“Once you become a Military Fire Blacksmith, you’ll have quite some authority in the camp, which will be enough for you to survive. However, you’ll have to forge a suitable armament by yourself in a short period of time if you’d like to be a blacksmith that won’t be denounced,” Old Craftsman explained, then added after a short pause, “Do you remember what I taught you?’
Ou Yangming nodded and pointed at his head. “Yes, old man, it’s all here.”
“Alright, I’ll explain again, so make sure you remember well. Since you’ve just started operating the fire today, you don’t understand Curbing Art, so go eat and sleep, then come learn tomorrow.”
Ou Yangming stood straight and was going to say that he had just woken up, and was full of energy.
At the next instant, he realized that he was really hungry, and was actually quite tired.
After blinking his eyes for a while, he nodded. “Yes, old man, I’ll listen to you.”
With that, he returned to his barrack and slept for a long time.
When he awoke two hours later, he felt so refreshed it was as though his troubles were no longer worth mentioning.
Chapter 5
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At Old Craftsman’s smithing workshop, the old man began explaining in detail to Ou Yangming.
It was definitely not an easy job to forge a high-quality armament.
Using military sabers as an example, without the Military Fire, one would need to first turn raw iron into a ball, which would be heated at a high temperature in a coal furnace to produce sponge iron. It would later be made into a long rod, which would be separated into many sections for further processing depending on their grades. Those with better quality would be used to craft sabers, whereas poorer ones were used to make farming tools and the like.
Following that, fine materials were used to smith the saber blade through foldforming1, then the blade, the saber back, and the saber grip were beaten into shape.
The entire process was complicated, time-consuming, and could not be accomplished at one go.
However, it would be completely different using the Military Fire. If one were to smith using the fire, the whole process would speed up. With enough energy and profound skills, it would even be possible to forge a military saber in an hour.
Of course, it was a simple task for Old Craftsman, but could not be achieved by Ou Yangming yet.
“Fella, what do you think is the most important thing to do now?” Old Craftsman asked seriously.
Ou Yangming pondered for some time before he answered, “Prepare to forge an armament.”
Old Craftsman scoffed. “Wrong. The most important thing for you to do now is to learn how to operate your Military Fire because it’s not easy to use it. If you don’t know how to have control, or you’re oblivious to some details during the smithing process, hehe, it’ll be very difficult for you to be a qualified Military Fire Blacksmith.”
Although Ou Yangming was normally a rather playful person, he could settle down during crucial moments and be quite decisive, or he would not have chosen the Military Fire while being watched by Zhang Yinfan.
Through Old Craftsman’s careful guidance, he was totally focused on learning the operation and control of the Military Fire.
Controlling his Military Fire was certainly a technical skill even though it seemed like it only involved a ball of flame because the way to unleash its most powerful might was knowledge to be learned.
For the whole day, Old Craftsman had been correcting some minor moves by Ou Yangming when he used the Military Fire. Small movements looked like they made little difference, but the small details were the ones that helped one to have better control.
It was a fundamental skill, thus it was worth it for Military Fire Blacksmiths even if they had to consume more energy.
Sweat began dripping from Ou Yangming’s head like raindrops after numerous rounds of practice.
While his mental power helped him to have a better start in the control and the timing of the Military Fire, he had not controlled it for long, hence he was still quite far from starting life anew.
Upon noticing Ou Yangming’s weariness through his eyes, his body, and his movements, Old Craftsman felt sorry for him. “Can you endure it?”
Ou Yangming breathed heavily, but responded with a smile, “Old man, what are you saying? Isn’t this just a bit of work? It won’t be a problem for me!” He then took a deep breath and became extremely focused.
Another small flame emerged from his palm, and even though he was becoming more exhausted, his determination grew stronger.
Old Craftsman nodded gladly and decided to give Ou Yangming more food for dinner. Even if it was the opposite of how he usually treated him, he wanted to let the young fellow have the best food to eat.
※※※※
For three whole days under Old Craftsman’s supervision, Ou Yangming focused on controlling the Military Fire. In the beginning, he could not achieve the ability to control the fire as he wished though he gave his utmost effort.
According to Old Craftsman, he had only scratched the surface and was still far from the real essence.
However, three days later, while the old man still kept a straight face, the delighted look in his eyes was obvious.
“Fella, you’re doing very well,” Old Craftsman commented satisfyingly. “In just three days, you’re able to release Military Fire from your heart and can activate the strongest energy in an instant. Mm, that’s pretty good.”
Ou Yangming’s eyes shone brightly. “Old man, how am I as compared to you?”
Old Craftsman’s expression instantly froze, and he sneered. “Hmph, you’re just a young b*stard, how dare you compare yourself with me?”
Nevertheless, he was actually very pleased with Ou Yangming’s performance.
A normal person had to explore for about a month just to stimulate the Military Fire and was considered talented if one could succeed in ten to thirty days.
While Ou Yangming had a head start since he possessed the natural gift of mental power, he was probably the only one who could incite the Military Fire and restore weapons the day after acquiring the fire.
