Elder Universe had a grim look on his face too. He had performed a secret technique to save his medicinal farm as much as he could, but he consumed a lot more power than Ou Yangming did. It was easy to destroy but difficult to build-a well-known saying that remained unchanged over the years. Elder Universe was the only powerhouse who could protect such a vast medicinal farm on his own. If the flames had fallen onto his plants, his hard work of a few decades would have been destroyed.
“Master…” Ni Yinghong wailed.
“Why are you crying? He’s not dead yet!” Elder Universe exhaled, and his breath seemed to be carrying a surging heatwave.
Ni Yinghong was stunned, and her eyes instantly lit up. “Master, what did you say?”
Elder Universe did not know to cry or to laugh. “These flames were released by the young fella through his mental power, and it’s a power that he controls, so they won’t hurt him as long as they don’t exceed his controllable limit.”
“But… Such a huge fire?” Ni Yinghong asked as she looked at the pillar of fire.
“The fire is actually scattered and much weaker than the watermelon-sized one,” Elder Universe said disdainfully, “He has controlled the flames, and they’re slowly getting weaker. Can’t you see that they’re slowly diminishing?”
Ni Yinghong studied the fire for some time before she confirmed that the flames were indeed wearing out although they looked fearsome. Besides, the process was becoming faster. The smart Ni Yinghong smiled through her tears once she had a clear understanding of the situation.
Elder Universe remarked snappily, “Hmph, you’re crying and laughing. You’re still so immature!”
“Master, what did you say?” “Huh, I was saying that the young fella should be almost done.”
As soon as the elder’s voice died away, the burning fire suddenly flashed and disappeared strangely in front of them.
No. The fire did not completely disappear because a ball of flame was still burning on Ou Yangming’s right hand.
The flame danced like a fairy.
Everyone could tell that the flame was like a part of Ou Yangming’s body. He appeared to be like an ancient God of fire, who was controlling and playing with the flame, but he kept giving out a threatening feeling.
In the distance, many people kowtowed to him and prayed.
Elder Universe sighed and mumbled.
When Ni Yinghong pricked up her ears curiously, she only heard continuous mumbles. “What the hell, what the hell. Seriously, what the hell…”
Chapter 181 - God Of Fire Descends
The clamor finally stopped. Once the blazing fire disappeared in a peculiar way, the other people began to look at Ou Yangming strangely.
A light breeze blew gently, carrying a burnt smell in the air, but nobody paid attention to it.
Not knowing who started it, a row of people in a certain direction had already kneeled on the ground.
It was as though the movement was contagious because more people began to kneel.
The people who lived in this area were mostly ordinary people who relied on Elder Universe. On the other hand, powerhouses who cultivated martial arts dared not stay here for a long time.
Based on Elder Universe’s character, he would never oppress ordinary people with extreme measures. Instead, he took good care of them.
Therefore, when these people, who had never experienced many hardships in their lives, were suddenly attacked by fire from heaven and witnessed the God of fire’s birth, the fear that they felt was indescribable.
When one of them kneeled, it caused a chain effect and everyone else began falling on their knees too. Ou Yangming was stunned, and he finally shifted his attention away from the dancing flame.
He came to a sudden realization when he glanced at the people kneeling around him.
Power. The sensation and the treatment were results of extraordinary power.
Perhaps the ordinary people had already regarded him as something like a God.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming’s mental state shook in an instant as he became clear-headed. This is Elder Universe’s territory. God knows what the elder will think if I try to act cool here.’
Although Ou Yangming had fathomed the right way to use his mental power, there was a huge limit to it. He was still not confident about going against a Supreme Great Ancestor, not to mention the unpredictable Elder Universe.
He shook his wrist, then the fire in his palm instantly vanished.
Ou Yangming immediately noticed Elder Universe’s gloomy face when he turned to look. He twitched his mouth when he looked at the mess around him, then he said, “Senior, I told you, the flame is a bit too powerful…”
Elder Universe cursed. This is a bit too powerful? It’s extremely powerful, okay?’
