Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725

by Heaven's White Crane

  Old Craftsman raised his chin and expressed proudly, “The disciple has exceeded his master!”

  The rest instantly clamored. It was unclear how much exactly they believed in Ou Yangming, but they began looking at him differently.

  When Ou Yangming walked toward the platform, he saw that the military’s big bosses were already seated.

  Commanding General Deng Zhicai from the Middle Camp, Commanding General Tian Boguang from the East Camp, and Commanding General Chen Yifan from the West Camp. Of the five commanding generals from different camps, three of them were present. As for Supervisor Kang Weibo from the Armament Camp, he could only stand on one side to assist the challenge.

  On the other side, Ni Yunhong and his younger brother were seen discussing something with Head Shopkeeper Lin Yichen and Appraiser Zheng Ziwen from the Yi residence. Bright smiles were seen on their faces.

  “Lil’ Ou, you’re so slow, we were all waiting for you.” Deng Zhicai put down his teacup when he saw Ou Yangming. Even though he was teasing Ou Yangming, it was clear that he was slightly displeased.

  ‘Many bosses from the military are here, yet you took your own sweet time. You’re being too proud, can’t you see that even Ni Yunhong came in early?’

  Ou Yangming bowed at Deng Zhicai and explained, “General, today’s challenge isn’t about me, it affects the military camp’s prestige. I dare not slack off, so I was meditating in my courtyard to make sure I’m in the best condition. I’m determined to be victorious in the challenge, and to gain honor for the military camp.”

  Deng Zhicai was stunned for a while before he laughed. “You didn’t slack off indeed. Alright, that’s reasonable.”

  Tian Boguang, who was seated next to him, frowned and glared at Ou Yangming coldly.

  In actual fact, he had prepared himself to lecture Ou Yangming for being late. It would be best if he could even mess with Ou Yangming’s mental state.

  However, Deng Zhicai had spoken first and drawn a conclusion. Since the Middle Camp’s commanding general had deemed Ou Yangming’s excuse reasonable, what could he say?

  “Ou Yangming, today’s challenge is about smithing an equipment set. We’ve invited two appraisal masters to judge the equipment’s quality,” Chen Yifan cleared his throat before he spoke. He then cupped his hands in the direction where Lin Yichen and the others were at, and called out, “Appraisal masters, please make your way here.”

  Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen were already prepared, so they approached him and greeted him, “Greetings, general.”

  “You don’t have to be so polite,” Chen Yifan responded and laughed, then turned to introduce, “This is Master Ni Yinghong, and this is Master Zheng Dawen. They’re in charge of judging the equipment sets’ quality.”

  “Sir, this isn’t right!”

  An elder made his way out of the crowd. It was Li Shunfeng, a top-notch Military Fire Blacksmith from the Armament Camp. Though he was not as reputable and as capable as Old Craftsman, he was one of the two blacksmiths who were only second to the old man.

  “General, I heard that Young Master Ni Yinghong is Master Ni’s young brother, how can he be a judge?”

  “Master Li, please don’t question an appraiser’s character.” Ni Yinghong looked at him coldly and said, “If I play favorites in an event like this, I’ll definitely be blacklisted by the Appraisers Association and be expelled, which means that I won’t be qualified to appraise anything anymore.”

  Zheng Ziwen nodded. “Master, you’re overthinking this. No appraiser will gamble their future and fate on something so trivial.”

  Li Shunfeng was stunned. He opened his mouth, but could no longer object.

  Since Zheng Ziwen had said that, if Li Shunfeng insisted, it would mean that he did not trust the Appraisers Association. A lack of trust would not benefit a blacksmith master in any way.

  Ou Yangming chuckled and said loudly, “Master Li, thank you for protecting me.”

  Li Shunfeng nodded, and he felt better.

  Ni Yunhong approached them and smiled. “Master Ou, it’s time for our challenge.”

  Ou Yangming asked him seriously, “Master Ni, we’ll be refining with the same materials, am I right?”

  “Yes,” Ni Yunhong answered with a smile, “but I have a suggestion.”

