[Attributes: Toughness +23, Durability 23]
[Wish-fulfilling Degree: 5]
A Common Grade Rank Three—this was the first magic tool of Common Grade Rank Three produced by Ou Yangming.
Chapter 566 - The Wish-fulfilling Degree
On the high platform, Lin Feifeng’s face took on a strange expression. In particular, he stared at Ou Yangming’s Military Fire with an odd yet indescribable look.
In the Spiritual Realm, he was actually not a genius as Ou Yangming imagined him to be. This was because the upper realm and the lower realm had different spiritual powers from the universe, as well as cultivation resources. As such, numerous martial arts cultivators his age could become great ancestors.
The poor cultivation condition in the lower realm was far from what could be imagined by people like Lin Feifeng.
Therefore, when cultivators from the lower realm advanced to Extreme Grade and entered the Spiritual Realm, everyone would acknowledge them to be much more potential than equal-ranked cultivators in the Spiritual Realm.
Not to mention their achievements in smithing art.
Without obstructions from the world’s power anymore, as long as one underwent systematic learning from smithing art, was not too dumb, and stayed on the middle course, it would not be a problem for one for smith magic tools.
In other words, if Lin Feifeng ended up in the lower realm, where Ou Yangming was from, he would likely achieve nothing.
Nonetheless, Lin Feifeng was nurtured in the Spiritual Realm and gained some understanding and knowledge unique to the Spiritual Realm in smithing art. Hence, he could clearly see Ou Yangming’s smithing process and was deeply confused.
When he first saw Ou Yangming use his special fire to directly melt the minerals, he envied the young fellow.
Having said that, he was later puzzled by Ou Yangming’s movements.
The fact that Ou Yangming merged the minerals in an extremely short time and formed the armor’s prototype made Lin Feifeng willingly admit his defeat. In actuality, he even made an estimation and found that none of the blacksmiths that attended the Trading Meet could possibly be on par with Ou Yangming in terms of speed only. Even the few smithing masters that were valued and served by the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One and were probably inferior to the young fellow.
Lin Feifeng was truly shocked by Ou Yangming’s speed.
Needless to say, equipment smithing was more than just speed, so he really wanted to know the armor’s exact properties.
Nevertheless, Ou Yangming did not curb his Military Fire right away after he finished smithing the armor; he kept burning the fire as though he was considering something.
Lin Feifeng wanted to approach him to cut him off for doing useless work. He wanted to tell the young fellow that if he failed and wanted to fix things, a new plan must be made.
Who knew, Ou Yangming stood quietly as if he had entered another world and was indifferent toward his surroundings.
Following that, the Military Fire danced intensely. Lin Feifeng saw that while the fire was still burning, the armor in the center seemed to have turned dark.
Even for a Venerable One, one that did not know smithing art might not be able to perceive the wonders of the flames. On the other hand, being a blacksmith from the Spiritual Realm, Lin Feifeng vaguely guessed something.
A mishap must have happened during the smithing process, causing Ou Yangming to fail to produce the equipment.
However, just as Lin Feifeng was gathering words to comfort Ou Yangming, he suddenly saw the fire dancing intensely again. What was more unbelievable was the armor, which he had identified to be a failed product, emitted a mysterious luster again.
It was the sign of the equipment being smithed successfully.
The weird performances that went back and forth, as well as Ou Yangming’s hesitance, made Lin Feifeng rather restless.
‘What exactly is that young fella up to? What happened inside that marvelous fire?’
Below the high platform, Fat Antelope shrunk its neck and asked softly, “Brother Big Yellow, do you think Master Ou succeeded?”
Big Yellow glanced at it and responded snappily, “Hmph, Lil’ Ming has never failed before. Don’t worry, he’ll surprise all of you for sure.”
Fat Antelope chuckled embarrassedly and dared not say another word. Instead, the spirit beasts around them looked at them strangely and cursed internally, ‘That fella has such a high-sounding sentiment.’
