it?"

Ou Yangming was surprised. "Why can't I see that big fella?"

"Master Ou, you have great eyesight, I can't believe that you can actually tell its color." Jiang Chengwei twitched his mouth.

Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. He knew very well that it had nothing to do with his eyesight because it was probably the amazing effect of the Vision attribute.

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Chapter 59: Blood Meridian Power

"Master Ou, based on your eyesight, it's honestly such a pity that you're not an archer," Jiang Chengwei said in a rather regretful tone.

Ou Yangming giggled and paid attention to the situation ahead without saying a word. However, due to the distance and the fact that the Brown Earth Bear was still asleep, he did not have a clear picture of what was going on.

Jiang Chengwei mentioned softly, "Master Ou, I'm making a move."

Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows. "Okay, I'm looking forward to it."

Jiang Chengwei nodded lightly, then retrieved his bow from behind, and placed an explosive arrow on it.

It was then when Ou Yangming sensed a subtle and unexplainable change in Jiang Chengwei's body.

Although Jiang Chengwei was a squad leader, a squad leader was normally the one with the most profound cultivation base in a squad. Furthermore, there were very few squad leaders who were also archers in the military, but each of them was convincingly and remarkably strong.

Sure enough, the natural aura and confidence that were shown by Jiang Chengwei were unordinary.

It was as though Jiang Chengwei, who was drawing his bow at the moment, had unleashed an aura that was not inferior to Yu Hailiang's at all.

"Whoosh—"

He shot the arrow at last.

The Brown Earth Bear was asleep, but it curled up its body to hide his belly and parts of its body that were soft. Hence, Jiang Chengwei aimed the arrow at the outer side of its belly.

After being enhanced by the Military Fire, the High Grade arrow had 15 points of Sharpness.

Even though the brown bear's body was tough, which was difficult to be hurt by weapons, Jiang Chengwei's arrow penetrated its skin.

"Roar… Thud…"

The Brown Earth Bear instantly awoke. It was not actually sound asleep before this because it was accumulating his power to break its blood meridians' shackles.

Therefore, it quickly woke up when it was attacked.

Needless to say, a normal attack could not have scratched its skin at all, but Jiang Weicheng's arrow was out of the ordinary.

Just as the Brown Earth Bear came round and did a thunderous roar, the arrow on its skin exploded, causing countless shards to shoot out.

The might of the explosion from the explosive arrow was much more powerful than when Jiang Chengwei shot it.

Following that, with the outer side of the Brown Earth Bear's belly as the center, numerous iron shards shot into its body as if a hornet's nest had just been disturbed.

Being caught off guard by the attack, the brown bear's roar sounded different halfway through. The half-spirit beast exhaled deeply, and almost choked to death.

Jiang Chengwei maintained a straight face, then drew its bow again to shoot another arrow.

The arrow was as fast as a shooting star, and was as frightening as thunder. It zoomed out in a flash, and struck the Brown Earth Bear's belly.

While the brown bear was being attacked, it was still vigilant. It somewhat covered its face and head intentionally with its paw. If one wanted to shoot its eyes or its throat, even if that person was Jiang Chengwei, he might not succeed. After all, the bear's paw was not to be taken lightly, thus Jiang Chengwei had to aim at the spot that he was most confident about to increase the success rate.

The Brown Earth Bear was heavily damaged again as almost half of the arrowhead had penetrated its body.

Jiang Chengwei did not say a word, but was full of admiration.

He was aware of his arrow's might since he had fought against the brown bear before, hence he knew very well that he was only able to achieve this because of Ou Yangming's efforts.

The might of a High Grade Rank One arrow and one at the peak of High Grade were completely different.

"Pow!"

The explosive arrow exploded again, and the area below the Brown Earth Bear's belly was full of holes, which was a scene too ghastly to look at.

Once the brown bear roared painfully, it suddenly turned around to look in the direction where the arrow was shot, then began running.

Ou Yangming's face changed. It was an explosive arrow that was even covered in crushed Bewitching Grass. Another ferocious beast would have been dead or unconscious by now.

On the opposite, the Brown Earth Bear seemed to be severely injured, but was still full of vigor and combat power.

Jiang Chengwei was well-prepared, thus he drew his bow again to launch the third arrow.

Ou Yangming naturally knew why Jiang Chengwei was in such a hurry; he was using an explosive arrow. The arrow had an enormous might, but it had a drawback, which was it could not be used during an encirclement. This was because the shards that were shot out would hurt anyone around it.

Therefore, Jiang Chengwei must shoot all three arrows before Yu Hailiang and the others attacked.

Instead of shooting the last arrow on the Brown Earth Bear's neck, he aimed at its right leg instead.

The arrow exploded after it was shot, and it caused a fairly deep wound on the brown bear's leg.

Despite that, the Brown Earth Bear only staggered a bit, and continued charging in their direction. The Earth seemed to be shaking with each step it took, which made clear its terrifying power.

"Go!"

Jiang Chengwei turned pale. Even though he only shot three arrows, he seemed to have emptied his power. His aura weakened as a result, and he was not as quick-witted and confident as he was earlier.

Ou Yangming was moved as he quickly understood something.

As expected, archers were different from normal martial artists. Their power could be unleashed in the shortest time possible, but they would turn weak once all their power was released.

Jiang Chengwei leaped down from the tree at once, and ran toward where the other archers were lying in ambush.

Ou Yangming hesitated, then decided to observe from another tree beside him instead of following him.

Subsequently, Yu Hailiang and the others appeared. They did not obstruct the Brown Earth Bear from the front because it was undoubtedly dumb to resist the bear forcefully at this moment. Yu Hailiang would not do that for sure.

Nonetheless, it would be fine to go around in circles with a heavily injured half-spirit beast.

However, Yu Hailiang and the others quickly noticed that the Brown Earth Bear was different from before. It did not bother about them, and was still charging crazily at the big tree where Jiang Chengwei shot the arrows from.

The injuries that the brown bear suffered triggered its guts, hence it was determined to crush the fellow that hurt him. In other words, it wanted to get rid of the most threatening archer first.

Before long, it was already under the big tree, but it did not decelerate at all. With a fearsome power, it crashed its giant body into the big tree.

The big tree underwent an undeserving accident as it was broken by the Brown Earth Bear.

A deafening sound was heard when it tilted and collapsed to the ground.

Ou Yangming was dumbstruck because the power was simply unbelievable. If a person was crashed like that, one would not survive even if one had full armor and a shield.

Fortunately, he and Jiang Chengwei had left the big tree, or they would end up like the tree.

The Brown Earth Bear did not see any trace of humans after crashing into the tree, so it turned and roared while charging at Yu Hailiang and the others.

