Chapter 51 (1/2)

The next morning, Ou Yangming reported to Old Craftsman, then left with Yan Haobo’s ten-men squad.

Although Old Craftsman was confused and slightly displeased about Ou Yangming being so keen to enter the dense forest, he did not make a fuss out of it. He looked at the young fellow, then sighed just as he was feeling a tingling sensation. “You’ve grown up, so you should have your own ideas. I just hope that you won’t pursue instant results because doing things step by step is the norm that we should follow.”

Ou Yangming nodded. In actual fact, if he had not acquired the purple brilliance from the Military Fire Badge, he could not have had such unbelievable performances. Back then, he would have followed Old Craftsman’s teachings methodically to advance steadily.

Perhaps he could be on par with or surpa.s.s Old Craftsman one day.

Nevertheless, since Heaven gave him the opportunity, he would try to accomplish something to not waste his youth.

Needless to say, Ou Yangming could think about it or even put it into practice, but it was best for him to keep it low in front of Old Craftsman.

Ou Yangming set out smoothly since Old Craftsman did not stop him.

While it was a ten-men squad, there were actually more than twenty men who followed Yan Haobo, and they even prepared mules and horses to transport items.

It was then when Ou Yangming realized that hunting in the dense forest was not as simple as he imagined because there were fixed procedures to follow in the military camp.

All pieces of equipment were carried by the mules and horses, which were only distributed once they were outside the dense forest.

It was a much more relaxed trip than when Ou Yangming ran with full equipment by himself.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming twitched his mouth a little when he took a closer look at the pieces of equipment.

These men were the Guards under General Chen Yifan’s command, and each of them had the cultivation base of at least Force Grade Cla.s.s Five. In fact, more than half of the soldiers were already at Yin Grade, such that Squad Leader Yan Haobo was even a master at Yin Grade Cla.s.s Three.

Despite that, the pieces of equipment that they had were unsightly. While they did not lack a military saber, a s.h.i.+eld, a helmet, arm guards, and greaves, not every one of them had armor.

Yan Haobo chuckled when he glanced at Ou Yangming. “Master Ou, please don’t laugh at us. One who joins the Guards will be given a full equipment set, but the general gave orders that those who aren’t at Yin Grade yet can’t be wearing armor.”

Ou Yangming was slightly surprised. “Why?”

“Because they don’t have enough power.” Yan Haobo sighed. “If they’re fully equipped, they won’t last long in a battle, let alone surviving in the dense forest.”

Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows as he came to a sudden realization.

When he previously wore full equipment at the dense forest’s border, they seemed to be weightless, so his speed was not affected at all.

As such, he neglected a fundamental issue.

Power.

A martial artist’s power was far above an ordinary person’s. When Ou Yangming exchanged blows with Yan Haobo, he felt that Yan Haobo was very powerful, and estimated that he was the equivalent of roughly 9 points of attributes, but definitely below 10 points.

After being fully equipped, Yan Haobo actually had a total of 11 points of Power and 4 points of Agility.

The armor’s weight should not be underestimated, but it was not worth mentioning if compared to 11 points of Power.

Ou Yangming suddenly comprehended the mightiness of Attribute Equipment like never before. With sufficient attributes, even a rookie could kill an old master by punching crazily.

He frowned when he glanced at the remaining pieces of equipment. “They’re mostly Common Grade items…”

The soldiers behind Yan Haobo were dissatisfied. ‘What do you mean they’re mostly Common Grade? Other than a few of them, the rest are all Common Grade items! But this is a treatment that’s only given to the Guards, and many men in the military will train hard just to be a part of them because having a full set of equipment is simply enviable.’

‘This young man talks really big, he’s quite annoying.’

On the other hand, Yan Haobo’s eyes glowed. He was the one among everyone else who knew about the fight two nights ago, and he knew where Yan Chengcai and his brothers got their arm guards and greaves from.

Honestly, he coveted those pieces of equipment too. If it was not for his nephew and that he dared not offend Ou Yangming, he would have done everything he could to get them too.

“Yes, they’re mostly Common Grade items. Ah, I actually wanted to upgrade their equipment qualities so they can at least withstand longer if they encounter stronger enemies or beasts,” Yan Haobo quickly mentioned upon hearing Ou Yangming, and he shook his head helplessly before continuing, “but we only have this much funds in the military. Even with strict budgeting, it’s impossible for us to change everyone’s equipment!”

He sounded like he was not resigned to the outcome because Yan Chengcai and those new soldiers already possessed Good Grade arm guards and greaves, yet old soldiers like them from the Guards only had Common Grade ones.

The pieces of Common Grade equipment that Yan Haobo valued in the past seemed to have lost their color.