Even so, since they were all here, the spirit beasts were not willing to ask for trouble. If their verbal disputes turned into fights, they would not be able to withstand the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One’s fury.
“Woosh…”
At last, the Military Fire was curbed, and the armor was laid flat on the ground in front of Ou Yangming.
Ou Yangming grinned and said, “Luckily, I didn’t fail the task.”
The look in Tiger Ji’s eyes had been changing unpredictably the moment the Military Fire emerged from Ou Yangming’s hand. When it finally heard what the young fellow said, he was truly elated.
It did not understand smithing art, but it knew that it should weigh one’s words and watch one’s expressions carefully. Despite that, it was not observing Ou Yangming but Lin Feifeng, who was also a blacksmith.
The more Lin Feifeng furrowed his eyebrows, the more Tiger Ji’s heart sank, to the point that it dared not put its hope in this smithing attempt anymore.
This was why it was surprised and overjoyed after hearing Ou Yangming.
Tiger Ji picked up the armor and was about to put it on when Lin Feifeng shouted, ‘Wait!”
The spirit tiger paused at once. It would not have bothered if someone else asked it to stop during other occasions but given the venue and the time, it was hesitant.
Lin Feifeng smiled and asked, “Master Ou, can I appraise it?”
“Of course.” Ou Yangming nodded with a smile. He said to Tiger Ji, “Let Master Lin take a look at it while I smith a helmet for you.”
Tiger Ji was stunned, but it quickly responded, “Thank you, Master Ou.”
It was content after receiving an armor, but if it could also obtain a helmet… It would be wonderful.
Many spirit beasts below the platform looked at Tiger Ji enviously. They regretted having hesitated earlier, allowing the tiger to come out on top and gain a huge benefit.
Lin Feifeng accepted the armor and inspected it carefully for some time before he exclaimed as he was surprised, “A magic tool of Common Grade Rank Three!”
‘Rank Three?’
Tiger Ji’s eyes were instantly gleaming in rich lusters, which could not be put into words. The outcome had really exceeded its expectations.
It was evident from Lin Feifeng’s attitude in the beginning that Tiger Ji did not prepare sufficient materials. If the blacksmith was not Ou Yangming but someone else, that person might not have been willing to smith pieces of equipment for it. Even if the blacksmith somehow agreed to do the work, it dared not hope for a piece of equipment in Rank Three.
What Tiger Ji gained was far beyond its expectations, thus it was dumbfounded yet ecstatic.
That said, this was only the beginning.
Instead of returning the armor to the spirit tiger, Lin Feifeng continued to study it in his hands. His face changed after a brief moment, and he looked up abruptly and asked, “Brother Ou, this armor’s Wish-fulfilling Degree… Isn’t 3, is it?”
Ou Yangming smiled and replied to him, “Brother Lin, you have a good eye.”
It would not be strange if Lin Feifeng found out through his spiritual fire or performed appraisal art, but he noticed it by only looking at the equipment. Ou Yangming was in admiration.
Tiger Ji blinked and thought, ‘No wonder he could smith a Rank Three armor. It turned out that the equipment’s lacking in the Wish-fulfilling Degree and didn’t meet the standard of a triple limit.
In any case, the spirit tiger could accept it if the Wish-fulfilling Degree
was not lowered too much. This was because its cultivation base was already in a steady phase, and it would not be able to break through within a short period.
Lin Feifeng questioned with a grave look on his face, “Brother Ou, what’s the… Wish-fulfilling Degree of this equipment?”
It was true that he noticed a difference, but he could not tell the exact difference.
Ou Yangming answered in a deep voice, “This armor’s Wish-fulfilling Degree should be 5.”
In actuality, as he slowly gained a better understanding of various peculiar stones and became more familiar with using the Wish-fulfilling Clay, he could further increase the Wish-fulfilling Degree if he gave his all.
Nonetheless, at this point, it seemed like the strength he displayed was enough.
“5…” Lin Feifeng uttered, and he was dazed.