  ‘As expected, there’s something behind it,’ Ou Yangming curled his lips and wondered, but replied, “Please go on, Master Ni.”

  Ni Yunhong proposed, “I suggest that once the appraisals are done for both sides, another chance to smith is given.”

  Ou Yangming frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Master Ou, let me explain,” Zheng Ziwen spoke with a smile. He nodded at the two blacksmiths to indicate that he would not be biased, then explained, “What Master Ni meant is actually a popular challenge method in the prefecture. You’ll smith an equipment set each, which will be judged by the appraisers. The winner passes, but the loser has a chance to further improve the pieces of equipment.”

  Ou Yangming came to a sudden realization. “What if the person loses even after the second chance?”

  “He loses, but normally, there’s a huge chance that the pieces of equipment will be improved after a second smithing process,” Zheng Ziwen answered, a smile on his face.

  The smithing of equipment was always associated with a success rate. A powerful blacksmith would not object to the suggestion because the failure rate would be minimized if two chances were given.

  Ou Yangming pondered and asked, “If a person manages to defeat his opponent after the second chance, will the opponent be given the same opportunity too?”

  “Yes.” Zheng Ziwen nodded, then clarified, “Theoretically, as long as the other party wins, the loser will be given another opportunity to improve the equipment set. The cycle repeats until one fails to make further improvements.”

  Ou Yangming pursed his lips and expressed, “The method is fair, but it’s time-consuming.”

  Tian Boguang remarked coldly, “It’s okay, we’re willing to stay here to watch the challenge between two blacksmith masters no matter how long it takes. I’m only afraid that it’ll end quickly, which won’t be enjoyable…”

  Chen Yifan’s face darkened. “Lil’ Ou, do your best to gain honor for the military camp!”

  Tian Boguang was stunned, and he glared at Chen Yifan.

  Nonetheless, after hearing Chen Yifan’s words, the crowd began looking at Ni Yunhong differently, and were somewhat dissatisfied with Commanding General Tian Boguang from the East Camp1.

  Deng Zhicai touched his forehead helplessly. “Enough with the talking, you may begin.”

  “Everyone, don’t worry. Even with this challenge method, it won’t go on for too long,” Zheng Ziwen nodded and reassured, then asked, “Gentlemen, what material would you like to use?”

  “Master Ou, you may decide.” Ni Yunhong turned to nod at Ou Yangming. He looked extremely composed as if he was confident about defeating Ou Yangming regardless of the material chosen.

  Ou Yangming thought for a while, then answered with a smile, “Since this is a challenge, let’s use something common. Do you have steel?”

  Kang Weibo quickly responded, “The Armament Camp has plenty of steel, to the extent that you can build a house made of steel.”

  As the crowd burst out laughing, countless amounts of steel was carried to the venue.

  Chapter 71 - Different Opinions

  Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

  Kang Weibo had made preparations as soon as he found out about the challenge between Ou Yangming and Ni Yinghong.

  He prepared some unique materials, let alone normal featured iron ingot and steel. That said, he sighed a breath of relief when Ou Yangming chose steel.

  After all, if the two masters spoke without many thoughts and decided on some rare and peculiar materials, Kang Weibo could not make something out of anything. It would be a small issue if he was embarrassed, but if he gave Deng Zhi
cai the impression that he was useless, it would be the end of the world for him.

  Ou Yangming lamented when he saw the steel ingots and the row of precious ores that were laid out.

  Although Ou Yangming was not restrained or troubled by Kang Weibo’s usage of materials ever since he became a Military Fire Blacksmith, he had never seen this many precious ores at once. It was evident that the military camp’s heritage was far beyond his imagination.

  Ni Yinghong moved forward and smiled. “Master Ou, I’ll show my incompetence first, what do you think?”

  Ou Yangming was rather surprised because he initially thought that both sides would start smithing at the same time, but it looked like Ni Yinghong wanted to do it separately. However, a greater risk would be posed on the person who smithed first.

  Needless to say, if the person who started performed outstandingly, the next person would be highly pressured, and would lose his composure.

