Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725

by Heaven's White Crane

  He did not expect an attribute that he encountered by chance to be so useful.

  Following that, he quickly left his courtyard to head to the abandoned depot.

  The depot still had piles of discarded equipment. Ou Yangming entered the depot excitedly, then casually picked up pieces of equipment to draw their attributes. It was only half an hour later when he finally calmed down.

  Nevertheless, he smiled bitterly.

  It was not easy to come across Unique Attributes. Ou Yangming had already filled up the purple light slots in his mind, but apart from Sharpness and Toughness, he did not chance on any Unique Attribute.

  This made him realize that it was definitely accidental luck when he previously drew a Unique Attribute at the depot.

  Luck could be discovered but not sought. When he looked forward to searching for it, he could not find it anymore.

  All of a sudden, Ou Yangming who was feeling regretful was shocked.

  He trembled when he sensed the number of purple lights in his mind because there were more than what he imagined.

  Ou Yangming did not notice it as he was focused on finding a Unique Attribute earlier, but when he came back to his senses, he realized that he already had more than a hundred and seventy purple lights in his mind.

  After advancing to Force Grade Class Three in martial arts, he was able to store ten more purple lights due to the improvement of his essential Qi. Despite that, it only amounted to seventy slots, which was a huge difference from the present hundred and seventy slots.

  Ou Yangming vaguely guessed the reason behind it.

  Mental power.

  This was probably the change that occurred after he incited his mental power.

  Even though he could not fully grasp his mental power’s application yet, the complementary benefit that came with it was already revealed.

  A bit of mental power was able to increase the purple light storage by a hundred, and in terms of efficiency only, mental power was much better than essential Qi.

  After a long time, Ou Yangming finally composed himself and went to his smithing workshop with numerous attributes in his mind.

  Yan Chengcai and his men would be joining a night battle tomorrow night, and Ou Yangming was determined to keep his promise since he agreed to help them. Furthermore, the battle’s purpose was also to fight for Old Craftsman’s reputation, thus he was not going to take it half-heartedly.

  Based on Ou Yangming’s current place in Kang Weibo’s heart, his smithing workshop was naturally equipped with normal materials.

  He even had precious ores, let alone steel, and featured iron ingots. In fact, he had as many iron ingots as he wanted.

  Ou Yangming picked a featured iron ingot, then began smithing a piece of equipment with his Military Fire.

  By controlling with his conception, the iron ingot took the shape of an arm guard very quickly. Ou Yangming was already very familiar with forging normal equipment, such that the mass appraisal that he did earlier was a rare experience for him. He had the chance to see the merits and drawbacks of different equipment, which helped him comprehend the smithing process even better.

  Having experiences as references and making summaries were mandatory for anyone in any industry to improve skills. Needless to say, Ou Yangming was very keen as well.

  Soon enough, an arm guard was formed. Afterward, purple lights in his mind began flickering as they moved into the guard slowly to turn it into a product at the peak of Good Grade.

  Ou Yangming smiled proudly because only very few could smith an arm guard at the peak of Good Grade so easily.

  Other blacksmiths could smith Good Grade arm guards simply by using the Military Fire, but it was impossible for them to make all of them be at the peak.

  Only by using the Military Fire could one achieve something as unbelievable as this.

  Ou Yangming nodded happily, then continued smithing the same equipment.

  He soon realized two things. One was when he used the Military Fire, not only his essential Qi was being consumed, but the mental power light between his eyebrows was also releasing some power.

  This meant that the fuel for Ou Yangming’s Military Fire was no longer physical power, but a mixture of essential Qi and mental power.

  Before this, Ou Yangming heard from Old Craftsman that he was able to use Military Fire for a long time before he cultivated martial arts, and was likely consuming mental power. That being said, mental power was invisible, thus Ou Yangming did not know how it was being consumed.

  He finally felt it this time.

  The mental power was not under his control, but it was truly beneficial for him.

  As for the second thing, it was the necklace on his neck.