Tiger Ji quivered and was so delighted that it almost passed out. It initially thought that the degree was less than 3, but it turned out to be more than that as it was 5.
In a way, due to the difference in the Wish-fulfilling Degree, this equipment’s value was at least doubled.
Below the high platform, many spirit beasts could not take it anymore and started to whisper to one another. They stared at the armor with fiery eyes.
Even if the Wish-fulfilling Degree of 5 was reduced by half, the armor would have a 2.5-times expansion-and-contraction ability. Moreover, within this range, the armor’s attributes would not change at all. This also meant that a much wider range of spirit beasts could use the armor, by which at least half of the spirit beasts below the platform could fit into it and be in their best states.
After being overwhelmed with excitement, Tiger Ji reached out its claws to snatch the armor and put it on.
Given that it was such an amazing item, it would not let it leave its body anymore.
Lin Feifeng shook his head as though he had just awakened from his dream. He noted with a bitter smile, “Brother Ou, I underestimated you before this.” He sighed and added, “Your smithing skill is above mine.”
A real expert would be able to tell the truth.
By only watching once, Lin Feifeng managed to draw the conclusion. He later asked Ou Yangming, “Brother Ou, there’s something I don’t understand. Can I ask you about it?”
“Please go ahead,” Ou Yangming rejoined.
“When I watched you just now, I noticed that you did many unnecessary moves and wasted a lot of energy. Why is that so? Is that a unique smithing technique?” Lin Feifeng asked in confusion.
Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up, and he answered, “They’re some of my smithing habits. Ah, the more I got used to them, the harder it is for me to get rid of them.”
“Brother Ou, if you’d like to go further on the smithing path, you’ll have to make some changes.” Lin Feifeng frowned. He pondered for a while before he picked some ores on the platform and said, “I’ll smith once too. Please give me some pointers, Brother Ou.”
Chapter 567 - The Spiritual Realm’s Smithing Foundation
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Feifeng’s spiritual fire boiled instantly and enveloped the peculiar stones in front of him.
When he previously smithed, he adopted a concealing trick on his fire, hence Ou Yangming could only make deductions based on the changes of the flame. This time, a layer of concealment was lifted from his spiritual fire, so while the spirit beasts were still dazed, the young fellow could recognize the fire’s wonder by observing a small part of it.
Ou Yangming looked at Lin Feifeng with gratitude. He quickly calmed down and observed carefully.
Although he knew Lin Feifeng was doing this to return the courtesy, he was still rather grateful.
Lin Feifeng chose more than just these few ores; he matched them with others too. Moreover, after he used his spiritual fire to melt an ore to a certain level, he would split it into 2 unequal parts and abandon one of them.
With that, 6 different minerals were slowly formed into something similar to a gauntlet according to a fixed proportion.
Ou Yangming had a look of exultation on his face, and he was moved.
Lin Feifeng did not perform any unique skills, but he expressed something to the young fellow in a simple and unadorned way.
Equipment smithing was not a rough job but a beautiful art.
Back when Ou Yangming smithed pieces of equipment, once he selected an ore or several different ores, he would knead them together with his Military Fire and form a heavy armor.
In any case, spirit beasts that wore armors were tall and strong. Given their strengths, the armors’ weights would not be a burden to them. Perhaps the beasts even hoped that the heavier the armors, the better they were.
Nonetheless, Lin Feifeng’s technique made Ou Yangming come to a sudden realization.
A truly great piece of equipment was not smithed like that.
If one wanted to smith the best equipment, one must have enough judgment to tell what marvelous effects would be caused when minerals were merged. However, apart from that, Ou Yangming was also clueless about allocating ores according to proportions.
In terms of proficiency in smithing technique and overall smithing speed only, Lin Feifeng was far from Ou Yangming. Nevertheless, in terms of a comprehensive comparison, the latter was inferior to the former if he did not utilize his fire’s drawing or upgrading ability.
