Chapter 66: Standing On His Own Feet

Ou Yangming’s arms, wrists, and in fact, his entire body, was beginning to shake slightly.

Old Craftsman frowned and thought, ‘Oh no, I mentioned before I demonstrated that the key to successful layering is stability.’

He only swayed his arms earlier to smoothly channel the Power Ores’ mysterious energy to every corner of the equipment.

A substantial amount of energy was required for the process, but stability was the most important aspect. A slight mistake could cause the previous efforts to end up in vain.

When Ou Yangming swayed his arms, his entire body shook. How could he succeed? The old man sighed and felt regretful. ‘Is it too early to teach him such a profound skill? If I ruined this because of undue haste, it’ll be my fault.’

However, just as Old Craftsman was going to call out to Ou Yangming to stop the refinement process, he was stunned.

For some reason, there was a strange feeling when he looked at Ou Yangming carefully. It seemed like Ou Yangming had currently become one with the space around him. Whether it was the dancing Military Fire, the military saber in the fire, or even the liquidized Power Ore, they had all turned into a peaceful image that could not be destroyed no matter what happened.

Old Craftsman stopped after reaching his hand out halfway, and his mouth was also left half-opened. He could not figure out what was happening.

Ou Yangming’s entire body was shaking, but why did the old man somehow think that that was how it should be?

Nonetheless, Old Craftsman had no idea that he was feeling the same way Ou Yangming felt when Ou Yangming watched him smith earlier.

When one was fully focused on something, one would always seem like one was immersed in one’s own world, and had magically merged with the surroundings.

Ni Yunhong had done it before, Jiang Chengwei had done it before, Old Craftsman had done it before, and Ou Yangming was currently reproducing it.

Ou Yangming’s eyes shone brighter. As he smithed according to Old Craftsman’s teaching, he suddenly recalled Ni Yunhong’s skills, as well as Jiang Chengwei’s concentration when he pulled the arrow on his bow.

He had an inexplicable feeling as he sensed the similarity between them.

Without any guidance, Ou Yangming strangely comprehended it.

Therefore, he began incorporating skills and concentration into the art that had been taught by Old Craftsman.

It was done so intuitively that Ou Yangming himself probably had no idea that he had done such a frightening thing.

In actual fact, there were similarities between any top-notch industries, or perhaps any top-notch skills. That said, it was impossible for normal people to identify them, let alone comprehend them.

When Ou Yangming attempted the Layering Art, he miraculously thought about the performances of two other people in their own expertise. It was unexpected that he even managed to integrate the qualities, or perhaps the core energies, into his own system.

It was an exceptionally rare opportunity. Apart from having outstanding knowledge and abilities, opportunities were extremely important too.

Old Craftsman hesitated for a while, and finally decided to lower his arm.

He let go of his fists and smiled gladly because he vaguely sensed that Ou Yangming had inherited his experiences, and had also advanced further.

Although the old man could not make sense of how Ou Yangming did it, as long as he could do it, the old man was delighted.

At last, the Military Fire dissipated, and a military saber was placed on the smithing table.

[Item: Distinguished military saber (Red)]

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

[Attributes: Sharpness +15, Toughness +15, Power +2, Durability 15]

Old Craftsman inspected it carefully, then looked up at Ou Yangming in confusion. After some time, he finally expressed his happiness.

“Very well done, you b*stard, you’re amazing!”

Ou Yangming scratched his head while replying to him, “You’re flattering me, you’re flattering me, I only did it because of your guidance!”

He was as happy as Old Craftsman was at that moment.

This was because his body and mind had been in a wonderful state, as though he had become one with Heaven and Earth. Ou Yangming combined Ni Yunhong’s skills, Jiang Chengwei’s concentration, and Old Craftsman’s swaying motion together.

At the time, he had even forgotten about his Military Fire’s unique feature.

This time, Ou Yangming did not utilize the drawing and upgrading abilities. He had smithed the equipment while relying on his own capabilities.

It was a perfect High Grade Military Saber that not only had 15 points of Sharpness and Toughness, but had also achieved 15 points of Durability. It was the attribute that had caused him to be denounced in the past due to how low it was.

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Needless to say, by using two precious ores, both the attempts of attaching a Unique Attribute were successful.

The military saber smithed was perfect in every aspect, and was also the first Attribute Military Saber that Ou Yangming had truly smithed on his own.

Of course, smithing a military saber through this method required a huge consumption of his mental power and essential Qi. The second the military saber took form, he actually felt that he would collapse.

It was then that Ou Yangming finally understood why Old Craftsman had had such a bad complexion.