  The necklace was worthy of being a piece of Fine Grade equipment; the power it was capable of recovering was not just limited to essential Qi because mental power was also within its scope.

  Whether it was essential Qi or mental power, they would definitely be consumed once they were used. As long as one Ou Yangming did not overuse them, adequate consumptions would actually help him improve, and would also increase their capacity.

  Additionally, they would also recover slowly. Of course, the recovery speed and consumption rate were not proportionate, thus it was possible for Ou Yangming to be depleted of essential Qi and mental power.

  Nonetheless, the consumption process was slowed down by a lot when he wore the Qi Return necklace.

  The effect became more obvious when Ou Yangming began smithing the tenth arm guard. Back then, he would already be exhausted from smithing for a long time, and would also be lethargic due to the power consumption.

  His condition at the moment was very different from before because his essential Qi and mental power were being recovered quickly although they could not catch up to their consumption rate.

  Ou Yangming initially planned to smith ten arm guards at that moment and ten more the next day to gather ten pairs for Yan Chengcai and the others.

  However, he suddenly realized after smithing ten arm guards that he still had energy and was still extremely thrilled.

  Without any hesitation, Ou Yangming continued smithing for the whole night. By the time he stopped, he noticed that he had finished all ten pairs of arm guards, and their quality was much better than expected.

  Eight of them were White Slate Arm Guards at the peak of Good Grade Rank Five, and one of them was a High Grade Rank One arm guard which Ou Yangming specially prepared for Yan Chengcai. The last guard was a piece of Attribute Equipment at the peak of Good Grade, which had a Precision +1 attribute.

  Ou Yangming swore that he did not attach any Unique Attribute to that arm guard. The Accuracy +1 attribute appeared out of nowhere just like when the Vision +1 attribute appeared on the High Grade helmet during the smithing process.

  The Military Fire contained a mysterious power. It would occasionally attach some energy absorbed from the void to a piece of equipment, which would form a Unique Attribute. Although it was extremely rare, the situation was not impossible.

  Needless to say, the situation was a good thing for Ou Yangming.

  After looking at the arm guards contentedly, he returned to his residence to rest.

  The next morning, Ou Yangming went to his smithing workshop again to continue smithing until Yan Chengcai visited him nervously in the afternoon.

  Chapter 45

  Upon seeing Yan Chengcai, Ou Yangming was happy even though he had been working tirelessly for a day.

  How could he not be happy?

  He drew a conclusion from yesterday’s practical test that the Qi Return attribute allowed him to prolong the Military Fire’s usage duration by thirty percent although the used amount was the same. The increased duration was not to be underestimated at all because it was a significant difference for other Military Fire Blacksmiths.

  Needless to say, the time could be prolonged further if the Military Fire’s usage intensity was reduced. Similarly, it would be shortened i
f the intensity was increased.

  Ou Yangming would love to acquire more Qi Return attributes if it was possible, but it was difficult for him at the moment.

  He smiled when he saw the hopeful yet awkward Yan Chengcai. “Brother Yan, you don’t have to be so prudish.

  Yan Chengcai smiled bitterly, but wondered, ‘Even my uncle and Uncle Sui are very respectful toward you, how can I be unrestrained?’

  “The items are there, but I’m afraid that you can’t carry everything yourself.” Ou Yangming brought him into his smithing workshop, then pointed at the pieces of equipment in a corner that were already prepared in advance.

  Yan Chengcai was struck dumb, and he instantly widened his eyes.

  There was indeed a pile of equipment at the corner, but instead of the expected ten pairs of arm guards, there were also ten pairs of greaves.

  Yan Chengcai was already mentally prepared before he visited.

  Ou Yangming would definitely not make him come in vain, so the ten pairs of arm guards needed would be ready. Even if there were not ten pairs, Ou Yangming would prepare a few. Nevertheless, Yan Chengcai would be thankful.

  After all, equipment was sometimes the determining factor of a party’s victory or defeat in a fight.

  No matter how great Yan Chengcai’s imagination was, he would not have expected Ou Yangming to prepare ten pairs of arm guards and ten pairs of greaves in just a day.

