Even among the many formidable Superior Blacksmiths, Master Jin Shengjie was the only one who was confident about accomplishing it.
Therefore, the task was specially made for Master Jin Shengjie. In other words, the patron could not get Master Jin’s help through normal means, hence he used this method to draw the master’s attention and to fulfill his wish.
Needless to say, he paid a huge price too because the reward of 1,500 Prestige Points was not a small offer at all.
a
However, given that Master Jin Shengjie was studying the way to smith a magic tool, he could not come to the Smithing Hall, so nobody accepted the task even though it was listed.
Who knew, Ou Yangming was immediately interested in the task, and he took it up cheerfully because he was certain that the 1,500 Prestige Points were already in his hands.
Just as he was going to follow a servant into a smithing room at the back to meet with the patron, loud cheers were heard outside. The noise was so thunderous that everyone in the Smithing Hall could hear it clearly.
Everyone looked at each other as they did not know what happened.
Someone ran in abruptly and shouted at his partner, “Big Brother, quickly come out to take a look! Zuoqiu Hongyuan from Huangsha County dominated a ring!”
The people in the main hall fell silent for a while before they got into heated discussions as though the water was boiled. “Dominated a ring? It’s still early, yet someone dominated a ring already?”
“Zuoqiu Hongyuan from Huangsha County? He’s the number one genius between Huangsha County and Feiya County!” “Hehe, ring dominations usually happen on the last day or 3 days before the last day in the past. The young people now are truly presumptuous; they start to dominate rings on the first day.”
Lively discussions filled the air, which was an entirely different atmosphere from before.
When someone started walking outside, he was like a wind vane, which attracted more people to follow suit. It only took a brief moment for the crowded main hall to have a few people left inside.
The sensation from the ring domination was far more attractive than the Smithing Hall.
Ou Yangming’s eyelids twitched, and he casually asked, “What’s a ring domination?”
The servant behind him laughed and responded, “Master Ou, since you’re a blacksmith and not a martial artist, it has nothing to do with you.”
“I suppose the ring domination is related to the Martial Arts Battle?” Ou Yangming chuckled.
“Master Ou, I’m sure you saw ten rings at the square before you came in?” The servant asked softly after some thought.
“That’s right.” Ou Yangming nodded and added, ‘I didn’t just see them; I went on one of them already.’
“The Martial Arts Battle’s victor is chosen from the winners of the rings, but there aren’t many people who are actually qualified to fight. Some superb powerhouses are too impatient to wait, so they’ll dominate one of the rings on the last day of within 3 days of the Myriad Treasure Meet.” The servant looked envious as he continued, “Once someone dominates a ring, he or she is challenging everyone. No matter how many people go up to the ring, he or she will have to accept the challenge unconditionally until the opponent is defeated or they successfully defend their rings.”
Ou Yangming’s heart rate increased, and he took a deep breath. He felt an upsurge of boiling heat flow from his body, and it seemed like it was going to gush out of his body.
Nonetheless, he had tempered his self-control countless times, so he trembled slightly and suppressed the feeling.
He unknowingly stopped walking and asked, “Has anyone succeeded in the past?”
“Of course!” The servant laughed. “Without absolute confidence, how can one have the guts to dominate a ring? But… Ah, Zuoqiu Hongyuan from Huangsha County is being too presumptuous to announce a ring domination on the Myriad Treasure Meet’s first day. Hehe, it’s a magnificent feat that has never happened before!” “Oh, it truly is a magnificent feat…” Ou Yangming mumbled, then he suddenly turned around and walked outside.
The servant was startled, so he called out to him right away, “Master Ou, what are you going? The smithing room is here!” Ou Yangming yelled without turning back, “I know where the smithing room is, but I’ll come back after I witness the feat!”
The servant was shocked. He would have cursed out loud if an ordinary blacksmith was being so unrestrained, but he dared not respond to an Advanced Blacksmith like that. As such, he could only smile bitterly and hoped that Ou Yangming would return as soon as possible.