  Nonetheless, overall, it seemed like the person who forged first would suffer a loss, but Ou Yangming dared not lower his guard when he saw Ni Yunhong’s confident smile.

  “Master Ni, please!”

  Ni Yunhong was not going to be too polite. He took a glance at the steel ingots and picked two of them.

  Old Craftsman and the others’ faces changed as they were quietly watching from a distance away. Luo Shentong remarked softly, “His great judgment is truly shocking!”

  Ou Yangming was not aware of the Armament Camp’s background, but the elders naturally knew it well. In actual fact, they had arranged the steel ingots on the steel plate before the ingots were carried onto the platform.

  Therefore, the elders remembered every steel ingot’s position like the back of their hands.

  The steel ingots that were chosen by Ni Yunhong had very similar qualities, so much so that they could be considered products from the same furnace. They were the best ingots among the rest and were a perfect match.

  Based on the fact that Ni Yunhong could pick the best raw materials with one look, it was obvious that he had a worthy reputation.

  A flash of flame was seen when Ni Yunhong’s spiritual fire appeared.

  While spiritual fire and the Military Fire belonged to different systems, their functions and effects were very similar.

  Perhaps because Ni Yunhong was forging in public, he finished the process at the speed of light. Before long, an armor was magically produced by his hands.

  Whispers were instantly heard in the crowd.

  Even though everyone knew that Military Fire Blacksmiths were much faster than ordinary blacksmiths in terms of equipment smithing, it was their first time witnessing someone doing it at such an unbelievable speed.

  As professionals, Old Craftsman and the other blacksmiths were observing the logic behind it. After watching Ni Yunhong’s near-perfect smithing process, other than Old Craftsman, the rest lost their confidence in Ou Yangming.

  Previously, Yu Hailiang and the other soldiers returned from the dense forest after having slaughtered a mighty half-spirit beast. Everyone had heard that Ou Yangming forged a kind of explosive arrow that played the most important role, and he was given the most credits as a result.

  If the challenge was about the smithing of those explosive arrows or other exquisite bladed weapons, perhaps Ou Yangming would be victorious.

  On the contrary, there were no tricks involved in smithing an equipment set in a classic way. Once the others knew that Ou Yangming had only acquired the Military Fire for a couple of months, nobody placed their hope in him.

  Ni Yunhong put down the armor and took a few steps back.

  Zheng Ziwen and Ni Yinghong stepped forward to inspect it for a brief moment, then announced, “A High Grade Rank Five armor.”

  Ou Yangming was somewhat shocked. It was not uncommon for one to forge a piece of High Grade equipment using steel. In fact, there were plenty of Military Fire Blacksmiths in the military camp who could achieve that. Despite that, it was not easy for one to directly forge a piece of High Grade Rank Five equipment from steel.

  Even Old Craftsman dared not guarantee that.

  “Master Ou, please!” Ni Yunhong uttered.

  Ou Yangming nodded and moved forward. He glanced at the remaining steel ingots, then casually picked two that were next to the ones chosen earlier.

  After seeing his picks, the other Military Fire Blacksmiths could not help but frown. They would not secretly undermine Ou Yangming since they shared the honor and the disgrace, but they could already tell that the materials chosen were more inferior to the ones his opponent had chosen.

  When a flash of the Military Fire was seen, the steel ingot quickly melted and took form in Ou Yangming’s hands.

  In actuality, based on Ou Yangming’s usual speed, he could slow down the process. However, since Ni Yunhong was able to refine the piece of equipment so quickly, he was not going to be outplayed.

  Sure enough, after a short while, the armor of the same size was produced.

  Ou Yangming smiled plainly and put down the armor.

  Ever since he fathomed the integration of Heaven and man, he could easily smith High Grade equipment without using the purple energy in his mind. That being said, it was not easy to achieve the peak of High Grade Rank Five.

  Hence, Ou Yangming utilized hidden energy, in the end, to push the armor to the peak of High Grade, which was 15 points.

  Zheng Ziwen looked at Ou Yangming in shock. He knew that the young fellow was amazing in appraisals, but never expected him to be excellent in smithing too.

