Before this, Ou Yangming had released Rune Spells many times but this time, he accidentally stumbled upon the feeling of controlling the universe with spells.
His hands were still making strokes, but his aura changed drastically. As such, the universe’s energies that were flowing along with his hands were unexpectedly forceful.
Bai Zhiyi had unknowingly stood straight and was watching Ou Yangming with his eyes and mouth wide open as he was in disbelief.
The elder was knowledgeable, but this was the exact reason he understood what this meant.
‘If this young fella can really achieve that, he can’t be described as a mere genius. What should he be called? A freak…’
Just as Bai Zhiyi was feeling ill-at-ease, a soft “pow” was heard. The surging energies in front of Ou Yangming burst and dispersed, so the Skill Rune naturally disappeared too.
Ou Yangming looked regretful. He smiled apologetically at Bai Zhiyi and said, “Elder Bai, I was distracted just now. How about I do it again?”
Chapter 608 - Caster And Blacksmith
Bai Zhiyi nodded blankly. “Okay.”
At this point, whether or not he could smith the treasure saber requested by Poisonous Saber Gentleman was secondary; he was the most curious about how far Ou Yangming could go.
Ou Yangming curbed his thought and reached out his hands again. He was highly-spirited and overjoyed.
Although he failed to show the Rune Skill earlier, the sudden comprehension allowed him to gain an idea of controlling space with spells. Needless to say, the young fellow was still far from being able to do that, but he could exert influence on a space already—even if the influenced range was extremely small and insignificant.
Nonetheless, as long as there was a beginning—a starting point,—he could slowly expand the range such that he could finally achieve what the Six-armed Giant Beast and Ghost Mo did.
Ou Yangming stroked his arms, causing a peculiar energy fluctuation to appear in the space in front of him. Once the fluctuation reached an extremity, a stream of water gathered in the void.
The Waterfall Attack.
It was a scaled-down version of the Intermediate Spell, hence it did not contain much power. Even so, Bai Zhiyi’s eyes lit up upon seeing it.
This was because he sensed an incredibly familiar aura from the small waterfall.
Yes, it was the aura caused by the Waterfall Attack, which he was adept in. The only thing was that the aura was far from that of the real skill and could almost not be compared.
Nevertheless, the smaller the aura, the more surprised Bai Zhiyi was. He had concluded that Ou Yangming had indeed grasped the Waterfall Attack and instead of having a superficial knowledge of it, he could use it for actual combat. If not, the young fellow could not have controlled the spell’s mightiness to be faintly discernible.
Bai Zhiyi thought, ‘This young fella is truly unbelievable—it’s unbelievable that he’s able to have such control over an Intermediate Rune at a young age.’
Having said that, he did not know that this was only the beginning.
After releasing the Waterfall Attack, Ou Yangming did not stop. He continued to make strokes with his fingers, and he was so fast that he released the second and third Rune Skill in succession after just a few breaths.
The 3 skills were indeed the 3 Intermediate Rune Skills that Bai Zhiyi was skilled at. Once the young fellow successfully released all of them, a brilliant look was seen on the elder’s face.
Bai Zhiyi had worked hard for decades but only learned 3 Intermediate Rune Skills. It was not an impressive result, but it was enough for him to have his place among the blacksmiths in Danzhou.
It was worth noting that those were Intermediate Runes, and it was relatively difficult to even grasp one of them.
The elder sighed after a long time and asked, “Ah, you’re a caster, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.” Ou Yangming nodded.
Bai Zhiyi smiled bitterly. “No wonder; only casters can master plenty of Rune Spells at your age, but…” The elder lamented, “There aren’t many casters that are also gifted in smithing art, but those that become blacksmiths will be successful in the future.”
Ou Yangming lowered his head and wondered, ‘How should I respond to that? I might as well keep quiet.’
Bai Zhiyi sighed for some time and said, “Lil’ Ou, pass the intermediate poison-series spell to me first. Once we return to my sect, I’ll recommend you to enter the library, and I guarantee that you won’t suffer any loss.”
