The crowd was still smiling at first as they were watching the fun.
They naturally could not interrupt when powerful people were fighting, but it did not stop them from watching from the side.
Even so, the more they listened, the more they realized that something was off.
The people exchanged glances and were bewildered. ‘There’s no grudge between them, is there? Why are they becoming more vicious than each other…’
A flicker could be seen in Xu Guangji’s eyes, but he dared not go on.
At the end of the day, he and his grandfather were provocative first. Their disrespect toward Bai Zhiyi might not be a big deal, but it would be troublesome if someone capitalized on this vulnerable point of theirs.
Having said that, at this point, Xu Guangji did not have even the slightest favorable impression of Ou Yangming anymore.
He scoffed and asked, “Ou Yangming, Elder Bai said that your natural gift in smithing art is incredibly rare. Is that true?”
Ou Yangming touched his nose and answered with a smile, “Elder Bai overpraised me, of course.”
Xu Guangji was startled, then he sneered. “At least you know where you stand.”
The young fellow nodded and responded, “Yes, there are countless God-favored ones in the Spiritual Realm, so my level of attainment isn’t outstanding at all but…” He flashed a bright smile and continued, “As compared to you, Your Excellency, I suppose I’m more than just slightly better?”
After listening to the twists and turns, the other people were stupefied.
This time, none of them laughed mockingly anymore, and most of them were displeased with Ou Yangming.
After all, Ou Yangming was an outsider.
As for Xu Guangji, he was not only a direct disciple from the Beast King Sect, but he also had a certain level of attainment in smithing art. Although he could not compare with elders such as Xu Feiyu and Bai Zhiyi, he could be considered a rising star.
Seeing as Xu Guangji was being mocked by an outsider, even if the outsider was brought back by Bai Zhiyi, most people were still unhappy.
Xu Guangji was taken aback for a brief moment, and he could not help but laugh due to extreme anger. “Ou Yangming, are you saying that you’re more potent than me in smithing art?”
Ou Yangming nodded and answered calmly, “That’s right.”
“Okay.” Xu Guangji nodded and suddenly cupped his hands at the people around him. “Seniors and brothers, I, Xu Guangji, am going to challenge… Master Ou Yangming in smithing art, so please be our witnesses.”
He stressed the words “Master Ou Yangming”, which was clear to the others that it was not due to respect but contempt.
“Alright!”
“Brother Xu, show him your abilities and teach him a lesson!”
“Hehe, let those outsiders see how great the Beast King Sect is!”
A group of people clamored as they were glad to see this happen.
In actuality, they would have shouted louder if Bai Zhiyi was not present.
Bai Zhiyi cleared his throat all of a sudden.
He was not loud, but the crowd fell silent at once.
Those from the Beast King Sect’s Mount Copper Furnace would not mind offending Ou Yangming, but they would not provoke Bai Zhiyi.
“Brother Xu, this won’t be a good idea, will it?” Bai Zhiyi spoke pretentiously, “I brought Lil’ Ou here to join our sect. Won’t this hurt your relationship if you have a challenge before he joins us?”
Xu Feiyu smiled and noted, “Brother Bai, if you’d like to recommend him to the sect, he must be tested. Heh, since that’s the case, he might as well have a challenge with Guangji, and we’ll be able to see what he’s capable of.”
He knew Ou Yangming must have some merits since Bai Zhiyi insisted on recruiting him into the sect.
However, he was very optimistic about his grandson.
After all, Xu Feiyu had carefully guided Xu Guangji, and he did not believe that an independent blacksmith could be that great.
Bai Zhiyi sighed and looked helpless. “Fine. Since you say so, Brother Xu, let’s take this challenge as an entry assessment.”
Ou Yangming was stunned, and he glanced at Bai Zhiyi. ‘I didn’t agree to join the Beast King Sect but judging from the elder’s tone, why did this simple challenge suddenly turn into an assessment?’
