On the other hand, Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows as well when he looked at the materials on the casting table.
Even though he knew there would be limitations in the assessment, the identical iron ingots on the table still made him feel sullen.
The higher the equipment’s grade and rank, the better the material required.
Items that were made of featured steel—even if it was a kitchen knife-were much sharper than a military saber that was made of iron ingot; there was a huge disparity between both materials.
Based on Ou Yangming’s smithing art, he could even smith magic tools.
However, the precondition was he had to be provided with great raw materials.
Now, he set his goal to be a Superior Blacksmith, but he was limited by being given only iron ingot as the material.
Ou Yangming randomly picked up an iron ingot and scanned it, but he could not figure out how he could turn it into a piece of top-grade equipment.
It was worth noting that low-level materials had low withstandable limits. Even if the young fellow cheated with his Military Fire’s unique ability, he could not increase their upper limits. If he did it regardless of the consequence, the equipment would only end up exploding into bits and pieces.
“Participants, you’re young people who have acquired the Military Fire or the spiritual fire for less than a year.” Jin Shengjie’s eyes were so bright as though he noticed everyone’s performance. “You’ve gone through endless practice throughout the year, so you should have grasped the most basic smithing technique for a piece of complete equipment. Now, use the materials in front of you to smith something that you’re adept in.” As soon as his voice died away, Ou Yangming raised his hand high. “Senior.”
Jin Shengjie was dumbfounded, and he looked at Ou Yangming in shock. The Blacksmith Assessment had become a custom for many years, and he had hosted the annual event many times. That said, nobody had spoken in the middle of the test in the past.
“You’re…” Jin Shengjie frowned and asked.
“I’m Ou Yangming, and I’m from Changlong County,” Ou Yangming answered loudly. “Oh, you’re a blacksmith from Changlong County,” Jin Shengjie uttered plainly, and he felt more at ease. It turned out that the young fellow was not a blacksmith from the capital, thus it was understandable that he did not know the rules.
Jin Shengjie would not have bothered about Ou Yangming if this was a different occasion, but he showed a decent bearing because they were in public.
“Is there something you’d like to say?”
Ou Yangming lifted an iron ingot in the air. “Senior, these materials are too poor, so I’d like to change them!”
“Change… The materials?” Jin Shengjie was stupefied, and he did not know to cry or to laugh.
“Oh no,’ Yi Yucheng thought. He immediately stepped forward and remarked, “Young fella, what nonsense are you talking about? The same materials have been used for the Official Blacksmith Assessment in the past, so who are you to be an exception?”
“That’s right. Since you’ve only grasped the Military Fire for less than a year, practicing with iron ingot is undoubtedly the best method. As for materials with higher grades, you may use them after you improve your skills step by step,” Jin Shengjie stated. Ou Yangming pouted and expressed, “But these materials can’t be used to smith good pieces of equipment!” Jin Shengjie’s face darkened. If it was not because he wanted to maintain his image in front of the public, he would have reprimanded the young fellow already.
Feng Guangyuan had a dark face too. “Young fella, don’t pester us with unreasonable demands. Even if we give you better materials, can you smith something successfully? You’re reaching for something that’s beyond your grasp. Other than wasting the materials, what else can you do?”
Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. “Senior Feng, based on what you said, aren’t you belittling us?”
Feng Guangyuan was so mad that he laughed instead. He turned and asked, “Since you’re from Changlong County, you must have a guarantor to be able to register. Who’s your guarantor?”
Du Gaoge, who had been watching as a spectator, was struck dumb some time ago, and he wanted very badly to drag Ou Yangming away.
The fact that Ou Yangming made a fool out of himself in public was utterly embarrassing. Du Gaoge wished that he was never present in the square, but after he heard Feng Guangyuan’s question, he was forced to bite the bullet as he stood out and said, “Master Feng, please calm down. His guarantor is us, the Yi Pavilion.”
Whispers were heard coming from the crowd, which made it evident that the Yi Pavilion had a certain influence on the public.
Feng Guangyuan scoffed. “Is the Yi Pavilion not aware of the rules! How dare you let an ignorant fella join the assessment? Hmph, do you regard us blacksmiths as nothing?”
Du Gaoge broke out in a cold sweat right away. “Master, please forgive us, we made a mistake. I’ll bring him away now!”
It was true that Ou Yangming was the distinguished guest of Changlong County’s head shopkeeper, but his status was far from the status of the blacksmiths from the capital.
Jin Shengjie waved his hand and said, “Ah, what’s wrong with the two of you? He’s an outsider, so he didn’t know the rules. You can’t drive him away just because he said a few words!”
“Yes.” Feng Guangyuan and Yi Yucheng agreed with him at once, but they thought, ‘Anything you say is right, old man.’
“Ou Yangming, stop making excessive demands and take your assessment as you should. If you succeed in the test, I’ll allow you to join again next year,” Jin Shengjie noted.
“He’s Master Jin indeed; he’s so broad-minded!”
“This young fella’s lucky to have met Master Jin, or…”
Jin Shengjie stroked his long beard and flashed a friendly smile as he enjoyed the praises from the crowd.
Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows and was about to say something when he turned and noticed the bitter look on Du Gaoge’s face. He could not help but shake his head and sighed without saying a word.
“You may begin,” Jin Shengjie waved his hand and announced.
The participants in the square responded to him. They curbed their thoughts and took the iron ingots from their respective casting tables, then they began to smith a piece of equipment that they were adept in.
There were initially two young men near Ou Yangming, but they looked at him in disgust and went far away from him. They would rather go to another casting table than to stand together with him.
A teen somehow appeared beside Hu Yicheng, and he asked, “Father, is he… The great uncle that you were talking about?” Hu Yicheng was embarrassed when he heard the question. He responded softly, “Take a close look at him. I believe that he won’t disappoint you!”
Du Gaoge scoffed and lowered his voice too. “Brother Hu, he caused such a disturbance in the assessment venue. Do you think he still stands a chance?”.
Sir Hu was lost for words for some time.
In the square, Ou Yangming, who seemed to have been abandoned by everyone else, sighed and picked up an iron ingot weakly. He turned his hand, causing his Military Fire to burn.
Chapter 260 - Please Stop
Chapter 260 Please Stop
Ou Yangming was not the first who released the Military Fire. Before him, some had already enveloped their iron ingots with flames.
Nonetheless, he attracted a lot of attention when he did the same move.
Needless to say, none of those people were optimistic about Ou Yangming’s skill. They only found it interesting, and some people even took pleasure in his misfortune so they only wanted to watch him make a fool out of himself.
In any case, Ou Yangming was not concerned.
Perhaps the best inheritance and the greatest teaching experience could be found in the capital, which was known to have a profound background.
However, those who grew up in the environment could not get rid of the suspicion of
being greenhouse flowers.
Of course, normal blacksmiths did not need to experience life-or-death setbacks; they only needed to carry out their duties by guaranteeing the production of the best pieces of equipment.
It was not the case for Ou Yangming. After he acquired the Military Fire, he was bothered by all sorts of mishaps, which drove him to constantly improve. Therefore, the young fellow had seen many big occasions and could not be compared to his peers from the capital.
If anyone else had made the same mistake as Ou Yangming did, one would certainly be distracted when one was being scornfully stared at. Not to mention one would not be able to display one’s actual strength, one might not even be able to show half of one’s ability.
Despite that, Ou Yangming was calm and composed under the pressure.
He leisurely controlled his Military Fire and wrapped it around the iron ingot.
The young fellow had done the same action multiple times. Given that his Military Fire was enclosing the poorest material—an ordinary iron ingot-he was carrying out the process with apparent ease. Even so, deep down he was not feeling as collected as he looked.
‘What should I smith with an ordinary iron ingot so that it’ll be eye-catching?’
It was an extremely strict and difficult task, but Ou Yangming had to complete it within the short period.
Even though he was still in the assessment, he knew that if he could not smith something superior, it would be impossible for him to become an official blacksmith, let alone catching anyone’s attention.
Whether it was Feng Guangyuan or Yi Yucheng, they would find different excuses to make Ou Yangming fail the test.
Jin Shengjie might not make things difficult for the young fellow because of his status, but the two other masters would not let him go so easily.
As Ou Yangming’s Military Fire burned, he turned to look at Yan Yuanhua. Although they were quite far apart, he could vaguely notice the disdainful look on Yan Yuanhua’s face.
He furrowed his eyebrows and eventually came up with an idea. He did not know if he would succeed, but he could give it a shot.
Ou Yangming took a deep breath and focused on his Military Fire.
It would definitely not be easy for him to achieve the target, so he must give his all without slacking at all.
The iron ingot in Ou Yangming’s hand melted quickly as it was burned by the Military Fire, and it was transformed into a military saber.
It was such a fast process as if it was completed in a few breaths.
The military saber was the first weapon that was smithed by Ou Yangming. He was most familiar with the equipment, to the extent that he had a better understanding of it than a spear.
It had only been a year, but numerous military sabers had been born in his hands Since he planned to produce a shocking result, he naturally had to choose to do something that he was the most familiar with.
“Hey?”
“Th-that young fella’s quite fast!” “Hah, quickly look, he’s so fast!”
There were not many people who paid attention to Ou Yangming, but there were still a number of them because he made a hit earlier.
When Ou Yangming swiftly molded the iron ingot into a military saber, many people began to whisper in the crowd.
Apart from Ou Yangming, the other blacksmiths who were taking the assessment were carefully and slowly burning the iron ingot in their hands. Even if they were well-prepared, the fastest person had not even fully melted his iron ingot. This was the normal ability of a blacksmith who had gotten the Military Fire for less than or around a year.
For an official blacksmith, one could pass the test by smithing a piece of equipment with one’s own power. Being watched by the public, they pursued stability, hence any risky act would be considered irrational to them.
In terms of forming a mold in a few breaths as Ou Yangming did, not to mention they were not skilled enough, even if they were, they could not have done it in this situation.
“Ah, father, look…” Hu Lingfeng widened his eyes in disbelief. “Wh-what is he doing?”