Yu Hailiang advanced and retreated in an orderly manner around the brown bear. When the bear stormed in one direction, those who were in the other direction attacked it by stabbing its wounds with their weapons. Once it changed its direction, the soldiers reversed their roles by retreating, by which those who were falling back just now attacked instead.

Although the soldiers were not from the same camp, they were extremely familiar with the formation as they were alites, and they cooperated very well without making any mistakes.

In actual fact, they knew that it was impossible for them to kill their Brown Earth Bear by relying on their military power. Even though the bear was covered in blood, and they stabbed its wounds with their sharp weapons to inflict some extra yet minor damages, their powers could not cause anything noteworthy.

What made them confident was actually the Bewitching Grass that was spread on the arrows. As long as the medicine showed its effects, the Brown Earth Bear would not be able to withstand it.

As time passed, the brown bear became slower, and it was also moving clumsily. Especially its injured right leg that caused it to limp as though it was going to fall soon.

Yu Hailiang's eyes glowed as it yelled, "Brothers, hold on, it's almost down!"

The others responded to him in high fighting spirits. They were very confident because victory was in sight.

On the other hand, Jiang Chengwei, who had gathered with the other archers, was anxious because Ou Yangming was nowhere to be found. He wanted to look for the master, but the situation did not allow him to.

Luckily, Ou Yangming was not seen on the big tree when it fell, hence Jiang Chengwei was slightly relieved.

Seeing as the Brown Earth Bear was slowly becoming less of a threat, he exhaled deeply, and was no longer that concerned.

Just as everyone thought that the brown bear was exhausted and had no chance of escaping, it suddenly opened its arms and straightened its body, then roared at the sky like never before.

Next, an earthly yellow light was emitted from its body, which enveloped it right away.

"Oh no, it incited its Blood Meridian Power, retreat! Retreat!" Yu Hailiang yelled, and he sounded terrified.

As he panicked, a bitter thought crossed his mind.

"Our efforts are wasted, our efforts are wasted. I can't believe this happened when we're so close to victory.'

The soldiers' faces changed as well, and everyone quickly backed off.

As for the Brown Earth Bear, it lowered its head after curbing the light, and its eyes were filled with a fit of despairing yet resentful anger.

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Chapter 60: I'll Absorb, Absorb, Absorb!

The Brown Earth Bear quivered for a while before charging.

Ou Yangming made the shocking discovery that its injuries had not recovered, and it was still bleeding. Despite that, its movements were not affected by its injuries, and it was much faster than when it went wild earlier.

"Split up, let's go!" Yu Hailiang's voice echoed in the dense forest as he ran away quickly.

Jiang Chengwei stomped his foot. "Let's go!"

Subsequently, all archers escaped as nobody dared to stay. Even if someone noticed that Ou Yangming was nowhere to be found, nobody dared to bring it up.

The others who were surrounding the Brown Earth Bear earlier turned around to escape with all their might. Perhaps they were all hoping that the brown bear would pursue someone else.

If two armies were battling, Yu Hailiang would never abandon his team to escape.

However, they were currently up against a mad half-spirit beast that had even stimulated the Blood Meridian Power. Compared to the Brown Earth Bear, they were just like defenseless ants that could be trampled over easily.

One of the regulations in the military camp was that if something like this happened, soldiers must split up to escape instead of putting up a desperate fight. The further they were from each other, the more the time gained for their comrades. On the contrary, they were foolish if they stayed to resist the half-spirit beast.

Therefore, everyone dispersed and escaped without any hesitation once they confirmed that the Brown Earth Bear had incited the Blood Meridian Power.

Nevertheless, the brown bear was extremely violent at the moment, and it hated the humans that encircled him, hence it was not going to let them leave easily.

"Pow…"

A soldier who was escaping turned pale when the Brown Earth Bear swung its paw, so he raised his shield hopelessly. The shield could not withstand the giant paw at all, thus the man was instantly crushed into meat paste.

Following that, the brown bear sped up to catch up to another person, and the person's head was crushed when it slammed it with its paw.

Ou Yangming breathed deeply then held it in, not moving an inch.

He felt regretful. If the powerful Brown Earth Bear noticed him, he would definitely be dead.

The brown bear then caught up to another four soldiers by moving faster, and it killed them with its paw too. Ou Yangming witnessed everything clearly through the Vision attribute.

Just as he thought that the Brown Earth Bear was going to keep exerting its invincible might to kill more soldiers, the big fellow swayed then collapsed to the ground with its head first.

Ou Yangming was stunned, but he dared not move an inch. He looked at the brown bear quietly, and heard his inner voice.

'Is this fella dead?'

It was true that it became unparalleled after it awakened the Blood Meridian Power, but it was hurt by three explosive arrows before that.

Additionally, the explosive arrows were covered in plenty of Bewitching Grass.

After a moment of hesitation, Ou Yangming gritted his teeth and climbed down the tree before going roughly ten meters behind the Brown Earth Bear. He picked up a stone from the ground, then threw it hard at the beast.

Although he lent his military saber to Yan Haobo, his equipment set had 7 points of Power in total. The stone was thrown with force at the brown bear, but it did not react to it at all.

Ou Yangming was delighted, but he did not act rashly. He retrieved his dagger.

The weapon also had the explosive skill, and it was a High Grade Rank Five. When he turned his wrist to throw the dagger, it exploded on the Brown Earth Bear's body, which resulted in new wounds.

Even then, the brown bear did not move.

Ou Yangming was finally relieved. The beast could have faked its death when the stone hit it earlier, but it was impossible for it to remain unmoving when it was attacked by an explosive weapon.

Next, Ou Yangming approached the Brown Earth Bear. Upon seeing the carcass that had the size of a giant as compared to his body size, his palm began sweating.

Nonetheless, he knew that time was precious at the moment.

Yu Hailiang and the others escaped as hard as they could without wanting to be left behind, but they would soon realize what happened, and would return to take a look.

Ou Yangming retrieved another dagger.

By using his Military Fire, he attached the Devouring attribute on it.

Afterward, he stabbed the dagger into the Brown Earth Bear's biggest wound.

If the beast's body was undamaged, Ou Yangming could not have even cut its skin apart with the dagger. After all, the dagger was not a military saber, and the might that could be unleashed by them in a fight were not the same.

Since the brown bear was already terribly wounded, he could stab it with his dagger easily.

At the next moment, an unimaginable, enormous power gushed into Ou Yangming's body.

'Oh god, what kind of power is this!' Ou Yangming shivered and widened his eyes. He clearly felt that the power that he was absorbing was completely different from the ones in the past.

He had absorbed many things with the Devouring attribute such as humans, domestic pigs, and different kinds of ferocious beasts, but none of them gave him this feeling.

The essential Qi in his body began circulating smoothly, and before long, he felt that his Dantian Light became brighter.

Force Grade Class Four!

