Chapter 267 - The Elders’ Invitation
Chapter 267 The Elders’ Invitation
When Ou Yangming finished smithing every piece of equipment at an unbelievable speed, he left an extremely deep impression for many blacksmiths.
Moreover, their impression of him included a hint of fear and envy, which could not be put into words.
Ou Yangming’s speed was certainly a first, and even if the other blacksmiths did not know if the pieces of equipment were up to standard, they were shocked by the extreme speed.
Apart from Jin Shengjie and a few detached blacksmiths, deep down the rest were unwilling to see Ou Yangming in the spotlight again.
After all, smithing a piece of High Grade equipment from an ordinary iron ingot was a near-impossible task. Other than Ou Yangming, as Jin Shengjie had said, even he could not achieve it.
On the other hand, most of the blacksmiths present were capable of or had the potential to smith pieces of Fine Grade equipment, as well as attaching Unique Attributes to them.
Nonetheless, they knew better than the other people that although they could accomplish those tasks, their speed could not be mentioned on equal terms with Ou Yangming’s. Therefore, they valued this assessment more than they did just now. When Ou Yangming picked up the second Power Ore, most of them sighed a breath of relief.
Ou Yangming moved his wrist and controlled his Military Fire to wrap around the Power Ore, which was turned into a sticky liquid that slowly dripped onto the military saber. Peculiar energies surrounded the saber, and they abided by a peculiar rule as they wanted to be layered on the weapon.
The young fellow was relaxed, and he was not nervous at all as though he was not taking an assessment.
He naturally noticed the disparity between him and the other candidates. In particular, the two candidates next to him were far from finishing a full equipment set. Hence, he developed the thought of wanting to play around.
Nevertheless, his idea of playing around was atypical. He simply had fun by treating the layering process for the Power Attributes as an enjoyable process.
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It was exactly because he was so relaxed that he could carry out the process with skill and ease.
Jin Shengjie suddenly stood up on the high platform. He widened his eyes at Ou Yangming in disbelief and even mumbled softly, “The integration of Heaven and man, the integration of Heaven and man…”
The state of the integration of Heaven and man, which belonged to blacksmiths, was displayed by Ou Yangming.
Before this, Ou Yangming would naturally enter the state if he utilized his purple fire’s power to perform the multilayering of Unique Attributes. If he cast aside the special power and smithed through his own abilities, it would be difficult for him to enter the state.
However, when Ou Yangming relaxed completely and attempted to perform the layering of the Power attribute, he surprisingly managed to become one with Heaven and Earth.
Needless to say, it was because he had entered the state countless times before this, or how could he have achieved the integration of Heaven and man so easily?
After Ou Yangming sensed the queer energy around the military saber for some time, he finally withdrew his sense and layered the energy on the saber bit by bit. It was not done forcefully as the process was smooth, thus the young fellow was incredibly overjoyed.
An undisguised and bare smile was seen on his face.
More than a year had passed, and he could finally execute the layering of Unique Attributes without using the purple fire.
Even though this was only possible because he accumulated enough experience through the purple dire, he was content that he could arrive at this step in a short period. ‘He did it!
This was what everyone thought when they noticed the smile on Ou Yangming’s face. They thought he had completed the assessment and was confident about passing the test.
The corners of Jin Shengjie’s eyes curled up a little; he was one of the very few genuinely happy people.
Despite that, as one of the examiners, he naturally could not practice favoritism, so he sat quietly and only nodded at Ou Yangming.
Ou Yangming put down the military saber and happened to spot the friendly smile when he looked up.
He saluted the senior in the smithing trade with a bow.
Putting everything aside, based on Jin Shengjie’s age alone, he deserved the salutation.
When Ou Yangming turned to look, he realized that he was the only one who completed the task. No, in a way, the other people were not even halfway done. Furthermore, the slowest person had only smithed two pieces of equipment.
Ou Yangming knew he was much faster than the other people, but he felt somewhat strange for being so fast. ‘Aren’t these Intermediate Blacksmiths a bit too… Inferior?’
Just as Ou Yangming hesitated if he should stay or leave, a white-clothed servant walked down from the platform and approached him to ask him softly, “Master Jin sent me here to ask if you’ve finished smithing.”
Ou Yangming answered with a smile, “Yes.”
The white-clothed servant responded with respect, “Since you’re done, please leave the venue with me.”
