Chapter 5 (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

At Old Craftsman’s smithing workshop, the old man began explaining in detail to Ou Yangming.

It was definitely not an easy job to forge a high-quality armament.

Using military sabers as an example, without the Military Fire, one would need to first turn raw iron into a ball, which would be heated at a high temperature in a coal furnace to produce sponge iron. It would later be made into a long rod, which would be separated into many sections for further processing depending on their grades. Those with better quality would be used to craft sabers, whereas poorer ones were used to make farming tools and the like.

Following that, fine materials were used to smith the saber blade through foldforming¹, then the blade, the saber back, and the saber grip were beaten into shape.

The entire process was complicated, time-consuming, and could not be accomplished at one go.

However, it would be completely different using the Military Fire. If one were to smith using the fire, the whole process would speed up. With enough energy and profound skills, it would even be possible to forge a military saber in an hour.

Of course, it was a simple task for Old Craftsman, but could not be achieved by Ou Yangming yet.

“Fella, what do you think is the most important thing to do now?” Old Craftsman asked seriously.

Ou Yangming pondered for some time before he answered, “Prepare to forge an armament.”

Old Craftsman scoffed. “Wrong. The most important thing for you to do now is to learn how to operate your Military Fire because it’s not easy to use it. If you don’t know how to have control, or you’re oblivious to some details during the smithing process, hehe, it’ll be very difficult for you to be a qualified Military Fire Blacksmith.”

Although Ou Yangming was normally a rather playful person, he could settle down during crucial moments and be quite decisive, or he would not have chosen the Military Fire while being watched by Zhang Yinfan.

Through Old Craftsman’s careful guidance, he was totally focused on learning the operation and control of the Military Fire.

Controlling his Military Fire was certainly a technical skill even though it seemed like it only involved a ball of flame because the way to unleash its most powerful might was knowledge to be learned.

For the whole day, Old Craftsman had been correcting some minor moves by Ou Yangming when he used the Military Fire. Small movements looked like they made little difference, but the small details were the ones that helped one to have better control.

It was a fundamental skill, thus it was worth it for Military Fire Blacksmiths even if they had to consume more energy.

Sweat began dripping from Ou Yangming’s head like raindrops after numerous rounds of practice.

While his mental power helped him to have a better start in the control and the timing of the Military Fire, he had not controlled it for long, hence he was still quite far from starting life anew.

Upon noticing Ou Yangming’s weariness through his eyes, his body, and his movements, Old Craftsman felt sorry for him. “Can you endure it?”

Ou Yangming breathed heavily, but responded with a smile, “Old man, what are you saying? Isn’t this just a bit of work? It won’t be a problem for me!” He then took a deep breath and became extremely focused.

Another small flame emerged from his palm, and even though he was becoming more exhausted, his determination grew stronger.

Old Craftsman nodded gladly and decided to give Ou Yangming more food for dinner. Even if it was the opposite of how he usually treated him, he wanted to let the young fellow have the best food to eat.

※※※※

For three whole days under Old Craftsman’s supervision, Ou Yangming focused on controlling the Military Fire. In the beginning, he could not achieve the ability to control the fire as he wished though he gave his utmost effort.

According to Old Craftsman, he had only scratched the surface and was still far from the real essence.

However, three days later, while the old man still kept a straight face, the delighted look in his eyes was obvious.

“Fella, you’re doing very well,” Old Craftsman commented satisfyingly. “In just three days, you’re able to release Military Fire from your heart and can activate the strongest energy in an instant. Mm, that’s pretty good.”

Ou Yangming’s eyes shone brightly. “Old man, how am I as compared to you?”

Old Craftsman’s expression instantly froze, and he sneered. “Hmph, you’re just a young b*stard, how dare you compare yourself with me?”

Nevertheless, he was actually very pleased with Ou Yangming’s performance.

A normal person had to explore for about a month just to stimulate the Military Fire and was considered talented if one could succeed in ten to thirty days.

While Ou Yangming had a head start since he possessed the natural gift of mental power, he was probably the only one who could incite the Military Fire and restore weapons the day after acquiring the fire.

“Old Man—” All of a sudden, a loud voice was heard outside.

Old Craftsman replied snappily, “Who’s that?”

“Old Man, General Chen has returned and asked that you pay him a visit.”

“What for?” Old Craftsman asked with a frown.

Ou Yangming clicked his tongue. General Chen’s full name was Chen Yifan, and he was a brigadier general in the military.

Although the post of a brigadier general was not a significant one in the dynasty, it was quite an honorable one in the military camp.

“Old Man, General Chen seems to have found a fine ore from his trip…”