“Elder Bai, you’re being too polite,” Ou Yangming immediately replied to the elder.
He recalled what he learned, then he picked one of the 3 intermediate poison-series runes that he learned from Ghost Mo’s inner core.
Even though the 3 poison-series runes were intermediate ones, they had dissimilar difficulty levels. There was a huge gap between the hardest and the easiest one, by which Ou Yangming felt the disparity when he learned them; the time he spent learning them was several times apart.
Given that the difficulty levels were so different for equal-ranked spells, it proved the inequality between their mightiness.
Ou Yangming chose the least powerful Rune Skill.
The Poisonous Gas Diffusion.
It was a simple magic art, which was used to release one’s poisonous gas.
That said, it would not deserve being an Intermediate Skill if that was its only effect.
The biggest feature of the magic art was it would not draw any attention when one released poisonous gas. In other words, the poisonous gas would be released without the knowledge of ordinary people, and they would not realize it even after they were poisoned.
While the spell was not an exceptionally offensive one, it was vicious and suitable for sneaking an attack.
When Bai Zhiyi knew the details of the spell, he could not help but have a strange look on his face.
He fell silent for some time and noted, “Lli’ Ou, let me ask Poisonous Saber Gentleman first. If he’s not satisfied with this spell, let’s think of something else.”
Ou Yangming responded after some thought, “Of course.”
He was also aware that though the spell was unimaginably mighty, not everyone would be fond of it.
If Poisonous Saber Gentleman was not satisfied with the spell, he could still pick from the 2 other poison-series spells. However, those 2 spells were much more potent, thus he would not be willing to reveal them unless he would be well-rewarded.
With that, Bai Zhiyi sent a message, and Xia Zizhen delivered Poisonous Saber Gentleman’s answer in no time. The middle-aged man was willing to accept the Intermediate Spell.
Ou Yangming curled his lips and disdained the word “gentleman” in Poisonous Saber Gentleman’s name. Even if a gentleman was willing to accept the spell, he was only a gentleman to a very limited extent.
Since Poisonous Saber Gentleman approved of the spell, Bai Zhiyi began to smith.
Ou Yangming retrieved an ore and smithed a military saber using his Military Fire. The saber was far from the model requested by Poisonous Saber Gentleman, but it would be more than enough to be used as an ordinary carrier.
As his Military Fire burned, subtle rune paths appeared on the weapon.
The young fellow did not conceal his fire, but Bai Zhiyi still frowned.
He could vaguely sense the rune paths being carved, but it was not easy for a non-caster blacksmith to learn a Rune Skill. Without putting in a lot of hard work, it was unimaginable.
In actuality, it was true that Bai Zhiyi agreed to take up the task, but he and Poisonous Saber Gentleman both knew that the equipment with strict conditions could not be smithed easily.
Normally, plenty of time would be needed to design, research, and develop the equipment. Following that, one would start smithing from ordinary materials and would only smith for real after one was confident about completing the task.
The whole process would take several months to several year
s.
This was the biggest reason Bai Zhiyi agreed to take up the job. If not, he would rather be killed than being demanded to learn an Intermediate Rune on the spot and apply it successfully.
When Bai Zhiyi sensed the rune paths left by Ou Yangming’s Military Fire on the equipment, he had a tingling sensation on his scalp.
At last, Ou Yangming shook his wrist and curbed his Military Fire.
He handed the military saber to Bai Zhiyi and said, “Elder Bai, take a look at it.”
Bai Zhiyi accepted the military saber and sensed the rune again. He sighed after a long time and expressed, “Ah, it’s too difficult for me to learn this Rune Skill.”
Ou Yangming was dumbfounded. “Elder Bai, why are you humbling yourself?”
“I’m not humbling myself; I know my limitations.” Bai Zhiyi waved his hand and continued after a pause, “When blacksmiths come across Rune Skills, we always have a subtle yet wonderful sensing ability. To date, I’ve sensed all of the Rune Skills I learned, but I felt nothing when you carved the Poisonous Gas Diffusion Rune.”
