Chapter 142 Live Performance
At noon the following day, Ou Yangming was led by Ni Yunhong and his younger sister to an empty ground.
Many people were already seated at the venue. Apart from Fang Yihai and the people around him, Ou Yangming noticed many familiar faces.
Those people were the Ni family’s elders, and they—including Ni Wangyang-looked at him in confusion.
Ou Yangming knew very well that some of them were feeling indignant for Ni Xueming.
It was true that Ni Xueming was the culprit; he had even schemed a plan on Ni Wangyang because he coveted the Life-prolonging Pill that Ou Yangming carried. However, most of the elders would blame Ou Yangming for being the source of the offense.
No matter what an outsider did for the Ni family, it was supposed to be a matter of course. At most, the outsider could be dismissed with some small gifts, but why was the clan’s most valuable Life-prolonging Golden Pill given to the outsider?
The elders felt that it was better to give the golden pill to Ni Xueming than to Ou Yangming. Needless to say, Ni Xueshu and the other elders from the main bloodlines were above them, and the three Supreme Great Ancestors were also overseeing the matter. Therefore, the elders dared not openly display their dissatisfaction.
Fang Yihai stood up and laughed. “Haha, Master Ou, Master Ni, I can’t believe that I’ll be watching another challenge between you two.”
Ni Yunhong’s face froze, and he responded, “General Fang, I’m afraid that I’ll have to disappoint you.”
“What?” Fang Yihai asked in confusion.
“I’m not feeling very well today, so I won’t be smithing,” Ni Yunhong explained in a serious tone, then his eyes wandered about. “But since so many seniors have shown up, we can’t let you down…”
Ou Yangming could not help but laugh when he noticed the signal from Ni Yunhong. “Everyone, since the challenge isn’t going to happen, I’ll exhibit my abilities.” He walked over to the center of the courtyard where a board was already prepared and various materials were piled. Apart from steel, there were also tens of precious ores.
As expected, the Ni family’s background was unpredictable, and they were not inferior to the Immense Forest Military Camp at all.
Ou Yangming glanced at the materials and picked a piece of steel. As he played a thought in his mind, his Military Fire burned and enveloped the steel.
The spectators paid full attention to observe the process. Although there were not many in the crowd who knew smithing art, they were from noble families of power and influence, hence their knowledge was on a different level. In fact, they were familiar with smithing performances as such, so they were able to draw conclusions after observing in detail.
Nonetheless, the people who knew the trade were struck dumb in a flash.
This was because Ou Yangming’s every move seemed to be in an exceptionally mysterious state. Whether it was the burning Military Fire, the flowing steel, or Ou Yangming’s body, they all looked like they had become one.
Not to mention no flaws could be spotted, the spectators were actually bewildered.
The more one knew smithing art and the higher one’s level of attainment in it, the stronger the feeling of bewilderment.
Ou Yangming was enlightened with the state of the integration of Heaven and man when he fought Ni Yunhong that night and was introduced to skills. That said, through different opportunities and training, he had only successfully fathomed it when Old Craftsman smithed with the Layering Art.
The myriad techniques in the world led to the same destination.
When Ou Yangming comprehended the integration of Heaven and man in smithing art, he naturally performed it through martial arts as well because his cultivation base was already at a certain level.
During the smithing performance, Ou Yangming displayed the real and original integration of Heaven and man.
At the spur of the moment, the conceited powerhouses who were incredibly adept in smithing art were also stunned. There were even some who trembled and began losing control of themselves.
Nevertheless, most of the martial artists were baffled. They only saw a ball of fiery flame, and a weapon was slowly taking form due to the burning process.
At last, the Military Fire disappeared, and a longsword was formed in Ou Yangming’s hands.
This time, instead of smithing a military saber, he smithed a longsword, which was something he rarely smithed. The longsword was smithed using the swordsman’s—his attacker’sweapon as a reference. While its length and pattern were slightly different, one could easily tell that Ou Yangming had forged a good sword.
Of course, Ou Yangming had already known the weapon’s grade and rank through his burning Military Fire.
[Item: Distinguished longsword]
(Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, High Grade, Rank Five]
[Attributes: Sharpness +15, Toughness +15, Durability 14)
“Seventh Uncle, what… Do you think about his standard?” An extremely soft voice was heard out of nowhere.
When the crowd turned to look, they saw Fang Yihai questioning a white-haired elder. His voice was soft, but none of the people present were ordinary so they heard him clearly.
The elder’s face turned red, and he reprimanded, “Fang Yihai, what do you mean?”
Fang Yihai looked surprised. “Seventh Uncle, didn’t you doubt Ou Yangming’s skills? Now that you’ve seen his ability, what do you think?”
If one had only looked at his puzzled look, one would think that he had made an unintended mistake, but the people present more or less curled their lips into a smile.