“Old Man—” All of a sudden, a loud voice was heard outside.
Old Craftsman replied snappily, “Who’s that?”
“Old Man, General Chen has returned and asked that you pay him a visit.”
“What for?” Old Craftsman asked with a frown.
Ou Yangming clicked his tongue. General Chen’s full name was Chen Yifan, and he was a brigadier general in the military.
Although the post of a brigadier general was not a significant one in the dynasty, it was quite an honorable one in the military camp.
“Old Man, General Chen seems to have found a fine ore from his trip…”
Before the sentence was finished, Old Craftsman’s eyes shone. “Alright, I understand, inform him that I’ll be there right away.”
The reason he dedicated his life to being a blacksmith was that he truly loved the profession, thus he was moved the instant he heard that there was fine material.
“Fella, it’s dark now, so that’s all for today. You should pack up and go home,” he mentioned, then left in a hurry.
Ou Yangming shook his head with a bitter smile, but he did not stop the old man because he knew it was more than a job for him. It was his greatest hobby.
Once the old man left, Ou Yangming regained his composure and was about to continue practicing controlling the Military Fire when a soft knock was heard on the door.
He was stunned for a while, but he opened the door as he did not suspect anything.
His face changed the moment he saw who was standing outside.
Zhang Hanyu, the handsome, fair-skinned man was curling his lips at him.
A million thoughts crossed Ou Yangming’s mind, and when he was about to shout for help, Zhang Hanyu reached his hand out to hit him.
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Ou Yangming tried his best to dodge the hit, but Zhang Hanyu’s palm moved as fast as lightning and hit his chest in the blink of an eye.
Subsequently, Ou Yangming’s chest hurt, which was followed by a hot stream gushing upward. Although his mouth was opened, he could not make a sound.
Since Zhang Hanyu planned this, he strode toward Ou Yangming to strike his neck as well. As a result, Ou Yangming collapsed to the ground as he fainted, and could no longer tolerate it.
After many years of being in the military, Zhang Hanyu had built a strong body, thus he was not someone who Ou Yangming, a young man who was not done with puberty, could contend with.
Therefore, it was as easy as a pie for him to capture Ou Yangming through a sneak attack.
Despite that, he still looked around carefully after knocking Ou Yangming out.
The sky was already dark, and while the military camp was not dead silent, there were very few people moving around in the Armament Camp.
He pulled Ou Yangming up, then walked around the camp discreetly. Before long, he brought him to the abandoned armory.
For all that, he was so focused on avoiding people along the way that he did not notice that Ou Yangming opened his eyes for a brief moment, then returned to normal.
In the armory, Zhang Hanyu glanced around to make sure that it was empty.
He put Ou Yangming on the floor, then retrieved a cylinder, and said with a hideous smile, “Fella, how dare you steal what’s mine? Hmph, I’ll let you pay with interest!”
After sticking the cylinder to the back of Ou Yangming’s head, he carefully took a talisman out and pressed it on the other end of the cylinder.
The talisman lit up without a fire source, and, as it burned, the cylinder shone.
When the talisman eventually finished burning, the cylinder’s light dimmed too.
However, Zhang Hanyu had a strange look on his face, because he did not see what he expected to see. There was no Military Fire Seed in the cylinder; it was still empty.
Feeling slightly at a loss, he muttered, “What, what is this? Where’s the Military Fire Seed? Where’s the Military Fire Seed? Was this fella so dumb that he didn’t acquire the Military Fire Seed from the Military Fire Badge? No, that doesn’t seem like it. Old Craftsman has been taking special care of him lately, he must’ve sensed the seed inside his body.”
He felt like an ant on fire as he held the empty cylinder.
After looking at Ou Yangming who was on the floor, he vented his anger at him, then put his leg out to kick Ou Yangming’s stomach. “It’s all your fault, you’re going to pay for this!”
Just as he was about to kick him, Ou Yangming, who was initially unconscious ,opened his eyes, then placed his hand in front of his stomach.
It was then that Zhang Hanyu widened his eyes at him as though he just saw the most unbelievable thing in the world.
There was only one thing on his mind. ‘Why didn’t he pass out?’
At the next instant, a hint of red light was seen at the corner of his eyes.
A ball of shining red light was seen in the hand that Ou Yangming used to stop him.
‘Military Fire!’
‘Oh god! It’s actually the Military Fire!’
At the spur of the moment, Zhang Hanyu came to a sudden realization.
‘No wonder I couldn’t gain anything, it’s because he has already stimulated the Military Fire.’
He was instantly appalled. ‘My foot, my foot…’
Chapter 6
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Pow…”
Zhang Hanyu kicked Ou Yangming’s hand hard.
“Humph—”
The two of them grunted at the same time. Ou Yangming even flew up and did a somersault in mid-air before he fell to the ground.
Nevertheless, the young fellow immediately got up again, then he scurried away like an agile rat to hide among the piles of abandoned weapons in the armory.