Nevertheless, when he glanced at the terrified Ou Yangming, he sighed even though he knew the young fellow was likely pretending. “All of you may disperse.” He did not speak loudly, but his voice extended far and wide as though he spoke right next to the people. Those people were ordinary people who had been relying on Elder Universe to survive, after all, hence they dared not disobey him despite being fearful of Ou Yangming.
After a brief moment, Ou Yangming, Ni Yinghong, and Elder Universe were the only people left.
Elder Universe had a strange look on his face when he scanned Ou Yangming from head to toe. In particular, his seemingly bottomless eyes glowed with a mysterious luster.
Ou Yangming tensed up because he thought about the elder’s identity.
‘He’s the acknowledged chief appraiser in the prefecture. Could he have noticed something?’
Elder Universe closed his eyes after a while, and his eyes no longer shone with an unusual light when he opened them again. He sighed and remarked, “Apprentice, your friend is gifted indeed. His mental power is… Much more powerful than yours!”
Ni Yinghong curled her lips into a bright smile. The mightier Ou Yangming was, the happier she was.
She asked when a thought crossed her mind, “Master, how is he compared to you?”
Elder Universe was stunned. He let out two dry coughs, which was obvious he wanted to avoid the topic. “His mental power is great, but the way he uses it is laughable, hehe.”
Ni Yinghong’s eyes lit up. She was only prompted by a sudden impulse to raise the question earlier, but Elder Universe reacted oddly.
She had a flash of thought, ‘Could his mental power be so powerful that he’s able to stand up to Master as an equal?’
Ni Yinghong thought about the big fireball, which gave her an unparalleled threatening pressure, and the thought grew like weeds being blown by the spring breeze.
‘But how is that possible?’
Ou Yangming sighed a breath of relief. “Judging from the elder’s look, he doesn’t seem like he took offense.’
“Senior, I acted too rashly. Please punish me.”
“Punish? Hmph, how should I punish you? Young fella, you used such a huge technique during your first visit. Were you trying to destroy the medicinal farm that I’ve been maintaining for decades?” Elder Universe glared at Ou Yangming.
“I dare not, I dare not,” Ou Yangming responded in fear.
Ni Yinghong’s eyes wandered about, and she commented, “Master, he has already apologized, so please forgive him. Besides, you were the one who asked him to attempt it…”
Elder Universe stared at her and regretted his decision of accepting her as his apprentice. That said, he quickly forgot about the regret.
“Young fella, I taught you the way to use mental power, but the secret technique has an incredibly high fatality rate, so you mustn’t perform it before you truly grasped it. If not, before you’re able to hurt an enemy with the art, you would’ve injured yourself first,” Elder Universe instructed seriously.
Ou Yangming’s face changed, and he quickly replied to the elder, “Yes, I’ll remember it
well.”
He was fully immersed in the process when h
e used his mental power earlier. The fireball was mighty, but if Ou Yangming was in a standoff with his enemy, his enemy could have already killed him a few times before he could form the ball.
Elder Universe reached out his hand once more, then a light breeze flowed on his hand. “It’s crucial to practice step by step, and you can try to multitask. It’ll be more difficult, but if you succeed, it’ll benefit you greatly in the future.”
Ou Yangming nodded and clenched his fists because he was itching to practice right away.
“If you’d like to practice, go home and practice it yourself. Don’t even think about doing it here!” Elder Universe scoffed with a dark face.
“Yes,” Ou Yangming immediately answered as he was taken aback.
He knew very well that the elder was still holding a grudge against him for the damage that he had done just now.
“Listen well,” Elder Universe said sternly, “There are two things you need to do to improve your secret technique’s might. One, temper your mental power for it to constantly grow because the stronger it is, the greater the might released from your secret technique; two, study appraisal art more by bearing in mind that the ultimate aim is the study of nature, and the more you know, the more penetrating your grasp in it, the greater the tremendous power of nature absorbed.”