Without the need to check, Ou Yangming knew that his essential Qi had advanced to the next level due to the suddenly gained Qi and blood.

Apart from that, the rich Qi and blood even transformed into essential Qi right away, which also became so plentiful that he had the feeling that he was going to advance further.

However, he suddenly felt pain.

It was a feeling from his meridians, and it was about to spread to the other parts of his body.

Ou Yangming's face changed. He quickly knew that it was because his essential Qi grew too quickly that his body was unable to withstand it.

In fact, essential Qi and one's body quality were directly proportional to each other. Every time one's essential Qi increased, one's body quality would also improve by a certain margin, causing one to become more powerful. Nevertheless, Ou Yangming's essential Qi was growing so quickly that his body could not adapt to it.

It was not a huge problem because his body quality could be enhanced through training for a period of time.

In spite of that, it was Ou Yangming's first time encountering something like that. Feeling frightened, he immediately pulled his dagger out to stop the flow of power.

Even though it was a rare opportunity, he dared not take the risk. Moreover, he was very confident that he could grow fast. Since that was the case, the current risk was not worth it.

When Ou Yangming scanned the Brown Earth Bear's body, he realized that it did not change much. It was as if the energy that he had devoured was insignificant.

His eyes glowed as he wanted very badly to claim the beast for himself, but he knew very well that it was wishful thinking.

Ou Yangming stomped his feet and was about to leave when something in his mind moved. For some reason, the mental power in the spot between his eyebrows vibrated strangely and was pointing somewhere.

It was a feeling that was unexplainable like the mysterious sixth sense.

Ou Yangming looked at the dagger in his hand, then glanced at the carcass. He leaped to the front of the Brown Earth Bear, and stabbed his dagger into its eye.

Consequently, another energy gushed into his body.

Ou Yangming's body was already so abundant in Qi and blood that he would be forced to transfer them manually into essential Qi if there were more.

Nonetheless, the external power seemed to be different as it did not increase his Qi and blood.

The energy went straight to his mind, and he felt like a stream of hot spring water was flowing in his body. He felt so comfortable that he moaned.

It seemed like a long process, but it was actually done in the blink of an eye.

Right then, the mental power between his eyebrows gushed out to contact the external power, then absorbed it into the space between his eyebrows.

Ou Yangming's eyelids twitched. He came to a sudden realization that the power was mental power.

The Brown Earth Bear was a half-spirit beast, so did it mean that half-spirit beasts had mental power too?

Before this, Ou Yangming successfully stimulated his mental power, but he knew nothing about it, and only learned to control it by accident.

The only thing he knew was that mental power can be transferred and consumed.

Mental power that was consumed could not be recovered unless one slept or rested.

As for how mental power could grow…

Ou Yangming was overthinking this. It was not something that he could fathom yet.

Despite that, if there was one thing he comprehended, it was that mental power could be upgraded through absorbing a half-spirit beast's energy in its mind.

Of course, half-spirit beasts were exceptionally rare, and were very powerful. It was not something that he could shake up for now.

This was only an accident, so he must absorb more.

'Absorb!

'I'll absorb!

'I'll absorb, absorb, absorb!

'This feels great, hmm?

'Why the f*ck can't I absorb anymore?'

Ou Yangming gritted his teeth hideously, and the veins on his head that bulged were vaguely pulsated.

In the spot between his eyebrows, the amount of external energy was almost double his original mental power, but the impact was also giving him a splitting headache.

At last, Ou Yangming pulled the dagger out reluctantly, then ran as fast as he could toward where Yan Haobo escaped.

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Chapter 61: Return To The Camp After Dealing With The Aftermath

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The wind was whistling as Ou Yangming ran wild.

As Qi and blood circulated inside his body, there was an agitation of essential Qi that caused an increase in speed, but he was not tired at all.

Although the Brown Earth Bear had died, it gave Ou Yangming a huge benefit. His only regret was he could not take the whole bear away.

The feeling as a result of running wildly made his bulging head feel much better. This time, his Qi and blood, as well as his mental power, improved greatly. That said, the negative impact due to the fast improvement in a short span of time was slowly beginning to show.

Needless to say, the pain was nothing compared to the benefit gained.

Even though Ou Yangming was running fast with a bad complexion, he did not slack at all. He exploited fully the 1 point of Vision attribute in his helmet, so he could immediately notice if something unusual was ahead.

His eyes lit up all of a sudden because he noticed a familiar figure. It was Yan Haobo, the first person who escaped in this direction.

After slowing down a little, sure enough, Ou Yangming heard Yan Haobo's voice. "Master Ou, why are you here?"

Ou Yangming halted and pretended to have just noticed him by expressing cheerfully, "Squad Leader Yan, you're here too, it's so nice to have met you!"

When Yan Haobo approached Ou Yangming and noticed that he was fine, he finally sighed a breath of relief but somewhat reproached. "Master Ou, didn't we ask you to follow Squad Leader Jiang? Why did you run out by yourself?"

Yan Haobo did not suspect anything upon seeing the ghastly expression and the nervousness on Ou Yangming's face. In actual fact, it would only be suspicious if a person was extremely calm while panting heavily.

"Squad Leader Yan, I was too fascinated when I watched you fend off the half-spirit beast, so I separated from Squad Leader Jiang. What should we do now?" Ou Yangming explained with a bitter smile.

"It's okay, we'll leave from here and see what we can do once we find the others." Yan Haobo shook his head slightly but dared not scold him. He sighed and said, "We're awfully unlucky this time to have attacked that fella when it incited the Blood Meridian Power. Ah, the probability is extremely low, yet we encountered it, how unfortunate!"

Ou Yangming was moved so he asked, "Squad Leader Yan, what's the Blood Meridian Outbreak?"

Yan Haobo pondered for a while before answering, "The Blood Meridian Outbreak is a spirit beast's unique ability. Once spirit beasts activate the Blood Meridian Power, they'll gain overwhelming power in a short period of time. However, the outbreak is followed by a residual effect, where the beasts will be in a weak state for some time."

Ou Yangming nodded and finally understood why the Brown Earth Bear collapsed after pursuing four men.

A spirit beast that simulated the Blood Meridian Power would normally enter a weak state, but when the injured big fellow underwent the outbreak, it could only withstand the residual effect for a brief moment, and eventually had to give up its life.

Yan Haobo lamented about their luck while leading the way. "The Blood Meridian Outbreak is usually only possible for spirit beasts, and it's difficult for half-spirit beasts to execute it even if one wanted to. Ah, it looks like the Brown Earth Bear that we encountered possessed a rich spirit-beast bloodline…"

Ou Yangming finally returned to their original spot under his lead.

Jiang Chengwei and the rest had returned long ago. They were joyful upon seeing Ou Yangming, but also looked like they were condemning him.

Ou Yangming could not distinguish it, hence he apologized with a bitter smile.