Hu Yicheng was also dumbfounded for some time before he smiled bitterly and commented, “Perhaps your Uncle Ou is indeed faster than usual…”
Du Gaoge scoffed. “It doesn’t matter even if he’s fast because the only thing that matters for an official blacksmith is the result. Hmph, if he can’t even produce a Common Grade… No, unless he smiths something of Common Grade Class Four, he won’t pass the test at all!”
“Why?” Hu Lingfeng was surprised. “According to the criterion for an official blacksmith, he only needs to smith a Common Grade Rank Two item…”
Du Gaoge sneered without saying a word, whereas Hu Yicheng shook his head and replied to his son, “Just watch and don’t talk too much.”
Hu Lingfeng was hesitant for a while. He lowered his head and watched, but he was still not convinced.
On the high platform, Jin Shengjie glanced at Ou Yangming unintentionally and had a strange look on his face.
He was not the only person who reacted that way because the two Advanced Blacksmiths next to him were feeling the same.
“That young fella has… Decent moves!”
“Heh, I wonder what his smithing standard will be like.”
Jin Shengjie was undecided for a while, but he said, “If his weapon is of Common Grade Rank Two, he’ll pass.” Feng Guangyuan and Yi Yucheng were startled. They exchanged glances and sighed. “Master Jin, you’re being too generous.’ Jin Shengjie grinned and thought, ‘The two of you are trying to fawn over me, but the fact that the young fella is done smithing so quickly proves that he’ll achieve something great in the future as long as he produced something of decent quality now. If that’s the case, what’s the big deal about a small offense? If I return resentment with kindness, I’ll surely be praised!
‘The more successful the young fella is in the future, the higher my reputation.’
He stroked his long beard and noticed that Ou Yangming had already completed smithing. The flame on the military saber flashed for an instant and dimmed.
Just as he wanted to ask someone to inspect the weapon, he saw Ou Yangming reaching out for another iron ingot.
Everyone else looked at each other in confusion.
Yi Yucheng mumbled, “He didn’t fail, did he… Should we stop him?”
Feng Guangyuan pondered and responded, “The rule is to smith a piece of equipment in 15 minutes. We didn’t state that one can’t smith more than once, right?”
They fixed their gaze on Jin Shengjie as though they were waiting for the blacksmith master’s decision.
In the past smithing assessments, there were candidates who smithed faster than usual, but they only had one chance. Even if they were not satisfied with their products, they could not start over due to time constraint.
Nevertheless, Ou Yangming’s speed was beyond everyone’s expectations.
If he continued to smith with the same speed, he might even be able to smith three more items.
Jin Shengjie pouted and wondered, ‘Why is this young fella constantly giving me trouble…!
He kept a straight face and noted, “He can smith as many pieces of equipment as he wants. We’ll only consider the… Best result anyway.”
“Yes, Master Jin, you’ve very wise.” Yi Yucheng flattered the blacksmith master and exclaimed all of a sudden, “Hey, this doesn’t seem right. He’s not smithing a military saber!”
When the other people turned to look, they noticed a long item being formed in the burning Military Fire. That said, even someone who knew nothing about equipment could tell that it was not a saber.
“Could it be…” Hu Yicheng’s eyes lit up. He was surprised and overjoyed. “Could Brother Ou be planning to smith an equipment set?”
“A set?” Du Gaoge sneered. “So what if he smiths ten sets of equipment? This assessment will only take a piece of equipment’s grade and rank into account. Even if he smiths many pieces of equipment, t
hey won’t be useful. Besides, look at him, what is he smithing?” Hu Yicheng looked for a long time but finally shook his head and sighed because he could not tell what exactly the long item was. Ou Yangming stopped after a brief moment, where a strange long item was formed in his hand.
He frowned and reached out for another iron ingot again.
This time, he finally caught everyone’s attention; even the friends of the other participants were focusing on him. Ou Yangming obviously sped up as the iron ingots were swiftly made into weird stones. He placed the stones around him casually, but it seemed like there was something mysterious about them.
At last, Ou Yangming took the military saber and gently stuck it to the long item. As his Military Fire danced, a wisp of green smoke rose. The crowd was baffled, and they thought, ‘Can something so bizarre happen during a smithing process of using the Military Fire or the spiritual fire?’
Ou Yangming was so fast that he stuck both sides of the military saber at the speed of light.
When he put down the saber, even the slowest blacksmith was not completely done yet.
Jin Shengjie’s eyebrows twitched. He recalled something when he looked at the long time in Ou Yangming’s hands, as well as the odd stones around him. As such, he seemed nervous and in disbelief.
The blacksmith master mumbled, “No, that’s impossible…”
“Ding,,,” The bell on the high platform rang. “The assessment has ended, please stop!”
Chapter 261 - Did I Pass?
The loud bell echoed in everyone’s heart. By then, the participants had all completed their products.
Needless to say, given that they were using the lowest grade iron ingot, they did not consume too much energy to melt the material because they grasped the Military Fire or the spiritual fire. Therefore, the candidates were still in high spirits and were smiling cheerfully.
One who possessed the Military Fire or the spiritual fire and practiced for about a year could smith a normal piece of equipment. The only differences would be one’s proficiency, the time spent, and the items’ grades and ranks.
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