  Force Grade soldiers like them were only insignificant people at the bottom class in the military camp.

  Other than military sabers and leather armors, other types of equipment were not distributed in the camp, thus arm guards and greaves were considered luxurious items.

  As such, Yan Chengcai was naturally in disbelief when Ou Yangming prepared so much for them.

  “Th-these…” Yang Chengcai asked carefully, “Master Ou, are you giving all of them to us?”

  Ou Yangming replied snappily, “If I’m not giving them to you, am I going to keep them and play with it?”

  Yan Chengcai rubbed his hands embarrassedly. “Th-these are too valuable…”

  “Brother Yan, there are ten pairs of arm guards and greaves respectively here. Among them, eight pairs of arm guards and greaves are at the peak of Good Grade Rank Five.”

  “Ah, at the peak of Good Grade Rank Five!” Yan Chengcai gasped.

  In his opinion, the pieces of equipment were amazing if they were of Good Grade, but if each of them were at the peak of Rank Five… He could almost see the outcome of the night battle tonight.

  Ou Yangming added, “One pair of arm guards and greaves are of High Grade Rank One.”

  Not only did Yan Chengcai widen his eyes, but his jaw dropped.

  ‘High Grade, it’s actually a piece of High Grade equipment. How did this blessing come so soon?’ he wondered.

  “As for the last pair of arm guards and graves, it’s an Attribute Equipment of Good Grade that has a bit of Power and some Agility.”

  In actual fact, the arm guard’s attribute was not Power, but Accuracy. However, it was Ou Yangming’s first time coming across the Accuracy attribute, thus he changed the attribute to Power.

  He purposely added some Power to a pair of equipment to show that a pair of arm guards had a Unique Attribute, whereas the other one did not.

  Nonetheless, Yan Chengcai quivered when he heard that. His face reddened and was so dumbfounded that he could not let a word out.

  “I’ll follow you to tonight’s battle, but I’ll be watching from afar. If you perform well, I’ll make the decision to give you the pieces of equipment.” Ou Yangming scoffed.

  In actual fact, he did not have the authority to do so as a blacksmith in the military. Despite that, he believed that as long as he submitted the number of Attribute Equipment required for a month, Kang Weibo would turn a blind eye on the matter even if he found out.

  As for the Attribute Equipment… Would it even be an issue for Ou Yangming if he had sufficient materials?

  Attributes that the other people dreamed of were simply at his fingertips.

  “Master Ou, are you, are you being serious?” Yan Chengcai suddenly asked. His eyes were glowing red.

  “Of course I was being serious, but if you don’t do well…” Ou Yangming replied proudly. A flash of cold light was seen in his eyes, and Yan Chengcai knew what he was going to say without him finishing his sentence.

  “Master Ou, don’t worry!” Yan Chengcai stuck his chest out and cut him off for the first time. “We’ll be embarrassing you if we lose, so I’ll bang my head to death!”

  “Brother Yan, you’re exaggerating,” Ou Yangming shivered as he quickly replied. He said to himself, ‘What do you mean by you’ll embarrass me? That’s nonsense.’

  “Master Ou, you don’t have to say anymore. You should come to watch since you gave us these valuable items,” Yan Chengcai shook his head and mentioned with a pause in between. He then packed the arm guards and greaves into a bag. “Please return to the camp with me.”

  Upon seeing the excited Yan Chengcai, Ou Yangming was slightly perturbed.

  He began wondering if he overdid this.

  ※※※※

  In a barrack at the West Camp, nine men were waiting anxiously. They looked outside the window from time to time, and also whispered to each other.

  An especially burly man suddenly asked, “Why isn’t Big Brother back yet?”

  Another person chuckled. “Big Bull, don’t be so anxious. The master’s not a rough man like us, he’s a meticulous blacksmith, so it’s normal for him to be slower.”

  “Ah, I know. I’m just feeling nervous from waiting, I wonder what Big Brother will bring.” Big Bull rubbed his hands together.