Ou Yangming nodded and left the center of the square with him, then he went back up to the high platform.
In the past, none of the assessment candidates had gone up to the high platform when they were done with the test. Ou Yangming broke the convention, but it was strange that nobody questioned him.
Once he was on the high platform, Jin Shengjie remarked with a smile, “Lil’ Friend Ou, you surprised me again!”
The first surprise was when Ou Yangming did the impossible by smithing a piece of High Grade equipment with iron ingot; the second surprise was his mad speed. Ou Yangming chuckled. “Master Jin, you’re overpraising me. I only did my best.” “Did your best?” Jin Shengjie looked deeply at him. His eyes seemed to contain an indescribable magical power, which could perceive one’s thoughts. “Did you really give your all?”
Ou Yangming was stunned. He smiled without saying a word as it was difficult to answer the question.
He obviously had not done his best. In fact, he had not used many other trump cards. Even so, how could he be honest with the elder?
“Hehe, Master Ou, why didn’t you slow down?” Yi Yucheng smiled and asked softly.
“I had to finish it sooner or later, so why don’t I just finish it faster?” Ou Yangming answered after some thought, but he said to himself, ‘I’ve already slowed down, but they’re just too disappointing!’
Feng Guangyuan furrowed his eyebrows and questioned, “Master Ou, don’t you know that slow work yields fine products?” Ou Yangming blinked and looked around him, which was when he noticed that most people on the high platform were giving him hostile looks. He wondered, ‘What exactly did I do that offended Heaven and Earth? How did I enrage them?’
“Guangyuan, everyone’s temperament and talent are different, so there’s no need to force the norm unto everyone.” Jin Shengjie shook his head and stood up to look at the other people. His eyes were so bright that most people lowered their heads in embarrassment as they dared not look back at him.
He gestured to Ou Yangming to come to him and whispered, “Lil’ Friend Ou, you don’t have to take it to heart; they’re just jealous.’
The blacksmith master spoke so softly that apart from Ou Yangming, only Yi Yucheng and Feng Guangyuan heard him.
Master Yi and Master Feng exchanged glances and smiled bitterly.
‘This Superior Blacksmith still has the habit of supporting the younger generation,’ they thought.
Ou Yangming flashed a smile at Jin Shengjie. “Thank you, master, I understand.” So what if many people envied him? He could ignore them as long as he was powerful, and sure enough, he was confident and capable.
The other people could not hear Jin Shengjie and Ou Yangming as they whispered to each other, but they hated the young fellow out of jealousy. That said, when they thought about how much Master Jin valued him, they got rid of their untimely ideas. Ou Yangming later approached Hu Yicheng, his son, and Du Gaoge. The three of them immediately congratulated him sincerely.
While Ou Yangming had not earned the Advanced Blacksmith title, they were very much surprised today, so they smiled at the young fellow genuinely when they welcomed him.
Du Gaoge even went forward and notified Ou Yangming softly, “Master Ou, the elders in our pavilion have heard of today’s event, so they prepared a celebratory feast and invited you over.”
Ou Yangming was startled. “Didn’t you already serve me yesterday?” “Who am I? How can I be mentioned in the same breath with the elders in the pavilion?” Du Gaoge forced a smile and added after a pause, “The elders decided that they’ll provide cultivation and smithing resources, as well as the corresponding treatments. If you perform well during the upcoming Myriad Treasure Meet, you’ll earn greater rewards.”
Ou Yangming was rather moved. After all, the Yi Pavilion was not a small shop; they were a great force across the world.
A force like that was influential among the commoners, as well as the officials. If they could pull him onto the chariot, it would be easier for him to realize Li Xinfan and Master Lu’s wish.
“Okay, I’ll have to trouble you to introduce them to me later,” Ou Yangming responded with a smile.
Du Gaoge was elated. If Ou Yangming made an outstanding performance in the upcoming event, he might even be able to be promoted.
Following that, Ou Yangming continued to converse with them. At last, when the bell rang, Jin Shengjie stood up and looked toward the stage, then he announced, “Time’s up!”
As his voice echoed in the venue, everyone in the middle of the square stopped.
Ou Yangming looked at the candidates too. In actuality, most of the candidates had finished the task, but nobody dared to leave as Ou Yangming did, so they checked their equipment sets carefully. Nonetheless, three of them looked pale as they failed to smith a full equipment set, which meant that they were no longer qualified.