  After carefully studying the armor for a brief moment, Zheng Ziwen had a serious look on his face.

  “Master Zheng, what’s the armor’s quality?” Wang Zhongtong could not help but ask loudly.

  Zheng Ziwen hesitated before he answered, “The armor is of High Grade Rank Five.”

  The crowd instantly clamored and reacted differently from when they whispered to one another earlier.

  It was very rare that a High Grade armor was produced, what more one that was at the peak of High Grade Rank Five. Nevertheless, not only did the crowd witness two of those being smithed at that moment, but the armors were also completed very quickly. This was extremely exciting news for normal soldiers.

  “If that’s the case, they tied this round?” Wang Zhongtong sighed a breath of relief.

  Zheng Ziwen thought again and shook his head in the end. “No, Master Ni is one up.”

  “What?” The crowd was stunned, and they began arguing noisily.

  The soldiers dared not mess around because three commanding generals in the military camp were present. If that was not the case, some hot-tempered ones would have literally fought because of the injustice.

  No matter what, Ou Yangming was a Military Fire Blacksmith in the military camp, hence the soldiers regarded him differently from Ni Yunhong.

  Chen Yifan questioned with a deep voice, “Master Zheng, may we know the reason?”

  “Yes.” Zheng Ziwen sighed a breath of relief and quickly explained, “It’s true that both armors are of High Grade Rank Five, but in terms of material quality, the one forged by Master Ni seems more durable, which is why I drew such a conclusion. If you’re given a choice, will you choose the more durable one or the less durable one?”

  Ou Yangming was moved. Though the armor smithed by him had 15 points of Toughness, it only had 13 points of Durability.

  For some reason, he could not draw or upgrade the Durability attribute, which was his biggest weakness.

  Nonetheless, it was difficult to distinguish the difference in durability between pieces of equipment in High Grade, especially if the difference was only a point or two. The dissimilarity was only noticeable by Zheng Ziwen, who had sharp eyes.

  Ou Yangming exhaled deeply. Just as he was waiting to smith the second equipment, a clear voice was heard.

  “Wait.”

  The crowd was surprised. They saw Ni Yinghong going up the platform and turned the armors around to carefully ins
pect them. Following that, she commented, “Master Ou, this round should be a draw.”

  “Why? You’re not doing this on purpose because of your older brother, are you?” Zheng Ziwen asked unhappily, then expressed seriously, “As appraisers, we must be sincere, and we mustn’t lose independence in consideration of another person’s feelings regardless of the situation. If your older brother deserves to come first this round, he should come first.”

  “Master Zheng, I didn’t call it a tie because of that.” Ni Yinghong shook her head. “I’m sure you’ve seen that my older brother made the first pick, and he picked the best steel ingots, which is why he was able to smith the best piece of High Grade Rank Five equipment. On the contrary, Master Ou casually chose two steel ingots and managed to smith a High Grade Rank Five armor. While the latter produced an armor with a slightly lower durability, it’s the limit achievable by the two steel ingots chosen, so I believe that it should be a tie.”

  Zheng Ziwen was dumbfounded, and the crowd fell silent.

  Nobody expected Ni Yinghong to address that.

  After a while, Zheng Ziwen finally said, “That’s reasonable, this round should result in a tie.”

  Wang Zhongtong and the others were surprised and delighted. Although Ni Yunhong had great judgment, Ou Yangming was more superior in terms of smithing skills. They subconsciously looked at each other as an unbelievable thought crossed their minds.

  Perhaps Ou Yangming really had the qualities to contend with his opponent.

  Ni Yunhong could not help but laugh. Even though his own younger sister had denied him of his victory, he was not resentful at all because he knew that she would be firm on her chosen path.

  Throughout the process, Ni Yinghong was certainly just and fair such that even her closest eldest brother could not take advantage of her at all.

  Ni Yunhong sighed. ‘Looks like I won’t be able to defeat Ou Yangming through normal means.’

  “Since the analyses are done, let’s move on,” he stepped forward and suggested. After picking another steel ingot, he made a few gestures at it and said, “Master Ou, I’ll be smithing a greave this time.”