Ou Yangming was slightly surprised. “Why?”
“Because they don’t have enough power.” Yan Haobo sighed. “If they’re fully equipped, they won’t last long in a battle, let alone surviving in the dense forest.”
Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows as he came to a sudden realization.
When he previously wore full equipment at the dense forest’s border, they seemed to be weightless, so his speed was not affected at all.
As such, he neglected a fundamental issue.
Power.
A martial artist’s power was far above an ordinary person’s. When Ou Yangming exchanged blows with Yan Haobo, he felt that Yan Haobo was very powerful, and estimated that he was the equivalent of roughly 9 points of attributes, but definitely below 10 points.
After being fully equipped, Yan Haobo actually had a total of 11 points of Power and 4 points of Agility.
The armor’s weight should not be underestimated, but it was not worth mentioning if compared to 11 points of Power.
Ou Yangming suddenly comprehended the mightiness of Attribute Equipment like never before. With sufficient attributes, even a rookie could kill an old master by punching crazily.
He frowned when he glanced at the remaining pieces of equipment. “They’re mostly Common Grade items…”
The soldiers behind Yan Haobo were dissatisfied. ‘What do you mean they’re mostly Common Grade? Other than a few of them, the rest are all Common Grade items! But this is a treatment that’s only given to the Guards, and many men in the military will train hard just to be a part of them because having a full set of equipment is simply enviable.’
‘This young man talks really big, he’s quite annoying.’
On the other hand, Yan Haobo’s eyes glowed. He was the one among everyone else who knew about the fight two nights ago, and he knew where Yan Chengcai and his brothers got their arm guards and greaves from.
Honestly, he coveted those pieces of equipment too. If it was not for his nephew and that he dared not offend Ou Yangming, he would have done everything he could to get them too.
“Yes, they’re mostly Common Grade items. Ah, I actually wanted to upgrade their equipment qualities so they can at least withstand longer if they encounter stronger enemies or beasts,” Yan Haobo quickly mentioned upon hearing Ou Yangming, and he shook his head helplessly before continuing, “but we only have this much funds in the military. Even with strict budgeting, it’s impossible for us to change everyone’s equipment!”
He sounded like he was not resigned to the outcome because Yan Chengcai and those new soldiers already possessed Good Grade arm guards and greaves, yet old soldiers like them from the Guards only had Common Grade ones.
The pieces of Common Grade equipment that Yan Haobo valued in the past seemed to have lost their color.
“Be more diligent when we enter the forest later, and you’ll receive benefits once we’re out.” Ou Yangming looked at him plainly.
Feeling elated, Yan Haobo quickly replied, “Thank you, Master Ou!”
The soldiers behind him looked at each other as they wondered why their squad leader was so polite toward a young man. Even if the young man was a Military Fire Blacksmith, they felt that he should not be flattering him.
“Brothers, take a good look at him. He’s Master Ou Yangming from the Armament Camp, and he’s entering the dense forest with us to look for ores. It’s extremely dangerous in the forest, but the master’s safety is our priority at any time,” Yan Haobo turned around to announce, then yelled with sharp eyes, “Even if every one of us dies, we must let the master return safely!”
“Yes, Squad Leader!”
Nine soldiers who stood in a row responded at the same time.
Even though there were only nine of them, their aura grew at that moment, and they showed soaring heroic spirits as they roared.
These were tough soldiers in the military. Once they were given orders, they would not cower no matter what they were facing.
Ou Yangming was moved as he envied them.
“Master Ou, when you follow us, the most important thing for you to do is not to kill, but to avoid all dangers.” Yan Haobo had a serious look on his face. “I’ve seen your body technique, and I’m sure that you’ll do well as long as you remain calm.”
In actuality, based on Ou Yangming’s performance during his battle against Yan Chengcai, he was a good fit for a scout, but Yan Haobo would never let him be one even if his head was chopped off.
“I get it.” Ou Yangming nodded slowly.
“Everyone, suit up now!” Yan Haobo turned around to instruct the others.
Subsequently, everyone began putting up pieces of equipment. Those who were at Yin Grade and above wore armors, whereas two men who were not at Yin Grade yet wore a specially made breastplate to protect their organs. Though the breastplate could not be compared with armor, it was better than nothing.
When everyone was done wearing their pieces of equipment, they were stunned when they fixed their gaze on Ou Yangming.
Ou Yangming carried a big box from the mule cart, then retrieved pieces of equipment from it. He put on his arm guards, greaves, then his armor, which seemed like he was going to protect his upper body.
Yan Haobo’s face changed a little as he could tell that the armor was heavy.
“Master Ou, we’re going to stay in the dense forest for a few days. If you wear heavy items, it’ll only become a burden for you!”
Since Master Ou prepared the armor himself, it was obviously the best item, hence Yan Haobo would have asked him to put it on if they were going to stay in the forest for a short time. However, if the armor became a burden for Ou Yangming, not only would it be inconvenient, but he would also become the biggest burden in the squad.
“Squad Leader Yan, don’t worry, I’ll act according to my capability,” Ou Yangming replied with a smile, and insisted on wearing the armor.