Ou Yangming flashed and walked at an average speed among the crowd.
Although some people obstructed his path, he could easily slip through like a slippery fish by shaking his body. If someone forcefully stopped Ou Yangming, he would also go between the gaps through leveraged force. Soon enough, he arrived at the square.
Ten rings were situated here, but nine of them were empty at the moment because everyone was attracted to only one of the rings.
An intense fight broke out between two people in the ring. One of them was around He Liangce’s age as he seemed to be around 27 years old, while the other person was a martial arts powerhouse in his thirties or forties.
Ou Yangming was sharp-eyed, so he could instantly tell that they were both Yang Grade powerhouses.
It was normally rare to see a fight between Yang Grade powerhouses, but it was common here.
After watching quietly for some time, Ou Yangming was certain that the young man would be victorious. It was because the young man left adequate leeway each time he attacked and was obviously using leveraged force too, thus he did not consume much energy. Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows a little because while the other people could not tell, everything was clear to him.
Not only had the young man comprehend the integration of Heaven and man, but he also had an exceptional way of executing the state.
Perhaps the young man was not as capable as He Liangce, but his extreme application of nature could allow him to shine under special circumstances.
“Zuoqiu Hongyuan is powerful indeed; he’s going to defeat his opponent.” A cold voice was heard not far from Ou Yangming.
Ou Yangming grinned. “You have a good eye, Young Lady Wu.”
Before his voice died away, Zuoqiu Hongyuan tugged at and hurled his opponent out of the ring.
Cheers echoed inside and outside the square.
Following that, Wu Hanning slowly stepped forward and glanced coldly at Ou Yangming. For some reason, the young fellow felt guilty again, and he flashed a silly smile at her. “Did you see it?”
“What? Ah… Zuoqiu Hongyuan is remarkable indeed!”
“Hmph!” Wu Hanning scoffed and secretly cursed at him for being a hypocrite, then he gracefully went forward.
Ou Yangming was surprised. “Where are you going?” Without looking back, Wu Hanning replied to him, “Since Zuoqiu Hongyuan can dominate a ring, how can I show a weak impression?”
Ou Yangming shuddered at once. He felt as though he was struck by lightning because he could not suppress his surging heroic spirit anymore.
Chapter 300 - What A Man Has To Do
As Wu Hanning walked step by step, a powerful momentum was released from her body.
She was like a ferocious tiger among a flock of sheep at that moment as she was dazzling and eye-catching.
Due to the pressure, which was similar to a Supreme Great Ancestor’s, the crowd avoided her frantically. Although her martial arts cultivation base was only of Yang Grade Class Three, her superb mental power gave her extra energy. The chaos in the square instantly drew everyone’s attention, by which Zuoqiu Hongyuan, who was on the ring, was attracted too.
He immediately spotted Wu Hanning walking toward the ring, and his face could not help but change.
As compared to the ill-informed Ou Yangming, the top-notch powerhouses from the younger generation in the Wu Dynasty were familiar with each
other. Even if they had never met before, they had long heard of each other.
Besides, Zuoqiu Hongyuan had already regarded Wu Hanning as his greatest opponent, so how could he not know of her?
He was in grave concern because his battle against Wu Hanning would be disadvantageous for him regardless if he was defeated or not.
Nonetheless, Zuoqiu Hongyuan would not flinch at this point. On the contrary, he experienced an upsurge of lofty sentiments and gained indescribably intense willpower.
‘Since we’ll have to fight sooner or later… Bring it on!
The crowd subconsciously made way for Wu Hanning, so she had a clear path to the ring.
Just as everyone thought Wu Hanning would go up to the ring, she looked up and uttered coldly, “Zuoqiu Hongyuan, if I defeat you now, the other people will say I’m taking advantage of you while you’re worn out from your previous fight.” She later lifted her chin. Even though her face could not be clearly seen due to the scarf, everyone else seemed to be able to sense her arrogance, which came from her bones. “I hope you’ll still be standing in the ring after 10 days.” Subsequently, he turned around and headed in another direction.
