Chapter 65 - Layering Art (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Soon after Old Craftsman and Ou Yangming left the courtyard, seeing that n.o.body was around, the old man quickly asked, “Young fella, when did you see him, and even compete with him?”

Ou Yangming scratched his head as he knew that he could not fool Old Craftsman anymore. In order to not let his body suffer, he could only reveal the truth that he was involved in a night battle. Of course, Ou Yangming did not disclose the part where Ni Yunhong defeated Yan Chengcai and the others, as well as when he did his best to save the situation and ended up being victorious.

He described the night battle vaguely, so it sounded like Yan Chengcai and the others played a bigger part, and they won the tangled fight by luck.

Old Craftsman frowned and commented, “Master Ni’s a blacksmith, after all. He’s not a pure martial artist, so it’s not surprising that he lost in that situation.”

Ou Yangming nodded, but said to himself, ‘If Ni Yunhong hears this comment, I wonder how he’ll feel.’

“Young fella, how confident are you about the challenge that’s happening in three days?” Old Craftsman sighed.

“Old Man, I won’t lose,” Ou Yangming answered seriously after some thoughts.

He spoke resolutely, which showed that his confidence was already unshakable.

“Forget it, come with me.” Old Craftsman exhaled deeply. Once they entered his smithing workshop, he looked at Ou Yangming sternly. “Your smithing art is quite good now, so you’re able to upgrade a piece of equipment or attach an attribute to it with ease. I’ll teach you my final trick, but it’s too rushed, so I’m not sure if it’s too late.” The old man shook his head.

Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up. “Old Man, tell me about it. Perhaps I’m extremely talented, and I’ll pick it up right away?”

Old Craftsman could not help but laugh. “B*stard, don’t reach for what’s beyond your grasp, you have a long way to go.”

“Yes, Old Man.” Ou Yangming immediately curbed his smile and sat upright.

Old Craftsman was cracked up by his reaction. “Okay, I’ll teach you the Layering Art. It’s my final trump card, so I have nothing else to teach you after this.”

“Layering Art?” Ou Yangming was stunned. “What’s that?”

“When you smith a piece of equipment and bind an attribute to it, do you only use one precious ore each time?” Old Craftsman asked.

“Yes.” Ou Yangming nodded in a daze, but wondered, ‘Oh, I can actually use more than one ore…’

Old Craftsman obviously did not hear his thoughts. He said, “Today, I’m going to teach you the skill to bind two precious ores to the same equipment.”

“Two precious ores?” Ou Yangming had a strange look on his face. He asked, “Old Man, only one precious ore can be fixed to each piece of equipment?”

The equipment set that he had smithed for himself had a total of 11 points and 4 points of Power and Agility, respectively.

Those points were distributed to different pieces of equipment, and the highest point achieved by a piece was 4 points of attributes. Ou Yangming initially thought that it was a matter of course for a piece of equipment to have more than one attribute attached, but judging from Old Craftsman’s tone, it was not as simple as it seemed.

“Naturally, it’s impossible that only one precious ore is allowed in a piece of equipment, but binding more ores increases the failure rate,” Old Craftsman explained seriously, then continued after a short pause, “The Layering Technique is valuable because it allows the same equipment to have more and stronger attributes, which in turn increases the equipment’s value.”

Ou Yangming nodded blankly but was actually feeling rather helpless.

‘How should I explain to Old Craftsman? If I directly tell him that I’ve grasped the Layering Art, the secret technique, is he going to hit me with a bamboo clapper?’

Ou Yangming decided as he touched his b.u.t.t. ‘Even if I’m actually trying to avoid getting beaten up, I should listen to him and go with the flow.’

Old Craftsman picked a piece of steel. “Young fella, listen well, a material decides what attributes can be accommodated. Normally, it’s good enough for a featured iron ingot to hold a precious ore’s power, but it’s different for steel. If a piece of equipment at the peak of High Grade is made, a maximum of four precious ores can be accommodated.”

Ou Yangming nodded and thought, ‘Indeed.’

Among the pieces of equipment he had smithed, there were three that could contain the highest number of attributes, which were the armor, the military saber, and the helmet.

That said, the attributes stored in the three pieces of equipment were limited to 4 points. Ou Yangming had tried to increase the attribute points, but when he released his Military Fire, the pieces of equipment gave him the feeling that they were about to break, hence he gave up on the thought as he was afraid.

Old Craftsman thought that Ou Yangming was shocked as he looked absent-minded. The old man laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t be too strict with you. Hehe, the layering of four precious ores is only a legend. If such a High Grade Equipment actually exists, each of it will be considered a little top-grade item, and it’ll also be much more valuable than a normal Fine Grade Attribute Equipment.”

Ou Yangming’s mouth twitched a little and was feeling more alert. ‘Looks like I’ll have to be more cautious when I go out in the future.

‘It’s fine if I occasionally produce a little top-grade item, but if I suddenly have three of them, they’re likely going to attract attention.’

“I’ll teach you the Layering Technique now. As long as you can smith a piece of layered equipment during the challenge in three days, your victory is guaranteed,” Old Craftsman said with a deep voice.