When Jiang Chengwei asked Ou Yangming what had happened after they parted, Ou Yangming told him that he escaped upon hearing Yu Hailiang's order, and was only able to return safely because of Yan Haobo. Nobody was dubious of his explanation because they could not have done any better if they were in his position, after all.

Yan Haobo looked around and asked with a heavy look on his face, "Where's Captain Yu? Has he not returned yet?"

If Yu Hailiang was not back at that point, he was likely in a bad spot. Besides, he had the highest status among everyone, so if he accidentally died, they would definitely be in a terrible position too.

Jiang Chengwei sighed and answered, "Captain Yu came back already."

"Ah, where is he?"

"He heard that Master Ou went missing, so he left to look for him." Jiang Chengwei glanced at Ou Yangming helplessly.

It was then when Yan Haobo and Ou Yangming understood why Jiang Chengwei reacted so hugely when they returned.

Ou Yangming wondered and responded, "Captain Yu is a blessed man, he'll be fine."

Jiang Chengwei exhaled. "I hope so."

A noise was suddenly heard ahead at that instant, and when everyone looked, they found a person running in their direction. It was the soldier who was previously sent to keep an eye on the Brown Earth Bear.

He shouted as soon as he stopped in front of them, "Everyone, great news!"

Ou Yangming guessed what it was when he saw the soldier's expression, but pretended to look puzzled like everyone else.

The soldier announced, "I followed Captain Yu back to the battle zone, and found that the Brown Earth Bear had died!"

Everyone was instantly in an uproar and began discussing the matter with each other.

"Quiet!" Jiang Chengwei roared angrily, and his voice drowned out the other people.

There was a clear hierarchy in the military, thus even when most of the soldiers present were not under Jiang Chengwei's command, they dared not contradict him when he gave an order.

"Tell us what happened exactly," Jiang Chengwei instructed sternly.

"We found the Brown Earth Bear's carcass. Captain Yu inspected it personally and said that it incited the Blood Meridian Power, but was too heavily injured that it collapsed and died," the soldier was a little taken aback before he answered, then he added after a pause, "Captain Yu wants me to inform everyone to return to carry the brown bear's carcass."

Everyone looked at each other in disbelief as though they were dreaming.

The Brown Earth Bear caused many casualties, so even when everyone hated it to its bones, they were equally fearful of it.

When they suddenly heard that the brown bear had died, as well as the reason behind it, they found it hard to accept it.

Yan Haobo spoke after a brief moment, "If that's the case, let's go over."

The rest responded to him. Other than a few men who stayed to keep watch, the other people strode away in a row. After a moment of hesitation, Ou Yangming decided to follow as he wanted to see if Yu Hailiang noticed anything suspicious from the carcass.

Once everyone hurried back to the battle zone, they saw the huge carcass indeed. Other than that, there were also four disfigured corpses that were covered in blood.

They knew that those were their companions, who were killed by the Brown Earth Bear when it gained extreme strength from activating the Blood Meridian Power.

COMMENT

The cheerful atmosphere disappeared the moment everyone saw the corpses.

"Brothers, don't forget who we are. As soldiers, our deaths are worthy if we die in a warzone," Yu Hailiang frowned as he said, then continued after a short pause, "Collect their remains for an elaborate burial back at the camp."

"Yes."

The other soldiers quickly began working. They either took care of their companions' corpses or prepared tools to carry the Brown Earth Bear's carcass away.

Jiang Chengwei, Yan Haobo, and Ou Yangming naturally went forward to inspect the huge beast.

"Master Ou, you'll be credited the most for the successful slaughter of the beast this time," Yu Hailiang remarked with a deep voice, "Squad Leader Jiang, you're ranked second to have shot its vital points with your arrows without a miss."

Jiang Chengwei's face changed, and he quickly responded, "Sir, you should be ranked second instead."

Yu Hailiang waved his hand. "The few of us didn't contribute much. Heh, if the Brown Earth Bear wasn't heavily injured, it wouldn't have died after killing four of our brothers, and we might've lost many more men."

Everyone's face changed when they recalled the threatening aura released by the Brown Earth Bear at the very end.

Ou Yangming observed the brown bear's carcass and especially looked at the big hole in its eyeball. "Captain Yu, did you hurt its eye?"

Yu Hailiang shook his head. "No, perhaps it's a residual effect of the Blood Meridian Outbreak."

Ou Yangming was relieved. In actual fact, nobody would have suspected him even if someone noticed an abnormality.

Finally, the preparations were done, and the soldiers began cutting the Brown Earth Bear's carcass with sabers because it was impossible to carry its huge body away as a whole. Nonetheless, Yu Hailiang and the others were extremely cautious throughout the process as they collected all of its blood without wasting a single drop.

Ou Yangming was more certain after watching the process that the half-spirit beast's flesh and blood were far more valuable than a normal ferocious beast's.

Once everything was handled, they made their way out of the forest.

After what had happened, nobody was interested in staying anymore.

Yan Haobo called out to his squad as well, so they grew in numbers when everyone gathered. Given that they were journeying out of the dense forest in such a big squad, ferocious beasts would avoid them without sneaking an attack at all.

Though ferocious beasts had no wisdom, they had survival instincts, hence they knew what was feasible and what was not.

If a ferocious beast actually dared to attack the squad, it would only be courting death.

At last, the soldiers left the dense forest, and cheers were heard when they looked up at the dazzling sun in the sky.

Most of them had actually entered the dense forest numerous times.

Despite that, this trip was exceptionally thrilling, and they were excited at the thought of the half-spirit beast that was being carried.

Outside the dense forest, a squad was already stationed there to aid them. After each squad was contacted, they gathered and returned to the military camp proudly in a row.

Before they had even returned to the camp, the news of a half-spirit beast being slaughtered had already spread across the entire camp.

There was a sensation as soon as the squad returned to the military camp, but Ou Yangming returned to his courtyard to rest as he was exhausted.

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Chapter 62: The New Blacksmith Master

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The next morning when Ou Yangming awakened, he felt refreshed.

He headed to his courtyard to practice the martial-art squat for half an hour, where he clearly felt an enormous change in his body. The essential Qi of a Force Grade Class Four martial artist was insignificant among many soldiers, but it was not the worst.

Other than the Guards under the command of the generals from different camps, if Ou Yangming fought a normal soldier, he could simply go head-on without using skills and without wearing any equipment. Moreover, he could easily have the upper hand due to this abundant Qi and blood.

The light at the center of his Dantian circulated and it was no longer the size of a bean as it had increased many times into the size of a baby's fist.

Of course, it was just a vivid metaphor. If someone actually opened his stomach to look, one would definitely not find a light source the size of a baby's fist.

Ou Yangming proceeded to practice his fist art and his blade technique after he was done with the martial-art squat. Although the fist art and the blade technique were taught by Sui Hezhi, they were different when Ou Yangming performed them.

