Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Martial-art Squat

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Chen Yifan did not stay at the workshop for too long and left after asking Old Craftsman about some items he needed.

“Hmph, that stingy supervisor is so impatient that he came all the way here to visit.” Afterward, Old Craftsman scoffed with a gloomy face, and shook his head as he mumbled, “But it’s strange, this isn’t like him…”

On the other hand, Ou Yangming obviously knew why Zhang Yinfan was here, but there was no way he would reveal it.

He later asked, “Old Man, why didn’t you tell General Chen that I’ve already stimulated the Military Fire?”

Old Craftsman knew that his good intention was misinterpreted, thus he stared at Ou Yangming snappily, then sighed. “Young fella, don’t you know that the taller trees in the woods are the ones that get their tops blown off? Hmph, I’ve told the others that you have the Military Fire Seed in you, so I’ll announce it in a few days’ time.”

Ou Yangming nodded although he did not fully understand it. He felt slightly pitiful, but he knew that Old Craftsman would never harm him.

“Fella, from tomorrow onward, report to the West Camp,” Old Man mentioned after pondering for a while.

“What?” Ou Yangming looked up at him as he was shocked. “Old Man, you’re really letting me go?”

“If Zhang Yinfan hadn’t come earlier, it wouldn’t matter if you go or not since he can’t do anything to you once you become an official Military Fire Blacksmith, but he must be holding a grudge against you since he came over so quickly.” Old Craftsman nodded slowly, then added after a sigh, “I can’t suppress that stingy fella, but General Chen can. If you train at his camp, Zhang Yinfan won’t do anything to you.”

Ou Yangming’s eyes shone. “Old Man, what’s General Chen’s background? Why is Zhang Yinfan so afraid of him?”

Even a fool could tell from General Chen and Zhang Yinfan’s conversation earlier that they were not of the same level.

Old Craftsman smiled bitterly. “General Chen was sent here three months ago, so I’m not sure of his background, and we’re able to get along because of our similar opinions on smithing. However, since Zhang Yinfan’s afraid of him, I’m sure he has a powerful background.”

Ou Yangming nodded. “I understand. As long as General Chen’s around, Zhang Yinfan won’t dare to do anything to me.”

Old Craftsman chuckled. “You’ve really become smarter. General Chen’s right, you can’t just beat ores here if you want to improve your power and your body. Since you’ve activated your Military Fire, you need a strong body to unleash its full strength, so follow him and take it as training.”

Ou Yangming nodded. He knew that Old Craftsman had been doing his utmost for him.

Later, Old Craftsman suddenly spoke strictly, “For the next few days, you must work really hard. Hmph, you’ll go train at the West Camp in the morning, then come over at night, and I’ll teach you real smithing techniques.”

Ou Yangming was delighted. “Old Man, you’re finally teaching me?”

Old Craftsman stared at him indifferently. “Your fundamentals are still not there, but I need to forge weapons for General Chen soon, so I don’t have too much time for you left. Remember, even after learning smithing art, you mustn’t be arrogant, and you must strive to improve.”

Ou Yangming nodded and swore that he would not forsake the old man.

While Old Craftsman shook his head, he was actually very touched.

Though he said that Ou Yangming was still lacking in many aspects, in actual fact, he felt that Ou Yangming’s control over the Military Fire was already at the lowest requirement to forge armor.

Back then, Old Craftsman took three months to accomplish that, yet Ou Yangming only took three days.

Though he was aware that those who controlled Military Fire through mental power were much more powerful than those who relied on physical power, he was still in awe at Ou Yangming’s performance.

This was actually the biggest reason why the old man dared not let others know that Ou Yangming had already activated his Military Fire.

Old Craftsman did not know what to feel about Ou Yangming being so overjoyed at the moment.

‘How far will this fella go?’

※※※※

The next morning, Ou Yangming woke up early to head to the West Camp instead of going to Old Craftsman’s smithing workshop.

In the military camp, rules were extremely strict, but everything was smooth for him once he mentioned Chen Yifan’s name there, and nobody questioned him anymore. Of course, it was also because he had been in the military camp for two years. It would be impossible for a real stranger to walk around the camp so freely.