That said, when he noticed the various looks from the crowd, he knew he could not decline this anymore.
He spread out his hands and said, “Brother Xu, since you’re so interested, I’ll keep you company.”
Xu Feiyu laughed. “Elder Bai, you heard him too. This time, let’s be the judges and see which one of them is the better one.”
Bai Zhiyi cast a weird look at Xu Feiyu and twitched his mouth. “Okay.”
For some reason, Xu Feiyu had a bad feeling when he saw the unexplainable look in Bai Zhiyi’s eyes.
Nonetheless, there was no turning back for him anymore.
Chapter 617 - The Merging Of Minerals
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
There were many passages around the main hall, each one had separated rooms inside.
Every room was a smithing workshop, which could be used by blacksmiths from the Beast King Sect to smith at any time.
Nonetheless, the smithing workshops vary according to grades. In particular, those that were specially provided for elders from the sect were particularly luxurious, such that ordinary blacksmiths were envious.
Needless to say, there were 2 other especially spacious smithing workshops inside this giant building.
Each of them could accommodate hundreds of people.
Normally, the smithing workshops would not be opened. If smithing masters opened classes or if there were sensational challenges, they would be the best venues.
Ou Yangming and Xu Guangji were not masters, but they represented Bai Zhiyi and Xu Feiyu, respectively.
Besides, Xu Guangji was also a powerhouse that rose to fame in the Beast King Sect, and he was also known as the greatest rising star in terms of smithing talent specifically.
Therefore, when people heard that Xu Guangji was involved, more people hurried to the enormous smithing workshop.
Bai Zhiyi and Xu Feiyu went up to the high platform. They first inspected the workshop, then they went back to their corners after making sure that there were no abnormalities.
Following that, Ou Yangming and Xu Guangji went up to the platform one after another.
Xu Feiyu stated in a deep voice, “If a blacksmith wants to smith a good piece of equipment, first of all, one must control the heat during the process.” He paused for a while before he continued, “You’ll choose a gild ore1 and a black grindstone each then merge them.”
Xu Guangji responded to him and walked to the side of the smithing table, then he chose 2 stones from the pile.
On the other hand, Ou Yangming widened his eyes as he was at a loss.
Bai Zhiyi flushed and quickly said, “Brother Xu, Lil’ Ou’s from outside of this county, so he doesn’t understand our rules too well.” He waved at Ou Yangming and explained, “Lil’ Ou, our assessment here requires one to select 2 fixed ores and merge them with one’s fire. In this case, the more thorough the merge, the better it is.”
Ou Yangming understood him right away.
The merging of 2 ores was the most basic technique in smithing art. If one could not even do that, one would not be qualified to be a blacksmith.
Nevertheless, the merging standard could be high or low, where the most important differentiating method was the merging degree.
The merging degree did not mean the proportion of the ores, but the extent of the blending between ores according to a proportion.
To smithing experts, if the merging degree for ores was lower than 80%, it would be below grade. Given such a merging degree, even if the best materials were used, the equipment smithed in the end would only be junk.
&
nbsp; Normally, magic tools could only be smithed if the merging degree was 85% and above, but a merging degree of 90% and above was every blacksmith’s target.
Ou Yangming nodded and expressed, “I understand. Don’t worry, Elder Bai.”
He glanced at the ores in front of Xu Guangji, then he picked 2 similar ones from the pile of ores.
Xu Feiyu and Xu Guangji looked at each other and grinned.
‘Turns out that Ou Yangming doesn’t recognize these ores. Great, the outcome of this challenge is almost set already.’
Gild ores and black grindstones were not rare items, but they both had unique features, hence it would be much more difficult to merge them than ordinary ores.
Without having studied them for a long time, many unexpected problems would arise if one melted them for the first time. Consequently, the melting process would fail or the merging degree would be far from the passing standard.
Bai Zhiyi backed away and sneered as he noticed the expressions of the 2 men from the Xu family.