Besides, when he practiced, the mental power between his eyebrows was eager to make a move.

In a flash, a stream of mental power was released, which pushed Ou Yangming lightly at his waist. He dashed forward due to the power's momentum and slashed with his saber at the speed of light.

From an outsider's perspective, the posture seemed to have exhausted him of all his power. However, the moment he became stagnant, a new force was suddenly generated, allowing him to perform an earth-shattering slash when it looked impossible.

Ou Yangming's slash would not gain him victory during an official battle, but it could at least frighten his opponent terribly.

A faint smile was seen on Ou Yangming's face as he finally uncovered a hint of his mental power's function. If he complimented it with his martial arts skills during a battle, an unimaginable, powerful might could be released.

Even though Ou Yangming had not eliminated the pressure and danger from Zhang Yinfan, he was no longer afraid like he was before. This was because he had the power to protect himself, such that he was confident about escaping even if Zhang Yinfan personally made a move. Furthermore, as Ou Yangming's power kept improving, he could one day crush his opponent instead.

A knock was heard all of a sudden, and Ou Yangming's ears twitched a little. He quickly put his military saber away, and hurried to the door.

Old Craftsman's fingers reached out to him as soon as the door was opened.

"Ah, Old Man, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!" Ou Yangming was on the tip of his toes as he shouted while grimacing in pain, "My ear is going to be torn off soon!"

Old Craftsman did not let go even when Ou Yangming yelled, but he held back his force and pulled Ou Yangming inside.

Once they entered the building, Old Craftsman finally let go and scolded him, "You little fella, are you tired of living? How dare you fight a half-spirit beast? Do you want to die?"

Ou Yangming rubbed his ear while gesturing to Old Craftsman to sit. He then served him a warm cup of tea before replying to him, "Old Man, you must've heard it wrong. Who spread the rumor to you?"

Old Craftsman sneered. "Did I need to ask about it? The Middle Camp's general sent a notice, which states that your credit ranked first among those who slaughtered the half-spirit beast. Heh, very well, how dare you fight a half-spirit beast? Why didn't you lose an arm or a leg?!"

While Old Craftsman chastised, he kept scanning Ou Yangming's body to confirm that he was fine. Just as the old man was finally relieved, he fumed with anger and began to rage. Old Craftsman stuck his leg out with the intention to kick Ou Yangming but was afraid that he would really hurt him, hence he went around Ou Yangming to kick his butt instead.

Ou Yangming groaned and fell to the ground.

In actual fact, it was extremely easy for him to avoid the kick given his current ability, but he must take the hit and endure it because it was Old Craftsman who had kicked him.

Old Craftsman then continued to beat Ou Yangming up while lecturing him, "Little b*stard, I asked you to gain experience. It's fine if you fought a wild beast, but how dare you provoke a half-spirit beast? Are you tired of living? Did you want me to watch you die before I do? Since you're tired of living, I'll beat you to death!"

Though the old man sounded ruthless, he only hit the meaty parts on Ou Yangming's body.

Ou Yangming puffed hard on the ground, and did not get up. His groans were getting louder.

Old Craftsman finally stopped after a brief moment. His heart thudded when he looked at Ou Yangming, who was curled up on the ground, and he wondered, 'Oh no, did I hit him so hard that I actually hurt him? But he has been practicing the martial-art squat, as well as other skills, so he can't be that weak.'

He frowned. "B*stard, why are you still lying on the ground pretentiously? Get the hell up!"

Ou Yangming pressed the parts that hurt on his body as he stood up staggeringly with a sour face. "Old Man, it hurt so much!"

Old Craftsman scoffed, then went inside to look for ointment. "Come, I'll rub those spots for you."

Ou Yangming went over to him and removed his clothes, but when Old Craftsman looked at his body, he did not see many bruises.

"Old Man, I didn't even see the half-spirit beast when I was there," Ou Yangming quickly said as he knew that he was in a bad spot.

"Nonsense, why did you get the most credit if you didn't see it?" Old Craftsman was distracted indeed.

"That's because I smithed three arrows for Squad Leader Jiang Chengwei from the Middle Camp, and I heard that the three arrows were the key," Ou Yangming explained.

"What arrows were those that they were so powerful?" Old Craftsman doubted him.

"Old Man, please wait here for a while, I'll show you a demonstration!" Ou Yangming chuckled then darted into his house. It was clear from his agile movement that he was not injured at all.

Old Craftsman widened his eyes and thought, 'Sh*t, I beat him too softly earlier, I must use more force the next time!'

After some time, Ou Yangming returned with a dagger. "Old Man, I employed a trick in my Military Fire, and this was the result. Take a look at it."

Old Craftsman looked at the dagger carefully after receiving it, and had a serious look on his face. "This dagger is strange indeed. Its internal structure looks stable, but it also has a strong tension, how did you smith it?"

Ou Yangming admired Old Craftsman, who was worthy of being a top-notch Military Fire Blacksmith, because he noticed the dagger's biggest feature at one glance.

"Old Man, I incorporated a hint of mental power into my Military Fire and channeled it into the dagger. I managed to achieve this by luck." Ou Yangming lowered his voice.

"Mental power?" Old Craftsman was stunned and bewildered. "How were you able to use the power?"

'Why do you think that I'm not able to use it?' Ou Yangming thought to himself, but dared not rebuke the old man, or he would be beaten up again for sure.

While Ou Yangming was not related by blood with Old Craftsman, they were really close. Their way of expressing themselves was simply distinctive and reserved.

"Cough, cough. Old Man, please don't underestimate me, you're the one who groomed me, right?"

Old Craftsman nodded hesitantly. 'It's true that I raised this fella, but why do I not recall teaching him anything about mental power?

'Besides, what exactly is mental power?'

Nevertheless, he was definitely not going to admit his ignorance in front of Ou Yangming.

"Okay, what's so special about this thing?"

"Old Man, look!" Ou Yangming laughed. He channeled a hint of essential Qi into the dagger, then threw it to the corner of a wall that was far away.

"Pow—"

After the soft sound was heard, Ou Yangming knew that there was no need for him to explain to Old Craftsman anymore. The old man had been a Military Fire Blacksmith for years, so if he could not tell the weapon's worth, he would not have become the military camp's blacksmith chief.

Old Craftsman sighed when he looked at another dagger for a while. "Ah, I've really aged, but my life wasn't spent in vain now that I have a successor."

His main point was that he had a successor, hence it was a delightful comment rather than an emotional one.

Ou Yangming quickly responded, "Old Man, you're old but vigorous, you can live for a few hundred years more!"