Their military camp was not at the frontline, so they would not face enemies right away. According to the division made by the dynasty, it was only a secondary camp for assistance and training. Furthermore, it also served an important purpose, which was gathering the eliminated and damaged armor from other camps or the battlefield.
Once there was a certain amount of armor collected, strong men would pick them up and bring them to the big workshop in the national capital for them to be melted for a second use.
However, the armor was piled up at the armory for the time being due to the insufficient amount and were left unbothered. As such, they became natural shelters for Ou Yangming to hide from being hunted.
A thud was heard when Zhang Hanyu fell butt first to the ground. He grabbed his foot with his hands tightly, and his handsome face was twisted as he was in immense pain.
He swore with his soul that the instant he saw the red light, he curbed his power as much as he could.
That was because he recognized the Military Fire, and only a moron would kick the fire directly with one’s body.
Sadly, by the time he realized it, he had already kicked. Although he controlled his strength as he only wanted to make Ou Yangming spit blood and break a few of his ribs, he could not stop whenever he wanted to.
This was because he could not choose to hold back or to attack in a flash of thought as his martial art cultivation base was not profound enough.
Therefore, even when he decided to withdraw his kick, he could only watch as his irreversible action hit the red light.
Consequently, sharp pain was felt in his leg, and the pain was so extreme that he lost his footing. When he fell to the ground, he almost passed out too.
‘Mm, the Military Fire is used to smith weapons, it’s definitely not meant for fighting.’
There were plenty of Military Fire Blacksmiths in the past dynasties, but none of them were famous for fighting. This was because nobody would fight against them with bare hands.
If the Military Fire was used to forge weapons, one could imagine how high the temperature was.
Using one’s body to compete with the Military Fire… It was Ou Yangming’s first time encountering a fool like that.
As Zhang Hanyu breathed heavily, every breath he took felt like a severely injured creature was struggling desperately, and he felt like he would faint any time.
After a long time, he finally recovered from the discomfort that felt similar to death.
The only thing that made him glad was that his leg was not in contact with the Military Fire for a long time, and had only brushed it. Hence, while his leg was terribly hurt due to the burn, it was not crippled, so he gritted his teeth and endured it to get rid of the dizziness.
When he looked up again at the piles of armor, he heard an extremely soft sound.
It was Ou Yangming. He neither escaped when Zhang Hanyu was too occupied to look for him nor took the opportunity to attack him. Instead, he hid like a mouse.
Upon realizing that, Zhang Hanyu’s face that was previously twisted due to the pain became even more terrifying.
He would have been helpless if Ou Yangming simply escaped, or if Ou Yangming had the courage to attack him.
A shiver ran down his body when he thought about it, so he quickly got rid of those thoughts. Nonetheless, he also negated the possibility of them actually happening because Ou Yangming, who was an orphan, was anything but brave.
‘Since he didn’t escape, he must die today!’
Zhang Hanyu was determined to not let Ou Yangming live because he stimulated the Military Fire. Whether it was the pain from his leg injury or his uncontainable jealousy of Ou Yangming, he could not allow him to live like a normal person.
Enduring the pain, he hopped over to where Ou Yangming was and picked up a broken short sword along the way. Though his injured leg was making things inconvenient for him, he was confident enough to kill.
He knew that Ou Yangming had never received any martial
arts training, hence he could simply kill him if he had some strength left.
However, he was unaware that Ou Yangming, who was hiding behind a pile of discarded weapons, was not trembling in a corner, but was doing something within his power.
When Zhang Hanyu hit the back of Ou Yangming’s neck at the smithing workshop, it was true that Ou Yangming had fainted, but he had only passed out for an extremely short period of time. That was because a purple light suddenly flashed in his mind.
The purple light appeared very abruptly and Ou Yangming changed at that instant.
He did not acquire power that could destroy Heaven and destruct Earth, but his consciousness seemed to have been withdrawn from his body. Though he could still control his body like normal, he felt like he was watching from the side.
In a way, his consciousness split into two due to the strange purple light.
Half of it remained in his body, whereas the other half became a spectator.
Perhaps the odd yet mysterious split of Ou Yangming consciousness made him feel exceptionally calm like never before.
He watched Zhang Hanyu’s every move calmly, or in fact, a more objective explanation for that would be that he was sensing it.
Even when he closed his eyes, he was able to have full control of his surroundings, but it was only limited to slightly more than a ten-meter range.
Despite that, it was a wonderful experience for him.
By having the ability to cheat, he saw through Zhang Hanyu’s every move and could make the right judgment calmly. In addition, he was able to pretend to be unconscious to let Zhang Hanyu drop his guard. Only when his body was in grave danger as he was being kicked did he attempt to defeat his enemy in one move.
After hiding behind a pile of abandoned armor, Ou Yangming’s body and consciousness remained in the same state. He was like an ice-cold machine without any emotions.
Needless to say, he also knew that attacking Zhang Hanyu at this moment was one of the better options.
In spite of that, he had no idea if Zhang Hanyu had a trump card, and his consciousness was telling him to not let his opponent make a comeback.
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 5
