Chapter 265 - Super Speed (1/2)

There was an incredibly odd phenomenon in the capital’s Blacksmith a.s.sessment.

The number of apprentices was the highest each time because they could only acquire the Military Fire or the spiritual fire in a few short years. If they missed the time frame, they would be disqualified because of the lack of talent.

Secondly, more candidates went from being an official blacksmith to being a Rudimentary Blacksmith, as well as those who advanced from Rudimentary Rank to Intermediate Rank.

On the other hand, the number of people who progressed from the Intermediate Rank to the Advanced Rank declined like a cliff.

This was because there were not many blacksmiths who were confident about smithing a full equipment set within an hour and even attached an attribute to one of the pieces of equipment.

For most blacksmiths, the Advanced Blacksmith t.i.tle was a goal that was worth fighting for with their whole life. Nonetheless, n.o.body could guarantee that they would achieve the goal for sure.

Ou Yangming stood in a corner out of habit, but more people paid attention to him than the total number of Intermediate Blacksmiths.

In particular, almost everyone on the high platform was watching his every move; the blacksmiths with strong backings wanted to see if the young fellow could still create another miracle.

Ou Yangming casually released the Military Fire and wrapped it around a piece of featured steel.

When he took the Official Blacksmith a.s.sessment, ordinary iron ingots were the only raw materials provided on the casting table, but when he took the Advanced Blacksmith a.s.sessment now, the materials were replaced with much better ones.

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Apart from featured steel, there were around seven more commonly seen materials, and three Power Ores were placed at the corner. In other words, candidates were given three chances to attach an attribute, and one would pa.s.s the test by succeeding once. If one failed all three attempts, one would not be gaining the Advanced t.i.tle at all.

“Hey?” On the high platform, Jin Shengjie’s eyes changed, and he could not help but make a strange sound. The other people whispered to each other as they watched the a.s.sessment with bright eyes.

Under the Military Fire, the featured steel melted quickly in Ou Yangming’s hands as though it was an iron ingot. Moreover, it took the form of a military saber as the young fellow controlled the material with his fire.

Ou Yangming did something similar when he took the Official Blacksmith a.s.sessment earlier.

While the crowd was surprised, they were not as horrified as they were at the moment.

Yes, they were horrified.

Iron ingot and featured steel were both smithing materials, but there was a vast difference between their properties. One of the most basic properties was the melting point; featured steel’s melting point was far from what ordinary iron ingot could compare.

Normally, even an Intermediate Blacksmith with years—decades—of smithing experience could not accomplish the task easily.

Those who were fast had melted one of the featured steel’s corners; those who were slow had only melted its surface layer.

If their speed was compared with Ou Yangming’s, it would be clear that they were truly Heaven and Earth apart.

Nevertheless, the other candidates’ speed was the normality; it was the limit for most Intermediate and even Advanced Blacksmiths.

As for Ou Yangming, he was melting the featured steel at the speed of melting an iron ingot…

This was never seen before, let alone heard of.

The people on the high platform exchanged glances and asked themselves honestly; if they were in Ou Yangming’s shoes, they could not be anywhere close to him in terms of the melting technique and the speed.

Ou Yangming was not bothered by the looks from the crowd because the melting of featured steel was an extremely easy procedure for him; it was nothing worth showing off for. The purple Military Fire had endless wonderful functions, thus he completed the melting stage, which was incredibly tough for the other people, without any obstructions.

In actuality, the featured steel’s melting point was far from the purple Military Fire’s limit. After all, was the peculiar stone, which seemed to have surpa.s.sed the world’s boundary, not shaped into weapons and armor by the purple fire?

Under the Military Fire’s control, the featured steel was transformed into a military saber in a flash.

Options, which Ou Yangming had gotten used to, appeared in his mind.

[Upgradeable composition found, upgrade?]

Ou Yangming hesitated for a while before he decided to upgrade the weapon.

He had decided to display his specialty so that Master Wu Hongxi and the other Superior Blacksmiths would be aware of his ability and would not treat him lightly.

If Yuan Lixin and Yan Yuanhua knew Ou Yangming only had Master Wu Hongxi and the other Superior Blacksmiths in mind, and that he never attached any importance to them, only G.o.d knew how they would lament.

‘Featured steel is the most top-notch smithing material in the world, but it’s impossible to smith magic tools with it. I suppose pieces of the equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five are enough to make them treat me with more respect, right?’ Ou Yangming wondered.