"A few hundred years? Haha, that's impossible." Old Craftsman was cracked up. He then shook his head and remarked, "Even the blacksmith master from the prefecture, who arrived yesterday, is more powerful than me, not to mention you. Hehe, it's rare that he's still so young, he certainly has a bright future!"

Ou Yangming's face changed as he recalled something.

On that day when he had a conflict with Huang Jingtian and the others from the West Camp, they talked about a Military Fire Blacksmith from the prefecture, who was invited by General Tian. On top of that, the master seemed to have discovered a method to mass-produce Good Grade Arm Guards.

Although Ou Yangming was indifferent about the rumor, those were Good Grade Arm Guards. Even with different workmanship, it was impossible to let normal soldiers have a pair each. Nonetheless, he also knew that one who came surely had ill-intentions because one who meant well would not have come.

It seemed like that master had arrived when Ou Yangming entered the dense forest, and he had even met Old Craftsman.

"Old Man, did that person offend you?" A flash of cold light was seen in Ou Yangming's eyes. He would only laugh it off if he was the one who was offended, but if it was Old Craftsman who was offended, heh…

"What do you mean by that? That fella's craftsmanship is amazing indeed, and he'll definitely surpass me in the future, but…" Old Craftsman found his question strange, but he replied to him proudly, "I can still suppress him well now!"

Ou Yangming studied the old man's expression closely, especially his arrogant look, and quickly realized that he was overthinking.

Old Craftsman suddenly slapped his forehead and glared at Ou Yangming. "Ah, I was too focused on teaching you, my unfilial student, a lesson that I forgot what I needed to do. Get dressed and follow me to meet Master Ni."

"Master Ni? Which Master Ni?" Ou Yangming got dressed right away.

"The new master, you must learn well from him, understood?"

"Yes, Old Man, I won't embarrass you." Ou Yangming's eyes lit up as he smiled mischievously.

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Chapter 63: Reputation Spread Far And Wide

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In the Middle Camp, many soldiers surrounded Jiang Chengwei to listen to his story of the event that took place in the dense forest.

After the half-spirit beast's carcass was carried back to the military camp, there was quite a bit of excitement indeed, and the people involved quickly drew everyone's attention.

Ou Yangming, who was given the most credit, naturally attracted the most attention, but nobody dared to disturb him after knowing that he was a Military Fire Blacksmith from the Armament Camp. After all, it was not the blacksmith whom the bloodthirsty men admired, but the warriors who killed using weapons smithed by the blacksmith.

Yu Hailiang was a captain from the South Camp and was considered one of the high officials there, hence it was impossible for the soldiers to inquire about the incident from him. On the other hand, not only was Jiang Chengwei's position just right, but he also participated in the attack personally, so he drew everyone's attention. Many curious individuals surrounded him to listen to his story.

Jiang Chengwei was proud of his success after being given credits for his service, and he drank a lot of alcohol as the other soldiers flattered him. He was spluttering the happenings that day and was even more pretentious when he talked about how he shot the three explosive arrows. It was as though he was in that situation at that moment, causing the listeners to be in a trance.

A voice was heard in the crowd all of a sudden. "Since Squad Leader Yan is so amazing, why was a nobody from the Armament Camp given the most credits?"

Jiang Chengwei instantly froze, and the other people looked at each other, but could not find the person who raised the question.

Not knowing if Jiang Chengwei was agitated or was simply drunk, he expressed angrily while tapping the armor on his body, "I won't be pleased if someone else is ranked first in terms of contribution, but I'll say no more if it's Master Ou! You have no idea, but I witnessed Master Ou's abilities myself!"

At that moment, the listeners around him forgot about the voice that came from the crowd earlier as they urged him to explain.

"You've heard of Yan Haobo from the West Camp, right? That fella got a huge bargain!" Jiang Chengwei widened his blurry eyes and burped, then swallowed his saliva and said enviously, "That fella's armor was refined by Master Ou, guess what happened to it…"

Although the crowd was unhappy with him being so secretive, they began guessing according to his tone.

"Master Ou restored the holes on his armor?"

"Did Master Ou make shocking adjustments to the armor?"

"Master Ou didn't upgrade the armor, did he?"

"Tsk…"

Scornful laughs filled the air. The burly soldiers were not blacksmiths, but they dealt with pieces of equipment every day and knew how difficult it was to upgrade equipment. Therefore, they ridiculed upon hearing the wild guess.

Despite that, Jiang Chengwei slapped his thigh hard and announced, "You guessed it right!"

The crowd was stunned and their faces changed. "Squad Leader Jiang, did Master Ou really increase Yan Haobo's armor's quality?"

Jiang Chengwei laughed and kept them in suspense. "No."

The person who asked earlier was another squad leader from the Middle Camp's Guards, and he was white with fury. "Very well, Jiang Chengwei, you're teasing me! Hmph, Ou Yangming didn't attach an attribute to the armor, did he?"

Everyone else was startled at first, but they soon burst into laughter.

They knew that the squad leader had blabbered because he was flustered.

How could binding an attribute to equipment be an easy thing to do? Even the best Military Fire Blacksmith in the military only had a thirty-percent success rate, and the probability only applied if the blacksmith was smithing with extreme focus. It was impossible for one to attach an attribute to random equipment in the wild.

Nonetheless, Jiang Chengwei was stunned and left open-mouthed. He asked, "How the f*ck do you know everything?"

"Of course it was just a gu…" The squad leader replied exasperatedly, but suddenly stopped and reacted as if he had just seen a ghost. "What did you say? Did he really fix an attribute to it?"

The waves of laughter from the crowd slowly stopped as well, and everyone looked at Jiang Chengwei shockingly. Even though they knew based on their rationale that it was absolutely impossible, most of them had guessed the answer when they looked at his expression.

It was the exact reason they were in disbelief.

"That's right, Master Ou simply took Yan Haobo's armor and combined it with a Power Ore to it to add some Power," Jiang Chengwei responded slowly, and continued after a pause, "He also took three of my High Grade Arrows to improve them with his Military Fire. Not only did my arrows' quality improve, but they also had an extra explosive ability. The explosive arrows were the main reason we were able to slaughter the half-spirit beast successfully."

He described the explosive arrows' might vividly, causing the listeners to turn pale as they wondered, 'If we encountered the arrows that were so tyrannical in nature, wouldn't we be doomed?'

It was then when they finally understood why Ou Yangming was given the most credit.

He was a blacksmith who could remodel arrows as such, so who would have the guts to steal his credit?

Without being noticed by the crowd, a white figure had left discreetly and swayed far away.

After a couple of hours, Assistant Supervisor Zhang Yinfan from the Provision Camp lectured a few men furiously and yelled at them based on a petty excuse.

Later on, Assistant Supervisor Zhang locked himself in his room and only left after half a day.A figure appeared outside a courtyard in the Armament Camp, and the person jumped over the wall easily to get inside.