Following that, he equipped himself with a helmet and a military saber. Although he lacked some pieces of unique equipment, he had the necessities.
Yan Haobo smiled bitterly. Since Ou Yangming was so insistent, how could he reject him?
He made his decision. If he could not carry Ou Yangming, he would have to discard pieces of equipment, but it would be his that would be thrown away, whereas Ou Yangming’s would naturally become his.
“Let’s go!” Yan Haobo waved his hand as he ordered.
The others responded to him, then someone led the path while another person held the line at the back. Everything was done in an orderly manner as it was not their first time entering the dense forest.
After a brief moment, they could not help but look at Ou Yangming strangely.
They more or less looked at him scornfully before they entered the forest as he was fully equipped, but they soon looked at him respectfully.
That was because Ou Yangming walked soundlessly although he had heavy pieces of equipment on him, and it was as though he was covered in thin paper instead of armor. No, it seemed like his body was actually weightless.
It could not be explained as talent, thus the men suspected if he cultivated a secret technique that allowed him to do so.
Even if the men were to think about it for three days and three nights, they would have never imagined that Ou Yangming had a total of 11 points of Power and 4 points of Agility on his equipment set!
As compared to Ou Yangming the tycoon, the men were simply tramps.
Chapter 52
Life in a forest was never relaxing and comfortable. Ou Yangming experienced this before.
The first time he came here alone, he only stayed around the border without going deeper as he was mainly afraid of getting lost. Once he was lost in the forest, he could be stuck in there forever.
With Yan Haobo and the others around, he was not concerned about this.
Besides, they taught him how to identify directions when they journeyed into the forest, which was a preventive measure that would help him leave t
he forest if they lost each other. Of course, it was merely a preventive measure because as mentioned by Yan Haobo, Ou Yangming would not have to make a move unless everyone else died.
Instead of staying at the border, they went straight into the forest. Eventually, even the rustling sounds that were made from them stepping on leaves became quite hair-raising.
None of them made a sound as they looked at their surroundings carefully.
All of a sudden, Yan Haobo stopped. He looked in front of him as he mentioned, “Be careful, something’s found!”
Ou Yangming knew that it was the two pathfinders in front who found something, but he could not find anything even when he used the Vision ability. When Ou Yangming thought about it, he was certain that Yan Haobo’s vision was not as good as his, so he figured that the men had secret signals that he did not understand.
Yan Haobo looked around him as he said, “We found a beast track, and it might belong to a big fella, so brace yourselves!”
The soldiers were instantly spirited because it was their aim to hunt for big beasts in the dense forest, but they usually only found a quarry of this level after staying in the forest for a day, hence they were excited since they found one so quickly this time.
After signaling the man who was holding the line at the back, everyone quickened their pace.
On the other hand, Yan Haobo took the chance to explain to Ou Yangming about beast tracks.
If there was a powerful ferocious beast that could occupy a whole area, the paths that it took were known as beast tracks.
Small animals who smelled the ferocious beast’s aura would quickly stay away.
On the contrary, hunters who found fresh beast tracks would celebrate as it meant that they found a quarry.
Ou Yangming nodded. His main purpose in joining this trip was to learn different experiences, thus he was pleased when Yan Haobo explained everything to him patiently.
Similarly, Yan Haobo was flattering Ou Yangming intentionally because he knew that the master was interested.
With that, both of them were happy.
Yan Haobo’s judgment was accurate, because Ou Yangming noticed after fifteen minutes through the Vision +1 attribute that a figure was running in their direction.
Nonetheless, he did not alert the others because it was one of the two pathfinders.
That person ran toward the squad in a flash to mention excitedly, “Squad Leader, there’s a forest leopard in front, and we found its den!”
The forest leopard was one of the most dangerous ferocious beasts in the forest. In terms of power only, perhaps there were many other beasts that were more superior, but it was the most agile animal as it could even climb trees and make holes.
If there was a ferocious beast that hunters would prefer not to encounter, it was unquestionably the forest leopard.
Needless to say, Yan Haobo and the men were wild prepared because the forest leopard was their target.
An order was given, and someone retrieved bags of medicinal powder to sprinkle them on everyone’s body.
It was a specially made powder that could conceal their odor. Even if a ferocious beast were to pass by, it would never notice them as long as it did not see them.
Everyone walked even more carefully after. Before long, they arrived at a more open area, which was extremely quiet as not a single small animal was seen.
Yan Haobo nodded, then everyone split up to hide, by which two men even climbed up to a big tree like apes.
“Master Ou, that forest leopard is probably out to hunt, so it’s not back yet,” Yan Haobo mentioned, “We’ll be hiding here for now. Two archers will shoot it once it returns, and once it’s injured, we’ll be doing the rest.”
When Ou Yangming clasped his hands together then let go, he felt that his palms were already sweaty.
He nodded slightly, but cursed to himself for being useless. However, it was inevitable for him to be nervous as it was his first time facing a big ferocious beast.
After some time, a soft voice was heard.
Ou Yangming became alert, then tried his best to curb his aura like how Yan Haobo taught him to, and squinted his eyes as well. Through a gap, he saw a long forest leopard covered in prints on the beast track.
