Immortal Path to Heaven

Chapter 143 Genuine Strength

Fang Xuande’s eyes burned bright, but he looked rather strange and confused as though he wanted to witness a miracle or was worried about something. On the other hand, Fang Yide’s eyes flickered and looked at Ou Yangming with strong enmity. Nonetheless, nobody could tell. The smithing of the archer equipment set was an incomparably huge matter in the Fang family. Regardless of the task’s final leader, that person would receive unimaginable benefits. It was evident that Fang Yide was unwilling to let Fang Yihai lead the task.

Therefore, he had spared no effort in roping in Fang Xuande, the number one smithing powerhouse in their clan, to object to the matter.

After all, Fang Yihai actually spoke carelessly in order to achieve his unspeakable goal; he claimed that a 16-year-old teen had acquired God-given Attributes. Putting aside the legitimacy of the news, so what if it was true? Without convincing smithing abilities, how could the clan entrust the unreal hope to a young junior?

That said, things began to develop beyond Fang Yide’s expectations.

Not knowing what tricks Ou Yangming had employed during the smithing process, Fang Xuande became so immersed in it that he seemed to have toned down and was not very against the idea anymore.

It was a terrible nightmare for Fang Yide.

His only hope was that the young fellow did not understand Fine Grade equipment very well.

However, when the Military Fire burned and completely enveloped the piece of featured steel, Fang Yide’s heart skipped a beat. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about it.

Fang Yide turned to look at Fang Xuande, hoping to catch a clue from the blacksmith’s face because he was acknowledged as the most powerful blacksmith in their clan.

Nevertheless, Fang Yide’s heart slowly sank because he saw once more how absorbed Fang Xuande was.

Ou Yangming had seen featured steel many times, but he had definitely not come across it much. In fact, it was his first time smithing and refining with a material like that.

Despite not having forged with such a material, he had previously smithed with tougher material.

It was the stones in the Chaos Cave, the ones that countless Black Magic Crawlers gnawed on with their mouthparts but could only obtain a bit of powder. The stones were superior to featured steel be it their toughness or their natural firmness.

Ou Yangming had easily refined the stones that day, so the substandard featured steel was not worth mentioning. As his Military Fire burned, the piece of featured steel melted slowly like butter. Ou Yangming then controlled with his mental conception to transform the dripping liquid into a longsword. The familiar words appeared in his mind again. [Upgradable composition found, upgrade?]

W

“Upgrade.’

After giving the instruction through his mind, the attributes of the longsword, which was enveloped by Ou Yangming’s Military Fire, were quickly improved. Ou Yangming devised a plan once he was aware of the Fang family’s secret weapon. As such, this moment was unquestionably the perfect opportunity to carry out the plan. Hence, he attached the Sharpness and Toughness attributes generously. After just a brief moment, the longsword achieved the maximum limit reachable by the raw material.

[Item: Extraordinary longsword]

(Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, Fine Grade, Rank Five]

[Attributes: Sharpness +20, Toughness +20, Durability 18]

A faint smile was seen on Ou Yangming’s face. He curbed the fire, then placed the longsword on the smithing table, and nodded with a smile. “Thank you for the trouble again.”

Ni Yinghong could not help but laugh. “Hehe, I don’t think it’s troublesome at all.”

Following that, she rubbed her hands again and released the Appraisal Light.

Ou Yangming was moved. When he previously appraised pieces of equipment with Ni Yunhong and Zheng Ziwen, Ni Yinghong could already perform appraisal art. In spite of that, she could not execute it as fast as she could at the moment; she was restrained by her mental power and dexterity.

Most importantly, she had to rest for 15 minutes after using the art once and could never perform it twice in a row without panting heavily after.

On the opposite, Ni Yinghong was relaxed and did not feel burdened at all when she used appraisal art this time. There was a huge disparity between the changes, and perhaps a stranger could not tell, but Ou Yangming identified that her mental power had greatly improved.

Ou Yangming lamented. The Ni family had utilized their clan’s Land of Inheritance right after it was found, and Ni Yinghong was unquestionably one of the first batches of people who benefited from it. “Grandfather from the Fang family, this sword is at the peak of Fine Grade… Rank Five!”

Ni Yinghong was surprised at first, but just as Fang Yide was secretly delighted as he thought Ou Yangming had failed, she gave him a despairing answer.

Fine Grade, Rank Five!

Whispers and discussions were instantly heard because even some powerhouses, who were adept in smithing art, were suspicious of the outcome.

“Impossible!” Fang Yide could not help but shout.

In actual fact, he knew that it was extremely unlikely that Ni Yinghong had lied, but he was in disbelief because the two pieces of equipment were evaluated to be at the peak of Rank Five.

