Chapter 67 - : The General Summons (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Yan Haobo and the others surrounded Ou Yangming to please him in every possible way. Ou Yangming naturally knew their motives, they wanted to ask for a piece of decent equipment. That said, unless it was necessary, it was impossible for him to smith divine weapons or sharp tools for them just because they were flattering him.

Suddenly, a noise was heard outside all of a sudden, and the crowd moved aside for Liu Zhengye to enter the barrack.

He smiled at Ou Yangming. “Master Ou, you’re here. The general is looking for you, come with me!”

Ou Yangming responded to him, then stood up and left with him. He could not help but lament.

Just a month ago, Liu Zhengye addressed Ou Yangming as a young fellow, like Chen Yifan and Old Craftsman did, but this time, he was calling him a master.

It seemed like the only way to gain someone else’s respect was to become more powerful. Only when he became powerful enough to not be neglected, would he receive his well-deserved treatment.

They arrived at the general’s residence after a brief moment.

Chen Yifan’s eyes glowed when he saw Ou Yangming, and he smiled. “Ou Yangming, you really became famous this time!”

Ou Yangming laughed embarra.s.sedly. “General, you’re overpraising me. I only smithed some pieces of equipment for them, it was the brave soldiers who used them.”

Chen Yifan nodded and responded, “It’s great that you think that way, but Yu Hailiang from the South Camp and Jiang Chengwei from the Middle Camp admire you so much that they insisted on granting you the most credits. In the end, General Deng made the decision and approved it.”

Ou Yangming obviously knew that General Deng was the Middle Camp’s commanding general, and was also the real commander-in-chief of the military camp. Since the general had made his decision, it would be pointless for the other people to object.

“General Chen granted you a thousand credits, are you satisfied?” Chen Yifan informed.

“Thank you, general!” Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up.

“You should thank General Deng, not me,” Chen Yifan waved his hand and replied to him, then continued after a short pause, “Actually, since you refined explosive arrows, which were used to defeat the enemy, it’s reasonable that you’re given the most credits.”

Ou Yangming smiled brightly as it was a delightful surprise that he was given credits.

Chen Yifan suddenly changed the topic. “I heard that you’ll be challenging Master Ni in smithing art?”

“Yes,” Ou Yangming nodded and answered.

“Master Ni is a reputable Spiritual Fire Smithing Master from the prefecture, whereas you’ve only controlled the Military Fire for a few years, so how can you compare with him? Aren’t you overestimating yourself?” Chen Yifan remarked.

Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows. “General, although Master Ni has learned smithing techniques for a long time, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll defeat me.”

Chen Yifan and Liu Zhengye frowned and looked at each other.

They had actually summoned Ou Yangming to ask him to cancel his challenge against Ni Yunhong.

In actual fact, based on the short duration of time Ou Yangming had controlled the Military Fire, n.o.body would rebuke him even if he withdrew from the challenge. This was because everyone knew that smithing art could not be grasped overnight.

However, Ou Yangming had just been given the most credits for slaughtering a half-spirit beast, and he had gained a high reputation as a result.

The fact that Ni Yunhong agreed to the challenge at this moment showed that he had other motives.

“Ah, Master Ou, do you know that our general isn’t really on good terms with General Tian from the East Camp?” Liu Zhengye cleared his throat and asked.

Ou Yangming replied to him without any hesitation, “I’ve heard that.”

“Okay, I’ll be honest with you then. Master Ni’s a smithing expert, invited by General Tian from the prefecture with the intention of going against Old Craftsman. Now that you’ve suddenly become famous, he’s making a move on you instead,” Liu Zhengye nodded and explained, then added after pausing for a while, “It’ll be great if you win the challenge, but if you lose, our general’s reputation will be ruined!”

Chen Yifan waved his hand and expressed, “It’s fine if it’s my reputation, but I’m afraid that people will criticize Old Craftsman, saying that his smithing art is not that great after all. If that’s the case, Ni Yunhong can easily take advantage of the situation by challenging Old Craftsman. Heh, it’s true that the old man is skillful, but he has aged, so he might not be able to take it!”

Ou Yangming had a serious look on his face. The thought had not crossed his mind.

He clenched his fists together, and was determined to not make any mistake during the challenge.

“Master Ou, you can actually turn down the challenge with the excuse that you’ve only used the Military Fire for a short span of time,” Liu Zhengye suggested with a smile, then a.s.sured seriously, “I guarantee that n.o.body will rebuke or belittle you.”

Ou Yangming was stunned as he had just understood what they meant.

He pondered for a while, then suddenly asked, “General, what’s the spiritual fire?”

Chen Yifan answered after some thought, “Powerful blacksmiths are either bestowed with the Military Fire by the imperial family, or inherit the spiritual fire pa.s.sed down through their family’s clan. Ni Yunhong’s a genius from the Ni family. He has a n.o.ble background, and extraordinary talent, so he’s definitely not someone whom you can fight against.”

He exaggerated Ni Yunhong’s strength as much as possible to persuade Ou Yangming to retreat.