Seeing how disappointed he was, Ou Yangming did not know how he could persuade him.
The young fellow knew that normal blacksmiths could only perceive limited Rune Skills. Without a unique sense toward a certain series of runes, one would unlikely learn them.
Despite that, Bai Zhiyi had previously learned a Rudimentary Rune Skill from the poison series, so Ou Yangming and Xia Zizhen thought that he could easily learn an intermediate one.
Who knew, the path was cut off before the elder began to learn it.
Bai Zhiyi pondered for a brief moment and scanned Ou Yangming, then he uttered, “Lil’ Ou, you said that you’re interested to give this a go.”
Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up. He nodded and responded, “Yes. Elder Bai, are you allowing me to do it now?”
The elder sighed. “Since I can’t do it, I must find a helper. Hehe, since you’ve learned intermediate poison-series runes, why can’t you try?”
Ou Yangming’s eyes gleamed due to excitement. It was his first time smithing a piece of Dual Skill Equipment.
Nonetheless, he did not know that Bai Zhiyi initially decided not to let him cause any trouble. The elder only changed his mind after he witnessed the young fellow perform the Rune Skills and accidentally release energies that influenced space.
Given that Ou Yangming was a young caster, the elder figured that it would be fine to give him an opportunity.
Bai Zhiyi stroked his long beard and asked, “Lil’ Ou, have you smithed anything similar before this?”
Ou Yangming answered after some thought, “I can smith a Good Grade magic tool with a Skill Rune, and I can even add a White Silver Attribute to it.” He sounded confident.
The elder’s eyes flickered, then he questioned, “Oh, so can you smith a piece of Dual Skill Equipment too?”
Ou Yangming was taken aback. “Elder Bai, I’ve never smithed one before. Please guide me.”
He understood that pieces of Dual Skill Equipment were more difficult to be smithed than pieces of Single Skill Equipment but judging from Bai Zhiyi’s tone, it seemed to be more complicated than that.
Chapter 609 - Dual Skill Equipment
“Lil’ Ou, it’s actually best to have only one Skill Rune on a piece of equipment.” Bai Zhiyi chuckled and continued after a short pause, “Normally, the easiest way to smith a piece of Dual Skill Equipment is to find a treasure ore with a unique rune. Once the treasure ore is embedded in the equipment, there won’t be any problems.”
Ou Yangming touched his waist sash, which had unique abilities. The reason it became a magic tool was treasure ores were embedded in it.
Therefore, the way of embedding treasure ores was also the right path to upgrade a piece of equipment’s power.
Bai Zhiyi sighed. “It’s the easiest way and has the highest success rate, but it’s also the toughest way.”
Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. “It’s because it’s too difficult to find treasure ores.”
“Yes, suitable treasure ores are too hard to find.” Bai Zhiyi smiled bitterly. “That’s why we usually acquire treasure ores first and design pieces of equipment according to their attributes instead of finding treasure ores according to requirements for pieces of equipment.”
The young fellow nodded and asked, “Should we adopt another method then?”
His face changed slightly as he spoke because he had a suitable treasure inside his interspatial bag.
As long the poisonous pill refined from Ghost Mo’s inner core was slightly processed, it could be attached with a powerful poison-series Skill Rune, and it would be way more effective than one could imagine.
Nonetheless, it would be impossible to think that Ou Yangming would use the poisonous pill here.
Bai Zhiyi responded, “That’s right. The second method is to merge 2 runes and carve them on the equipment, but it’s extremely difficult to achieve that.”
He had a terribly bitter look on his face. It was already challenging to engrave a Skill Rune, but if the number was doubled, the difficulty would be more than doubled; it would be at least 10 times harder.
Taking a piece of white paper as an example, it would be easy to doodle on it, such that anyone with an artistic background could easily draw something beautiful on it.
However, it would be incredibly tricky to produce an entirely different masterpiece on top of that drawing.
Needless to say, the Humans had a long story in smithing art as it had been around for an unknown period. Throughout the endless years, there were numerous miracles.
