Chapter 70: Challenge Method

In three days, in just three days, the news of the smithing challenge between Master Ou Yangming from the Armament Camp and Master Ni Yunhong, an outsider, had spread far and wide in the camp.

From the honorable generals to the insignificant new recruits, who were not even official soldiers yet, everyone talked about it excitedly. Although most of them were not qualified to witness it, that did not stop it from being the hottest topic in the camp at the moment. In fact, even the spotlight on the half-spirit beast, that was slaughtered through a lot of hard work, had dimmed.

After three days, Ou Yangming left his residence, accompanied by Old Craftsman, and headed for the biggest square in the Armament Camp.

The venue was already packed with people who were either standing or sitting.

Ou Yangming was taken aback after casually glancing around.

Almost everyone from the Armament Camp had come. Apart from Zhong Yunda and Han Changling, even Wang Zhongtong, Luo Shengtong, Li Shunfeng, and Huang Guotong, the top-notch Military Fire Blacksmiths, were present.

Being qualified to attach Unique Attributes to equipment, they were considered bosses in the Armament Camp and each of them had their own special methods. The fact that they got together of their own free will could be regarded as one of the biggest events in the Armament Camp.

When they saw Old Craftsman and Ou Yangming, they surrounded them.

Other than Han Changling, who purposely stayed behind, the rest greeted and gave Ou Yangming words of encouragement.

Zhong Yunda even waved his hand and said, “Oh, Lil’ Ou, you must do your best this time to deflate him! Hmph, how dare he wrong us at such a young age. So what if he’s from the prefecture? I don’t believe that nobody can control him!”

The other people nodded in agreement. They looked rather indignant and mad.

Ou Yangming quickly realized that Ni Yunhong had consulted with every Military Fire Blacksmith in the camp even though he had only been here for a short span of time. There was no need to describe the consultations further because it was evident they were displeasing.

“Thank you for your blessings, my seniors. I won’t let you down,” Ou Yangming responded with a smile.

He bowed at them before moving forward.

The Military Fire Blacksmiths then surrounded Old Craftsman to ask, “Old Craftsman, is your disciple going to succeed?”

“Yes, how confident is he? He won’t embarrass us, will he?”

“Old Craftsman, I think you’ll have to do the challenge yourself to bring down that arrogant fella!”

They repeatedly asked questions, which eventually caused an uproar, making it obvious that they were not optimistic about Ou Yangming. It made sense because they did not normally interact with him although they were all Military Fire Blacksmiths. Besides, the seniors suspected that the pieces of Attribute Equipment presented by Ou Yangming were actually smithed by Old Craftsman.

Therefore, they were not as confident about Ou Yangming as they seemed.

They would be more relieved if they could persuade Old Craftsman to participate in the challenge instead.

Old Craftsman perceived their thoughts with one glance, and assured with a smile, “Don’t be so anxious. Since he said that he won’t let you down, he won’t.”

The Military Fire Blacksmiths looked at each other, then Zhong Yunda asked carefully, “Old Craftsman, did he really inherit your legacy?”

Old Craftsman raised his chin and expressed proudly, “The disciple has exceeded his master!”

The rest instantly clamored. It was unclear how much exactly they believed in Ou Yangming, but they began looking at him differently.

When Ou Yangming walked toward the platform, he saw that the military’s big bosses were already seated.

Commanding General Deng Zhicai from the Middle Camp, Commanding General Tian Boguang from the East Camp, and Commanding General Chen Yifan from the West Camp. Of the five commanding generals from different camps, three of them were present. As for Supervisor Kang Weibo from the Armament Camp, he could only stand on one side to assist the challenge.

On the other side, Ni Yunhong and his younger brother were seen discussing something with Head Shopkeeper Lin Yichen and Appraiser Zheng Ziwen from the Yi residence. Bright smiles were seen on their faces.

“Lil’ Ou, you’re so slow, we were all waiting for you.” Deng Zhicai put down his teacup when he saw Ou Yangming. Even though he was teasing Ou Yangming, it was clear that he was slightly displeased.

‘Many bosses from the military are here, yet you took your own sweet time. You’re being too proud, can’t you see that even Ni Yunhong came in early?’

Ou Yangming bowed at Deng Zhicai and explained, “General, today’s challenge isn’t about me, it affects the military camp’s prestige. I dare not slack off, so I was meditating in my courtyard to make sure I’m in the best condition. I’m determined to be victorious in the challenge, and to gain honor for the military camp.”

Deng Zhicai was stunned for a while before he laughed. “You didn’t slack off indeed. Alright, that’s reasonable.”

Tian Boguang, who was seated next to him, frowned and glared at Ou Yangming coldly.

In actual fact, he had prepared himself to lecture Ou Yangming for being late. It would be best if he could even mess with Ou Yangming’s mental state.

