Chapter 274 - Show Off My Skills (1/2)

“Old Craftsman?”

Everyone else looked at each other in disbelief.

There were not many blacksmiths in Changlong County, but Master Lu was the only one who Jin Shengjie and Wu Hongxi attached importance to. It was because they had a deep impression of Master Lu, who studied the Runes Secret Technique to upgrade inexpensive pieces of equipment on his own.

As for the other blacksmiths, even if their standards were superior, Jin Shengjie and Wu Hongxi did not pay much attention to them.

“Ah…” Jin Shengjie sighed. “There are really hidden talents in the wilderness!”

On the other hand, Wu Hongxi seemed disapproving. He laughed and remarked, “Lil’ Friend Ou, you must have a deep understanding of the path of equilibrium to be able to smith five pieces of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade in the a.s.sessment.”

Ou Yangming was moved. The path of equilibrium.’

He seemed to have comprehended something from the four words, and he looked surprised and overjoyed.

Wu Hongxi was known as the Fine Grade King because he had a knack for smithing pieces of Fine Grade equipment. In fact, he was known for having an incredibly high success rate in smithing pieces of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five.

Ou Yangming perceived something when he previously studied Master Wu’s work, and the four words finally clinched the point for him.

Needless to say, this only meant that Ou Yangming figured out the key to Wu Hongxi’s lost study, and it would be another thing to be able to achieve equilibrium.

The young fellow cupped his hands at Wu Hongxi and stated seriously, “It’s not equilibrium that I’m adept in, but the path of layering.”

“Layering?” Wu Hongxi was surprised. “Big Brother Jin, that’s your expertise.”

Jin Shengjie laughed. “I’m superior to you in the Layering Art, but I’m not as steady as you are; my success rate in smithing pieces of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade is far from yours.”

“Big Brother Jin, you’re being too polite.” Wu Hongxi could not help but laugh. He asked after some thought, “Lil’ Friend Ou, if it’s possible, can you give your all and smith something that you’ve mastered?”

Tan Yangping asked in shock, “Master, are we not going to study the magic tool anymore?”

“An extra person means more help and more ideas,” Wu Hongxi responded snappily. He gently tapped the casting table and said, “Lil’ Friend Ou, please.”

Ou Yangming chuckled. He could tell that Wu Hongxi wanted to test his smithing skills.

It turned out that the Fine Grade King did not fully believe the rumor from the a.s.sessment yesterday. Nevertheless, if Ou Yangming was in his shoes, he might not necessarily believe the absurd rumor too.

“Okay, since that’s the case, I’ll show off my skills, and I hope you’ll give me some pointers.” Ou Yangming stepped forward and rummaged through the items on the table, but he felt rather strange.

Five different metals were laid out on the casting table, but none of them was featured steel, which was a commonly used material.

He realized after some thought that Wu Hongxi and his people must have a special requirement for the magic tool that they were smithing, hence the raw materials used were distinctive too.

Nonetheless, it was normal because even Ou Yangming used peculiar stones when he smithed magic tools in the past. If that was not the case, he could not have smithed the treasures even if he was able to break through the world’s barrier.

Although the unique metals on the table were not featured steel, they were superior in terms of value.

Just as Ou Yangming casually picked up one of the metals and was about to begin, Tan Yangping commented, “Have you used black steel[1] before? Don’t waste it if you haven’t!”

Ou Yangming was stunned. He picked a piece of black steel, and it was true that he had never smithed with it before, but it was quite impolite of Tan Yangping to speak like that.

Wu Hongxi smiled bitterly. “Lil’ Friend Ou, please forgive Yangping. He’s a smithing genius, but apart from smithing, he’s not good at trifling matters like getting along with others.”

“I understand.” Ou Yangming chuckled when he looked at Tan Yangping, who did not seem to be convinced. He later raised the black steel in his hand and expressed, “Brother Yan, I’ve never used black steel before, but I roughly know its properties. It shouldn’t be a problem for me to smith something at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five.”

Following that, he enveloped the material with his Military Fire.

After hearing what Ou Yangming said, not only was Tan Yangping furious, but Jin Shengjie and Wu Hongxi seemed uneasy too. Ou Yangming made quite a big statement. If he had not used black steel before, it meant that he knew nothing about the material’s uniqueness, but he boasted on his first time smithing with it.

If the young fellow could accomplish the task, the two Superior Blacksmiths would humble themselves in front of him.

This was because one had to know the raw material inside out if one wanted to smith a piece of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade. If one had no understanding of the material at all, one would not be able to solve the various problems that would arise during the process.

Despite that, Ou Yangming’s Military Fire was different. To him, the type of material was unimportant because a material’s quality and its withstandable limit played the biggest role.

Even though black steel and featured steel were quite different, it would not be a big issue because they were materials on the same level.

“Hey?”

Next, the faces of Wu Hongxi and Tan Yangping changed all of a sudden. They saw the black steel being melted in a flash in Ou Yangming’s hands.

The Military Fire and the spiritual fire could melt metals, and they had the unique ability to shape metals according to one’s wish. Even so, the flames’ effects were completely different when they were used to melt different types of metal.

For instance, the black steel in Ou Yangming’s hands is greater than featured steel for most of the indexes. Therefore, a piece of equipment smithed with black steel would be superior to one that was smithed with featured steel. However, black steel had a near-disastrous shortcoming-its melting point was too high.