People would sometimes stumble upon rune paths for dual skills, or one would accidentally comprehend the wonders behind it and become reputable.
Nevertheless, every Dual Skill Rune was not simple, and they would not be easily circulated. This was because they would become core skills for sects or families. Apart from loyal direct disciples and descendants, one would not be able to see them.
Bai Zhiyi continued in a deep voice, “The rudimentary poison-series Skill Rune that I grasped is the Stun Art, which allows one to release some poisonous gaze to stun one’s enemy. Hehe, it’s the most basic poison-series spell, but it yields the same result as the Poisonous Gas Diffusion through a different approach. These 2 should be able to match with each other, and it’ll be less difficult to make it work.”
Ou Yangming nodded in agreement.
There were countless dual skill combinations, but they also varied in difficulty.
A combination between 2 poison-series runes was comparatively easier, whereas the difficulty of merging fire-series and water-series runes in a piece of equipment would force one to go mad and commit suicide.
Bai Zhiyi also retrieved an ordinary ore and smithed it into the model requested by Poisonous Gas Gentleman. His fire flickered as the Stun Art Rune was slowly attached to the equipment.
The Stun Art was a general name for runes because there were many ways to create a similar effect.
Not only the poison series, but the water series, light series, and even earth series also had Skill Runes for the Stun Art.
Perhaps the only disparity between them was the stun period and effect.
Ou Yangming stared quietly at the fire in front of him. Bai Zhiyi was returning the favor by not concealing the changes in his fire, hence the young fellow could sense everything clearly.
Unlike Bai Zhiyi, who could not apprehend the changes in Skill Runes, Ou Yangming had a rather deep impression of the Stun Art Rune after observing the process once. The Military Fire in his sea of consciousness flickered as a faint rune was secretly formed.
Of course, the rune was far from perfect at the moment. Ou Yangming must keep working hard to have a deeper impression of it to achieve perfection.
Even so, he was the only one that could accomplish this after only watching the process once.
After Bai Zhiyi was done smithing, he handed the saber to Ou Yangming. “Take a look at it
first. Once you have an idea of it, I’ll show you again.”
Ou Yangming nodded and examined the saber carefully.
He might not be able to learn the Skill Rune by only looking at it on the equipment. After all, Skill Runes were too mysterious, by which even the most rudimentary rune had its features. If he could not spot those key points and only copied a rune exactly, he would not be more potent than ordinary blacksmiths.
On the other hand, everything would be different if there was a clear description or if he witnessed the smithing process.
This was akin to a skyscraper; without the structural drawing and the distribution diagram for the circuits and pipes inside, it would be hard to grasp the building’s exact situation.
If one had those pieces of information where one knew the distribution of every wire and pipeline, it would be much easier to reconstruct or renovate the building.
Ou Yangming was the latter at the moment. After observing the process closely, he already had a rough idea of the rune. As such, he held the saber and compared the rune with the mark in his mind.
The rune paths became deeper and finally turned into a complete rune, which was successfully engraved in the depths of his mind.
He curled his lips into a faint smile and put down the saber as he was pleased.
Bai Zhiyi asked, “You’re done studying it?”
Ou Yangming nodded and answered, “I’m done.”
“Okay, I’ll smith another time, so watch closely again,” Bai Zhiyi noted sternly.
The young fellow was stunned, and he reached out his hand to stop the elder. “Elder Bai, I’ve grasped it already, so you don’t need to demonstrate it again.”
“What?” Bai Zhiyi looked up and stared at the young fellow strangely. “You’ve grasped it already?”
“Yes.” Ou Yangming grinned. “This is a Rudimentary Skill Rune, so it’s not that hard, is it?”
Bai Zhiyi twitched his mouth and mumbled, “Yes, Rudimentary Skill Runes can’t be compared with Intermediate Skill Runes indeed.” While he said so, he shouted internally, ‘What do you mean it’s not that hard? Back then, I spent 3 months learning this Stun Art Rune but only managed to scratch the surface!’
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