How could the commanding general from the Immense Forest Military Camp’s South Camp make such a lowly mistake? Ou Yangming could not help but laugh too. If he had not witnessed it himself, he could never imagine Fang Yihai doing something like that.
The elder, who was being questioned, was even redder in the face when he noticed the faint smiles from the people around him. Just as he was about to explode, his partner next to him remarked, “I may not know smithing art, but I know that the piece of equipment speaks the truth. If you’re curious about the little friend’s ability, why not appraise it?”
Ni Yinghong approached Ou Yangming and told him softly, “Those two men are stubborn elders from the Fang family, but even though the first elder, Fang Xuande, is stubborn, he’s their clan’s chief boring master. As for the second elder, Fang Yide, he’s a cunning old man, so you must be careful.”
Ou Yangming twitched his mouth. For some reason, he had a strange feeling when he heard the words ‘boring master’.
“Grandfather from the Fang family, do you trust me to carry out the appraisal?” Ni Yinghong looked up with a smile.
“If I don’t trust you, who else can I trust?” Fang Yide laughed out loud.
In actuality, everyone knew that any appraisal master who carried out the task in an event as such would not speak carelessly.
Following that, Ni Yinghong rubbed her hands to release the Appraisal Light. Her eyes glowed as she announced, “Everyone, this equipment is at the peak of High Grade Rank Five.”
“It’s a High Grade Rank Five indeed…” Fang Xuande mumbled and lamented. Though he was also a blacksmith, he could not have completed the smithing process so perfectly if he was in Ou Yangming’s shoes. “Seventh Uncle, how about you evaluate Master Ou’s skills?” Fang Yihai urged with a smile.
Fang Xuande looked in front and was in a daze.
After witnessing the godlike integration of Heaven and man during Ou Yangming’s smithing process, he found it impossible to affront his conscience and belittle the young blacksmith even if he wanted to.
Fang Xuande was not the only sharp-eyed one here, after all. Besides, he was an experienced and pure blacksmith in the trade, thus he could not bring himself to put down another person.
He could only laugh bitterly while being stared at by many people. “Master Ou has already achieved such a high level of attainment in smithing art at a young age, he’s truly a genius!” On the other hand, Fang Yide’s eyes wandered about as he sneered. “Seventh Elder Brother, a piece of equipment at the peak of High Grade isn’t common, but it’s not like you’ve never smithed one before, so why do you have to praise him so well?” ‘If one looks at the result alone, it’s true that it’s just a piece of equipment at the peak of High Grade Rank Five; if one watches the whole process and is also a blacksmith, the intense feelings of shock and disappointment are unbearable,’ Fang Xuande said to himself although he shook his head without saying a word. Despite that, he could not say those words in front of other people.
Fang Yide realized that something was off. This was because Fang Xuande was actually the leader of those who objected to Fang Yihai’s suggestion of letting a young blacksmith attach attributes to their clan’s equipment. If even Fang Xuande gave up, Fang Yide alone could not change the situation no matter how hard he tried…
He scoffed and raised a question, “Master Ou, you’re skilled in smithing High Grade equipment, but have you stumbled upon a piece of Fine Grade equipment?”
The crowd was shocked, and even Ni Yunhong and his younger sister were hesitant. Ou Yangming had not come from an influential family, hence he had little opportunity of coming across Fine Grade equipment. Even if he was well-trained in the Immense Forest Military Camp, he could not get his hands on them.
“The pieces of equipment that the Fang family wants to bind Unique Attributes to are pieces of Fine Grade equipment. If you can’t even smith a piece of Fine Grade equipment… Hehe, hehe, hehe…” Fang Yide glanced at the crowd and laughed instead of finishing his sentence, but the crowd understood the meaning behind his words.
Ni Yunhong and the other people looked at each other, not knowing how to reply to him.
They recalled that Ou Yangming had never smithed a piece of Fine Grade equipment indeed.
While High Grade and Fine Grade only differed by one word, the difference was worth 10,000 taels of gold. Ou Yangming smiled faintly at Fang Yide. “Judging from what you say, I’ll pass the test if I smith a piece of Fine Grade equipment?”
Fang Yide replied to him with a laugh, “Little friend, we’ll talk about it after you attempt it.”
Ou Yangming looked deeply at the man and confirmed that he was the one who was actually challenging Fang Yihai.
He chuckled and asked, “Brother Ni, does your residence have featured steel? May I borrow some?”
“Brother Ou, you’re being too polite. If you need them, I’ll ask someone to bring them here,” Ni Yunhong answered and waved his hand. Subsequently, someone carried some featured steel over.
When Ou Yangming’s Military Fire burned and danced again, the square became dead silent. The crowd watched the fire with different expressions on their faces, but they were all nervous.
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