“Carry on, I’ll go down and take a look.” Jin Shengjie chuckled. Before he left, he looked deeply at Ou Yangming. “Lil’ Friend Ou, when you go to visit Brother Wu, can I tag along too?”
Ou Yangming laughed. “Master Jin, I’ll be more than happy if you’re willing to join me, but I wonder if Master Wu will agree to it.”
‘The older Master Jin is, the more thick-faced he has become!’ Yuan Lexin cursed to himself, but he kept a smile on his face. “I’ll be more than happy too.”
Jin Shengxie laughed out loud. Perhaps Ou Yangming was being sincere, but Yuan Lexin was certainly showing a false display of affection.
Despite that, the secret to smith a piece of High-Grade equipment by using normal iron ingot was incredibly attractive to the blacksmith master. Not to mention humbling himself, even if he had to pay a greater price to learn about the secret, he would not hesitate to do so.
Following that, Jin Shengjie left the platform and carried out another round of inspections and announcements.
In any case, it had nothing to do with Ou Yangming anymore. The atmosphere on the high platform changed all of a sudden as nobody paid attention to the routine assessment anymore.
The assessment would be held at least twice a year, but a freak like Ou Yangming was one of a kind.
After Yuan Lexin, many other people approached the young fellow and spoke to him fervently.
Those people represented other great and famous blacksmiths. While they could not be compared with Jin Shengjie, they were supported by Superior Blacksmiths, who were not inferior to Master Jin, as well.
Ou Yangming treated them equally where he agreed to visit their respective masters at appropriate times.
Ever since Ou Yangming saw the weapon at Wu Hongxi’s residence, he knew that the other renowned masters had unique skills too. The young fellow possessed the peculiar Military Fire, but he dared not belittle any reputable master anymore.
He knew he could learn greater smithing arts from those masters.
Hence, he was not going to miss any opportunity.
Once the assessments for Rudimentary Blacksmiths and Intermediate Blacksmiths ended in succession, Jin Shengjie went up to the high platform again and asked with a smile, “Lil’ Friend Ou, the Advanced Blacksmith Assessment will begin soon. Are you willing to take it?”
Ou Yangming stood up and said, “I was just about to give it a shot.”
Jin Shengjie nodded and noted with a serious face, “Lil’ Friend Ou, the Advanced Assessment is a bit different. You’re required to smith a Fine Grade equipment set in an hour, and at least one of the pieces of equipment has to be attached with an attribute. Honestly, it’s not easy for you to have such achievements at this age, so nobody will treat you lightly even if you take the Advanced Blacksmith Assessment after a few years.”
He reminded Ou Yangming out of good intention. After all, the difficulty of smithing a piece of High Grade equipment was very much different from having to smith a Fine Grade equipment set, which included a piece of Attribute Equipment, in an hour.
Ou Yangming possessed a secret technique, which was desired by many, thus he could smith a piece of High Grade equipment with ordinary iron ingot.
That said, there was a massive gap between a High Grade equipment set and a Fine Grade equipment set. Moreover, one was required to attach an attribute to one of the pieces of Fine Grade equipment. Jin Shengjie asked around earlier and found out that Ou Yangming had only gotten the Military Fire for about a year. From his perspective, even the most gifted person in the world could not perform something as absurd as this.
Even so, Ou Yangming grinned and responded, “Thank you for your concern, senior, but I’d still like to try.”
Jin Shengjie raised his eyebrows. He finally sighed when he noticed Ou Yangming’s confident smile. “Okay, it’s good to try.” The blacksmith master made up his mind; it would be fine if Ou Yangming could truly create a miracle, but if the young fellow failed the assessment, he would do his best to help him out of the shadow.
The instant he witnessed Ou Yangming smith a High Grade military saber, he treated the young fellow with a completely different attitude.
Ou Yangming was a gem—a rare child with the potential to become a Superior Blacksmith. Given Jin Shengjie’s status in the blacksmith trade, there was no need for him to be jealous of someone like that. Instead, he hoped that more geniuses would emerge so that the blacksmith profession could be brought to a greater height.