When Ou Yangming finally met Chen Yifan again, the sturdy general looked at him with a strange, curious look.

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He felt a tingling sensation as if he could not hide anything from those eyes.

Chen Yifan approached him to pinch and tap some of his body parts, then mentioned, “Nice, you’re indeed a martial arts seed full of Qi and blood. Young fella, since you’re here, you’ll have to train hard. Hehe, if you can’t complete my tasks, I won’t go easy on you, do you understand?”

Ou Yangming nodded. “Yes!”

Being a small boy, he had always envied the soldiers who drilled on the field and it was his dream to join them. Since he was given a chance at that moment, he would surely treasure it.

Furthermore, after the sneak attack from Zhang Hanyu yesterday, he knew very well that he was in a dangerous spot.

Therefore, martial art cultivation was crucial for him to save himself.

“Fella, if you want to practice martial arts, you must first have a stable stance, watch me.” Chen Yifan brought Ou Yangming to a tent and lowered himself into a squat. “Follow me.”

After taking a quick look, Ou Yangming did the same.

In actual fact, he had seen martial-art squats in the military camp many times because many soldiers would do it during their free time, but there was something different about Chen Yifan’s squat.

Chen Yifan frowned and lectured him, “Hmph, get your spirits up. Did I ask you to just sit?”

Ou Yangming was tongue-tied. When he looked at Chen Yifan closely, he somehow felt uncomfortable.

Even though Chen Yifan remained still in a martial-art squat, Ou Yangming felt as though he saw a galloping horse in him. If he stared longer, he could even sense an irresistible aura coming from the general, which was going to oppress him.

Additionally, Ou Yangming’s face reddened because Chen Yifan was staring at him. Though it looked like their squats were the same, Ou Yangming’s seemed to be slacking and that he was going to fall at any time.

Of course, without the strong comparison between them both, Ou Yangming could not have sensed the great disparity.

Afterward, Chen Yifan swayed a little and appeared in front of him like a ghost.

Ou Yangming who was shocked fell butt first to the ground and shouted.

Chen Yifan said coldly, “Get up!”

As such, Ou Yangming quickly got up and was embarrassed as he did not know how to explain himself.

Chen Yifan then spoke slowly, “Fella, if you want to succeed in practicing martial arts, you must go through all sorts of hardships. Now, get into a martial-art squat.”

Ou Yangming responded to him, then squatted as he did earlier.

The moment Chen Yifan looked, he reached his hand out to hit Ou Yangming’s body on a few spots. “Raise your hands, bend your knees, keep a straight back, and don’t look around too much.”

Ou Yangming followed his instructions and maintained the stance as he dared not relax. Strangely enough, he suddenly realized that his body somehow became looser and less tensed-up after Chen Yifan corrected him.

Chen Yifan remarked, “It’s not easy to have a good martial-art squat. Hmph, I’ll teach you a trick, so listen well. It’s up to you how much you’re able to comprehend.”

Subsequently, he spoke while pressing a few points on Ou Yangming’s body.

Each time he pressed, Ou Yangming could clearly feel an airflow in his body that was warm and comfortable.

It was also then that he found out how much attention one needed to pay to a martial-art squat. It was not as simple as it looked, and apart from the breathing and the conception imagination, a lot had to be learned.

He slowly closed his eyes, then imagined the energy flow inside his body according to Chen Yifan’s description. Eventually, the energy grew larger and stronger, and it finally stabilized.

On the other hand, Chen Yifan, who had been watching him, widened his eyes as he was in disbelief.

He had a complicated look as he stared at Ou Yangming as though it was his first time meeting him. After a long time, he exhaled deeply, then mumbled, “I actually found a martial art genius in this small place, heh, my luck…”

Apart from the fact that he generally liked talented people, he agreed to teach Ou Yangming martial arts mainly because of Old Craftsman.

After all, Old Craftsman was the only one who could forge the weapons that he wanted.

However, Ou Yangming’s performance exceeded his expectations because he actually comprehended Qi sense during his first martial-art squat. ‘Hmm, based on the slight wave of his aura, it seems like he possessed more than just Qi sense.

‘Perhaps this fella can actually surprise me.’