Ou Yangming was moved. He looked like he gained some understanding as he appreciated the words.
Elder Universe placed his palms up, then an Appraisal Light appeared. Instead of shooting somewhere else, the light simply stayed in the void.
“Try it.”
Ni Yinghong opened her mouth as she wanted to voice out.
Releasing the Appraisal Light and maintaining the light were two entirely different things of dissimilar difficulties. She had been cultivating under the elder’s guidance for years, but the skill was still unattainable for her.
However, when Ni Yinghong thought about Ou Yangming’s performance earlier, she held back from wanting to stop him.
Perhaps any sort of miracle would be unsurprising if Ou Yangming was the one who created it.
Ou Yangming watched the light for some time, then he reached out his palm too and slowly released his mental power.
A hint of light was emitted from his palm, then it stretched longer bit by bit. When the light first appeared, it was unstable and looked like it was going to disintegrate at any time, but it slowly became settled and formed a stable light source.
Elder Universe flashed a smile and asked, “What do you feel now?”
Ou Yangming closed his eyes, then an intense and indescribable feeling kept gushing from the light source into his consciousness.
He felt it—the world that he knew underwent a drastic change.
Everything he saw at the moment was different from what he remembered.
He felt as if he entered a different world, where he was watching everything through a veil.
Inside the world, which was enveloped by countless veils, some unnoticeable things seemed to be floating. They formed the greatest obstacle, disallowing Ou Yangming from perceiving them.
Without him knowing, Ou Yangming began to look ill at ease.
“Screech!”
A shout penetrated Ou Yangming consciousness like a sharp needle, and he quivered as a result. When he opened his eyes, the Appraisal Light in his hands was instantly gone.
“Senior, what’s this?” He subconsciously questioned.
Elder Universe answered with a deep voice, “That’s your comprehension of nature.”
Ou Yangming’s face took on a weird expression. “But everything I saw was… Different. They’re different from before.”
“Everyone’s understanding of nature is different, so I can’t teach you. You’ll have to rely on yourself to apprehend everything,” Elder Universe explained, then added after a pause, “But I’ve looked into ancient books, so I do have some understanding of nature.”
He looked meaningfully at Ni Yinghong then said, “Here are three sentences for you: it’s a mountain, it’s water; it’s not a mountain, it’s not water; it’s still a mountain, it’s still water.”
Ou Yangming’s eyelids twitched as he vaguely caught something. On the other hand, Ni Yinghong asked without any hesitation, “Master, what does that mean?”
Elder Universe responded snappily, “Perceive it yourself! Don’t always rely on me!” Ni Yinghong looked adorable as she stuck out her tongue playfully. Elder Universe sighed a breath of relief and thought, ‘I saw those sentences in an ancient book, but I haven’t actually figured out the meaning behind it, so how can I explain it to you? Hmm, but this is the best thing to use to fool someone, especially this genius. Hehe…’
All of a sudden, Ni Yinghong recalled something. She retrieved the peculiar stone and said, “Master, we found a type of strange ore, and we can’t figure out its background. Come take a look at it.”
Chapter 182 - An Item Beyond Heaven
Chapter 182 An Item Beyond Heaven
Elder Universe responded plainly, “Won’t you know what ore it is by using appraisal art?”
Ni Yinghong puffed out her cheeks and expressed, “Master, would we have come to find you if appraisal art was useful?”
“It isn’t?”
“Yes, we couldn’t see anything with the art,” Ni Yinghong answered without any hesitation.
“That’s impossible. Appraisal art is an art used to communicate with nature, so everything that belongs in this world is appraisable,” Elder Universe commented while he looked at the peculiar stone. It was then that his eyes had flashes of radiance.
Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up as he thought, ‘This elder has a wonderful method indeedhe’s able to replace the Appraisal Light with his look.’