The probability of smithing a piece of Fine Grade equipment by using featured steel was not low. Most blacksmiths with genuine talent could produce a similar result, but Rank Five… That was a piece of Rank Five equipment.

‘That young fella has just smithed two weapons. One’s a High Grade, one’s a Fine Grade, but both are in Rank Five?

‘I don’t understand smithing art very well, but it’s not like I know nothing either. Even if you want to lie about it, can you please not make it too obvious…’

“Indeed, it’s not very possible.” Questioning voices were heard one after another. Not only were the people from the Fang family doubtful, but some people from the Ni family had also stood up to express their discontent through their bright eyes.

Needless to say, those from the Ni family who voiced out were powerhouses from their bloodline branch. Besides, they were only displeased with the result and none of them dared to accuse Ni Yinghong of a falsification.

Ni Yinghong kept a straight face as if everything was within her expectations.

“Grandfather from the Fang family, may I ask why it isn’t possible?” She asked plainly.

Fang Yide scoffed and answered, “It’s possible that the longsword is of Fine Grade, but Rank Five… Hehe, if I’m not mistaken, the longsword earlier is also in Rank Five, am I right?”

“You’re right,” Ni Yinghong answered.

“If that’s the case, every piece of equipment smithed by Master Ou is in Rank Five?” Fang Yide smiled brightly.

Some people among the crowd laughed in secret and thought, ‘That’s such an unreliable statement. I’m afraid that only someone who knows nothing about smithing will believe that.’

“Hmph!” Ou Yangming suddenly scoffed and turned around, then he made his way to the side of the board again.

He drew everyone’s attention right away, by which even Ni Yinghong was surprised because she did not know what he was up to.

Ou Yangming glanced at the items on the board and reached out for an iron ingot. It was the most ordinary smithing material, which was usually used by a new blacksmith for practice or to mold pieces of normal equipment on a large scale.

Even the most ordinary yet official Military Fire or Spiritual Fire Blacksmith would not bother using it.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming studied the iron ingot for a while, then used his Military Fire to begin smithing. Everyone in the crowd looked at one another as they were baffled.

The better the raw material in equipment smithing, the higher the equipment’s grade. Ou Yangming had displayed his absolute ability in smithing art, and had even forged a piece of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five with featured steel.

Given the outcome, why had he chosen the most ordinary iron ingot?

Among the plenty of materials available, the iron ingot was undoubtedly the easiest material to be shaped. As Ou Yangming’s Military Fire burned, the material visibly melted at the speed of light, and a greave was instantly formed.

Ou Yangming shook his wrist to curb the fire, then casually placed the greave on the table.

Subsequently, he proceeded to retrieve a featured iron ingot, and his Military Fire burned once more to envelop the material. “Hey?” Fang Xuande asked in bewilderment, “Is he trying to…” “Is he trying to what?” Fang Yihai asked out loud. Amid the many people from the Fang family, he had the most confidence in Ou Yangming. He had witnessed the smithing challenge between Ou Yangming and Ni Yunhong, hence he knew very well that the teen could not be viewed as a normal person. “There’s a unique method among blacksmiths, and it’s used to test one’s skill,” Fang Xuande said hesitantly, “The method involves smithing a full basic equipment set with different materials because the limit of each material causes a huge difference in the equipment grades. However, the specific rank of pieces of equipment from the same grade shows the blacksmith’s genuine strength.”

Fang Yihai and the other spectators came to a sudden realization.

Nevertheless, it was also the exact reason they began looking at Ou Yangming strangely.

Smithing art’s mystery was endless, and the types of material available were unusual. Nobody had the guts to claim that they could master smithing with every material. Normally, a person who was adept in smithing with featured iron ingot might not necessarily be able to master smithing with steel or materials of a higher level.

Similarly, one who was great at smithing with steel might not be great at smithing with featured iron ingot. In fact, one might not actually be better than a blacksmith with a slightly inferior quality but was destined to use featured iron ingots forever.

Hence, a blacksmith’s genuine comprehensive strength could be shown by smithing all sorts of equipment with different materials.

Ou Yangming released his power without restraint. He looked like he was kneading the featured iron ingot as though it was dough, and another greave was produced again after a brief moment.

Two greaves, but two different materials.

That being said, it was not the end because Ou Yangming picked up another piece of steel. He studied it as if it was calculating something, then when the Military Fire burned again, part of the steel was instantly removed by melting it.

The remaining portion was quickly used to form an arm guard.

Ou Yangming seemed like he was addicted to the process. He put down the newly formed greave, then picked up a piece of featured steel to produce another arm guard.

Once he was done, he suddenly turned to ask with a smile, “Senior Fang, can you please choose a material for me?”