Everyone laid in ambush away from the track, hence the leopard had not noticed the human traces yet.
Just as it was about to return to its den, it quickly sensed his surroundings as if it sensed something.
Ou Yangming quickly lowered his head. Though he fixed his gaze on its body, he dared not look at its eyes.
Right then, the sound of arrows being released from bows was heard.
Following that, two sharp arrows pierced the air like flying stones that were aimed at the forest leopard.
Being well-known for quick reflexes among countless wild beasts, the forest leopard twisted its body to jump to the side as soon as the arrows were heard. Nevertheless, the archers were by no means ordinary, thus one of the arrows hit its hind leg.
Despite that, the arrow did not hurt the leopard much due to the angle it was shot when it evaded. As such, the arrow only brushed past its body, causing it to bleed and lose some flesh.
The forest leopard roared with a fierce look, and was about to climb up a tree. It was then when a few people jumped out, who were the soldiers who laid in an ambush earlier.
Even when facing a ferocious beast, the soldiers did not fear. They wielded their military sabers and carried their shields as they slowly surrounded it.
The way they encircled the beast was fascinating because the forest leopard only had one escape route.
Seeing as there were so many enemies around, the leopard decided to abandon its den, as well as its plan to take revenge. As such, it turned to escape through a window.
All of a sudden, the empty window was occupied by a burly figure.
Yan Haobo pulled his saber out, and a threatening aura was released when he yelled.
Afterward, his saber seemed to have turned into waves that were going to surround the forest leopard.
He was planning to suppress the beast by himself!
Ou Yangming was moved. A few days ago when he exchanged blows with Yan Haobo, the squad leader released his aura too, and his violent saber-lights made it hard for Ou Yangming to breathe. If Ou Yangming’s mental power had not been stimulated by chance, which helped pull him away from danger, he would have been defeated.
In spite of that, the mightiness of Yan Haobo’s saber this time was completely different.
Yan Haobo dared not go all-out when he fought Ou Yangming back then because the general would surely chop his head off if Ou Yangming was hurt. Therefore, the power, the killing intent, and even the might from his saber previously were more inferior than the current ones.
That being said, in Ou Yangming’s opinion, Yan Haobo was no longer undefeatable this time although he exerted all his force.
The momentum was violent, but Ou Yangming realized that it did not affect him anymore when he entered the mysterious state of multitasking.
More importantly, the mighty saber-light from Yan Haobo’s saber was full of flaws. By just looking at it once, Ou Yangming had already come up with seven to eight ways to break or dodge it.
This would have been impossible for Ou Yangming a few days ago.
A flash of light was seen in Ou Yangming’s eyes. He knew that he grew after the fight against the fop.
Power and skill were actually relative to each other. When he improved in one aspect, his combat power would increase by a huge margin, and it seemed like his skills achievement had surpassed his martial arts accomplishment.
Of course, Ou Yangming was able to achieve it because of the mysterious Military Fire. Without the ability to multitask where he watched the world from an outsider’s perspective, he could not have comprehended the mysterious technique.
The forest leopard roared amidst the flickering saber-light.
Yan Haobo inflicted serious damage on the f
orest leopard with his saber and suppressed the beast by himself.
On top of the sneak attacks from the arrows earlier, when the other soldiers continued to attack together, the forest leopard’s fate was set.
Ou Yangming stood up slowly from his hiding spot, and looked at Yan Haobo differently.
Before the slash from Yan Haobo just now, Ou Yangming had regarded him as an irrepressible powerhouse, but after calming himself down, he was able to treat the squad leader like they were equal.
This was because he was confident that he would be the one left standing even if he were to fight Yan Haobo without wearing his equipment set.
Only Ou Yangming understood the change in his mentality.
“Master Ou, this is our first quarry. Hehe, we were really blessed to have fought a big fella this soon, perhaps we can achieve our target earlier than planned, and we can return to the camp,” Yan Haobo said with a smile after putting his saber away.
The forest leopard did not struggle for long since many men surrounded it. It finally collapsed to the ground and died.
At last, the men sighed a breath of relief, then began handling the beast’s carcass.
They covered the forest leopard with another medicinal powder, which was extremely wonderful as it could conceal the beast’s bloody smell, as well as maintain its Qi and blood. The medicinal powder was truly one of the special products in the military.
Chapter 53
After the forest leopard was handled, a soldier went to carry it.
The soldier was not considered very burly, and he was one of the soldiers who had not advanced to Yin Grade yet. The leopard might not be the heaviest among the other ferocious beasts, but it was definitely a burden for the soldier.
Nonetheless, the soldier carried it without a murmur, and the others acted like it was a very normal thing.
Ou Yangming looked at him then asked, “Squad Leader Yan, how many beasts do we have to kill to achieve the target?”
“Normally, if nobody’s injured, we’ll leave after hunting five big-sized ferocious beasts,” Yan Haobo answered after thinking for a while, then explained, “After all, it’s quite dangerous here, so it’s hard for us to leave completely unharmed without enough resilience.”
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 31