The young fellow sensed Jin Shengjie’s good intention. He nodded and made his way down to the stage.
Twelve people were already standing in the middle of the square. They were people of different ages where the oldest person already had white hair while the youngest candidate seemed to be only a few years older than Ou Yangming. Among the blacksmiths, one’s status and rank were not determined by one’s age and qualification, but one’s true ability.
After one obtained the Military Fire or the spiritual fire, it would not be tough to become an official blacksmith. In fact, through long-term practice, advancing to the Rudimentary Rank and the Intermediate Rank was an achievable goal for many.
However, the threshold for the Advanced Rank was entirely different.
For most blacksmiths, the rank was like an insurmountable giant mountain.
It was easy to find blacksmiths who were of the Intermediate Rank and below in the capital, but it was extremely difficult to find an Advanced Blacksmith to smith a piece of unique equipment.
Without a certain status, the Advanced Blacksmith would not accept the task even if one presented plenty of money and gifts.
It was also worth noting that while there were numerous Intermediate Blacksmiths in the capital, very few had the confidence to make it to the Advanced Rank. As such, only about ten candidates would take the assessment each time.
Seeing as Ou Yangming walked down from the high platform, the participants on the stage had different looks on their faces.
Some of them smiled at Ou Yangming to express goodwill, but some of them looked at him enviously.
“Father, can Uncle succeed?” Hu Lingfeng tugged at his father and questioned softly.
Hu Yicheng was stunned. He pouted his lips and looked at Du Gaoge.
Du Gaoge was startled. He wanted to tell them the truth-a person who had just acquired the Military Fire for a year could not achieve the Advanced standard—but he swallowed his words right before he uttered them.
“Ou Yangming is too odd. It seems like anything that happens isn’t weird if it has to do with him.’
Jin Shengjie glanced at the crowd and announced coldly, “Everyone, the assessment… Begins.”
Chapter 265 - Super Speed
There was an incredibly odd phenomenon in the capital’s Blacksmith Assessment.
The number of apprentices was the highest each time because they could only acquire the Military Fire or the spiritual fire in a few short years. If they missed the time frame, they would be disqualified because of the lack of talent.
Secondly, more candidates went from being an official blacksmith to being a Rudimentary Blacksmith, as well as those who advanced from Rudimentary Rank to Intermediate Rank.
On the other hand, the number of people who progressed from the Intermediate Rank to the Advanced Rank declined like a cliff.
This was because there were not many blacksmiths who were confident about smithing a full equipment set within an hour and even attached an attribute to one of the pieces of equipment.
For most blacksmiths, the Advanced Blacksmith title was a goal that was worth fighting for with their whole life. Nonetheless, nobody could guarantee that they would achieve the goal for sure.
Ou Yangming stood in a corner out of habit, but more people paid attention to him than the total number of Intermediate Blacksmiths.
In particular, almost everyone on the high platform was watching his every move; the blacksmiths with strong backings wanted to see if the young fell
ow could still create another miracle.
Ou Yangming casually released the Military Fire and wrapped it around a piece of featured steel.
When he took the Official Blacksmith Assessment, ordinary iron ingots were the only raw materials provided on the casting table, but when he took the Advanced Blacksmith Assessment now, the materials were replaced with much better ones.
wen
Apart from featured steel, there were around seven more commonly seen materials, and three Power Ores were placed at the corner. In other words, candidates were given three chances to attach an attribute, and one would pass the test by succeeding once. If one failed all three attempts, one would not be gaining the Advanced Title at all.
“Hey?” On the high platform, Jin Shengjie’s eyes changed, and he could not help but make a strange sound. The other people whispered to each other as they watched the assessment with bright eyes.
Under the Military Fire, the featured steel melted quickly in Ou Yangming’s hands as though it was an iron ingot. Moreover, it took the form of a military saber as the young fellow controlled the material with his fire.