However, Deng Zhicai had spoken first and drawn a conclusion. Since the Middle Camp’s commanding general had deemed Ou Yangming’s excuse reasonable, what could he say?

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“Ou Yangming, today’s challenge is about smithing an equipment set. We’ve invited two appraisal masters to judge the equipment’s quality,” Chen Yifan cleared his throat before he spoke. He then cupped his hands in the direction where Lin Yichen and the others were at, and called out, “Appraisal masters, please make your way here.”

Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen were already prepared, so they approached him and greeted him, “Greetings, general.”

“You don’t have to be so polite,” Chen Yifan responded and laughed, then turned to introduce, “This is Master Ni Yinghong, and this is Master Zheng Dawen. They’re in charge of judging the equipment sets’ quality.”

“Sir, this isn’t right!”

An elder made his way out of the crowd. It was Li Shunfeng, a top-notch Military Fire Blacksmith from the Armament Camp. Though he was not as reputable and as capable as Old Craftsman, he was one of the two blacksmiths who were only second to the old man.

“General, I heard that Young Master Ni Yinghong is Master Ni’s young brother, how can he be a judge?”

“Master Li, please don’t question an appraiser’s character.” Ni Yinghong looked at him coldly and said, “If I play favorites in an event like this, I’ll definitely be blacklisted by the Appraisers Association and be expelled, which means that I won’t be qualified to appraise anything anymore.”

Zheng Ziwen nodded. “Master, you’re overthinking this. No appraiser will gamble their future and fate on something so trivial.”

Li Shunfeng was stunned. He opened his mouth, but could no longer object.

Since Zheng Ziwen had said that, if Li Shunfeng insisted, it would mean that he did not trust the Appraisers Association. A lack of trust would not benefit a blacksmith master in any way.

Ou Yangming chuckled and said loudly, “Master Li, thank you for protecting me.”

Li Shunfeng nodded, and he felt better.

Ni Yunhong approached them and smiled. “Master Ou, it’s time for our challenge.”

Ou Yangming asked him seriously, “Master Ni, we’ll be refining with the same materials, am I right?”

“Yes,” Ni Yunhong answered with a smile, “but I have a suggestion.”

‘As expected, there’s something behind it,’ Ou Yangming curled his lips and wondered, but replied, “Please go on, Master Ni.”

Ni Yunhong proposed, “I suggest that once the appraisals are done for both sides, another chance to smith is given.”

Ou Yangming frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Master Ou, let me explain,” Zheng Ziwen spoke with a smile. He nodded at the two blacksmiths to indicate that he would not be biased, then explained, “What Master Ni meant is actually a popular challenge method in the prefecture. You’ll smith an equipment set each, which will be judged by the appraisers. The winner passes, but the loser has a chance to further improve the pieces of equipment.”

Ou Yangming came to a sudden realization. “What if the person loses even after the second chance?”

“He loses, but normally, there’s a huge chance that the pieces of equipment will be improved after a second smithing process,” Zheng Ziwen answered, a smile on his face.

The smithing of equipment was always associated with a success rate. A powerful blacksmith would not object to the suggestion because the failure rate would be minimized if two chances were given.

Ou Yangming pondered and asked, “If a person manages to defeat his opponent after the second chance, will the opponent be given the same opportunity too?”

“Yes.” Zheng Ziwen nodded, then clarified, “Theoretically, as long as the other party wins, the loser will be given another opportunity to improve the equipment set. The cycle repeats until one fails to make further improvements.”

Ou Yangming pursed his lips and expressed, “The method is fair, but it’s time-consuming.”

Tian Boguang remarked coldly, “It’s okay, we’re willing to stay here to watch the challenge between two blacksmith masters no matter how long it takes. I’m only afraid that it’ll end quickly, which won’t be enjoyable…”

Chen Yifan’s face darkened. “Lil’ Ou, do your best to gain honor for the military camp!”

Tian Boguang was stunned, and he glared at Chen Yifan.

Nonetheless, after hearing Chen Yifan’s words, the crowd began looking at Ni Yunhong differently, and were somewhat dissatisfied with Commanding General Tian Boguang from the East Camp¹.

Deng Zhicai touched his forehead helplessly. “Enough with the talking, you may begin.”

“Everyone, don’t worry. Even with this challenge method, it won’t go on for too long,” Zheng Ziwen nodded and reassured, then asked, “Gentlemen, what material would you like to use?”

“Master Ou, you may decide.” Ni Yunhong turned to nod at Ou Yangming. He looked extremely composed as if he was confident about defeating Ou Yangming regardless of the material chosen.

Ou Yangming thought for a while, then answered with a smile, “Since this is a challenge, let’s use something common. Do you have steel?”

Kang Weibo quickly responded, “The Armament Camp has plenty of steel, to the extent that you can build a house made of steel.”

As the crowd burst out laughing, countless amounts of steel was carried to the venue.