Military Fire Blacksmiths could not further increase their success rate because the condition of their body played a huge role.

If one’s body condition was great, one’s success rate in smithing Attribute Equipment would naturally increase, conversely, it would decrease when one’s body condition was bad.

Nevertheless, even though everyone understood the theory, it was impossible for one to maintain one’s body and mental state at the best condition all the time.

Hence, Military Fire Blacksmiths would usually set a one-in-ten or a two-in-ten standard for the refinement of Attribute Equipment.

Despite that, almost every Military Fire Blacksmith had tricks up their sleeves as they usually hid a few pieces of Attribute Equipment for themselves.

Kang Weibo was obviously aware of it, but he never exposed the unspoken rule. After all, how could one make horses run without providing enough fodder?

Old Craftsman exhaled deeply after putting down the military saber. “Ah, from today onward, I’ll have to further delay the date of smithing General Chen’s weapon.”

Ou Yangming smiled embarrassedly. “Old Man, I”m sorry.”

Old Craftsman had been preserving and building up energy, not wasting any on smithing other pieces of equipment, because he was preparing to smith a divine weapon for Chen Yifan. However, since he had just performed the Layering Art, his previous efforts were simply wasted.

“We’re like grandfather and grandson, so it doesn’t matter. Hehe, you must give your all during the challenge after three days, and you must be victorious!” Old Craftsman responded after shaking his hand, and said eagerly, “If you succeed in the layering method in public and become the winner in the challenge, hehe, perhaps you’ll get a chance to enter the prefecture. You’ll be able to learn better smithing skills!”

He expressed regretfully, “I was fortunate enough to have gone once in the past, and it was truly an eye-opening experience. I owe my current success to that day.”

Ou Yangming grinned. “Old Man, it’s just the prefecture, I’ll bring you there next time!”

Old Craftsman could not help but laugh. “Young fella, I meant learning from a smithing master at the prefecture, yet you’re taking it as a sightseeing tour.”

Ou Yangming smiled apologetically, and finally convinced Old Craftsman to take a rest. He swore to himself, ‘I’ll surpass the capital’s smithing master, let alone the prefecture’s smithing master.’

Since Old Craftsman loved smithing art dearly his whole life, Ou Yangming was determined to make him the first smithing master…’s master!

He wondered how elated Old Craftsman would be if he actually succeeded.

Once Ou Yangming returned to his courtyard, he began cultivating his fist art and his blade technique again. After the smithing process earlier, he had a mysterious comprehension toward different types of skills.

All beings in the word were connected. If he practiced his martial arts skills well, it would be beneficial toward his smithing technique.

Sure enough, the feeling that Ou Yangming had was still quite vague at the moment, and it was impossible for him to fully fathom everything. At the very least, his current self could not realize his dream yet.

As flashes of saber-lights were seen, Ou Yangming was surrounded by hot Qi. A considerable amount of Qi and blood were transformed into essential Qi, which allowed him to increase his strength steadily.

In spite of that, Ou Yangming felt troubled because he was starting to have insufficient Qi and blood. Although he could hold on for a few days, he was no longer rich in Qi and blood.

Ou Yangming shook his head and wondered, ‘Practicing martial arts is a difficult thing to do indeed.’

That being said, if someone else knew how he was lamenting about this, only God knew how that person would resent him.

Ou Yangming left his courtyard after being struck by an idea, and he headed to the West Camp to look for Yan Haobo.

This time, Yan Haobo was extremely respectful toward Ou Yangming, and was so friendly that it was unbearable. Additionally, the bunch of soldiers, who were indifferent toward Ou Yangming before they entered the dense forest, were treating him in a completely different manner. Each of them served him earnestly, and cared about him better than they cared for their parents.

Ou Yangming asked as he was puzzled, “Squad Leader Yan, what are you doing?”

“Master Ou, this is how my brothers and I respect you!” Yan Haobo smiled, then added after a pause, “I heard that you’ll be challenging the new Master Ni in smithing art?”

Ou Yangming was surprised. “How did you know?”

‘We’ve just discussed this, has it spread in the military camp already?’

Yan Haobo nodded and explained, “The news came from the East Camp. We heard that General Tian and General Chen will be watching, and that an appraisal master will be judging.”

Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up as he smiled. “Hehe, I see that Master Ni’s very confident!”

‘It has just been half a day, yet Yan Haobo already found out about it. Does this mean that everyone would’ve found out after three days?

‘Ni Yunhong is obviously determined to defeat me in front of the public, how can I let things go his way?’