Normal blacksmiths would definitely be confused when they suddenly came into contact with 2 unknown materials. As such, they would not be able to do much.
However, Ou Yangming was a freak. He was someone that could smith items a half step to White Silver and was a genius that could repeat the smithing process for Good Grade magic tools after only observing it once.
How could someone like him be troubled by the most basic melting process?
Even if Ou Yangming had never seen the ores to be melted, Bai Zhiyi did not think that he would be defeated.
Xu Guangji scoffed and waved his hand, then a black figure jumped up to the platform.
It was a spirit beast similar to a large domestic dog, but it looked extremely odd as it had an especially sharp mouth and perceptive eyes. The beast approached Xu Guangji and rubbed its head against the bottom of his pants affectionately.
“Stop playing, we need to start working.” Xu Guangji chuckled.
The weird spirit beast nodded then turned around and opened its mouth to spit out fire, which enveloped the 2 ores on the smithing table.
Xu Guangji had a grave look on his face. He also reached out his hand, where his blazing fire stretched into the spirit beast’s fire. With that, the fires released by the human and the beast fused and burned brighter with a much greater aura.
Ou Yangming looked in shock as he was in disbelief.
Bai Zhiyi went forward and whispered to him, “Lil’ Ou, this is the joint cultivation technique that I mentioned before. Xu Guangji’s natal spirit beast is a rare fire-series spirit beast, which is incredibly beneficial in equipment smithing.”
“Is this allowed too?” Ou Yangming twitched his mouth.
The elder giggled. “This is the Beast King Sect, so one can naturally seek help from one’s natal spirit beast.”
Ou Yangming nodded. He could tell that Xu Guangji’s natal spirit beast was rather bizarre. The fire that it spat out was not as exaggerated as his Military Fire, but it was certainly one of the rare spiritual fires in the world. If blacksmiths were assisted by such a spirit beast, they would surely be able to yield twice the result by doing half the work.
Even so, Ou Yangming smirked and thought, ‘So what if you have a spirit beast’s help? Can you be better than my Military Fire, which has become one with me?’
As he extended his wrist, his mental power gushed and turned into a scorching fire that enveloped the 2 ores on the casting table.
This time, Ou Yangming chose to conceal his fire from the public. Hence, the people could only see the fiery fires in front of him and Xu Guangji but did not know what exactly was going on inside.
Needless to say, those with rich experiences could make some guesses according to the way the fires flickered.
After some time, the crowd could not help but whisper to one another.
Xu Guangji and his spirit beast cooperated perfectly as the fire between them flickered frequently, which proved that there were intense changes inside.
On the contrary, Ou Yangming’s fire was also burning fiercely, but it was exceptionally stable. Even if the tongue of the flame flickered, it only happened within a normal range. Given this situation, even God would not be able to deduce anything from the outside.
All of a sudden, the spectators exchanged glances as they were puzzled.
Those that were here were either blacksmiths or had some understanding of smithing art; even if they were ordinary helpers, they also had the most basic knowledge in this aspect. Thus, they cast strange looks at Ou Yangming and wondered, ‘This fella isn’t just impressive on the outside, is he?’
‘His fire’ burning, but it’s only burning on the surface. As for the ores inside the flame, they’re not merging at all.
‘Mm, this must be it, or how can his fire be so stable?’
The people turned to look at Bai Zhiyi as they were hoping to find some answers from his expression, but the elder kept a straight face. Despite that, a look of ridicule could be seen in his eyes as if he was not worried about Ou Yangming’s situation at all.
In actuality, the elder did not need to worry indeed.
Ou Yangming was controlling his mental power, which had transformed into a fire that wrapped around the ores. Although his Military Fire and mental power had merged, their wonderful effects were not reduced at all. In fact, it was more convenient for him to control them now.
The young fellow melted the ores almost with a flash of thought, and he began to fuse them.