If they were compared, one of them had rich hands-on experiences but a fatal shortcoming in knowledge reserve.
The other one was much weaker in practical abilities but knew the mature smithing system and could crush his opponent in theoretical knowledge.
In comparison, Ou Yangming did not have the upper hand no matter what.
Needless to say, the unique upgrading ability possessed by the phoenix’s purple fire was an insoluble cheat code. If Ou Yangming employed this method, not to mention Lin Feifeng, even his master would not be able to do anything.
A pair of gauntlets was slowly formed. They were neither gorgeous nor were they attached with any offensive skills, but they were priceless treasures to Ou Yangming. This was because the smithing technique seemed to have opened a big door in front of him, allowing him to see the unparalleled view on the other side.
He could not help but scream internally at the moment.
‘Smithing technique—this is the real smithing technique.’
In the lower realm, he encountered top-notch blacksmiths, but even Wu Hongxi from the imperial family never displayed such an ability.
It was not because they were less intelligent, but because they were in a different environment.
Unlike the Spiritual Realm, the lower realm was certainly not abundant in various minerals. In the lower realm, there were capable talents from past generations, but they could not make something out of nothing. As such, being able to refine featured steel was considered a fantastic achievement.
Even so, after entering the Spiritual Realm and witnessing the abilities of a blacksmith from this place, Ou Yangming knew he needed to change his inherent ideas.
He inhaled deeply and bowed at Lin Feifeng. “Brother Lin, please give me some pointers.”
Lin Feifeng immediately helped him up and said with a smile, “Brother Ou, I finally confirmed something.”
Ou Yangming asked as he was puzzled, “What is it?”
“Heh, you really never learned about minerals sorting and basic melting.”
“Which books can they be learned from? Where can they be found?” Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up.
“These are the most basic knowledge for human blacksmiths, so you can buy the books from any bookstore.” Lin Feifeng forced a smith and questioned in confusion, “Brother Ou, if you never learned them, how could you smith magic tools?”
Ou Yangming flushed a little. He had used the phoenix’s purple fire to forcibly increase the equipment’s equivalent rank.
Having said that, he could not explain it to anyone.<
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The young fellow cleared his throat and answered, “I just kept refining and managed to do it in the end. As for how I did it…” He spread out his hands and continued, “I have no idea either…”
Lin Feifeng was startled for some time before he sighed and remarked, “A genius—a real genius is here!”
He later curbed his thought and noted, “Brother Ou, come and take a look at these ores. If you merge this and this, they’ll cause this effect. If you add this in, according to this proportion, there’ll…” As he pointed to the different ores, he explained their origins and functions one by one.
Ou Yangming listened quietly. He raised some questions from time to time, and his eyes gleamed.
He was familiar with the ores’ names and basic properties because by identifying with his Military Fire in the Spiritual Realm, everything was clear to him as though they were simply laid out in front of him.
Despite that, he only knew about the minerals on their own. As for the effects of fusing 2 or more minerals, he knew nothing as if his eyes were closed.
Lin Feifeng’s explanations at the moment were similar to a good rain after a long drought, causing Ou Yangming to be enlightened. The young fellow began to develop an even more favorable impression of the man.
Ou Yangming looked deeply at the focused Lin Feifeng and confirmed that he was a good person.
That said, he did not know that there was a reason Lin Feifeng was being so enthusiastic.
Lin Feifeng was a blacksmith that inherited a series of knowledge. On the contrary, judging from Ou Yangming’s smithing technique of forcibly accumulating minerals, it was the most unrefined skill, which he discovered on his own.
Nonetheless, the qualities of the pieces of equipment smithed by them were not much different.
The outcome was the exact reason Lin Feifeng was deeply in awe.
If Ou Yangming also learned real skills in smithing art, what kind of equipment would he be able to smith?
Lin Feifeng was not a good samaritan, but he knew something very well. The smithing skills that he understood were not secrets at all because one could purchase corresponding books from any bookstore in the Humans’ boundary and could learn them.
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