Ou Yangming did something similar when he took the Official Blacksmith Assessment earlier.
While the crowd was surprised, they were not as horrified as they were at the moment.
Yes, they were horrified.
Iron ingot and featured steel were both smithing materials, but there was a vast difference between their properties. One of the most basic properties was the melting point; featured steel’s melting point was far from what ordinary iron ingot could compare.
Normally, even an Intermediate Blacksmith with years—decades—of smithing experience could not accomplish the task easily.
Those who were fast had melted one of the featured steel’s corners; those who were slow had only melted its surface layer.
If their speed was compared with Ou Yangming’s, it would be clear that they were truly Heaven and Earth apart.
Nevertheless, the other candidates’ speed was the normality; it was the limit for most Intermediate and even Advanced Blacksmiths.
As for Ou Yangming, he was melting the featured steel at the speed of melting an iron ingot…
This was never seen before, let alone heard of.
The people on the high platform exchanged glances and asked themselves honestly; if they were in Ou Yangming’s shoes, they could not be anywhere close to him in terms of the melting technique and the speed.
Ou Yangming was not bothered by the looks from the crowd because the melting of featured steel was an extremely easy procedure for him; it was nothing worth showing off for. The purple Military Fire had endless wonderful functions, thus he completed the melting stage, which was incredibly tough for the other people, without any obstructions.
In actuality, the featured steel’s melting point was far from the purple Military Fire’s limit. After all, was the peculiar stone, which seemed to have surpassed the world’s boundary, not shaped into weapons and armor by the purple fire?
Under the Military Fire’s control, the featured steel was transformed into a military saber in a flash.
Options, which Ou Yangming had gotten used to, appeared in his mind.
[Upgradeable composition found, upgrade?]
Ou Yangming hesitated for a while before he decided to upgrade the weapon.
He had decided to display his specialty so that Master Wu Hongxi and the other Superior Blacksmiths would be aware of his ability and would not treat him lightly.
If Yuan Lixin and Yan Yuanhua knew Ou Yangming only had Master Wu Hongxi and the other Superior Blacksmiths in mind, and that he never attached any importance to them, only God knew how they would lament.
‘Featured steel is the most top-notch smithing material in the world, but it’s impossible to smith magic tools with it. I suppose pieces of the equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five are enough to make them treat me with more respect, right?’ Ou Yangming wondered.
When the military saber was formed and was burned by the Military Fire, Ou Yangming knew it had only arrived at Fine Grade Rank Three. It only reached the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five when 2 Points of Sharpness attribute and 3 Points of Toughness attribute were bound to it.
Ou Yangming shook his head and sighed.
He had recently focused on practicing martial arts, runes, and his mental power, causing him to be rusty in smithing art.
One had to engage in constant practice to attain skills; if he no longer demanded as much from himself, it would be hard for him to stay at the peak.
Needless to say, as long as Ou Yangming was given some time, it would be easy for him to rise back to the top.
However, the people on the high platform saw Ou Yangming’s move. In particular, they noticed when the young fellow shook his head in dissatisfaction.
As such, everyone began to guess, ‘Is the military saber not of Fine Grade?’
They sighed a breath of relief at the same time. If Ou Yangming could smith a piece of Fine Grade equipment as easy as he smithed a Common Grade equipment, they would want to cry but had no tears.
Following that, Ou Yangming picked up another featured steel and enveloped it with his Military Fire.
Yi Yucheng chuckled and asked, “Brother Feng, what do you think he’s going to smith this time?”
Although he did not point out who he was asking about, everyone knew who it was.
“Perhaps it’ll be another military saber,” Feng Guangyuan responded after some thought. He explained in a deep voice, “Master Ou seems to have a liking for military sabers, so it’s probably his strong suit. Hehe, I hope he’ll successfully smith a Fine Grade military saber this time, or he won’t be able to make it in time even if his Military Fire is wonderful enough to melt featured steel easily.”