The people in that direction anxiously made way, allowing Wu Hanning to get up to another ring.
She announced on the ring, “This ring belongs to me!”
A clamor was heard on the square.
Ring domination-it was a ring domination!
Countless powerhouses showed up at the past Myriad Treasure Meets, but those who succeeded in dominating rings became renowned as long as they were still alive. This was because they all became Supreme Great Ancestors and were the greatest powerhouses among great ancestors.
Nevertheless, it was not easy to dominate a ring because they had to accept challenges from heroes all around the world.
Those who dominated rings were naturally common enemies, such that the different forces would let go of prejudices to attack them together.
Unless someone was one-up, no, at least two-ups or three-ups on his or her opponents, one could not dominate the ring until the end.
Moreover, ring dominations normally began on the last day, hence it was rare that someone dominated a ring 3 days before and ended up victorious.
Having said that, there were already two people who dominated a ring each on the first day of the Myriad Treasure Meet, and this was definitely a first. The people in the square slowly calmed down, but most people cast unfriendly looks at the two people in the rings.
‘So what if you’re from the Wu imperial family? So what if you’re Zuoqiu Hongyuan? Since you dare to become enemies with the heroes in the world, you can’t blame us for attacking you!’
Two Yang Grade martial artists approached the rings. After they were done with the registration, they went up to a ring each.
Cheers filled the air, but there was an enormous change in the inclination because not many people were cheering for the two ring defenders.
Ou Yangming looked deeply at the ring, then he turned around and walked in the opposite direction.
He soon made his way out of the crown, then he returned to the Smithing Hall.
The crowd in the hall was somewhat back to normal. Many people watched the fight on the square and were discussing the fight discreetly, but this was the Smithing Hall, after all. It was a place for different forces to earn Prestige Points, and it was also a shortcut for some ordinary blacksmiths to gain a reputation. Therefore, everything here still revolved around smithing.
As soon as the servant from before spotted Ou Yangming, he welcomed the young fellow and led him into a smithing room.
A sturdy fat man was already there, and he cupped his hands at Ou Yangming. “Master Ou, I’m Duanmu Liang from the Journey Chamber of Commerce. I’ve seen your performance at the Blacksmith Assessment, and I truly admire you.”
Ou Yangming was shocked as a thought crossed his mind. “I believe that the Journey Chamber of Commerce is also one of the forces at the Myriad Treasure Meet, am I right?”
Duanmu Liang laughed out loud. “Master Ou, you’re overthinking. We’re participating in the Myriad Treasure Meet too, but we can’t be at the top for sure, so we’re taking this opportunity to finish some tasks. Please don’t laugh at us.”
“Shopkeeper Duanmu, you’re overthinking too.” Ou Yangming was relieved. He asked after a pause, “Since I’ll be rewarded with Prestige Points, it’ll be my pleasure. Where’s the equipment?”
‘Master Ou seems to be quite impatient. Can he really complete the task successfully?’ Duanmu Liang wondered as he was slightly stunned, but he dared not express his thought in front of Ou Yangming. With that, he quickly picked up a bag and placed it on the casting table.
Ou Yangming shook his head and thought, ‘Look at how cool Wu Hanning was; she only needed an interspatial bag.’
Despite that, how many people in the world were like Wu Hanning?
A pair of boots along with roughly ten unique ores were put on the table after the bag was opened.
Duanmu Laing noted in a deep voice, “Master Ou, you have three opportunities, and I hope you’ll succeed!” Ou Yangming nodded and replied to him, “Don’t worry.” It was inevitable for Duanmu Liang to be concerned, but he could only bow at Ou Yangming and left. Ou Yangming was glad when he held the pair of boots. ‘Luckily, I learned the way to make boots from Master Wu Hongxi, or I won’t be able to complete this task.’
His eyes lit up when he briefly sensed the equipment.