  “He’s bringing arm guards for sure, but I don’t know how many there will be, and if they’re of Good Grade or Common Grade,” Another thin yet tall man mentioned, “Even if they’re of Common Grade, it’s better than having bare arms!”

  Big Bull scoffed. “Even if our arms are bare, I’m not afraid of them!”

  The thin man said lazily, “You’re not afraid of them, but can you beat them?”

  Big Bull kept quiet. Being a soldier, he obviously knew the difference between having equipment and not having one. Besides, it would be extremely advantageous to have equipment during a group fight. When Big Bull recalled the scene where Huang Jingtian and his men previously knocked their arm guards together before leaving the store, as much as he was stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat, he dared not say that they would win.

  All of a sudden, someone yelled, “Big Brother’s back… Eh, Master Ou is here too!”

  After a brief moment, Ou Yangming and Yan Chengcai entered the barrack together.

  The men immediately fixed their gaze on Yan Chengcai’s face and noticed that it was glowing. On top of that, his smile was bright, and his eyes were filled with a high fighting spirit and strong killing intent.

  Therefore, they were half-relieved, and they quickly looked at the bag that he was carrying.

  Yan Chengcai looked around him, then placed the bag on the floor. The sound of metal clashing was not pleasing to the ear but was unquestionably heavenly music for the men.

  When Yan Chengcai opened the bag, the pieces of equipment were revealed.

  “Wow…”

  Although everyone knew the moment they saw Yan Chengcai’s face that there was good news, they could not help but cheer when they saw so many pieces of equipment.

  Forget about the ten pairs of arm guards because they were already expecting them, but what about the ten pairs of greaves? It would simply be too luxurious for men like them to have the equipment.

  “Clap!” Yan Chengcai clapped his hands to catch everyone’s attention, then he announced, “Brothers, look, these are the pieces of equipment that Master Ou provided us with.”

  Everyone’s eyes sparkled as they were eager to try them out.

  They had never seen so many pieces of equipment in the military camp. Perhaps only the Gu
ards under the generals’ command were worthy of having a full equipment set.

  As for the other normal soldiers, it was simply difficult for them to get a full set.

  “Listen well, these are not normal equipment. Eight of them are at the peak of Good Grade!” Yan Chengcai suddenly lowered his voice.

  The men were stunned at first, but bright smiles were soon seen on their faces.

  That was because Huang Jingtian and his men only had normal Good Grade equipment, whereas theirs were at the peak of Good Grade. In terms of individual capability, Yan Chengcai and his brothers were already slightly superior, or they would not have won the previous fight.

  With the difference in their equipment quality this time, the upcoming fight’s result would naturally be the same.

  However, that was not all because Yan Chengcai continued, “The ninth piece of equipment is a High Grade Rank One!”

  “High Grade!”

  “Oh my god! A piece of High Grade equipment!”

  Yan Chengcai’s brothers’ eyes were burning, and it was clear that they could not wait to grab the equipment.

  “As for the last equipment, it’s a piece of Attribute Equipment at the peak of Good Grade. It has Power and Agility attributes.”

  At the next instant, the barrack was dead silent.

  Ou Yangming was slightly surprised. Just as he was feeling puzzled, he heard breathings as heavy as a cow’s.

  There was a hint of red light in the men’s eyes, which made one’s heart palpitate.

  Yan Chengcai finally mentioned, “Master Ou said that as long as we perform well tonight and if he’s satisfied, he’ll give these pieces of equipment to us!”

  “Ah! Long live, Master Ou!”

  When someone suddenly shouted, the others became thrilled too.

  “Master Ou, don’t worry, I’ll definitely beat them up badly, and they’ll never dare to show up in front of you anymore!”

  “Master Ou, I’ll surely kick their balls! We’ll only stop once you’re satisfied!”

  “Master Ou…”

  Beads of cold sweat were suddenly seen on Ou Yangming’s forehead. He wondered, ‘Why did these soldiers suddenly become so cruel.’