Throughout the process, he was sharp enough to spot some subtle differences.
Between the ores, one of them had a tremendously high melting point while the other’s was not worth mentioning.
This was a test for a blacksmith’s control over the fire. If one could not control one’s fire carefully, one would not be able to merge the ores.
Of course, this was only a small issue for Ou Yangming, who had practiced the path of cold and heat before.
Having said that, once Ou Yangming began to bind the melted ores, he realized that the liquids seemed to naturally resist each other, so it would be difficult to combine them through a normal melting technique.
At this point, Ou Yangming knew it was a trap set up by the 2 men from the Xu family.
Without the right technique and ability, it would be impossible for one to merge the ores.
Ou Yangming could guess why Bai Zhiyi did not warn him before this. Perhaps his previous performances had exceeded the elder’s bottom line, so the elder blindly trusted him.
That said, Bai Zhiyi guessed it right because the trivial matter was not a problem for Ou Yangming.
Being burned by Ou Yangming’s Mental Fire, the resistances between the ores were destroyed. The fire’s forceful power affected every inch of the ores’ liquid, then they started to agglomerate and merge with the help of the fire’s drive.
It was a natural process, and it was finished quickly in Ou Yangming’s hands.
This was not much difficult from smithing an ordinary piece of equipment for him. In any case, he had melted and combined materials too many times.
Nonetheless, after he was done, he realized that Xu Guangji was still trying.
Ou Yangming pondered seriously and decided not to withdraw his fire. Instead, he waited and waited quietly…
Chapter 618 - More Skillful
After half an hour, a flash of a luster could be seen in Xu Guangji’s eyes. He grunted, then his fire and that released by his spirit beast disappeared at the same time.
He immediately lifted his head and looked in Ou Yangming’s direction, then he smiled faintly as he noticed that the young fellow’s fire was still burning. The man had guessed that one would need an adapting period when one used the 2 unique materials for the first time.
This was because the materials had vastly different melting points and special repulsive natures. If they were to be merged perfectly, extremely specific techniques must be used. Needless to say, those techniq
ues were inherited. In terms of this alone, the challenge might seem fair, but it was actually unfair from the start.
Nonetheless, whether it was Xu Guangji or Xu Feiyu, they would have never thought that there was a potent fire in this world that could ignore those disparities by bulldozing through the obstructions through the most forceful power.
It was an essential difference, which could not be imagined by them from where they stood.
The 2 men from the Xu family exchanged glances and instantly calmed down.
“Hehe, Brother Bai, there’s no need to hurry. Since it’s his first time getting in touch with Danzhou’s smithing technique, it’s inevitable for him to find it a little strange, so let’s give him more time,” Xu Feiyu noted.
He sounded as though he was being polite, but he was vaguely reprimanding Ou Yangming for wasting too much time.
Bai Zhiyi scoffed and questioned, “Brother Xu, if 2 new ores are being used, how much time will you take to merge them?”
Xu Feiyu grinned and replied to him, “Brother Bai, we’re talking about the challenge between the younger generation now, so why are you suddenly bringing me into the picture?”
‘How thick-faced,’ Bai Zhiyi cursed internally, but he was embarrassed to question the elder further.
Before long, Ou Yangming shook his wrist and curbed his fire too.
Everyone including Bai Zhiyi was stunned. Although Bai Zhiyi knew Ou Yangming’s smithing speed was faster than normal people, he was still very surprised.
The people could tell that Ou Yangming had not experienced this kind of challenge before, and he even picked the ores according to Xu Guangji’s choices. It was evident that he was also unfamiliar with the 2 ores.
Theoretically, much more time would be needed if one were to melt 2 completely strange ores, let alone ores with distinctive melting points and repulsive natures. As such, the process to fuse them was bound to be strenuous.
Therefore, even Bai Zhiyi thought Ou Yangming would take at least an hour to study the ores before he could melt them.
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 364