Inside the courtyard, a man, who looked like a white-faced scholar, was studying a military saber carefully. He turned and smiled when he heard some voices. "Little Sister, why did you go out again?"

The figure was the white figure who was hiding in the crowd earlier to listen to Jiang Chengwei's story. She was disguised as a man, had fine features, and bore a natural heroic spirit. It was difficult to spot her disguise without spending a long time with her.

"Elder Brother, I went to ask around and found that the old craftsman's disciple, Ou Yangming, is quite skillful. I heard that he can smith Attribute Equipment, and…" The lady hesitated before continuing, "He seems to be able to smith explosive arrows."

"What? Explosive arrows? How is that possible? That's a Magic Blacksmith's secret technique, which is never taught to others, how did he achieve it?" The man's face changed abruptly.

"I have no idea either." The lady shrugged, then asked after seeing the military saber in the man's hand, "Elder Brother, whose product are you looking at? Why do you look so serious?"

The man sighed and replied, "This military saber was smithed by Ou Yangming, the person you were talking about."

"Oh, did you notice anything?"

In actual fact, many things could be identified from a piece of equipment, but it required profound experience and vision.

"Hehe, Little Sister, you have the best eye in our family, take a look at it yourself."

The lady received the military saber and studied it for some time, then a strange look was seen on her face. "This is strange. The smithing technique used for this saber isn't of a professional level, and it's somewhat flawed, but how did it achieve the peak of Good Grade?"

A piece of Good Grade Rank Five equipment was very rare for many soldiers but was nothing spectacular for the siblings.

If the military saber was not flawed, it did not really matter if it was of Good Grade Rank Five. However, they were bewildered by the fact that it was at the peak of Good Grade when it was flawed.

"Hehe, you noticed it too." The man chuckled. "I have no idea what method was used, but Ou Yangming is not a simple person at all."

The young lady nodded lightly and was curious for some reason.

Needless to say, it was not Ou Yangming whom she was interested in, but his smithing technique.

A knock was suddenly heard at the door.

The man grinned. "They're here already."

"What?"

"I was exchanging views with Old Craftsman yesterday, and I benefited a lot from him, so I invited him over for another talk."

The young lady smiled sweetly. "Elder Brother, won't General Tian be unhappy if you get too close with Old Craftsman?"

"Since I came and showed up for him, that's enough. Heh, don't forget that we're the ones who are the Tian family's masters," the man replied to her without feeling bothered at all.

He stood up to open the door to the courtyard.

Old Craftsman and Ou Yangming were seen standing at the door.

Upon seeing the man, Ou Yangming's eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "It's you!"

He was not expecting to meet the fop who suddenly appeared during the night battle.

Old Craftsman was stunned. "Do you know Master Ni?"

Ou Yangming tensed up for a while but quickly said with a serious face, "Old Man, I took him for someone else. Master Ni looks very similar to a friend of mine, so… Hehe, I got the wrong person, I got the wrong person."

Old Craftsman and Master Ni looked at him suspiciously as they could tell that Ou Yangming did not mean what he said. Nevertheless, they could not expose him.

"Young fella, this is Master Ni Yunhong, and this is his younger brother, Ni Yinghong. One of them is a blacksmith while the other's talented in appraisals, they're both rare geniuses," Old Craftsman introduced once they entered the courtyard.

Ou Yangming nodded and thought to himself, 'Master Ni Yunhong is also a powerhouse in martial arts skills, and he can easily take out anyone who's in the same rank as him!'

Ni Yunhong chuckled. "Old Craftsman, you're overpraising me."

COMMENT

Old Craftsman had a strange habit. Apart from Ou Yangming, he disallowed people from addressing him as Old Man, such that he would correct a person to call him Old Craftsman instead if that person had called him something else. One with such a habit would definitely be mocked by other people, but given that he was the number one Military Fire Blacksmith in the camp, even the commanding general treated him with respect.

"Swoosh…"

A military saber was suddenly shown in front of Ou Yangming's face.

Ou Yangming was surprised, and Ni Yinghong's face came into view when he looked. In particular, the pair of bright, shiny eyes were staring at him curiously.

"Did you really smith this saber?"

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Chapter 64: Smithing Challenge

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ou Yangming took a glance at the saber that Ni Yinghong held. Although the fellow was too thin, and his eyes were somewhat moist, he could not see through his real identity.

That said, Ou Yangming recognized the saber at a glance.

From another person's perspective, one could distinguish minor differences between pieces of equipment that looked the same. Especially if the equipment was personally smithed by a person, that person would naturally recognize it easily.

Ou Yangming nodded and replied casually, "Yes, this is a Good Grade Military Saber, I recall that I've submitted it to the depot."

He had submitted a considerable amount of equipment to the depot, so it did not matter if someone withdrew one. Besides, the saber that they retrieved was only an ordinary piece of White Slate Equipment that did not contain any attribute, hence he was even more unconcerned.

Ni Yinghong's eyes glowed. "Your saber obviously has some flaws, and theoretically, it's difficult for it to achieve Good Grade with these flaws. How did this military saber achieve Good Grade Rank Five?"

Ou Yangming's mouth twitched as he wondered, 'I hate sharp-eyed insiders like him the most.'

Old Craftsman quickly cleared his throat and remarked, "Hehe, little brother, that's a blacksmith's core secret. I have no idea either, so how can he tell you?"

"Haha, Old Craftsman's right." Ni Yunhong had been pondering ever since Ou Yangming spoke. His eyes finally lit up as he laughed. "Master Ou, we've met before, haven't we?"

Ou Yangming let out a dry cough and replied to him, "Master Ni, you probably remembered wrongly, you've never seen me before."

Ni Yunhong nodded and said, "Yes, I've never seen your face."

Ou Yangming sighed because he knew that the fellow had finally recognized his voice. Even though his face was covered that night, his voice was still the same. Moreover, Ou Yangming behaved quite strangely when they met, thus it only made sense that he could not hide the truth from Ni Yunhong.

Old Craftsman and Ni Yinghong looked at them confusedly as they had no idea what the other two were saying.

Ni Yunhong took the military saber back and asked seriously, "Master Ou, may I ask if your military saber has any room for improvement?"

Ou Yangming had come with Old Craftsman. In terms of seniority, he was considered Old Craftsman's disciple, but because of the military saber in Ni Yunhong's hand, he was worthy of being addressed as a master.

"If further improvement is to be done, it can be done on the saber's Durability," Ou Yangming answered with a nod after some thought.

"Durability?" Ni Yunhong was stunned, but he soon came to a sudden realization so he laughed. "Master Ou, that's interesting. Indeed, I've been thinking for a night, and I'm certain that the saber has room for improvement, but I couldn't come up with a way to increase its quality. Hehe, looks like this is the real shortcoming."