The pair of boots was unordinary because it was Fine Grade Class Four. On top of that, they were carved with rune marks, which were so wonderful that the boots’ properties were connected as one.
In other words, the boots could be attached with Unique Attributes at the same time. Not only would it not be more difficult to refine them, but the difficulty level would also be lowered.
Needless to say, many possibilities were sacrificed for this, but this could unquestionably increase the success rate by a huge margin if one wanted to pursue a certain Unique Attribute.
Ou Yangming nodded and thought, ‘Looks like the Journey Chamber of Commerce is determined this time.’
Following that, he enveloped the boots with his Military Fire, but instead of being at a hot temperature, it was presented at room temperature.
The young fellow casually picked up a rare ore because the ore’s attribute did not matter to him; he only needed to layer what was provided. That said, once the ore melted and the attribute was drawn, his face looked rather funny.
‘Evasion.
This thing carries the Evasion attribute…’
He had the same attribute in his sea of consciousness, but there was only one of it.
Ou Yangming studied the rare ores and remembered them well, then he attached the Evasion Attribute to the boots.
For other blacksmiths, it was easier to attach high-level attributes to boots like these, but there was no difference for Ou Yangming.
Before long, Ou Yangming successfully attached the attributes with five ores as he was familiar with the process. After some thought, he picked up another ore and increased the Evasive attribute to 6 points. Once he was done, he picked two ores to put them aside, then he burned the remaining ores with his Military Fire.
The Evasive attribute was incredibly rare, so he was not going to miss it.
Given that he did not have a relationship with the Journey Chamber of Commerce, and that this matter was unrelated to Master Wu Hongxi, he did not have to be merciful.
Ou Yangming was surprised when he curbed his Military Fire after a brief moment.
[Item: Distinguished boots (Red)]
(Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, Fine Grade Rank Four]
[Attributes: Toughness +19, Evasive +6 (Passive Attribute: A 10% success rate of natural evasion under an attack), Durability 19]
The success rate of a natural evasion would be 10% if there was only 1 point of Evasive attribute, but the success rate was only 15% even when
six Evasive attributes were layered.
Sure enough, the Evasive attribute was distinctive.
Ou Yangming turned around and opened the door.
Duanmu Liang was surprised when he looked up.
“Master Ou, you’re… Done?”
“You can inspect them.” Ou Yangming handed the boots to him.
Duanmu Liang had already invited an appraiser here. Right after appraisal art was used, the shopkeeper was elated and excited.
“Six layers! The attribute was layered six times! Master Ou, you’re too amazing!”
Duanmu Liang requested for the layering of five attributes, but he knew Master Jin Shengjie was the only person who could guarantee success. Hence, he was overjoyed when Ou Yangming managed to achieve six layers. Ou Yangming chuckled and asked all of a sudden, “Shopkeeper Duanmu, why don’t you attach the attributes to the boots separately?”
Duanmu Liang was struck dumb, but he answered carefully, “Master Ou, this attribute is rather strange. It can only be attached to a piece of equipment in an equipment set, and it’ll be useless even if other pieces of equipment have it…” Ou Yangming’s eyelids twitched, and he ridiculed himself, ‘There are indeed too many odd attributes in the world, so how can I be all-knowing…
Fortunately, Duanmu Liang was sensible enough to change the topic. He said, “Master Ou, I have a few more tasks with me, and you’ll be rewarded with substantial Prestige Points. If you…”
However, Ou Yangming waved his hand to cut off the shopkeeper. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to accept smithing tasks for now.”
“Huh, what?” Duanmu Liang was puzzled. “Master Ou, did I offend you?”
“Do I look like I’m narrow-minded?” Ou Yangming was displeased.
Duanmu Liang smiled embarrassedly and told the young fellow, “Master Ou, if you need my help in whatever you’re doing next, I’ll be at your service.”
Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. He glanced at the shopkeeper and stated, “Now, I’m going to do… What a man has to do!”
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 179