Nonetheless, the wonderful method was probably the elder’s ultimate art, hence Ou Yangming could not ask for the elder’s advice no matter how greedy he was.
“Hey, it’s really strange…” Elder Universe furrowed his eyebrows and picked up the stone to turn it around for some time.
“Master, how is it?” Ni Yinghong asked eagerly. Elder Universe could not help but laugh. “You’re really impatient. Aren’t you afraid that I’ll disappoint you?”
Ni Yinghong shook her head. “Master, if you don’t even have an idea, nobody else in the world will know.”
Elder Universe laughed joyfully. It was true that his little apprentice was troublesome, but she was a sweet-talker, who could always make him happy.
“Okay, since you said that, I’ll tell you.” The elder pointed at the bizarre stone in his hand. “This stone probably doesn’t belong in our world.”
Ou Yangming was moved. He subconsciously nodded when he thought about the indescribable oddities in the Chaos Cave.
He was already suspicious a long time ago, but if the Chaos Cave contained meteorites from outside their world, what about the Land of Inheritance in the cave? What was the identity of the Ni family’s ancestor?
Ni Yinghong was surprised. “Master, why do you say that? Could it be because appraisal art can’t be used to appraise it?”
“That’s indeed one of the reasons, but most importantly, it’s due to the stone’s various properties.” Elder Universe nodded. “This stone is more than just slightly superior to featured steel in its hardness, its tenacity, and its other properties. It won’t be surprising if only one of its attributes is of such standard, but this stone surpasses featured steel as a whole, so it can only mean that it’s a product from the outside world.”
“Master, can’t it be a rare stone that hasn’t been discovered in our world?” Ni Yinghong was not convinced.
Elder Univer could not help but chuckle. “Featured steel has been publicly acknowledged for many years as the most suitable material to smith Fine Grade equipment, which is also the smithing limit in our world. Since that’s the case with pieces of equipment, that’s also the case for materials. How can there be an exception?”
Ou Yangming asked as a thought crossed
his mind, “Senior, is it impossible to smith a piece of equipment beyond Fine Grade in our world?”
“It’s definitely impossible if featured steel is used, but it might be possible with this ore. That said…” Elder Universe shook his head then continued in a serious manner, “From ancient times, although there were Almighty Beings who could exceed the world’s limit by smithing magic tools with peculiar stones, they’re as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.”
Ni Yinghong blinked and questioned, “Master, do you think he can do it?”
“He…” Elder Universe rolled his eyes and wanted to ridicule Ou Yangming because he did not think the young and inexperienced fellow had the ability to complete the huge task. Nevertheless, the elder suddenly recalled the raging flames, hence he responded, “How would I know if he’ll succeed or not? But if he’s not confident about it, it’s better to not use this mystifying stone.”
“Why?”
“I’m afraid that he’ll waste the treasure!” Elder Universe explained firmly.
Ou Yangming wondered, ‘I’ve already smithed with these strange stones many times, but as the elder said, I did feel an invisible barrier during the process.’
When he increased a weapon’s Sharpness and a piece of equipment’s Toughness to 20 Points, he arrived at the limit where his efforts to further improve them were to no avail.
In other words, Ou Yangming could easily upgrade a piece of equipment to the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five if he used the rare stone, but that was the end of it, and it was impossible for him to go further.
Judging from this aspect, it was true that smithing with the queer stones was quite a waste.
Despite that, Ou Yangming was unlike how he was in the past. He had become more ambitious and confident, and he had advanced in smithing art.
Elder Universe truly doted on Ni Yinghong from the bottom of his heart, and his love for her extended even to Ou Yangming. He did not hide anything from the young fellow and answered every question honestly. As such, Ou Yangming benefited greatly, and admired the elder’s profound knowledge.
Once Ou Yangming and Ni Yinghong left, Elder Universe touched his sparse hair with a bitter smile. “Where exactly did the little freak come from? How can he possess such powerful mental power? Even I can’t perceive him…”
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