The saber was already of Good Grade Rank Five, and the probability of advancing it to High Grade was close to zero due to the limitation of the raw material. Nonetheless, more work could be done to improve its Durability to 10 points, which was the peak.

However, the time and effort required seemed like the final outcome would not make up for the loss.

Ni Yunhong was still cheerful and excited. He rubbed his hands slightly, then a flame instantly burned in his hand.

Ou Yangming's face changed the instant the fire burned.

'Is that the Military Fire?'

Whether it was Ou Yangming, Old Craftsman, or the other Military Fire Blacksmiths in the military camp, the Military Fire possessed by each of them was different. The only similarity was they all burned in red.

On the contrary, the flame produced by Ni Yunhong was purely white. Additionally, it was quite shocking that the fire was not hot, but gave a chilly feeling instead.

Ou Yangming turned to look at Old Craftsman, only to find that the old man was staring at the white flame with a puzzled look on his face.

After a brief moment, Old Craftsman finally sensed the questioning look from Ou Yangming, hence he lowered his voice and said, "Young fella, watch closely. This is a type of spiritual fire that has similar effects to the Military Fire, but they both have their own strengths."

Ni Yinghong looked disdainful for a split second when she heard what Old Craftsman had said.

'How can the Military Fire be mentioned on equal terms with spiritual fire? This old craftsman is someone with genuine talent though, and since Elder Brother treats him with respect, I shall not be rude because of what he said.'

The white flame disappeared a while after, and Ni Yunhong laughed out loud. "Master Ou, I remodeled your military saber without asking, I hope you don't mind."

Following that, he tossed the saber to Ou Yangming.

Ou Yangming reached his arm out to catch it steadily. He studied it with a dark face and noticed the flaws that were initially on the military saber had been fixed. Without inspecting with his Military Fire, he knew that the saber's Durability attribute had definitely achieved 10 points of Good Grade Rank Five.

Nevertheless, it did not feel nice that his product was made perfect by someone else.

Ni Yinghong smiled proudly and disclosed, "Master Ou, my brother's spiritual fire is the rare Frost Fire, and it's far more superior than the ordinary Military Fire.1"

The young lady, who disguised herself as a boy, was pleased to see that her older brother was better than his opponent.

While Old Craftsman was a little unhappy, he had to admit that the Frost Fire was truly more wonderful than the Military Fire.

On the other hand, Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows and commented, "Frost Fire, its name is interesting and rare indeed."

Ni Yinghong blinked and asked, "What do you mean?"

Ou Yangming smiled with squinted eyes as he said, "I meant that the Frost Fire's name is wonderful indeed, but its effect is so-so."

"What high-sounding sentiments! Are you saying that your Military Fire is more superior to my older brother's Frost Fire?" Ni Yinghong was so mad that she smiled instead.

"A challenge will show if it's more superior," Ou Yangming casually suggested.

Old Craftsman's face changed. He had not brought Ou Yangming along for him to pick a fight. Just as he was about to lecture Ou Yangming, Ni Yunhong responded, "Master Ou, since you're interested, let's pick a date?"

Ou Yangming smirked. "Master Ni, would you like to fail again?"

Ni Yunhong replied to him expressionlessly, "Master Ou, don't worry, I won't be defeated this time around!"

Old Craftsman instantly shut his mouth but was feeling flustered. 'When did they challenge each other? Why do I know nothing about it?'

Ou Yangming was not willing to show an impression of weakness. "A verbal guarantee doesn't mean anything, how would you like to challenge me?"

Ni Yunhong pondered then said, "We'll smith a full equipment set using the same materials, and the one who smiths the more powerful equipment set wins, what do you think?"

"Okay, that's fair." Ou Yangming nodded.

Smithing a full equipment set meant that more than a piece of equipment would be smithed. The blacksmith's skills would be fully displayed, and the probability of an accident would be lowered, hence it was the fairest challenge indeed.

"Since you agree…" Ni Yunhong smiled and thought for a while before continuing, "Let's do it in three days' time. We'll compete at the Armament Camp's public space, and I'll invite General Tian from the East Camp, as well as General Chen from the West Camp, to be the hosts and the judges."

Old Craftsman's eyes twitched at the spur of the moment, and he looked deeply at Ni Yunhong with a dark face.

Ou Yangming laughed out loud. "Okay, as long as you can invite them, I'm fine with it."

"A promise made," Ni Yunhong uttered and lifted his right hand.

"Must be kept!" Ou Yangming completed the sentence and tapped his hand.

Old Craftsman shook his head and sighed. "Master Ni, since you've agreed on a date, I'll bring him back to prepare for it. I'll watch your performances in three days."

Ni Yunhong nodded. "Okay, I'll learn more skills from you after the challenge."

The skills that he meant to learn was not the same as the intense challenge that was said earlier, it was really an inquiry session to exchange views.

Once Old Craftsman and Ou Yangming left, Ni Yinghong asked curiously, "Elder Brother, have you met Ou Yangming before?"

Ni Yunhong smiled bitterly. "Indeed, I've seen him once and challenged him once."

"You really challenged each other, and you lost?" Ni Yinghong was surprised. She then shook his head and said, "Impossible, you're the best blacksmith among the younger generation in our family."

"Hah, what were you thinking? I only exchanged blows with him in a martial arts battle, but I ended up fleeing." Ni Yunhong did not know whether to cry or laugh. He was embarrassed when he recalled the night he escaped without continuing the fight.

Ni Yinghong widened her eyes even more. "That's even more impossible. You're the best at controlling skills in our family. Unless that fella is already in Yin Grade Boundary, how could he defeat you?"

In actual fact, it did not matter even if Ou Yangming was a Yin Grade martial artist because Ni Yunhong had actually defeated quite a number of Yin Grade powerhouses. Among the people whom he defeated, there were also powerhouses above Yin Grade Class Three.

COMMENT

However, Ni Yunhong shook his head and explained, "Master Ou's martial art boundary is lower than mine, but he's able to execute skills in an unbelievable way. I lost because of the disparity between our skills."

Honestly, Ni Yunhong might not bother if he was defeated because of the difference between their boundaries, but the fact that he lost because of his skills was a huge blow for him.

Ni Yinghong looked at her older brother dumbfoundedly. She finally understood why Ni Yunhong did the unusual by agreeing to challenge Ou Yangming, suggested having the challenge in public, and even proposed to compete with what he was adept in—smithing a full equipment set.

In other words, Ni Yunhong had a hidden trick for the challenge of smithing a full equipment set.

The challenge had not begun, but the result was already set.

'It looks like Elder Brother still hasn't let go of that incident, so he decided to vent his anger by smithing an equipment set.'

Ni Yinghong shook her head and felt that Ou Yangming was unlucky to have encountered her elder brother, who was willing to give his all. 'I hope that he won't lose confidence after being defeated.'

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