The other people were moved. One of the elders, who was rather close to Feng Guangyuan, asked while his eyes wandered about, “Brother Feng, what’s so mysterious about his Military Fire?”
Feng Guangyuan laughed and faintly glanced at Hu Yicheng and the rest. “All of you possess the Military Fire or the spiritual fire, so you should know that the fire source isn’t unchanging. When we seek one of the fires, we’ll obtain a fire source with unique effects if we’re lucky enough.” Hu Lingfeng’s eyes glowed. He lacked the knowledge and was yearning for it at this point, hence he stared at Feng Guangyuan as he was afraid of missing anything.
“According to what I know, Changlong County’s Master Lu created the Rune Mold to upgrade the grades and ranks of pieces of affordable equipment, but the upgrade is only from Common Grade to Good Grade. Master Ou achieved something greater, hehe, so it’s likely due to his unique Military Fire,” Feng Guangyuan added.
Everyone else nodded, and they tried to guess Ou Yangming’s Military Fire’s wonderful effects.
From the looks of it now, other than speeding up the melting process, it did not show other special traits.
Hu Lingfeng finally blurted out, “Master Feng, may I ask how one can seek a better Military Fire or the spiritual fire?”
Feng Guangyuan laughed. He normally would not bother about answering the question, but he made an exception for Ou Yangming’s sake.
“This… I’ll only say that you should act according to your capabilities.” Feng Guangyuan narrowed his eyes with a smile. “You’re a future star from the Wu residence, so I look forward to your achievements.”
Hu Lingfeng blushed. It was quite amazing that he managed to pluck up his courage to ask an Advanced Blacksmith a question, so after he got an answer, he was not going to be thick-faces by raising another question.
“Ah, that doesn’t seem right!” Yi Yucheng’s face changed as he said, “Brother Feng, it doesn’t seem like Master Ou’s smithing a military saber, right?”
Feng Guangyuan was stunned. He turned to look, and his face reddened after a brief moment.
Earlier on, they all thought Ou Yangming shook his head in discontent because he failed his attemp
t. Therefore, they were certain he was going to smith another military saber.
Even though nobody chimed in with Feng Guangyuan, most of them agreed with him.
Despite that, when they looked at Ou Yangming’s Military Fire, they were shocked to find that the second piece of equipment was not a military saber. “Uhm…” Feng Guangyuan cleared his throat. “Master Ou’s probably trying to smith another equipment because he failed just now.”
Hu Lingfeng’s lips trembled a bit before he asked softly, “Didn’t Uncle Ou smith a military saber already?”
He spoke so softly that he was almost mumbling to himself, but everyone around heard him clearly.
A middle-aged man with a ruddy complexion laughed. “Young fella, it’s not easy to smith pieces of Fine Grade equipment. The faster one smiths, the higher the failure rate. Not to mention Advanced Blacksmiths can’t successfully smith the same thing at his speed, I’m afraid that even Superior Blacksmiths can’t achieve it?”
The other people could not help but laugh. They thought that Hu Lingfeng was only babbling like a child indeed.
Hu Lingfeng flushed, but he dared not refute.
It was then when Jin Shengjie, who had been keeping quiet all along, expressed, “I can’t smith a piece of High Grade equipment with an iron ingot too.”
The high platform became dead silent at once.
Chapter 266 - Evasion Attribute
Jin Shengjie was the only Superior Blacksmith present.
How heavy was his part? In a way, even all blacksmiths on the high platform as a whole could not threaten him at all in the trade.
There was a huge gap between an Intermediate Blacksmith to an Advanced Blacksmith, but the advancement from the Advanced Rank to the Superior Rank was a natural moat.
Therefore, when Jin Shengjie spoke in that tone, nobody dared to challenge him.
On the other hand, Hu Lingfeng was surprised because someone was finally willing to support Uncle Ou, and that person was a top-notch Superior Blacksmith. He was glad and delighted; his emotions could not be put into words.
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